The Other Side of Silence (7 page)

CHAPTER EIGHT

“Good Lord, you are a handsome man.”

Standing before Sunny as she adjusted
his tie, Roger grinned crookedly.  Despite his penchant for tee shirts and
jeans, he wore the tailored gray suit with what was known as a casual aplomb,
and even with the recent cut of his hair, his dark locks looked wild and
windblown and incredibly sexy. 

“You’re sure you’re okay with this?”
she asked him again.

“Fine,” he said, stooping to plant a
long kiss on her lips.  Too long.  They had to leave, and if he kept kissing
her like that they weren’t going anywhere but back upstairs, or out into the
living room, or maybe even the kitchen.  Circling her fingers around the silk
tie she’d just straightened, Sunny dragged him toward the door.

Before Roger backed the truck out of
the parking space, he turned to smile at her.  “You’re beautiful,” he said.

“Oh, I see.  Turnabout’s fair play
and all that?”

“No,” he countered.  “You are.”

“Mmm.  Then thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Laughing, he headed the truck toward
the road.  At the top of the driveway, however, he stopped, braking hard. 
Sunny extended her hand to the dashboard to stop her forward momentum. 

“What’s that?” Roger said.

Sunny looked where he pointed. 
“What?  Oh, that.  Someone from the Lehigh County Preservation Society came by
two days ago with that.  I forgot to tell you.  The LCPS people weren’t happy
that I disposed of the fallen tree limb, said they should have been notified. 
To do what with it?  Hang a hunk of bark from the wall in a museum?  Anyway,
the guy asked if he could attach the plaque to the trunk.  I said sure, for a
price.”

Roger glanced at her.  “For a price? 
You didn’t.”

Laughing, she shook her head.  “I
didn’t,” she said.  “But he gave me a book in exchange for the privilege.  It’s
on the dining room table.  Remind me to show it to you at some point.”

Roger leaned across the seat,
frowning.  “What’s the plaque say?  I can’t read it from this angle.”

“It’s actually rather morbid,” Sunny
admitted, reaching out to smooth the cuff of his sleeve.  “It says ‘The Hanging
Tree’.”

“The
Hanging
Tree?”

Roger sat up, smacking the truck into
park.  He got out.  Sunny rolled down the window on her side as he crossed the
driveway.  “It’s muddy there, Roger.”

Pausing at the edge of the gravel, he
looked down at his shoes, then across the low lying grass.  She witnessed the
force of his respiration in the movement of his suit jacket.  He glanced at her
over his shoulder.

Oh, she thought.  Oh, crap.

Climbing out of the truck she stood
beside him.  The hem of her silk dress blew against the backs of her calves. 
“I should have told him no,” she said quietly.

She could hear him breathing now.  He
sounded as if he had been running.  She couldn’t imagine what thoughts were
going through his head, what ruminations about the inappropriate coincidence of
having a tree bearing the official title of “hanging tree” so close to where he
had nearly lost his life from strangulation all those years ago.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

His hand came up to grasp at his tie,
tightening just below the knot as if he wanted nothing more than to yank it
off.  The muscle of his jaw leaped into relief and he closed his eyes.  Sunny
waited.  In time, his respiration stabilized.  He lifted his arm to encircle
her shoulder.

“Why do they call it that?” he
asked.  “The Hanging Tree.”

“I’m surprised you don’t know the
story,” she said.  “Apparently, back when this house was built, the property
was some sort of village center.  Auctions and trials and meetings were held
beneath the tree, and—”

“People were hung from it.”

Sunny followed his gaze to the
gnarled and enormous ancient branches.  “Not from the tree.  From scaffolding
standing beneath it,” she told him quietly.

His throat moved in a hard, deliberate
swallow and a shudder ran the length of his spine.  With a deep expulsion of
air, he pulled her close and kissed her.

“Let’s go,” he said in dismissal of
the subject.  “We have a wedding to get to.”

*        *        *

Goodness, Sunny hadn’t seen a great
many of these people in a long time, even before the split with Scott, when
they had in the natural course of events just drifted apart.   If any of them
were surprised to see her there, they didn’t let it show.

