Far Country (50 page)

           
In less than a minute they pulled in near the Graham’s huge coach. He frowned
at the black Dodge Viper parked outside the coach and felt a sense of
foreboding course through him. 
It couldn’t be…

           
Before he could knock on the screen door, Hester opened it, a strained smile on
her face.  “We have a surprise visitor, Steve. Please come in and say
hello to Gracie’s Uncle David.”

           
Steve froze on the top step, staring at Hester in disbelief.  “He stopped
on his way back to Charlotte to see Gracie. Wasn’t that a nice surprise?” There
was a glint of warning in Hester’s eyes that Kelly couldn’t miss. Steve seemed
to take a moment to brace himself for the encounter. He glanced at Kelly for
just a moment, and she could have sworn that there was an undercurrent of worry
in the look.  “Act like you barely know me,” he said under his breath.
Then he took a deep breath and walked into the motor coach.

           
Mystified by everyone’s behavior, Kelly followed him in. The coach, of course,
was long, with jut outs in the living and dining areas that made the otherwise
narrow bus quite roomy.  An older man sat on the couch, watching Gracie,
who was sitting on a man’s lap at the dinette, eating ice cream just as Steve
had predicted.  Kelly was absolutely certain that the only person at ease
in the coach was Gracie, who seemed oblivious to the tension around her.

           
Steve greeted Pastor Graham and exchanged a silent nod with Gracie’s Uncle.
Kelly studied this Uncle David for a moment, wondering what it was about him
that seemed to have everyone in the room on edge.  There was no doubt that
he was a handsome man. He was strongly built and strongly muscled, but with a
hard look in his eyes that disturbed her. It disturbed her even more when he
returned her glance with an admiring one of his own. Kelly shivered slightly.
She got the impression he was less interested in her than in what she might be
able to provide him with.

           
Mrs. Graham broke the silence. “Steve, aren’t you going to introduce your guest
to us?” She prompted him gently.

           
Steve gave Kelly and apologetic glance. “Sure,” he replied lightly. “This is
Kelly. She is the breeder that sold me Gracie’s dog, Fiona.” He glanced at her
again in apology. “She came up here tonight to surprise Chuck for the blue
grass concert.”

           
Hester Graham’s eyes widened and met Kelly’s in silent surprise. “You don’t
say?” She murmured softly at the boldfaced lie, for Steve had rhapsodized about
Kelly McGuire to them several times since their arrival last week.

           
Hester held out her hand. “I’m pleased to meet you, Kelly.  Gracie has
simply fallen in love with that dog. She is a beautiful animal.”

           
“I’m pleased to hear it,” Kelly responded carefully, deciding to play along
with Steve’s strange behavior for the moment.

           
“Kelly, may I present my husband, Pastor Robert Graham. I hear that you’ve met Sarah
Grace already, and the young man catching the ice cream drips is her Uncle,
David Bolton.”

           
Kelly nodded politely at everyone, and took a seat next to Hester and Pastor
Graham on the long wall couch opposite the dinette.  Steve refused a seat
and chose instead to lean against a pantry closet between the dinette and the
door.

           
“My niece has quite the sweet tooth for ice cream,” David said
conversationally, handing the child a wet napkin to wipe her face. “We haven’t
seen each other in a long time,” he remarked. “Shortly after returning from
overseas, I got posted to Charlotte.” He looked long and hard at Steve, whose
expression remained neutral.

           
“How do you like Charlotte?” Kelly asked to fill the silence.

           
David shrugged. “It has its moments.” He looked up at Kelly with piercing gray
eyes. “How did you say you and Steven met?”

           
Steve leaned forward as if he was going to answer the question, but Kelly spoke
first.  “He was part of the team that rescued my niece from the side of a
cliff last month. Pete, Chuck and Steve saved her life.  They’re a great
group of guys.

           
“So you’ve come back to visit?” He inquired.

