Once in a Blue Moon (52 page)

Moments later they
rounded trees and bushes to peer down a gravel driveway. “He’s not
here,” whispered Dylan. “The truck’s gone and the house is
dark.”

Headlights flashed in
the distance as a car drove toward them, and they dove back into
the trees, held their breath, and waited.

The
car went by, and Dylan’s sigh was heartfelt. Unreasonable as it
was, he was convinced that if
He
were around,
He
would find them no matter where they
hid.

Sneaking out to the front of the driveway they stood under
the hanging sign and Dylan read the name.
Baron
. He shivered, which made him
angry and, lips tightening, he hurried forward.

Lifting the hammer, he
wedged the claw onto one of the house numbers attached to the
wooden post. He pulled and it popped off easier than he’d thought
it would. He made quick work of the other three numbers and Isaac
and Seth gathered the fallen pieces of metal and threw them into
the bushes.

Perfect.

“We did it,” breathed
Seth.

Isaac grinned. “Yeah!
We finally showed him!”

Exhilarated, his heart
pounding in his chest, Dylan smiled, nodded, and considered kicking
over the large, carved, wooden-bear statue beside the mailbox. He
didn’t quite dare.

Maybe next time.

Another car advanced
down the long road and the light caught them.

“It’s
Him
!”
Isaac choked. “It’s
the game
warden
!”

Even
though there was no way Isaac could be certain, Dylan completely
believed him. Explosive fear charged through his gut.
“
Run
!” he said to
his friends. “
If he catches us, we’re
dead
!
Run
!”

* * *

“Hi, Jess. You aren’t
going to believe where I am.” Honey Stevens adjusted her cell phone
between ear and shoulder so she could place her keys in a luggage
pocket.

“Redding,
California?”

“Smart Aleck,” said
Honey as she straightened. “That’s not what I meant. And
technically I’m outside of Redding, sort of in the country, or
maybe in the woods would be more accurate. But anyway, this is so
weird. The family who I’m trying to buy property from wants me to
stay with them and they aren’t here yet. They wanted me to let
myself in, so I’m in their huge, log cabin home alone, and it’s
creepy.”

“Creepy how?”

Honey let out a breath.
Talking to her friend was already relaxing her. “Well, it was
completely dark when I first got here. I couldn’t find any house
numbers, so I wouldn’t have even been sure I was at the right
place, except there’s a sign that says Baron, a carved bear by the
mailbox, and the key was under the mat as instructed.”

“And?”

Honey walked over to
the mantle and took down a family picture with ten or so people
posing in a park. She noticed a bottle of woodworking glue hidden
behind it. “And I’m used to going through people’s homes, but this
is different. It feels like I’m a burglar or something.”

“Oh, so you’re the
creepy one.” Jessica chuckled. “Besides, you like it and you know
it. You’re a natural born snoop. Do I need to remind you of my
diary?”

Honey groaned. “Give it
up already. It was twenty years ago! I was nine! It was unlocked
and the temptation was unbearable.” The people in the photo were a
good-looking bunch. Mostly adults, and a couple of babies, the guys
were dark-haired, dark-eyed, big and muscular. One had a full beard
and was so big he looked like a lumberjack or something. They took
after the dad who sat in the middle next to a pretty blonde wife.
The girls, luckily, looked like mom. “Get over it, already.”

“The old ‘I was only
nine’ excuse, again, huh,” said Jessica. “Tell me, what are you
doing right now? Right this minute? Are you snooping?”

Honey set the picture
back on the mantle and glanced at a few others. Fishing, hunting,
camping. This family was very outdoorsy. “I’m hanging up on
you.”

Jessica laughed. “I
knew
it. I’m just saying, your overwhelming curiosity
is going to get you into trouble one of these days.”

“Is your hubby there?
Can he hear you? Because if you’ve told him that story about the
diary, or anything else for that matter, you’re dead. Don’t forget,
I have all the dirt on you, too. Does college dorm ring a bell?
Victor Wilson? One in the morning? You’re not the only one with
stories to tell.”

