As Good as Dead (13 page)

He rammed into her hard and fast She cried out.

"It is you, Dinah," he said. "I thought it was, but now I'm sure."

Sheer panic encompassed her. This guy was freaking nuts.

"Let me go. I don't want-"

He covered her mouth with his hand. "Don't talk."

She murmured her pleas against his open palm, then tried to bite his hand.

"Why are you fighting me? You want this as much as I do," he said. "You love playing our little game. If you didn't, you wouldn't keep coming back from the dead."

Becky screamed inside her mind. This couldn't be happening. It had to be a horrible dream. She was too young to die.

Don't kill me
, she pleaded silently.
Please, don't kill me. Oh, God in heaven, help me!

Reve smiled and nodded and replied with yes or no to anything the others asked, but she focused on the room itself. She had noted earlier today that Genny Madoc's home was filled with antiques. Every room she had seen evoked images of a bygone era. Some of the furniture was museum quality and would sell for a small fortune. When she inquired about the age of the farmhouse itself this afternoon, Genny had told her that it was well over a hundred years old, built by her great-grandfather, and had replaced an old log cabin constructed by a distant ancestor in the nineteenth century.

A glowing fire shimmered in the large fireplace, the blaze reflected in the glass chim-neys of the two oil lamps flanking the sofa. The old, wide plank flooring glistened from the patina of numerous waxings and the wood-paneled, wainscoted walls gleamed with the richness of aged pine. This room-this entire house-expressed a quality and charm no interior decorator could ever reproduce. It possessed warmth and comfort, proclaiming the character of the people who lived here and the generations who had come before. This structure was a home, not merely a house.

Suddenly Reve felt terribly alone, more so than she'd ever felt in her parents' elegant Lookout Mountain mansion, now that she was the sole occupant. And when she heard Jazzy and Caleb laughing at something Dallas had said, she envied how comfortable they were around one another. Friends who had no hidden agendas. Friends who simply enjoyed being together.

And as if she wasn't feeling bad enough at that particular moment, she felt even worse when she saw Jacob following Genny into the living room. Reve groaned. She had hoped he'd already left. Apparently not. Genny must have persuaded him to stay, despite his rush to leave. It had been embarrassingly obvious to everyone that she-the outsider-was the reason he hadn't wanted to stay for a visit with family and friends.

Genny smiled at Reve as she joined the others, but Jacob avoided looking at her as he made his way across the room to stand near the fireplace. Noting the sullen expression on his face, she surmised that he didn't want to be in her company anymore than she wanted to be in his. So why was Genny forcing the issue? Why hadn't she let him leave when he'd wanted to go?

"Dallas, help me get the wine," Genny said.

Her husband followed her to the large cupboard on the far side of the room. Genny opened the double glass doors and removed six wine glasses. Austrian crystal, unless Re-ve missed her guess. Dallas lifted a glass jug, removed the cork and poured the homema-de wine into the glasses, then picked up two and brought one to her and handed Jazzy the other.

Once everyone had a glass, Dallas lifted his and said, "Here's to Jazzy and Caleb. May their upcoming marriage bring them as much happiness as Genny and I have found in ours."

"I'll definitely drink to that," Caleb said.

"That was very sweet, Dallas," Jazzy told him. "Thank you."

When everyone else took a sip of the wine, Reve did, too, and discovered it wasn't half bad. Nothing to compare to a truly excellent vintage, but nevertheless definitely palatable.

"So, what do you think of Ludie's wine?" Dallas asked.

Reve found herself glancing toward Jacob, expecting him to make some acrid remark.

And at that exact moment, he looked right at her. Their gazes locked and held. No one sa-id a word. Silence hung heavily over the room. Reve's heartbeat accelerated maddeningly.

"It's quite good," she finally managed to reply and sensed that everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"You met Ludie, didn't you?" Jazzy asked. "She was the old Cherokee woman who was with Aunt Sally that first day you came to Cherokee Pointe."

"Yes, I met her," Reve said. "She's the woman who makes those delicious desserts for your restaurant, isn't she?"

"That's Ludie. But she's also Aunt Sally's best friend and just like family to me."

