At Last (The Idle Point, Maine Stories) - By Barbara Bretton Page 0,55
away from the mess he'd made of his own life and build something fine and wonderful and lasting with Noah.
She parted the yellow-and-orange curtains and peered out the kitchen window. A shiny silvery-grey Lincoln Town Car was pulling into the driveway next to her Mustang. The contrast between the cars was laughable. She only knew one person who drove a car like that.
She could actually hear her heartbeat pulsing in her ears, at the base of her throat, deep inside her chest. She tried to pull in a deep breath but she was trembling so hard it was almost impossible. A coincidence, that's all it was. Simon Chase couldn't possibly know about the elopement. She and Noah had gone to great lengths to keep their plans secret. Not even the almighty owner of the Gazette could have ferreted out the truth.
Noah! What if something had happened to Noah, some terrible accident like the one that had killed her mother, and Simon was here to tell her about it. What was wrong with her? She was letting her imagination run wild when all she had to do was open the front door and ask him what he wanted.
"Good afternoon, Graciela." Simon was tall and spare with a thick head of snowy white hair that sparkled in the sunlight. She looked into his brown eyes but couldn't see any of Noah's goodness reflected back.
She tried that deep breath one more time. You're as good as any of them, Graciela, and don't you forget that.
"What can I do for you, Mr. Chase?"
"I was sorry to learn of Cordelia's passing."
"Thank you."
"She was a good woman."
"Yes," Gracie said, "she was."
"Did you get our flowers?"
"We did," she said. "I mailed a thank you this morning." My manners are impeccable, Mr. Chase. My grandmother, your cook, saw to that.
"Aren't you going to invite me in?"
Not if I can help it. "Do you need to use the phone?" I'll bring it out to you.
"I would like to talk with you, Graciela, and I'm afraid the hot sun is too intense for me these days." An allusion, no doubt, to his heart attacks and compromised health.
"Please." She stepped aside. "Come in."
He nodded but his expression never altered. For a man suffering from the heat, he seemed cool and perfectly controlled.
"Please sit down," she said, gesturing toward the couch with the pale blue sheet tossed over it to hide the tears. "Would you care for some iced tea? Pepsi? Lemonade?"
"Water would be fine."
Water. Leave it to him to ask for water, the one thing she hadn't offered. "Be right back."
Seconds later she returned with a glass of iced water. She wasn't about to give him a chance to go poking around in there alone.
"Here you go."
"Thank you." He took one sip then placed the glass on the coffee table in front of him. "Please sit, Graciela."
"I'd rather stand."
"I would feel more comfortable if you sat down while we talk."
That's exactly why I want to stand. She hesitated then sat on the arm of the chair across from him. Sam the Cat strolled into the room. Sam was very friendly by nature but she gave Simon Chase a wide berth. Smart cat, Gracie thought. There was nothing warm or comfortable about Noah's father. He was the stranger in her house yet he somehow made her feel as if she was the one who didn't belong.
She folded her hands on her lap so he wouldn't notice that she was trembling. "What is it you want to talk about?" It was almost three-thirty. She had a million things to do before she met Noah at the outskirts of town.
"You haven't had an easy life, have you, Graciela."
She frowned at him. "Is that a question?"
"Perhaps," he said, "but I would say it is a fact. Life hasn't been particularly kind to you."
"I have no complaints." Her throat felt tight. She had to force the words past her lips.
"No, you never did complain, did you. That's an admirable trait."
"My grandmother taught me how to stay focused."
He nodded. "Cordelia was a remarkable woman."
Gracie shifted position. "Is this going somewhere, Mr. Chase, because if not maybe we could—"
"I know about the wedding."
Simon's words hit her harder than her father's slap. Her world telescoped down to sound of those words. Everything else faded to black. It occurred to her that he might be bluffing, that he had a suspicion but nothing concrete, and he was simply trying to trick her into betraying her own secret.