Doubting Thomas (Tarnished Saints Series) (5 page)

She studied his face for a second, and noticed he was doing the same to her. His features were hard, his mouth set firm. His nose was straight, his brows thick. Thick stubble shaped his lower face, and his dark hair was unkempt, shooting out in several directions, and falling nearly to the neckline of his white tee-shirt. And to her surprise, he had a small gold hoop earring hanging from one ear.

He was rugged, but handsome. He emitted a sense of danger and pride, yet a hint of gentle sadness reflected within his eyes. His hands were large, his arms muscled and sturdy. She was sure he did some sort of manual labor, and quite often, to be so physically fit.

A small rush of heat from his hands on her waist traveled all the way to her face. Something flashed in those dark eyes of his, and for a moment, she’d almost thought he’d felt the same attraction she’d felt. Then, he removed his hands from her waist, and stuck them in the front pockets of his jeans. That soft caring look she’d glimpsed in his eyes was gone, and the hard, cool edge returned.

“You really shouldn’t be traipsing around these woods alone. No telling what could happen.”

She wondered if he meant she should fear the dogs or him? In a way she did fear him, but since he’d helped her, she also felt a strange sense of security while being in his presence.

“Thank you for saving me from the dogs.”

No response.

“Aren’t you afraid your children will be harmed by them?”

“My boys know how to take care of themselves. I don’t have to worry about them.”

“Even the six-year-old? It seems to me he shouldn’t be allowed to wander about.”

“Head to your right and you’ll find the Ainsley’s road,” he answered, totally ignoring her comment. “I suggest you head on back to the Bed and Breakfast quickly.”

He was gone before she had the chance to ask him anything about his family. Somehow, she’d scared him off, and she wasn’t sure why. She was getting the distinct feeling he was hiding something. She’d have to try to see him again later.

Thomas stood behind a bush to assure himself Angeline made it to the road safely. Then he followed quite a distance behind her until she got back to the Ainsleys, making sure the dogs didn’t bother her again.

She didn’t belong out here in the woods. She belonged in a plush apartment, soaking in a bubble bath reading a romance novel, sipping on champagne and eating bon bons. She wasn’t the kind to come traipsing through the woods just for a morning hike. She wanted something. She was looking for something. Well, whatever it was, he was going to make sure she didn’t find it.

Chapter 4

Angel knew she should heed Thomas’s warning and not go back on his property, but she had no choice. She promised to call Tillie soon, and she had to get the information she needed to reassure her friend that her aunt and uncle were safe, and Thomas was not to be feared.

She toyed with the idea of just marching up to the Taylor’s front door and announcing the fact she was from CPS, and that he needed to let her in so she could find out if she had to take his children away or not.

Never, in a month of Sundays would that work. Thomas Taylor would never let her in then. He’d probably aim that shotgun right at her, and for all she knew, he may use it on her as well. No, she had to go back under false pretense, as much as she hated to be deceitful. It was either that, or call in the cops. But she didn’t want to humiliate the man if he really was doing nothing wrong. Besides, she reminded herself, this wasn’t a case yet. It was nothing more than an
unofficial
visit.

She finished up lunch with Gabby and the Ainsleys, and met the other boarder. The man’s name was Nat Finster, and he just happened to be a newspaper reporter here on a few weeks of rest and relaxation. She didn’t dare bring up the subject of  Thomas Taylor now. Thomas had seemed leery of reporters. If Nat got wind of all the gossip on the lake, he was sure to head on over to Thomas’s place himself. But since he’d only arrived last night, she figured there was a good chance he hadn’t heard of Thomas yet.

“You know,” said Agnes, cleaning up the lunch plates, scurrying around as usual. “Your little girl, Gabby, is a true pleasure to have around.”

“I’m not little,” Gabby corrected her in her most grown-up voice. “After all, I am almost nine.”

“You just turned eight,” Angel corrected her. “Don’t rush things, Gabby. Enjoy being a kid while you can. Believe me, being a grown-up isn’t as much fun.”

“So, what do you do for a living, Ms. DeMitri?” asked Nat, pouring himself a glass of iced tea. The man was in his thirties, severely overweight, and had greased-back black hair and contacts that obviously didn’t fit right because he blinked twice as much as anyone should.

“I . . . work with children.” It wasn’t an all-out lie. She just didn’t expound on her explanation. “I’m on vacation right now and decided to spend some time with Gabby.”

“Oh, so you’re a school teacher,” said Clarence, getting up to help his wife clear the table. “I bet you see all kinds of things and hear all sorts of stories from those kids. And I bet they’re all doing drugs and smoking aren’t they? Things aren’t the way they used to be when I was in school.”

