Ask Anyone (9 page)

He'd recognized most of the kids involved, and before the day was out, their parents would hear about how they were spending their summer vacation. The only
reason Pete had lingered long enough to apologize directly to Darcy was because at heart he was a decent kid, who'd been through a very rough time himself. When the others had run, Pete had stood fast and faced Bobby.

After they'd finished hot fudge sundaes, Bobby flipped some change to Darcy. “Darlin', why don't you go to the pay phone over there and give Tommy a call? Let him know you'll be by to pick him up in a half hour.”

Jenna frowned at him. “Planning my schedule?”

“No, buying myself a minute alone with you,” he said, regarding her seriously. “I want to explain about Pete.”

“You defended a bully,” she retorted, her temper clearly escalating all over again. “There's no excuse good enough for that.”

“Just listen,” he admonished. “Last year when Walker first came to town and joined the sheriff's department, there was a big drug investigation going on. It turned out Pete's father, an ex-marine, was behind some serious smuggling in this region. He was killed the night Walker broke the investigation.”

Jenna frowned, but said nothing.

“I don't know if you realize how small towns can be,” Bobby continued. “They can pull together in times of tragedy, but they can also heap blame and ostracize. Pete took the brunt of the heat after the story broke about his daddy. Some of his friends weren't allowed to be anywhere around him. Others labeled him a druggie, even though there was no evidence at all that he was using marijuana or in any way involved in his father's
crimes. He's withstood his share of bullying and gotten stronger because of it, but he's also struggling to find a way to fit in again.”

“Well, he certainly picked a fine way, didn't he?” Jenna said.

Bobby let the comment pass. “Pete and Tommy have remained friends because Walker's determined to see Pete through this with as few scars as possible. But Tommy's a few years younger, and Pete's desperate for friends his own age. He's made some bad choices, like that crew he was with today. He won't make that mistake again.”

“How can you be sure?” Jenna's eyes were filled with sympathy, but there was still a hard edge underlying her words.

“Because Walker and I will see to it,” Bobby said. “We both try to spend as much time with Pete as we can. He needs some decent male role models in his life. He idolized his father, and discovering what the man was doing really shook him up. It's made him question a lot of the values he was taught. Walker and I are trying to make sure he doesn't confuse the message with the messenger. For all of his father's flaws, he tried to teach Pete right from wrong.”

“What about the others? Is this just standard operating procedure for them?”

“If it was, it
won't
be much longer,” Bobby said emphatically. “I'll see to that, too.”

“So I'm just supposed to leave this in your capable hands?”

“That's one way,” he agreed with a grin. “Or you could come along when I talk to their parents.”

Jenna reacted with unmistakable surprise. “You intend to do that?”

“You bet.”

“You're not just dismissing it as childish mischief?”

“It's never mischief when kids set out to torment other kids. There have been enough school shootings to testify to that,” he said grimly. “I don't intend to let things in my town ever get to that stage.”

A fleeting grin tugged at her lips. “Your town? A little proprietary, wouldn't you say? No wonder you make Harvey very nervous.”

“I live here. That gives me a duty to step up when I see things that could undermine a way of life that most of the people around here want,” Bobby said. “Once basic civility gives way to lowered expectations and mean-spirited behavior, the slide begins. I don't care if the people involved are adults or kids.”

“You really mean that, don't you?” she said, regarding him with a rare show of respect. “Even though none of the kids involved was yours, including Darcy, you consider this your problem?”

“Somebody has to step up to the plate. You and I were the only adults around, and I'm the only one who knows which kids were involved.”

“You could turn it over to Tucker,” she said.

“Why should I? I was there.”

Her gaze narrowed. “Did I slip through some sort of time warp or something?”

Bobby chuckled. “No, why?”

“I didn't think there were any knights in shining armor left.”

 

“I heard what happened to Darcy,” Daisy told Jenna as they sat beside the pool at Westmoreland State Park later that afternoon.

Jenna was surprised. She knew that Bobby hadn't called, and she doubted that Darcy had said anything to Tommy. “How?”

“Pete came by the house. He was close to tears. He was afraid we'd never let him come over again, once we heard what had happened.”

Jenna sighed. Bobby's recitation of Pete's history had touched her, but she had to steel herself against feeling any sympathy for a boy who'd played a part in scaring her daughter.

“I don't want to seem hard-hearted, but what he did was wrong,” she told Daisy.

“I know that. You have no idea how it breaks my heart to see the way kids are cruel to one another. It's an everyday occurrence at school.”

“Somebody has to stop it,” Jenna said, thinking of Bobby's determination to do just that. “Who knows where it could lead?”

