Cedar Hollow (14 page)

“I have a few things I need to check on in the garden but it won’t take long.” Ben apologized.

“That’s
fine, I think I’d like to be alone for a while anyway.” Cassidy replied. Ben nodded and left the room, quietly closing the door behind him.

Cassidy looked around the room, again wondering who it had once belonged to. This house held so much history. This is the house her mother had lived in, the house her grandparents had
died in. Cassidy remembered the letters tucked away in her drawer. She got up and retrieved them. The first was dated August 1952 and was addressed to her grandmother Elizabeth Greene.

Dear Liz,

I haven’t stopped thinking about you since I left. When I first shipped off you were just a girl in pigtails, I was not prepared to come home and find the beautiful woman that you’ve become. I know that my leave was only a short few days, but those days changed my life forever. I pray that you feel the same way. I pray that this awful war will end and I will be able to come home to you for good. I will write as often as I can. I hope you will write back.

Sincerely,

Curtis

Dear Curtis,

My heart sings with joy to read the words you’ve written me. Those three days with you were the happiest of my life. I think of you every day and am counting the days until I can see you again. It’s funny how you can know someone your whole life, but then one day see them differently. The years we’ve been apart since you went off to war have changed us both. As you said, I am no longer a child, and you are no longer the pesky boy who used to pull my pigtails. A few short days can most definitely change the course of one’s life forever. It surely has altered mine.

I wish this letter could bring you only happy news, but I must tell you that your father has fallen ill. Robert has come home. The years have changed him as well.

Please take care of yourself and come home to me soon.

With Love,

Liz

Dear
Liz,

These last few months have been grueling. The only thing that gets me through is the promise of coming home to you.
Morale is high with the election of Eisenhower, many hope that this war will soon be coming to an end.

I have received word from my brother that father has passed away. Will you and your mother remain at the house? If not where shall I find you when I return? I miss you every day and the only thing getting me through
is knowing that you are waiting for me. Until I can hold you in my arms, I will hold you in my heart.

Yours Forever,

Curtis

Dear Curtis,

The days since your father passed have been hard. He left a large inheritance for my mother and Robert has been very hostile. She has chosen to retire and move
back to Connecticut where she was raised. She has promised to remain long enough for me to finish my last year of school if Robert will allow it, however she will leave this coming summer. I pray that you will be home in time, but if I must go with her I promise to send you my forwarding address in Connecticut so that you can come for me. I will always be waiting, wherever I am my heart is yours.

With all my Love,

Liz

Dear Liz,

I will come for you wherever you are, nothing could keep me away. But I will write my brother and ask him to accommodate you and your mother until my return. Rumors are flying that some of us may be shipped home soon. Hopefully I will be coming home to you shortly.

With Love,

Curtis

Dear Curtis,

I cannot stay any longer. Robert has been acting very strangely. He corned me and accused me of seducing you. He said that our love was wrong and sinful, he said that I would be punished. He called me an awful name. I am frightened. I need to leave. I am going to Connecticut with mother. Please come find me there.

Yours Always,

Liz

There were no other letters between her grandparents. Cassidy quickly grabbed the stack of letters between Curtis and Robert. The postmark dates were similar to those between her grandparents. The first letter was from Robert.

Curtis,

I am writing to inform you that our father has died. The house has been left to me. A small sum has been allotted to you, and a rather indecent stipend has been left for the housekeeper. I have opened a savings account in your name into which I deposited the funds father delegated to you. It will be available to you upon your return.

Robert

Dear Robert,

It is with sadness that I read your letter. I regret that I could not be there to tell our father goodbye. Thank you for handling the details. I trust that everything will be taken care of accordingly. I do have one request. Liz is finishing her final year of school and I ask you to please allow her and her mother to remain in the house until she is able to receive her diploma. I understand that you have never felt fondly about Mrs. Greene, but I ask as your brother to do this for me.

Sincerely,

Curtis

Curtis,

Mrs. Greene has already made this request of me. I am curious why you are taking an interest in her daughter’s education. I understand that you and Liz were closer in age as children, but it has been years since you’ve seen the girl. Why should her circumstances concern you?

Robert

Dear Robert,

Brother
, I must confide in you that last summer after the short leave I had at home I developed a very keen interest in Liz’s circumstances. As you said it had been years since I’d seen her, but upon our re-acquaintance I found myself to have great feelings for her. I plan to marry her as soon as I return. This is why I ask you to please allow her and her mother to remain in the house until I come home. I realize our relationship has not always been an easy one, but I hope that as adults perhaps we can finally treat each other as brothers and not enemies. This is my greatest hope.