Jessica laughed again.
“Okay, okay, truce.”

Honey grinned. “How’s
Baby Bop doing?”

“She’s good. A handful.
She misses you. She’s been asking for her Bunny. You need to come
out and see her.”

A wistful feeling
enveloped Honey as she thought of the chubby blonde baby. She’d
like one of her own, and at twenty-nine, was anxious to start a
family. “The class I’m taking lasts three weeks. I’ll come see you
as soon as I’m back in Napa.”

“So now for the big
question,” said Jessica. “How does Christian feel about being
separated from you for that long?”

Honey blew out a breath
and sank down on the leather sofa. She ran a hand across the smooth
seat and thought about her fiancé. “How does he feel?” Honey
couldn’t help but grimace as she thought about the fight they’d had
before she left.

“I’ve actually been
trying not to think about it. The short answer is, he didn’t want
me to leave, but in the end it wasn’t like I had a choice. Nick was
determined to send me, even though Michelle was begging for the
opportunity. With the brokerage class thrown in, it seemed like too
good an opportunity for me to pass up.”

“You needed this break
from Christian, anyway. It’ll give you a chance to think things
through, right?”

Think things through.
Nice. Weren’t engaged couples supposed to be excited? Joyful?
Eager? But not them. They needed to think things through. It was
depressing.

“Sure,” said Honey.
“But not right now. Right now it’s late, I’m starving, and
apparently the clients want me to make myself at home, so I’m going
to take them at their word. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Okay. Take care. Call
me if things get weirder. Or if you find any diaries or
anything.”

“I’m hanging up.”

With the sound of
Jessica’s laughter still ringing in her ears, Honey headed down the
hall, past a half-bath, an office with what looked like a trophy
fish mounted on the wall, and into the kitchen.

It was stunning. Big
and spacious, it featured a gorgeous, custom-made, log dining-room
table, with cushioned ladder-back log chairs. Taller ladder-back
bar stools swept up under a long, black granite counter. The
kitchen sported tall, light-wood cupboards and plenty of them.
French doors led outside. She really liked the layout of the house.
She’d never had a taste for log cabins before, and was surprised
she loved the place so much. Despite a surprising lack of frills,
it felt like a home.

But to business. What
was there to eat in this joint? She opened a few cupboards, hoping
to find a box of cereal or the makings for toast. She wasn’t
picky.

One cupboard revealed
plates, another blue-tinted glasses, and finally she found the
pantry. It was big, but half empty and not nearly as well-stocked
as she would have suspected for people with grandchildren.

A huge bag of dog food
dominated one corner of the floor. She scanned the shelves, but
didn’t find any of her favorite cereals, so she lifted a box of
Shredded Wheat off the shelf. It would have to do. She was hungry
enough that it would probably taste like ambrosia.

Going to the counter,
she found a note and lifted it to read. ‘I’ve left a plate of
dinner for you in the fridge. Love, M.’

M
, huh? Honey didn’t think the note
was from James Bond’s superior, but you never knew. And while the
love thing was kind of weird, the plate of food sounded fantastic,
so she blessed M and shrugged. Some people signed everything
‘love.’ And this family did want her to stay, so they were
obviously a friendly bunch.

Suddenly feeling as if
she were being watched, the hair lifted on the back of her neck and
she swung and quickly glanced around.

No one was there.

Shaking her head and
trying to throw off the sudden uneasiness, she looked in the fridge
and found the plate of food, retrieved it and peeled the foil wrap
off. Yummy. It was a homemade turkey dinner, with stuffing, mashed
potatoes and green beans. These people knew how to live.

After
popping it in the microwave, she wandered around while she waited,
and finally sorted through a stack of magazines on the counter. She
quickly realized they were all
Fish and
Game
and
Outdoors
magazines. The Barons were
definitely avid sportsmen.

She really wished she
knew more about the family and the whole situation. Nick had been
pretty closed-mouthed. He wouldn’t say why he wanted the property
so badly, but she guessed she’d find out soon enough.

