The Stranger's Sin (10 page)

“Since Mandy would probably confide in you herself, I guess it won’t hurt.” Edie looked around again, found nobody within hearing range, then continued in the hushed tones that were as loud as most speaking voices. “Mandy was seeing somebody.”

Kelly hadn’t expected that. “Somebody here in town?”

“Oh, yes. And him being married yet.” Edie pursed her lips and shook her head, as though she was the one who’d been wronged.

“Who is he?”

Edie acted as though she was debating whether to share her information, then made a face and sucked in her breath. “Jim Waverly.”

Kelly instantly recognized the name of the father of the young athlete who’d been a finalist in the egg toss. But Waverly had made it a point to tell her he wasn’t married when he’d hit on her. “I thought he was divorced.”

Edie’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. “You know who he is then?”

Kelly thought it best not to provide Edie’s curiosity with any more fuel so she simply nodded.

“I guess it’s hard not to notice a good-looking guy like Jim,” Edie said, then continued when Kelly said nothing. “He’s divorced now, but the divorce only became final last week. Besides, even if he wasn’t in a relationship at the time of the affair, Mandy was.”

Mandy hadn’t been in a good relationship, but Kelly knew better than to share that tidbit with Edie. She
wished she’d known about the alleged affair between Mandy and Jim Waverly before the festival. That would have been reason enough to accept Waverly’s offer of a drink.

“Mom!” A freckled girl of about seven years old who’d competed in the egg toss rushed over to them, her eyes bright. “Hurry! The pie-eating contest is gonna start!”

“Excuse me,” Edie said to Kelly, laughing as the excitable little girl led her by the hand over to the pavilion.

Kelly followed at a slower pace, her own eagerness to watch the contest dimmed. Her encounter with Edie had reinforced the fact that Kelly was merely pretending to be part of the Indigo Springs community.

She was no longer the woman who’d tagged along to the festival because a single, wonderful kiss had caused her to want to experience what it felt like to be part of Chase’s world.

She was a woman on a mission.

And that mission was to corner Jim Waverly and find out if he knew where Mandy was.

C
HASE USUALLY ENJOYED
the music at the Fourth of July festival.

The high-school band, the color-guard ensemble, the local rock group with dreams of hitting it big. They
all
sounded infinitely better when listened to outdoors in the company of friends, especially when the weather cooperated.

Tonight, with the temperature hovering around seventy degrees and with four of his friends and Toby
spread out beside him on a giant blanket, Chase could have been tone-deaf.

“Who is Kelly talking to?” Sara Brenneman craned her neck to get a better view through the sea of people in the downtown park. On the amphitheater stage, the musicians scheduled to perform next set up for their show. Restless children chased one another around an adjacent field.

Toby was more tired than restless. Chase had put the baby in his combination carrier-car seat when his eyes reached half-mast. They were well below that now, the whites barely visible.

In addition to Toby and Sara, Chase’s group included Michael Donahue and Johnny and Penelope Pollock. Johnny’s arm was slung around his bride of a little more than a month.

“That’s Timmy Waverly’s dad.” Chase didn’t need to turn around to provide the answer to the question of who was monopolizing Kelly. Neither did he particularly want to talk about the man. “First in the sack race, but runner-up in the egg toss and three-legged race. The kid’s a natural.”

“Only in the solo events,” Michael said, building on Chase’s misdirection. “Timmy thinks the only letters in team are
M
and
E.
”

Michael had returned to Indigo Springs earlier in the summer for Johnny’s wedding and stayed, recently becoming partners in his old friend’s construction business. The more Chase got to know Michael, the better he liked him. That didn’t mean Chase wouldn’t give his new friend a hard time.

“Have you been hanging around my dad?” Chase
said with an exaggerated groan. “Because that is the caliber of bad jokes he tells.”

Michael winced and covered his heart. “You wound me.”

Johnny and Penelope laughed, but Sara wasn’t listening to their exchange. “Is he married?”

“Of course Timmy’s not married,” Michael said. “He’s eleven years old.”

Sara rolled her eyes. “Not Timmy, his dad. Is Timmy’s dad married?”

