Dreams: Part One (22 page)

“You’re going to see if someone’s played another prank, aren’t you? And you think that someone might be Robyn.

She’s out there in the woods alone with her copy of
Shock Value.
This is the second time she’s read that book and she knows it very well. She also knows you’re reading it.“

Diana drew a deep breath. “Brandon, please, listen to me. I’m just going to pick up a few things I need. That’s all.“

“She could have done it,“ Brandon said slowly. “On the other two occasions the pranks were staged, she’s been off by herself somewhere.“

Diana gave up and started walking briskly along the road. Specter trotted close, sensing the change in the atmosphere. “I don’t think she would do such things,“ Diana said after a moment. “I really don’t.“

“I’m not so sure,“ Brandon said with a calm that disturbed Diana. “She’s got a motive. She really dislikes you.

Blames you in some way for having made me think more carefully about getting married.“

“Be careful, Brandon. Don’t say things you’ll regret later.“ Diana didn’t like the new trace of cynicism she heard in his voice. It reminded her too much of his father. But maybe a certain degree of cynicism was inevitable in the growing-up process.

They walked in silence until the cottage came in sight. And then, when they were a few yards up the drive, Specter suddenly came to attention. The dog began barking loudly. He leaped up the steps and nosed the front door.

“There’s someone inside,“ Diana said, feeling a cold sweat break out under her arms.

“Specter’s tail is wagging,“ Brandon observed quickly.

Diana frowned. “That means he must know whoever it is who’s in there.“

“Maybe it’s Dad.“ Brandon’s relief was obvious as he dashed up the steps. “Maybe he stopped by to pick up your things for you.“

“There’s no sign of the Jeep,“ Diana said as she put the key into the lock.

The back door slammed just as Specter dashed into the hall. The dog raced into the kitchen, searching for his familiar quarry. Diana ran after him and promptly went sprawling as she tripped over a pile of garbage that had been left just inside the doorway.

“Are you all right?“ Brandon demanded, pausing only for a second.

“Yes.“ Diana heaved herself up out of the mass of old coffee grounds, wet paper towels and vegetable peelings.

“Let Specter out the back.“

“Right.“ Brandon was already opening the back door. Specter hurried through, barking excitedly. Brandon followed the dog at a run, and Diana dashed after both of them.

She caught a brief glimpse of a running figure before it disappeared into the trees. The dog was hot on the intruder’

s heels. Brandon and Diana followed the sound of loud yipping and the equally loud sound of someone crashing through the undergrowth.

It was all over in a matter of minutes. The intruder didn’t stand a chance of outrunning the dog and must have known it. Diana and Brandon raced into a small clearing a short time later and saw Specter panting heavily over Robyn Lambert’s huddled, weeping figure.

“Robyn.“ Brandon looked stricken. Gone was his earlier dash of adult cynicism. He walked up to the girl slowly.

“Why?“

Robyn lifted her tear-stained face from her arms and glared at Diana with anguish and rage. “It’s her fault. You would have married me if it hadn’t been for her.“

“Oh, Robyn,“ Diana said softly.

“I know your Dad was against our getting married, Brandon. But we both knew that in the beginning. You were willing to stand up to him, you said. You wouldn’t let him tell you what to do, you said. But then he stopped trying to order you around, and he started talking to you and you
listened
to him. She’s the one who told him what to say to you. I know she is. She thinks she’s so damn clever.“

“Geez, Robyn.“ Brandon sounded thoroughly disgusted.

“And you listened to her, too, just like he did. You believed all that stuff she said about a woman having a career and being able to take care of herself. You quoted her to me, damn you. She put the words in your mouth. You said it would be best for me if we waited – but I know the truth. She talked you out of marrying me.“

“That’s enough, Robyn.“ Brandon reached down to help her to her feet.

Robyn lashed out at him with her hand. “Don’t touch me, you bastard. I don’t want you to ever touch me again.