She briefly wondered if
she ought to call Christian, but decided against it. He didn’t
answer when he was miffed at her, and that only made her miffed at
him. Wistfully, she hoped the time away would make him realize how
much she meant to him. But she wasn’t going to dwell on that
tonight. Especially not while she was hungry and tired. She loved
Christian. He loved her and she just needed to keep that in the
forefront of her mind.

To distract herself,
she retrieved a glass and filled it with ice and water from the
door of the fridge, then set it on one of the blue linen table
mats. Next she grabbed a paper napkin from the counter and folded
it neatly, then tried several drawers before she found one with a
fork and knife. She set them out too, neat and tidy.

When the microwave
dinged, she hurried over, retrieved the plate and, holding the
edges with her palms, sped to the table. “Hot, hot, hot!” She set
it down and took a seat.

It smelled divine.

Seeing movement out of
the corner of her eye, she froze, then, heart pounding, slowly
turned her head.

A big dog, so black she
wouldn’t have seen him if his face hadn’t been pressed right up to
the window, looked at her through the glass in the French
doors.

She let out a breath
and laughed shakily. “You scared me, boy.” 0At least she assumed it
was a boy because of its massive size. It looked like a black lab,
only bigger than average. She turned back to her food, lifted a
steaming forkful of turkey to her mouth, then turned her head
again.

The dog continued to
watch her.

Remembering the dog
food in the pantry, she put her fork down, wondering if he’d been
fed. But even if he hadn’t, she realized she didn’t dare. He looked
calm now, but she had no idea what he’d do if she opened the
door.

She lifted her fork
again, blew on the food, and when the dog scratched on the glass,
she lowered the utensil once more.

She couldn’t take the
poor beast staring at her. Especially since she didn’t know if he
were hungry or not.

Moving her drink and
utensils to the counter so her back would be to the dog, she went
back for the hot plate.

Sitting down on one of the taller chairs, lifting her fork
again, she took the first bite. “Ahhhh!” She shot out of the chair.
“
Hot
! It’s too
hot!” Mouth
burning
, eyes watering, she spit the food into her napkin, grabbed
ice water and filled her mouth, but it was too cold after the hot
food.

Choking, she dribbled
water on the front of her shirt. Setting the glass down, she gulped
for air. “Cold!”

Blowing air in and out
of her mouth for a moment, she looked down at the food, then at the
splotch of water on the front of her shirt. Retrieving another
napkin, she wiped her mouth and dabbed at her damp shirt, glad the
clients weren’t there. She glanced at the French doors. It was bad
enough the dog had witnessed her bad manners.

After a quick search
for a garbage can, she threw away both napkins, then looked
wistfully at the food. She had no desire to burn her mouth again.
Taking a small sip of water, she let it soothe her tongue, then
snagged a nearby magazine off the stack on the counter and flipped
through the pages.

Luckily she found a
funny article in the back, and when she’d finished reading it,
tentatively tried the food again.

It was just right.

When dinner and clean
up were over, Honey tried to decide what to do. She checked her
watch and realized it was almost ten o’clock. She was tired, had
been up since five a.m., and wouldn’t mind having an early night.
But until her hosts returned home, she saw no choice but to wait.
So TV sounded like a good option. How late could they be?

Wandering back into the
living room, she peeked out the front blinds, but hers was still
the only car parked in the driveway. She wondered if anything could
have happened to the Barons. She, more than most people, was well
aware that accidents happened. Sometimes tragic ones to innocent
people.

She let go of the
blind. She was getting morbid and it was time to think about
something else.

She turned on the TV,
grabbed the remote and tried the favorite settings. They were all
set to sports channels. She flipped through true crime, action,
weather, commercials, a couple of reality shows, nothing good until
she found a romantic comedy.

With a smile, she sat
in the biggest of the three log-and-cushion chairs to watch the
show. But the chair was big and firm and she couldn’t get
comfortable. Her feet dangled and she didn’t want to take off her
shoes when the Barons could show up at any moment, so she switched
to a different chair.