Passions of Chelsea Kane Part 13

"He was the devil."

"Someone of stature in the town, someone who already had a wife and family of his own?" 290 The Pa.s.sions Of Cbelsm JLWW Margaret stared at her with her mouth closed and her eyes saying, "I've already told you who it was."

Chelsea didn't believe in the devil, but she wasnft about to argue with Margaret when there was plenty else to ask. "During the time Hunter was with Katie, 1hose first five years when she kept him hidden -away, didn't anyone wonder about him?"

"No He was to have been given away.- Chelsea felt a tiny chill. "Given away?"

"Adopted," Margaret stated.

"She said she'd made rangements. ' she lied." Chelsea's chill spread a little. "Was that commonplace-women becoming pregnant out of wedlock @@and giving their children up for adoption?" No. The riffraff kept their own whether they e legitimate or not. Katie Love was b'twixt and V, n. "In what way?" Chelsea asked. Ider. She had no other children.

She was ought to be barren." Her eyes flew past Chelsea to e ]or arch.

Chelsea looked back, but there was the e. "Then, too," Margaret went on, "she [email protected] one r Nao h a quilter. We thought she was a bit above t e ers." With barely a pause she said, "So where are from?" Chelsea eyed the folder on Margaret's lap. She ted to know what had happened to Katie Love's b d, why the people in the Corner hadn't come A, to her aid, and whether there had been other @4'[email protected] 40- making arrangements to give up babies roun t okg,,XA d hat same time. She wanted to look through "",Rd','@,"'those papers, not talk about herself-and as to ere she was from, she couldn't believe Margaret idn't know. 291 Barbara Definsky For the sake of goodwill, she said, "I'm from Baltimore."

"Born there?" @'Not in Baltimore itself, but that's where my family's home is." Was, she thought with a pang, because come Labor Day a new family would be moving in. She had been back for several days the week before to sort through years of stashings in the bas.e.m.e.nt and would probably need another trip or two before it was done. Kevin had been there. They'd talked some, but it had been awkward. She hadn't dared tell him about the baby. She hadn't dared tell Judd about the baby either, which was even more absurd. He came to her bed several nights a week. They did things to each other that even now, in memory, tripped her pulse. More so than anyone else in her life, he knew the ins and outs of her body. Before long the subtle changes that he couldn't see day by day wouldn't be so subtle. She had to tell him. But she was afraid it would stop him from coming, and she liked his coming. "Who are your parents?" Margaret asked. Chelsea took a deep breath that steadied as it slowly slipped out. "Kevin and Abby Kane. My mother died last year. My father is a neurosurgeon, just retired." "Which one do you look like?" Chelsea smiled at the question. She remembered going places with her parents and being asked that by way of innocent small talk. She had always taken her cue from Kevin, who never so much as blinked when he answered. "I have my father's -stubbornness and my mother's curiosity."

"But who do you look like?" Still smiling, Chelsea shrugged. "I was always 292 The Pasalons of AMEW more unconventional than my parents-different clothes, different hairstyles, different generation.

We agreed that I'm just me."

"Donna looks like her father. Do you see the resemblance?" I "Funny, I would have said that she takes after you."

She saw it in the shape of the face and the mouth. Margaret smiled.

"She's a wonderful -daughter. Always sweet and considerate." Her brow creased. "'Twas a great tragedy, a great tragedy, when she lost her hearing. Did she tell you ' that?" "No," Chelsea said. "I haven't wanted to ask."

"She was ill. It was an infection that came on her quite suddenly. A fluke, the doctors all said. We took her to so many of them, but there was nothing they could do. Nothing they could do." She continued to frown for another minute, then, with a tiny shake, perked back up. "I've always been closer to her than to' the others. Donna and I think alike." That wasn't Chelsea's impression at all, the most obvious example their views of Hunter Love. Donna had a sweetness to her, an openness, a vulnerability, that appealed to Chelsea. Margaret had none of that. She blew hot and cold. She was an odd woman. Chelsea couldn't quite get a handle on her. "So," Margaret said, wrapping her arms around the brown folder as though it were a shield, "tell me -why you've come to Norwich Notch." You must already know," Chelsea chided.

