Embers (17 page)

"
We
'
ll just say our thank-yous, and then you can give me that novel, Tom, and I
'
ll get out of your hair,
"
said Allie with the smile of an angel and the grip of a steelworker.

In lockstep, they said good-night to everyone. Zenobia turned away from her admiring circle and gave Wyler a look unlike anything he
'
d ever seen before. Irritation, amusement, condescension
—
you could find anything you wanted to find in those gorgeous green eyes. The look stayed with Wyler as he and Allie strolled back to his rooms. He shivered, then shook it off. He took down the novel from his well-stocked bookshelf and handed it to Allie with a look of contrition.
"
Stay for coffee?
"
he asked. He wanted to apologize more thoroughly for being such an ass.

He
'
d been careful so far not to linger in his rooms with Allie, mostly out of deference to Julia and Meg and Uncle Billy and the twins and God knew who all else; but enough was enough. It wasn
'
t his fault that
Bar Harbor
was such a fishbowl.

He was amazed when Allie said no.

"
How could you
do
that?
"
she said, flinging the novel on the couch.
"
How could you embarrass me like that? Didn
'
t you get
any
sense that something special was happening in th
at room? Is it possible that my sister is right and you're so ... so —"

"
Hardened?
"

"
Hardened,
that you saw nothing but a bunch of flaky people grasping at mystical straws? Well,
I
felt something. How could you not? There were such wonderful
vibrations
in that room. But you! You could
'
ve ruined everything! God, Meg was right. Meg
was
right.
"

"
Meg is always right,
"
he said laconically.
"
That goes without saying. But I
'
m curious. Just how much time do the two of you spend picking apart my neuroses?
"

"
Don
'
t flatter yourself, mister,
"
Allie said, folding her arms across her chest and firing a scathing look at him.
"
It
'
s not all that much.
"

But her cheeks darkened as she made the claim, which interested him very much.

"
My sister said that homicide for you is nothing more than a game of chess. She said you
'
re involved in the cases, but you
'
re not
really
involved. You know? You can
'
t let yourself care. You could lose that cool detachment that probably makes you very good at what you do. But
—
"

Now there were
two
of them pounding his heartlessness into him. He couldn
'
t stand it; without thinking, he took Allie by her shoulders and kissed her, hard, to prove something, he didn
'
t know what. It caught her completely by surprise. He felt her yield beneath his kiss and return it with a small moaning sound, felt her slide her hands up along his arms, to his shoulders.

He felt her push him away.

"
No!
"
she said sharply.
"
This isn
'
t what I want!
"

She was standing there, breathless, her lips parted, her eyes wide with emotion.

"
I
'
m sorry,
"
he said quickly.
"
Truly. I
...
well, I thought you were sending signals
...
have
been
sending signals. Well!
"
he said, plunging his hands into his pockets. He let out a short, ironic laugh.
"
I see now that I was a
fool
.
"

"
That
'
s another thing,
"
said Allie with a reproachful, glistening look.
"The first time
we laid eyes on you, Meg warned me not to get excited about you. And what d
'
you know? She was right about
that
,
too!
"

****

When Meg came home that night Allie was waiting,
red-
eyed and woeful, in Meg
'
s big iron bed.

"
Where
were
you?
"
the younger woman wailed.
"
I looked everywhere.
"
She blew noisily into a big white handkerchief.

"
I was out walking. Why? What
'
s wrong?
"
Meg asked, sitting on the side of the bed. Obviously it couldn
'
t be
too
tragic
, or
Allie would
'
ve had the whole family out searching for Meg. It wouldn
'
t have been the first time.

"Ever
ything
'
s
wrong!
"

"
What
'
s he done?
"
said Meg, absolutely certain who
"
everything
"
was.