Chase had made it a point to find out Waverly’s marital status about an hour ago. In doing so, he’d inadvertently learned that Waverly was quickly developing a reputation as a player.

“Divorced.” Chase hoped that would end the line of conversation.

“I’m missing something,” Penelope interjected. “Who is Kelly?”

Chase resigned himself to discussing Kelly. There was no way around it with this group. “She’s in town looking for Mandy. And, as it turns out, she’s helping me out with Toby. My dad was out of town last night so she babysat.”

“Really?” Sara’s eyebrows shot up. “Kelly Delaney babysat for you?”

Penelope lowered her voice. “If this Kelly Delaney is looking for Mandy, does that mean people know Mandy is gone?”

“More of them all the time,” Chase acknowledged, a fact that made him uneasy. He’d allowed his father to convince him to delay going to DPW partly because they
couldn’t be sure Mandy had abandoned Toby, but he didn’t honestly believe that. The more people suspected she wasn’t coming back, the more Chase felt he should make that report to DPW. “It’s not like it’s a secret.”

“Why is Kelly looking for her?” Penelope asked.

Sara exchanged a significant look with Chase. He’d already told her about Kelly retracting her story about the broken necklace, which had done little to curb her suspicions.

“Mandy owes Kelly money,” Chase said.

Johnny whistled. “Must be a lot of money if she’s going to this much trouble to find her.”

Sara turned to Chase. “How much do you know about Kelly?”

Sara could just as easily have said once a liar, always a liar. Even though Chase at one time had believed that applied to Kelly, the heart-to-heart they’d had changed his mind.

“Enough to know she’s a good person,” Chase said.

“But—”

“Sara,” Michael interrupted, putting an arm around her and pulling her close. “What’s with all the questions?”

Chase could have provided Michael with the answer. Sara had figured out he was attracted to Kelly and was attempting to look out for him. After the fiasco with Mandy, he didn’t blame her for questioning his judgment when it came to women.

“I’m being a friend,” Sara replied.

Michael kissed her on her temple. “Chase is a big boy. He can take care of himself.”

“Of course he can,” Sara said, “but what are friends for if not to butt into each other’s business?”

Chase had to laugh. “I’m gonna remember that, Sara, but Michael’s right. I can handle myself.”

“But…” She didn’t finish her thought, due to a gentle squeeze from Michael. She closed her eyes briefly, then said, “I’m sorry, Chase.”

“Nothing to be sorry about. We all need somebody who’s got our back.” Chase winked at her and plastered on a smile. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m taking Toby home.”

“You’re not staying for the fireworks?” Penelope gasped as though he’d announced he was leaving the country instead of the festival. “They’re supposed to be spectacular.”

“The little guy needs his sleep.” Chase indicated the baby, whose eyes had once again popped open. He looked ready to break into full cry. “He’s having a hard time getting any shut-eye with the noise.”

He said goodbye and picked up the carrier, threading his way through the people who’d settled on the lawn to listen to the concert. He was halfway to his destination when he noticed Louise Wiesneski approaching him from the opposite direction. Avoiding the librarian would have been impossible.

“Well, hello there, Chase,” she said. “How are things going with Toby?”

“Great. We’re headed out now so I can put him to bed.” He hid a grimace, wishing he didn’t feel as though he was auditioning for Guardian of the Year whenever he dealt with Louise.

“So his mother isn’t back yet?”

Toby started to whimper, which normally wouldn’t have been a welcome sound. “Sorry, but we’ve got to go.”

Chase stepped around her and proceeded to the far side of the park, where Kelly still talked with Jim Waverly. He felt as if he’d avoided one obstacle only to smash into another. They were deep in conversation with Waverly’s blond head angled toward Kelly’s dark one. She looked beautiful and feminine in a pale yellow cotton sundress, the skirt flowing around her slim legs.

“Let’s focus on you,” he overheard Waverly rasp in a low, deep voice as he approached. “When should we get together for that drink?”

Chase told himself he’d never been prone to jealousy, but the reminder didn’t help as he waited for her answer. Kelly didn’t give one. She spotted him and instantly put space between herself and Waverly.

“Chase!” Her voice sounded bright. Too bright. “Do you know Jim Waverly?”

