Read Online Sudden Storms by Marcia Lynn McClure - Free Book Online Page B

pretending was causing her, he could at least look at the old tree.
    “See,” Weston said, pointing to the trunk of the ancient tree. “Folks have been carvin’ names in this tree since I was a little bit.”
    “Oh, look!” Jolee exclaimed. “There’s Dan and Betty. Do you think that could be Dan and Betty Furman in town? Why, they’re in their fifties!”
    “Yep. That’s them,” Weston assured her. “Lookee here. Rebecca and Toby...that’s the Millers in town. Jill and John Parker. There’s all kinds that have carved here. Now, there’s somethin’ I seen here awhile back I need to ask Paxton about.” Weston gestured for Paxton to follow him to the other side of the tree and Jolee and Rivers looked, too.
    Rivers watched as a deep, rather worried frown wrinkled Paxton’s brow as he looked at the tree. She followed his gaze and felt sorry for the child of Mother Nature when she saw the damage that had been done to it in one area.
    “What do ya make of that, Pax?” Weston asked, pointing to an area brutally scarred with what looked like the lacerations made by a knife.
    Rivers looked closely. Two names had been carved in the tree where the vicious damage scarred it now. She swallowed hard, an odd sort of trepidation rising in her—Paxton and Ruby. The names carved in the tree beneath the more recent damage were “Paxton and Ruby.” Indeed, someone had chopped at the lettering, leaving the deep and fairly fresh scars in the bark and wood beneath.
    Paxton reached out and touched the area with his fingers, tracing the deep wounds of the tree. He shrugged his shoulders, still frowning. “Don’t know. Someone just up to no good, I suppose,” he mumbled.
    “Maybe,” Weston agreed. “But don’t it strike ya as strange…them fresh cuts in this here tree…and me seein’ Ruby in town yesterday?”
    Rivers quickly looked to Paxton. His thoughts and feelings were not visible in the indifferent expression he now wore. In truth, his face suddenly seemed as lifeless as stone.
    “Her family has moved back into town, Paxton. She’s here with them for awhile. She’s perty as ever and probably just as fickle,” Weston said.
    “She’s a fine girl, Weston. She didn’t do nothin’ wrong,” Paxton mumbled.
    “Well, that may be true of Ruby…but her mama’s with ’em, Paxton,” Weston informed, lowering his voice.
    Paxton quickly looked to Weston, who nodded. Then he glanced at Rivers for a moment before studying the scarred tree again. “Maybe she’s healin’ then,” Paxton suggested.
    Weston raised his eyebrows disbelievingly. “I still wonder, Pax. This here does make me wonder.”
    Rivers felt her heart begin to constrict once more. Paxton still loved this Ruby. It was, however painful, very obvious. He defended her at every turn. Furthermore, the defacing of the tree seemed to bother him.
    “Ruby perty much left ya at the altar, Paxton. How can you defend her like that?” Weston argued.
    Rivers feared her stomach would become so upset from her painful emotions that she might be sick. She began to walk away from the others.
    “Hush, Weston,” she heard Jolee scold.
    “It’s time we had it out of him, Jo. If he’s gonna ever get on with his life…it’s time he put it behind him,” Weston argued.
    “It is behind me, Weston,” Rivers heard Paxton tell his friend. Knowing he lied made her feel even more ill. She walked faster, but it wasn’t long before she felt Paxton’s powerful grip on her arm.
    Turning to face him, she spoke before he could. “He’s calling your bluff, Paxton. He knows you…”
    “Then I’ll just call his, Rivers,” he interrupted. “Let’s walk awhile and give them a chance to cozy up a bit.”
    Still holding her arm, he linked it through his own and began walking with her. Being so near to him was an odd sort of intoxication. It sent Rivers’s common sense, her rational thought spinning to the wind. She couldn’t speak, afraid she might suddenly turn to