On Ice (6 page)

Lastly, she made a stack of the papers Maddy packed for her. These must be closely inspected to learn what would be expected of her.

Setting the table with stoneware dishes she found in the cupboards, Rene filled their plates from the stove. The casserole dish proved to be a combination of beef and vegetables in rich gravy. She found a fresh loaf of crusty home-made bread in an old-fashioned bread box and cut it into thick slices. Cold milk completed their repast. Rene thought of the many gourmet meals she had prepared with no word of thanks from Mark.

“This tastes great, Mom.” Seth dug into his food with gusto, requesting more bread and milk.

“Yes, Mommy,” Sara said. “This tastes good.”

“Mr. LeCroix’s housekeeper made this meal for us,” Rene said. “We may meet her tomorrow. It would be nice to tell her how much you liked it.”

“I will, Mommy.”

“Did she make that pie, too?” Seth used his bread to sop up the last of the gravy.

Rene smiled at his actions, which would have earned him a rebuke or worse in Houston. “Yes, she did.” Rene smiled. “Are you ready for a slice?” Seth nodded and she rose to cut the pie. She had just picked up the knife when a shaggy face at the window caused her to scream and drop it to the floor. It clattered noisily as she stared speechlessly at the smiling man. He swept off his battered hat and held it over his heart. His thinning black hair was arranged artfully over his head but it stuck out abundantly in the back, touching his shoulders in places. He had untamed black eyebrows over slightly protruding blue eyes, one of which wandered unsteadily to the outside, though its mate was staring in at Rene. The man showed large white teeth with spaces between them in what she supposed was a grin. He pointed to the door.

“God, help us!” Rene said fervently as she opened the door.

“Are you the teacher?” Rene nodded wordlessly and the man went on. “I’m Ben Franklin. Your neighbor. Over thatta way.” He gestured to the back of the house and Rene noticed that the path to the outbuilding disappeared into the woods beyond.

“Ben Franklin?”

“Yes Ma’am.” He nodded, still clutching his hat to his heart.

Rene burst out laughing. She laughed and laughed, backing away from the door and motioning him inside. She laughed until her sides hurt and tears rolled down her cheeks. She felt her body releasing the tension of the past few days as she laughed helplessly. The children seemed frozen as they stared at the spectacle.

“I’m---I’m so sorry,” she gasped. “It’s just so funny. I mean...your name.”

“Yes Ma’am,” the man agreed pleasantly.

“I’m sorry,” she repeated, struggling to recover some composure. “I’m Rene Nichols. These are my children, Seth and Sara. We were about to try some of Mrs. Jolly’s apple pie. Would you join us? Please, Mr. Franklin.” As she said his name, Rene burst into a fresh spasm of giggles. “Sit here, please.” Rene pulled out the remaining chair for him.

“Well, I don’t mind if I do.” He hung his hat on the doorknob and took the chair she offered.

Placing a large slice of pie in front of him, she then served the children. “Would you like milk? I’m afraid that’s all we have in the way of liquid refreshment.”

“Water’d be fine, Ma’am.”

“I only have tap water.” Rene thought how stupid that must sound to this man. She filled a glass with water and found that it ran ice cold.

She served herself a slice of pie, tasting it as she took her chair. “Oh, this is delicious!” The light flaky crust and sweet apple-cinnamon filling was heavenly.

“Yes Ma’am. Miz Jolly always wins blue ribbons at the festival.” Mr. Franklin was using the tines of his fork to scrape up every morsel of the tasty pie.

She offered him more pie, which he accepted readily. “What brings you here tonight, Mr. Franklin?”

“It’s just Ben, Ma’am,” he said, fixing her with his good eye. “I wanted to introduce m’self, Ma’am, an’ see if you needed anything. Mr. Brett said I was to do for you.”

“We’re glad to meet you, Ben,” Rene said. “We’re just fine for tonight. Thank you for your concern.”

“I’ll be getting home, now.” He was nodding his head again as he got up from the table and began a crab-like sideways shuffle toward the door. Once there, he retrieved his hat from the doorknob, holding it over his heart until he stepped outside. “Remember, Ma’am, if you need anything, my cabin is just a little ways on this path.”

Rene thanked him, noting that the color of the sky seemed to be changing. She closed the back door and crossed to open the front. The display of colors reached with long fingers across the sky, took her breath away. It looked as though someone had smeared an artist’s oil palette overhead. Wordlessly, she dropped into one of the rocking chairs by the door and watched the spectacle before her. Seth took the other rocker and Rene lifted Sara onto her lap. They watched as reds, fuchsias and oranges cooled to mauves and shades of purple.

“You children need your jackets.” She realized it was chilly without the direct sun. They couldn’t tear themselves away from the brilliant display. “Let’s go in. It’s nippy out here.”

Rene wondered if she was capable of laying a fire in the grate but found she had forgotten to turn off the oven and the cabin was quite cozy. The fireplace still had the remnants of the previous fire. She carefully positioned two more small logs among the glowing embers and replaced the screen. She weighed the options of freezing to death against burning the cabin down and decided to risk the latter.

Rene tucked Sara into bed and cleared away the remains of supper. Seth grumbled but bedded down on the sofa with the soft quilts to protect him from the coarse wool.

“Seth, are you feeling better about coming here with me?” She snuggled the quilt around his shoulders. “I was really scared on the plane but everyone seems so nice here.”