Angel looked at Gabby with her ‘hush hush’ stare, hoping she’d keep her mouth closed. Angel had asked Gabby not to tell anyone at the lake what she really did for a living. She told her that would give them more privacy and time to be together. Gabby had agreed. Now, she hoped she wouldn’t go back on her word.

“Well I . . .”

“Now, Clarence, don’t start in again with your old school stories. Nobody wants to hear them,” Agnes scolded from the sink.

Angel breathed a sigh of relief, thankful for the interruption. “If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go out for a walk.”

“Can I come too, Mommy?”

“No, honey. Why don’t you stay here and keep the Ainsleys company for a bit? I’ll be back soon, and then we can spend some time fishing or whatever you want to do.”

“You can help me bake cookies,” said Agnes to the girl. “Then we can frost that chocolate cake I baked this morning.”

Gabby gave her mom the roll of the eyes, and Angel felt guilty leaving her there. She grabbed her daughter’s hand. “I promise we’ll spend some time later.”

“We’ve got a big Canasta game going on later tonight,” announced Clarence. “You ever play the card game, honey?”

“No,” Gabby answered with a grumble.

“But we’d like to learn,” Angel broke in. “Maybe Gabby can learn it from you this afternoon, Clarence, and teach it to me when I return.”

“Now that’s a fine idea,” Clarence said with a nod. “How about you, Mr. Finster? Wouldn’t you like to learn also?”

“Well,” he answered, gulping down the iced tea and pushing his chair away from the table, “I thought maybe I’d keep Ms. DeMitri company on that walk of hers.”

Just what she needed! There’s no way she wanted a reporter tagging along. Especially not one who was looking at her like he thought there was some kind of a chance between them. Agnes must have told him she was a widow. No escaping anything around this place.

“Well, I do walk kind of fast,” she said. “I wouldn’t want you to feel obligated to keep up or anything.”

“Oh, don’t let my looks deceive you, Ms. DeMitri.” He took her by the elbow and led her to the door. “Or may I call you Angel?”

She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. This wasn’t going at all the way she planned. She looked over to Gabby to save her, and thankfully her daughter caught the signal. They’d played this game more than once before. Ever since Brad’s death, she had men constantly trying to date her. Men she didn’t want dating her. She and Gabby got along just fine by themselves.

“Oh, can I come too, Mommy, please, can I, can I?”

Angel gave her a scolding look, thinking she’d overdone it a bit, but still it was effective.

“Oh, all right, sweetie. And maybe we should wait for Agnes and Clarence. They may want to give us a little tour of the lake.”

“Great idea!” said Clarence, his eyes lighting up like a beacon. “I’ll get out the old row boat and we’ll take the whole afternoon just paddling around. I can tell you everything you want to know about anyone on this lake. How about you, Agnes? Want to join us?”

“Oh, no, you go on. I’ve got to make those cookies and frost that cake.”

“Well, let’s go then,” said Clarence. “We’ve got a lot to see in the next few hours.”

“You know, I think I’ll take a pass after all,” Nat said, drawing out a fake yawn if she’d ever seen one. “A little nap sounds good about now.” He headed up the stairs.

“All right then, I guess it’s just the three of us, Angeline.” Clarence put his arm around Gabby and directed her out toward the garage. “I have a life jacket that should just about fit you, I think.”

“Oh, yes,” said Agnes, running after them. “Let me show her, Clarence. Gabby, we’ve got all sorts for you to choose from. Did you want pink, orange, blue, green . . .”

Angel let out an exasperated breath and followed. She’d just have to wait til morning to follow up on the house call to Thomas Taylor.

Thomas was up to his elbows in grease, his head buried under the hood of a ’67 Chevy Chevelle convertible, when he heard hoofbeats up the road. He wiped his hands on a rag, and walked out of the barn to meet his eldest son, Daniel. He smiled when he saw Daniel sitting high on his horse, leading the runaway horse back into the stable. Pride overwhelmed him. Daniel was a fine son. He was most like a man, and the most help out of all the boys. Even at sixteen years of age, Daniel had showed the responsibility of a twenty-year-old. He’d been the strength Thomas needed through these rough times. If it wasn’t for him, he wasn’t sure he could have held the family together after his wife’s demise.

“I found Thor, Pa,” Daniel announced, slipping off his horse. Zeke ran up to take the reins and care for the horses. Thomas didn’t need to tell him what to do. Zeke loved animals and had a way of relating to them that he’d never seen before. Taking care of the animals was the only chore Zeke truly enjoyed, and did without Thomas having to ask.

