If You Ever Tell (31 page)

“Okay, I understand. But why do you want to have the shindig at my house?”

“Sharon will refuse to come to my house after the fireworks. And your place is so much prettier than mine, up on that knoll with the landscape lights. At night it looks like something out of a fairy tale.”

“That might be a slight exaggeration, but thanks. What about the food? Do you want me to bake pastries and a cake?”

“No!” Carmen sounded horrified and Teri grinned. “I mean, I wouldn’t dream of having you miss any holiday activities so you can stay in and cook,” Carmen said more calmly, seeming not to realize that Teri had been joking. “I’ll bring the food in the late afternoon and we’ll put it in your kitchen—most of it can go in the refrigerator—but if you’ll meet Kent and Sharon at their house, then there won’t be a chance of Sharon seeing it. Later in the evening, I’ll come to the park and join you. And it has to look as if I’m joining
you
, Teri, not Gabe. We don’t want to tip off Sharon.”

Teresa couldn’t help bursting into laughter. “Carmen, I feel like we’re CIA agents planning a secret mission.”

“Well, we might as well be,” Carmen said. “The only difference is that Sharon is tougher than anyone the CIA has ever faced!”

T
ERESA HAD JUST HUNG
up when Mac arrived at her door. She greeted him almost shyly, feeling like a girl going on her first date with someone she’d just met. Teresa knew she was being ridiculous—she’d known Mac since she was a teenager—but they’d grown so far apart since she’d broken their engagement, they really seemed to be starting over from scratch.

“You look beautiful,” Mac said with an appreciative smile.

“I’ve had this dress for years. It’s nothing special,” Teresa said in a rush, not wanting him to think she’d really
tried
to look exceptional. “I hardly ever wear dresses nowadays.”

“Well, you should. You have great legs,” Mac said, his audacity tempered by his boyish smile. “I’m starving. How about you?”

“I haven’t eaten all day. I forgot—me with the appetite of a lumberjack. I want to go someplace where you get
large
servings.”

Fifteen minutes later, they pulled up in front of a house-turned-restaurant nestled in the shadow of a rolling, green hill.

“Gloria’s Lighthouse Café,” Mac said.

“I’ve heard about this place, but I’ve never been here,” Teresa said.

“Then you’re in for a treat.”

They walked inside to face a long bar, turned left, and went up two steps into a cozy dining room. A gleaming dark hardwood floor led to a tall enclosed brick fireplace with a wood stove sitting in front. On the mellow muted green walls hung paintings, some done by the restaurant’s owner. Ceiling fans with lights hung above the diners. Teresa chose a table facing long windows through which she could watch the sky turn from cornflower blue, to orchid and coral, and finally to heliotrope.

Teresa and Mac both ordered steaks with baked potatoes, salad, and rolls. Teresa was glad the restaurant wasn’t crowded yet. In fact, only two other couples occupied the dining room and they sat far away from Teri and Mac, talking quietly.

Teri fumbled with her napkin and gratefully reached for her glass when their drinks arrived. She felt as if she’d never been on a date and was certain she acted like it, too.

“Do you remember the last time we had dinner together?” Mac asked in a low, romantic voice.

“No.”

“Oh. Neither do I.” Teresa looked at Mac, then laughed. He grinned at her. “You were expecting some long, seductive description of that dinner, weren’t you?”

“Well, yes.”

“Sorry, but if anything significant happened over a last dinner together, I don’t recall it. So much for softening you up with sentimental memories.”

In spite of Mac’s joking, Teresa still felt awkward and wished she could think of a pleasant, interesting topic that would take both their minds off of what seemed dangerously like a date. She took a drink of water, then cast around her mind and finally came up with, “Won’t your club be opening in about an hour? Who takes care of things while you’re away?”

“I have an excellent assistant manager. He’s very ambitious, but he can’t have designs on my job unless he wants to buy the place. I expect in about a year he’ll want to move on and get a position in a big-city club.”

“Will there be any franchises of Club Rendezvous?”

“Maybe in two or three years. It all depends on the economy.”

“Doesn’t just about everything?” Teresa’s attempt at a gay little laugh sounded wooden. “I’d hoped to expand Farr Fields—buy more land, build a second barn—but I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep what I already have afloat after all of this trouble.” She immediately realized how self-concerned she seemed. “I wasn’t referring to Gus’s… death. That was a tragedy. I’ll never forgive myself for putting him in danger.”

