Passions of Chelsea Kane Part 15

"It's a loose dress," Judd said because it was his opinion that dirty old men shouldn't go unchallenged. "Everything she wears is loose. How's that showing off?" "Her legs," George said. "They're bare." Oliver grunted.

"So're the legs of half the people in town this time a year." 332 "M .'.-Well, it isn't their legs old Buck is stickin' to, taste." He rge retorted. "I tell you, the dog7s got t to one side, still looking out.

"'Course, if he'd a little, I could get a better look." L rd sakes, George," Emery complained, shaking o va a fresh handkerchief, "you're getting worse by @@.jhe day. Listening to you, a person'd think you --badn't seen a woman in weeks, but I happen to know that the new secretary you just hired-"

"I'm a widower," George snapped. "I can do what I want." "Oh, I know that, Emery said, all calmness and rosy cheeks as he removed his spectacles and began to polish the gla.s.s. "What I don't know is what she'd see in an old geezer like you." He tossed his head toward Chelsea. "That one sure as h.e.l.l ain't followin' you around.

Maybe that s what bothers YOU." Judd wondered if it was true, but in lieu of answering, George turned to him with a confrontational look. "I told you what they're sayin' in the bar at the inn. Know what they're sayin' at Crocker's?" Judd finished off his coffee, crushed the cup, and lobbed it into the wastebasket. He folded his arms on his chest.

"What're they sayin' at Crocker's?" As if he didn't know. He was there once a day, at least. No one said anything to his face, but he waswt dumb. He knew the talk. It was his business to know it. "They say yotfre porldn' her. That so?"

"Nope," Judd said. "Like h.e.l.l it isn't," Emery sputtered. Oliver pushed out his lower lip and kept his eyes on Farr's, while Emery furthered his case. "Whole town knows where you're going at night when Millie Malone comes to stay." He guffawed. Barbwa Defingby "G.o.d knows you ain't doin' it to Millie." George stuffed his hands under his suspenders and gave Judd a speculative look. To Emery, out of the corner of his mouth, he said, "Can see why she'd like him. Right size.

Right age. I said that before, when we told him to keep an eye on her.

Seems he's done more'n that." To Judd he said, "You're playing with fire. Already been burned by one city woman. Looking to be burned by another?"

"'m wiser," Judd said. "So was Leo, and look what happened to him. He was done in by a city woman, too. Never got over your mother leaving. I swear, the trouble he's havin with his mind now can be traced right to that." Peeling his back from the wall, Judd drew himself to his full height. "Leo and I have done just fine."

"Well, good," George said, "but if you're smart as you think, you'll stop foolin' with Chelsea Kane and start puttin' her in her place. She wants to get business for the company, that's fine. She wants to turn this town upside down, that ain't fine. And if you can't tell her that, there's plenty who can. You keep it in mind, Judd." The cymbalists clicked out of their houses on either side of the clock, clapped their cymbals five times, then clicked back inside. Judd looked at Oliver. "It's ten-thirty. I have to get to the quarry. If you want me to drive you, you'll have to leave now."

"You listening, Judd?" George demanded. Oh, yes, Judd was listening. He was also thinking about breakfast two mornings ago, when Nolan Mccoy s lid onto his booth at Crocker's and started talking. Someone was making strange phone calls to Chelsea-d.a.m.n her hide for not telling him about 334 The ra.s.skws of Chelsea Kmw at, either. He wondered if George knew anything -,*bout it, because what he'd just said sounded suspi- , like a threat. Judd wasn't having anything to , with Chelsea, but if the calls continued, or if any- "o, ne dared harm her with the intention of scaring off, they'd have to answer to him. He wasn't havg the possible damage to a helpless, unborn child his conscience. Labor Day in the Notch was a variation on the @@'theme of the Fourth of July.