Sincerely,

Curtis

Curtis,

You always were an impulsive child, but surely even you see the obvious reasons why a romance between you and Liz cannot possibly happen. No man hires a pregnant widow to be his housekeeper, even the townspeople were not fooled by that pretense. Liz Greene is most surely our half-sister and it would be a sin against God for you to pursue any sort of relationship with her beyond that. Come to your senses, brother, and leave the child alone.

Robert

Dear Robert,

I always knew you fueled those rumors when we were children, but surely you cannot actually believe them. My mother was a dear friend of Constance Greene, and our father kindly took in the poor woman when she found herself widowed and with child. It was an act of kindness. Liz is not our sister! I am in love with her and I will make her my wife. I hope that you as my brother can accept that. But it will happen with or without your approval.

Curtis

Tha
t was the final letter. Cassidy’s hands were trembling as she re-folded it and slipped it back into the aged envelope. A knock at the door startled her, she quickly gathered the letters and hid them back in the dresser drawer. Cassidy let out a sigh of relief when she found Ben waiting on the other side of the door.

“There’s a Labor Day festival
in town tonight, I just thought I’d see if you felt up to it.” Ben said as he leaned against the doorjamb with a crooked smile. Despite everything else that was going on, she still felt that nervous flutter every time she saw him. His presence had a way of making everything ok, even when it wasn’t.

“Actually, I think it would be nice to get out of the house tonight.” She agreed.

“Do you remember how Sarah said there had been some sort of falling out between Curtis and Robert Miller?” Cassidy asked as they drove down the mountain towards town.

“Yes.”

“Well I read those other letters I’d found, and I think I know what happened.” Cassidy revealed. “My grandmother Elizabeth Greene was the daughter of the housekeeper. They’d all grown up together, but then Curtis went off to war and when he came home he and Elizabeth fell in love. But Robert was against it. Apparently he believed that Liz could possibly be their half-sister.”

“How?”

“Her mother had been pregnant when she came to work for the Miller’s. Their father and Curtis’s mother were married, but apparently there were rumors that he could be the father of Mrs. Greene’s baby. Curtis didn’t believe the rumors, but I guess Robert did. Mrs. Owens once told me that my grandparents moved away right after they married. That’s probably because Robert was against the marriage.”

“
Then Curtis returned to Cedar Hollow with his family years later when your mother and aunt were teenagers.” Ben continued.

“Sarah had said the brothers were tryin
g to make amends.” Cassidy agreed.

“But then Curtis and Liz were both killed within weeks of each other.”

“And
everyone else in my family since.”

“Everyone except your uncle.”
Ben pointed out.

“Do you think he’s behind it all?” Cassidy asked.

“He was against your grandparents’ marriage, but then he makes amends with them and they come back to Cedar Hollow just to wind up dead. It sounds pretty suspicious to me. But regardless of whether this started with him he’s not the one who ran us off the road. Someone else is involved.”

“Mr.
Woodard said my uncle had asked him to find living relatives. Do you think my uncle wanted me dead? Is that why he was looking for me? Why would he want to murder his entire family?”

“The few times I actually saw your uncle he was always mumbling about sin and retribution, punishment for wickedness. I assumed he was mostly out of his mind and avoided him as much as possible. But if he truly believed that your grandparents were related, that their marriage was a sin, it’s not hard to believe that he would’ve held that against their children as well. Even their grandchildren.”

“Do you think it’s possible that he was not only paying Mr. Woodard to find us, but also to kill us?” Cassidy asked as they pulled the truck to a stop in the crowded parking lot.

“He was at the house with Lucy after we’d been run off the road, I’ve been considering his involvement ever since then.” Ben admitted. Cassidy nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat.

“We don’t have to do this tonight if you don’t want to.” Ben added, gesturing to the bustling carnival that was laid out before them.

“No. I’d rather be here than sitting in the house.” Cassidy said. Ben climbed out of the truck and walked around to open her door.

“Then let’s make the best of it.” Ben smiled offering his hand. Cassidy smiled back and took his hand as she stepped down out of the truck.