“How did you put him in danger?”

Teresa looked at Mac in surprise. “Have you forgotten what happened eight years ago? Half of the town hasn’t forgotten, even when Roscoe Lee Byrnes was holding firm on his confession. But now that he’s recanted—well, you know all of the old suspicions of me have surfaced again. And I told you about the note, the fax, the night-light—I’m being stalked, so anyone who associates with me is in danger. Sharon was probably right to drag away Daniel from his lesson yesterday.”

“So you think you’re Typhoid Mary, a peril to anyone who comes near you.”

“It seems that way.”

“And this curse you embody went on an eight-year hiatus? First there was Wendy and your father and Celeste, then nothing for years, and now Gus.”

“You’re forgetting about my mother,” Teresa said quietly. “My mother… disappeared.”

“Disappeared because she was murdered? Or disappeared and died?” Mac paused, then said with emphasis, “Or just disappeared for a while?” Teresa’s gaze jerked away from him. “Teri, do you really think your mother is alive and in town?”

The question he’d wanted to ask since this afternoon was one Teri didn’t want to answer. For a moment, she stared at Mac’s earnest face—a face she’d once loved—and knew she couldn’t lie to him. “I can’t imagine that if my mother were still alive, she would have stayed away for so long. She knew how much Kent and I loved her. She wouldn’t be so cruel.”

Teresa paused. “At least, if she were herself, she wouldn’t be so cruel. But she wasn’t well, physically or mentally. She’d been released from the mental hospital, but maybe she shouldn’t have been. That last day I saw her at the house—the day when Dad caught us—she was so thin and desperate. Frankly, she wasn’t even making a lot of sense. She asked me to run away with her.”

“She did?” Mac looked shocked. “You never told me.”

Their salad arrived and Teresa was glad she didn’t have to answer Mac for a moment. He repeated his question, though, as soon as the waitress left.

“I didn’t tell you anything about seeing her that day,” Teri said. “Your mother begged me not to, remember? Anyway, Mom kept saying, ‘I can’t get well here in this town. I can’t get well without you, and you need to get away from your father and Wendy. I’m afraid of what they might do to you.’”

“What did she think Hugh and Wendy would do to you?”

“I don’t know. After all, I was going to be leaving for college in September—I just had to get through the rest of spring and the summer—and both of them couldn’t wait for me to leave. Dad only fought for custody of me to hurt Mom.” Teresa sighed. “Maybe she was afraid Dad would beat me. Looking back, I’m sure he struck her more than once. And he slapped me twice the day Mom came to the house.”

“So she was afraid for you as well as being devastated at having you taken away from her,” Mac said thoughtfully. “Do you know how strong a motive that is for her killing Hugh and Wendy?”

“Yes.” Teresa spoke barely above a whisper. “I’ve known it ever since the night of the murders. But it doesn’t explain her attacking Celeste.”

“You said she wasn’t well. Maybe she just went into some kind of frenzy.”

“The person I bumped into in the hall—the person who cut my arm—was definitely not in a frenzy. That person was almost frighteningly calm.”

Mac raised his eyebrows. “You never told me that, either.”

“Well, I’ve held back quite a lot over the years. I believe I’ve told you everything now.” Mac said nothing and Teresa went on. “The point is that I’ve never been sure my mother didn’t kill Dad and Wendy. Mom disappeared after the murders, but if she died, her body was never found. No Jane Doe bodies the authorities thought might be my mother have surfaced, either. Now Roscoe Byrnes has recanted his confession, suspicion has fallen on me again, and suddenly I thought I saw my mother on the road leading from my place—running away from the barn where Gus Gibbs was murdered. And today, I found Mom’s recently worn scarf in our old house.”

Mac frowned. “I want you to think about two points. One, that scarf is probably your mother’s and it has been worn recently, but there’s no proof that
she
wore it. Two, I understand why your mother would keep her presence a secret if she committed the murders eight years ago, but why would she kill Gus?”

“Maybe she was in the barn with Eclipse, who looks exactly like the horse she had when she was young, and Gus walked in. He recognized her. She still didn’t intend to reveal herself unless she saw that I was in danger of being arrested and tried for the murders of Dad and Wendy, so she grabbed the rake and struck at Gus, then she ran. I’m sure she didn’t mean to kill him.”