Faces were more tanned now, legs more lazy. There was no parade, but there a bicycle ride through town to raise money to ",,fight muscular dystrophy, a fair highlighted by a I. Acontest for the largest zucchini, a frog race, a merry- on the green, the summer league playoffs, and Labor Day Dessert, which was an evening freevalornall of pies, puddings, and cakes. Chelsea was pleased with herself. She made it without lapsing into a blue funk, which ". wasn't to say she'd been deliriously happy, simply [email protected] she'd made it through. She had been lonesome. [email protected], @ft was hard seeing families having fun together, and -much as she viewed various groups with an eye .,.toward which one she might belong to, she remained very much the outsider. The hardest part was seeing Judd play basketball and win and not being able to give him a victory hug, but she made it through that, too. She wasn't a beggar where men were concerned.

Her relations.h.i.+p with him had been unexpected and short-lived. She would survive it. The open house, on the other hand, was a triumph from start to finish. Over the course of the weekend, no less than two hundred friends, col- 335 Barham Deffnshy The pa.s.sions of Cbefsen Kam leagues, and potential buyers came to the Notch. Some made the trip in a day, others took advantage of the excuse to get a jump on the leafers in viewing the splendor fall made of the New England hills. The best of the colors was nearly a month away, but the first of the swamp maples had turned red, the first of the birches yellow. Whether into leafing or not, all who showed up for the open house had a wonderful time, if the amount of money spent at Farr's, the level of laughter at the bar at the inn, and the buckets of barbecued chicken and apple brown betty consumed at Boulderbrook was any indication. Crowning the weekend were a dozen large orders for granite. Oliver studied the work orders with satisfaction. Judd hired another five men. Chelsea ran with Donna at sunrise on what promised to be a bright September day. The air was fresh and brisk enough to leave their mouths in tiny white puffs. Likewise the landscape, which was more vibrantly colored by the day, was stiff with an almost frost. They wore sweats.h.i.+rts that would be tied around their waists by the time they finished and Lycra tights that covered their legs, and they ran with the extra spring to their step that the crisp air inspired. It was the kind of morning that brimmed with optimism, the kind of morning when- Chelsea felt that things were finally coming together for her at Norwich Notch. Boulderbrook was finished and lovely, decorated in a warm, homey style, with area rugs and quilts and macram6 pillows and prints that she would never have dreamed of displaying in Baltimore but were fitting here. The arduous hours of phone calls and letter writing she had done in 336 P Julie and July were paying off in steady activity at the quarries and full utilization of the new cutting Granted, Kevin refused to visit her, but she continued to call. She wasn't giving up. Sooner or later he would realize that she loved him as much as ever. She was four months pregnant and feeling strong, which didn't mean that she was carrying on with the sarne spriteliness as before. She had gained eight pounds-still comfortably hidden under loose clothing-and4elt every one, so she ran a bit slower and not quite as far. That was why running with Donna was perfect. Cydra, who had stayed with Chelseaa aat Boulderbrook for the open house weekend, teased @":;ber mercilessly when she fell behind. Donna was @@,@,-content with the slower pace, not that she wasn't "athletic. She and Chelsea were built remarkably alike. But she didn't have the history of running that Chelsea did or,,therefore, the endurance. On this particular morning they ran side by side, near perfect shadows of each other. They headed in the direction of the traffic, although with the sun barely up there wasn't much of that yet. Since Chelsea was the hearing one, she ran on Donna's left and edged her closer to the shoulder of the road when a vehicle approached from behind. She did that this time. From the rumble of its engine, she guessed the vehicle to be a truck, as most were at that hour. The rumble came closer, then closer still in a way that made Chelsea glance over her shoulder nervously. Stunned at how close to the side of the road the truck was, she gestured for it to. give them room.

It had the rest of the road to itself. Rather than moving off, it aimed for the shoulder 337 "k, , Barbara Definsky of the road. With seconds to spare before they were hit, Chelsea threw herself at Donna and tumbled them both into the brush at the side of the road. Breathing hard and trembling, they scrambled to their knees and stared off at the disappearing truck. Then they looked at each other. No signing was necessary. Donna's stunned expression said that she knew what Chelsea did. The white writing on the tailgate of the dirty gray truck identified it, clear as day. 338 6 sixteen CL RE YOU SURE IT WAS ONE OF OURS?- JUDD asked. "It was a Plum Granite truck," Chelsea confirmed.

