“Shoot.”
“I’d rather you didn’t. Well, anyhow this probably doesn’t mean anything, but it’s been niggling in my mind.”
“What has?”
“Jen Stoddard asked me to find out for her about installing a burglar alarm system.”
“Good idea under the circumstances.”
“Right. Well, I contacted a couple of reliable companies, but as you know they’re not local. Let’s face it, there’s not much call for burglar alarms in a town like Bloomingvale. Anyhow, the earliest anyone can do the job is the beginning of next week.”
“And you let Jen know that?”
Rob hesitated at his end. “That’s the thing. I tried calling her this morning a bunch of times.”
“She’s probably out.”
“Yeah, but she should have at least answered her cell. I’ve done a lot of work for the lady and she’s very responsible. It’s not like her. Maybe it’s nothing, but with that creep Norris out on bail, I got to thinking maybe someone ought to check on her. I’m out on a job right now and can’t do it myself.”
“No problem. I can be over there in a few minutes.”
Grant got going. He left his destination information with the dispatcher and hurried out. Probably there would be nothing wrong when he got to the Pritchard house but his brother happened to be right. Point taken. Better safe than sorry as the old saying went.
Chapter Fifty-One
“I know you’re in that corner. I hear you breathing You can’t hide from me. I’ll shoot you if you don’t come out here.” He’d shoot her regardless. She was certain of it.
Jen didn’t speak. She held her grip tight on the sword.
“Get out here now!” He sounded demented, out of control.
Jen cringed and scrunched down further in her dark corner.
Norris let go of two more rounds. Neither one touched her. However, Jen knew it would be just a matter of time before he succeeded in shooting her.
“I’m right here,” she said, letting him hear her voice. “If you want me, you’ll have to come for me.”
She heard his heavy tread moving toward her corner. She thought her heart would surely burst. But with every bit of strength she possessed, using both hands, Jen slashed at Edward Norris. She must have caught his legs because he screamed.
She rose from her crouched position and moved swiftly toward the attic door. She heard him breathing hard right behind her.
“You’re dead!” he shouted.
She swallowed hard, expecting to be shot dead in a matter of seconds. But she kept moving.
“Stop! Drop that!” Jen did neither.
All of a sudden, the door burst open. Grant Coleman stood there, gun drawn.
“Slow and easy, Norris. Put your weapon on the floor and walk away. Then place your hands behind your head. Jen get over here by me.”
Norris tried to make a grab for Jen, reaching for her with his free hand. She had no intention of allowing that to happen. She brought down the blade of the sword on his hand. Norris shouted out his pain and then brought his gun around to shoot her. Jen cringed as a shot rang out. But Norris took a bullet, not her. The force of Grant’s gun blast caused Norris to lose his balance, stagger, and fall backward through the still open attic window.
“Are you all right?”
She dropped the sword and rushed into Grant’s arms. She found herself sobbing and shaking at the same time, and couldn’t control either reaction. Grant shushed her, held her tight, kissing her cheeks.
“He tried to kill me again. I can’t believe you came. You saved me.”
He rubbed her back in a soothing manner. “You really saved yourself. You’re an incredibly brave woman.”
Grant let go of her and walked over to the window. He looked down. “I’m fairly certain Norris is dead.”
Grant took her back in his arms and kissed her deeply, passionately. Jen returned his kiss with intense hunger and longing. His strong arms made her feel comforted, as if she’d finally and truly come home.
Jen phoned Maryann on the following day and told her what had happened. She found herself still reacting to the trauma. Her voice sounded thread even to her own ears.
“What a horror show. Are you okay?”
“Better now. I’m just so glad that it didn’t happen when Aaron was here.”
“Aaron was at school?”
“Yes. And when I called Maggie Higgins and explained, she picked the children up from school and brought Aaron to her house. She kept him there until everything was taken care of.”
“I wish I could have been there to help you.”
“I doubt there was much you could have done.”
“You’re really handling this well, Jen.”
“Thanks for saying that. Inside I’m still quivering like jelly. I forgot to ask how your interviews went.”
“I’m going to tell you all about it–in person.”
“You’re coming back here?”
“Don’t sound so surprised.”
“Of course I’m surprised. How could I not be? Is it because of what happened to me?”
“No, it’s not.”
“All right. But when are you returning?”
“I’ll let you know. It will be soon though.”
“Aaron will be thrilled. So will Rob.”
“I’m not certain how Rob is going to react. We’ll see about that.”
“Will you phone him?”
“We’ll see.”
Maryann ended the phone call, Clearly not wanting to say more to her for the time being.
Jen stared at the phone after her call from Maryann ended. The conversation had been a peculiar one. But Jen felt too fatigued to dwell upon it.
Jen looked at the time. Ten in the morning. She fixed herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table trying to sort out her thoughts and emotions. So much had happened to her since returning to town.
The doorbell rang. Jen jumped to her feet her nerves still jangling. She pulled back the curtain at one side of the glass windows that bordered the front entrance. Grant stood there and she immediately opened the door to allow him to enter.