“You’re Timmy’s dad, right?” Chase held out a hand, disguising the fact that he didn’t feel friendly toward the other man. “Your boy’s a heck of an athlete.”

“Thanks.” Waverly gave him a limp handshake without making eye contact, dropping his hand almost immediately. He muttered an insincere-sounding, “Good to meet you.”

After an awkward silence, Chase said to Kelly, “I’m taking Toby home. If you’re not ready to leave, my dad can give you a ride back to the house.”

“Charlie said he didn’t feel like staying for the fireworks,” Kelly said. “I was just about to hunt for you so I could let you know he already left.”

“I’ll give you a ride home,” Waverly offered as though it was already a done deal. He edged closer to Kelly. “That way you won’t miss the fireworks.”

“That’s really nice of you, Jim.” Kelly sounded as if she really believed Waverly had offered her a ride out of the goodness of his heart. “But I know you want to spend some time with your son, so I’ll leave with Chase.”

Was she trying to distance herself from Waverly or was that wishful thinking on Chase’s part? He was still trying to figure out which as they headed down a side street where he’d managed to find a parking spot.

He debated whether to tell her about Waverly’s reputation as a player. He didn’t feel comfortable repeating hearsay, especially when he couldn’t be sure it was true, but neither was he okay with saying nothing.

“You might want to be careful around Waverly,” he finally ventured.

“What do you mean?”

He should have known she wouldn’t accept his statement at face value. He shifted Toby’s carrier from one hand to the other. The baby was sound asleep.

“Just be careful,” he said.

“You know then?”

He stopped walking and regarded her curiously. “Know what?”

She pressed her lips together, obviously regretting her question. Her shoulders rose and fell as though now she was the one with the internal debate raging.

“What is it?” he prompted. “Is this about Waverly’s reputation?”

She bit her lip, swiped a hand over her mouth and
nodded. “When you warned me about him, I assumed you knew he’d had an affair with Mandy.”

Chase stared wordlessly at her, putting together pieces from the past. He remembered how heavily Mandy had relied on his father for babysitting. It seemed she hadn’t spent all her time reading popular magazines at the library and sitting on a bar stool at the Blue Haven. She’d whiled away some of it in Jim Waverly’s bed.

He waited for the sting of betrayal, but it didn’t come. He’d felt markedly worse when he believed Kelly was falling for Waverly’s act.

Chase placed a hand on Kelly’s back. “Come on. Let’s get out of here. We need to talk.”

He had a destination in mind, and it wasn’t the house to which his father had already retreated. He didn’t care if Mandy had fallen for Waverly. But he did care, very much, what Kelly had discovered.

E
VEN WITH DARKNESS
muting the lushness of summer and blurring the edges of the buildings, there was enough of a moon to hint that the scenic overlook would show off Indigo Springs to spectacular advantage at a different time of day.

Kelly’s impression that the town had a fairy-tale setting hadn’t changed, but it was a place like any other. Its beauty couldn’t shield its residents from pain and disappointment.

Chase hadn’t said much since she’d broken the news that Mandy had been cheating on him other than to suggest they not go straight back to the house. He’d driven to the overlook, pulling into a small, empty parking lot. Toby was fast asleep in the backseat.

She assumed Chase needed time to deal with the knowledge of Mandy’s affair. She crossed her arms over her chest, wishing Chase hadn’t been hurt by Mandy’s betrayal. He’d claimed not to be in love with her, but did a part of him still belong to her? After all, she’d been pregnant with his child.

“You’re not cold, are you?” he asked.

The front windows of the Jeep were open, letting in
a cross breeze, but it was still close to seventy degrees. Realizing she’d been rubbing her arms, she immediately put her hands in her lap.

“Not cold,” she said. “Worried about you.”

“About me? Why?”

While she formed her thoughts, she leaned back against the headrest. The night was quiet except for the song of the crickets and the sound of the wind rustling the leaves of the trees.

“My ex-boyfriend cheated on me,” she said without looking at him. It was easier to tell the story that way. “He’s a teacher at my school. I found out at the movie theater when I was watching
Stepbrothers.
”

“Isn’t that a Will Ferrell movie?”