“Oh, I think we all know precisely where it can lead,” Daisy responded. “We've all had a wake-up call on that score the last couple of years. Stopping it is another issue entirely. Please don't hold it against Pete, though. I know with everything in me that he'll never do anything like
that again. He felt terrible, precisely because he'd been through much worse himself and knew how deeply it hurt.”

“Bobby's going to talk to the other parents,” Jenna reported.

Daisy smiled. “Ah, yes, the avenging angel. Bobby thinks he has to save the world. He always has. If I didn't want him jumping to my defense, I could never tell him about any harmful thing anyone ever said or did to me. My dates were terrified of him.”

“Even Walker?” Jenna asked.

Daisy laughed. “The only person on the face of the earth who scares Walker is me,” she said proudly. “He's seen my temper. That's one of the reasons I love him. He's completely undaunted by Bobby, Tucker and King, but a little country schoolteacher like me can make him nervous.”

“Perhaps that's because your means of retaliation can be a bit more, shall we say, personal,” Jenna teased.

Daisy gave her an unrepentant grin. “Exactly.” She slanted a look in Jenna's direction. “You have the same effect on Bobby, you know.”

“I do not,” Jenna protested.

“Trust me, you do. And I, for one, think it's wonderful. It's about time my brother took an interest in someone.”

“Daisy, don't get any ideas,” Jenna warned. “At the moment, Bobby thinks of me more as an annoyance than anything else.”

“I know my brother. It may have started that way, but
it's changing. I can see a difference in him just in the few days you've been around.”

Jenna didn't want to hear that. “I'm just here trying to get a contract for that boardwalk development. That's it,” she insisted.

“That's all well and good,” Daisy replied. “Having goals is very important, but what's wrong with nabbing a really fine man in the process?”

Put that way, Jenna didn't have a ready answer. But she couldn't allow herself to get distracted from her primary goal. To achieve that, she needed to keep a clear head, and it was already getting harder and harder to think clearly around Bobby Spencer. In fact, when he'd leapt to Darcy's defense earlier, it had taken everything in her to resist the urge to fling herself into his arms and kiss him.

Would that be so terrible? a part of her wondered. Or was that precisely the problem, that it would be incredible, perhaps even unforgettable? Maybe she'd missed the opportunity of a lifetime.

Then again, given Bobby's penchant for rescuing damsels in distress, it was entirely likely that she would get another chance.

“Y
ou're looking mighty pleased with yourself,” Frances noted as she slid into a booth opposite King at Earlene's. “What have you done now?”

King frowned at the smart-mouthed woman. He was awfully fond of her, but she did have an annoying habit of seeing straight through him. He made a probably futile attempt to throw her off the scent. “What makes you think I've done something?”

“History,” she said at once, her gaze unflinching.

“If I'd wanted to listen to this kind of abuse, I could have invited one of my kids to lunch,” he grumbled.

Her lips quirked with amusement. “Do you think there's one who would have accepted?”

He studied her with a narrowed gaze. She'd done something new with her hair. He couldn't put his finger on it, because he didn't pay much attention to things like that, but she looked younger. Made him think of the spirited girl she'd been. She hadn't taken any guff from him then, either, he recalled with a sigh.

“If you think I'm such all-fired lousy company, why are you here?” he asked.

She laughed at that. “I'll do anything for a free meal, even put up with you.”

“As if I believed that for a minute.” Getting into this here and now wasn't something King had planned, but it seemed as good a time as any. “Seriously, why do you put up with me, Frances?”

The twinkle in her eyes faded at his somber tone. “King Spencer, are you asking me what my intentions are?”

“Don't be…” he began to bluster, then sighed. “Yes, that's exactly what I'm asking.”

“Oh, King,” she said, her expression softening as she reached across the table and patted his hand. “Don't be daft. You know you're good company, at least most of the time.”

“Good company,” he repeated with a disdainful sniff. “If you can't do any better than that, maybe we're wasting our time. And I, for one, don't have a lot to waste.”

She regarded him with obvious surprise. “You're really serious about this, aren't you? I've never known you to be so lacking in self-confidence. Don't you have any idea how much you've come to mean to me over the past few months? We have a lot of history in common. We understand each other. You make me laugh. At our age that means a lot.”

King wasn't ready to let it go at that. It sounded as lukewarm and uninteresting as milk left out of the fridge too long. “What about passion, Frances? Do you think we're too old for all that foolishness?”

When color bloomed in her cheeks, he almost regretted the blunt question, but he wanted to know the answer. No, more than that, he needed to know it. They'd been tiptoeing around the subject for months now. King had been resisting the temptation to ask for anything more than a chaste kiss when he took Frances back to her home at night. The polite restraint was wearing on him.

