Evidence of Life - By Barbara Taylor Sissel Page 0,48
a doe and left her,” he answered. “She’s hurt pretty bad. Her fawn is close by.” He went to his saddlebag, took out a rope.
Abby dismounted.
“No,” he said reading her intention. “Stay here with the horses. They might spook.”
“You have to kill her?”
“Nothing else to do.”
“The fawn?”
“I’ll try and get a rope on it first.” He looked disgusted and furious enough to cuss, but he wouldn’t, Abby thought, out of regard for her.
He glanced off as if he needed a moment to gather himself, and she thought he would go, but he didn’t. His gaze returned to her, and their eyes locked. She could not have said who moved, but somehow they were standing closer together, so close she could smell the sun on his skin, the minty warmth of his breath, a fainter undercurrent of pine. He slid his fingers from her elbow to her wrist, then loosely cupped her hand and she felt her knees weaken. She felt herself sway. The moment elongated, shimmered. It was sensual but not. And then it was over. She caught herself, broke their gaze and stepped back. Or Dennis did. Abby wasn’t sure.
He plowed a hand over his head. He seemed abashed, chagrined, some combination.
Abby didn’t want him to feel badly. “You’ve been so kind to me,” she said, and she wasn’t sure what she meant. More than was on the surface, she thought.
“You’ll be all right,” he said.
She nodded. Was he telling her or asking her? She didn’t know that either.
He left her then, and she watched him thread his way into the woods until he was lost to her view, and then, only a moment later, she flinched when a single shot rang out.
* * *
For dinner that evening, George grilled salmon; Kate made scalloped potatoes, and she and Abby steamed fresh asparagus and tossed a salad. While they ate, Abby chattered about her day, ignoring the voice in her head that said she wasn’t entitled to have a good day, a relatively happy and peaceful day. She told the story about the doe and her fawn, becoming caught up in it. She assumed Kate and George would have some response when she finished, but neither of them said a word. They didn’t even look at her.
Kate stacked the dirty plates and took them to the sink.
Abby looked from her to George, uncertain, a bit on edge. “Dennis brought the fawn home.” She carried the bowl of leftover scalloped potatoes to the counter. “He’s going to hand feed it until it’s old enough to care for itself.”
Now George smiled. “He’s always rescuing something, isn’t he, Kate?”
But she didn’t answer, and the look she shot George would have frozen hell.
Abby ducked her head. Clearly they’d been arguing, and she wondered about the cause, hoping it wasn’t her.
George found a container for Abby to stow the leftover potatoes in and said he was going to light a fire in the outdoor fireplace.
“What is up with you two?” Abby asked as soon as he was gone. “I mean, I know it’s none of my business, but I’m worried it’s me, that I’m in the way here.”
Kate rinsed the plates, started in on the silverware. Her back was to Abby, and she kept it that way.
Abby felt a frisson of unease loosen along her spine. “Kate? Tell me.”
She shut off the water, picked up a kitchen towel and turned to Abby, looking anxious, winding the towel around her hands. “You’re going to be so furious with me. George is already pissed. No way I go with this is right, but you have to know.”
“Know what?” Abby’s unease flared now into full-blown panic.
“I should have told you when I first remembered, but George said it didn’t mean anything.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I saw Nick last December in town, the week before Christmas.”
“You saw—what are you saying, Kate?”
“I’m sorry, I should have told you before now, but I honestly didn’t remember until we—until George and I started talking about the property taxes for this year. That’s what I was doing when I saw Nick last year. I was paying our taxes, and I came out of the courthouse and he was just there, walking up the sidewalk. I did a double take. He said he was in town to do a title search on some land. I think he mentioned a client, but I’m not sure.” Kate’s gaze was distraught, pleading. “I was so surprised, I didn’t pay close attention. I’m sorry.”