by Vikki Walton
They’d reached the field, when Christie heard a sound. Barking. She slammed on the brakes and turned off the vehicle. It was the boys. She slid down out of the cab and went around to open her dad’s side. He whistled, but the barking only intensified.
“We got to hurry. They’re trying to get us to come.” He moved quickly toward the yapping.
As Christie and Pop made their way along the overgrown dirt track, Mutt came bounding up to meet them. He licked their hands and danced around excitedly. But no Jeffrey.
“I hope he hasn’t got bitten by a rattler,” Pop said.
“Eek. I hope not, too.” Christie, who had come out in her flip flops, surveyed the ground in front of her as she walked.
“What the…” Pop upped his pace.
Christie saw Jeffrey. The chocolate lab lay next to what looked to be a pile of clothes. She quickly realized it was a person and broke into a jog. It was Curtis.
The man was unconscious but alive. She looked down at his feet. One was at an awkward angle. “Pop, it looks like he’s broken his ankle. Is there any signal out here?”
Curtis moaned. Christie reached down and felt his wrist. His skin felt cold and clammy. “Pop, do you have any water in the truck?”
“I do, but it’s warm.”
“That’s okay. Can you get it for me?”
While Pop went to gather the water, Christie assessed Curtis. His pulse was weak but steady. “Curtis, can you hear me?”
He moaned.
“It’s okay. We’re going to get you help.” She took the water Pop handed her, poured some on a clean handkerchief of her father’s, and used it to wipe his face and hairline where blood had collected. He must have hit his head when he stumbled into that hole; possibly a fox or rabbit den. Hopefully, he didn’t have a concussion too, but he had a nasty gash on his forehead and a big knot on his head.
“Pop, can you pull the blanket out from behind the cab? I’m going to put him in the back of the truck. You’ll need to drive.”
“Shouldn’t we get help?”
“Yes. But by the time we get back to the house and call someone, we’ve wasted precious minutes. He’s already in a state of shock. We need to get him help quickly.”
She spoke softly to the man. “Curtis, I’m going to pick you up, and we’re going to put you in the truck. I’ll try to be as gentle as I can. Are you able to squeeze my hand?”
He answered with a weak squeeze.
“That’s good. Now if you feel pain, you squeeze my hand or arm, okay?”
She laid out the blanket in the bed of the truck. “Okay, Pop. Go ahead and get in the truck and back it over until I stop you. Then, I’ll get him in the back.”
“You ain’t gonna be able to lift him up in that bed.”
Christie smiled. “Pop, I’ve helped people who weigh more than two hundred pounds during my career. Taking a one-hundred-fifty-pound, soaking wet, old man less than a yard won’t be an issue.”
Pop got in the truck and backed it into the grass until Christie held up her hand.
“Now this is the hard part, Curtis. You ready?” She’d torn up part of her tee-shirt and made sure his leg was secure. Gingerly, she moved him until she was able to get his arm around her back and hers around his waist. “On three. One, two…” She hoisted him up in one quick motion. Christie grunted as she moved him toward the truck. Carefully, she laid him on the blanket and climbed in with him. Jeffrey hopped into the bed with her and licked her face.
She hugged the chocolate lab’s neck. “Yes, good boy.” She rubbed his head, his tongue lolling. Mutt barked and jumped up into the bed with them. “You, too.”
She hit the side of the truck and Pop eased the truck forward and back onto the main track.
As Christie held the man’s hand, she looked back at the scene. Yes, it could have been a hole she hadn’t seen the other day, but she would have definitely seen that pile of rocks as big as a cairn. Maybe Curtis was coming out to fix the fence. But she hadn’t seen tools or his truck. He could have brought the rocks out earlier, but they were in a weird place. And an awfully convenient one if someone tripped and fell. In fact, the large pile of rocks could have made a very convenient way to harm or even, murder someone and make it look like an accident. If she hadn’t have seen that there were no rocks there before, and Curtis had died, no one would be the wiser.
It turned out Curtis had a concussion and surgery would be needed to stabilize his ankle. He would be in the hospital for a while. He had also been severely dehydrated, and the doctor took Christie aside and told her that they had saved his life. After they saw Curtis in the hospital, they drove back home where a Webster truck idled in front of the house.
“Ugh. This people keep showing up like the plague.” Christie moaned, but as they pulled closer, a man got out of his truck.
Cole waited while Christie pulled their vehicle under the shade of the oaks and turned off the ignition. She didn’t know if she had the mental or emotional capacity to deal with Cole or anything to do with the Websters right now, but she steadied herself and stepped from the truck. After helping her father out, the old man walked over and shook Cole’s hand.
“How you are doing, son?”
“Doing well, sir. Sorry to hear about Curtis.”
Pop nodded his head and patted Cole on the shoulder. “I’m gonna go on inside. Christie will help you.”
He shuffled up the steps and into the house. Christie and Cole watched him until the door shut behind him.
“How’s your dad doing?” Cole asked.
