A friend of Pru's pulled her away and onto the dance floor. A moment later, she was laughing and dancing as though nothing had happened.
“She's vile!” Gayle muttered. “Thanks for the wine, Jake. I could use a little before I go flirt my butt off with my handsome boss, who has just arrived. Whoo-hoo!”
Jake and Holly smiled after Gayle, who danced her way over to her boss.
“I admire Gayle and Lizzie so much for their ability to let things roll off their backs,” Holly said, accepting a glass of white wine from Jake.
“It took me a long time to learn how to do that,” Jake said. “I used to fly off the handle about everything. Take everything personally. I never realized that if I don't care about the person's opinion, it can't affect me.”
It's why your opinion of me almost killed me
, he wanted to add.
Jake Boone represents everything I'm running away from ... leaving ... everything I hate here....
“I know what you mean,” she said. “It's taken me a long time to get to that point in the first place. You know, I
almost
feel sorry for Pru. If she had an ounce of decency, I might feel sorry for her.”
“Attention, everyone!” Arianna called out. “The Troutville Senior High reunion class poll sheets are now available on the alumni table.”
Gayle hurried over. “Class poll?” she said, raising an eyebrow. “Why do I doubt this was sanctioned by the reunion committee.”
“Hey, I've got one that's not on here,” bellowed a deep male voice. “Where's Most Likely To Buy Your Way Through Life? I vote for Dylan
Dunce
hill!”
There were gasps and murmurs from the crowdâand then a thud.
A red-faced Bobby Jones, waving a beer bottle in one hand and the class poll in the other, staggered a few feet, then tripped and fell over his own feet.
A crowd gathered around him. “I think he passed out!” a woman said.
Jake kneeled down beside Bobby and checked his pulse. The smell of liquor emanated from his pores. “He's out cold. How about some help getting him to a couch in the lobby?”
Three men came to Jake's aid; together they carried the very tall, very muscular man to a couch along the darkened hallway to the left, where Bobby could sleep in privacy until he either woke up or fell off.
“Now I really feel like I'm back in high school,” Holly said. “All this stupid animosity!”
Jake nodded. “I know. It is stupid. Carrying around grudges and old hurts doesn't do anyone any good.”
Holly glanced up at him, her blue eyes serious. “We were all just kids. That's what's so hard to swallow now. Kids, innocent kids. Hurting each other. Them to us. Us to each other.” She shook her head.
“Why don't we go breathe some fresh air,” Jake suggested. Holly nodded and he led her outside, into the hotel's flower garden. “Seat?”
She sat on the white wooden bench and he sat next to her, aware of her nearness, the brush of her thigh, her shoulder against his own. For a moment, he was transported back to a time when he'd still had hope for them.
“What's Bobby's problem with Dylan?” Holly asked.
“Bobby hadâstill has, I guessâa huge crush on Arianna. And Arianna was only ever interested in Dylan. Once or twice she used Bobby to try to make Dylan jealous. Didn't work, of course. Only made Bobby jealous of Dylan.”
She froze for a moment and clutched his arm. “Could Bobby be behind what's been going on? The notes, the stone?”
“Possible,” Jake said, “but you'd think he'd be grateful to Lizzie for taking Dylan off the marriage marketâleaving Arianna still available.”
“Why, Jake Boone, I do declare I've been looking everywhere for you!”
Pru Dunhill.
“You found me,” he said. “You remember Holly Morrow, of course.”
“No, I don't believe I do,” Pru responded, twisting on her high heels. She stood on his side of the bench, so close that he had to sit back in order to keep her breasts from brushing against him. “Dear,” she said to Holly. “I'm sorry, but I seem to have forgotten your name already. I'm Pru
Dunhill
. Would you be a sweetie and get Jake and me two glasses of champagne? We have something to celebrate.”
Holly's mouth dropped open. “I think you're confusing me with one of your servants.”
Pru stared at her. She clearly hadn't expected Holly's retort. She recovered quickly, but Jake could see that being put in her place twice in the same hour had caught her off guard. Pru was used to being deferred to, used to intimidating everyone. Used to intimidating Holly and making her run away in tears.
Not anymore.
“Ooh, there's Laureen! I haven't seen her in years. Jake, I'll catch up with you later. Save me a dance, darlin'.”
And with that, she flitted away.
“She is unbelievable!” Holly said, shaking her head. She looked at him. “So are you and Pruâ”
“Don't even suggest it,” Jake interrupted.
She nodded. And, unless Jake was mistaken, he caught the hint of a smile.
“Hey, you two,” Lizzie called, stepping out into the garden. “Take a look at this crap.”
“Lizzie, I told you to throw that away,” Dylan said, shaking his head. “It's just the usual bull. Liz, when you pay any attention to this nonsense, you give them what they want. This is our reunion and we're here to have a good time.”
“You're right, honey,” Lizzie said. She crumpled up the sheet of paper and tossed it in the wicker trash can next to the bench. “I knew there was a reason I was marrying you,” she teased.
Dylan kissed her nose. “Hey, they're playing our song. Let's dance.”
Lizzie smiled, winked at Holly, and Dylan twirled her all the way back inside the ballroom.
“They're so in love,” Holly said.
“It's nice to see,” Jake responded. “I was beginning to think the whole love thing was some kind of myth.”
“You've never been in love?” Holly asked carefully.
He coughed, covering his surprise. “Once, actually.”
“What happened,” she asked.
“The usual,” was all he would say. “We'd better get back inside, see whether Bobby is still out cold and what the witches trio is up to.”
