Wyoming Winter. Diana Palmer

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       CHAPTER FOUR

      COLIE HAD NOTICED that Rodney was acting oddly. He stayed out until all hours. Once, she was up getting a drink of water when he came in. His face was flushed and his eyes looked strange.

      “Are you okay?” she asked worriedly.

      “What? Okay? Sure, I’m okay,” he replied. But he seemed foggy. “I’ve just had a long drive, all the way from Jackson Hole. I’m tired.”

      “You spend a lot of time over there lately,” she pointed out.

      He blinked. “Well, yes. There are some presentations on new gadgets and appliances and tools. I go to get familiar with them, for work.”

      He worked at the local hardware store as a clerk. She did wonder why a clerk would need to know about appliances, but perhaps that had become part of his duties. So she just smiled and took him at his word.

      But the next day, he had company. Colie’s father had gone to visit a member of his congregation who was at the hospital. It was Saturday, and Colie was working in the kitchen when the front door opened.

      “Can you make us some coffee, sis?” Rod called from the doorway. “We’ve had a long drive. This is my friend, Barry Todd,” he added, introducing a taciturn man in a gray suit. The man was impeccably groomed, but there was something disturbing about him. Colie, who often got vivid impressions about people, distrusted him on sight.

      “Of course,” she told her brother.

      He and his friend went into the living room. She heard muffled conversation. It sounded like arguing. Rod raised his voice once, and the other man replied in a sharp, condescending tone.

      Colie filled two mugs with coffee and started to take them in, but Rod met her at the door, thanked her and nudged the door closed behind him.

      She went back to the kitchen, puzzled and uneasy.

      * * *

      LATER, WHEN THE visitor left, Colie asked about him, trying not to sound as suspicious as she felt.

      “Barry’s a salesman for a tool company,” Rod told her, but he averted his eyes. “We do business together. He’s opening up sales in this territory and I’m going to be his representative.”

      “Oh, I see,” she said. “Like moonlighting.”

      He hesitated. “That’s it,” he agreed quickly. “Moonlighting.”

      “Your boss at the hardware store won’t mind, will he?” She worried.

      “Of course not,” he huffed. “He doesn’t tell me what to do on my own time.”

      “Your friend dresses nicely.”

      “Yes. He’s loaded. Did you see the car he drives? It’s a Mercedes!” He made a face. “All I’ve got is that old Ford. It looks shabby by comparison.”

      “Hey, it runs,” she pointed out. “And it’s worlds nicer than my truck!”

      “Your truck belongs in a junkyard,” he scoffed. “I’m amazed that they had the gall to actually sell it to you.”

      “Now, now, I can’t walk to work,” she teased.

      He didn’t smile. In the past, Rod had been happy and joking and fun to be around. More and more, he was short-tempered, impatient and morose.

      “Are you okay?” she asked worriedly.

      “I’m fine.” He tugged at the neck of his polo shirt. “I’m just hot.”

      “It’s cold in here,” she began.

      “You’re always cold,” he shot back. He turned away. He stopped and looked back at her. “You still going around with J.C.?”

      “Sort of,” she said, surprised. “We went over to the casino at Lander last week.”

      He laughed hollowly. “I’ll bet Daddy loved that.”

      “He doesn’t interfere.”

      His eyes narrowed. “J.C. won’t settle down, you know.”

      “I know that, Rod.” She studied him. “You and J.C. were close before you got out of the service. You don’t spend much time with him now.”

      “We have different interests, that’s all.” His face hardened. “He’s such a straight arrow,” he muttered. “I guess it’s his background.”

      “His background?” she probed, always interested in any tidbit of information about J.C. that she didn’t already know.

      “He was a policeman before he went into the armed services,” he said. “Worked in Billings for a couple of years as a beat cop. They said he was hell on wife beaters. Almost put a man in the hospital. The guy had beaten his pregnant wife bloody and threw his toddler down the steps. Killed the little boy. J.C. did a number on him. There weren’t any charges. The guy attacked J.C. the minute he walked in the door with his partner. Bad move. He’s a lot stronger than he looks.”

      “I can’t imagine anyone bad enough to hurt a child,” Colie said solemnly.

      “The guy used,” he said. “Idiot. You never take more than you need for a buzz. That’s just stupid.”

      He was using terms she’d heard at work when her bosses dictated letters about drug cases they were defending.

      “I don’t know anything about drugs,” she commented.

      “Just as well,” he told her. “What’s for supper?” he added, changing the subject.

      “Meat loaf and mashed potatoes. And I made a cherry pie.”

      He managed a smile. “Sounds good.”

      “I’ll get busy.”

      He СКАЧАТЬ