“It is,” she said. “I’m a fan of his and I really wanted to see the movie. Vince—that’s his name—kept coming up with reasons not to go. I finally went alone, and there was Vince a few rows in front of me, making out with another woman.”

“That must’ve hurt,” he said.

“Not for long.” She made herself laugh. “I mean, come on, what self-respecting grown man has a make-out session at a Will Ferrell movie?”

“You’ve got a point.”

“In retrospect, it was lucky I was there. Otherwise I’d probably still be with him.”

“So you loved him?”

“Oh, no.” She shook her head. “I loved the idea of him. He comes from this close-knit family and he seemed stable and dependable. I told you how I grew up. I guess I thought I could make a home with him.”

“Why are you telling me this?” he asked.

Somewhere an owl hooted, leaves rustled and some twigs snapped. The nocturnal animals were waking up. She turned to look at him, determined he understand her point. “To let you know it’s perfectly natural to be hurt.”

“You think I’m hurt because Mandy was having an affair?”

She tried to make out his features in the darkness with limited success. “Aren’t you?”

“I feel stupid for not realizing what was going on, but that’s all. Things were pretty well over between us before they really got started.”

She couldn’t quite make herself believe him. She gestured to the overlook with a sweep of her hand. “If you didn’t need time to compose yourself, what are we doing here? Why didn’t we just go back to your house?”

“Because it’s more private here,” he said, “and I’d love to know if Jim Waverly has any idea where Mandy is.”

She sat silent, stunned his reason hadn’t occurred to her, not entirely sure why it hadn’t. He’d explained the nature of his relationship with Mandy, yet she’d leapt to all the wrong conclusions.

“Well?” Chase prodded. “Did Waverly know anything?”

“He said Mandy told him her real last name wasn’t Smith.”

He seemed taken aback. “Any idea why she’d lie about her name?”

Kelly tried not to think about her own alias or the uncomfortable feeling that she was turning into the woman she was hunting.

“Waverly said he didn’t know why,” she said. “When he asked her about it, she clammed up, but she did tell him her name.”

“Please tell me it’s something unusual like Zanaletto or Yankovic.”

“It’s Johnson. Or so she told Jim Waverly.”

“That figures,” Chase said. “It won’t be any easier to find information on a Mandy Johnson than it is a Mandy Smith.”

“Yeah,” Kelly said. “It seems like we can’t catch a break.”

“I take it Waverly doesn’t know where Mandy went?”

“He says no,” she said. “He also says she hasn’t contacted him. He claims he didn’t even know she planned to leave town.”

“Do you believe him?”

She shrugged. “He doesn’t have any reason to lie, especially after he admitted to the affair.”

Headlights announced the arrival of another car, which pulled into the small lot and took the space farthest from them. A reason for the company occurred to Kelly.

“Can you see the fireworks from up here?”

“Only parts of them,” Chase said, even as Kelly glimpsed an explosion of red, white and blue through the trees.

Nobody got out of the other car, further confusing Kelly. The view from their parking spot was even more obstructed than the one from Chase’s Jeep. Kelly squinted, barely making out what looked to be a teenage girl in the passenger seat. The girl’s head moved, away from the window, toward the driver.

Kelly let out a short, amused breath as the pieces clicked together. “Chase Bradford, is this where teenagers come to park?”

“Sure is.” He reached across the seat, smoothing her hair back from her face. “Why do you think I brought you here?”

She felt her lips curve into a smile, the disappointment over the lack of progress in the search for Mandy temporarily forgotten. “To talk.”

“Well, there’s that,” he said. “But can you blame a guy for having an ulterior motive?”

She realized she couldn’t, not when she’d spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about kissing that guy again. Heat spread through her, the same way it had last night.

Not more than a few hours ago, she’d chastised herself for letting thoughts of Chase distract her from looking for Mandy. But it was late and there was nothing else she could do tonight to further her goal.

There wasn’t much she could do to resist Chase, either.

“The only way I’d blame you is if you let a perfectly good parking spot go to waste.” She tried to make her voice light but it came out husky with need.