Main Street had been blocked off at both ends, and cars filled each end of the street in make-shift parking lots. It seemed as if all of Cedar Hollow had shown up. The street was crowded with people. Booths had been set up along the sidewalks, some selling homemade crafts and baked goods. Others were set up for playing games and winning prizes.

Paper lanterns had been strung along strings that draped between the lampposts and children ran in the street with sparklers. Cassidy was once again amazed that people still lived this way. This was worlds away from the
hustle and bustle of Chicago.

A flatbed truck was parked in front of the barber shop with a teenage band set up on it. They played familiar cover songs as people danced in the street to the music. Ben took Cassidy by the hand as they walked down the sidewalk, stopping at each booth to see what it was offering.

Cassidy stopped to admire some patchwork quilts and learned that the woman who made them was the middle-aged waitress from the counter at Jenny’s Diner. Next they bought some delicious maple candies that had been made by the red-haired receptionist from Mr. Woodard’s office. They skipped the kissing booth, where the attractive brunette girl from the hardware store sat waiting. She glared at Ben as they passed by. Cassidy realized in a town this small it was impossible to turn around and not bump into someone you knew, even after the short time she’d been here.

The next booth they stopped at was a caricature
stand. Ben convinced Cassidy to let them draw her picture. She sat perched on the stool while the young artist sketched her and she watched the townspeople as they shopped and played games, danced in the street and gossiped on the corners. If not for the dark mystery that overshadowed her family’s past, Cassidy thought, this could be a very happy little town and not a bad place to live.

As Cassidy gazed arou
nd the busy street, she became aware of someone watching her. She turned in that direction and saw Mr. Woodard standing across the street on the opposite sidewalk, staring at her. She quickly looked for Ben who had wandered a few booths down to check out some wood carvings. She looked back across the street and Mr. Woodard was gone. She jumped off the stool, anxiously glancing around.

“Miss, I’m not do
ne with your picture.” The boy called after her as she hurried toward Ben.

“I just saw Mr. Woodard.” Cassidy whispered as she clutched Ben’s arm.

“Where?”

“Across the street, but I don’t see him now.
He was watching me.”

“Stay close.” Ben told her, taking her by the arm protectively and scanning
the crowd. They made their way down the busy street, back toward the truck that was parked at the other end.

“Where are you
two going?” Melissa, the blonde waitress from Jenny’s Diner materialized out of the crowd. “The fireworks are about to start.” She stepped between them hooking an arm through each of theirs and began leading them to the park where most of the crowd had begun to gather.

“I don’t think we’
re going to stay for the fireworks.” Cassidy tried to protest.

“You can’t miss the fireworks!” Melissa insisted. Just then a door opened
on the side of a building and a flood of teenagers poured out. The crowd was rowdy as they bumped and pushed their way past. Cassidy got separated from Melissa and Ben. She tried to push through the crowd, straining to see through all the bodies. She called Ben’s name but it was lost in the chaos.

She allowed herself to be pushed along with the throng of people.
Telling herself that she’d find Ben once they reached the park. She kept scanning the crowd around her, desperately searching for him.

Suddenly someone grabbed her arm sharply and jerked her from the crowd. She was pulled off the main sidewalk into a shadowed alley between buildings. For the briefest moment she felt relief, thinking that Ben had found her, until she looked up and saw Mr. Woodard.

She opened her mouth to scream and he clamped a clammy hand over her mouth.

“Please don’t scream.” He said. “I just need to talk with you alone.” He kept his hand over her mouth until she nodded then he slowly removed it.

“What do you want?” Cassidy asked, glancing toward the oblivious crowd of people that were filing by only a few feet away.

“I need to warn you.
You’re in danger. You need to leave Cedar Hollow.” Mr. Woodard whispered in a rush. He still tightly held Cassidy’s arm.

“Even if I leave won’t they find me? Isn’t that your job?” Cassidy challenged and Mr. Woodard’s eyes widened in shock.

“I didn’t know. I didn’t know that’s what he wanted with you.” Mr. Woodard insisted shaking his head.

“Who?”

“Your uncle. When he asked for me to find you, I didn’t know why. You have to believe me.” Mr. Woodard pleaded.

“My uncle is dead.” Cassidy reminded him. “Someone is still trying to kill me.”

“I didn’t know.” Mr. Woodard insisted shaking his head, he looked half-mad. Cassidy wondered if he was actually mentally ill.