“King, what kind of question is that to ask a lady?” Frances demanded.

She sounded all huffy and indignant, but if King wasn't entirely mistaken, the twinkle was back in her eyes. He risked pushing the point. “An honest one,” he said simply. “One that deserves an honest answer.”

His gaze held hers as he waited. To her credit, Frances didn't blink once or look away, though he could tell by the way she was clutching her napkin that she was still flustered.

“Okay, then,” she said at last. “The thought of more has crossed my mind, but I don't want anybody in town running around behind my back calling me a foolish old woman.”

“They wouldn't dare,” King said fiercely.

She shook her head. “You, of all people, should know you can't stop gossip, especially in this town.”

“Is that the only thing you're afraid of, then? A little gossip?”

“That's enough,” she said emphatically. “I have some small measure of standing in this community, as well as a responsible job. I can't just throw all of that away on a whim.”

King heard what she was saying, and he was gentleman enough to understand it. An affair could be costly to both of them in terms of the respect they currently enjoyed in Trinity Harbor. And he wasn't ready to offer more. Mary Margaret had died a long time ago, and he'd never been interested in finding a replacement for the woman who'd been the love of his life. Oh, he'd had his share of women friends in the years since, but he'd found those companions elsewhere. Frances was right here in Trinity Harbor, which made the stakes of a relationship entirely different for both of them.

He reached across the table and clasped her hand, liking the feel of the smooth, soft skin against his own rougher hands. “I'll tell you what,” he said. “Why don't we take this under advisement?”

“Meaning?”

“We'll both give it some more thought and discuss it again one of these days.”

She had the audacity to chuckle at that. “King, you can think it over till the cows come home, but it won't change one basic fact.”

He regarded her indignantly. “What's that?”

“You're too blasted selfish to share your life with another human being. If you weren't, you'd have married again years ago.”

His heart began to thud, though he wasn't entirely sure if it was caused by panic or irritation. “Who said anything about marriage?”

“No one,” Frances said quietly. “Which is precisely my point.”

She stood up before King could gather his wits.

“I think I'll skip lunch,” she said. “I've lost my appetite.”

He started after her, then sank back on the seat. Frances did have her pride. She always had. And right now, she was smarting from a conversation he had insisted on starting with no idea of how he wanted it to end. He was lucky she hadn't snatched up her water glass and tossed the contents in his face.

Glancing out the window, he spotted Frances talking to Daisy, of all people. Judging from her gestures and Daisy's quick looks in his direction, Frances was giving her an earful about what a nincompoop he was. To his surprise, Daisy grinned, then gave Frances a fierce hug.

Two minutes later, his daughter strolled inside and straight over to his table.

“I heard you might be lacking a luncheon companion,” she said with blatant amusement. “What did you do to insult Frances? It must have been something, because she's usually incredibly tolerant of your flaws.”

“It's none of your business,” he said. “What exactly did she tell you?”

“Pretty much the same thing.”

“Then what made you think I insulted her?”

“You're in here, looking guilty. She was out there, looking as mad as if someone had stolen one of her prize rose bushes right out of her yard. I can add two and two with the best of them. Don't worry. If you won't tell me, I'm sure I can pry the details out of Earlene.”

She probably could, too, King thought with resigna
tion. Earlene might have been clear across the diner, but she saw and heard more than any woman he'd ever had the misfortunate to know.

“If she's smart, Earlene won't tell you a blessed thing,” he growled. “I can take my business elsewhere.”

“That's an idle threat, and you know it,” Daisy said. “You'd be lost if you couldn't come in here to meet your pals and ogle the female tourists in their bikinis and tight T-shirts. You've been in the same rut for thirty years.”

“Longer than that, if you must know, but I'm not too old to change,” he insisted. In an attempt to get off the topic of his personal life, he regarded his daughter intently. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

“I'm meeting Anna-Louise and Jenna for a late lunch.”

King's spirits perked up. “Good. I think I'll stick around. Nobody can wrangle information out of another human being the way Anna-Louise can.”

“I doubt she'd consider that a compliment,” Daisy pointed out. “Besides, there are no men allowed.”

“It's a public place,” he said.

“But we're having a private conversation.”

“How private can it be in here? You're the one who just finished telling me what a busybody Earlene is.”

“Hey, I resent that,” Earlene said, slipping up behind him just as he made the comment.

King could feel the color creeping up the back of his neck, but he didn't back down. “If the shoe fits…”

Earlene deliberately tilted the glass of ice water in her hand until it was at a precarious angle. “Frances might be too much of a lady to douse you, but I'm not, King Spencer.
Watch what you say to me, or I'll ban you from the premises.”

“I'd like to see you try.”

