Weddings Collection. Кэрол Мортимер

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СКАЧАТЬ his vantage point, it looked as if she was going over eighty miles an hour.

      She was coming from the general direction of the town. Something had happened. There was no other explanation for the sudden speed. The thought barely registered as Kevin scrambled down the ladder, paint splashing over the side of the can. The container almost tipped over as he hurriedly set it on the ground.

      Running toward her, he saw that June’s face was the color of ashes.

      Something had happened. He didn’t even want to speculate on what.

      June brought the vehicle to a skidding stop less than two feet away from him. But instead of getting out, she remained sitting behind the wheel.

      She was trembling, he realized.

      At her side, Kevin was afraid to touch her. Her expression was like something he’d never seen before. Disoriented, lost.

      “June, what happened? You’re shaking like a leaf.”

      After she’d driven away from her father, the whole situation began to appear almost surreal to her, as if it couldn’t possibly have been true. Her father was dead, she’d been so sure of that. In her heart, she knew that was what April and Max believed.

      Could she have hallucinated the whole thing? Hallucinations weren’t uncommon in places like this, but they were usually the result of severe cabin fever, or being lost in the wild for several days. At the very least, a high fever came into play.

      And she had neither.

      Trying to focus, to shake off the feeling that was struggling for control over her, she heard Kevin’s voice somewhere in the distance.

      “June?”

      Somehow, she’d gotten out of the Jeep. Whether Kevin had lifted her out or she had climbed out on her own, she wasn’t sure.

      The only thing she knew was that she didn’t want it to be true. She didn’t want her father to be back. Not after all this time, not after she’d buried him in her mind years ago.

      “June, what’s wrong?” He curbed the urge to try to shake her out of the daze she seemed to be in. “Did something happen in town? To you? To the others?” A dozen different things occurred to him. He refused to flesh any of them out until she gave him something to work with. “June.” His voice was urgent, even as it was soft, kind. “Talk to me, I can’t help you unless you talk to me.”

      Desperate, Kevin thought of calling the clinic and having Jimmy drive out. From his limited medical knowledge, he thought that June looked as if she was in shock.

      Had she gotten hurt? Been in a car accident?

      Quickly he checked her limbs to make sure there weren’t any injuries not readily visible at first glance. But there were no cuts, no bruises. Nothing except the haunted look in her eyes.

      As if she’d seen something she didn’t want to.

      At a loss, Kevin picked her up in his arms to carry her into the house. It was then that she came to. With a small cry, she began to resist, pushing against his chest. “No!”

      Had someone tried to attack her? He had a thousand questions and not a single answer.

      “All right.” Kevin put her down on the ground again, trying to think of what to do.

      He had no idea what was going on or why she was behaving this way, only that he wasn’t about to leave her until he had some kind of answer and she was herself again.

      Carefully pushing back a strand of hair that had fallen into her face, he peered at her. The color wasn’t returning.

      “You feel up to telling me what’s going on?”

      Slowly her eyes turned toward him, as if she hadn’t really been aware that it was him who’d been talking to her. “He’s back.”

      “Who’s back?”

      Kevin thought of Haggerty, the man who’d tried to corner her at the Salty the other night. But the miner didn’t seem like the type to force himself beyond a point. And even so, he had every confidence in the world that June could hold her own against someone like that. This was something more. Something far more serious.

      “Take your time,” he said softly, belying the impatience he felt. Whatever was going on had taken its toll on her. He wasn’t about to add to that by demanding she talk to him before she was ready.

      June swallowed before she answered, the words sticking to the roof of her mouth, glued there by sheer disbelief.

      Why? Why now?

      “My father,” she whispered hoarsely. “My father’s back.”

      He knew all about the story, had gotten it not just in bits and pieces from her, but from Jimmy and Lily as well. The story of the man who couldn’t stay put, who’d created a family only to abandon it, sacrificing it on the altar of his wanderlust. Everyone in town believed that he was gone for good, most likely dead.

      “Are you sure?”

      Her eyes darted to his face, anger leaping into him. He took no offense.

      “Of course I’m sure. Don’t you think I know what my own father looks like?” she lashed out, then instantly regretted it. She pressed her lips together. “I’m sorry, I’m just—”

      He cut her short. “You don’t have to apologize. I’d feel just as shaken up as you in your place.” He spoke slowly, softly, not wanting her to fall apart. He’d gotten to know her pretty well in the past two weeks and had never seen her like this. She seemed so completely vulnerable. “Where did you see him?”

      She shut her eyes for a moment. The image was burned into her mind. “At the cemetery.” She looked at Kevin. The pain that assaulted her was overwhelming. Why? It shouldn’t matter anymore. It should have stopped mattering a long time ago. She thought it had. “He was standing over my mother’s grave.”

      That would explain why the tractor hadn’t been moved. “Is that where you were just now?”

      June nodded. She looked off in the general direction of Cemetery Hill. “I go there sometimes,” she told him quietly, almost talking to herself. “To talk.” Realizing what she’d just said, she flushed. “Just to clear my head. You probably think that’s crazy.”

      He smiled at her, refraining from taking her into his arms the way he wanted to. “No. I talk to mine all the time. They both wanted to be cremated, so there’s no actual grave to go to. Their ashes were scattered. In a way, I guess you might say they’re all around me. Kind of with me all the time.”

      She looked at him, gratitude burrowing its way in between the walls of shock that had closed in around her. He understood, she thought. It meant a great deal right now to have someone understand.

      “Did he recognize you?”

      She laughed shortly. “He thought I was April. And then he said I looked just like my mother.” She dragged her hand restlessly through her hair. He noted with relief that some measure of СКАЧАТЬ