Cold River - Carla Neggers [53]
When Lowell finished, his wife was visibly pale. “I don’t know if I want Bowie on the premises now.”
“Let’s just see how it goes tomorrow,” Lowell said quietly.
Everett sipped his wine. “What work are you having done?”
“We’re repainting the guesthouse and having some minor repairs done,” Vivian said. “Both apartments. The one where Nora stayed and the one where…” She held her hors d’oeuvre in midair. “Where that killer stayed. Kyle Rigby. Melanie Kendall stayed with Thomas Asher in one of our guestrooms. I’ll tackle it next. I don’t know if fresh paint will help, but it can’t hurt. But if Bowie…”
“He’s considered one of the best stonemasons in the area,” Lowell said.
Sean noticed that Everett Robinson’s incisive gaze was on Hannah. “Bowie’s had his struggles,” the judge said, “and he knows he has to stay out of trouble. He’s still on probation.”
“We heard about the bar fight in March,” Vivian said, turning to Hannah. “You were involved, weren’t you?”
“I was there,” Hannah said simply.
Vivian shifted her attention to Sean. “You and your brothers were there, as well, weren’t you?”
Sean nodded and started to change the subject, but Lowell interrupted him, addressing Hannah. “We heard that some drunk young men insulted you. Of course, that’s no excuse for Bowie bloodying the perpetrator, but one can understand. You and Bowie go way back. I walk out to where you grew up almost every day when we’re up here. It’s so peaceful.”
“It’s beautiful,” Vivian said, “but I can’t imagine being a child there. Were you bored?”
“Never,” Hannah said, without any hint of defensiveness.
Ginny announced dinner, breaking the tension, and they all drifted into the dining room. Sean liked the Robinsons and had nothing against the Whittakers, but he wished he hadn’t come to dinner but instead had whisked Hannah up to the ridge and watched the stars come out with her. He didn’t know if it was the aftereffects of being alone with her on the mountain, or charging after her when she was in danger at the crypt, or finding her among the cobwebs in the cellar, but he was having a hard time maintaining any objectivity with her.
But who was he kidding? It’d started back in March, this unsettling attraction to Hannah. Seeing her sipping wine by herself at O’Rourke’s. Watching her self-control and reserve as she’d tried to ignore Derek Cutshaw and his friends, then her anger and passion as she’d jumped into action.
Sean could still feel the fight in her when he’d carried her out of O’Rourke’s—and how alone she’d looked as she’d headed home in the freezing rain. He’d never understood Hannah, and he hadn’t that night, either.
That was before his father’s death. Before Elijah’s life-threatening wound in Afghanistan. Before Melanie Kendall and Kyle Rigby had gone after Devin Shay and themselves been killed.
Sean had convinced himself there was no one in Black Falls for him and he no longer belonged there, but on every visit to Vermont since March, he’d found himself at Three Sisters Café. In California, he’d told himself he was too busy to date when he knew he wasn’t. It was Hannah and his inexplicable desire to be with her.
And now here he was, caught between his mission to get the truth out of her and his urge to reach for her hand under the table.
What did he know about Hannah and her life, her dreams?
Vivian Whittaker sat next to him at the dining table. “I understand you’re a smoke jumper,” she said abruptly, with a coy smile. “It sounds fascinating. Tell us about it.”
Sean was accustomed to interest in that part of his life and offered his usual answer. “It’s hard work that I enjoy. I used to do it full-time. Now I volunteer when needed.”
She reached for her wineglass. “Smoke jumpers parachute into the middle of raging wildfires, don’t they?”
“We try to get to a fire when it’s small and put it out before it’s had a chance to spread. We work mostly in remote areas and choose our jump spots carefully.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“We mitigate the dangers as much as possible through training and planning.”
“You obviously have to stay in top shape,