because her dad was down in his back again. Barb came to her rescue and told her about Meredith Parsons.
And so it went, for the rest of the day. Perhaps people just wanted to touch base after the traumatic events at the store, maybe they hoped for some gossip, but every visit ate up time and, for someone like Sela who found socializing exhausting, was very wearing. Carol woke up and wanted answers to her questions. Olivia returned, more cheerful after the time spent with her friend.
Darkness came, Barb put supper on the table, and Ben still hadn’t returned. Sela took a meal tray in to Carol, who scowled at her. “Where’s Ben? I want to eat at the table.”
“He had a lot to do,” Sela said, trying not to act worried, but she knew what was going on and she couldn’t help fretting. What if Lawrence Dietrich got wind, somehow, that Ted had come to Mike? The sound of gunfire carried a long way and she thought she’d have heard any shots, but that didn’t stop her from continually checking out the window, looking for headlights coming down the lane. She wanted him here. She wanted to be with him.
And then he was there. She saw the reflection of headlights on the window, the sound of the big truck pulling into the driveway. She was on the porch before he could reach it. He came up the steps and headed off any questions with a murmured, “I’ll fill you in later,” then pulled her close with a steely arm around her waist for a hard, hungry kiss.
Barb was already setting a place at the table for him when they went inside. From her bedroom Carol called, “Ben? I need help!”
Ben looked at Sela and cocked an eyebrow. “She called me by my name. What’s up with that?”
“She wants something from you.”
“I heard that!”
“You hear everything,” Sela countered. Ben went into the bedroom and came out with Carol in his arms, and her carefully balancing her dinner tray. He set her down at the table and took his place, eating quickly and efficiently while they chatted around him. Things proceeded pretty much the same as they had the night before, as if a routine had been immediately established. While Sela and Barb cleaned up after supper, he brought in enough firewood to get them through the night, and even collected the still-damp clothes from the clothesline. He and Olivia hung the clothes where she directed, on an old folding clothes rack that Barb had dug out of storage at her house. They tried not to use it because it took up so much room in the living room, but sometimes it was necessary.
As he scooped Carol up to take her back into the bedroom, Sela thought of something and said, “Let me get some coffee to take home with me.”
“I brought some from my house,” Ben said over his shoulder as he maneuvered Carol through the doorway.
“That’s good,” they heard Carol say. “I like a man who’s prepared.” There was a pause, then she continued, “What else are you prepared for?”
“Everything, ma’am. I was a Marine. I’m prepared for everything.”
Sela buried her face in her hands, torn between groaning and laughing. She didn’t dare look at Olivia, though there was no escaping Barb’s playful elbow jab.
“That, Sweet Buns, is the best answer you could have given.”
When he exited the bedroom he wasn’t smiling, but his eyes were crinkled with amusement.
Sela was so tired her feet were dragging, but she forgot about that as they said their goodbyes and went out to the truck. “How did your day go?” he asked as he opened the passenger door and lifted her bodily onto the seat.
“Busy.”
He went around and got in the driver’s seat, and she outlined her day just as if they’d been a couple forever. She quickly told him about Brother Ames, and the only solution she’d been able to think of for the marriage problem, the long parade of people who’d needed/wanted to talk to her, but she wasn’t interested in her day. As they pulled into her driveway she asked about the Dietrich situation.
He outlined the plan as he got two big duffle bags from the back of the truck. He, Trey, Mike, and Cam would be hidden in position an hour before the scheduled meeting at the old crafts store. With luck, they’d capture all six without bloodshed. Without luck, there would be bloodshed. Before she could latch