           
She nodded. “As a surprise to Chuck.”  She smiled at Steve. “Steve’s
helping me to stay out of sight until the concert this evening. Have you ever
heard Chuck and Pete do dueling banjos?” She asked David.  “They’re pretty
good! You’re in for a treat.” Her smile conveyed more enthusiasm than she felt.

           
David nodded in agreement. “I’m sure I would be.” He set Gracie down and got to
his feet. He was a couple inches taller than Steve, Kelly noted. “But I have to
get back to Charlotte tonight. I was home in Jacksonville this weekend visiting
my parents, and they told me that Gracie was here, with –“ he paused and gave
Steve a cool acknowledgement. “-her father. So I made it a point of dropping by
on my way back for a short visit.”

           
Gracie’s face drooped in disappointment. “But you just got here!” she scolded
him, grabbing hold of his belt. “You can’t go already, Uncle David! Please stay
here with us?” She begged, although Kelly noticed that no one else added their
voices to hers.

           
David ruffled her hair. “Afraid not, munchkin,” he answered her regretfully.
“But you can bet that one day soon I’ll come back, and then I promise to stick
around for a while.”

           
“Well, Gracie,” Robert Graham said to the child as he stood up also. “That
gives you something to look forward to, doesn’t it?”

           
Gracie stamped her sneakered feet in frustration. “But it’s been so long since
I’ve gotten to play with him!” She pouted.

           
David chucked her under the chin. “Hey now, you don’t want me to get in trouble
at work, do you? You know the marine corps is not like your father’s job. If I
don’t get back to work when they expect me to, they don’t just get mad, they
can put me in jail!”

           
Grace had no answer to that, but she continued to pout at her uncle.  He
knelt down beside her. “I’ve got to go, Gracie. How about a good bye kiss?”

           
Impulsively, Gracie threw her arms around his neck and kissed his face, leaving
a sticky ice cream smear on his cheek. David laughed, unperturbed by the
mess.  “That’s my girl,” he said, giving her a final squeeze. 

           
He stood again and nodded to the Graham’s.  “Good to see you again. Sorry
that I missed Deborah this trip.”

           
Robert Graham walked toward the door, effectively escorting David in the same
direction in the narrow coach. “We’ll tell her that you asked about her,”
Pastor Graham told him.

           
Not to be unduly hurried, David paused and took Kelly’s hand in his. He smiled
into her eyes.  “I’m sorry we didn’t get to spend a little more time
together, I’d be fascinated to learn more about... breeding dogs?” He said.

           
Kelly murmured something polite, ignoring his mildly suggestive tone of voice,
or
had she just imagined it?
At last, with a cool nod to Steve, he walked to
his car and drove off.  As the black Viper cruised out of sight, everyone
let out a collective sigh of relief. 

           
“What,” Kelly asked in a low voice, “was that all about?”

           
Steve put a finger to his lips and glanced down at Gracie, who was wiping tears
from her eyes and hugging Fiona tightly.

           
“Gracie, honey,” Steve said softly.  “You know, we’re going to be up late
tonight, with the concert and the campfire after…why don’t you and Fiona lay
down for awhile and rest? Not long, maybe just until dinner’s ready. We don’t
want you falling asleep before it’s time to roast marshmallows.”

           
Gracie started to whine, but then she seemed to change her mind. “Just until
dinner?” She asked.

           
Steve nodded. “I’ll call you when it’s ready.” He promised.  Slowly, she
got to her feet and went back inside the motor coach to the little room that
had been hers this week. Fiona padded dutifully after her little mistress.

           
With Gracie safely out of ear shot, Hester went back inside and brought out a pitcher
of tea and a plate of cookies she had baked that afternoon.  They all took
seats around the picnic table. Steve sat across from Kelly, uncertain of how
she would feel about him after the last half hour. He took her hands in his,
and was gratified that she allowed him to.  “I’m sorry to put you through
that.” He looked around the table at the Grahams. “I’m sorry to put you both in
the middle of it as well, and I am especially sorry that we stretched the truth
concerning Kelly and me.” It made you part of the lie, but I was really caught
off guard today.  I had never considered what was going to happen if he
ever found out that I…” he flushed and glanced at Kelly. “That I might become
involved with another woman. Since Sarah died he and I have had some – violent
– encounters. I was also part of the reason that he ended up in Charlotte.

