It wasn’t until the weeds had been reduced to ashes that Donnelly asked himself who could have placed them in the vase. He didn’t like any of the possible answers.
Diana slowly closed the door. “I don’t like any of the answers, either, Specter.“
The sound of Colby’s Jeep in her drive brought her out of the kitchen and sent Specter bounding to the front door.
The dog growled his usual warning as Colby came up the steps.
“Diana?“ Colby let himself into the cottage. The screen door slammed behind him. “Out of my way, Specter. I’ve got better things to do than trade insults with you today. Some other time, maybe.
Diana?“
“I’m right here, Colby,“ she said quietly. She stood in the kitchen doorway and watched him walk heedlessly past the weeds.
His brows rose. “Something wrong?“
Her eyes went to the table beside him. Automatically he followed her gaze. At first he looked puzzled, and then his eyes narrowed.
“I found them there when I got home a few minutes ago. When I left this morning, there were daisies in that vase.
Remind you of anything, Colby?“
“Damn.“ He looked back at her. “Yeah, it reminds me of something. A scene out of one of my books.“
“Shock Value.“
“Got that far, did you?“ He snatched the weeds out of the vase and strode into the kitchen where he tossed them into the garbage. “So who the hell put them in your vase and why?“
Diana folded her arms, unconsciously withdrawing into herself. She was glad to have the weeds gone but the ramifications of the situation could not be dismissed so easily. “I don’t know. I thought you might have some ideas.“
“Me?“ His expression darkened further. “What is this? You thought I might have done it?“
“It occurred to me that maybe this was some sort of joke to tease me about how long it’s taking me to read
Shock
Value.“
Colby swore again, this time more crudely. Specter muttered a warning and edged closer to his mistress. Colby ignored the dog. He opened the refrigerator door and helped himself to a can of beer he had stored in there a few days earlier.
“Just so you’ll know in the future,“ he said roughly as he opened the beer, “I am not into practical jokes.“
Diana drew a breath of relief. “I’m sorry,“ she whispered. “It’s just that for a few minutes I was very frightened, and I guess it was easier to think it might have been you staging a stupid prank than to think that some stranger was in here today.“
Colby watched her face for a moment and then his eyes softened. “Come here, honey,“ he said gently and held out his hand.
Diana hesitated, and then with a small, wordless exclamation, she stepped close and let him fold her against his side. She leaned into him, allowing herself to take comfort and reassurance from his strength. He held her with one arm wrapped securely around her and sipped his beer thoughtfully.
“When I figure out who put the weeds in your vase, I’ll beat him to a pulp,“ Colby finally announced.
Specter gave a small yip. Colby looked down at the dog. “Okay, pal, you can help me.“
“Who would do such a thing, Colby?“
“Damned if I know, but we’ve got a town full of possible candidates.“
“What do you mean by that?“ Diana demanded.
“In case it has escaped your notice, sweetheart, I am not exactly the favorite son of Fulbrook Corners. I’ve got a lot of old enemies.“
“After twenty years? I doubt that.“
“Some folks around here have long memories, believe me. And not everyone is glad I didn’t wind up in jail. The general consensus in Fulbrook Corners was that sooner or later I’d come to a bad end. People don’t like to be proven wrong.“
She heard the old anger in his voice and slipped an arm around his lean waist. “Colby, even if you’re right, you’re overlooking something. The prank was played on me, not you.“
“I hate to break this to you, Diana, but you’re a logical target.“
“Why?“
“Because everyone in town knows you belong to me.“
“Don’t be ridiculous!“ Indignantly, Diana started to pull away from him. His arms tightened, drawing her firmly back against his side. “I don’t belong to anyone.“
But Colby wasn’t paying any attention to her protest. His brows were knit together in a frown of concentration. “It would be easy enough for almost any of these turkeys around here to figure out that the surest method of getting back at me would be through you.“
“Colby, that is an illogical assumption, but even if we go ahead and assume it for the sake of argument, we’re still stuck with the question of who would do such a thing.“
“Well, for starters, we know it’s someone who read
Shock Value.“
“Hah. From what I understand, that includes just about everybody around here. Why, even this morning Margaret Fulbrook told me she’d read one of your books---“ Diana floundered to a halt as Colby pinned her with a sharp glare.
