Into the Light by Ellen O'Connell Page B

this time. Not quickly enough to catch her, of course. He might even have been unable to pick her out of the crowd inside the hall if she hadn’t darted and dodged the way she did. Slim, hair so dark it looked black in this light, average height, agile as a doe.
    Unwilling to push through the crowd, Trey moved along the wall beside the door, keeping her in sight. If she never turned, and he never saw her face, he’d have to find her later by her dress. Dark yellow? Brownish yellow? He saw nothing to distinguish it. The music started. Dancers whirled in a polka, letting him catch sight of her again as she stopped by two men.
    A blow to the head could not have stunned him more. He’d thought her reaction to the slip that had given him away extreme, but as Jamie often pointed out, the Van Cleve family was not popular in some quarters of Hubbell.
    Oh, hell. This was worse than a lack of popularity. That was Cal Sutton staring hard-eyed through the dancers, and Jason Sutton leaning in toward — toward Green Dress Sutton.
    His mystery woman was the most beautiful of the Sutton girls, and if she told her uncle about three meetings alone in the dark with Trey Van Cleve, especially about the Fourth of July....
    He watched Cal Sutton turn back. She talked. The Suttons listened. Cal took her by the arm and led her toward the women near the punch bowl, and he didn’t have to weave through the crowd. They parted for him the way the Red Sea had parted for Moses.
    Trey sank back against the wall. She couldn’t have told them the truth, or he’d be explaining himself to Suttons right now. Except why exactly should he have to explain anything? It was a mistake, that’s all, as much her mistake as his. Calling him a liar was a bit of female hysteria worthy of Alice.
    He pushed off the wall and headed back outside, not giving way to laughter until the door closed behind him. Poor middle-aged spinster. Green Dress Sutton. The more he thought about it, the harder he laughed.

Chapter 9
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    J AMIE SAW THE humor in the whole thing when Trey told him about it the next morning, but Trey didn’t much like Jamie’s advice.
    “So she’s the niece of your father’s best enemy. Just forget it ever happened. You can bet she will. You made her feel foolish. So first she’ll convince herself you did it on purpose, and then she’ll do her best to forget all about it. If she sees you on the street, she’ll stick her nose in the air and pretend she can’t see you.”
    “You’re cynical from letting too many women toy with you.”
    “I’m wise from studying many women who thought they were toying with me while I toyed with them.”
    “Nobody was toying. We met by accident and liked each other. At least she liked me until she realized who I am. She’s probably been raised from the cradle to hate any Van Cleve. Well, not quite from the cradle. She and Alice were probably about the same age back then. You can’t blame her for being upset. I feel like I owe her an apology.”
    “Upset is one thing. Calling you a liar is something else, and apologizing is the same as saying she’s right — you knew and did it on purpose. You’re thinking of excuses to see her again. Think about the uncle who kills men the way you and I swat flies and stay far away from her and her whole family.”
    “Cousin. He’s her cousin. These are different times. He’s been a farmer raising a family and minding his own business ever since he and my father made peace.”
    “Men like that don’t change. The world is full of pretty women who don’t hate you.”
    “She’s more than pretty. She’s extraordinary. I knew that from the beginning. Now — she’s also beautiful. What more could a man want?”
    Jamie gave an exaggerated sigh. “How about a woman who doesn’t sneak and lie and then call you the liar when she finds out who you are? I’m not wasting more breath on you. You’re going to go and make trouble for yourself. I can tell. When they