Page 27 of Dangerous December (Northern Pines Suspense #8)

The mid-November sun was bright and cold as Beth walked out of church on Sunday morning, the wind brisk enough to kick up last night’s dusting of snow into icy swirls that bit at her ankles.

The usual clusters of folks chatting outside the church dispersed in a flurry of farewells as everyone hurried to their vehicles.

Ahead, halfway across the parking lot, Beth saw Elana walking slowly, accommodating Cody’s weak leg. She hurried to catch up.

“Can we talk for a minute?”

Elana’s eyes filled with uncertainty. She turned to shoo Cody into the car and shut his door, then moved to the back bumper. “Is—is it about this car? If it isn’t okay for me to use it, I understand. I will bring it back right away.”

“Goodness—of course it’s all right. It was just sitting at Sloane House, anyway. On a day like this, you wouldn’t want to hike a long way to church.”

Through the back window, she could see Cody putting on headphones attached to a video screen. “It’s about what you said about planning to move out.”

Elana nervously fingered the keys in her hand. “I...we can make it. It’s okay.”

“Is this about Roberto? Have you heard from him?”

Elana hunched into her thin coat. “No.”

“Someone else?”

“I should be independent. A good example for my son, who will need to stand on his own two feet someday and not be afraid.”

“If someone is facing a threat, there’s no shame in being afraid. It’s wise to take every precaution. If not just for yourself, then for Cody. What would it do to him if he saw you being hurt? Or if he was hurt, and you couldn’t protect him?”

Elana bowed her head.

“Promise me that you’ll stay at least until your classes start. By then you’ll have some savings, plus money for the security payment and first month’s rent on an apartment. You’ll know about your financial aid, and not have to worry.”

“I-I think we should go.”

Beth took a deep breath. “Stay for Cody’s sake, if not your own. At Sloane House, you have a found family around you. People who care.”

Long seconds ticked by before Elana finally lifted her head. “We’ll stay.”

Checking in on Frank had become the pivotal point in his days, Dev realized as he stepped off the elevator and sauntered down the corridor to the familiar hospital room.

A man who’d started out as a stranger, an unwanted responsibility, had firmly settled in Dev’s heart, like the father he’d always wanted.

Nonjudgmental, undemanding, with his wry wit and piercing assessments, Frank was the kind of guy Dev hoped he would be if he reached a grandfatherly age.

He certainly didn’t want to end up like his temperamental old man.

At Frank’s open door, Dev knocked lightly before stepping inside and setting a copy of the Wall Street Journal on the bedside table. “How are you doing? Ready to take on the world?”

“Better.”

Though he must have been up for a shower, shave, and breakfast earlier, Frank was lying back against the elevated head of the bed with the covers pulled up to his shoulders, and his usual tangle of IV lines snaking up to the fat, clear bags of fluid hanging by his bed.

He looked exhausted, his skin pale and sagging in folds on his face and neck.

Dev settled a hip on the broad windowsill and unzipped his jacket. “So what’s happening? Did they make you run a marathon this morning?”

“Physical therapy and occupational therapy starting at seven-thirty in the morning,” he grumbled, though there was still an irrepressible sparkle in his pale blue eyes. “And the vampire woman came by at four, wanting her daily vial of blood.”

Dev laughed. “They don’t want you to enjoy this place too much, so you’ll get well and go home.”

“They’re doing a fine job of it. Thanks for the newspaper, by the way.”

“We finally had our first monthly meeting at Sloane House. Everyone wished you were there.”

That earned a half smile.

“Let’s see.... Elana has been accepted at the community college, but hasn’t received the news about her financial aid package yet. She’s talking about wanting her own place, though.”

“Good for her. She’s a fine mama to that little boy of hers.”

“Beth is going to help Carl work on his long-term disability benefits this week.”

“Carl suffers more than a body should. He deserves those benefits, and more.”

“Let’s see. Who’s left...” Dev grinned at him. “Reva. I understand a friend wants her to move to Michigan, and her cousin wants her to move to Florida, because they each have businesses she could manage.”

Frank stilled. “Is she leaving?”

“The oddest thing...she wants to stay right here in Agate Creek, so she’s starting to look harder for a job. Now, why would she want to do that?”

The sudden tension in Frank’s shoulders eased. “I have no idea.”

“She’s one classy lady, Frank. How long have you two known each other?”

