"Whose is?" He squeezed her hand. "Tell me what happened to her."
"Brianna didn't tell you?"
"Like I said, when she worked for me, she was happy. I guess she never felt the need to bring it up."
"I can't blame her for that," Kat said. "She was ten years old when it started. Our family life was crazy. Dad drank excessively. That's how our parents died, in a car accident. He was drunk. Our mother was always making excuses for him. They were pretty much occupied with each other, trying to make their marriage work." She shook her head. "No one knew."
"I take it Brianna was sexually abused."
"My mother's brother," she said. "It was so unlikely, too. He was a quiet man, married, never drank a stitch of liquor in his life. He'd come over to visit when our parents weren't home, and stupid me, I'd beg to go out with my friends while he was there. It was a way to get out of babysitting."
She paused with a heavy sigh, leaving Chance to wonder whether or not it was too painful for her to continue. "She tried to tell us, first Mom, then me, but we didn't believe her. Mom flew into a rage and called her a liar. I just blew it off and wouldn't listen. No one dared tell Dad."
"What happened after that? How did it end?"
"Will kept visiting, and with no family support Brianna couldn't stand up to him. She just accepted her fate. She withdrew into her own world, and no one ever noticed. So sad, so terribly sad."
"How long did it go on?"
"About seven years. That's what Brianna told me later, but I wasn't around to know for sure. The worse part was I left her home with the bastard, and then when I turned sixteen, I left home for good just to get away from it all."
"That's called survival, sweetheart," Chance said. "Where did you go when you left home?"
"I hooked up with an eighteen-year-old boy I'd known for about a minute. We hitched to Seattle, lived in fleabag hotels, panhandled on the street. It wasn't one of my finest hours." Tiger jumped up on her lap and kneaded her legs.
"She's showing you affection."
"I don't know why." She stroked the kitten's fur.
"Finish your story," he said.
"I ended up lying about my age and got jobs waitressing and cleaning hotel rooms. I knew how to type a little, so I joined a temp agency and worked in various offices until I landed a receptionist gig with a real estate firm. Maggie, my savior, thought I had potential. She mentored me and encouraged me to take the real estate exam. The rest is history." She laid her head on Chance's shoulder.
"That's one remarkable story of determination," he said. "I'm just sorry you had to go through the misery."
"All that misery makes me what I am today. Isn't that what they say?"
"We're all the product of our pasts."
"What about you? What's your story?"
He kissed the top of her head. "That, my dear, is best left alone. Why don't you come out to the ranch? This house holds too many memories, and for one night you can forget about the past."
She sat up and looked him in the eye. "I'm not ready for a relationship."
"Did I say anything about a relationship? All I'm offering you is my guest room."
As she rose, Tiger tumbled onto the rug. Chance grabbed hold of Kat's hand before she could walk away. "Come to the ranch with me."
"I'd rather stay here."
"Do you want me to stay here with you? I don't think you should be alone."
"I've got Tiger to keep me company."
"What if you get another phone call? Will you promise to call me no matter what time it is?" With an affirmative nod, she indicated she would, but he had his doubts.
Tiger meowed. Kat let her out and stood at the opened door. "I'd like to call it a night," she said matter-of-factly while averting her eyes.
She'd put up the walls, and he knew she regretted telling him her secrets. For a woman like Kat, vulnerability was a weakness. "You keep the leftovers. You might need them for Tiger. I'll get the Crock Pot later."
"Thank you for dinner."
He moved a stray hair from her face. The pain in her soul shined right through her eyes. "Come with me, Kat."
She kept the door open, and Tiger jetted inside. "Good night, Chance."
* * *
Kat leaned against the doorjamb until the roar of the truck's engine faded away. Why had she revealed so much about herself? And why had she misinterpreted his offer to stay in his guest room?
