Be Mine (8 page)

That resolution made, she crossed the hall to the dining room, where Chad and Jonas were about to sit down. “Glad to see you found something to wear, Sabina,” Chad teased. “Although you could have kept the blanket on . . . it’s just family.”

The door swung wide as Clara entered, carrying a large platter of barbecued ribs. “That’s enough of that, Chad. It’s downright embarrassin’ to think I might have to call your mother to tell her how ramshackle your manners are.”

Chad didn’t seem intimidated. “Calling Arizona’s long distance, Aunt Clara. Remember how that runs up the phone bill? You should at least wait until the weekend to save money.”

“Yer always complainin’ about your bill, Clara. A call just to tell her somethin’ she already knows don’t make sense,” Jonas contributed.

Clara turned on the little man. “I’ll thank you t’ keep out of family business, Jonas Perry. The way you come in here and invite yourself t’ eat is a real sad thing.”

“He didn’t invite himself, Aunt. I asked him so I could chew him out some more for this afternoon. This is
punishment
.
” Chad’s eyes belied the serious tone of his voice.

The little man looked hungrily at the baked potatoes and buttery green beans already on the table. “I’ll take my lickin’ like a man soon’s I get on the outside of this food. You got a right sharp tongue, Clara, but yer the best cook in town.”

Flushing at the unexpected compliment, Clara allowed Chad to seat her. “What all happened this afternoon, besides Sock playing his terrible tricks on Sabina?”

Deciding to keep Chad in the spotlight, Sabina said brightly, “Chad gave us a lesson in creative expression. I learned some wonderful new combinations of great cusswords.”

“In front of Erica!”

“Jonas let your granddaughter sweet talk him into letting her operate the front-end loader. Our lady inspector went along for the ride.”

His voice was again deceptively soft, and Sabina realized Chad hadn’t forgiven anyone involved with the afternoon’s adventure. She plunged in. “Chad doesn’t think a woman should drive a loader. He wouldn’t even look at my operating licenses.”

 Her imagination caught, Clara’s mouth pursed thoughtfully before she turned to her nephew. “If Sabina knows how, what’s wrong with Erica learnin’? The business buys her bread and butter, don’t it?”

* * * *

Chad wouldn’t back down. “It would also pay for her funeral if she were killed. She had no business out there today.” How could he explain his concern without sounding like a complete fool? He said to Sabina, “Before you run any of our stuff I want to check you out. Sometimes those permits are issued too quickly.”

“I’m sure the mining company I worked for in Colorado would appreciate your skepticism, Chad. The two years I worked there I operated everything they had.”

Chad grinned, then answered, “I like to think of myself as properly cautious. My sister Eden is a structural engineer, in case you’re interested. We’ve had these little discussions several times.” His mouth tightened. “It frightens me to think of her dancing along bare girders with only a hard hat for protection. If I pretend she’s a librarian I sleep better.”

Now it was Jonas’s turn to grin. “Yer just gettin’ fearful in your old age, Chad. Y’need a wife and family to give ya somethin’ to
reelly
worry about.”

Chad made the expected rude response, then centered his attention on the rack of spare ribs on his plate.

“That’s funny. My brother
is
a librarian,” Sabina interjected quickly. “I bought him a hard hat for protection from falling books while he superintends his library’s move into a new building. Some of the volunteers are overenthusiastic.”

The front door slammed. Clara rose as if on strings. “There’s Daniel. His dinner’s warm in the kitchen.”

As she bustled out, Daniel bounded in from the hall. His hair was damp from his shower; his fair skin glowed with health. Sabina was struck again by the twins’ blond good looks.

“Terrible practice.
Terrible
!” he complained cheerfully as he fell into the chair at her side.

Chad eyed him skeptically. “Should I change my bet on tomorrow night’s game?”

Daniel reassured his cousin. “Every time we have a lousy practice before a big game we win going away. Coach really tore a strip off us before we left.”

“When ya’ leavin’ tomorrow?” Jonas asked.

“Right after first period. Coach wants us on campus for a short practice to get used to the floor, and then an early meal. Playing the 7:00 game is the pits.” Daniel eyed the heaped plate Clara set in front of him. “Thanks, Gran. This is my favorite.”

“Just so’s you play good tomorrow night.” She watched each bite he took, as if assuring herself of his nourishment.