Kathy looked wonderful, patently
pregnant, even though she wasn’t really showing yet.  She glowed.  Sunny hugged
her.  She deserved it.

“So this is Roger?”

Clearly, the soon-to-be bride was
impressed by the man on her arm, maybe even a little envious.  Sunny tried not
to feel any satisfaction in that.  Roger greeted her in his usual calm,
friendly, and confident manner.  Sunny felt a surge of pride. 

Odd, too, but until they’d actually
arrived she had been beset by this strange feeling that no one would really be
able to see him, that he was a figment of her imagination.  And Scott’s, she
reminded herself.  Roger had managed to disappear whenever anyone else was
around except the two of them.  She was glad to put that bogey to rest.  She hadn’t
even been certain where it had come from.  She only knew she felt very much
aware of his presence now, and noted he was making quite the impression on the
ladies.  She told him so.

With a grin, he waved that aside,
tucking her hand into his elbow.  “Where’s your sister?  I’m looking forward to
meeting her most of all.”

“You’ll probably hear her before you
see her,” Sunny teased, glancing over each shoulder.  Just then, true to form Jess’s
squeal of delight sounded behind them, quickly subdued.  “She has arrived,”
Sunny stated without necessity.

Sunny made introductions and when
Roger turned to shake Mark’s hand, Jessica mouthed something sufficiently
complimentary about Roger behind his back.  Sunny laughed.

 “No,” she countered, “he’s actually
beautiful.”

Unable to miss her words, Roger
turned back to her, capturing and holding her gaze in a manner that made her
blush.  He touched her cheek.  “I love you,” he whispered for her ears alone. 
Angling her head, Sunny kissed his palm. 

“Shall we all go sit down?” Jessica
asked, grabbing her arm.  “The ceremony should be starting soon, shouldn’t it?”

Because of the casual nature of the
wedding, no designation existed as to groom’s side and bride’s side.  Just as
well, thought Sunny, as she’d have had no idea on which side they would have
positioned themselves.  She sat beside Roger with her sister and brother-in-law
on his right.  He made more than polite conversation with them, obviously taken
by them both.  Sunny closed her eyes for a moment, the sun warm on her hair and
shoulders.  Beyond the yard of Kathy’s parents, where the ceremony and
reception were both taking place, she could hear the sounds of the
neighborhood, of cars on the street and children laughing and the occasional
barking of a particularly shrill dog.  She looked up to find Roger watching her.
 He winked and leaned close.

“We’ll be back home soon enough,” he
whispered, “where it’s quiet.” 

Slipping her fingers into Roger’s,
she held his hand throughout the ceremony, fighting back tears.   It didn’t
matter that it was Scott getting married and that he and Kathy were beginning a
family together.  Weddings were always a time of hopeful beginnings, and she
wished the best for the bridge and groom. 

Pronounced man and wife, Scott and
Kathy made their way back down the rose-petal-strewn aisle.  Kathy’s eyes
seemed to deliberately seek Sunny’s out and, finding them, hold for a moment.  Kathy,
she thought, your union with Scott doesn’t need my blessing.  I just hope it
works for you both.  Even so, she smiled in encouragement.  Kathy smiled back,
eyes moist.  Scott leaned his head forward to peer past his bride.  When his
light blue gaze lighted on Sunny, then on Roger beside her, his expression
transformed.  Roger’s hand tightened on her own.  She thought she heard him
swear beneath his breath.  The moment passed, however, and everyone cheered the
new couple as they disappeared into the shadowed interior of the house.

*        *        *

Sunny watched Roger dance with her
sister.  Like the manner of his walk, he danced with earthbound grace and
dignity.  When asked where he’d learned, he had told her it was part of his
physical therapy.  He’d actually had to learn balance again.  Quite obviously,
he’d regained it and then some.  Sunny couldn’t wait to dance with him again.

“Well, well, Sunny-girl, you look
ravishing, as always.”

