Cold River (36 page)

Rael had been staring at Lovey. “What? No. I used that because it was the right size.”

Mandy opened the box and frowned. She flipped a switch to illuminate the room so she could see to read and examined the sheet of paper lying in the bottom. “It’s music,” she said. “By Carlos Rosa? Manuscript? And signed ‘To Mandy’? Rael! Where did you get this?”

“From Carlos. He was on the tour with me. Playing one of my guitars, I might add. I told him how big a fan you are, and he sent that to you.”

“Oh, thank you, dear friend!” Mandy danced over and hugged him. “We’ll play it together later, but you interrupted a story Lovey was telling me. Finish the story, Lovey.”

Lovey shook her head. “I’d rather find out about Grange’s still. I think you’re wrong, you know.”

Rael looked from one to the other. “Grange’s still what? What do you mean?”

Mandy grimaced. “I found out today that the way Grange supports his music program is by making moonshine.”

Rael stared openmouthed at Mandy.

She nodded in the face of his unbelief. “I saw him. There was no mistake.”

Rael cleared his throat. “You’re right. The still supports Grange’s music program, but not— ”

It was Mandy’s turn to stare as Rael turned his back to her, hunched his shoulders, and began to make a coughing sound.

Mandy put a hand on his shoulder. “Rael? Are you all right?”

He turned to face her, and her concern turned to dismay when she saw he was laughing. Tears streamed down his face as he opened his mouth and let the sound roll out, great, deep guffaws that made him stumble over and collapse on the couch. “Oh, Mandy,” he said when he could finally talk. “You
are
a wonder.”

“Well, you’ve made it all perfectly clear,” Mandy said. “What is there to laugh about?”

“That’s my still. Grange was tending it for me.”

“Your still! Hold the phone, Ramon!” She plopped down on a chair. “You mean you’re the one that— that— ”

“Stop jumping to conclusions, Mandy.” Rael sat up and wiped his eyes. “I use the still to make the finish I put on my guitars. It’s an old family recipe made of pine pitch. My grandpappy planted that grove of pines up the road just so he could harvest the sap to make his own shellac, and he taught me how to make it before he died.”

Mandy frowned. “I don’t understand. What does that have to do with the school’s music program?”

Rael spread his hands. “My guitars have become, um, popular, and when musicians know that by buying one of my guitars, they’re directly supporting music in the schools, they generally pay two, three times what I ask. It’s crazy. That’s what I meant when I said that the still supports Grange’s music program.”

“Oh. Then you mean Grange isn’t… doesn’t?”

“Nope.”

“But why wouldn’t he tell me? What’s the big secret?”

“That’s my fault. I wouldn’t let him tell anyone but Mo that the money came from me.”

“Oh, Rael! I’m so relieved! I’ve got to go see how he is.” Mandy jumped to her feet and got her jacket out of the coat closet. “He was hurt, you know. Where does he live? I don’t even know where he lives.”

“Just past me. It’s Timberlain Road, after all.”

Mandy looked around for her purse and car keys. “Lovey, while I’m gone you’re to tell Rael your story.” When Rael put up his hand in a defensive gesture, Mandy shook her finger at him. “You are to listen. That’s not an order— it’s an earnest request. Please, Rael, listen with your––”

Mandy never got a chance to finish the sentence, for a huge explosion ripped through the silence of the night, rattling windows and echoing down the valley.

Mandy and Lovey spoke together. “What was that?”

Rael sprang off the couch and opened the door. “It came from upriver,” he said grimly. “I can’t imagine Grange left the still unattended.”

Mandy sucked in her breath. “He had an emergency this afternoon. He may––”

“Listen!” Rael hissed.

All three stood motionless and silent on the deck. “Hear it?” Rael whispered.

Mandy shook her head.

“Someone running?” Lovey ventured, but she spoke to empty space, for Rael suddenly sprinted down the steps and rounded the corner of the house at a dead run.

Mandy walked to the side of the porch and looked into the blackness beyond the pool of light that fell through the windows onto the ground below. She could hear the sound of someone crashing through the brush, but she couldn’t see a thing. “Where’s he going? And why am I whispering?” She looked around. “Lovey?”