"
He
kissed
me!
"

Three words; they were like three quick blows to the throat. Meg didn
'
t know what to say.
"
Ah,
"
she finally remarked.
"
Then you got your wish.
"

"
That
'
s just it,
"
Allie said, dropping her head to her chest.
"
I didn
'
t just
wish.
"

She sighed and lifted her head back up; a tear rolled down her face, reminding Meg of another tear, another face. Her time with Orel Tremblay had left her bereft of emotion. She had nothing left to give her lovesick sister.

She had to force herself to continue the conversation.
"
You mean you kissed him first?
"

"
Worse. I practically forced him to kiss me. I threw everything you said about him being cold and remote in his face. Naturally he had to kiss me then. To prove he wasn
'
t.
"

"
Allie! For God
'
s sake
—
can
'
t you at least make up your own insults?
"

Allie moaned and twisted the top sheet around her fists, then began rocking from the waist up, like a child who feels she
'
s been punished by mistake. Her hair was half up, half down, adding to her forlorn appearance.

"
I don
'
t know why I did it,
"
she said in a singsong wail.
"
He was just so
irritating,
at the séance. You were right. He
is
irritating. He had the most wonderful chance to reflect on the turn of fate that brought him to me, and instead he just blew it! So now we have to start all over.
"
She closed her eyes.
"
Oh, God
...
I can still taste his kiss, Meg,
"
she whispered.
"
How I hate this.
"

"
Yes. Well.
"
Meg stood up and began unbuttoning her blouse, still damp from her own tears.
"Orel
Tremblay died tonight,
"
she said abruptly. She threw the blouse on a nearby chair.

Stunned, Allie stopped mid-rock.
"
Oh, no. Oh, Meg.
"
She climbed out of her sister
'
s bed and put her arms around her.
"
I
'
m
so
sorry. Here I
'
m
—
oh, Meg. I
'
m such a selfish pig.
"

"
Sometimes.
"
Meg disengaged herself and stepped out of her skirt and tossed it on top of her blouse, then stripped off her underthings. She slipped a cotton nightgown over her head.
"
I
'
m tired, Allie,
"
she said to her sister, who was hovering solicitously.
"
I just want to go to bed.
"

"
No! Not alone. I
'
ll sleep here tonight.
"

Allie ignored her sister
'
s protests and climbed into the side by the wall. Meg turned off the light and the two women lay side by side in the darkness without speaking.

Allie broke the silence first.
"
Did he suffer?
"
she asked in a hesitant, sad voice.

"
I don
'
t see how someone can
not
suffer when he knows he
'
s dying,
"
Meg said with a shuddering sigh.
"
He was leaving so much behind. Not just the dollhouse, not just his unfinished business. But everything. Family
...
friends
...
music
...
babies
...
the sea
...
books
...
trees. The stars, the moon. Everything.
"

After a moment, Allie said,
"
He didn
'
t really care about most of that, though, did he.
"

"
But
I
do,
"
Meg answered with a catch in her throat.
"
I do.
"

They were quiet again, until Allie asked,
"
Did he say anything more about Grandmother?
"

Meg shook her head in the darkness.
"
It was too late for that.
"

"
What will you do now?
"

"
I think I
'
ll go see Gordon Camplin,
"
Meg said, voicing a decision she
'
d made earlier.

She sighed, and then Allie sighed, and Meg felt her sister
'
s pain over Tom Wyler, as well as her own sadness.
"
He
'
s a jerk,
"
Meg said, reassuringly.
"
They all are, sooner or later. They really can
'
t help it.
"

"
I guess.
"

"
I
'
ll go see
him,
too.
"

"
Would
you, Meg? I have no right to ask.
"

"
And I have no right to meddle.
'
Meg rolled over on her sleeping side.
"
So what else is new?
"
she said with a weary sigh.

****

Morning came, and with it, bright sunshine. After a night of troubled dreams, Meg was happy to be awake, happy simply to be alive. She was quite determined to move forward on her plan to pursue Gordon Camplin. There was something about a deathbed promise that simplified everything. A deathbed promise left no room for caution, or even common sense. A deathbed promise had to be kept.