Dreams: Part Two (2 page)

“Get out of the way, monster,“ Colby ordered the dog, who ignored him, as usual. “I’ll take care of the spilled water, Diana. You go check on the food.“

She nodded quickly, managed a weak, apologetic smile for Gil and Evelyn and rushed to the kitchen.

“Is she all right?“ Evelyn asked worriedly.

“She’s nervous about the marriage,“ Colby explained in a confidential tone. “Diana’s never been married, and I think she’d decided she probably never would tie the knot. I guess I sort of rushed her into a decision this afternoon.“

“You always did tend to take charge and do things your way,“ Gil observed. “What made you decide to try marriage again after nearly twenty years of single parenthood?“

Colby hesitated and then grinned slowly. “Thought it might be interesting to try double parenthood.“

Evelyn blinked. “Oh, you’re planning on starting another family?“

“As soon as possible,“ Colby said easily as he finished mopping up the small spill. He heard a clatter from the kitchen. Diana had dropped a pan on the floor. The sound told him she’d overheard his words. “Diana’s thirty-four, you know. Biological clock’s a factor now. We can’t wait around and take our time.“

“Well, from the sound of things, you did all right with your first boy,“ Gil said. “Heard he met Margaret Fulbrook while he was here in town.“

“The old bat connived a meeting one day when Brandon went into town with Diana. I was irritated when I found out about it.“ That was an understatement. “But maybe it was for the best. Like it or not, the old lady is Brandon’s grandmother. I guess he’s got a right to meet her.“

“I heard her tell you at Cynthia’s funeral that she never wanted to see you or her grandson again. That you’d never get a dime from her.“ Gil sipped his whiskey thoughtfully. “You stood there in the rain beside the grave, as cold and proud as Lucifer himself. I remember you had that little baby in your arms, and you told Margaret Fulbrook to go to hell. You and Brandon were going to make it on your own, you said. Everyone there heard you. Talked about it for months afterward. No one had ever told a Fulbrook to go to hell.“

“How terrible,“ Evelyn whispered, obviously shocked. “To send you away like that with a baby when you were hardly more than a boy yourself.“

“It was time I grew up,“ Colby said, shrugging.

“You know something, Colby?“ Gil said quietly. “The day of the funeral was the day I knew for sure you would make it. I’d always thought you had what it took to pull yourself together and make something of yourself, but that day I realized you’d really go out and do it.“

“People change,“ Evelyn mused. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Margaret Fulbrook has had a few second thoughts over the years.“

“I’ll tell you one person who hasn’t changed,“ Colby said. “And that’s Harry the Ox.“

“Harry Gedge? Mrs. Fulbrook’s odd-job man?“ Evelyn looked at Colby inquiringly.

“Yeah.“

“He’s not a very pleasant person, is he? I’ve often wondered why Margaret Fulbrook keeps him around.“

“Because he obeys her unquestioningly,“ Gil told his wife. “Aren’t many people left here in Fulbrook Corners who take orders from a Fulbrook the way Harry does.“

“Why does Harry Gedge devote himself to Mrs. Fulbrook?“ Evelyn asked with genuine curiosity.

“If you ask me, it’s because he figures he’s going to come into some cash when Margaret dies.“ Gil swirled the whiskey in his glass. “No one else left to inherit the Fulbrook fortune, you know, except the Fulbrook Community Hospital Foundation. Cynthia was the last of the line. Margaret’s become very dependent on Harry Gedge, and he encourages that dependency.“

“What about Brandon?“ Evelyn pointed out. “Colby’s son is Margaret Fulbrook’s grandson.“

“She made it very clear long ago that Brandon would never get a penny of her money,“ Colby explained. “And that

’s exactly the way I want it. She ignored him for nineteen years. She can damn well go on ignoring him.“

“Nothing here in Fulbrook Corners is quite the same as it was twenty years ago, Colby,“ Gil said. “Not even Margaret Fulbrook.“

“Could have fooled me,“ Colby drawled.

“You’ve been away a long time, Colby. Like Evelyn said, things change. People change.“

“Maybe.“ He didn’t believe anything in Fulbrook Corners ever changed but he didn’t want to argue with one of the few friends he had from twenty years ago. “Excuse me a second. I just want to check on Diana. Be right back.“

He found her at the counter, her shoulders stiff with tension as she sliced tomatoes. He knew she had overheard the conversation in the living room. Colby went up to her from behind, put his arms around her and gently removed the knife from her fingers.