Nolan sat behind his desk, jotting notes on a form. His office was done up in metal and would have felt cold, had it not been for Nolan. He was a large man in blue with graying hair, a bull neck, and a warm way about him that surprised Chelsea each time she saw him. "Did you see anything of the driver?" he asked now. "I couldn't. The sun was just coming up behind it, so the cab was dark. Besides, I really expected that it would pa.s.s us like the others all do. When I looked back and saw it so close, the only thing I had time to do was to get us out of the way. By the time it occurred to me to wonder about the driver, it was long gone."

"Are you sure you're all right?" Judd asked. His eyes held hers, telling her the nature of his concern. She imagined he would have looked at her stomach if it weren't for presence of the others. For all he lacked in softness, he was discreet. Barbara Definsky "I'm fine," she said quietly. She looked at Donna. "Are you okay?" Donna nodded. "No bruises?" Nolan asked. He, too, was looking at Donna. His eyes were filled with the softness Judd's lacked, and for an instant Chelsea felt an overwhelming envy. Then she realized the folly of that. She wouldn't want to trade places with Donna. Not only did Donna have a physical handicap that prevented her from hearing the sound of her own son's voice, but she had a husband who treated her like dirt. She more than deserved what little gentleness came her way. Donna shook her head no to Nolan's inquiry. She s.h.i.+fted to Judd and mouthed, "Who?"

"There are four trucks that size," Judd said. "Three are parked at Moss Ridge every night. Oliver drives the other."

"You didn't see a license plate?" Nolan asked Chelsea. She shook her head. "I was too shocked by the writing on the back of the truck." After a hesitant glance at Donna, she asked Judd, "is it safe to a.s.sume that it was one of the three parked at Moss Ridge?" Judd looked her in the eye. "Oliver may be ornery, but he isn't evil. Or stupid. The business is moving again. Knocking you off would be sabotaging his own prosperity. Knocking Donna off would be suicide.

Besides"-he spoke more quietly-"he only drives the truck from home to work and back, and then only in broad daylight. Anything more scares him. His reflexes aren't good. In a pinch, I've seen him put Margaret behind the wheel. Usually it's me." 340 The Pa.s.sions of Owlsen Kane hritis," Donna said. Her voice was too loud, ,@@but no one minded. She was visibly shaky. "That, too," Judd confirmed, "only no one's supposed to know. He has an image to protect." Chelsea shouldn't have been surprised by the fact that Judd covered for Oliver. He took care of his own father above and beyond the call of duty. It stood to reason that he would respond to Oliver's frailties. He was that kind of man. I What she didn't understand was why, if he could be understanding and compa.s.sionate toward a wretch of a man like Oliver, he couldn't be understanding toward her. She supposed it was because she was an intruder of sorts. There was no shared past, no loyalty or sense of obligation. They had briefly been lovers, never friends in the sense of going through life's trials together. "Let's focus on the other three trucks," Nolan said. "Where are the keys?"

"In their ignitions, I a.s.sume," Judd answered. "They're not locked up at night?" Chelsea asked.

"Nope."

"Why not?" "Because this isn't the city," he said without apology. He was looking her straight in the eye again, daring her to say something or do something or feel something that would betray what had happened between them. "We don't lock things up the way you folks do."

She ignored the "you folks" but not the dare, -because ignoring dares wasn't in her nature. "That means," she concluded with a straight-in-the-eye look right back at him, "that anyone, even someone with nothing to do with the company, could have been driving that truck." 341 Definsky "Only if that person wanted to crash through the gates," he said. "They are locked at night." . has the keys to the gates?" Nolan asked. "I have a set. Oliver has a set. Each of the site foremen has a set. So does the shed foreman . Problem is, we're not talking about Fort Knox here. The locks aren't sophisticated.

