Tymber Dalton (9 page)

Jeff shied away from the trail and Sami dismounted, encouraging the gelding to follow.

“C’mon boy, don’t wuss out on me now.” She found a small clearing where the tracks disappeared in the thick bed of pine needles carpeting the ground. A small stone marker stood in the center of the clearing. As she approached, she realized with a chill it was a gravestone.

George Simpson, 1863-1908
. No epitaph, just cold letters chiseled into a small granite marker. The name sounded familiar. She searched her memory and drew a blank. Several old, rotting wooden markers stood nearby, the names lost to the ages. She also noticed several piles of stones scattered around the clearing. Some sort of cairns, she suspected, maybe left by early settlers or native tribes. Despite a raging case of the crawling creeps, the clearing intrigued her. She decided to go to the library to do more research. Maybe it was fodder for her next book.

She circled the outer edge of the clearing, the gelding still in tow, and found no other footprints except where Steve had followed his own back trail.

He came to visit a graveyard he knew nothing about?

She clipped that line of thought and led Jeff from the clearing.

“What the hell is that?”

Sami, her eyes wide and mouth full of pizza, shook her head in amazement.

Steve cocked his head. “How the hell do they even
get
into that position?”

Sami swallowed her pizza before she choked on it and looked at the remote control. “Forget how they got into it, how do they get
out
?” They watched for a moment until Sami laughed. “I’m sorry, but this stuff’s too stupid. I didn’t think to ask what the Absolute Premium channel package included.” She changed the channel and instead of a porno movie, they watched two lions copulating on an African savannah.

“Oh, great choice, Sami, bestiality.” Steve guffawed and held his hands up in defense as she slapped his shoulder.

“All right, Boy Genius, you figure out the damn satellite dish!” She flung the remote at him and reached for another slice.

Steve examined the remote and channel surfed. From a Japanese baseball game to a Spanish telenovella, there seemed little worth watching. He figured out how to access the channel guide, and they started seeing recognizable programs.

He made another selection, bringing up an ABC channel where a news journal show was already in progress.

“Stop right there—that’s fine,” Sami ordered.

He shrugged and put the remote on the coffee table before reaching for his slice.

He wouldn’t tell Sami to save his life, but he was dying to get back to the computer. He felt the manuscript pulling him, his imagination flourishing in ways he hadn’t felt in years.

But her mood had improved, and he felt guilty about spooking her the night before on top of all the other bullshit he’d put her through, so he forced himself to stay. Her grouchy mood was his fault, and he knew it. It wasn’t fair to treat her the way he had
and
saddle her with the bulk of the work to boot. He also knew he was lucky she hadn’t already left him, considering the way his temper had spiraled out of control over the past months.

And if she ever discovered the secrets he’d been keeping from her for years, all the lies he’d told her, she would leave him immediately. And he wouldn’t blame her in the least.

When she went riding, he’d changed the sheets and washed the dirty ones, getting them dried and folded and back in the linen closet before she returned.

He didn’t understand his sudden need to be secretive about it. She already knew more about his midnight walk than he did, so what difference would it make?

“Did you remember any more about your journey last night?” she asked.

“What?” Her question startled him, being so close to his thoughts. He hoped his face didn’t turn a deep, guilty red.

“Your little nocturnal mission. Where you went.”

He shook his head. “No. Not a thing.”

“I followed your tracks when I went riding. There’s a small clearing southeast of here. Looks like an old cemetery.”

The hair on the back of his neck stood up. “A what?”

“Cemetery. You know, the place you’re going to end up one day really soon if you don’t quit pissing me off and scaring the crap out of me in the middle of the night?” She wore a wry smile. “One stone marker, several old wooden headstones, and several piles of rocks, sort of like cairns.”

He shook his head. “I had no idea I went there.”

He couldn’t read the look she gave him, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to. “Well, that’s where you went.”

* * * *

Sami tolerated his nervous fidgeting as long as she could, both admiring his attempt to make her happy and irritated at him for acting like a child. “Why don’t you go on? I’ve got some stuff I want to do.”

She watched him try to conceal his relief. “You sure?”

She nodded, patting his leg. “Go, you earned it. I’m sorry I’m being a bitch. I’m tired, that whole episode freaked me out, and I want everything organized so I can get back to my work.”

He kissed her, long and passionately. She felt a familiar stirring, feelings absent for far too long combined with months of longing for intimate contact.

“Thanks, Sami. I appreciate it.” He was off the couch in a flash.

And there went the feelings. She sighed as she watched his disappearing back. “Oh well.”

She didn’t want to question what fragile progress he’d made since the move. Didn’t want to do anything to jinx the situation so he could get his book turned in on time. At least he was trying to be nice.

She cleaned up the leftovers and turned the TV off, turning the stereo on instead. There were still plenty of things needing attention in her office. She pulled her new desk away from the wall where the movers left it and repositioned it near the window, admittedly a great view. The wall sockets were close enough to access, and she set up her laptop.

She’d also ordered a bookcase and locking file cabinet. Once she had them positioned where she wanted, she realized something about the dimensions didn’t feel right.

In the hallway, she opened the closet between her office and Steve’s. His door was closed so she didn’t have to spend time answering questions. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary.

Back in her office, she looked into the closet, which shared a wall with Steve’s office. It was tiny, but she supposed the one in Steve’s office was probably fairly large, taking up the remainder of space along the wall.

