The Chase (14 page)

“Bye.”

Kendall watched the door close behind Jake and then realized that she hadn’t told him the good news about Doug. She jumped up from her chair and rushed to the door. “Jake, wait.”

He turned around. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing. I just forgot to tell you that I had a call from Anne a little while ago and Doug’s out of the coma. They think he’s going to be fine.”

He smiled. “Hey, that’s great news.”

“Yeah, I thought you’d want to know.” Suddenly, she felt foolish for running after him. “Well, I’ll see you later.” She closed the door and walked back to Margaret.

“Have a seat,” Margaret said. “If you have a minute, we can go over the list of campers for this week.”

“Sure.” Kendall sat beside Margaret on the couch. “Margaret, I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“Why did you imply to Stephen that I wasn’t teaching camp in exchange for free board?”

“I simply wanted him to know you are both of the same social class, that’s all.”

“What do you mean?”

Margaret patted Kendall’s hand. “Men like Stephen Lloyd date their own kind. Not the local riding instructor.”

Kendall’s eyes widened. “I’m not interested in
dating
Stephen Lloyd.”

“Well, perhaps not. But in due time you’ll be ready for a relationship. And when that day comes, I want you to find the right kind of man. You’re young and beautiful, Kendall. And you deserve to find someone who’ll treat you right. I think Stephen seems like a good prospect.”

“Why? Because he’s rich?”

Margaret smiled. “That doesn’t hurt, Kendall. Remember, love alone won’t keep shoes on your horse.”

Kendall folded her arms across her chest and looked away.
But money alone can’t compensate for lack of love
.

Z
elda was beginning to feel conspicuous hanging out around the pay phone again. Church had just let out, and it seemed like half the town had come to Kroger’s to get their groceries. She wandered over to the soda machine and took a long time selecting a drink, all the while keeping her ear tuned to the phone.

The shrill ring of the phone caught her attention. She sprinted over and picked up the receiver.

“Hello?” she said breathlessly.

“We’re back in business, babe. Cummings is out of the coma.”

Zelda squealed, “Yes!”

“I say we step it up, now that we’ve got their attention.”

“I couldn’t agree more. What’s next?”

“We’ll have to play it by ear. Cummings is still in the hospital, and it sounds like his wife hasn’t left his side. The kid’s staying at a friend’s house. We’ll just scope it out and seize whatever opportunity comes our way.”

Zelda didn’t like his choice of words. “Hey, you’ve been hanging out with Cummings’s snobby friends for a day, and you start talking all fancy like.
Seize whatever opportunity comes our way.”

Earl laughed. “You ain’t jealous, are you, babe?”

“No, I ain’t jealous. But I miss you like hell,” Zelda said.

“Yeah, me too. Listen, I’ve got to go. I’ll call you back tonight if I can.”

“Wait. This ain’t working with me hanging around the pay phone. People are starting to look at me funny.”

“Damn it, what do you expect me to do about that now, Zelda? I told you in the beginning, we should have got cell phones.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t want them to be able to trace our calls or listen to our conversations. That’s why I thought using a pay phone was the safest,” Zelda replied.

“I tried telling you that you can buy a disposable cell phone, and even if they trace the call, they don’t know who the cell phone belongs to. But you wouldn’t listen.”

Zelda bit back a retort. She could tell by Earl’s tone that he was pissed at her. “Hey, let’s not fight. You’re right. I should have listened to you. But now what do we do? Where am I going to find a cell phone around here? You’ve got my car, remember?”

Earl sighed. “Can’t you catch a ride to Wal-Mart?”

“I guess so.”

“All right, babe. Go get yourself a cell phone and I’ll get one today, too. I’ll call you at the pay phone tomorrow morning at nine and we’ll give each other our phone numbers. That’ll be the last time you have to wait by the pay phone.”

“Okay,” Zelda said reluctantly. “But I still don’t like it. Are you sure they can’t trace our phone calls?”

“I’m hanging up, babe.”

“Wait,” Zelda said. But he was gone.

A
nne stifled a yawn as she sat by Samantha’s bedside, waiting for her to fall asleep. It had been a struggle getting Samantha to go to bed, and Anne had promised she would stay until Samantha was asleep. When she’d picked Samantha up from the Hortons’ that afternoon, Deb told her Samantha had awakened crying several times during the night.
She hoped Samantha’s night terrors weren’t starting again
.

Samantha’s eyes drifted shut, her arms clutched around the stuffed pony that Doug had given her. After a few moments her mouth parted, and the muscles in her face relaxed. Her breathing settled into a slow, steady rhythm, and Anne sighed as she rose and tucked the covers around Samantha, then slipped from the room.

Anne slid beneath the covers of her bed and rolled onto her side, appreciating the cool, fresh feel of the cotton sheets as she snuggled into the mattress. She arranged the pregnancy pillow so that it supported her stomach, and, for the first time in almost thirty-six hours, tried to relax.

At first, she had balked at Doug’s suggestion that she go home for the night. But he’d remained insistent and she had finally given in. The nurses had promised to call her during the night if there was any change in Doug’s condition.