“Let’s see.” She ticked off with her fingers. “One, you all keep trying to get him to sell the land we’ve had in our family for generations. Two, he was hurt badly— almost killed—again by one of you. Three, one of your people died on our property, and they’ve as much as accused us as being involved somehow. And finally, his friend almost died this morning and may have if we hadn’t found him.”
Cole held his hands up. “Whoa. I have nothing to do with any of those things.”
“Yes, but I bet you’re here on behalf of the Websters again.”
“Okay. I get that you’re upset. I would be, too, in your shoes. But don’t shoot the messenger.” He stuck one thumb in his jeans. “But I’m not here for that. I wanted to speak with you.”
“I’ve got to go check on the mare and her foal. If you want, you can walk with me.”
He nodded.
They walked in silence until they came to the stables. Christie topped off the water tank, and they watched as the foal emulated the mare by trotting around the corral.
“Christie”
“Cole.”
They broke out in unison.
“You go first.” He motioned.
Christie leaned back, her hands on the fence post. “You came here, so what do you want to talk to me about?”
“I wanted to apologize for how I behaved the other day. I was out of line. When I heard the news about Hector, it really upset me, and you were the first person I saw. That’s not an excuse. I just goofed.”
“Okay. Apology accepted.”
Certainly, better than Kimberly’s fake attempt.
She started walking toward the creek and the shade of the Cyprus trees. Once they were in the shade, she turned to Cole. “Are you involved with trying to get Curtis’s place?”
“I work for the Websters, so in that case, then, yeah.”
“Let me see your hands.” Christie gestured.
Cole held out his hands. The simple gold band on his left hand stood out. “What?”
“I just wanted to see how dirty they are.”
“Oh, funny. Ha. Ha.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Look, people may not like developers and real estate people, but they don’t complain when they’re visiting their new favorite restaurant, shopping at a trendy store, or enjoying the view from their new patio.”
Christie huffed. “I understand that. But how about focusing on in-fill. Quit trying to buy up un
spoiled land from people who don’t want to sell.”
“Can we change the subject?”
“Okay. What do you want to talk about?”
He kicked a clod of dirt with his cowboy boot. “I’m really thinking about Hector’s death. Something seems off.”
She faced him. “In what way?”
“Hector was closing in on a pretty big deal. He told me it would allow him to start his own company. Now they won’t have to pay him the commission.” He bent down and picked up some rocks.
“But what about his estate? He has to have family somewhere.”
Cole tossed a rock into the creek. It sunk and ripples shown on the surface of the water. “I’m sure. But it’s not like they’re going to spend time, effort, or—”
“Money,” Christie finished his sentence.
“Yes, money on finding them.” He picked up another rock.
Christie crossed her arms. “So, they’ll keep it until someone comes looking for it.”
“Which, they never will.” He skipped a rock across the surface of the water.
Christie made a face. “And yet, you work for these people, who pretty much took everything and gave it away before he was even cold in the ground.”
“It’s a long story.”
“I’ll bet.”
He shifted and looked at her. “You never told me what you wanted to say.”
Christie turned toward the creek and watched as the water gurgled over tree roots and rocks. “I just wanted to let you know that, even though I held a grudge for a long time, I’m over that now. I hope we can be on better terms from this moment on.” She faced him. “Friends again.”
His brow tightened, and he frowned. “If anyone should hold a grudge from back then, it should be me.”
“Whatever for?”
“You never showing up!”
“What do you mean? I’m the one who waited for you!”
Kimberly.
For all these years, she’d thought Cole had rejected her, and he thought she’d rejected him.
“Oh, geez. She played us like a violin.” Christie walked over and sat on a large trunk.
Cole followed.
He reached over and took Christie’s hand. “I never would have hurt you. You should know that.”
She pulled her hand away as a noise caught her attention. “Did you hear that?”
“No. I didn’t hear anything. Christie, I’m sorry. If I would have known—”
“But you still ended up marrying her. Why, Cole? What do…did…you see in her?”
“It’s complicated. When I thought you’d dumped me, Kimberly came in and worked her charm on me. By the time I realized what kind of manipulator she was, she already had her hooks in me. You know that snake in Jungle Book with the mesmerizing eyes?” He rolled his eyes and made a goofy face, causing Christie to break out in laughter.
“You’re such a goof,” she chuckled. “Continue.”
“It wasn’t too long after that, she announced our engagement. I hadn’t even asked her, but I just got swept up in it. Her daddy was going to help pay for my schooling and help me get started in my business. My parents were over the moon with Kimberly. She could do no wrong in their eyes. So we got married. Everything was fine for a while, but I wasn’t making good money, and she was always going to her dad for more money. More wants, more pressure to do more, be more. She’s all about how things look to the outside world.” He stopped for a moment. “I take that back. How she looks to the outside world.”
“Cole, why are you telling me this? She’s your wife, and I have to say, you’re not speaking very highly of her.”
He took his cap off and put it on his knee. “You’re right. I shouldn’t. But I need to talk to someone. For so many years, you were that someone. You never judged me. Just listened. Our friendship was…is…something I treasure.” He brushed his eyebrows with his fingers and placed his cap back on his head. “Truth is, I would leave now if I could. I know if I even think about it, bad things happen.”
