Unbreakable (16 page)

He was very aware of the awkward interaction between his parents, and his forehead wrinkled as he waved back. They usually got along quite well, and he could always tell when they were arguing. But this, somehow, was different. "Bye, Mom." He let a grin overtake his face when he turned to Malcolm. "C'mon, Dad!"

Malcolm closed Gwen's car door after she climbed in, giving the roof a pat when he was finished. He opened his mouth to say something else when Tucker playfully honked his horn.

The college student gave his father a woebegone look. "I'm starving, ya know."

Malcolm held up his hands in surrender and chuckled weakly. "All right, I'm coming." He gave Gwen a warm, apologetic smile and rocked back on his heels, not quite able to look her in the eye. "I love you," he mouthed silently.

Gwen's heart clenched and for a long moment she was once again tempted to tell him everything. Instead, she said, "I love you, too," and started the ignition.

Tucker's horn sounded again and Malcolm shot his son a slightly annoyed look. "Hold your horses, chow hound. I'm sure the club won't run out of eggs and orange juice," he mumbled.

She watched her husband fold himself into the tiny car, wishing that Tucker drove something safer, like a Volvo. Or a Sherman tank. When they were well out of sight, Gwen rested her forehead against the steering wheel, her fingers gripping the leather until her knuckles showed white. "What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do?" she chanted. This visit was important. Things were beginning to unravel at home. She'd handled this badly so far, and she'd worked too hard to have her life fall apart.

As she pulled out of her driveway, she thought bitterly of the women she loved and how one among them was driving a knife into her heart… and twisting it.

*  *  *

Present Day
Rural Missouri

Dressed in jeans and a soft, red fleece shirt, Audrey sat with her elbows on her knees on the front porch of Charlotte's Web B&B. The mid-morning fog had yet to completely clear, and the vibrant autumn colors were just starting to peek through the mist. She smiled and took another sip of the rich Kona coffee with which Frances Artiste had graciously greeted her when she'd arrived at the B&B only moments before.

She lifted her head and drew in a deep breath, a tiny smile edging its way across her face. The Missouri countryside smelled just as she remembered and no place else could quite replicate the combination of wet, bruised plants, fertilizer, and fragrant wood smoke that tickled her senses. It felt very much like home, and despite the fact that she loved her life in Salt Lake City, she felt a pang of homesickness that she hadn't experienced since her earliest days on her own.

The sound of a far-off car engine caused her head to turn, and the butterflies in her stomach to begin to flutter.

Audrey stood as a rusty, mint green Karmann Ghia clanked down the long driveway. Through the lightly tinted windows she could see a shock of pale hair and could feel the vibration of the pounding music as "Jessie's Girl" blasted out of the car's amazingly loud stereo.
Katy.
Her excitement began to build, and she had to force herself not to run over to the carriage house-turned-garage to greet her cousin.

It took Audrey a second to realize that there was no reason in the world to tamp down her impulse. She was excited, dammit, and she couldn't bring herself to be ashamed of that. Grinning wildly, she set off towards the old garage.

"Katy," Audrey hollered as she walked, hearing the vehicle door squeak loudly as it was opened, then slam shut, "only you would be driving such a butt-ugly car, but manage to have a state-of-the-art stereo system."

"Audrey?" came the disembodied voice from inside the carriage house.

She stopped dead in her tracks, listening to a rusty trunk open and close. "Yes?"

"Are you still short and round?"

Audrey snorted, taking the insult in stride. She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Depends. Are you still a trashy slut?"

There was a few seconds' pause before both women shouted, "Yes!" and began to laugh.

Smiling broadly, Katherine emerged from the garage dragging a dinged suitcase behind her. "Hiya, cuz," she drawled.

Audrey's excitement bubbled over. "Hiya, cuz. Now that the pleasantries are over, hurry up and get over here!"

The women threw their arms around each other and held on tight for a long time, rocking with the slight breeze.

"You look beautiful," Katherine whispered emotionally.

Audrey's eyes closed and she let her insecurity over her appearance fade into the recesses of her mind, though after a lifetime of being self-conscious, it was something she'd never truly get over. "You too." She pulled away and affectionately ran her hands over the very tips of Katherine's short, spiked hair, giving it a critical once over. She nodded decisively. "I think it looks just like Grandpa's did."