“Good job, Dan.” Thomas leaned on the corral fence as they spoke. They only had two horses. The chickens were raised for their eggs, and once in a while for a good meal. The cow was used for milk. It wasn’t much, but enough to live on. Their main money came from the cars. He had two ready to go, parked in the pole barn where he was working on the ’67 Chevy. Car restoration had really been taking off lately. There was a big show in Brighton tomorrow, and he’d have to hurry to finish up the car in time. It’d been running a bit rough, and he wanted it to be prime, as he already had a buyer lined up.

“The car looks great,” stated Daniel, looking over Thomas’s shoulder.

“I would have been finished by now, but I had a little setback.”

“Engine problems?”

“No. A nosey woman named Angeline DeMitri. If she comes by here while I’m gone, you make sure to escort her off our land. And I don’t want the boys talking to her.”

“What does she want?” asked Daniel.

“Don’t know.” Thomas took off for the Chevy, and Daniel followed.

“Did you ask?”

“Don’t care.” He continued walking.

“Was she pretty?”

Thomas stopped in his tracks and his son almost crashed into him. She was pretty. Very pretty. And that was part of the problem. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her all afternoon. The memory of her small, warm waist under his grip, and the flowery essence of her long, blond hair still haunted him. He hadn’t been able to concentrate on his work, and that put him behind. Now he’d have to work well into the night to have the car ready when Gus Kramer from the gas station showed up with the car trailer in the morning.

“Since when did you start asking questions like that, son?”

He turned to see Dan’s face redden. “I just wondered.”

“You haven’t been trying to woo Gus’s daughter again, have you?”

“No sir. Not really.”

“Well if you’ve got your eye on a girl, I’d rather it be Maryanne Kramer, than that hussy Charolette Burnham.”

No answer, and that only meant Charolette still had a hold on him.

“I’m counting on you to help me hold this family together, Daniel. I can’t have you traipsing around like a lovesick boy every time you fancy a girl.”

“Yes, sir.”

“We’ve got work to do. We’ve lasted this long without women, and we don’t need them. They’re only trouble. You can’t trust them, son. Don’t ever fall weak to a woman or you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

“You’re talking about Fawn, aren’t you?”

“I’m talking about all women in general.”

“You didn’t always think that way, Pa. There was a time you were a lady’s man. Every woman in town envied Mom because she had you. Don’t you remember?”

“Yeah.” The memory hit him hard. “I remember.”

He busied himself with the car, too distracted to know what he was doing. He had been a charmer at one time, but those days were over. He was finished with trying to make a woman happy.

“Do you miss Mom, Pa? Do you want to talk about the night she died?”

Thomas stiffened, the screwdriver in his hand falling to the floor. He felt a constriction deep within his chest. That was one night he’d never forget. The night he lost the only woman he’d ever loved. With her death, a part of him died as well. And with it, he closed his heart and promised himself he’d never love again.

“Haven’t you got chores to do?”

“Yes, sir,” came the boy’s soft answer from behind him.

Thomas’s back was toward Daniel and he was glad for it. He tried hard to push back the memories and emotions threatening to spill forth.

“Get on with your chores, then.” Thomas turned and gave his son a playful slap on the back. “And check on your brothers. I haven’t heard any noise from the twins lately and figure they’re up to no good. Probably frog hunting instead of weeding the garden. I’m counting on you, son.”

“I’m here for you, Pa.”

Daniel left for the house, and Thomas waited until he was out of sight before he headed over for the box on the top shelf. He pulled it down, a rush of emotions washing through him. He took a deep breath and then slowly released it, trying to forget all about his past. He slowly opened the lid, and stared at the half-empty bottle of whiskey inside. His hand reached out, shaking as he did so. One swig was all he needed to clear his mind and put his nerves at ease. One swig - which would lead to another.

He slammed the lid down on the box and shoved it back up onto the shelf. He ran a hand through his hair, feeling the perspiration beading on his brow. He’d given up drinking when he married Brianne, because she said it clouded his judgment. He’d taken up drinking the day he’d married Fawn, trying to live with the decisions he’d made.

“I’m sorry, Brianne,” he whispered. “I am so sorry.” He slammed his fist into the wall, denting the side of the pole barn. Then he plopped into his chair, face in his hands. His gaze raised to the drawer of the desk, and he found himself reaching eagerly for the key in his pocket. Shoving it into the lock, he twisted it, opening the drawer and reaching for the envelope inside.

There was a little noise from behind him and he whirled around. His youngest son Eli stood there, shoeless and quiet as always. He quickly closed the drawer, locked it and dropped the key into his shirt pocket. He wasn’t sure if Eli had seen what he was doing, but it didn’t matter. He’d never talk.

Thomas had tried for the last six months, as well as the authorities, but Eli wouldn’t say a word. They’d even brought in a child psychologist for extensive studies, but to no avail. His son was in shock from what he’d seen and he was no longer going to let anyone make Eli’s life one of hell, just like they’d done to Thomas.