Earlene's flashing gaze clashed with his. “As tempting as it is to accept that dare and to soak that hot head of yours, I'm going to resist for the moment. Anna-Louise is on her way in, and she inspires me to try to rise above petty temptations.”

Daisy laughed. “Daddy, I think that's your cue to leave. You don't want to test Earlene's resolve any more than necessary. And don't hang around over at the counter trying to eavesdrop.”

“You and I had a deal,” he reminded his daughter as he slid from the booth. “If you learn anything at all about your brother and this Jenna woman, I expect a full report.”

“Duly noted,” Daisy said, but her gaze was already shifting to Anna-Louise. “Daddy was just leaving.”

“Don't let me rush you off,” his pastor said, greeting him with a grin.

“You're not,” Daisy said emphatically. “Daddy needs to get over to the florist's.”

“Oh, really?” Anna-Louise said, just as King muttered, “I do?”

“A bouquet of pink roses would go a long way toward making up with Frances,” Daisy recommended mildly.

“Why do I…?” he began, then sighed. “Long-stemmed, I suppose.”

Daisy grinned. “Exactly. Two dozen, if you're smart.”

This courtship nonsense was for the birds. No wonder Bobby was balking so blasted hard at getting involved in
it. King didn't blame him. An image of the smile the flowers would likely put on Frances's face flashed through his mind. Then, again, he thought, courtship did have its rewards.

 

Jenna was sitting on the end of the fishing pier, Darcy and Tommy beside her. The two of them had their lines lowered into the water and were watching them intently, waiting for any sign of a bite. The sun burned Jenna's shoulders, and she realized that the feeling coursing through her was a lot like contentment…something she hadn't felt in years.

Just then, as if to mock her serenity, her cell phone rang from the depths of her purse. Sighing, she dug through the contents until she found it. Hearing her father's voice when she answered did nothing to restore her fleeting moment of well-being.

“Where are you?” Randall Pennington demanded, his tone imperious.

“Nice to hear your voice, Dad.”

He heaved an impatient sigh. “Don't mock me, girl. I came home from dinner and discovered that you'd slipped out of town without a word to anyone.”

“That was days ago,” she pointed out. “Did you just notice? Besides, Mrs. Jamison knew Darcy and I were going. And I left you a note.”

“Which said next to nothing.”

“It said I was taking some time off for a vacation,” Jenna said defensively, then gathered her resolve and added, “I haven't had one in three years.”

“If you wanted time off, all you had to do was ask,” her father retorted.

And listen to an hour-long lecture on frittering away her time, Jenna thought. “You weren't around, and this opportunity came up suddenly.”

“Which brings us back to my original question. Where are you?”

Jenna hesitated. She wasn't entirely sure why she hadn't told her father her destination in the original note, but it didn't seem like a good idea now, any more than it had then.

“Jenna?”

“I'd rather not say. Darcy and I are getting some much-needed time together, that's all that counts. If you know where I am, you'll pester me with a dozen details a day until I might as well be back in the office.”

“I can do that just as easily by calling your cell phone,” her father noted.

Good point, she thought. “Not after today,” she said. “Once I hang up, I'm turning it off.”

“What if there's an emergency?”

“You mean at work, of course. You, Daniel or Dennis will have to handle it.”

“Jenna, I don't like the sound of this. It reminds me of the way you were, you know,” he said, his lowered voice making it sound as if he were about to divulge one of the darkest secrets of her life.

“You're going to have to spell it out,” she told him impatiently.

“The way you were when you first got mixed up with
Nick,” he said. “Are you running around with some totally inappropriate man again?”

An image of Bobby Spencer flashed through her mind. Her father couldn't possibly find anything wrong with him, which was yet another reason for her to steer clear of Bobby. She wouldn't want to start accommodating her father's wishes at this late date.

“No,” she said mildly. “I'm with Darcy.”

“Where is my granddaughter? Let me talk to her,” he commanded.

Jenna glanced at her daughter, who was concentrating intently on putting another piece of shrimp onto her hook. She was doing it so gingerly, it was likely to fall off before the hook ever hit the water, which meant there were going to be some mighty well-fed fish in this part of the river.

“She's busy right now,” Jenna said.

“Busy? What can a nine-year-old be doing that's more important than talking to her grandfather?”

“She's baiting a hook, Dad.” She glanced at her watch. “I've got to go. I have lunch plans and I'm already late.”

“Jenna,” he protested. “Dammit, Jenna, do not hang up on me.”

“I'll have Darcy call you,” she promised, then did exactly as she'd threatened: She hung up and turned off the cell phone. That felt so good, she was tempted to chuck it into the river and see if that felt even better, but she resisted the urge. One tiny rebellion for the day was probably all her system could stand.