They could probably be picked by anyone who knows anything about picking locks." "Then I was right," Chelsea said. She didn't look Judd in the eye this time. She was tired of that game. The fact was that either there was a lousy driver on the road, or someone was out to run her down. "It could have been anyone." Nolan checked his watch. "I want to start looking around. It's nearly seven-thirty, Judd. Your men already there?" When Judd nodded he reached for his hat and rose. "I'll follow you out." But Judd was reaching for Chelsea's arm. "I'm taking her home first. I'll meet you there." Chelsea would have run home had her legs felt stronger. But she didn't want to push, not with the baby. Promising Donna she would stop by on her way to the office, she went along with Judd. He didn't say a word until they had left the town green behind.

"Are you really feeling okay'?" His eyes were on the road. She couldn't tell if they held concern. His voice gave nothing away. "Worried, is all."

"You look pale."

"I'm not wearing makeup."

"I've seen you without makeup before." And so he had. "You still look pale." She shrugged and turned to the window. The fact was that she was feeling shaky and scared and that 342 The FASWOns of Chelsea Kane she wanted most was to slide across the seat and be held for a minute. Instead she wrapped her arms around herself. He took in the gesture and braked. "Maybe Neil Summers ought to check you out."

"I'm fine," she insisted, and waved him on.

Reluctantly, she thought, he returned to the gas. "Have you seen him about the baby?"

"Not yet."

"What are you waiting for?"

"I have a man in Baltimore."

"Lotta good he'll do you down there. Don't you think you should see someone here?"

"I will."

"When?"

"Soon."

"When are you going to make it public?"

"When it shows."

"It shows now."

"Only if you look for it."

"It shows." So he'd been looking. That knowledge set off a humming inside that she determinedly ignored. "What's the rush?" He was silent, jaw set, brow beetled. "Someone wants you out of this town enough to make phone calls at night and then, when that didn't spook you, try to run you off the road. If whoever it is knows you're pregnant, he may think twice. Harming you is one thing, killing your baby another." . "Good G.o.d, Judd," she breathed because the word killing made her shudder. "I should pretend it isn't a possibility? Aren't you concerned?"

"Of course I'm concerned. Why do you think I'm 343 Bmtom Defimsky sitting in this car right now?" His profile was hard. "Maybe because you want to get home faster so you won't be late for work. You know, it wouldn't kill you to take it easy a little. If this hadn't happened, you'd probably have kept running until you were ready to drop the kid."

"No. I'll only run for another month. Less if it starts to bother me.

I'm not that irresponsible, Judd." He shot her an incredulous look.

"You're running after today?"

"Definitely." Cydra might have called the near miss a sign, but what did Cydra know? "Are you crazy?"

"No. Running airs me out."

"You are crazy." "Not crazy," she mused. "I like exercising. I also like the freedom to choose where I go and what I do. I refuse to be intimidated by a madman in a truck."

"Now, that's smart." His sarcasm stung. She tried to shrug it off. "That's the way it is. Donna and I have been taking the same route each time we run. Next time we'll vary it.- "Clever."

"ff she still wants to run. If she doesn't, I'll go myself."

"Wise." She turned on him. "It could be that whoever was driving that truck was after her. Have you thought of that?"

"Frankly, no. You're the one who barged into town uninvited. You're the one threatening to change the status quo. You're the one responsible for Bibi not making apple brown betty for Labor Day 344 Thc Pa.s.s16mg of Cbehma Kme sert-and that may sound petty to you and me, ut there's a slew of folks here who didn't like it at 11. Donna's a different story.