“I hope I’m not disturbing you,” he said. “I just came by to make certain that you’re okay.”
“I am, more or less. Can I offer you a cup of coffee?”
“Sure.”
“I could bring it to you in the living room.”
“Kitchen’s fine for me.”
He followed her out. She was glad now that she’d brewed a pot, although she rarely drank more than one cup of coffee a day, if that, and so generally drank instant coffee. She poured him a cup and placed some of Aaron’s favorite chocolate chip cookies on a plate.
“Cream, milk, sugar?”
“Just black is fine.”
She sat down opposite him. “I’m glad you came by.”
“Are you?” He looked up at her, wrinkling his long forehead.
“Yes, very glad.”
He lifted a cookie and turned it around in his hand. “I want to ask you something that’s been bothering me.”
“Sure, anything.”
“You said that you forgave me. And I got annoyed. What exactly were you forgiving me for?”
Jen felt her face flush. “Of course, you wouldn’t know, wouldn’t even remember. I was foolish to say anything. I never meant to say a word about it.”
He broke the cookie in half. “Tell me. I want to know what you were talking about.” His eyes met hers. They were sharp and metallic now.
Jen looked away. “It’s silly really.”
“Tell me.” She sat down opposite him, pulling her hand away. “Fine. Back in high school we worked on that Shakespeare project together. You asked me out and I accepted. Then you stood me up.”
“I what?” He rose to his feet.
“You didn’t show up at my parents’ house that Saturday night. You didn’t call. You never even apologized. I guess you probably forgot you ever
asked me. You were so very popular, and I was just some nerd who had no real friends.”
He stared at her and then shook his head. “You’re talking about our senior year of high school?”
“Correct.”
“That is not at all what happened.”
“It isn’t?”
“No, it’s not.” He stood up abruptly practically knocking over his coffee cup.
Jen got to her feet, hands on her hips and faced him. “Why don’t you explain what happened then? I’d love to know. I felt crushed. I was crazy about you.”
“You were? I didn’t know that. I came to your house that night. I didn’t forget our date.”
Jen stared at him in bewilderment. “I don’t understand. My mother told me to wait in my room until she called me, that when you arrived, she’d let me know. I spent ages trying on different outfits. But my mother never called me to come downstairs. When I checked the time and discovered it was eight-thirty, a half hour later than you were expected, I did come down. My mother said you never arrived. I waited and waited in the living room. Finally, at ten o’clock, I went back to my room and spent the night crying.”
Grant reached out and pulled her into his arms. “Jen, I was there. In fact, I came early, before eight in the evening. I guess your mother had been waiting for me because I never even got to ring the doorbell. She came outside and spoke to me on your porch.”
“What did she say?”
“That you’d changed your mind. You didn’t want to go out with me. She said that you’d found out about my father being a drunk, that my mother worked as a cleaning lady for your grandmother, and you realized I was trash.”
Jen felt shocked. “She actually said those things to you?”
“They’re etched in my memory as if it were yesterday.”
Jen felt tears well up in her eyes. “You shouldn’t have believed her.”
“Your mother was very convincing.”
Jen took his face in her hands, reaching upward. “Please believe me when I say I never thought or expressed such terrible things. I thought that you rejected me. I understood it but still felt crushed.”
Grant placed his arms around her and held her close. “I felt the same way about you.”
“Can we start over again, please?”
“I’d like that very much.”
He kissed her and she kissed him back with all the love she now felt for him.
“I want to make love to you,” he whispered. “But it can wait until you’re feeling better.”
Chapter Fifty-Two
Maryann waited at the airport for Jen to pick her up. She glanced at her watch. The plane landed on time, but her friend must have been running late.
“Looking for somebody?” The familiar deep voice wasn’t the one she expected.
“Rob, what are you doing here?”
“Came to pick you up. Jen couldn’t make it. Aaron got sent home from school sick. She had to pick him up and take him over to the doc’s office.”
“I hope he’s all right.” She felt concerned. Aaron tended to be healthy and both she and Jen had taken that for granted.
“There’s something going around. I think the school nurse thought he needed a strep culture.”
“I’m sorry to have inconvenienced you like this.”
“Let’s get your stuff.” He didn’t comment when he saw all of her luggage. But as he loaded the bags into the back of his pick-up truck and frowned at her.
“Didn’t find a job?” His T-shirt clung to his glistening muscles.
“Actually, I was offered two very good positions.” She lifted her chin.
“Then why are you here?”
“I intend to discuss my change of plans with Jen first.”
“All right.” He gave her a curt nod.
Jen welcomed Maryann with open arms on the porch of her house. They hugged as Rob Coleman brought Maryann’s baggage up the stairs and into the house.
“How’s Aaron?”
“Better now. The doctor did a culture. In the meantime, I gave him some medicine for the fever and he’s resting upstairs. Several of the children in his class are also sick.”
“Jen, if it’s a problem for me to stay here right now, just let me know. I can stay at the inn or at a motel.”