“What do you mean?”
“Not long after we were married, I said I’d had enough, I was leaving. But she found out she was pregnant with twins. I said I’d work on our marriage and we went to counseling in San Antonio, where no one would know us. During that time, she made out as this totally different person. She manipulated the counselor like she’d done with me. Waste of time. Then, she went to her daddy and asked him to foot the bill for a house she wanted built. He’d finally had enough. He put his foot down.” Cole stroked the stubble on his chin. “You know that old saying, ‘hell hath no fury?’ That’s Kimberly when she doesn’t get what she wants.”
“So, she had to accept she wasn’t going to get the house of her dreams?”
He launched back and roared with laughter. “You don’t know her. What Kimberly wants; Kimberly gets. It was winter, and everyone got sick, but her dad got really sick. Ended up in the hospital. A few days after they released him, he died.”
Chapter Eleven
Christie slapped a mosquito. “Oh, that’s terrible. What was the cause of death?”
“Complications from flu.” He stretched out his legs and crossed his ankles.
“Sad. How old was he?”
“Fifty-one, two. Somewhere in there.”
“Was his wife with him when he died?”
“No. His wife died years earlier in a car accident. He never remarried. But Kimberly was with him in those last days, caring for him.”
Christie was silent. So, Kimberly had been with him when he died, and she ended up as the sole beneficiary. She finally spoke, “I gather she got her house.”
“Oh, yeah. Now that the girls are grown, we live in a five-thousand square foot house. We sleep in separate bedrooms and live our lives apart. As long as we keep up appearances to the outside world, she doesn’t care.”
Which makes an affair with Hector all the more likely.
“I’m sorry, Cole. I know it can be tough. I think divorce must be horrible to go through, but why didn’t you leave when the girls were a bit older?”
“I tried. Trust me. But then, they became sick. Doctor visits all the time. Tests. Trying to figure out what was wrong with them. It drained me from focusing on anything but them. For Kimberly, it energized her. She received tons of sympathy, and she ate it up.”
Christie repositioned herself and leaned back on the tree trunk. “You don’t think she had…never mind.”
“What?” He motioned for her to continue. “What were you going to say? That she played a part in their illnesses?”
“I’m just wondering if maybe she had Munchausen By Proxy. Because you said caring for the girls energized her, and the doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong, but she got lots of sympathy from other mothers, and thus, attention she craved.”
“I’ve often wondered about it. Especially since—”
“Since what?”
“They left home. There’s this exclusive boarding school in Colorado with a great equestrian program, so we sent them up there for their education. As soon as they arrived, no more problems and they thrived.”
“So, they’re at the school now?”
“No. That was years ago. They both live elsewhere. We rarely see them now. They’re always too busy to come home for holidays and visits.”
Or maybe they knew how toxic their mother was. Christie’s heart ached for Cole. He’d been through so much.
He stood up. “I probably shouldn’t have shared all this. I’m just at my wit’s end.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her up to a standing position. They locked eyes. He leaned in toward her.
“What are you doing? You’re married.” Christie sprang back.
“I’m sorry.” Cole dropped her hand. “I thought—”
“You thought wrong. I don’t know what signal you thought you were getting, but I don’t kiss married men.”
“I said I was sorry.” He huffed.
She strode back toward the stables.
He caught up with her. “I mean it, Christie. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“Seems like you weren’t thinking. First, you tell me a sob story about your life, how horrible Kimberly is, then you have the audacity to make a pass at me?” She kept walking.
He caught her arm. “Christie—”
“Remove your hand.” He dropped it.
As they reached the house, she turned to him. “I think we should only see each other in a professional capacity from now on. Please call before coming out here.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.” She crossed her arms and stood next to the porch as he clamored into his truck and roared off down the road.
What a fool, Christie.
All the time she felt sorry for him, he was trying to put blame on Kimberly and to cause Christie to question her motives. He even went along with her when she brought up the Munchausen By Proxy. Maybe her father had died from the flu and she’d cared for him during that time.
You know, Cole, when you keep pointing the finger at someone else, three fingers point back at you. Why are you so intent on pushing suspicion onto Kimberly?
She gasped. What if Cole knew that Kimberly was having an affair with Hector, and he killed him but wants to throw suspicion on Kimberly? She needed to get those bottles.
She rang Cole’s phone number.
He answered. “Yes?”
“Cole, what happened to the stuff at Hector’s?”
“It was given away, and his personal items were put in storage. Why?”
“I mean, the contents of his kitchen, like the refrigerator?”
“I threw them all in the bins in the back. Why are you asking?”
“Nothing.” Christie hung up the phone. It had been Cole who had removed the bottles. Not the Websters. But had he done it on his own, or had Emma or Tyler Webster ordered him to do it? What was worse, Cole now knew she wanted those bottles.
That was a dumb mistake, Christie.
Now to get with Trish and see when they could get those bottles. They couldn’t wait.
By the time the pair arrived back at Hector’s, the trash cans had been emptied.
“Great.” Christie looked around for any place that could hold other bags of trash. “I thought you said the trash doesn’t come until after tomorrow?”