The man could be tender and caring. But in matters of the heart, Chance was an expert. When she was at her weakest, he tried to tempt her into going to his ranch, to his guest room. Guest room. Hah! He as much as admitted a relationship wasn't on his agenda. No, he didn't want a relationship. He wanted a one-night stand. He didn't say it, but it was as clear to her as newly polished glass.
She went into the bathroom to wash her face and said to her mirrored reflection, "You're doing better, Kat. You're not falling for every Tom, Dick, and Chance. You're going to get through this unscathed. Just stay strong." The warm water felt good trickling over her skin. She patted her face dry.
The instant her cell phone rang, she dropped the towel. She'd forgotten to turn her cell off. Determined to clamp it shut if she heard one heavy breath, she flipped it open and was relieved to hear Maggie's gravelly voice.
"I'm so glad it's you," Kat said.
"I tried to call your sister's number, but all I got was a busy signal."
"It's off the hook."
"And why? Phone problems?"
"I was getting calls on that phone."
"You mean those calls?"
"Yes, and I think the man is here in Rosswood."
"Are you sure?"
"No, but I found out Brianna was getting the same calls before she died. If he's the same pervert, I don't understand the connection."
"Maybe Brianna talked about you to someone she knew and spilled too much personal information," Maggie said. "That could be dangerous. I think you should come home and deal with it from here."
"Nothing bad is going to happen, Maggie. It's just annoying. I'm going to wrap this up in a few days, and if I don't find out who's doing this, I'll turn it over to the police. I promise."
"What do you mean, find out? How are you going to find out? I don't like the sound of that."
"Don't worry. I'm just asking around. I'll be careful, Maggie, I will," Kat said. "So, how is everything going without me?"
"Everything is fine, except your clients are all sad you're not here to hold their hands, especially your favorite client. It's a good thing I talked you into taking your personal cell phone instead of the one you do business on, or the man would be calling you every day."
"Thank God for small favors, but I won't be much longer."
"Are you getting rest?"
"Somewhat."
"I take it the visions are still with you."
"I'm afraid so."
"I want you to take your time and do what you have to do, but I have to say, I'd like you to get out of there as soon as you can and go on a real vacation."
"I'll be home soon."
After the call Kat made a point of shutting off the cell phone. She went looking for Tiger and found her in the living room curled up inside the box lid. The kitten lifted her head and stared sleepy-eyed at Kat before burrowing down again.
Once Kat was in bed, she tossed and turned, couldn't will herself to sleep. The heater was humming in the living room. When she got up to turn it off, she spotted the opened box.
Curious again, she sat and picked through the papers, which turned out to be Brianna's children's stories. One was about a bear, another about a princess. Kat read partway through the bear story, finding it cute and clever.
Buried under the remaining stories was a stack of rejection slips, most of them form letters with an occasional handwritten thank-you. The dates on the stories and letters were old, nothing in the last two years.
But Lenny Faulkes said she sent out manuscripts within the last two years of her
death. So did Chance. So where were the latest copies? Even if she'd stored them on her laptop, she had to have kept hard copies for herself, but she didn't have a printer. Lenny might know the answer to that. He seemed to be chummy with Brianna. He seemed to know a great deal about Brianna.
CHAPTER 15
With both phones out of service--Brianna's landline off the hook and Kat's cell phone shut off--and no midnight visions, Kat had a more restful night. For the first time in months, she felt hopeful she was nearing some semblance of closure.
As much as she hated to admit it, talking about her past and venting her tears had lightened her emotional load. She could thank Chance for that, but she wouldn't want him to know he'd played a significant role in her well-being. His ego was big enough already.
Sometime during the night Tiger had joined her on the bed and snuggled into the curve of her body. When Kat made a slight move, the kitten woke and arched her back, stretching and yawning.
Kat scooped her up and put her outside. Clouds had rolled in overnight, and the wind was building. The maple leaves, left on the branches, twirled in the breeze. After showering and dressing in jeans and another of Brianna's work shirts, she brought Tiger in. Kat was beginning to like the company.