She was beginning to tire of what seemed to be purposeless pleasantries.

"Why you've really come."

"I've really come to revive the granite company and make good on my investment In it." 293 Barbam Degug&Y "Ahhh," Margaret said with a nod. "They think youlre a witch, you know."

Chelsea drew back. "A witch?"

"For living at Boulderbrook. They think you com- mune with the ghosts there."

"There are no ghosts," she said, believing it firmly. There had been more phone calls since that first night, clearly the work of a prankster. "Haven't you noticed how the townsfolk keep their distance?" "I thought that was because I'm an outsider."

"That, too." Margaret tipped up her chin with something akin to defiance. "You'll never win, you know." Chelsea was lost again. "Win what?"

"The granite company. I heard about the deal you made. Oh, Oliver didn't tell me. He doesn't like to concern me with business, but others aren't so cautious." She shot an alarmed look at the archway. Because of the alarm, Chelsea looked, too, but again no one was there, and Margaret went right on. "The granite company has been in the Plum family for generations. You won't be allowed to have it." For a split second

Chelsea was in her father's den with the Mahlers suggesting she wasn't a Mahler and shouldn't have the ruby ring. Then the second pa.s.sed, and she saw Margaret again, who was so very threatened by change. "It may never come to that," she said. Judd was the one who ran things, and he was good at what he did, which meant that the cutters would keep up with every bit of work Chelsea brought in, which was really quite fine. A year was all Chelsea needed. By then she would have her baby, plus the information she needed to go on with the rest of her life. 294 7ft Phssions of Chabes Kmw To rea.s.sure Margaret-and perhaps loosen the arms that were wrapped so tightly around the accordion-pleated folder-Chelsea said, "Believe me, I have no personal designs on the granite company. I have a successful architectural practice in Baltimore. I'll be very happy to make my money and -leave the company to the Plums"

".ou aren't the only one who wants it," Margaret said as though she hadn't heard Chelsea at all. *Hunter Love does, too. After all my husband did for him, he wants more. He's an evil person."

"Not evil."

"He sets fires.

Did you know that?"

"Sets fires." Margaret nodded sagely. "Where?"

Chelsea asked almost conversationally. "At some of the nicest homes in town."

"They've burned down?"

"o. But garages and woodsheds have been destroyed." 'Recently?"

"Several years back. I've seen you with him, Chelsea. I would be very careful, if I were you. He , a dark side." I Chelsea had seen evidence of Hunter's moods, but not once had she felt threatened. The closest he had ever come to causing her harm had been that day on the motorcycle.

Yes, he had driven recklessly, but he had been subdued when she'd gotten sick, which spelled remorse in Chelsea's book, not evil. "Has he ever been tried for arson?" she asked. "No. He's very clever. Nothing'has ever been proven. Just like with his mother's death"

".en how can you blame those fires on him?"

"Because it's obvious he set them." 295 Barbara Ddinsky "Does Oliver believe that, too?"

"Ye -S."

"Still he keeps Hunter on at the company. That doesn't make sense." Unless, of course, Hunter was Oliver's son, which would also explain Margaret's antagonism. Personally, Chelsea didn't believe Hunter was an arsonist, any more than she thought he was a murderer.

"There are many things in life that don't make sense," Margaret said with a pinched look on her face. Her voice suddenly went higher. She held the folder more tightly. "It doesn't make sense that I had daughters. If I had a son, none of this would've happened. My son would be taking over the company, and there wouldn't be anyone else involved in it. That's how it should have been." More softly she said, "That's how it should have been."

"Margaret, dear," came a call from the door, followed by the entrance of the woman Margaret had called Dots. She went straight to Margaret's chair, put an arm around her shoulder, and said gently, "We need you now, Margaret. You said you wouldn't be long." She touched the folder. "Why don't you give this to Miss. Kane and let her look through it herself.? I'm afraid we're making a mess of things without you." Margaret regarded her blankly at first. Gradually understanding came, followed by a gently scolding smile. "But I've told you what to do many times."