“Well, if she wanted to keep her presence a secret, she would
have
to kill him. And don’t forget that he was posed, Teri.” Her eyes widened. “The hay in the stall had two tracks where Gus’s heels had scraped as he was pulled to the corner of the stall. You didn’t seem to notice, so I didn’t say anything last night, but you should know now.”

“Oh, God. How could I not notice?”

“Don’t get upset, Teri. You were so shocked when you saw him, then I took you away. You were sitting over on the bench when the police mentioned it. The whole thing was terrible enough without you imagining someone dragging Gus over to a corner where he was hidden unless you completely opened the horse stall.”

“Then Mom didn’t want him to be seen immediately. Maybe she thought if he was found later, someone else would be blamed. Someone like Josh, who she probably knew wasn’t home right then but would be later.”

Mac closed his eyes for a moment, then looked at her sympathetically. “Teri, are you listening to yourself? One minute you’re saying your mother isn’t well, she’s acting crazy, and then you credit her with extremely calculated behavior. It doesn’t make sense.”

Teresa dropped her gaze and sighed. “You’re right, Mac. None of this makes sense. I’m just grasping at answers, no matter how illogical, because I feel like I’m under siege. I’m so scared, both for myself and for my mother.”

“I know.” Mac’s voice was tender and understanding. “I also know how hard it is for you to admit you’re so frightened. You’ve never wanted people to think you were afraid of anything. That’s why I took the liberty of buying you what might be a valuable present.”

“A present?” Teresa asked as Mac reached into his pocket. “Not a
gun
!”

“Hush!” Mac hissed. “Of course I’m not carrying a gun around in my pants pocket, although I don’t think it would do you any harm to have a gun.”

“Well, I don’t own one. And as for buying one now—when I’m suspected of murdering three people—I don’t think so.”

“I’m one step ahead of you. I got this for you.” Mac held out a shiny gold tube.

“Lipstick?” Teresa asked. “You think lipstick will help me?”

“It’s a special kind of lipstick.” Mac smiled. “It’s lipstick pepper spray. It’s perfectly legal—you don’t need a permit to buy or carry it, and there isn’t a problem with you keeping it concealed, like there is with a stun gun.”

“Who would want to walk around
carrying
a stun gun?” Teri asked.

“I don’t know. That’s the problem with them. You have to tote it around in full view all the time or you could be arrested for carrying a concealed weapon. Anyway, pepper spray swells the mucous membranes and the veins in the eyes so your attacker can barely breathe or see, not to mention that it burns like hell. This little sprayer is good for up to six feet.”

Teresa picked up the tube carefully and slipped off the top to see the small white pump. “All I have to do is squirt this once?”

“Well, I’d squirt it three or four times to be safe. And remember, you have to be close to your attacker. You can’t disable him if you’re clear across the room.” Teresa looked at the tube doubtfully and Mac went on. “Look, Teri, I know this isn’t the most dangerous weapon you could have, but as you’ve said, you don’t already have a gun and now isn’t the best time for you to buy one. Just keep this tube with you at all times. It’s small—it will even fit into the pocket of jeans. Tight jeans, like you wear.” She made a face at him and he grinned. “I want you to promise me you’ll always carry it.”

Teresa gave the tube one more dubious glance, then picked up her purse. “I’m afraid this dress has no pockets, so it has to go in the purse for now. But later, I’ll wear nothing that doesn’t have at least one pocket, and this will be in it.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

Just then their food arrived and Teri’s eyes widened at the size of the steak, the baked potato, the ear of corn she hadn’t expected, and the huge rolls. While the waitress finished organizing their food on the table and asking if they’d like anything else, Teresa tucked the tube of pepper spray in the top of her purse so she wouldn’t forget it. She had every intention of keeping her promise to Mac to carry the little tube of spray all the time, and she already felt a tad safer.

“I won’t be able to eat all day tomorrow to make up for what a glutton I made of myself tonight,” Teresa groaned as they climbed the steps to her porch. “Still, it was absolutely delicious.”

“I did notice that after declaring you couldn’t possibly eat so much, you cleaned up your plate,” Mac said dryly.