Silent Night in Dry Creek. Janet Tronstad

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СКАЧАТЬ like it came from the direction of his grandfather’s back porch and Wade relaxed a little. His grandfather was probably just shooting at a coyote or something. But a wise lawman didn’t assume anything.

      The night was dark and now that Wade’s car lights and the ones in the house were off, he had to rely on his memory as he tried to sprint to the kitchen door. He hadn’t run anywhere since he’d started therapy and his whole leg was throbbing in protest.

      Wade twisted the knob and opened the door.

      He stepped into the dark kitchen and something soft wrapped around his neck.

      “A-a-rgh,” he gurgled in protest. The only light in the room was an illuminated clock that hung on the wall and it didn’t make anything but itself visible. The band around his neck loosened and he could tell it was an arm encased in leather.

      He leaned back a little, preparing to make one of his defensive moves, when he realized he was settled into a womanly softness that was kind of nice. He was breathing better and, now that the lights were off, there was no reason to move. Besides, he could smell the perfume.

      Maybe he got a little too comfortable in the dark leaning against her, because she whispered suspiciously. “Is that you?”

      Now how did a man answer that? “Depends on who you’re expecting.”

      He felt Jasmine shift her body as she took a step backward. Unfortunately, she didn’t warn him and his body twisted to go with her. A muscle cramp in his leg seized him and he could hardly breathe. He clenched his teeth to keep from hissing in pain.

      A small glow of light entered the room. Jasmine had reached back and opened the refrigerator door.

      “Are you all right?” she asked now as she moved away from him slightly. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was just—”

      “Don’t worry about it,” he said hoarsely as he reached out to put his gun on the counter so he could massage his thigh. Now he could see why no one wanted to hire him until he’d conquered his leg spasms. He wasn’t healing as fast as a younger man would. If a killer had been in the room, Wade would have been helpless to stop him.

      “I’m sorry,” Jasmine said as she moved closer.

      The pain was leaving and in the light coming from the refrigerator he saw her misery. In the darkness, her eyes were pools of worry. He reached out and brushed her cheek, thinking to comfort her. “Who taught you about that defense hold anyway? You’re pretty good at it.”

      “My old boyfriend, Lonnie,” she whispered.

      He could feel her breath on the back of his hand and it sent shivers down his spine. Then she looked up at him. She was beautiful. Without thinking, he bent his head down. She raised herself up on her tiptoes. He dipped farther down. He knew they were strangers and it was only the relief she was feeling that drew her close. But he was going to kiss her anyway. He just wanted to look at her a second or two longer before he did.

      Then, without warning, the kitchen door opened with a crash.

      Wade lunged toward his gun. He barely felt the pain in his leg, because of the panic inside. He’d grown soft. He’d assumed his grandfather had been behind the gunshots, but this wasn’t the old man. He and Jasmine were going to die and it was all his fault.

      “It’s okay,” Jasmine said quickly.

      Wade thought she was talking to him until he saw the man in the doorway more clearly. Even with all of the shadows, Wade recognized Elmer as he stood there, looking ready to do battle, with a barnyard shovel in his hands.

      “You all right?” Elmer asked as he flipped on the overhead light switch.

      “We’re fine,” Jasmine answered as she stepped a little closer to Wade.

      Elmer arched back like an attack cat.

      “Who’s he?” he demanded.

      The older man didn’t sound the least bit friendly, and Wade couldn’t blame him. He carefully moved his hand away from the gun on the counter.

      “He came to take me to dinner,” Jasmine explained.

      “He needs a gun to do that?”

      “No, of course not.” Jasmine took a step away from the counter as though she’d just realized a gun sat there.

      “I’m sorry to disturb—” Wade began.

      Then Elmer’s fierce scowl disappeared. “Why you’re little Wade Sutton! I haven’t seen you since—”

      Elmer stopped and had the grace to look flustered.

      Wade nodded. “Since the day my grandfather drove my dad and me away with enough shotgun blasts to rattle the entire county. As I recall, you were mending fence and had a first-row seat.”

      When he was fifteen, his father had come back from prison. He had lasted two weeks on the farm before he had a knock-down fight with Wade’s grandfather. When his father left, Wade had gone with him. He’d never returned to the farm, not even to see if the new wheat he’d planted that spring had yielded the harvest he’d expected.

      “Well,” Elmer murmured. “You were a good kid even if you and your friends were messing with my Cadillac.”

      “You knew?”

      Elmer grinned. “I could hardly blame you for wanting to sit inside. That Cadillac was something back then.”

      Wade relaxed. He was glad the man didn’t ask about his father. But then everyone in Dry Creek must have heard his father ended his crime spree in a shoot-out with the police a few months after they’d left the farm. It was the day Wade had turned sixteen and he’d begged his father to take him along. He was so glad to have his father back, he would have gone anywhere with him. His father had refused, saying he wanted Wade to stay on the right side of the law and have a decent life.

      “Your grandfather always did try to solve his problems with a shotgun,” Elmer continued. “I figure that’s him shooting at the cross. I saw one of the lights go out so he must have gotten off a good one.”

      If the shooter was aiming at the cross, it had to be his grandfather. At least that meant it wasn’t someone like Lonnie Denton. “You’ll have to report it to the sheriff.”

      “Can’t be anyone but your grandfather,” Elmer said as he studied Wade again. “The only set of lights coming down the road was yours. It’s too dark out for someone to drive in unannounced.”

      Wade nodded. He supposed that was true, too.

      “I’ll give the sheriff a call after you’re gone. No point in putting it off. I already unplugged the lights and your grandfather never leaves his porch until the seven-o’clock news comes on the television.”

      Wade remembered. Nothing gave the old man a better excuse to drink than the problems of the world.

      “Yeah, well, I guess we should be going.” Wade noticed that Elmer was still taking his measure. Not everyone in Dry Creek would trust a Sutton these days, even if they were willing to take up a collection on his behalf.

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