Who do you think you are, anyway? You’re nobody, do you understand? Just the son of an ex-construction worker who writes cheap thrillers. My father is a lot richer than your father. He’s got a college degree and he belongs to the right clubs, and he and Mom go to parties with the most important people in Portland. My parents were right. You aren

’t good enough for me.“

Brandon’s expression was frozen. “I had a close call, didn’t I? The thought of being married to the kind of selfish, vicious little creep who would pull the kind of stunts you’ve been pulling on Diana is enough to make a man stay single for life.“ He turned and started walking back toward the cottage. “Come on. Let’s get your things together. I’ll drive you back to Portland this afternoon.“

“Brandon.
I love you.“

“No you don’t,“ Brandon said with astonishing wisdom. “You’re just trying to find some guy who will marry you so you can get out of your parents’ house. Any man will do. But if you had any brains, any self-respect, you’d move out by yourself. You’d learn to deal with things on your own. You just want someone to take care of you and make everything easy for you. Find another patsy.“

“Brandon.“
When Brandon didn’t respond, Robyn swung around and confronted Diana. “It’s all your fault.

Brandon was going to marry me until you got involved. You ruined everything.“

Diana stepped forward impulsively and put her arms around the young woman. Robyn pushed violently against her and then collapsed, weeping, on Diana’s shoulder.

A long time later, when Robyn’s tears had finally dried, Diana turned to find Colby standing quietly in the trees behind them. Without a word he led them both toward the cottage.

“Chapter Twelve of
Shock Value,“
Colby explained an hour later as he and Diana sat eating tuna sandwiches alone on the front porch. “Donnelly gets up in the middle of the night and falls into a pile of dirt taken from a freshly dug grave.

Guess Robyn couldn’t find any freshly dug graves and decided to make do with garbage.“

“I hadn’t gotten quite that far,“ Diana admitted. “I'm still on Chapter Ten. That poor girl. She’s got some major problems.“

“They’re her problems, not ours and definitely not Brandon’s. She was trying to use him.“

“To escape her domineering family.“

“Everybody’s got something to escape,“ Colby said coolly. “It takes a while to learn that the only way you can really escape anything is to cut yourself free. You can’t use other people to do the dirty work for you.“

Diana concentrated on her sandwich. “No, I suppose not. Still, I feel sorry for her.“

“After what she did to you? She deliberately tried to terrorize you, honey. In my book that means she’s not entitled to any sympathy.“

“You can be very hard at times, Colby.“

He scowled at her and took a huge bite out of his sandwich. “Don’t try to make me feel sorry for that little twit.“

Diana decided to let the subject drop. She knew Colby’s loyalties were limited but extremely fierce. His son was far more important to him than some neurotic little teenager who thought marriage was the ticket to freedom. Diana wondered exactly where die ranked on Colby’s list of loyalties. She needed to know because something told her that very soon she was going to have to make a major decision.

“Is Brandon coming back tonight?“

“He said he was. Two hours to get to Portland, drop off Robyn and two hours to get back. He should be back here around seven.“

“How did your visit with Gil Thorp go?“

“Maybe 111 have him and his wife out here for dinner one of these days. Is that okay with you?“

Diana smiled. “Certainly.“

Colby was silent for a while, chewing reflectively. “He hadn’t heard anything about the pranks.“

“That stands to reason, since Robyn was behind them. She doesn’t know anyone in town and therefore wouldn’t have confided in anyone locally.“

“Yeah.“

Diana frowned slightly. “Colby, is something wrong?“

He shook his head. “Not any longer. The only thing that’s bugging me is that Robyn is getting off damned light for what she did.“

“She doesn’t see it that way. She wanted marriage in the worst way, and now she’s missed her chance with Brandon.“

“Thank God.“

Brandon walked into the house shortly after seven. Colby took one look at his son’s haggard face and headed for the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator, took out a six-pack and returned to the living room.

“You want to go outside and sit on the porch for a while?“ he asked his son.

Brandon looked up wearily. He nodded and got to his feet.

Diana settled back against the sofa and picked up
Shock Value.
“You two go on,“ she said easily. “I’m going to get through this book if it kills me.“

Colby gave her a faint smile. The woman understood things, he thought. They didn’t have to be spelled out for her. She knew that right now he needed to talk to Brandon alone.