Sunny stepped into Scott’s line of
sight, trying to distract him from Roger, as his attention had moved
immediately from her to the dancing on the patio.  If he started making remarks
about Roger she wouldn’t be able to keep silent about it, wedding day or not. 
But despite his tone when he greeted her, and his straying focus, Scott
maintained a courteous demeanor, nodding at people who passed with a
bridegroom’s smile.  Thankfully, he disregarded Roger as a topic of discussion.

“Kathy looks lovely, doesn’t she?”
Sunny said.

Scott made a noise through his nose. 
“Oh come on, you don’t mean that.”

Sunny bit the inside of her cheek. 
“I do.  Have you looked at her today?  She’s shining.  I’m sure she’s happy. 
How has she been feeling?”

Scott shrugged.  “Not bad.  Not sick
anymore, so that’s good.”

“Any names picked out?”

“Nah.  Not yet,” he commented,
raising the glass in his hand to take a drink as he watched his new wife
speaking with someone in the grass.  Sunny watched her, too.  She really did
look both lovely and happy.  She wasn’t wearing a wedding gown, but a very
becoming dress of pale blue cut in just such a way that any bump was discreetly
disguised.

“This is a good thing, Scott.  A
great thing.  It really is.”

He made another noise, which she
chose to ignore.

“She does look beautiful,” said
Sunny.

“Hope she doesn’t blimp up,” Scott
said, turning to face Sunny, the scent of alcohol strong on his breath.

Sunny’s eyes flew wide in anger on
Kathy’s behalf.  “Scott!  You really are a bastard, you know that?” she rebuked
him in an undertone.  “What are you drinking?”

Lifting his glass, he sniffed at it. 
“I dunno.  Whiskey and something, I think.  Smells like it.  Wanna dance?”

She didn’t, not with him anyway, but
she didn’t want to create a scene by refusing, either.  Jessica had claimed
Roger again, so Sunny wordlessly stepped out onto the patio with her ex-husband
as the music began.  She might even have hoped it would go well, until she felt
his hand sliding along the back of her dress.

“That’s my ass, Scott.  My waist is
up here,” she said, yanking his hand up where it belonged.

“Sorry,” he said, not sounding in the
least contrite.

Throughout the dance, he continually
jerked her close, forcing her to keep stepping back, making for an awkward
performance of what should have been a series of simple maneuvers.  When he
pulled her close for the seventh time, he pressed his mouth to her ear, the
whiskey on her breath stinging her nostrils.  He’d had more than the one he
still held in his hand, sloshing a rare drop or two onto the shoulder of her
gown.  

“I bet if I was Roger, you’d be
pressed so tight against my cock there’d be no daylight between.”  Rejecting
the bait, Sunny pulled away again.  “I remember what it was like, Sunny-girl. 
I bet he’s gettin’ that good lovin’ all the time, too, isn’t he?”

“Leave Roger out of this,” Sunny
whispered fiercely.

“You know he’s defective, don’t you?”
he went right on in a stage whisper.  “Maybe not where it counts right now,
keeping that tight little pussy of yours happy, but he spent a lot of time with
the nut cases.  He’s not right.”

Sunny’s jaw tightened.  She felt the
contents of her stomach lurch.  “You sound both ignorant and uneducated, Scott
Black,” she stated through clenched teeth.  “Or are you just drunk?”

“Oh, I’m not drunk,” he said, yanking
her close again.  “I’m just pissed off.  That guy’s fucking my wife—”

“I’m not your wife!” Sunny hissed.  “Kathy
is your wife, and you’d do well to remember that. You stopped being my husband
long before I caught you in bed with—what was her name?  I bet you don’t even
remember.”

Wedging her arm between them, she
pushed him back.  He staggered before recovery, loosening his grip on her
dress.  A large hand reached out to steady him by the collar. 

“Careful, Scott,” said Roger’s rumbling
voice.  “Watch your step.”

He could have just been talking about
Scott’s proximity to the pool and other guests, but Sunny knew Roger had heard
at least a portion of the recent conversation.  Exhaling, she turned her back
on her former husband, taking Roger’s arm.