Did that mean, if she and Jazzy were sisters, that she'd be expected to consider both Sally Talbot and Ludie as family? For the life of her, she couldn't see herself embracing a nutty old mountain woman who chewed tobacco and her Indian friend as family.

Watch out, Reve, your snobbery is showing again.

During the next hour, Jacob gradually joined the others in conversation and appeared more relaxed, but he didn't speak directly to Reve nor did he ever look right at her again.

She tried her best to be friendly, but she realized she was carefully watching everything she said, not wanting to offend anyone, not even Jacob. Unable to fully participate in the camaraderie, she withdrew more and more, a well-learned defense mechanism that she had relied on all her life. In her world, she was respected and deferred to by others, only occasionally running into people who weren't impressed by her wealth and social standing. But as a child, she'd often felt out of place, the odd girl out, with her peers. In those instances, she had retreated into the safety of stubborn shyness.

Jazzy sat on the sofa, Caleb beside her, his arm resting across the sofa back behind Jazzy's head. Genny sat on a round leather ottoman near the fireplace, and Jacob stood behind her, while each took a turn recounting his or her particular take on an event from their shared childhoods.

"You should have seen Granny's face," Genny said.

"Yeah, it was all she could do not to laugh, but she told us, in no uncertain terms, that young ladies didn't run around naked, not even in the summertime." Jazzy looked up at Jacob.

"And it was all your fault that we got in trouble because you told on us."

"I swear I didn't tell her that you two eight-year-olds were skinny-dipping in the pond in front of half a dozen other kids. It must have been somebody else. Maybe one of the Winstead boys." The twinkle in Jacob's eyes revealed the uselessness of trying to defend himself from a crime of which he was obviously guilty.

"Yeah, tell that to somebody who'll believe you," Jazzy said. "Neither Aaron nor Miles Winstead would have told on us. Aaron was sweet on me, and Miles would have walked over hot coals for Genny."

"Especially after he saw her naked as a jaybird," Jacob said, then roared with laughter.

"What did your grandmother do?" Caleb asked Genny, once the boisterous laughter di-ed down.

"She gave me a spanking, made Jazzy and me put on our clothes and then she marched Jazzy home, with me in tow, and told Miss Sally what had happened."

"And then I got my butt blistered." Jazzy laughed.

Dallas came over to where Reve stood by the windows, in the same room and yet separate from the others. "Those three grew up together. They're like siblings who share the same memories. It took me a while to begin to fit in, to feel as if I were a part of that gol-den circle. And Caleb only recently joined the ranks." Dallas spoke quietly so that their conversation remained private.

Reve nodded, not sure what message Dallas was trying to convey.

"Give yourself time and you'll fit in. You'll become one of us," he told her. "If you want to be a part of that closeness, that sense of belonging to a special family, you can be."

Reve wanted to tell him that she had no desire to be a part of Jazzy's extended family, that she could care less about fitting in, in fact she abhorred the idea of being one of these people. But the denial died on her lips. Partly because the comments would have offended, but mostly because she realized her denial wasn't true. Somewhere deep down inside her lonely soul, she envied them all and wanted what Genny had with Dallas and Jazzy had with Caleb.

"I suppose you believe, as Genny does, that Jazzy and I are twins."

"If my wife says she knows it for a fact, then it's a fact," Dallas said with utter conviction. "You and Jazzy are twins. You're family. And if you're Jazzy's family, then you're Genny's, too." He paused, glanced lovingly at his wife and then looked back at Reve.

"They're not keeping you out, you know. Jazzy and Genny will welcome you with open arms. All you have to do is reach out to them."

"And what about Jacob?" Reve whispered. "He really doesn't like me." Now why had she said that to Dallas? He'd think she gave a damn about what Jacob Butler thought. And she didn't!

"Genny says she's never seen Jacob take an instant dislike to anybody the way he has you." When Reve gazed at him in disbelief, surprised by his honesty, Dallas laughed softly. "And she also said that you're the first woman she's ever known who didn't swoon at Jacob's feet."

The corners of Reve's mouth twitched, and finally she smiled.

"Give yourself time to get to know him, and I think you'll discover that Jacob is a good man," Dallas said. "Actually, he's one of the finest men I've ever known."

"Really?"