It was crisp out on the porch but not too cold for a couple of macho males who happened to have a six-pack handy. Colby opened two cans and handed one to his son.

“There are times in a man’s life,“ Colby said, “when the one thing he needs most in the world is a beer.“

“Yeah.“

“Rough drive back to Portland?“

“Yeah. I hurt her bad.“

“And she hurt you just as bad.“

“She wasn’t the kind of girl I thought she was.“ Brandon looked perplexed. “I mean, she always seemed so sweet and helpless. I couldn’t believe it when I realized it was her running out of Diana’s house today. I wonder how Diana guessed about Robyn?“

“Diana’s pretty sharp.“

“Robyn blamed her for everything going wrong. But it was my fault, wasn’t it?“

Colby shook his head. “You changed your mind about rushing into marriage. Everyone’s got a right to do that.

That’s why it’s a good idea to take your time about it. That’s why you have to leave your options open until you’re very sure of what you want.“

Brandon grimaced. “Translated, that means you have to be careful about not getting the girl pregnant until you know damned well you want to marry her.“

Colby shrugged. “Pregnancy has a way of closing down options, all right.“

“Do you ever regret getting stuck with me?“

“Hell, no. Not for a minute. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, Brandon. If it hadn’t been for you, I might have wound up in jail or in a gutter somewhere. You’re the one who taught me the meaning of responsibility.

You’re the one who gave me something to work for. No, I don’t regret having you. I just wish I’d been a little older and wiser when I did get you. As it was, you had to teach me about fatherhood, too.“

“No,“ said Brandon after a long pull on his beer. “I didn’t have to teach you about fatherhood. You’re a natural.

Too bad you didn’t have some more kids somewhere along the line. You’re wasting your talent in that department.“

Colby felt an unexpected paternal warmth well up inside him. His voice became a little gruff. “Thanks, kid. I guess we both turned out okay, huh?“

“Yeah. I guess so.“

“What you went through with Robyn was a very difficult situation. I want you to know I think you handled it damned well.“

“I should never have gotten into it in the first place.“

Colby grinned faintly. “Son, let me tell you something. Whenever you’re talking about women, you’re talking about difficult situations. They go together like fleas and dogs. You don’t get one without the other.“

Brandon smiled for the first time since he had walked in the door. “I’ll remember that. By the way, just for the record, there was never any danger of me getting Robyn pregnant.“

Colby nodded. “Glad to hear it.“

“Not because I wasn’t using precautions,“ Brandon said deliberately. “Although I would have if we’d ever done it.

I’m not stupid. But we never did. Do it, that is. She said we had to wait until we were married. She kept telling me how good it was going to be after we were married. She really had me going.“

Colby raised his brows inquiringly. “You’re telling me I misinterpreted that little scene of you coming out of her bedroom the other morning?“

“I was in there, all right. But it was just the usual heavy make-out session. I was planning on going back to my own room before you, uh, got home, but I fell asleep.“

“I apologize for jumping down your throat that morning.“ Colby shoved his fingers through his hair. “Seems like I’

ve been doing a lot of apologizing lately. First to Diana and now you.“

“There’s something else I wanted to tell you, Dad.“

“What’s that?“

“Robyn swore over and over again during the drive back to Portland that the only prank she staged was the last one with the garbage. She claims she got the idea of doing something out of
Shock Value
after hearing about the other two incidents.“

Colby gave Brandon a level look. “Do you believe her?“

Brandon looked thoughtful. “I know there’s no reason to believe her, not after what she pulled. But for some reason, I think that this time she may have been telling the truth.“

“Difficult situation,“ Colby mused. “Do you think we should tell Diana?“

“No, she’s got enough on her mind as it is.“

“Like what?“ Brandon asked curiously. “I’m waiting for her to tell me.“

She couldn’t wait any longer. She was sure. It wasn’t just that she was several days late – it was that she had a
feeling.
Somehow she knew for certain she was pregnant. The knowledge existed within her on some deep level that defied rational analysis. She stared down at the calendar in her hand, and the little numbers and days blurred together.