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Authors: Angi Morgan
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sir.” John helped the old man up the slight incline.
“I’ll plan on it. Bye now, I’m off to lunch.”
“Oh, Joe. Would you mind keeping this a secret?” She pointed to John and herself. “We’d like to keep it quiet awhile.”
“Mum’s the word, Miss Alicia. You should try that old storage barn on the Kruegerville acreage for some privacy. You might have to saddle a ride, but no one goes there since Mr. Adams...passed.” He leaned on the stick and took several steps. “Mum’s the word.”
John stood next to her as an icon from their youth meandered back the way he’d come.
“That brought back some memories,” John said, scratching his head. “I don’t get it. He didn’t ask about Lauren, but he knew about Dad.”
“I told him about J.W. He refuses to have cataract surgery, and his vision is blurry. So he doesn’t read the paper or watch television anymore.”
“Was he talking about the barn we had that haunted house in one year? That thing still standing?”
“I guess so. I had no idea Roy went there. He never mentioned it to me.”
“That should go on our list of things to check out.”
John turned away from her and jogged back to get the binoculars he’d set on the ground. She had no clue if he meant to check out the barn for potential information or to use it as Joe had suggested.
But she knew that her first thought leaned heavily toward the latter. And that both frightened and excited her at the possibility John’s thoughts had gone there, too.
Chapter Nine
The short visit with Mr. Searcy hadn’t brought up too many memories of getting caught in their youth. John was still thinking about the kiss in the gully today. It took top-notch self-discipline and concentration to stay sane enough to continue looking for the approaching threat. How had she gotten to be a better kisser? And man, if they hadn’t cooled their heels over the past fifteen minutes in the presence of the old man, he might have thrown her onto her back—kissing her into oblivion again.
“Joe will probably mention seeing me at the lunch counter today. He’s there every Monday and Friday and bound to hear about Lauren. We can only pray that he doesn’t mention seeing you.”
“Yeah, pray.” He didn’t really expect fate or luck to be working on their side. “I’ll lose my anonymity as soon as Joe has lunch if Mabel doesn’t get Brian out of jail.”
“Are we heading to the house?” Alicia asked.
“Affirmative.”
They walked into the bright noon July heat, across a field as dry as fire tinder. What had happened to everything?
“Say affirmative around other people and they’ll know you’re not Brian for sure. Of course, I still don’t know how anyone could get the two of you confused.”
“The hard thing to believe is that you don’t. How?”
“How what?”
“How do you tell us apart? Besides the obvious haircut.”
She shrugged. He stopped them at the backyard to verify the maid had left. One car now. The other must have been Joe’s. He hopped the wooden fence and waited for Alicia to climb.
“Show-off. What are we looking for once we’re inside?”
“I don’t know. Let’s find an entrance and then think about it.” He tried a couple of windows. All locked. He was about to put his elbow through the glass on the back door when Alicia pulled it to a stop.
“Why don’t we just use this?” She dangled a lone key at the end of her tanned arm.
“You could have said something.”
“And where’s the fun in that?” She slipped the key in the dead bolt and a second time in the knob. “I warned you that the place has changed a lot.”
“Yeah, it’s empty. What happened to everything?” He shut the door and had to flip on the light to see.
More than just furniture was missing. There weren’t any mementos, knickknacks, family pictures...nothing. Objects that had been there the entire time they’d grown up. Dwayne had lost his mother at a very young age. His grandparents
“I’ll plan on it. Bye now, I’m off to lunch.”
“Oh, Joe. Would you mind keeping this a secret?” She pointed to John and herself. “We’d like to keep it quiet awhile.”
“Mum’s the word, Miss Alicia. You should try that old storage barn on the Kruegerville acreage for some privacy. You might have to saddle a ride, but no one goes there since Mr. Adams...passed.” He leaned on the stick and took several steps. “Mum’s the word.”
John stood next to her as an icon from their youth meandered back the way he’d come.
“That brought back some memories,” John said, scratching his head. “I don’t get it. He didn’t ask about Lauren, but he knew about Dad.”
“I told him about J.W. He refuses to have cataract surgery, and his vision is blurry. So he doesn’t read the paper or watch television anymore.”
“Was he talking about the barn we had that haunted house in one year? That thing still standing?”
“I guess so. I had no idea Roy went there. He never mentioned it to me.”
“That should go on our list of things to check out.”
John turned away from her and jogged back to get the binoculars he’d set on the ground. She had no clue if he meant to check out the barn for potential information or to use it as Joe had suggested.
But she knew that her first thought leaned heavily toward the latter. And that both frightened and excited her at the possibility John’s thoughts had gone there, too.
Chapter Nine
The short visit with Mr. Searcy hadn’t brought up too many memories of getting caught in their youth. John was still thinking about the kiss in the gully today. It took top-notch self-discipline and concentration to stay sane enough to continue looking for the approaching threat. How had she gotten to be a better kisser? And man, if they hadn’t cooled their heels over the past fifteen minutes in the presence of the old man, he might have thrown her onto her back—kissing her into oblivion again.
“Joe will probably mention seeing me at the lunch counter today. He’s there every Monday and Friday and bound to hear about Lauren. We can only pray that he doesn’t mention seeing you.”
“Yeah, pray.” He didn’t really expect fate or luck to be working on their side. “I’ll lose my anonymity as soon as Joe has lunch if Mabel doesn’t get Brian out of jail.”
“Are we heading to the house?” Alicia asked.
“Affirmative.”
They walked into the bright noon July heat, across a field as dry as fire tinder. What had happened to everything?
“Say affirmative around other people and they’ll know you’re not Brian for sure. Of course, I still don’t know how anyone could get the two of you confused.”
“The hard thing to believe is that you don’t. How?”
“How what?”
“How do you tell us apart? Besides the obvious haircut.”
She shrugged. He stopped them at the backyard to verify the maid had left. One car now. The other must have been Joe’s. He hopped the wooden fence and waited for Alicia to climb.
“Show-off. What are we looking for once we’re inside?”
“I don’t know. Let’s find an entrance and then think about it.” He tried a couple of windows. All locked. He was about to put his elbow through the glass on the back door when Alicia pulled it to a stop.
“Why don’t we just use this?” She dangled a lone key at the end of her tanned arm.
“You could have said something.”
“And where’s the fun in that?” She slipped the key in the dead bolt and a second time in the knob. “I warned you that the place has changed a lot.”
“Yeah, it’s empty. What happened to everything?” He shut the door and had to flip on the light to see.
More than just furniture was missing. There weren’t any mementos, knickknacks, family pictures...nothing. Objects that had been there the entire time they’d grown up. Dwayne had lost his mother at a very young age. His grandparents
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