“You talked to Margaret Fulbrook today?“
“She was just coming out of the post office as I was going in. We exchanged a few words.“
“About the weather?“
“No, damn it, not about the weather.“ Diana sighed. “She wanted to know if I’d met her grandson.“
“What did you tell her?“
“The truth, of course. I told her Brandon was a very charming, intelligent young man.“ Diana paused and then added tentatively, “I think she’d like to meet him, Colby.“
“I’ll see her in hell before I let her near Brandon.“
“Oh, Colby, be reasonable. She’s an old woman and she doesn’t have much left.“
“That’s her problem. Don’t waste your pity on her, Diana. She doesn’t deserve it.“ Colby swallowed more beer.
“But I suppose we could start our list of possible pranksters with her. God knows she thinks she’s got reason enough to hate me. And she knows about you.“
Diana winced, remembering the woman’s warning to her earlier.
Stay away from Colby Savagar. He has no right to
happiness of any kind.
No point mentioning that bit of vindictiveness to Colby. He’d pounce on it as evidence of Margaret Fulbrook’s guilt. Diana went for logic.
“She’s an old woman, Colby. Whoever did this had to rush out here while I was in town.“
“She’s got Harry to run her around. Harry always felt honored to run errands for the Fulbrooks. Old man Fulbrook sent him after me when Cynthia said she was pregnant. Harry was real happy with the job.“
Diana’s eyes widened. “Fulbrook sent Harry after you? Why?“
“Why do you think? To beat some sense into me. Get me to leave town. Harry was twenty years younger then and built like an ox. And he never did like me in the first place.“
“What happened?“
“He caught up with me outside the old Rawlins place. I’d been out talking to Eddy Spooner, and I was on my way back to Aunt Jesse’s. Harry blocked the road with one of the Fulbrook trucks and when I stopped, he got out and pulled me out of my car. Said he was going to give me what I had coming to me. Then he started swinging a length of pipe at my head.“
“My God, Colby.“
“Fortunately he missed on the first swing, and I didn’t give him a chance to get lucky with the second one. He was big, but he wasn’t very fast on his feet. The trick to handling guys like Harry the Ox is to have a sucker punch up your sleeve. I managed to kick him where it would do the most good. He went down yelling. I jumped in the car and got out of there. Nobody could catch me in a car in those days.“ Colby paused reflectively. “Sucker wrecked my windshield with that first swing of the pipe, though. I never collected from him for the damage.“
Diana was shaken. “Maybe we have to add Harry to the list.“
“Uh-huh. I’m afraid he’s one of many.“
“Colby, for Pete's sake, what did you do as a kid? Run around getting into fights with everyone in town?“
He flashed her an outrageous grin. “From my point of view, it was the other way around. Everyone was always trying to pick a fight with me.“
“And you obliged.“
He shrugged. “Sure. Why not?“
Diana lightly punched his shoulder. “You big macho idiot. You enjoyed your reputation, didn’t you? You liked being a local legend. No wonder you’ve got a list of non-friends a mile long. How are we ever going to figure out who put those weeds in my vase?“
“Violence will accomplish nothing. At least, not violence against me.“ Colby made a production out of rubbing his wounded shoulder. Then his eyes grew thoughtful once more. “That’s a hell of a good question. Gossip travels fast in a town like this. Eddy Spooner may have heard something down at the gas station. I’ll talk to him. In the meantime, whenever I’m not around, make sure you keep that stupid hound of yours close. He should be capable of defending you against the kind of creep who plays practical jokes.“
Specter wrinkled his nose.
“I think you’ve offended him,“ Diana said.