“Relax, honey. You’re going to give yourself a permanent manicure at the rate you’re going.“

“Colby, I can’t go back in there.“

“Don’t be an idiot,“ he said affectionately. His arms still around her, he used the knife to finish slicing the tomato.

“Of course you can go back in there. What’s more, you
will
go back in there.“

“They’ll find out the truth,“ she wailed softly. “Sooner or later everyone will know.“

“What will they know?“

“That history is repeating itself, that you’re marrying me because I accidentally got pregnant. Everyone in Fulbrook Corners will be gossiping soon. How could you tell Evelyn about wanting to start another family right away?

She’s bound to guess the truth.“

Colby cut off the muddled protest with a quick, hard kiss. “Hush. Now listen to me and listen good. First, you and I will be long gone from here before anyone knows you’re pregnant. We’re only here for the summer, remember? In another few weeks, we’ll be out of here. Second, you are a mature woman, not an eighteen-year-old girl. I would greatly appreciate it if you would start acting like the adult you are. I’m not going to let you cower in the kitchen.“

“I am not cowering.“

He ignored that. “Third, the Thorps are good people. They won’t spread gossip. Fourth, this may come as a shock to you, Diana, but if you were to announce your pregnancy to them tonight, the Thorps would assume it was a planned event based on the fact that we look as if we’re old enough to know what we’re doing.“

She glared at him from beneath her lashes. “You mean at our ages we’re not supposed to make that kind of mistake?“

“Exactly.“

“But we did make that kind of mistake. We got carried away that night in Chained Lady Cave, and we took a reckless chance. Just like a couple of teenage kids.“

Colby put down the knife and spun her around in his arms. He caught her face between his palms. “Stop calling it a mistake. Do you understand me, Diana? From now on I don’t want to hear you ever again refer to what happened that night as an accident or a miscalculation or a mistake. You’re pregnant, and we’re getting married, and that’s all there is to it. We’re not going to waste time looking back at what might have been. Agreed?“

She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. “You’re right,“ she said, her husky voice a little unsteady as she made an obvious effort to take hold of herself. “There’s no point looking back. What’s done is done.“

“And you can stop acting so damned melodramatic about the whole thing while you’re at it,“ Colby ordered crisply. “W»‘re not the first couple to find themselves in this kind of situation, and we won’t be the last.“

“Oh, that’s a tremendous comfort,“ she snapped back, showing a spark of her usual spirit.

Colby grinned wickedly. “I thought you’d appreciate having the situation put in perspective. Just remember you’re not in this alone. I keep telling you I know what I’m doing. I’ll take care of everything. Just leave it all to me.“

She looked at the buttons of his shirt with a thoughtful expression. “I haven’t thanked you for asking me to marry you,“ she said humbly.

“Probably because I didn’t ask you. As I recall, I told you we were getting married. I didn’t get down on my knees and beg.“

She looked at him with misty eyes. “True, but it was still very, well, noble of you and I want you to know I really do appreciate your gallantry. I don’t know any other man who would have insisted on seeing this through with me.“

Her gratitude annoyed him. “There isn’t any other man who would see this through with you because the baby you’re carrying doesn’t belong to any other man. It’s my baby.
Our
baby. So we’ll see it through together. Now stop making a federal case out of the whole matter and start worrying about the rice.“

Her eyes opened wide and she sniffed cautiously. “Oh my God, the rice.“ She freed herself from his arms and raced over to the ancient stove.

“I’ll let the Thorps know we’re ready to eat.“ Colby started for the door, satisfied that Diana’s attention was now focused on the practical matter of dinner. For a calm, cool and collected businesswoman, she was sure having trouble accepting the inevitable.

As far as he was concerned, the more he thought about the whole thing, the more it all did seem inevitable and right. Besides, Diana was going to look cute pregnant.

This time around it might be fun to have a little girl, Colby decided with a small grin.