She's a Plum and a Farr. She's lived here all her life. There's not a soul in this town who doesn't know her and like her." But Chelsea wondered about that. So did Nolan. "I want to ask you something," he said. Donna had lingered in his office after Chelsea and Judd left. She knew that Nolan had to get to Moss Ridge, but he wasn't rus.h.i.+ng off any more than she was. She had to get home, was already late, but she couldn't resist this small gift. He hunkered down beside her chair and brushed a hand against hers. His touch never failed to amaze her. For a big man, it was exquisitely gentle. "Do you think Matthew could have anything to do with this?" he asked. Matthew. The thought took her by surprise. Quickly she shook her head. "He has cause," Nolan went on. "He doesn't like you running. Maybe he felt that by scaring the two of you, he'd end it." Again she shook her head. It wasn't that she thought Matthew incapable of violence. She knew that he was. But hitting his wife was one thing-running down a major player in the town's future was something else. Distressed, she quickly signed some of those thoughts.

Nolan waited until she was done, then caught both of her hands in his one and asked, still gently, even regretfully, "Where was he last night?" 345 BArbam Degnsky Matthew had been out, as usual. As usual, she had no idea where. Her eyes told Nolan that. "When did he come home?"

"One," she mouthed. "Was he drunk?"

"I think so." She didn't know for sure, but it was a fair guess. When he was drunk he collapsed on the day bed in the den. Since he hadn't come to bed with her-for which she said a small'prayer of thanks-she a.s.sumed that was where he was. "Did you see him before you left to run with Chelsea?" She shook her head.

"Was the car in the driveway?" She hadn't looked. But she saw what Nolan was getting at. He studied her hands, ran his thumbs over her knuckles, then raised his eyes to the scoop neck of the singlet she'd worn running. "It's possible that he came home at one and went out again before you got up. Or that he left the house right after you did, drove to Moss Ridge, picked the lock on the gate, and so on."

"I'll know soon," Donna said aloud, because her mind was speeding ahead.

If Matthew had been drunk and dead to the world on the day bed, he would come to breakfast hung over. She would be able to tell by looking at him whether he had been up and driving around that morning. Squeezing Nolan's hand, she whispered, "I'd better go. If I'm too late, he'll be mad." Nolan didn't immediately release her hands. "Will he hit you?" She gave a quick head shake. "But he has." 346 The Pa.s.sions of Chelsea Kane RE "Don't," she -mouthed pleadingly. She couldn't k about what Matthew had done. Nolan already knew. His eyes saw the bruises that other people missed, especially the ones deep inside that cried i,,@.out for soothing. But there was only so much he could do about those without making things worse. "I wish you'd leave him." She shook her head.

"Because of Jos.h.i.+e?" he asked with such concern ,".on his face that tears came to her eyes. He brushed -Ahem away, leaving his hands framing her face. "I'll W",take care of Jos.h.i.+e." The tears returned. She wrapped her hands his wrists and tried to shake her head, but ""the gesture only moved her cheek against his hand. A "I want to help you, Donna." He looked torment- ,@@'-ed. "Let me help you." Before she could-protest, he came forward and ,@,-Save her a kiss that was feather light and as sweet anything she'd ever tasted. She hadn't nearly had r fill when he pulled back and said with a surprisagly shy smile, "I've wanted to do that for a long time." She touched his mouth with her fingertips, but he sucked one in, the shock of it had her Iling back fast. She held her fisted hand by her eart. "Too much?" he asked. She forced herself out of the chair. The longer e stayed, the more in danger she was of giving in. 4olan would take her to bed if she wanted. She'd wn that for a long time. He would show her what ,(king love truly meant. She'd wanted that for a time. The issue was a moral one. She was married to 347 Barbara Dennshy Matthew. She couldn't sleep with Nolan.

But where did justice fit into the scheme? Matthew abused her. She had every right to seek solace in another man's arms. If only she had the courage. Running with Chelsea was a small gesture of defiance. Being with Nolan was a far, far greater one than that. "D'ya do it?" Oliver asked Hunter when he finally showed up at the quarry late that morning.

