Read Online Smoketree by Jennifer Roberson - Free Book Online Page A

too certain he knew how to make it.

    Throughout the meal Brandon was attentive and charming, speaking about trivial things he thought might divert me. I realized what he was doing, and appreciated it.
    The Olivers conversed with him warmly, old friends as well as business acquaintances. Julie and Matt Chesley joined in from time to time, but spoke mostly with Nathan. I noticed he seemed strangely subdued, but he guided the generalized table talk with skill and warmth. Still, I thought it seemed more out of habit than his normal affable manner.
    Cass sat by Harper, guarding him like a jealous dog does a bone. It amused me that she seemed to consider me a threat to whatever relationship existed between them. Harper treated her like a younger sister; he either didn’t or wouldn’t realize she was no longer a little girl.
    When the meal was over Brandon made a skilled, unobtrusive exit, taking me with him. I felt a pang of guilt over our abrupt escape, but as Rafferty brushed by us on the porch I decided his rudeness outdid ours.
    “My place, or yours?” Brandon asked.
    I laughed at him. We stood in the garish illumination of the yellow porchlight. It gilded his blond hair and leached color from his eyes. “Sounds like a proposition, Mr. Walkerton.”
    “Ah, but I don’t suppose you would take it seriously.” His tone was smooth and easy, applying no pressure; Brandon had always been very good with words and nuances.
    “Thank you,” I told him. “It helps.”
    He turned toward me. “I’ve been worried about you, you know.”
    “I haven’t seen you in months.”
    “I know that. It doesn’t mean I can’t worry about you.” His face, jaundiced in the light, was serious. “You will give me that right, won’t you—even if you were Tucker’s lady?” He paused. “Let’s find a place to talk, Kelly. I think we both have a lot to say to each other.”
    “There’s nothing to say—”
    “Kelly,” he interrupted calmly, “I’ve heard all the rumors. Shall we go discuss them?”
    “Wait—”
    He took my hand and led me down the steps. “Come on.”
    We wound up at the pens near the burned barn. Brandon asked about it, remarking on how spooky the charred rafters and uprights appeared in the moonlight. Illumination from the Lodge leaked out to reach the barn, but it was weak and diluted by distance. The stench of destruction still hung about it.
    “Last night,” I told him. “It was a mess.”
    “I can imagine. ” He hooked one foot on the bottom rail and rested his forearms along the top one. The inhabitant eyed him distrustfully from the far end, then went back to lipping at the hay in the feeder.
    I felt as wary suddenly. “Well?”
    He didn’t look at me. “I’ve heard a lot of things about you in the past six months.”
    “How many did you believe?”
    He smiled. “I’m not exactly sure. But you look well enough to me, if a little strained. And too thin. ” He turned against the rails and looked straight at me. “What happened to you? Afterward . You dropped out of sight.”
    I hedged. “What were they saying, Brandon?”
    He shook his head slightly, mouth drawing into a taut line. “I didn’t believe any of it-everything from a nervous breakdown to attempted suicide.”
    My hands closed over the cool metal rail. “Nothing about manslaughter, then?”
    He swung around. “ Manslaughter! What are you talking about?”
    “I was driving.” Three simple words. And so hard to say. “Damn it, it was an accident!”
    “It doesn’t make it any easier!” I glared at him and tried to fight back the tears. “It was still me .”
    “He was drunk when he left the party. Everyone knew that. If he’d gotten behind the wheel God knows what might have—” He stopped dead, realizing what he was about to say.
    I nodded. “Exactly. Tucker driving might have gotten us both killed. Well? I drove—and I merely got one of us killed instead of both!”
    “Kelly…” He let his breath out harshly.