“Not a chance. Dog’s not smart enough to figure out when he’s been insulted. Now, about dinner tonight.“
“What about it?“
“I was hoping you’d help me baby-sit. To tell you the truth, things are a little tense over at my place. Dear little Robyn is not happy with me.“
“Why not?“
“Probably because she knows what you already figured out. My son isn’t all that enthusiastic about marriage. I think you’re right, Diana. I think he’s gotten himself into a tangle, and he’s looking for a polite way out. We had a long talk this morning.“
Diana frowned. “If Robyn thinks she’s losing Brandon, she’s bound to be upset.“
“Tell me about it. The kid looks at me as if I were an ogre. She’s stopped telling me how fabulous my books are, too.“
Diana grinned. “Ah, the fickle public.“
“You’ll come over for dinner?“
“Why don’t the three of you come over here? Maybe a change of scene will relieve the tension. You think Robyn and Brandon will like stir-fry?“
“That’s not the problem. Have you ever cooked for teenagers?“
“Well, no. What’s the big secret?“
“The big secret is that you have to start by quadrupling the quantities of everything you fix.“
“I was going to quadruple everything. After all, there will be four of us. I can count, Colby.“
“No,“ Colby said patiently. “You don’t understand. You quadruple the amounts for each teenager.“
“Oh. I see. That’s a lot of vegetables.“
It didnt take long to determine that Colby had been right about the tension between Brandon, Robyn and himself.
Halfway through dinner, Diana felt she could cut the atmosphere with a knife. Robyn looked wounded and sullen.
Brandon tried to respond to Diana’s conversational gambits, but invariably he ran out of things to say.
It was Colby who finally generated some real conversation when he casually told Brandon and Robyn about the weeds in Diana’s vase.
“Right out of
Shock Value,“
Brandon said. “Who would do something like that? And why?“
“We’re not sure,“ Colby said calmly. “I talked to Eddy Spooner this afternoon, but he hadn’t heard any rumors or gossip. I told him to keep his eyes open, though.“
“It’s spooky,“ Robyn said slowly. She looked at Diana. “Were you scared?“
“It was very unnerving,“ Diana admitted. “Rather like getting an obscene phone call. I recognized the scene out of Colby’s book, too, and it upset me.“
“No need to worry as long as you’ve got good old Specter,“ Brandon said with a smile as he slipped a bite of stir-fried carrot under the table.
Colby scowled. “Are you feeding that dog under the table again? He doesn’t deserve any treats. He’s spoiled rotten as it is.“
Diana smiled. “Maybe Specter would think more highly of you, Colby, if you slipped him a bite now and then.“
“Over my dead body.“
A low, enthusiastic growl rumbled from beneath the table. Diana looked at Brandon and they both laughed. Robyn pushed her food around on her plate, and Colby muttered something about the likelihood of a dog such as Specter biting the hand that fed it.
“How’s the job hunting going?“ Brandon asked equably.
“Not as well as it should,“ Diana responded. “I’ve got to get going on it if I want to find a good job by September. I really don’t want to have to go back to Carruthers and Yale.“
“Have you ever been married, Diana?“ Robyn asked suddenly, her pretty blue eyes reflecting a touch of malice.
Colby glared at Robyn, but Diana answered patiently. “No, Robyn, I haven’t.“
“And you’ve never had any kids, either?“
“No.“
“Why not?“
“Gees, Robyn,“ Brandon muttered. “It’s not exactly your business, is it?“
“I just want to know what makes her such an expert on marriage.“
Diana was startled. “Who said I was?“
“Brandon was telling me all about how women are putting off marriage these days so that they can get a good start on their careers,“ Robyn explained a little too sweetly. “He was using you as an example. I said you weren’t a very good example because you probably never would marry or have kids. All you’re interested in is your career.“
“That’s enough,“ Colby said coldly.
Diana felt a funny twinge in the pit of her stomach. For some reason she felt obliged to defend herself. “You can’t always have it all, Robyn. I made some choices early on, and I haven’t regretted them.“
“You chose a career over marriage. I don’t think that makes you a very good example for someone like me who wants something different out of life.“
Colby leaned forward menacingly. “I said, that’s enough, Robyn.“
Diana forced a reassuring smile. “It’s all right. I know what she means. But I’ll defend to the hilt the importance of a young woman getting her education and establishing a career before she marries and has children.“
“Lots of women get married before they worry about a career,“ Robyn insisted.
“No female in her right mind should ever put herself in a position of total economic dependence on a man. She should always be able to take care of herself financially. And if she plans to have children, it’s even more important that she be capable of supporting an entire family by herself. Women too often wind up raising children alone these days, in case you haven’t noticed.“