She ponytailed her hair and left her face clean and natural. It was a relief not wearing makeup. There was no one in Rosswood she cared to impress. For a fleeting moment she thought of Chance.
She washed dishes and cleaned the Crock Pot. Returning it meant her connection to him would continue, at least for one more day.
Tiger pawed the cupboard door, begging for pieces of the meat Kat was cutting up from last night's supper. Kat tossed her a few morsels. The kitten tackled the scraps with zeal. Kat ate a slice herself, preferring as usual to grab breakfast on the run.
The three boxes were already filled and it hadn't made a dent in Brianna's belongings; Kat totally had miscalculated the enormity of this project. She would need several more boxes, a thrift store to haul them to, since there was none in Rosswood, and a truck. If Benton had a thrift store, that would solve one problem. Chance had a truck, but that would necessitate complicating their friendship. She didn't want to be beholden to him.
An alternative would be to rent a U-haul, hire someone to drive it to Seattle, and deal with Brianna's stuff later. No, she would deal with it now. She wanted absolute closure.
Tiger objected to being placed outdoors again by meowing and squirming in Kat's arms, giving Kat mixed feelings about leaving the kitten again. Before, she'd hoped Tiger would scamper off and find another home, but now she wasn't so sure. With no satisfactory choice, she set the kitten's bowls near the entrance to the house and drove toward town.
Up ahead on Randall Road, she saw the blue jacket flared by the wind and the frizzy hair ready to take flight. She slowed alongside Tilly and rolled down the window. "Can I give you a lift?" Tilly increased her stride, and Kat inched alongside her, causing another vehicle to careen around the SUV. "I won't hurt you. You don't even have to talk. I'll just drop you off wherever you want to go." But she hoped the girl would volunteer something about Brianna.
Tilly stopped walking, and Kat hit the brakes. The girl climbed inside and shrank against the door as far away from Kat as possible.
Kat checked the rearview mirror. No cars were behind her, so she crept along, giving her more time with the girl. "I've been cleaning out Brianna's closet." She glanced at Tilly to get her reaction, but Tilly just stared out the window.
"You know, you're about Brianna's size. If you want any of her clothes, you can come by the house and pick out what you want. You said you were Brianna's friend. I'm sure she would want you to have them." Tilly shifted a little away from the door, but wouldn't answer or look at Kat.
The turn onto Center Street was coming up, and Kat wanted to know more about Tim Holmes. "You said Tim wasn't Brianna's friend." She didn't reply, and as soon as Kat swung onto Center, she squeezed the door handle, forcing Kat to come to an abrupt halt. Tilly sprang from the car and ran across the street to the café.
That went well. Kat hoped for another opportunity with Tilly but for now continued through town to the post office. It had that same stuffy, closed-up smell about it, and Kat wondered why they never opened the door once in a while just to air it out.
Lenny Faulkes had his back to her. By the sound of envelopes hitting the sides of the postal boxes, someone was slipping mail into the slots. Kat was the only customer.
The bulletin board was covered with the same ads she'd seen before, but hers was gone. She walked up to the counter and cleared her throat to get Lenny's attention.
Lenny swung around. "May I help you?" His face was twisted in agony while he fidgeted with an envelope, turning it from one end to the other.
"I came in to take my ad off the bulletin board," she said, "but I see it's already been removed."
"Oh, y-yes," he stammered. "Tim Holmes told me he got Brianna's car, so I took it down. I didn't think you'd want it left up."
"Thanks. I didn't."
His pitiful, hopeless expression made her uncomfortable. He wasn't the jovial, overly-friendly postman she'd met earlier. The door opened behind her, but Kat kept her attention on Lenny. She showed him the paper with the phone number printed on it. "I'm curious. I wondered if you recognized this number."
He fumbled for the glasses that hung from a cord around his neck, but before he could set them in place to take a look, a thickset woman with unkempt cropped hair came out from behind the postal boxes, marched up to the counter, and peered over Lenny's shoulder. "Why are you asking about this number?" she said, her eyes lasering into Kat.