“We haven’t. Well, not really. She was married of course, until her husband died last year. I was just a teacher and never traveled in their social circle. But... I’d always admired her. Lovely woman, so smart.”

“That she is.”

“I hardly dare talk to her at the boarding house. What would she want with an old, gray-haired, unemployed schoolteacher? But since the accident, she comes to see me every day and we have long talks.”

“That’s good, right?”

Frank’s smile turned rueful. “Now I see what I’ve missed all these years, by not settling down. Companionship is a wonderful thing. Too bad I had to just about kill myself to find that out.”

Dev glanced at his watch and stood. “I’d better be going. I’m short a right-hand man at the moment, and I have some shipments coming in.”

Frank beckoned to him as he started for the door. “Just one thing.”

Dev dutifully returned to Frank’s bedside and rested his hands on the upraised side rail.

“An active duty Marine who’s always gone to battle somewhere in the Middle East and a quiet retired high school teacher like me may not seem further apart. You probably don’t think you and I are much alike.”

A brief smile lifted the corner of Frank’s mouth.

“But in some ways, we are. I was a loner—guess I still am, mostly. I’m independent, sort of stubborn.

I look back and remember a pretty little gal I liked a lot—but I let her slip through my fingers.

Maybe I could have had kids and grandkids by now. A real family.

“And then I look at you and Beth, and I see sparks there. But neither of you is paying attention, so you’re going to lose out on something good. You’re going to end up like me, son, if you’re not careful. Lonely every single day.”

The tourist crowds had thinned after the Harvest Festival during the last weekend of October, leaving the town to the locals once more.

Come Thanksgiving, the holiday weekenders would start flooding back for the festive Victorian Christmas decorations, overflowing gift shops, and the quaint little restaurants and B&Bs tucked into the surrounding hills.

Beth smiled to herself as she stepped outside for a brisk, early-morning walk through town before opening her bookstore for the day.

With Thanksgiving less than a week away, the rhythmic jangling of harness bells and clopping of Clydesdale hooves would soon be echoing through town on the weekends, as the massive horses pulled brightly painted wagons with bench seats and roofs decorated in twinkling Christmas lights.

Agate Creek’s equine version of shuttle buses to and from the parking lots at the edge of town always charmed her, year after year.

She paused in front of the empty sandstone block building next to the bookstore and looked up at the mullioned windows set deep in the casements.

The building had such potential.

Seeing it never failed to spur little daydreams about how it could become a focal point for the entire community if it ended up in the right hands—like hers.

At the sound of footsteps, she saw Dev sauntering down the sidewalk toward her. “Did you go see Frank this morning?

He nodded. “He’s doing well, though he’s really anxious to be released.”

“I don’t blame him a bit. How long were you in Walter Reed?”

“Way too long.” He followed her gaze. “All of these buildings are so unique. They look like they’ll stand for another hundred years.”

She smiled at his abrupt, obvious change of topic. “I’d been saving for a down payment to buy this one, but it was never for sale. And now it will soon be yours. Any idea what you’ll want to do with it, if we manage to meet the stipulations of your mother’s will? Will you sell it? Lease it?”

“I haven’t thought that far ahead, but I definitely won’t tear down the buildings on this block.” He leaned back to look at the fortress-like roofline. “Why would you want it? To expand your bookstore?”

“I’ve always been afraid that someone might buy it and let it fall to ruin, or tear it down and put in something new and ugly.

It has wonderful old high, pressed-tin ceilings and hardwood floors, and I suppose it could be a trendy setting for some yuppie bar, but I think the main floor would be lovely as a gift shop and a nice venue for parties, a wedding chapel, or perhaps a photographer’s studio.

The upstairs would be perfect for a youth center.

Our town doesn’t have anything like that, and we need a good, safe place around here for the kids. ”

A bright red BMW pulled up in front of the law offices on the other side of the street. Nora Henderson climbed out with a briefcase in her hand, her trim, black skirt suit and severely combed chignon suggesting that she would be in court today.

She smiled, waved, then looked both ways and crossed the street to join them, her high heels smartly clicking on the asphalt. “I got the report you e-mailed last night. Thanks.”

“One month down and five to go,” Beth said. “I think things are going pretty well.”

“I also got a fax from Stan Murdock.”

Dev snorted. “I’m sure he’s rubbing his hands in anticipation, waiting for us to fail.”