"One more time, then?" Dots took the folder from her and handed it to Chelsea, not quite meeting her eye in the process. Margaret rose. With Dots by her side and not another word to Chelsea, she left the room. 296 The Famlons of Cjwsea 1[aw "qiut! he thing about history was that, like pieces of a It, it was made up of threads and swatches. In "s case that meant postcards and photographs, blue ribbons, achievement pins, pressed flowers, report cards, ticket stubs, and printed pro- ' for everything from her elementary school talent show to her high school graduation. It also meant cartons filled with books, the remains of four years of dormitory rooms and another few of a.s.sorted apartments, posters, sports equipment, and clothes. Chelsea had always been a saver, as though the more she acc.u.mulated, the more of a history she would have, and hence an ident.i.ty. She had plenty to sort through. It was mid-August, and she and Judd were in Baltimore on business. With the cutting shed in operation, Judd had small samples of granite, cut, and etched, from each of five working to show to Chelsea's contacts. Using ', Kane, Koo as their headquarters, they had spent the day in a steady succession of meetings.

They were spending the evening at the house. -The bas.e.m.e.nt smelled of time and moisture. It was dominated by a large heating system that was black with age. The laundry was against one wallwasher, dryer, sink, ironing board. Nearby was a .,spare refrigerator and freezer that at one time would have been filled in preparation for holiday ' but was empty now, unplugged and open. Tall metal shelves stood against other was, holding blanket bags of clothes, small appliances, ,.'and memento boxes. There were several piles of cartons, some Kevin's, some Chelsea's, then, scattered in random groups, all that was left to sort and pack. 297 Rarbam Definm1W "The country club swim champp" Judd asked. He was sitting on an overturned carton near Chelsea, holding the ribbon he'd taken from a bulging s...o...b..x. "That was during my conformist period. Soon after, I declared the other kids on the team total bores and resigned." She took a stack of photographs from the box. "That's me"-she glanced at the back of the top photo-"at the age of eight, according to Dad's notes." Judd studied the print. "You look like a boy." Chelsea agreed. She turned to the next photo. "Mom never missed my swim meets. She was a swimmer herself. She did it for [email protected]" He took the photo. "She was a very attractive woman."

"She was vibrant. Full of life. Active mentally, if in no other way, right up to the end. She loved celebrations. There were always dinners and birthday parties and holiday bashes. She would have loved the color and excitement of Fourth of July In the Notch." a.s.suming she was comfortable with the idea of the place, Chelsea mused. Taking back the photo, she flipped through several more. "There's my father," she said, though unnecessarily. Judd had seen the photos of her parents in her bedroom at Boulderbrook. Dignified as ever."

"Oh, he's dignified all right," she couldn't help but say, since the hurt she felt was so close to the surface. "Hardheaded, too. I was hoping he'd come back from Newport today to see us." *He'll be here tomorrow."

"I know, but I see him so little. It would have been nice If hed made the effort." The Paswons of Cbehwmi Kmw :@'. judd knew she was adopted. He didn't yet know she'd been born in Norwich Notch. She wanted to tell. him, just as she wanted to tell him she was pregnanti but something held her back. A part of her wasn't sure how he'd take the news. She rather liked hoe arrangement they had and wasn't ready to thange It. was true, it occurred to her that the same thing about Norwich Notch. She hadn't learned anything ,@.about herself at the historical society, other than that March of the year she'd been born had been _unusually mild. She hadn't done anything about advert sing the silver key, hadn't gone looking for a '@mldwffe who'd been bribed. One part of her wanted stand up in church, announce when and where :':swd been born, and offer a reward for information "'3"jeading to the ident.i.ty of her birth parents. The , part didn't want to upset the-tentative life made for herself in the Notch. There were ts of the place that she liked. She wanted to her own baby there. [email protected] may be having a hard time with this," Judd bringing her back to the bas.e.m.e.nt -with an -77 in sing look around. elsea sighed. "He was the one who wanted to the house." It was a practical decision. That doesn't mean easy. Sometimes the things that make the most are the hardest to do. heard a sadness in his words and knew he thinking of Leo, whom she had yet to meet. Judd ely mentioned him, and she didn't prod. She it feel she had the right, given a she was hiding elf. But every so often there was a pensiveness that had heartache written all over ft. 299 BATharn Definshy "Your dad?"