Before Reve had a chance to completely digest Dallas's high praise of the sheriff, Jazzy and Caleb stood up and each hugged Genny in turn, then Jazzy hugged Jacob.

"We've got to be going. It's nearly eight-thirty and we need to get to Jazzy's Joint by ni-ne, before things get rowdy." Caleb glanced over at Reve. "We can drop you off at your cabin on the way, if you're ready to go."

Reve started to say that she was more than ready to leave, when Genny spoke up hurriedly, "You two go on to work. Reve can stay and visit a while longer. Jacob would be glad to drop her off when he goes back to town later."

Genny's statement created a unanimous silent gasp.

"Why in heaven's name would you-" Jazzy said, only to be interrupted by Jacob himself.

"Yeah, sure, if Ms. Sorrell wants to stay for a while longer, I'll give her a ride back into town." Avoiding making eye contact with Reve, he downed the last drops of the wine he'd been nursing all evening.

Jazzy looked at Genny, who smiled as she gazed steadily at her friend. Suddenly Jazzy's face lit up as if she'd just figured out an intricate puzzle.

"That's mighty nice of you," Jazzy said, a sly smile on her face. Apparently she and Genny shared some cute little secret that the rest of them weren't privy to.

"I'd rather go on now, if you don't mind." Reve looked pleadingly at Jazzy, not sure what was going on, but not wanting to be a part of anything that put her in Jacob's company any longer than necessary.

"Of course we won't force you to stay, but I'd really like it if you would spend some more time getting to know us… Dallas and me and Jacob," Genny said. "I'd like for us to be friends."

Reve sighed. She felt Jacob's gaze on her, and when she looked at him, she sensed that he was issuing her a challenge. He thought she didn't have the guts to let him drive her home later. Did he actually believe she was afraid of him? Well, she'd prove him wrong.

She'd show him.

"All right," Reve agreed. "It would be unmannerly of me to decline such a generous offer of friendship."

Lesley Sorrell had drilled good manners into Reve from the time she was a small child.

Under most circumstances she easily played the part of a modern, wealthy, cultured, gen-teel southern belle. Occasionally her strong-willed character and her stubbornness injected themselves into situations, especially when she was confronted by the likes of Sheriff Butler.

Jazzy came over to Reve, acting as if she intended to hug her. Reve stepped back to avoid physical contact. Jazzy offered her an understanding smile. "We'll pick you up tomorrow for dinner with Miss Reba and Big Jim. I'll call you in the morning."

"Yes, do that. I'll see you tomorrow."

While Genny and Dallas saw their guests out, Jacob moved in on Reve. Every nerve in her body screamed, every muscle froze. He came up beside her and paused.

"If you'll play nice, I'll play nice," he said. "Genny likes you. For the life of me, I don't know why, but she does. And she's given me strict orders to be on my best behavior around you."

"For Genny's sake, I'm willing to call a truce. At least for tonight."

She glanced up at him. He shook his head.

"What?" she asked.

"Just thinking about Fate."

"What about Fate?"

"It plays odd tricks on us sometimes. Like you and Jazzy for instance. Twins separated at birth, raised in two different worlds and now here y'all are on the verge of turning each other's lives upside down."

Reve glowered at him. "Explain something to me, will you?"

He nodded. "Sure. If I can."

"How is it that, considering Jazzy and I are probably identical twins, you react in a totally different way to the two of us although we look a great deal alike? I'd think that considering she's your friend, you'd have viewed me in a more favorable light when we first met. But you disliked me instantly."

"That's a damn good question. And when I figure out the answer, Ms. Sorrell, you'll be the first to know."

Dallas held Genny in his arms as they sat alone in front of the living room fireplace, the soft tapping of raindrops on the old metal roof soothing them like a lullaby. He loved moments such as this, just Genny and him. And Drudwyn asleep on the floor. If a year ago somebody had told him that he'd not only be content being a small town sheriff, but that he'd marry a psychic and live a simple life with her in the Tennessee hills, he'd have told them they were crazy. But he would have been wrong. He'd never been as happy or content as he was here with Genny. His wife. His life.

"Do you think I might have pushed too hard?" Genny asked. "I suppose I shouldn't ha-ve insisted that Reve stay and that Jacob take her home. I don't know who looked the most miserable when they left here, him or her."