“We’ll be okay,” she said with more confidence than she felt. Let’s go to sleep. I’m really tired.” She glanced at the papers Maddy assembled for her. “Tomorrow,” she vowed. “First thing tomorrow I’ll read those papers.” She found a warm gown and crawled into bed beside Sara. Rene was asleep when her head hit the downy pillow.

~*~

If Mark was angry when he left Byrondale School, he was rabid by the time he got home. He spent some time rearranging the condo. He knocked over the china cabinet, demolishing the entire service for twelve of antique Rosenthal china. The pieces that survived the fall were quickly dispatched under Mark’s heels.

“Nobody screws with Mark Desmond!” His voice echoed off the glass. He felt a little better.

Mark went to Rene’s dressing room. All the luggage was in place. He couldn’t tell if any of her clothes were missing. He checked the children’s rooms and they looked untouched. It was as though they were coming right back.

“Stupid, stupid bitch!”
What was she thinking? What was in her little brain?
He slammed his fist into the drywall and then again.

Mark poured whiskey into a water glass and drank it all at once.
What was she thinking?

He walked around the flat feeling disconnected. No one had prepared his dinner. No one had lit candles or set the table. No one told him goodnight and no one waited for him in the big empty bed.

He poured more whiskey into his glass and stretched out in the center of the king-sized bed. He stared at the ceiling and visualized Rene’s face. Mark pulled her pillow from under the duvet and held it to his face. Her scent brought tears to his eyes.
Why did she do this to me? I’m her husband.

He finally fell asleep, exhausted by the day’s events. In the morning he awoke groggy and hung over. The enormity of the situation engulfed him. His wife and children were gone. Rene left him and took his children. He struggled to rise but his legs were made of rubber.

No woman could do something like this. Not to Mark Desmond. No, he wouldn’t allow it.

She has to be somewhere and I’ll find her. Then she’ll be sorry she was ever born.

Mark searched for the coffee. Why didn’t she put it where he could find it? He finally located a tightly sealed bag of beans in a canister by the coffee grinder. When he tore it open the beans spilled onto the floor and countertop. He growled and threw the rest of the bag against the granite backsplash.

He picked up the grinder but stopped just short of slamming it through the window. He stood for a long time, leaning against the counter with his lips pressed together. When he got control he gathered a handful of coffee beans and ran them through the grinder. He managed to start the coffee maker.

By then he had an idea. She didn’t have any money. He went to his laptop and logged on. He checked activity on her credit card. In a few minutes he knew. She had purchased three one-way tickets to Paris, France. She took his children and left the country.

The white hot anger was gone only to be replaced by something else
...
something cold and deadly.

~*~

Maddy and Ted held hands, sipping wine and gazing into the crackling blaze in the fireplace of their cozy suite in the old inn. Their late-night rendezvous took place after they had dined and tucked the girls into their beds in the adjoining room. The inn sheltered travelers for hundreds of years and was said to have been the haunt of local highwaymen who preyed upon wealthy wayfarers. Maddy shivered in spite of the fire.

“Nooo,” she protested. “When you weren’t in meetings you were playing golf. That does not constitute a satisfying vacation for fifty percent of this partnership. The other fifty percent of us wanted to go dancing and wanted you to rub lotion on us.”

“The girls are asleep and it’s raining outside. Here we are in this old inn with a richly romantic history. Do I have to draw you a picture?”

“I believe I can demonstrate some romance of the here and now.”

“Please do.” Maddy snuggled closer. “You know I’m a right now kind of woman.”

~*~

CHAPTER FIVE

Rene awoke with a start. She lay frozen in the strange bed listening to her heart thudding in her chest. Sara snuggled safely at her side, snoring lightly. What had awakened her? Was it a noise? The silence seemed to be wrapped tight around her.

She remembered the dream and a knot of fear gripped her. Mark's face distorted in anger. His deliberately calm voice making graphic threats through gritted teeth. She couldn't remember the words, but it was always the same: death, disfigurement and harm to those she loved. Peering into the semi-darkness, she inhaled deeply to slow her heart beat. The curtainless window above the bed cast a bright early morning light over the interior. She remembered reading that the sun shone much longer in the summers here than in Houston.

She gave in to the urge to throw back the heavy covers and stepped into the chilled air of the cabin. Silently, she checked the locks. She heard Seth’s rhythmic breathing from the sofa where he slept. Taking another deep breath of her own, she let it out slowly.

We're safe here. He doesn't know where we are. He won't find us.
As she made these meager affirmations, Rene knew she was deluding herself. It was only a matter of time until he came
. I'll be ready for him.
This thought shocked her. What could she do? He was vicious and strong.
We're here, aren't we? He would never think we could get this far. Maybe I can be ready for him
.

She was not the same woman who had left Texas. She was somehow stronger, clearer. She must find a way to protect her children and herself.

Rene groped for her watch on the chest beside the bed.
Almost four-thirty.
Too early but she was wide-awake. She looked for a coffee-maker but found none.

Rene resigned herself to getting dressed. She slipped into her clothes and stepped outside, closing the door as softly as possible. A prickle on the back of her neck put her on alert as though someone watched her. She tried to shake off the feeling.

The chill of the air bit at her newly bared ears. She wore a sweatshirt under her lightweight jacket and felt comfortable enough. The almost full moon, sitting low over the snow-capped peaks, cast a neon glow against the cobalt night skies. Rene tried to be as silent as her surroundings.

She strained her ears but heard nothing. Yearning for a cup of coffee, she sat in the nearest rocking chair. She had watched the sun set. Now she would watch it rise. Leaning her head back, she rocked tentatively. Almost no sound. She didn't want to awaken the children so early.