"I've been getting unwanted calls on my cell phone, and that was the number displayed. I'm trying to find out who the prankster is. Probably a teenager with nothing better to do. Probably nothing to it."
"Maybe you should let the sheriff handle it," Clare said. "Right, Lenny?"
Lenny's jaw twitched, but he was alarmingly quiet.
"That's what I'll do if it keeps up," Kat said.
Clare grunted while reaching under the counter for her purse. On her way out she gave Kat a condescending glance.
When the door closed, Lenny's sigh was as loud as the sound of a balloon deflating, and all the molecules in the room felt as if they were moving again. His face looked ten years younger, but he wasn't smiling. He shoved the paper toward Kat. "Uh-uh. Never saw this."
Then all she could smell was the overpowering odor of stale tobacco. She glanced to the left and jerked from the closeness of Doug Jones.
The warmth of his breath grazed her neck as he leaned on the counter with one hand and extended an arm over her shoulder, embracing her in a cocoon, while tossing an envelope at Lenny. "This here was in my box. It doesn't belong to me."
He shifted positions, and Kat stepped out of his web. "Cops won't do you no good, sweetheart. You just give me the word, and I'll be your bodyguard." He breathed deeply into her hair, and she stepped farther away. "You sure do smell good. Is that coconut I smell? I love coconut. Reminds me of palm trees and naked ladies." He touched her hair along the side of her face before strutting out the door.
"He's a nasty, nasty man," Lenny said.
"Does he bother all the women in town?"
"Just the pretty ones," Lenny cooed, his smile returning.
"Listen, Lenny, I found some stories Brianna wrote, but there's no printer at the house. I wondered where she did her printing. Do you know?"
"As a matter of fact, Kaaat, I let her use the one here. Not on government time, of course. She'd come into the post office before closing time, and I'd let her make whatever copies she needed. She brought her own paper. She was very good about that."
"Well, that solves that mystery," Kat said. "I'm sure it was a lot more convenient for her to come here than to travel all the way to Benton."
"I tried to help her as much as I could. Yes, I did. She was such a sweet, sweet girl." His eyes had taken on a dreamy glo
w, and he was shifting into his maudlin mood--a good time to leave.
"Any mail for me today?"
"None so far, but if you get something, I can deliver it."
"That won't be necessary."
"Really, Kaaat, I don't mind."
"I'll just pick it up here." Kat gladly left Lenny muttering to himself.
On her way down the sidewalk Tim Holmes strode toward her and blocked her path. "If it isn't the lady with all the questions."
He sounded as if he were ready for a fight, more confident than he was before, but Kat was in no mood to deal with another disagreeable man. She tried to move around him, but he sidestepped along with her.
"My dad said you've been asking questions about me. Something about phone calls to Brianna? I didn't bother her after we split. She came after me. So, if you have any more questions, ask me, not my dad."
"Fine. I do have one question." She thrust the paper with the mysterious phone number at him. "Does this number belong to you?"
He gave the paper a passing glance and bumped shoulders with her before continuing up the post office steps and disappearing inside. Her upbeat attitude flitted away, replaced by an eagerness to leave Rosswood. She drove to the general store, anxious to get more boxes, so she could finish her job here.
When she entered the store, Hank glanced up from a magazine he was reading. Considering their opposing viewpoints on the development project, she couldn't discern whether or not to make idle conversation. If she had one more incident with a disgruntled man, she couldn't be held accountable for her actions.
She looked him dead in the eye, daring him to make one unpleasant comment, but he simply nodded and smiled. She'd gauged him right. He was the type who had to have his say but didn't seem to hold a grudge.
The chatter of women's voices drifted up from dry goods. A man was whistling near the dairy section.
She found a bag of cat food on the far left aisle near the empty boxes, two of which she hauled to the front of the store. She laid the bag on the counter.
"Got yourself a cat, do you?"
Rose from the Grave Page 11