“No problem at all, unless you mind being exposed to a sick child.”
“I think I had everything when I was little. I’m not worried about that.”
Rob joined them on the porch. “All your stuff’s in the front hall. I guess you’ll take it from there. I better get back on the job.” She noticed the scowl he turned on Maryann and wondered at it.
Jen hugged him. “Rob, thanks so much for your help and for being such a good friend.”
“Not a problem.” He turned to Maryann. “So I guess I’ll see you around.”
“I guess you will.”
Rob left without further comment. Maryann watched him leave, her expression thoughtful. Jen decided not to push her friend for information.
“So why don’t we get something to drink? Are you hungry? When did you eat last?”
“I’m okay. But I do have some things I want to talk over with you.”
“Sure, let’s go out to the kitchen and have some cold drinks.”
Jen fixed them both iced tea plus avocado and tomato sandwiches on whole grain bread.
“So what’s up? Why are you back here so soon? I thought you’d be busy in the city.”
“Jen, when I got back to the city, I had this sense of wrongness, like I didn’t belong there anymore. It was so weird. I thought it would pass. After all, I’d been out of town for a month. But then I went for the job interviews. The first job I interviewed for was with an ad agency. The position paid well but in return for slave labor. The second job where I interviewed and received an offer was at a pharma firm. I would have to travel two weeks out of every month. The woman I interviewed with explained what a great opportunity it was. All I could think of was that my whole life would be my job and they could let me go again whenever they chose to downsize or close down the department. I started wondering if there couldn’t be more to life than that.”
Jen listened thoughtfully to Maryann. “You were let go in spite of the fact you worked hard for the company and did a great job for them. You devoted your life to the corporation and your job. You gave them your complete loyalty and devotion, and so you felt betrayed and disillusioned. I understand.”
“Rob was the one who started me thinking, wondering if maybe I should make changes in my life. Anyway, I went to visit my parents. Do you know I hadn’t seen them since Christmas? I wouldn’t have even gone then but for the fact that you were visiting Bill’s parents so they could spend time with their grandson for the holidays, and I didn’t want to spend the holiday alone.”
“I’m certain your folks were happy to see you again.”
“I suppose.” Maryann took another sip of her drink. Her expression remained solemn.
“Jen, I asked them for money, not a gift though. I asked for a loan to be paid back with interest.”
Jen raised her dark auburn eyebrows. “Money to pay back your student loans?”
“Partly. I’ve been thinking about that empty shop between the bookstore and the bakery that you and I looked at.”
Jen smiled. “Funny, I’ve been thinking about it too.”
“I’ve been thinking it’s a good location for an antique shop.”
She brought her hand to her chin. “That’s an interesting idea.”
“I have enough money to rent and renovate the shop. I know you can’t sell anything in this house, but maybe we could put some of the interesting things on display, like that Victorian wedding dress.”
“Or the Civil War memorabilia I found.”
“Exactly. I was thinking we could take antiques on consignment. If they sell, we take a percentage. If they don’t sell, after a certain amount of time, we return that particular consignment to the owner. I woul
d handle the marketing and promotion end. We could work weekends together and change off hours during the week. What do you think? Admittedly, the plan’s a bit rough right now. You might have some suggestions.”
Jen rose to her feet. “I’m excited. I think it’s a wonderful idea. Do you still want to sell coffee?”
Maryann put her forefinger to her lips. “I thought about it. I wouldn’t want any coffee spills on valuable antiques or period costumes. I’m tempted to offer to manage the bakery if the Bigelows are serious about moving to Florida. I believe the display cases could be moved around so that there would be room to place tables and chairs by the front window. Coffee urns could be brought in and people would be able to enjoy pastries along with their beverages. Could be a good money-making proposition. Also, I think there are some possibilities for the bookstore, like making it have a friendlier, cozier place by placing comfortable chairs by the front windows.”
“But no food or beverages there?”
“No, none at all. Just attractive book and magazine displays. Maybe selling some tech stuff as well. I don’t have all of that worked out yet.”
“You’d consider managing three stores?” Jen shook her head. “You are ambitious.”
“Don’t forget hardworking.”
Jen laughed. “That too.”
“So what do you think?”
“I love it. I’ve been at loose ends here, not knowing what to do with myself when Aaron’s in school. I’d really love to work.”
“Well, you know I’d put all my efforts into it plus all the money my parents loaned me. But I would need to live here at least in the beginning. Would that be okay?”
“Of course,” Jen said. Her conscience troubled her. She realized Maryann ought to be told about the money she had found.
“Maryann, I located a note from my grandmother in her room. She had a wall safe. She left me a nice amount of cash in an envelope that I can now put into the business. So it’s not all going to be weighing on your shoulders. We can go in as equal partners in the antique business. We’ll read up on it too. I can’t think of anything more interesting.”
Maryann stood up and shook Jen’s hand. “Partners.”
“You bet.”
“We’ll roll the dice together,” Maryann said.
The Inheritance Page 19