Hunter strolled up to the railing where Oliver stood with Judd. Tucking his hands under his arms, he peered into the belly of the quarry, where men the size of roaches were at work. Drills bit into rock, cranes rumbled, cables strained, hammers resounded, all of it muted by distance and the breeze. ' you think I did?" Hunter returned. "I'm askin' the questions here. Did you or didn't you?"

"I didn't."

"That the truth?"

Hunter's dead expression said that he had no intention of responding-which was, Judd had long ago realized, his greatest weapon against Oliver. Oh, they bickered. Hunter was sufficiently glib to match Oliver reproach for reproach, but silence was more effective. For a man who liked to rule, being ignored was infuriating.. Hunter did just that now. He looked past a glowering Oliver to Judd and said, "So Nolan hasn't solved the case?"

"No, he hasn't solved the case," Oliver snapped. The late September breeze raised strands of gray hair on his head, but otherwise he was as stiff as the 348 The Pa.s.sions of Ckelsw Kme , around him. "I was talkin' to Judd," Hunter said, then to Judd. "No leads?" Judd paused, giving Oliver a chance to answer. When he didn't, he said, "Not yet. There was no sign of a break-in."

"Had to be an inside job," Oliver muttered. Hunter spared him a look.

"Where were you at ,?"

"In my own bed, which is probably more than you can say.

Do you have to drive that machine around at five in the morning? Just th'other day, Haskell ,_Rhodes was complaining about the noise. It's a Vgawd-awful sound to wake up to." Hunter smiled dryly. "It sure identifies my comngs and goings. If I'd gone out at sunup to get a ruck, the whole town woulda known it." Again he ked past Oliver to Judd. "Is she all right?" Judd didn't have to ask who he meant. He wonered if Hunter'knew about the baby. "She says 6's fine."

"My daughter was out there, too," Oliver put in. Hunter responded before Judd could. "No one ould hurt Donna. Everyone in town likes her but thew, and he wouldn't have the guts to do anying so public." Oliver scowled. "What's that supposed to mean?" Hunter pushed his hands, one at a time, deeper to the bunches of sweats.h.i.+rt under his arms. "You ess."

"You got a gripe against Matthew?"

"Not me, but you should. He's not nice to your ghter."

"If he's not nice to her, it's because she does gs she shouldn't do."

349 Barba= Definshy "Like what?"

"Like running with Chelsea Kane."

"What's wrong with that?"

"It's not seemly."

"Seemly?" Hunter mocked.

"So because she does something that isn't seemly, her husband is allowed to beat her?"

"He doesn't beat her," Oliver scoffed in dismissal, but Hunter wasn't letting the matter drop, and Judd, for once, agreed.

"Where've you been, old man? The whole town knows he gives her a good wallop when he's in the mood."

"He doesn't beat her."

"Keep telling yourself that and you might believe it. Open your eyes and you'll see the truth." The breeze gusted, whipping his hair back to reveal his gold earring and, Judd thought, an uncharacteristic concern. "He makes her work like a dog in that store. He orders her around. He ranks on her in front of the customers. He gives her a lousy fifteenminute break three times a day. That what you want for your daughter?"

"You don't know squat."

"I know. I take your s.h.i.+t all the time, and I may or may not be your kid. But she's a definite. Don't you care about her?"

"I don't need that kind of question from you."

"You need it from someone. Wake up, old man. He's beating her." Oliver's tall body was rigid. "He ain't doin' no such thing. He's a good man, Matthew is. He's Emery's son. Emery's son wouldn't lay a hand on his wife." Hunter sputtered out a disdainful laugh. "Emery's son? Not only would Emery's son lay a hand on his 350 The Pa.s.sions of Cjmqsm Amw wife, but he thinks so little of her that he's out every night panting after his own brother's wife." Oliver leveled him a warning stare, which he promptly ignored. "'Course, that's been going on so long it's a miracle it doesn't die of old age. Why do you think Matthew didn't get married sooner? He was in love with Joanie Pickwick way back in high school, only Monti got to her first."