           
“I haven’t talked to you about him yet, Kelly, and I didn’t want to involve you
in something without your being aware of the possible repercussions. I thought
it might be best if he believed that your presence here had very little to do
with me.”

           
Kelly carefully disengaged her hands from Steve’s. She looked from Steve to the
Grahams and frowned, still unnerved by the encounter with David.  “I’ll
admit I felt a little uncomfortable talking to him, but I don’t really know if
it was him, or your reaction to him that upset me more. Don’t you think that
you might be overreacting?”

           
“He’s not overreacting,” Pastor Graham broke in with quiet certainty. 
“David is dangerous, and he doesn't let go of the past - ever! My own daughter
confirmed that he was often rough with her when they dated a few years ago. She
broke up with him because of it, but he still comes around to see her. His
anger with Steve has grown steadily since Sarah’s death, and especially since
Steve got custody of Gracie, which was the last thing David wanted to
happen.  Then, just a few weeks ago, I helped Steve intervene when he
nearly killed his last girlfriend because Steve had gone on a diving excursion
with her.  David has no love for Steve.  I don’t necessarily approve
of the lie, but Steve was not wrong to try and keep you out of their argument.”

           
Kelly nodded. She reached for the iced tea pitcher and poured herself a glass,
indicating that she wasn’t going anywhere. “Don’t you think it might be a good
idea to explain the whole argument to me?” She asked, looking at Steve.

           
He sighed. “Well, David and I used to be best friends…” Twenty minutes later,
with Pastor Graham’s help he had given Kelly a rough outline of his life since
that graduation night in June.  Kelly listened carefully. When they had
finished recounting the tale, she smiled sympathetically at Steve.  “He
caught you off guard tonight, I know, but what are you going to say the next
time he shows up, if you and I are still seeing each other? Or, are you never
going to keep a girlfriend for more than a few weeks, for fear of 'David
Bolton’s Revenge'?

           
“I don’t want to lose you,” he told her softly. “If there is a next time, I
guess I will have to be honest, and leave protecting you in the Lord’s hands.”

           
Kelly nodded. “I can live with that.”  She reached out and took Steve’s
hands again. He looked into her eyes and for a moment, Steve felt himself
getting lost in their sea green depths.

           
“Well I don’t know about the rest of you,” Hester said in a no-nonsense tone,
startling the young couple back to reality. “But after all that soul bearing,
I’m starving!”  She stood up, looking at the group expectantly. Robert
Graham took his queue. “I’ll start the grill,” he announced getting up and
getting busy with the charcoal bag.

           
 Kelly squeezed Steve’s hand affectionately, then stood up too.  “How
can I help?” She asked Mrs. Graham.

           
Steve watched with a troubled expression as the two women went back into the
coach to prepare dinner.  Even after his brave words, he could feel doubt
and worry gnaw at his heart. He would never forgive himself if Kelly got hurt
because of him.

           
“Please, God,” he prayed fervently. “Keep us in Your will, and in Your care.
Protect Kelly, especially.  I know in my head it’s what I need to do, but
I don’t think that giving this relationship fully over to You is going to be
easy.”

           
Saturday afternoon a rare event occurred at Hanging Rock. With the exception of
Kelly’s tent and the Graham’s huge motor coach, the campground was
deserted.  Taking advantage of their last afternoon together, Steve and
Gracie decided on a group hike up the Hanging Rock trail to the famous summit.
Robert and Hester Graham, Pete and Deborah, Kelly, and of course Fiona, all
gathered at the parking lot and walked down the steps that led to the trail.
Since no one was on the trail, Steve took Fiona off her long lead, and the
grownups enjoyed her exuberantly mad dashes up wide graveled path, followed by
equally high spirited sprints back to check on her human family’s slow
progress.