Mystified, Sabina watched Daniel attack his food. Finally, she asked, “Is this a special game?”

“The regional basketball finals in Athens. Sunday’s winner will be one of the final eight teams in the state. The town will be empty tomorrow night.” Chad explained.

“Then I’ll leave early so I won’t delay you. I’m nearly finished, anyway.” The idea of leaving this warm family circle made Sabina feel bereft. She wished she could help Erica before she left. How could Chad be such a hardcore chauvinist?

She needed distance. Sitting across the table from Chad put stress on her nervous system. He looked as if he could read her mind as he said, “You’re welcome to stay over and go with us if you like. I’m sure I could turn up another ticket.”

The invitation stole her appetite. When everyone at the table seconded the offer she felt even worse. “I really have to get back. I have a . . . a Saturday dentist appointment.”

Chad threw her a skeptical look, but commented, “That sounds like fun.”

Daniel finished inhaling his meal and pushed his chair back. “I better hit the books for that test first period.” He threw perfunctory farewells behind him as he headed for the den.

“See. I told you the boy ain’t been actin’ right.” Clara’s said worriedly.

“Consarn it, woman! What’s funny about wantin’ to get his book work done?” Jonas glowered at Clara. “You women think a boy has to be make sense all the time. He’s het up about this game tomorra’, and that’s the end of it.”

Clara glared back at her longtime adversary. “What do you know about boys, you old goat? Old bachelors like you should be put to pasture when they start thinkin’ they know anythin’. I say the boy’s holdin’ somethin’ back. He don’t seem as excited as he should be.” She looked at Chad, who stifled a sigh and stood.

“I’m sure there’s nothing wrong, but I don’t want you worrying. He’s at a rough age.” The frown creasing his forehead eased as he asked Sabina. “Sure we can finish up tomorrow?”

“No problem. If we start early, I’ll be gone by noon.” Sabina wanted to escape Chad’s clear golden gaze, which seemed to pin her against the polished wood of her chair.

“Then I’ll pick you up here at seven. Has anybody heard a weather report?”

“Mebbe some rain tomorrow, Chad. Nothin’ to be a problem.” Jonas reassured. “‘Tain’t that far to Athens anyhow.”

Chad’s departure made the room seem empty, and Sabina helped Clara clear the table. Recalling her promise to Erica, she hoped Chad’s talk with Daniel didn’t last long.

After refusing an invitation to help wash dishes, Jonas left. Clara, pink-cheeked, seemed revved by their skirmish. She saw Sabina’s quizzical survey, and turned even pinker. “Jonas and I nearly got married nearly fifty years ago. He called it off. Said I was too `managin’
.
’ I never let him forget it.”

Her high color and the militance in her eyes were nearly Sabina’s undoing. The slam of the front door reverberating through the house enabled her to stifle her laughter.

“See? He won’t talk to Chad. I ‘spect Chad didn’t go about it right.” Concern chased the color from the older woman’s face.

“Would it hurt if I just stopped in to wish Daniel good luck?” Sabina wished she could escape the webs of involvement these nice people were wrapping around her. The sticky filaments felt as if they would entangle her permanently.

Clara brightened. “Your pretty face might just bring him ‘round. He won’t dare send you packin’
.
”

As she made her way to the cozy den, Sabina thought,
I just want to give him Erica’s message and get away.
Before this, she had always managed to keep others at arm’s length. She wasn’t accustomed to people sharing their problems, their pasts, and their hopes for the future. The thing that disturbed her most was that she cared.

CHAPTER SIX

The silence in the den was other-worldly. Pearl Jam held court; Sabina could see the empty CD case on the floor next to the table. She was grateful headphones confined the sound to Daniel’s headphones. After this afternoon’s explosion, rock music would complete the destruction of her nervous system.

Standing across the table from the teenager, she waved her hand between his face and the open book in front of him. No response. She touched his hand gently and felt her heart constrict with compassion for his all too visible vulnerability. Daniel had the body of an over-size adult, but the finishing process hadn’t yet taken place.

Daniel reacted by removing the headphones with polite reluctance. “Did you need something, Sabina?”

Aware no one but he could hear her, Sabina whispered, “There’s mail for you in the window seat. Erica made me swear I wouldn’t tell anyone but you.”