"Some think I should put him away." She gasped. "Don't do that." Then she caught her- self. "You have to decide what's best for you and for him." Judd's legs were spread, creased trousers failing smoothly over their length. Now he leaned forward, put his elbows on his knees, and let his hands hang helplessly between.

"Hard to know what's best. He needs constant care. He'd get that in a nursing home, maybe better than he's getting it now. He went for a walk yesterday afternoon while Millie was asleep in the house. He'd gone nearly a mile before Buck found him. Good old Buck." Chelsea knew he was thinking that another time they might not be so lucky. "Problem is,"

Judd went on, "there are times when he knows just who I am. I'd hate it if one of those times came, and he was off somewhere in a nursing home, asking for me and feeling abandoned"

".re you uncomfortable making this trip?"

"No. Sarah Hewitt is with him. And Buck. So he's with friends. If he asks for me, Sarah'll tell him where I am and when I'll be back." He paused, thinking. "Sarah's good. She knows what to watch for. He turns on the stove, then forgets that he wants to cook. When he goes for a drink of water, he forgets to turn off the tap. If there isn't someone with him, we end up with water all over the floor. Someday he's apt to reach for a light switch while he's ankle deep in it." He straightened his fingers, turned his hands over, studied his palms. Chelsea slipped an arm around him, giving comfort the only way she could. She had no answers. Judd would have thought of every possibility. As 300 The Pa.s.sions of cjmdsea LOW been the case when Abby had been so sick, re were no happy choices, only choices to mini- @nize the pain ... "So," he said, still looking at his hands, "you don't Oftk I should put him away?"

"No.- "Even considering the danger?"

"Even then. Keep him with you."

"There may come a time when I can't." [email protected] that time when it comes." He turned his head, looking first at her mouth, then at her eyes. "Is that what you did?"

"Mom got progressively weaker. She developed pneumonia and had to be hospitalized, and the 6oice was for her to stay in the hospital, where her "Condition could be constantly monitored, or bring her home. We knew it was more risky at home. But she spent her entire married life in this house. She [email protected] it here. I don't care what anyone says, there's ...'OWhing like home." Chelsea took a deep, sad breath %.and looked around. "Maybe you're right. If disposing 61 all this is hard for me, it must be worse for my Wher. It's the end of a large part of his life." Judd took the photographs from her and flipped deeper into the stack.

"Who's this?" mother's sister Anne."

"She looks annoyed."

"She was. We were supposed to spend Christmas England that year, only Mom took a fall and broke h arm two weeks before, so everyone had to come er here." Judd looked at the picture for a minute, then turned to another. "That's me and my two best friends," Chelsea and checked the back. "We were twelve." 301 Rwbmv Definsaw He skipped ahead. "Who Is this guy? He keeps popping up." She grinned.

"That's Carl."

"Ahhhh. The phantom partner." Carl had been in New York for the day, so Judd hadn't met him yet. He glanced at the back of the photograph. "The two of you were nine here." He found another picture of them together, this one with Chelsea the taller. "And fourteen here."

The next one he pulled out was the most recent of the batch. "And thirty-something here. Amazing."

"That we stayed friends so long?"

"That it never grew into anything more." The photograph in his hand had been taken in Newport the summer before. It was a color snapshot that showed matching white grins, matching auburn hair, and matching shirts and shorts appropriate to the deck of the Harpers' sleek yacht. Abby had been sick that summer. Everyone understood that she might not make it back the next year, and Chelsea, for one, was having trouble accepting it. Carl had been a huge comfort to her. She hadn't thought of that in a while. In recent months thought of Carl had brought thoughts of Hailey and her baby, along with thoughts of hurt and betrayal. For the first time now, as though the wound of finding him in a compromising position had finally begun to heal, she felt a flicker of fond- ness for him. "Or did it?" Judd asked. Her eyes flew to his, questioning. "Were you two ever a couple?" She humored him. "We were always a couple."