"Shut up, -boy."

"Joanie got pregnant, they got married and had four more kids, and by then Monti's charm was , wearing thin. And there was Matthew, waiting in the wings."

"Shut up, boy."

"Didn't take him long to make it with Joanie. So you know what he does now? He's never home at night. If he isn't screwin' Joanie, he's driving around wis.h.i.+n' he could, and if he isn't doin' that, he's drinking himself dumb. It's a miracle we haven't found him dead at the bottom of a ravine." Judd had been listening, with both hands on. the guardrail and his eyes on the pit below, when he saw something that set him off. "Jesus!" he yelled, then even louder, "Get out of -1he way, Mason!" He gestured the man away from @@,Ahe piece. of rock being moved. "G.o.ddammit, move or he's gonna lose a hand to that slab!" he bellowed, and took off for the cable car that would take ",him below. Frankie Mason was one of the new men @he'd recently hired, and he'd had his doubts at the rankie was a slight man, an electrician by 4rade and he did fine working with small wires.

,@ I Aoriing with large slabs of stone and heavy chines was a different ball game. A man needed 351 Barbara Deunsky peripheral vision. He needed an overall understanding of the process and a sixth sense as to what would happen when. Frankie lacked that. Stuffing a hard hat on his head, he swung into the rude cable car, little more than an oversize orange crate, and pushed a b.u.t.ton to start the gears and pulleys. Hunter vaulted in as the car started down. "Mistake to hire Frankie Mason," he said. Judd was telling himself the same thing. But there were reasons he had hired Frankie, and those reasons hadn't changed. "He's got kids. He needs the job."

"Put him in the shed," Hunter said, swaying with the bucking of the car. "No, better, train him to carve. Some of those new jobs need inscriptions. No way can Gaitor and Hal do it alone." The suggestion had merit, even though it would mean less of an immediate return on Frankie Mason. Frankie wasn't an artist, but if he could splice tiny wires, he could handle the etcher. "Not a bad idea," he said to Hunter. With his eyes on the men below, Hunter said, "I come up with them sometimes."

"Can you come up with one to keep these guys focused? I don't know what it is lately. Frankie's problem is inexperience, but that's only one of the near misses we've had. Their concentration stinks. Someone's gonna be hurt one of these days. Hey, Murphy!" he called in a voice that would carry over the hiss of the air compressor driving the drills. The cable car lurched to the bottom of the quarry.

"Get Springer over here. I want him working with Mason." To himself he muttered, "O-kay. Let's give it one last shot." 352 Me Fa.s.sions 4 chermw Awe F He was still muttering two weeks later. Chelsea couldn't hear what he was saying exactly-4t was all under his breath-but she could see the displeasure on his face. They were at Kankamaug, a hill of solid granite, one of the newer ones being quarried. She had come to see the stone, which was lavender with sprinides of mica that reflected the light of the overcast sky. October had brought a thin blanket of frost to the early morning gra.s.s and a fiery palette of reds, -oranges, and yellows to the hillsides. Though the air warmed comfortably by midday, Chelsea rarely left Boulderbrook without a sweater or jacket. On this day she was wearing stretch jeans and sneakers, a V-neck sweater that fell low, and a slouchy blazer. "What's the problem?" she asked Judd.

"Cable attaches to a dog hook, which goes into a hole drilled in the stone. They're puttin' in too many hooks. Balance is off." He set off for the ladder that would take him to the ledge below. It was the first of a series, stacked ledge to ledge, looking like something from the Indian Southwest. Chelsea glanced at Hunter. "I'm going down, too."

"He won't like that," Hunter warned. But she wanted to be below. Taking the hard hat dangling from his hand, she put it on her head and made off for the ladder. Judd had already disappeared over the lower ledge. The ladder was wide and heavy. She stepped onto the first rung, only to stop when Hunter grabbed her wrist. She looked up in surprise, not so much because he was stopping her but because he had touched her to do it.