Before she finished speaking, Daniel rushed to the bay window and pulled out the thick envelope. As Sabina turned to leave, his voice, young and pleading, stopped her. “Please. Would you mind staying while I open this? It may be the most important letter of my life, and I need someone with me.”

Dear Heaven. I’m trapped again,
Sabina moaned inwardly. She’d never before become involved with people she scarcely knew. Caring made her feel vulnerable.

Daniel’s fingers made a long project of opening the broad flap. By the time he removed the contents, Sabina wanted to shout, “Get on with it!”

“They want me,” he said prayerfully, his eyes moving over the letter. Tears of joy glistened in his eyes as he dropped the watermarked stationery on the table and swept Sabina off her feet in a gigantic bear hug.

“Whatever the news is, it must be good,” she managed to gasp when he set her down.

His hands shaking, Daniel picked up the letter and handed it to her. “Read.”

She scanned the page once, then twice. “A full scholarship! The Columbus College of Art and Design! Daniel, that’s unbelievable! Do you know how hard it is just to get accepted there?” Her voice quivered with laughter as she added, “Of course you do. How stupid of me.”

Then she realized the implications. “You’re supposed to attend the Colorado School of Mines! How will Chad take this?”

Her words weren’t really a question. They were a gloomy, self-contained statement.

The joy drained visibly from Daniel’s face. His voice was tight as he answered, “I’ll just have to choose the right time to tell him. He
has
to understand. He just has to.”

Sabina’s heart contracted. For the second time in one day, she found herself listening to another person’s hopes and dreams, this time the second of a pair of twins. For one dizzy moment she wondered if that could be considered only one personal life.

 For someone who had lived a lifetime avoiding emotional involvement, things were moving too fast. Sabina’s mother had been dedicated to her accounting career, and her father was devoted to his philosophy classes at the university. She and her brother Jack had been raised as miniature adults. No scenes, no emotional outbursts, ever disturbed their family life.

Until this moment, she had never wondered how her remote parents had ever married and produced children.

Then she recalled her own broken engagement. Things had ended when she realized she and John had no passion for each other. She’d had a sudden, searing vision of life that offered only tepid friendship. The boy’s desperation touched something deep inside her. She had never experienced caring until she came to this rural area in eastern Ohio.

“Daniel, can I do anything? I’m not sure Chad would listen to me, but maybe I can sort of . . . pave the way a little?”

Sinking into his chair, Daniel shook his head. “Nobody’s ever been kinder to me in my whole life than Chad. Eric and I would have crawled into a cave and died after Mom and Dad were killed, but he wouldn’t let us. Sometimes he just sat and held us. He goes to our teachers’ conferences. And to PTA meetings.”

A picture of Chad at a PTA meeting flashed through Sabina’s mind. She could see him, probably in a banker’s suit like the one he’d worn the other evening, prowling around with that effortless grace of his, looking as out of place as a tiger lily in a field of soy beans. The mothers present probably averaged a forty percent rise in their aggregate blood pressure. Sabina’s voice cracked as she said, “PTA meetings?”

“He was president year before last. Then the banks and the mining company began to need more time and attention. A year or so ago he started to . . . to pull away a little. Now he leaves town every once in a while.” Daniel grinned. “Calls it R & R. Gran said he goes away to sow his wild oats. He’s still here for us, but he lets us make more of our own decisions.”

Without thinking, Sabina snapped, “According to your grandmother, he’s sometimes brings part of the oat field home.”

Daniel’s grin widened. “He only did that once, and Gran nearly had a cow. Eric and I laughed ‘till we were sick. That was one foxy chick . . . a real city girl.” He peered up at her. “Does that bother you? Gran said there are hormones stewing between you two.”

Sabina straightened, color flooding her cheeks. “I’m here on state business, remember? Besides, even if there were something between us, that’s nothing to do with your problem.”

“I just thought I’d take a sounding.” He grinned, looking about thirteen, then became serious again. “I can’t do anything about the scholarship this week. When the time is right, Eric and I’ll tackle him together. It’s not as if I’d be leaving him in the lurch or anything like that. If Eric weren’t so hot to take over, I’d never even consider this, no matter how much my art means to me.” The determination in his voice indicated he’d given the matter deep thought before he applied for the scholarship. “The thing is, she’d be terrific.”