"Were you ever lovers?" he asked. "That's an intimate question." 302 Me Pa.s.sions of Cbasen Kmw "Yup," he said, and skewered her with those direct eyes of his while he waited for an answer. She wanted to deny it. But she hadn't ever lied to him before. Maybe she hadn't told him all she might have at times, but she'd never lied. "Once," she said quietly, drawing her hand back to her lap. "It didn't work."

"On whose part, his or yours?" *Both.

We decided to stick to being partners and friends"

".at works, after being lovers?" "So far," she said, but there must have been an inkling of doubt in her voice, because Judd looked at her curiously. "Do you like his wife?"' "Hailey? Sure."

"How long have they been married?"

"Not long."

"How long, Chelsea?" She let out a breath, said, "Since June," and immet , saw him aligning the dates. "Just about the time you came to the Notch. So the third person you lost. Did you love him?"

."No. That was why it didn't work." Judd thought about that for a minute. "Did he Ide to marry Hailey before or after you decided ove to the Notch?" I and I made independent decisions that just ned to coincide.", e ew quiet again. Having said as much as she ted to Chelsea put the photographs back in-the ' put the s...o...b..x in a carton, and went to dark side of the furnace to take several more boxes from the metal shelf there. When she turned, she b.u.mped into Judd. He took them from her and 303 Barbara Deunsky put them back on the shelf. "I'm glad," he said, pinning her hands behind her. His voice was thicker than before. "Glad of what?" she asked, but her attention drawn to his mouth.

He had a wonderful mouth. It was firm and spare in a masculine way.

Movement from it was always a reward. "That you didn't like it with him the way you do with me." He drew her closer. He didn't kiss her, just held her closer, then closer, until her body brushed his, until their hips met. Her breath caught. "Love that sound," he murmured. She smiled against his throat. "Here, Judd?" By way of answer he bunched up her dress---easy enough to do, since it was another of the loose, trapeze-style dresses she was so comfortable wearing-until the hem was at her waist. Seconds later his hands were inside her panties, holding her backside, pressing her even closer.'There was no way she could mistake his erection, no way she wanted to. She wrapped her arms around his neck and breathed his name. "Is that a yes or a no?" he asked. She hummed in a helpless sound of pleasure when his fingers came forward.

"Yes or no?" he repeated. "The housekeeper is upstairs."

"Yes or no?"

"Yes."

"Take everything off, then," he said in a rough whisper, and lent his own hands to the cause. In no time the dress was over her head, her bra unhooked and tossed aside, and her panties slipped off. She 304 7he Pa.s.sions of cjwaw ALUM .:@had barely straightened when Judd touched her .again, this time frontally and deeply. She reached for his pants, but he held her off. "Please," she gasped. "Not yet."

"I can't stand. My knees won't hold." With his fingers stroking her insides and her ,@'@"110dy halfway to bliss, he looked toward the far end of the bas.e.m.e.nt..,:, Chelsea wasn't so far gone that she didn't know What he saw. "Not the Ping-Pong table."

"Got a better idea?" he asked, scooping her up @And starting off. "The Ping-Pong table won't [email protected] She laughed breathlessly. "The washer. Use the washer. It's closer." @', She was there before she could say anything else. He sat her on top and fought with her hands to get his trousers open. She had barely spread her thighs vide when a single powerful stroke put him inside, and then she was lost. She was alwiys lost when he entered her-just as, when he buried himself deeply -inside her, then pushed even deeper, she was Always found. It was as simple and devastating as that. >5 Judd was impressed with Harper, Kane, Koo. He could have done with a little less chrome, but he understood that clients would be dazzled. Everything he saw spelled success. He was more amazed than ever that Chelsea was taking a year out ,"X..-'.,Ao play with Plum Granite. "Al It didn't make sense. Even knowing that she'd lost er mother to death, her father to retirement, and friend, partner, and one-time lover to marriage, 305 all in the year, didn't fully explain it. She was too successful in the city to be giving it up. She was also too well-liked, as was evident by the attention everyone in the office paid her. They were clearly pleased to have her there, if only for a brief visit. Melissa Koo was as offbeat as Chelsea had painted her. Carl Harper was the surprise. He came in that second morning, not at nine, with the regularity Chelsea had mentioned, but, more leisurely, at ten, and wearing a patterned tie that was definitely not conservative. Even Chelsea seeme surprised. "Hailey's doing?" she teased. Carl looked at the tie, grew vaguely red, and shrugged. "It's okay," Chelsea said. "I like it." She paused for a second. "How is she?"

