“If you hear from Devin,” Jo said, “let us know.”
Hannah didn’t respond as she retreated upstairs to her apartment.
Zack carried the cleaning bucket over from the riverside tables. “You’re tough, Jo. Phew.” He set the bucket on the floor next to the table with the supplies. “Remind me not to cross you.”
“What? I just-”
“Hannah won’t admit it,” Beth said, wiping her hands on her apron, “but she really is worried about Devin. And about Nora, too.”
Jo nodded, aware of Elijah silently eyeing her. “Rough day.”
“Hey, Jo,” her brother called to her.
She turned just as he tossed a wet rag at her, grinning. She caught it and whipped it back at him, water dripping onto the floor between them. He dodged out of the way, and the rag bounced off a chair, making her laugh, which, she knew, had been his intention.
Beth just shook her head and grumbled about having to mop.
In the meantime, Elijah had left. “I have to go,” Jo said.
Zack scooped up the washrag, his blue-green eyes on the door as he addressed his older sister. “Jo-you know Elijah…”
“Special ops, shot, at a loose end.”
“Still in love with you,” Beth said half under her breath.
Jo pretended she didn’t hear her and said good-night, heading back out to the street.
Elijah was still there, standing by his truck in the harsh light from the café. He raked an unrelenting gaze over her. “You got pretty tough on Hannah.” He yanked open his truck door. “It would have been worse if it’d been coming from me.”
“She’s loyal to her brother. That’s not a bad thing.”
“She knows something. Just like he does. You, too.”
“Elijah, what are you doing? Why-”
“What are you having for dinner?”
“Don’t try to change the subject.”
“I’m not trying. I just did change it. So, dinner?”
“I just ate a brownie.”
“A scone for lunch and a brownie for dinner. What kind of buff Secret Service agent are you? You need nutrition. Getting shot in the line of duty takes something out of you.”
“I was the victim of a prank,” she said, then added quietly, seriously, “You were shot, Elijah.”
He shrugged but kept his eyes on her. “All’s well that ends well.” His tone was unreadable. “I have leftover grilled chicken if you can come up with something to go with it.”
“I can toss a salad together and bring it over to your place. I’ll follow you back to the lake.” She smiled at him. “Don’t speed.”
She decided she didn’t need to remind him that her father used to nail him all the time for speeding when they were teenagers-before the army, the Secret Service. Long before his father’s death on Cameron Mountain.
As she got in her car, Jo saw herself and Elijah as teenagers, walking hand in hand through the fallen leaves on the town green, and she felt a surge of tenderness for the crazy-in-love kids they’d been.
Not an image for a long, dark Vermont night.
Best just to go back to the lake and make salad.
Twelve
“You’re still a little in love with her, aren’t you?”
Thomas Asher quickly clicked off his Internet connection at the desk in his first-floor study as if Melanie had just caught him watching porn videos instead of the two-minute clip of Jo Harper tackling the vice president’s teenage son. It was even more entertaining than he’d expected-and just the distraction he’d needed from Alex’s death and his own appalling behavior.
Jo had called and told him Nora had taken off into the mountains.
What the hell was his daughter thinking?
What had he been thinking that morning when he’d panicked and run from the hotel?
He swiveled in his leather desk chair. “Not even a little,” he said, smiling at the woman who would become his wife in less than two months. She stood in the doorway, looking more amused than annoyed.
“Uh-huh,” she said.
Thomas knew he couldn’t fool her. He didn’t want to. But Melanie believed he harbored feelings for Jo Harper, and he couldn’t convince her otherwise.
She entered the study and put her slim hands on his shoulders as he swiveled back to his computer. She had yet to suggest he sell his northern Virginia house after they were married. He and Carolyn had bought it together nineteen years ago, raised their daughter there. Thomas didn’t know why, but he couldn’t part with it-it was as if selling the house would somehow mean the Thomas Asher of the past had never existed.
Melanie kissed him on the top of his head. “I know it’s been an awful day for you.”
She slid her hands down his chest, her nails shining, polished a neutral color, and nodded at the blank computer screen. “Do you think Jo gave Charlie Neal what he deserved?”
“Everyone thinks Jo gave Charlie Neal what he deserved. She’s a professional, but she’s blunt by nature. Generally speaking, I’m sure that’s an asset in her work.”
“I like that,” Melanie said. “I hate when people don’t speak their minds.”
She didn’t know he’d run that morning. He leaned into her and wished for the thousandth time that he hadn’t panicked. Now he had to live with his shame and guilt. He had nothing to hide, but fleeing the scene the way he had would look suspicious to the police. He wouldn’t lie to them, but he hoped they left him alone. He couldn’t bear the thought of Melanie and his daughter-even Carolyn-finding out that his only instinct when he’d realized it was Alex dead on the street was to get out of there.
Thomas’s only hope now was that the police would find the driver of the car that had hit Alex-without his help.
Why hadn’t the messenger reported what she’d seen?
His complicated history with Alex didn’t help matters. Thomas cringed at the thought of the police suspecting him of having a role in his friend’s death, but what could he do? It was no secret that Alex had betrayed their friendship by taking up with Carolyn. Everyone knew it and would assume that, regardless of how mature he’d wanted to be about the situation, he’d had moments when he’d wished Alex a bad end. He was only human, after all.
His love for Nora had forced him to step back from his hurt, his anger, his humiliation and get on with his life. Now he had Melanie-a new beginning.
She slid her hand over his and eased the mouse from his grip. “Enough,” she said, shutting down the computer altogether. “You need to turn everything off.”
“I don’t know if I can explain. Alex and I were friends even before I’d met Carolyn. That he’s gone now…” Thomas fought back tears as he stared at the blank monitor. “What’s done is done. There’s no going back.”
“Have you talked to Nora?”
“Not since I gave her the news this morning. I wish she’d stayed put after hearing about Alex instead of going on this camping trip. Lowell and Vivian say they’re not worried.”
“Easy for them. Still no word of what route she took?”
“I heard from Jo a little while ago. Nora’s car was located near one of the trails up Cameron Mountain. That’s some help, but it’s not the same as leaving her specific plans with someone. We don’t know she went up that trail-she could have met friends and taken their car to some other trail.”
“She’s eighteen, Thomas. It’s not that she’s trying to be irresponsible-she just doesn’t think things through.” Melanie sighed softly. “I can see you’re worried about her. You’re a good father. You’re not overreacting. Nora still needs you, even if she doesn’t think so.”
“Maybe I should go up there.”
Melanie squeezed his hand. “If you decide that’s what’s best, I’ll go with you. Listen, I know Jo Harper is a friend of yours, Thomas, but are you sure you should be talking to her? This thing with the vice president’s son…”
“That’ll blow over. It’s just a silly incident that will entertain people in this town for a few days and then be replaced by someone else’s misstep. Alex’s death has probably wiped it out of people’s minds already. I don’t want Jo to do anything that will further jeopardize her career, of course, but I don’t see how checking on Nora will.”