coat.
It was suede, olive-green. Katie brushed an imaginary piece of lint from the collar. “New?”
“I needed a treat. Do you like it?”
“Smashing.”
He looked pleased. Each button he buttoned took him farther away.
“Do you really have to go right now? I haven’t had any supper. I could make us both some.” She heard the near-pleading in her voice and realized how very much she didn’t want to be alone right now.
“Your road’s a hazard at the best of times, love,” he said, touching her arm affectionately. “I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? Now just try and put the whole, nasty business out of your mind.” He moved toward the patio doors, flipping his collar up. “I’m sure there’s a perfectly logical explanation.”
“Yes,” Katie said. “You’re probably right.” She was glad she hadn’t told him about her vision of the boy. It would really have freaked him out.
“Get some rest, Katie,” he said, and she smiled at the familiar, easy advice.
“Thanks, I will.”
Jason lingered, looking anxious, as if sensing he was letting her down. “Will you be all right? Have you enough wood for the fires? God, when are you going to install central heating in this place, love?”
“Probably about the same time I’m discovered as the next Rembrandt. But I’m fine, Jason, really. And thanks for coming out on such a terrible night—and thanks for the wine.” She kissed his cheek “I really do appreciate it and you.”
He looked at her, shifted his feet. “You know, I think you’re quite mad to stay here all by yourself. No pun intended.” He peered behind him through the part in the drapes. “God, I hate it when the lake looks like that,” he blurted. “So black and angry.”
Katie was surprised at the vehemence in his voice. “I didn’t know you have a fear of water, Jason. You never told me.”
“More like a terror. I can’t swim a stroke. I nearly drowned when I was a kid. A couple of bullies threw me into—well, it doesn’t matter now. It was a long time ago. But I guess that has something to do with it.”
Katie stood on the little balcony, chilled to the bone in only her linen dress, until he reached his car. “Drive carefully,” she called out, but her voice was lost in the rising storm.
Poor Jason, Katie thought. I’ve spooked him. Once inside, she quickly closed and locked the patio doors behind her. And then, too late, she remembered that she’d meant to ask him if he’d used her front door the last time he was here. She would call him tomorrow.
A gnawing uneasiness, which she knew had been further fueled by Jason’s reaction to her story, had crawled inside her skin. Maybe Jason was right about the wisdom of her living alone out here. Maybe everyone was. Yet she’d never minded it before. Black Lake was her home; she loved it here. Katie stood before the fire, rubbing the goose-bumps from her arms, thinking.
She’d always been independent. Even before she came to live with her aunt she’d had her own apartment, working as a hostess in the town’s one good restaurant. By then her mother had already left and was living in Florida, their relationship having become more and more strained. And then when Todd didn’t come back from the war there was no longer any reason to remain in Lennoxville—no longer anyone to wait for. And so she’d accepted her aunt’s invitation to come and live with her here at Black Lake.
More than a decade ago. In some ways, only yesterday.
Holding the lighted lamp in one hand, and the glasses she and Jason had drunk from in the other, Katie headed out to the kitchen.
In the living room, she paused, frowning at the muddy footprints on the rug. She’d missed them on her way in. Jason? It didn’t sound like her friend to track mud into someone’s house. But footprints didn’t lie. Someone else’s? The thought sent a blade of ice straight to her heart. She played the lamplight over the tracks—definitely a man’s. He’d
It was suede, olive-green. Katie brushed an imaginary piece of lint from the collar. “New?”
“I needed a treat. Do you like it?”
“Smashing.”
He looked pleased. Each button he buttoned took him farther away.
“Do you really have to go right now? I haven’t had any supper. I could make us both some.” She heard the near-pleading in her voice and realized how very much she didn’t want to be alone right now.
“Your road’s a hazard at the best of times, love,” he said, touching her arm affectionately. “I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? Now just try and put the whole, nasty business out of your mind.” He moved toward the patio doors, flipping his collar up. “I’m sure there’s a perfectly logical explanation.”
“Yes,” Katie said. “You’re probably right.” She was glad she hadn’t told him about her vision of the boy. It would really have freaked him out.
“Get some rest, Katie,” he said, and she smiled at the familiar, easy advice.
“Thanks, I will.”
Jason lingered, looking anxious, as if sensing he was letting her down. “Will you be all right? Have you enough wood for the fires? God, when are you going to install central heating in this place, love?”
“Probably about the same time I’m discovered as the next Rembrandt. But I’m fine, Jason, really. And thanks for coming out on such a terrible night—and thanks for the wine.” She kissed his cheek “I really do appreciate it and you.”
He looked at her, shifted his feet. “You know, I think you’re quite mad to stay here all by yourself. No pun intended.” He peered behind him through the part in the drapes. “God, I hate it when the lake looks like that,” he blurted. “So black and angry.”
Katie was surprised at the vehemence in his voice. “I didn’t know you have a fear of water, Jason. You never told me.”
“More like a terror. I can’t swim a stroke. I nearly drowned when I was a kid. A couple of bullies threw me into—well, it doesn’t matter now. It was a long time ago. But I guess that has something to do with it.”
Katie stood on the little balcony, chilled to the bone in only her linen dress, until he reached his car. “Drive carefully,” she called out, but her voice was lost in the rising storm.
Poor Jason, Katie thought. I’ve spooked him. Once inside, she quickly closed and locked the patio doors behind her. And then, too late, she remembered that she’d meant to ask him if he’d used her front door the last time he was here. She would call him tomorrow.
A gnawing uneasiness, which she knew had been further fueled by Jason’s reaction to her story, had crawled inside her skin. Maybe Jason was right about the wisdom of her living alone out here. Maybe everyone was. Yet she’d never minded it before. Black Lake was her home; she loved it here. Katie stood before the fire, rubbing the goose-bumps from her arms, thinking.
She’d always been independent. Even before she came to live with her aunt she’d had her own apartment, working as a hostess in the town’s one good restaurant. By then her mother had already left and was living in Florida, their relationship having become more and more strained. And then when Todd didn’t come back from the war there was no longer any reason to remain in Lennoxville—no longer anyone to wait for. And so she’d accepted her aunt’s invitation to come and live with her here at Black Lake.
More than a decade ago. In some ways, only yesterday.
Holding the lighted lamp in one hand, and the glasses she and Jason had drunk from in the other, Katie headed out to the kitchen.
In the living room, she paused, frowning at the muddy footprints on the rug. She’d missed them on her way in. Jason? It didn’t sound like her friend to track mud into someone’s house. But footprints didn’t lie. Someone else’s? The thought sent a blade of ice straight to her heart. She played the lamplight over the tracks—definitely a man’s. He’d
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