"Hey!" Katherine gasped and slapped Audrey's fingers away from the stiff peaks. "I'll have you know that I paid good money for this. It is a platinum blonde spike. Not a white, jar-head crewcut!"

Audrey affected a serious pose. "Oh, yes," she said slowly, making a show of examining the locks again. "Now, I see the difference now." She plucked at Katherine's lightweight jacket and blouse and peeked down inside. "So where's the Semper Fi tattoo? Grandma said Grandpa's was right on his–"

"Don't you dare go there, Audrey." Katherine wrinkled her nose. "And I'll have you know, since it took you all of three seconds to mention it, that I'm not nearly the slut I used to be. I'm too tired to stay out all night nowadays." A twinkle entered her glacier-blue eyes. "I have a steady boyfriend who I'm crazy about. I think I might be off the market for a good long time."

"Ooo… Will I get to hear all the torrid details?"

"Torrid details mixed with lies. The usual."

"Heh. Good." Her face suddenly sobered as she took a good look at the woman standing so close to her. Katherine was several inches taller than her own 5 feet 3 inches and had stayed slim over the years; a slight softening around her jaw line was the only clue as to the onset of middle age. She looked healthy and happy. Audrey's voice took on a serious tone that was rarely used with her mischievous cousin. "My God, Katy, I feel like Aunt Gladys is looking back at me."

The women shared sad, slightly watery smiles. Katherine's mother Gladys had died unexpectedly five years before.

"Thanks," Katherine rasped, her heart swelling from the sincere compliment.

Audrey stuffed her hands into her pocket. Her gaze dropped and shame colored her voice. "I'm sorry I didn't make it back for the funeral." She kicked at a pebble and it skittered into the leaf-strewn grass. "Tina was sick that week and–"

Katherine made a dismissive motion with her hand. "I don't need a reason, Audrey. It's okay."

Audrey glanced up doubtfully.

"Really," Katherine assured her, wondering how they got talking about something so serious so fast. "We didn't have a formal service anyway. Mama hated funerals. Dad just had a reception for the local family and friends and we toasted her all night long." She shrugged. "It's what she would have wanted."

"Still, I could have called you."
But I was too embarrassed to make contact after we'd been so out of touch for so many years.

Katherine sighed. That summer had been one of the lowest points in her life and a simple phone call, just one to make sure she was okay so that she'd have known Audrey cared, would have gone a long way. She was about to say as much, when the look in Audrey's eyes told her she already knew. Katherine arched an eyebrow for emphasis. "Next time I need a friend, you'll call me." It wasn't a question.

Audrey let out a breath, immeasurably grateful at being so easily forgiven. Her stomach had been in knots over this very subject and she had promised herself on the plane ride from Salt Lake City that she wouldn't put it off. "I will," she confirmed quietly, deciding a shift to lighter subjects would be welcomed. They had three days to rehash old mistakes and make promises for the future. "C'mon." Her face visibly lightened, erasing a handful of years. "You have to see this place." She turned towards Charlotte's Web and opened her arms wide. "It's gorgeous inside, though it looks like they're doing a little bit of renovating."

Katherine wrapped her arm around Audrey's shoulder as they strode towards the house. Tilting her head towards her cousin, she conspiratorially asked, "Did ya steal any ashtrays or pretentious paintings?"

Audrey snickered. "I've only been here for a half hour. Give me time," she teased, a smile firmly reaffixed on her face. Their footsteps were loud as they crunched through the rocks on the stone-filled path. "We're the only ones here so far, except for the woman who runs the B&B." She drew in a deep, satisfying breath of scented air. "I've spent the last half hour enjoying the morning and beautiful fall colors."

Katherine's gaze flicked to the expanse of forest behind the B&B. It was so easy to forget to appreciate what was all around you, the little things and not so little things that surround you on a daily basis. Complacency, she decided, was its own sort of disease, stealthily diminishing the importance of things that truly make life special. Things you don't notice until they're gone.

Near the door of the home was a sign that bore the B&B's name and the year of establishment. "Langtree Enterprises" was written in smaller letters below Charlotte's Web.