"Hailey? She's fine. Getting bigger, actually.

She's gaining weight fast. The doctor thinks it might be twins." So Carl's new wife was pregnant, mused Judd. Chelsea didn't look surprised by the news, which meant that she'd known it but had conveniently forgotten to tell him. If Carl and Hailey were married in June, and already Hailey was "getting bigger," it didn't take a genius to figure out that she'd conceived before the ceremony. That meant Chelsea had probably learned about the pregnancy right before she'd come to the Notch. Another shock. But enough to drive her out of the city? Judd wondered. To his eye, Chelsea's smile looked forced. "Twins? That's great. Will you give her my best?"

"Sure," Carl said, and turned to Judd. "So you work with Chelsea?"

"You could say that," Judd said. He didn't like 306 Me Pa.s.sfons of Chwsee Kame Something had to be wrong with the man not to find Chelsea wildly attractive. He wondered what ant Halley looked like. "I work the granite he one who'll keep the men ahead of the brings in. Are you helping her get business?" Carl deferred to Chelsea, who said, "No. Carl isn't In this with me." Z That struck Judd as another betrayal. Win y not?" he asked Carl. "Chelsea said you were joint partners in other ventures." Carl looked uncomfortable. "This one came at a bad time for me."

"You're not as daring as your tie?" Judd asked.."That's too bad. There's good money to be had. I'd think you'd want it, what with a new wife and baby and all."

"This was Chelsea's project from the start. She's I .... the one who's into granite."

"Ahhhh,"'said Judd, and drew himself up. "Well, Ahat's my gain." He looked at Chelsea. "I have a tenthirty meeting. I'd better be heading out." He tipped an imaginary hat to Carl and turned away. Chelsea walked him to the elevator. When they were past the reception area, she asked, "What was that about?"

"I don't like him." .."You don't know him."

"I can't believe you went to bed with him." It was eating at his craw. He didn't know why. What she'd ,@ie; done before they'd become lovers was her own She was silent. Finally she looked up at him and X-,@y_ aid, "Carl is a good friend."

".Carl is a wimp." 1 7 Bwtmu Demnsiky "He's a good, loyal friend. If I needed him, he'd be there for me." Judd shook his head. "His first priority is his wife and child." She looked bothered by that thought, which pleased the part of him that resented her allegiance to Carl. But as he stepped into the elevator, he was bothered, too, because he knew he shouldn't resent any allegiance she made. He was her lover. That was all. Actually, that wasn't all. Over dinner that night, Kevin Kane seemed determined to define the parameters of their relationship. He asked about Judd's background, about Judd's position in the granite company, about his role there vis-&-vis Chelsea's. "Then you're her link to the working part of the company," he concluded. "You could say that."

"I worry about her wandering around a quarry."

"I'm fine, Dad."

"She doesn't wander there," Judd told him. "No one wanders there. If she goes to the quarry, she goes with me." It wasn't a rule, exactly, but over the weeks that was the way it had been.

Judd didn't want her falling off a ledge, any more than he wanted any of the cutters leering, whistling, or making an out-and-out pa.s.s. "What about her house?" Kevin went on. "She says it's old."

"it was a stop on the Underground Railroad," Chelsea put in. "I checked it out at the historical society. Runaway slaves hid out in the secret pa.s.sageways on their way to Canada." Kevin didn't look as thrilled by that as she was, not that Judd imagined he was a proponent of slav- 308 Ike rkssimm or chefs" AMM Simply that he didn't like the Idea of the house. Kevin asked him. "I take it she had all 10IS it safe? in jo a r systems checked out before she moved s safe," Judd said. "I'd live there myself." Y u?" 0 d'" 0." Judd said. He had to hand it to Kevin for something he wasn't supposed to see. "I live with my father." at does he do?" .-Not much nowadays." Judd explained the situathat kept Kevin busy for a time, and in a way t Judd welcomed. Kevin was up on the latest ical thinking regarding Alzheimer's disease and it in layman's terms. He didn't have any soluoons to offer, any miracle treatment or cure, but by the discussion's end Judd better understood the .!physiology of the disease.