Writing that night wasn’t an option because mental exhaustion had set in. Restless and bored, she turned off the computer and wandered upstairs, catching sight of the attic access. She had yet to venture up there.

Sami stretched and grabbed the handle, and the staircase easily unfolded. She spied an old-fashioned button-type switch at the top of the steps and tried it. A dim bulb flickered to life, barely making a dent in the shadowy gloom.

Retrieving a flashlight and brand-new 100-watt bulb from the kitchen, she climbed the attic stairs while watching for cobwebs. She replaced the old bulb, but the fixture wasn’t well placed and only cast more shadows across the attic floor.

It was large enough to convert into another usable floor if needed, extending nearly the entire length and width of the house. There wasn’t as much junk as Sami expected. Just several jumbled piles of old boxes and more furniture, all covered in thick layers of dust. It couldn’t be attributed to disposal by recent residents because the thick, undisturbed layer of dust also carpeted the bare floor. Sami glanced behind her. Except for her footprints, there were no traces of other people.

The turret and window seat at the front of the house was the highlight of the attic. She walked over. Despite the leftover heat from the day, she briefly felt a small chill, like she had in the basement.

Shaking it off, she peered out the large window. The nearly full moon revealed a spectacular view of the woods looking out over the front of the property, the barn, all the way to where the cemetery trail disappeared into the woods.

The house possessed a secret. Sami wasn’t sure what, but nothing about it made sense. The house had many residents throughout its history, none who stayed long, and an owner willing to sell far below fair market value. Acreage, especially in the middle of a state forest, wasn’t cheap. The house was large even by modern standards. A house renovated, in spits and spurts, by different residents, none completing a full refit.

Leave it to Steve to get us involved in a real-life mystery.

Riding was out of the question. It wasn’t even seven thirty in the morning, and already Sami heard the whine of bikes and ATVs all over the park. She sat on the front porch with her coffee and watched the horses graze near the truck. She had closed the main gate so they could freely roam the property.

Mutt spied her on the porch and carefully stepped to the walkway and stood there, bobbing his head up and down.

“What do you want, you big mooch?”

He shook his head again. Jeff ambled over.

“Okay, hang on.” She retrieved a few carrots from the fridge. Then she sat at the bottom of the steps and encouraged the geldings to come all the way up the walk to her.

Sami admitted she enjoyed having property where the horses could roam free. In Ohio, their pasture was only an acre. Even though she had access to miles of trails in the woods behind them, the property wasn’t large enough to allow the horses to roam like this. And while a white Christmas was beautiful, the risk of blizzards and protecting the horses from the cold always created a headache.

You don’t get blizzards in Florida.

She also wouldn’t have Matt. Who was she kidding? She wouldn’t be here in a year.

“All gone.” She showed her empty palms, and the geldings nuzzled her hands before wandering off.

“I thought I heard you.”

Steve’s voice startled her. He must have come out the front door, because she didn’t hear the kitchen screen door squeak.

“I’m always up this early,” she said. “I’m usually up by six every morning, Boy Genius. I don’t get to sleep in like you do.”

He sat next to her on the step, motioning toward the horses with his own coffee mug. “They seem to like it here.”

Sami nodded, sensing the conversation’s direction. “They do.”

“Do you?”

She fixed her gaze on the geldings. This wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have with him now. “We’ve only been here a couple of days, Steve.”

“I think I’ll get a lot of work done here.” He took a sip, and when she didn’t say anything, he continued. “We can afford it.”

“You’re right.” Sami wasn’t committing to anything.

He tried again. “I hate cold winters.”

“They are miserable.” She sensed his growing irritation. Sami refused to give him the satisfaction of interpreting his comments the way she knew he wanted her to. He needed to grow a set and learn to say what he meant.

“Don’t have to worry about nosy neighbors,” he suggested.

She shook her head. “Nope, no worries there.” Occasionally, Sami noticed photographers on their neighbors’ property snapping pictures of her riding. Sometimes they snagged a picture of Steve, and it would appear on a gossip website on a slow celebrity news day.

He fidgeted with his mug. “What are you thinking?” he finally asked.

“Steve, you’re the one with something on your mind. I’m sitting here enjoying the morning and watching the horses. If you have something you want to say, spit it out.”

“You’re a real bitch sometimes, you know that?” He stood and dumped the dregs of his coffee.

Sami blocked his path. “
I’m
a bitch? You know what, you’d better get your head on straight. I told you before we left Ohio that you need a major attitude adjustment, or there won’t
be
a reason to discuss the future. I wasn’t kidding when I told you to give me a reason not to go file for divorce. I told you I’d give you one more chance, but I’m sick of this bullshit, and I am done playing guessing games with you. If you have something on your mind, say it. You’re slipping back into some dangerous territory here.”

His eyes widened. “Dangerous territory” was their euphemism for his drinking behaviors. His shoulders slumped. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” He looked at the horses, who worked their way around the corner of the house. “I’m just…” He paused, grasping at words. “I don’t know. I feel unsettled. I don’t know what to do.”

“Then say so.” She felt bad about taking his head off and reached for his hand, her tone softening. “Tell me, ‘This is what’s on my mind,’ and say it. Don’t try to manipulate me into something. Just talk with me.”

He pulled her into a hug. “Why do you put up with me?”

She thought about it. Why
did
she? “I know you’re under a lot of pressure, but you can’t keep treating me like this and expect me to be happy about it. I feel like I’m part of the backstory now, not one of your main characters.”