Ten minutes later Colby had everyone seated at the battered oak table in the kitchen. The conversation had shifted to more innocuous subjects, and Diana seemed to have herself back in hand again. Colby felt an odd rush of pride as he watched her cope with their guests and the details of the small dinner party.

It was hard to believe that at one time he had thought she was all wrong for him. The last thing he needed, he had told himself, was an arrogant, self-contained, tough-as-nails career woman. But Diana had proven to be very sweet and soft and surprisingly vulnerable beneath her cool, controlled exterior. She had never needed a man in her life, but she was beginning to realize she needed Colby Savagar. Colby intended to make sure she understood that.

It was only fair because lately he had begun to realize just how much he needed her.

“Did you get that business with the pranks settled, Colby?“ Gil asked as he helped himself to a heaping plate of the stir-fried vegetables Diana had prepared.

“What pranks?“ Evelyn asked curiously.

Colby frowned. “Some creep was playing practical jokes on Diana.“

“I hate practical jokers,“ Evelyn said with a shudder.

“So do I,“ Diana agreed. “This particular joker was duplicating scenes out of one of Colby’s books.“

“Which book?“ Evelyn demanded.

Diana took a bite of rice.
“Shock Value.“

“Oh, yes. I read that one.“ Evelyn’s eyes lit up.

“You and everyone else in town, apparently,“ Diana said with a smile.

“That was the book that made everyone in Fulbrook Corners realize Colby Savagar was going to become famous instead of winding up in prison,“ Gil explained sardonically. “But like I told Colby, since everyone in town had read the book, it was going to be difficult figuring out who was playing the pranks.“

“We discovered the culprit,“ Colby said.

Gil shot him a quick look. “Who?“

“My son’s girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend, that is. She was angry at Diana because Diana had helped me convince Brandon not to get married right away.“

“Poor Robyn wanted marriage in the worst way, I’m afraid,“ Diana explained to Evelyn. “She was trying to escape her domineering, battling parents.“

Evelyn nodded in understanding. “And she thought marriage was her ticket to freedom. Poor kid. And poor Brandon if he had, indeed, married her.“

“So you think she was the one behind the pranks, hmm?“ Gil looked at Colby again.

Colby nodded abruptly. “Yeah. Diana and Brandon caught her in the act of setting up the last prank. That was the end of it.“ He gave Gil a meaningful glance and then picked up the bottle of wine. “Another glass, Evelyn?“

Gil took the hint. “I hear you’ve been in touch with your old buddy, Eddy Spooner.“

Colby nodded. “He and I shared a couple of beers and talked about old times a few days ago. I see he didn’t end up in jail, either. That must have really irked most of the townsfolk. They were so sure he’d come to a bad end, too.“

Gil’s brows rose again. “I think Spooner came a little closer to ending up behind bars than you did. That boy had some real problems, and he didn’t have the inner fortitude to work ‘em out the way you did.“

For some reason Colby felt obliged to defend his old friend. “Eddy had it rough. That drunken bastard he had for a father was nothing short of a child-abuser.“

“I’ll grant you that much. No one shed any tears when Dwight Spooner fell from the top of Chained Lady Falls.“

Diana looked up in surprise. “Eddy’s father died there? But it’s not that treacherous around the top of the falls.

Colby and I have been up there a couple of times on picnics. As long as you don’t get too near the edge, it’s safe enough.“

“That’s true. No one else has ever fallen from up there in all the time I’ve lived in Fulbrook Corners. But Eddy’s father was drunk at the time. As usual. He’d taken a rifle and gone out hunting. He’d also taken along a fifth of that old rotgut he liked so much. They found him and the bottle in the pool beneath the falls.“

Something in Gil’s voice caught Colby’s attention. “What’s the matter, Gil? You think it was something besides an accident?“

Gil toyed with his knife. “I’ll tell you something I’ve never told anyone else except Evelyn, and I don’t want it going beyond this room. Clear?“

“Don’t worry, Gil. Diana and I aren’t likely to start gossiping with the locals.“ Colby knew his disdain for the good people of Fulbrook Corners was reflected in his voice.

“Right. Well, I was still sheriff at the time Dwight Spooner died. I was the one who did the investigation and wrote up the report. It looked like an accident and there was no evidence to the contrary, but I always sort of wondered if Dwight hadn’t had a little help going over those falls.“