He felt her eyes on him, and he met her gaze and held it. And then a couple came out, laughing and pointing at the stars, and the moment was broken.
“Jake, wait a minute,” Holly whispered, staring past him through the ornate cast-iron gate that led to a path to the woods. “Is that Pru?”
Jake squinted to see in the dim lighting. About three hundred feet away, partially blocked by a huge tree, stood a couple, a man and a woman, who appeared to be arguing, if their hand motions were any indication.
Ah, yes. There was the flash of blond hair as the woman dramatically shook her head, and an expanse of long, smooth, pale leg, the foot encased in a high-heeled sandal. It was Pru Dunhill.
But with whom was she arguing?
“Can you make out who she's with?” Holly asked.
Jake shook his head. The man wore what looked like a baseball cap; it was impossible to see the color or style of his hair, and Jake couldn't get a good eye on his face. He was tall, just over six feet, and powerfully built, but Jake couldn't determine his age.
“Let's move slowly, naturally, to the gate. Whatever you do, don't look in their direction. Let's just get closer for a better view or at least a different angle.”
The strains of a Frank Sinatra song came softly through the open windows from the reunion room, and couples in the courtyard began dancing, dipping and twirling.
“Thanks to Frank, we've been given a perfect cover for moving over to the gate,” Jake said, holding out his hand. “Shall we dance?”
Holly took his hand, and he slipped his other arm around her narrow waist. They stood close; he could breathe in her trademark perfume, the clean scent of her silky hair. Their mouths were inches away ... so close. And yet so incredibly far. For a split second, he allowed himself to look at those lips, those luscious, berry-colored lips that he'd dreamed of for so many yearsâ
“Oh, my God, Jake,” Holly cried softly. “She just grabbed a stone from the ground!”
Jake danced Holly over to the gate. Pru did have a large stone in her hand. Good Lord, was she going to hit the guy, whoever he was, with the rock?
Pru threw the stone, hard, at a neighboring tree; a squirrel darted along a high branch and jumped to yet another tree.
The man was staring down at the ground, shaking his head. Pru seemed to be asking him for something that he didn't want to give.
What? And who was he?
Move over just a bit
, he willed the man.
Shift over just a foot so that the leafy trees aren't blocking the moonlight!
But the man stood still. He glanced up at the dark sky, at the ceiling of branches in the dense woods. And then he shook his head again and started walking away, deeper into the woods.
Pru ran after him, her hands gesturing wildly. But the man kept walking. Pru stood there, in her black dress, the warm summer wind blowing tendrils of long blond hair away from her face.
The man gone, Pru picked up another stone and threw it, then another.
Jake and Holly stared at each other, then back at Pru Dunhill.
“Perhaps she was showing him how hard she wants the stone next timeâwhen it's Lizzie's turn to get hurt. Or mine,” Holly said, her face pale. She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath.
“It doesn't look very good for her,” Jake agreed, watching as Pru peered over toward the gate, then began walking very quickly toward the side of the hotel. He had a feeling Pru would reenter the hotel through the front door, then magically appear in the doorway to the courtyard as though she'd been in the reunion room the entire time.
Five minutes later, there she was, the loose tendrils of hair suddenly back in place, her red lipstick fresh and shiny. But as she fell in with a group of her girlfriends who were now shimmying to a Madonna song, one of the women, Laureen, pointed at Pru's high-heeled sandal and laughed.
For just a moment, the smile died from Pru's face as she scraped a leaf from her heel. And then it was business as usual. She danced and laughed and even accepted a pat on the rear end from a jerk in their class, as though she hadn't minutes ago been passionately arguing with a man in the woods.
Over what, Jake was determined to find out.
“Is she on your list of suspects now?” Holly asked, raising an eyebrow.
Jake looked at Holly and nodded. “It's more than suspicious that Pru is sneaking off into the woods during a crowded party when she's least likely to be missed, and arguing with a strange man.”
“So you do agree it's likely that Pru hired him as her âhit man,'” Holly said. “He's the one doing her dirty work.”
“It's possible,” Jake said.
“Fine,” Holly said. “I'll take that. I assume she's high on your list of suspects now?”
He let out a deep breath and nodded.
Â
Holly, Lizzie, and Flea were all so relieved that the rest of the evening had passed without incident that they all had hearty appetites the next morning. When Lizzie and Holly had arrived back at Lizzie's, Flea had been asleep on Lizzie's couch, the novel she'd been reading open on her chest. Holly and Lizzie had tried not to wake her as they shut off the television and the lights, but Flea was a light sleeper and was too anxious to hear about the reunion.
“You should have heard Gayle tell Pru Dunhill off!” Lizzie had said. “She was great!”
I just hope Pru doesn't try to retaliate
, Holly had thought as she'd drifted off to sleep. If Pru
was
their suspect, who knew how she'd try to get Gayle backâor Holly.
Holly had spent the night tossing and turning, the possibilities of exactly what Pru Dunhill had been discussing with the man in the woods keeping her eyes wide open. Had she been plotting the next “accident”? Insisting the man get more violent? Such as taking a heavy stone and bashing one of themâ
Flip. Flop. Flip. Flop. From her stomach to her back and back again, Holly had been unable to keep the terrible thoughts from her mind. She was scared. Very scared. And worried for her friends.
She debated telling Lizzie, Gayle and Flea about what she'd seen, but during a quick shower in the morning, she decided to hold off, as Jake suggested, until they had proof.