Intimate Portraits (21 page)

Part of Autumn’s reviving brain noticed
how well the two were getting along.

Fran’s interest in Victoria might
be due to his trying to wangle favorable coverage on CNN for Gus Huertole. Or
it could be due to Victoria’s glamor. Or there was the chance Fran thought Rennie
was interested in Victoria, which meant Victoria was simply another way to
score off his big brother.

Well, she wouldn’t worry about
Fran. Or Victoria, who might also have an ulterior motive. The reporter been
pumping Fran about Gus Huertole and his wife, asking about their finances and influence
in obtaining this new exhibit for the High Museum.

Not that it mattered.

Whatever the reason the two had
hit it off, Autumn was glad, particularly since Rennie’s uninhibited display
that morning.

He no longer avoided her, but
neither did he treat her any differently than before. If anything, he had
withdrawn into himself like he’d done when she first asked about Jane.

How was she ever going to make him
admit his interest in her?

Assuming he
had
an
interest in her.

No, he must. After the way he had
rushed into the cabin, grabbed her up, held her, kissed her. He wouldn’t have
been so panicky if he didn’t care for her.

Those weren’t brotherly kisses,
either.

Uh uh.

So why had he urged Laney and
John to join him and Autumn for a belated lunch in Helen? “We can view the last
live gluckenfeel of the weekend,” he added enticingly.

If Autumn were a gambler, she
would have bet he was putting off being alone with her for as long as possible.

That was okay. They had a long
drive back to Atlanta. With nothing to do but talk.

Both couples were subdued as they
window-shopped and waited for the glockenspiel to begin. Kiki Ballencer’s
murder, despite none of them having met the woman before this weekend, had laid
a pall over the festive getaway.

“Do you think Autumn’s fall last
night was connected to what happened today?” John asked Rennie in a low voice
as Laney hovered over a display of music boxes.

Autumn didn’t miss Rennie’s
flicked glance and tiny hesitation. “I don’t know. I did think the coincidence
ought to be mentioned and that’s why I told the investigator. With the jackets
looking so much alike, it just seemed…strange.”

Laney tore her eyes from a
particularly enchanting box shaped like Cinderella’s coach. “It was Kiki’s
husband who did it, I’m sure it was. I know you think she was laying it on kind
of thick, John, but she was running scared. And he’s had brushes with the law
before. I’ve heard rumors of their domestic problems for months through the
battered women’s shelter.”

“You may be right, but it won’t
hurt Autumn to stay with someone for a few days,” Rennie said. “At least until
they find the guy.”

“She’ll stay with us,” Laney
said.

“Good.”

Autumn raised her brows. Was he
seeing her as a friend or sister to be protected? Or as a woman he cared about
sexually? “I don’t need a babysitter.”

“I didn’t say you needed a
babysitter.”

“The same thing.”

“Rennie’s right, Autumn,” Laney
said. The cold air had pinked her cheeks and made her dark eyes sparkle. Wavy
black hair fell from beneath a crimson beret onto a bright green turtleneck and
maroon pea coat. A few snowflakes and she could go on the front of a Christmas
card. “It won’t hurt to be careful. In case something’s going on we don’t know
about. You’ll stay with John and me.”

“No, thank you, Laney. I’ve slept
on the sofa bed in John’s office before. I’ll pass.”

“You could come to Mom’s.” Rennie
refused to look at Autumn. “She has plenty of room.”

So Rennie thought she was a
helpless female, did he? She wasn’t. Okay, maybe she was a little concerned,
especially after Kiki’s death. But her fall off the bridge and Kiki’s murder
had to be coincidences. That was all they could be.

She wouldn’t play his game. “Let’s
have one last funnel cake before we leave.”

“I’ve got to pick up my candle,
too.” Laney glanced at her watch. “He was supposed to have it ready by now.”

The funnel cake tasted flat, and
everyone except Autumn ended up with powdered sugar all over their clothes. Laney
brushed off John and smeared it all over his jacket front.

Rennie declined his sister’s help.

Autumn didn’t offer hers.

Afterward, they walked over near
the tower where they could get a good view of the glockenspiel. After waiting
twenty minutes in the cold, the show wasn’t nearly as entertaining as Autumn
had imagined.

She wasn’t the only one
disappointed.

“You mean that’s it?” Laney exclaimed
once the people disappeared from their balcony. She huffed and put her hands on
her hips in disbelief. “We stood around all afternoon in the cold to watch a
bunch of people come out on the porch and wave their trombones or whatever around?
And fake trombones, at that. This is disgusting.”

“Now, Elena,” Rennie chided. “What
did you expect? Didn’t you know what a glockenspiel was? What did you think it
would be like? I thought it was lovely. The musicians played—or maybe mimed is
a better word—their part to perfection. And the dancing was very, very
alpine-like. Well worth the trip to Helen and our sojourn in a primitive cabin
with few conveniences and not enough hot water for six adults.”

Autumn tucked her Nikon away in
its case. “They were supposed to be French horns. If you didn’t want to stay, Rennie,
you should have told me.”

“And miss the show? Heavens to
Murgatroyd! I wouldn’t have dreamed of it.” Rennie exuded a positively saintly
air.

“I think that was a broom the man
on the right next to the end was carrying,” John offered. “I mention it because
I know Laney would never recognize one otherwise.”

“You pig.” Taking off her glove, Laney
ran her cold hand up beneath her husband’s sweater.

He yipped and tried to get away.

“Children, children.” Rennie’s grin
glimmered. “Can’t you behave? Here’s a cafe, Autumn. You said you wanted a cup
of cappuccino before we start home. Come on, let’s sit down while Laney picks
up her candle.”