“I’m over here. I’m so weak-kneed I thought I’d better sit down.”

“Was it the explosion? I don’t think we’re in any danger.”

“No. It was being that close to Rael again.” Lovey took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

Mandy walked over and sat on the railing opposite her. “Was it hard, seeing him again? How does he look?”

“He looks wonderful, but my heart sank when he kissed you. Tell me, Mandy, do you feel anything for him?”

“Certainly. I love him. Who wouldn’t? But I’m not in love with him. I think I could have been, but he let me know early on that his heart was taken. Or was it his lungs? He said he didn’t think he could go on breathing when you left.”

“He said that?”

“Yes. Of course that was when Grange and I were crossing swords. And Grange was ugly then, too. I forgot all about Rael when Grange handsomed up and got civil.”

Lovey laughed. “You’re not making sense, but you make me feel better. So, you truly like Grange? How does he feel about you?”

“Well, yesterday I was ready to believe that he and my neighbor… at least that’s what she said. But then, when he was trying to save me, he called me ‘darling.’” She paused a moment and then spoke more softly. “And he asked Vince to come out on the river and save us. I know what that cost him. He did it for me.”

“So you know about how Lori Wilcox died?”

Mandy nodded.

“And Vince? Where does he figure into all this?”

Mandy grinned. “Ah, Vince. Well, he has money.” She counted on her fingers. “He’s handsome, he’s mysterious, and he knows how to blow up buildings. What more could a woman ask for?”

“Be serious. He’s obviously in love with you. I don’t think he’s the kind of man you play fast and loose with.”

“I will be serious. Everyone seems to think he’s a little sinister. I think he’s a good man. It’s just that his idea of success is colored by his childhood. He’s driven by a need to… to… ”

“To outshine the Timberlains?”

Mandy laughed. “I think so. And speaking of Timberlains, I think I hear Rael coming.” She moved back to the edge of the deck, and Lovey came with her.

Presently, Rael stepped into the circle of light. He was breathing hard and walking with his hands on his hips.

“Who were you chasing?” Lovey asked.

He shook his head. “I don’t know, but whoever it was ran up the hill on the path to Fran’s house. I was too far behind to see who it was, but— ”

“But what?” Mandy asked.

He looked back into the darkness, then down at the patch of light at his feet, and finally at Mandy. “When I got to the top of the hill, a car was just leaving Fran’s driveway.”

Mandy said nothing, but she didn’t take her eyes off of Rael.

“It looked like Vince’s car. I couldn’t be sure, but it looked like he was in it.”

Lovey turned to Mandy. “You did say he knows how to blow up things.”

Mandy shook her head and made a dismissive gesture. “Was Fran there? Did you talk to her?”

“The house was dark. I didn’t see her pickup. It looked like no one was home.”

Lovey walked to the railing and looked out into the darkness. “But what was the explosion?”

Rael let his eyes rest on Lovey for a moment and then turned to Mandy. “Do you have a flashlight? I want to check on something.”

She got one out of the kitchen cupboard and watched him descend the stairs and walk out of the circle of light, heading upriver.

“Where’s he going?” Lovey asked.

Mandy stood by her with her arms folded for warmth. “I don’t know.”

“Have you thought about the possibility that Vince came to see you and got here just as Rael kissed you? You were standing right in front of the window.”

Mandy shook her head. “He saw Rael kiss me the other night. He never said anything about it.”

“That was in front of the whole town. This was private, at home, and the room was pretty dark.”

Mandy shook her head again. “I can’t see him parking up there and sneaking down.”

“There’s Rael,” Lovey said. They both stood, waiting for him to get within speaking distance.

“The dike’s breached,” he reported. “That’s what the explosion was. Someone blew a hole in it and water’s pouring through.”

“Who would do that?” Mandy gripped the porch railing and peered into the darkness. “Do we evacuate?”