A cool breeze from the ceiling fan chilled Anne’s bare arms, and she pulled the covers up over her shoulders and wiggled deeper into the plush mattress. Even though she was bone-tired, it was hard to fall asleep with the thoughts that kept racing through her head. Now that Doug was out of the coma, the reality of what had happened was starting to hit home.

She had been determined to wait until Doug was out of the hospital to tell him that someone had tampered with the brakes on the Range Rover, but he’d been so persistent with his questions that she had broken down and told him about the visit from Deputy Hodgkins. Doug hadn’t seemed surprised by the news; she guessed he’d already suspected tampering.

“Mommy!” Anne heard Samantha scream from across the hall, and she threw off the covers and eased herself out of the bed.

“I’m coming, honey,” she called wearily, pulling on her robe as she hurried towards Samantha’s bedroom.

“Mommy, I heard a noise outside my window.” Samantha was huddled at the foot of the bed with her knees clutched to her chest, rocking back and forth.

Anne sat down on the bed and wrapped her arms around Samantha. “It’s all right. There’s nothing outside your window. It’s just the wind blowing the tree branches.”

“No, it’s not,” Samantha whispered hoarsely. “I heard it. Somebody’s out there.”

Anne pulled Samantha close to her and stroked her hair. “Shhh, don’t be scared. You must have had a bad dream. I’m right here. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Samantha curled into a ball and buried her face against Anne’s belly. “I wish Daddy was here.”

“I do, too, sweetie.”

She held Samantha and stroked her until she was more relaxed, then gently tried to ease Samantha back under the covers. “Come on. Let’s get you back into your bed.”

“No!” Samantha clutched at Anne’s robe. “I don’t want you to leave. I’m scared.”

Anne sighed. She knew that Samantha’s fear was real and that she should help her confront it, but that would probably mean an hour or more of coaxing to get Samantha back to sleep. She was simply too exhausted to deal with it.

“Okay, Samantha. I know you’re frightened. How about, since Daddy isn’t here, if you snuggle up with me in my bed? Would that help you feel better?”

Samantha nodded.

Anne stood up and held her hand out to Samantha. “Okay, then. But you have to promise me that you’ll go right to sleep.”

“I promise.”

Anne picked up Samantha’s stuffed pony. “Let’s not forget Blackie.”

Samantha hugged the pony with one arm and slipped her free hand into Anne’s. When they reached the door, she cast a quick backward glance towards the window. “I’m sorry I woke you up, Mommy, but I really did hear a noise outside my window.”

They climbed into bed and Anne arranged the pregnancy pillow and tucked the covers around Samantha. “There you go; now we’re all cozy.”

Samantha yawned. “Nite-nite, Mommy. I love you.”

“I love you, too, sweetheart,” Anne whispered, kissing the top of Samantha’s head.

A
nne felt someone tapping her on the shoulder, and she opened her eyes, squinting in the bright sunlight that streamed across the pillow.

“Mommy, wake up. It’s time for me to go to riding camp.”

“Oh, Samantha, go back to sleep,” Anne groaned. “It’s not time to get up yet.”

“Yes, it is.” Samantha lifted the alarm clock from the bedside table. “See, it’s eight o’clock. Camp starts at nine, and we haven’t even had breakfast yet.”

Anne raised her hand and shielded her eyes from the sun. “You’re right, Samantha. Just give me a minute to wake up.”

Samantha leapt out of bed. “Okay, I’ll go get dressed, and then I’ll help you make breakfast, since Nellie isn’t here.”

Anne wearily raised herself into a sitting position and eased her legs over the side of the bed. It hurt to bend her ankles and she stretched her legs as she picked up the phone and punched in the number of the hospital.

The phone was answered on the second ring. “ICU.”

“Hello, this is Anne Cummings. I’m calling to see how my husband is doing this morning.”

“Hi, Mrs. Cummings. This is Robin. Your husband is doing just great. In fact, they’ve removed the chest tube and he’s ready to be moved out of ICU.”

“That’s wonderful news. Will you tell him I’ll be there shortly?”

“Will do.”

Anne hurried to the closet and rifled through the rack of maternity clothes, searching for an outfit that would be comfortable in the air-conditioned hospital, as well as outside in the sticky summer heat. She finally selected a pair of white pants, a sleeveless butter-colored top with a matching sweater, and a pair of white sandals that had a cushioned sole. She dressed quickly in the bathroom, and had just finished applying her makeup when she heard Samantha run down the stairs.

“I’ll be right there, Samantha. Don’t start without me,” she called, running a brush through her hair.

“Okay,” Samantha yelled from downstairs.

Anne put on a pair of simple pearl earrings and slid on her wedding ring. Her fingers were swollen and she had to twist the ring to get it past her knuckle, even though Doug had taken it to the jeweler a couple of weeks before to have it resized. She fingered the emerald-cut diamond and thought back to the day Doug had given it to her. He had asked her to marry him as soon as she’d told him she was pregnant, but she had said no, fearful that he was only asking out of a sense of obligation. Then, on the night he gave her the ring, he had gotten down on one knee, in the middle of the dining room at the Inn at Little Washington, and said he wouldn’t get up until she said yes.