He laughed anyway, meeting her halfway over the center console. His arms reached for her, his mouth fusing with hers. The passion was instantaneous as though they’d taken up at the exact moment their kiss had been interrupted the night before.

She’d never get tired of kissing him, she thought as he slanted his mouth to deepen the kiss. His hair felt thick and soft beneath her fingers, and he smelled warm
and wonderfully masculine. She detected a hint of whipped cream and thought of what a good sport he’d been at the pie-eating contest, of what a good father he was, of what a good man.

She twined her arms around his neck, longing to be closer to him. She couldn’t remember any other kiss or any other man, because this kiss and this man transcended them all. If only…

He pulled his mouth from hers, crying out in pain. “Ow.”

She blinked, frustration warring with confusion. Confusion won. Had she bitten his lip? Pulled his hair? Poked his eye? “What’s wrong?”

“The gear shift.” The wince in his voice was audible. “It just got me.”

“Where? In the leg?”

“No,” he said. “It was, uh, another one of my appendages.”

His meaning dawned on her. A giggle escaped, quickly transforming into a full-bodied laugh.

“You think that’s funny, do you?” he asked.

“Sure do,” she choked out. “I always heard it was dangerous to let a guy take you parking. I never realized until now
how
dangerous.”

“Very funny,” he said, but now he was laughing, too.

“I thought so.”

“Too bad Toby’s in the backseat,” he said, “or I’d try to talk you into crawling back there with me.”

He was joking. Chase Bradford wouldn’t make love to a woman for the first time in the rear seat of a car. She knew that but put space between them anyway,
straightening her sundress, smoothing her hair and hiding her frustration.

“It’s probably a good thing he’s back there,” she said, “because I’m not the kind of woman who makes love and runs.”

A pause, then, “Where would you be running to?”

She almost said New York, but then realized that would be a lie. “I think I should leave Indigo Springs.”

“What!” He angled his body toward hers and ran a hand through his short hair. “You said you didn’t have to be home anytime soon, right?”

“Well, yeah.”

“So stay a few days. Wait to see if Helene Heffinger calls. What would it hurt?”

Part of the sky lit up in a blue flash, the color of the fireworks mirroring Kelly’s mood. It made more sense to do as he said than to leave town, especially because the only place she could think to search for Mandy was Harrisburg, where Chase and Mandy had first met, but he had already looked there.

Kelly had gotten the message very clearly tonight, however, that her continued presence in town could hurt Chase.

“People are talking about us,” she said. “That’s why I stayed away from you at the festival. You still have Toby so they don’t know Mandy left you. Some of them probably think you’re cheating on her.”

“I know that’s not true and so do you,” he argued.

“What about DPW?”

“What about it?” he asked.

“Aren’t you afraid somebody will go to DPW and report that Mandy left you with a baby?”

“I can’t see that happening,” he said, “but it’s a moot point. I plan to do that myself if I don’t find her soon.”

The set of his mouth told Kelly he’d made up his mind on the subject and there was no use arguing with him, no matter how skewed his reasoning.

“There’s no sense in giving your neighbors room to gossip,” she said. “At the very least, I should check into a hotel.”

“It’s the Fourth of July weekend. Rooms are scarce.”

“You’re telling me,” she said. “I called around earlier today and couldn’t find a vacancy until Tuesday.”

Tuesday, just three days from now—and three days before her preliminary hearing.

“Then stay with us until Tuesday.”

“Why?” Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness in the Jeep. He was leaning slightly forward, his features pinched. “Why do you want me to stay so badly?”

He didn’t say anything for a long time. “Damned if I know. I just know that I do.”

She was just as certain that she didn’t want to leave. Not yet. The reason, she acknowledged, was only partly because she had nowhere else to go and could see what she could find on a Mandy Johnson. She was becoming far too attached to Chase Bradford and his baby boy.

“Okay,” she said softly, the one answer her heart wanted to give.

As she uttered the agreement, she knew she couldn’t stay in Indigo Springs indefinitely. If she didn’t show
up for her preliminary hearing on Friday, Chase would be unwittingly aiding and abetting a fugitive. Unless they came up with some leads soon, she had to think of Chase and leave.