"Looks like Gwen wanted home field advantage." Katherine separated from Audrey and huffed a little as she began toting the suitcase up the porch steps. "Not that I can blame her. Damn, cheap wheels," she grumbled petulantly. "If she expects anyone to speak to her this week, she's got a lot of fences to mend." Though Katherine knew she herself was going to go out of her way to do that as well.

Audrey nodded. "I'm here for you, Nina, and Jacie. We'll see about Gwen later."

Katherine paused at the front door and studied the contemplative look on Audrey's face. "You haven't forgiven her, have you?"

Audrey let out a slow breath and gave the question its due. Her gaze darkened. "I'm not sure, Katy. I want to. But when I think of everything that happened to us all, I get so mad and hurt. Sure, she didn't do to me what she did to Jacie, but she still cut me too, ya know?" She shook her head, at a loss to express exactly how she felt. "I guess I'll know what and how much I can forgive when I see her."

Katherine pursed her lips, reluctant to bring up what she knew would be a touchy subject, but doing it nonetheless. "Then there's the business of Gwen digging into our finances…." She let the sentence drop, wondering what Audrey's reaction would be.

"How do we know it was her?"

Katherine's eyes narrowed at the thought of Gwen invading her privacy and how much it could cost her. "C'mon, Pollyanna, who else would be investigating all of us at the same time?"

"I don't know," she admitted honestly, opening the front door and being greeted by a blast of warm air that smelled like caramel rolls. She thought she might swoon.

"Are you up for a little snooping?"

Audrey flashed her a wicked smile. "Are we talking about raiding the kitchen for whatever smells like heaven, or rifling Gwen's bags to try and find out if she's the one who's been investigating us?"

"Yes."

"Good." Something caught Katherine's eye. "Hey, you forgot your coffee." She trotted across the porch and picked up the cup, taking a drink from the cup without giving it a second thought. "Mmm… sweet."

Audrey rolled her eyes and grabbed Katherine's suitcase and carried it inside. "Holy Mother of God, what do you have in here? A dead body?"

A low, downright evil chuckle emerged from Katherine, causing Audrey to cringe. "Do you remember the summer we were obsessed with being tanned and spent all our time at that pond on Jacie's uncle's farm?"

"Yesssss," Audrey answered slowly, wondering what that had to do with anything.

Katherine only smiled.

"OH. MY. GOD!" Audrey screeched, a bright red flush working its way up from her chest to her round cheeks. "You swore you threw those pictures away!" She dropped Katherine's suitcase and fumbled with the zipper, but it was locked.

Katherine sniggered.

Audrey pressed her hands against the soft cloth of the suitcase and felt the sharp corners of several bulky objects. Her eyes widened to a nearly comical degree. "You framed the photos of me topless that you swore to God you burned?"

Katherine's sniggers turned into snorts that sounded as though they came from something more porcine than human, and she had to clamp her hand over her mouth. She chortled through her fingers, "I wouldn't do a thing like that," and stepped inside Charlotte's Web. From just inside the doorway, she glanced over her shoulder and smiled unrepentantly. "I'm an atheist, Audrey. And what you're feeling are books. The pictures of you are pages 16 and 20 in one of a set of photo albums that I keep on my coffee table for guests to browse thr–"

"Argh!" Audrey lunged for her cousin, but Katherine was too quick and began running through the house with Audrey hot on her heels.

At the sound of squeals of laughter and shouting, Frances made her way out of the kitchen, her fingers covered with sticky bread dough. "What in the world…?"

"Hi," Katherine panted, skirting around a table so that Audrey couldn't reach her. "You must be Charlotte."

"You'd think that, wouldn't you?" Audrey answered for the older woman. She jumped forward, then whirled around and headed around the opposite side of the table, the surprisingly agile move catching Katherine completely off guard.

"Uff!" All the air left Katherine's lungs when Audrey tackled her and they both went smashing onto the floor.

Frances' eyes widened and her hand went to her mouth. "But–"

"The key," Audrey demanded, wrestling Katherine into a position of submission and pinning her slender arms to the hardwood floor.

"Never!" Katherine cried, laughing so hard she thought she might wet herself. She began wiggling, but Audrey had her firmly trapped.