“I believe you.” She said in a soft tone. “Thank you for warning me.” She tried to pull her arm aw
ay gently. His grip tightened.

“There are things I need to tell you, you need to come with me.” Mr. Woodard tried to pull her farther into the alley. There was no way in hell she was going with him. She planted her feet.

“Tell me here.” She said calmly.

“No, we need to go somewhere safe.” He insisted, still trying to pull her along with him.

“Get your hands off her.” Ben’s strong voice rang through the alley. Mr. Woodard immediately released Cassidy’s arm stepping back away from her. Cassidy ran to Ben and he grabbed her up in his arms. When they turned back toward the alley Mr. Woodard was gone.

“What if he knows something?” Cassidy asked as they drove back up the mountain. “He said he had something he needed to tell me. What if he knows something important?”

“What if he’s the killer?” Ben challenged. He gripped the wheel firmly. Just the thought of someone trying to hurt Cassidy made him furious. “It’s not worth the risk. I think it’s time we went to the Sheriff
.”

“With what?”
Cassidy asked. “Some old letters and some old rumors?”

Ben considered that. “You should leave.” He
said solemnly.

“You want me to leave?” Cassidy asked
, she felt as if someone had just knocked the air out of her.

“It’s not safe
here. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Ben, I’m not safe wherever I go
.” Cassidy said softly.

“We’ll figure out who’s behind this.” Ben promised.

“That’s why I need to talk to Mr. Woodard. I need to hear what he has to say.”

“Do you really think he’s just going to be sitting in his office tomorrow taking appointments?” Ben asked.

“There’s only one way to find out.” Cassidy said.

“You’re not going alone.”

When they pulled up to the house all the lights were out. It was a starry night with a bright full moon. The black house was a stark contrast to the glowing sky. They entered the house and ascended the stairs in silence. Ben walked Cassidy to her room. They stood in front of the door and faced each other. The table light was not
lit, the only illumination came from the moonlight shining in through the window at the end of the hall. Cassidy could feel her pulse quickening as she looked up at Ben’s shadowed face. He watched her intently, his green eyes burning with desire.

“I’ll see you in t
he morning.” He said puncturing the tangible silence that had followed them up the stairs.

“Goodnight.” Cassidy said reluctantly as she opened her bedroom door. Ben turned away and she stepped inside closing the door behind her.

She leaned back against the door and tried to slow her racing heart. She hadn’t wanted him to go. She tried to shake off the wave of disappointment that washed over her. She pushed off the door and walked to the bathroom.

She looked longingly at the bathtub
, but she honestly wasn’t sure if there was water to fill that tub or not. She resigned herself to taking a shower. She turned to her reflection in the mirror and let down her hair, running her fingers through the long strands. She slipped out of her dress. There was a knock at the door.

Cassidy p
added across the room nervously. She grabbed a robe and slipped it on, tying the waist as she cracked the door open. Ben was on the other side. She opened the door wide and stared up into his eyes expectantly.

He reached for her waist pulling her against him and bringing his hot mouth down over hers in a demanding kiss. He took several steps into the roo
m, carrying her with him. He kicked the door closed behind him and slowly let her feet slip back to the floor. He reached for the belt of the robe untying it with one swift tug. The robe fell open and slid to the floor pooling at her feet. She stood before him in the pink silk and black lace matching bra and panties that she’d secretly bought at the shopping mall. His eyes took on a feral gleam as he admired her in the moonlight.

He
grabbed her small waist lifting her up as he pulled her to him kissing her with a desperate need. She wrapped her legs around him, clinging to him as he carried her to the bed. He unhooked the clasp of her bra pulling it from her arms as he laid her down. He tore away her panties with a swiftness that took her breath away. This wasn’t the slow, tentative love making of the night before. This was raw desire, and she met his passion with her own. Clawing at his back and pulling him down over her as she arched up to meet him.

His mouth was over hers again, probing and demanding. His hand was between her thighs, sliding up to find the pulsing wet heat between her legs. He dipped his fingers inside her, stroking and stretching as he devoured her mouth. She rocked against his hand, needing more.

He rolled to his back pulling her on top of him. She straddled his lap feeling the smooth tip of his erection pressing against her opening. He grabbed her hips and pushed her down, filling her completely. She sat up fully, arching her back and crying out with pleasure. He reached for her face, pulling her down and kissing her as he pumped his hips beneath her. She braced her elbows on each side of his head, kissing him as he thrust inside her.