Autumn had hoped, after the
undeniable evidence he had given of his feelings for her, he would talk to her
about his reaction the past night. Instead, he had retreated into his role of
big brother and friend.

What was she going to do? He’d
already seen her with all her clothes off, so stripping naked and prancing
around in front of him wouldn’t accomplish anything.

At last they started back to
Atlanta, alone, but when they passed the old mill leading out of town and
before she could broach the subject uppermost on her mind, Rennie said, “You
can’t go back home. Not till we find out what happened to Kiki.”

Nausea swelled. She refused to
think about Kiki in her blood-soaked jacket amid strewn groceries. “You’re
being paranoid.”

“Listen, Autumn, someone tried to
stab you last night on the bridge.”

“No, no, it—”

“Yes, they did. Anyone looking at
your butt pack can see what happened. Those detectives realized it, too. And
today a woman wearing a coat like yours was shot to death. Something’s wrong.”

She didn’t want to believe it,
tried not to believe it. But could his taking those things so seriously mean
that he cared for her in more than a friendly way?

If only he would take his eyes
off the road.

No clue from his profile.

She swallowed. “I’m not a fool. I
realize the two things may be connected, but don’t you think the most likely
thing is someone mistook me for Kiki last night on the bridge? After all, it
was dark and I had on my coat like hers. Kiki told us herself her husband was
threatening her. Doesn’t it make sense to think he mistook me for her, before
he got a chance today to—”

Images from that morning flooded,
blotting out those of the vivacious woman they’d met Friday. Her stomach flip-flopped.

Digging into her purse, she found
a tissue and blew her nose, then cracked the window to let cold air revive her.

“Autumn, come to Mom’s, stay
there for a few days.”

“There’s no need. Don’t be silly.”

“A woman’s dead.” Dark eyes
flicked at her and back to the road. “I don’t think I’m being silly.”

She lay back against the seat and
closed her eyes. The fresh air quelled her nausea. “I’m going home.”

Unless he could give her a far
better reason to stay away from her condo than he had given so far. Like he
loved her and was afraid something might happen to her. Like he wanted her at Reseda’s
because he wanted her close by.

What might have been a sigh in
another man signaled Rennie’s impatience, but he didn’t argue.

For several miles, they rode
along in a chilly silence, until Autumn whipped up her nerve. “Did you mean
what you said last night?”

His hands tightened on the wheel.
“What I said last night.”

“Yes. About… You know.”

He gave her that Rennie glance
again, where his head didn’t move but his eyes darted over to her face and back
to the road. The tires made a humming noise. “I said a lot of things.”

“
Rennie.
” Had the kiss
made so little an impression on him? “You said you wanted me.”

His profile turned harsh. His
hands gripped the steering wheel. “Of course I meant it. You’re a sexy,
desirable woman. A man would be a fool not to want you. That doesn’t give him
the right to act on his wants.”

“I see.” If she didn’t speak up,
her courage would sift away. She swallowed. “So I’m good enough to have for a
friend, but not good enough to have for a lover.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“Putting words in my mouth.” His
voice was clipped.

“Rennie, you said you cared for
me. Do you?”

“Of course I do.”

“As a friend? Or something else?”

“Leave it, Autumn. Please.” He
sounded tired.

She left it.

You coward.
But how much further could she
humiliate herself and him?

Conversation in the Lexus was
nonexistent as they sped down Highway 400. The two of them shared the tiny
space but each remained insulated. Both leaned back against the leather seats and
let the air become a barrier between them. The tinkle of Scott Joplin’s ragtime
broke the silence. The afternoon light touched trees with rusty leaves on bare
limbs and gloomy pines and other evergreens. A perfect setting for her mood.

But when he pulled up to her
condominium soon after dusk, after the car was stopped and before they got out,
he turned to her. “I’ve been sitting across from you the whole time I’ve been
driving, trying to pretend nothing’s changed between us, that you’re the same
and I’m the same. But it isn’t going to work. We can’t be friends any more. We’ve
gone past that.”

“I know. I was wondering when you’d
catch on.”

Don’t sound so snippy. He’s
giving you an opening.

Either the shock of falling over
the bridge or seeing Kiki’s body made her reckless. “It’s as well we don’t try
to be friends, Rennie. Maybe we need to let it go.”
Jump in before you lose
your courage.
“Or maybe there’s something else we can be.”
Say it, just
say it.
“I love you. I always have.”

The slim hand resting on the
wheel tightened into a fist. He stared down at it and away from her.

She’d gone too far.

His voice seemed remote. “You
told me that once before, after I graduated from UGA. When I left home.”

She started. “You remember? I
thought you’d forgotten, put my emotional collapse down to adolescent hormones.”

 “Of course I remember. You told me
you loved me, begged to go with me to California.” The one corner of his mouth
she could see, lifted as if he found the memories amusing.

Heat seared her cheeks as she
recalled the scene she had made, the hysterical blubbering of the teenager she
had been. “You laughed.”

Please don’t laugh now.

The smile vanished. He looked at
her. “What else could I do? You were seventeen, and I had an assistantship
waiting. I knew by the time I saw you again, you’d have forgotten me and fallen
for someone else. Kids change their minds a hundred times before they settle
down.” He slapped the wheel. “What kind of scumbag would I have been if I’d encouraged
you in thinking you loved me, if I’d taken advantage of you? Give me some
credit, Autumn.”

She covered her eyes. She couldn’t
let him see how he’d hurt her. “I thought I’d die when you said I was too young
to know what I was saying. But I meant it.”

“I was right. You were too young,
and I was… I shouldn’t have laughed. I’m sorry, Autumn. I should have been more
sensitive, more understanding. I wasn’t laughing inside, believe me. Inside I
felt pretty awful.”