Rael shook his head. “I don’t think the river’s going to rise much more. Why don’t you move your cars to higher ground? You might have to wade to get out in the morning, but I don’t think it’ll be deeper than a foot or two. It won’t come in the house.”

Mandy walked to the phone and dialed a number she had taped to the fridge. “I’m calling Doc,” she announced to the room in general. It was the answering machine that picked up, so she reported the vandalism and hung up. “You don’t think there’s any danger in staying here?” she asked, digging her car keys out of her pocket.

“I don’t think so. Is Leesie sleeping over at Granny’s house with Willow and Jake?”

Mandy didn’t answer. The feel of the keys in her hand reminded her she had been on her way to see Grange. The sudden explosion, the adrenalin rush and ebb, had swept away the urgency of the moment and made her see that it made more sense to wait until morning.

“Is Leesie staying at Granny’s tonight?” Rael repeated.

Mandy looked up. “Oh. Yes. Sorry. I forgot about that. Tomorrow is Opening Festival.” Mandy went down the porch steps and headed toward her car.

“Would it make you feel better if I stayed here tonight?”

“Oh, Rael, would you?” She spoke from the shadows. “I’ve already been in the river once today. I’d feel better if you were here.”

Later, as they ate tomato soup and toasted cheese sandwiches, Rael made Mandy tell about her afternoon’s adventure. He laughed again at her mistaken assumptions about Grange and the still, but he became solemn and quiet as she talked about falling in the river and how first Grange and then Vince and Moses rescued her. “You were lucky,” he said. “Not many people escape the Hiesel.”

Lovey cleared the dishes and asked Mandy to play her Carlos Rosa song. She said she would, but only if Lovey would sing afterward. An hour spent with Lovey and Rael singing old harmonies went a long way toward breaking down constraints, and when Mandy said she was going upstairs to bed, they said they would stay up and talk a while longer.

“Don’t mind me, I’m putting in earplugs,” she called as she turned down the covers. Since she didn’t hear a reply, she figured the devices must work. She knelt at her bedside and whispered gratitude for delivery from her fall in the river, and gave thanks for Lovey’s return and for what it would mean to all the Timberlains. When her mind wandered to the picture of Grange hanging over the edge, calling out ‘Darling,’ she decided that wasn’t really something she could be thankful for— yet. First she needed to make sure he was calling to her and not to the memory of a woman who died in the river years ago. She said amen, crawled into bed, and made a mental to-do list for tomorrow that had as number one a talk with Grange.

MANDY WAS UP
before her alarm rang. She dressed quietly in Levi’s and a NCHS Tarheels sweatshirt and stepped out on the deck. The morning was fresh and windless, and overhead the clouds parted to reveal a small patch of blue. A chorus of birds warbled unseen behind a lacy curtain of white blossoms that had suddenly and surprisingly appeared in the stand of trees at the edge of Mandy’s back yard. She took a deep breath and smiled for no reason and then remembered she had come out to check on the flood status.

She looked down and saw the water was still a good twenty feet from the house. Looking like chocolate soup, it spilled diagonally across the road and disappeared in the woods on the other side. Grateful she wouldn’t appear on Grange’s doorstep in soggy shoes, Mandy checked her image once more in the mirror and then softly descended the stairs.

Rael was asleep on the couch, his hair tousled, an arm hanging over the side, and the blanket pulled up to his ear. Mandy looked at him fondly and whispered, “Cousin.” Then she noiselessly pulled the phone book out of a kitchen drawer. In her planner, she wrote first Fran’s address, then Rael’s, and finally, Grange’s, learning from this exercise the relative location of Grange’s house on Timberlain Road.

She picked up her purse and car keys, let herself quietly out of the house, and walked briskly to where the Miata was parked. As she drove up the gravel road, she looked out at the river and shivered, remembering the sapping cold and the drag of the current as she clung to her handholds on the logjam. At the stop sign, as she turned right, lingering impressions of the warmth of Grange’s body, the arm that encircled her, and the sound of his voice comforting her, crowded out scarier images, but when she remembered the blood that ran from between his fingers, she pressed harder on the accelerator.