Evidence of Life - By Barbara Taylor Sissel Page 0,49
he with someone?”
“I didn’t see anyone else. I asked about you, why you didn’t come, and he said it was sort of a secret his being there. He said the land he’d looked at was going for a song, and he was thinking of buying it as a surprise for you. He asked me not to tell you. I think that’s part of why I lost track of it, because I had it in my head I shouldn’t say anything. I sort of made myself forget, you know, because it would fall out of my mouth before I could stop it, and I didn’t want to ruin it for you.”
“But when the flood came, when he disappeared—it’s hard to believe you didn’t remember then.”
“Well, I didn’t, and I am telling you now, even though George is dead set against it. He thinks telling you is only pouring gasoline on the fire.”
“What fire?”
Kate turned away. She wiped the countertop.
“Come on, Kate. This is you and me here.”
“It’s just, you’re having such a hard time getting past it, Abby. I mean, you have all these—I don’t know—suspicions or something as if you can’t— You don’t want to accept the obvious, and my telling you about seeing Nick, well, George says it’ll just keep your mind racing.”
“My mind is not racing, Katie.” Abby regretted ever sharing her doubts with Kate. She ought to have known better.
A difficult silence grew.
Abby broke it. “Did Nick stay here with you and George?”
“Oh, God, no!”
Abby’s eyes widened. “Well, I know he isn’t your favorite person, but I always thought he was as welcome here as I am.”
“Of course he is. That’s not what I meant.” Kate took a moment.
And Abby thought she could deny it all she liked, but the truth was Kate had never cared for Nick. “He’s not your type,” she’d said soon after they met.
Kate found Abby’s gaze. “I’d surely have remembered it if he’d come out here, if he’d actually stayed with us. That’s what I meant. And I did say something to him about it, but he said he wasn’t spending the night. I thought it was odd that he would make such a long drive in one day, but I assumed he was going home, that you were expecting him.”
Abby looked at her shoes. Had she been? Had she even known where he was?
Kate pulled a tray and a big thermos out of a cabinet. She poured coffee into the thermos, set it on the tray, added a pitcher filled with cream, a sugar bowl, spoons and three mugs. She disappeared in the direction of the great room and returned bearing a decanter filled with amber liquid. “Grand Marnier,” she said. “It’s cold outside. We can use a shot.”
Abby held her gaze. “Looking at land can’t be the reason Nick was here.”
Kate picked up the tray. “Can we finish this conversation later? As you said, it doesn’t involve George, and I don’t want him overhearing. He’s mad enough at me as it is.”
“No! Kate! For God’s sake, my family is missing. No one knows where they are, and now you’re telling me you saw Nick in Bandera last December? Why would he be there? He wasn’t buying land. Even at the price of a song, we couldn’t afford it.”
“All right. All right.” Kate turned sharply.
Abby steadied the thermos, the cream pitcher.
They were both startled when George came through the back door. “Can you bring another cup? Dennis is here.”
Abby stepped back, putting her fingertips to her temples, running them up to her chignon, pushing at the pins there. She followed Kate and George outside; she couldn’t think of a plausible reason not to, and had it not been for Dennis’s presence, there would have been hard words said. Abby could feel them heating her teeth. She thought even Dennis was aware of the friction because he immediately launched into a funny story about a cat rescue call he’d had in the neighborhood earlier in the week.
“He’s talking about May Dean Hennesey. She lives down the way. She’s always calling 911.” Kate was explaining for Abby’s benefit, to distract her. Abby could feel Kate’s glance, the weight of her distress. But Abby would not relent, not this time.
George said, “May Dean’s got the hot pants for Dennis. She runs the cat up the tree so she can get him over to her house.”
“She’s eighty-one.” Dennis’s half-sheepish protest made Abby smile in spite of herself. He said, “The worst thing was that after