When he thanked Kevin for that, Kevin said, "It's bad you live where you do. Doctors up there @wt aren't in the mainstream." Judd had never been a name dropper,'but the @,@',']eamment irked him, so he said, "Actually we've 6een seeing Duncan Hartigan." looked impressed. "In Boston? He's a good @'So's Neil Summers..He heads the local hospital. trained at Johns Hopkins." tv a s a fine center," Kevin acknowledged, and ed to talk about the various medical centers "had visited in recent months. J u d listened only enough to be able to ask Intel- t questions---and drop the occasional name to g Kevin know he wasn't a hick-but all the while IM I 0::.:1.. 309 Barbara Defingky he was wondering about the distance between Kevin and Chelsea.

It was there,'clear as day, though he would have thought they'd be close, what with Abby gone. That was what had happened with his father and him. Once his mother had left, Leo was all he had, and vice versa.

Granted, he'd been a kid then, and they'd had dire differences in subsequent years, but the feeling remained. It was one of the reasons he was having so much trouble with Leo's illness. He wasn't ready to accept the idea of his father's mortality. He wondered if Chelsea thought about that. He guessed she did. She was making an effort to please Kevin-ordering his usual drink for him, smiling when smiles were due, making no complaint at all when Kevin directed himself more to Judd than to her. She was the perfect social creature. Only Judd could see the tension in her, the haunted look in her eyes when Kevin's talk took him miles away, the fearful look when talk turned to Norwich Notch. "Are you still planning to stay there the year?" "Uh-huh," she said with a cautious nod. "Aren't you bored?" She laughed. "I only wish there were more hours in the day to get things done. I don't have time for all I want to do." She grew cautious again. "I'd really like you to visit. By the end of the month, I'll have a guest room ready. Will you come for Labor Day?"

"I can't. I've invited a group to Newport." Judd saw disappointment on Chelsea's face, but it was gone in an instant. In its place was a deliberate enthusiasm. "Oh? Who?"

"The Wescotts, Charlie and Lil Dushayne, the Rodenhisers."

"That should be nice," she said without malice, 310 The Ph9afans or chelaw KMM A a breath. "How about mid-September? I'm A Of having an open house and inviting poten- ... i uvers up to see the granite firsthand. At the @"**Me time friends could come see the farmhouse. whole weekend would be festive. You might like was the first Judd had heard about any open He wondered if she was improvising again. have to see what's on my calendar," Kevin Judd wanted to shake him. Even a blind man see that Chelsea was desperate to have him Then Kevin said something that puzzled him. "Have you learned what you wanted to learn?" She gave a quick shake of her head. -Doesn't that tell you something?" he asked. ;"Only that I'm still settling in." @,He looked suddenly angry. "It's a wild goose chase, Chelsea. There's no point @.,@U-Y'Dllr being there." She swallowed. -He c.o.c.ked his head toward Judd. "What does he helsea swallowed again. Judd grew curious. ic .Vi @Ofle doesn't know?" Kevin guessed. Judd spoke up. "Know what?" OTMt she was born in Norwich Notch," he said in .% Okgust. "That's what drew her to the place. She's ,.,@.,Mylng to find out who her birth parents are. She ; M.'t accept the fact that if they didn't want her Xr they don't want her now. She doesn't underd that every day she spends in that place is a In the face to me." N. ' had gone pale. "It shouldn't be." 311 Bwtwa Definsky "Well, how would you feel if you gave someone your name, your resources, and your love, and that wasn't enough?" he asked her. "You're comparing apples and oranges," she argued, but beseeching. "I have parents-you and Mom. I'm not looking for replacements. But I want to know who was physically responsible for my creation. That's not so horrible, or so unusual." Kevin snorted. "You're afraid of losing me," she went on, "but you're the one who's pushing me away. You never want to see me anymore."