Change of Heart

  Nolan showed none of this to Grace. Instead, he just worked and listened. It hadn’t been easy to get her to start talking. He accomplished it by asking her advice on how to deal with Scully. Did she know what the kids were up to?

  After that, they’d sat in her office, and while Nolan worked on her computer, Grace talked. There were several times when he was shocked at what she told him about Orin Peterson and the times she’d given him money.

  “I don’t know the truth,” Grace said, “but I think maybe the real story isn’t what Orin’s told me all these years.”

  Nolan wasn’t sure what she meant, but he was beginning to think that there was more to her late husband’s suicide than just despondency.

  “Maybe I didn’t . . .” Grace whispered. “Maybe Gil wasn’t . . .” She didn’t finish her sentences, but Nolan had an idea that maybe the burden of guilt that she carried was being lifted.

  Toward the end of the day, Nolan sent Eli one last text—FINISHED—and the computer continued to work. Nolan was packing up when Grace invited him to her house for pizza.

  “Yes,” he said. “I’d love to.” He was afraid to say any more for fear that she’d see what was in his heart. When she’d first moved to Edilean they’d dated for four glorious months. It had been wonderful!

  At first their two children had nothing to say to each other. Grace’s pretty daughter was concerned with clothes and makeup and boys, while his son was as nerdy as they come. But through repeated visits, Abby’s brain came to the fore and Scully learned some desperately needed social skills. By the end of that summer, Nolan thought they had become a family.

  But one day, Grace called it off. She said some things about guilt and her late husband’s suicide, but none of it made sense. All Nolan knew for sure was that one Saturday she went to meet with her husband’s former business partner, and when she returned, she told Nolan she couldn’t see him anymore.

  Nothing he said dissuaded her. For a few months he pursued her but she wouldn’t budge. In anger, he went out with a couple of other women, but he didn’t like them much.

  After the breakup, Abby and Scully stayed friends—and there were times when Nolan was downright jealous. When she came to pick up Abby, he’d see Grace in her car, but they never talked.

  Until today. Today she’d been different. It was as though something inside her had been released. She’d talked and even, a couple of times, laughed.

  When she’d invited him for pizza, he didn’t hesitate in saying yes.

  “I’m sorry about Abby going to the prom with a football player,” Grace said as she filled the wineglasses.

  He agreed, but he wasn’t going to betray his son by telling of Scully’s hurt. “It’s all right. Scully’s happiest when he’s in front of a computer.”

  “I know how much he cares about Abby. But the kid, Baze, is nice too.”

  “And he can dance,” Nolan said. “And he knows how to talk to people and all those things I should have taught my son. If I knew how to do them, that is.”

  Grace laughed. “I think you’re quite adept in social matters. Scully could be too if he had some training. It’s just that Abby needs to learn that there is value in a male besides a muscular body.”

  Nolan smiled. “I’ve been thinking of joining Mike’s Gym. Think that if I had some biceps I could win a girl’s heart?”

  Grace looked at him over her glass of wine. “I think you can win the heart of any woman just the way you are.”

  Nolan put his hand out to hers and she took it. In the next moment they were standing, their arms around each other, and kissing.

  “I’ve missed you so much,” Nolan whispered against her lips. “The time we spent together was some of the happiest of my life.”

  “And I’ve missed you. I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

  “Isn’t this nice?” came a voice from a few feet away.

  Turning, they saw Orin Peterson standing there holding a gun pointed at them. His shirt was misbuttoned; his trousers had no belt. There was a bloody scrape on his forehead. He looked as though he’d escaped from somewhere.

  “Where’s the rabbit?” he asked.

  Grace stepped out of Nolan’s arms. “Orin,” she said as calmly as she could manage, “you look like you could use some food. The pizza is hot. How about if I make you some coffee?”

  “Shut up! I’ve had enough of your whining. Where’s the rabbit?”

  “I think—” Nolan began.

  Orin fired the gun at him, and if Nolan hadn’t turned his head, he would have been hit. “The next one strikes,” Orin said. He looked back at Grace. “Where the hell is it?”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Nolan needs to go home, then you and I can sit down and talk this through. We’ll find whatever it is that you want, but I can assure you that I’ve never owned a rabbit.”

  “Don’t patronize me.”

  Grace’s body was shaking but she didn’t want him to see that. “I know your wife died recently but—”

  Orin laughed. “You really are the stupidest woman I’ve ever met. All I had to do was dump a load of guilt on you, take some money, and you’d crawl back into your shell. But now I’m sick of waiting. I’ve had four years in hell because of you. I was always worrying, always afraid you were going to find out.”

  Grace took a step farther away from Nolan. Maybe if she could get Orin to concentrate on her, Nolan could slip away and get help.

  “I didn’t mean to do anything bad to you, Orin,” Grace said. “I didn’t want you to be in misery. Your poverty—”

  “Oh, hell! Just shut the crap. Where is the little metal rabbit? And since you’re too dumb to figure it out, I’ll tell you that my wife is quite well. In fact, she was the one who planned everything. Paula has always been the smart one. That that husband of yours snooped into things wasn’t something we thought would happen. I offered him twenty percent of everything if he’d keep quiet but he said no. Twenty percent! He was even dumber than you.”

  Grace was beginning to understand what Orin was saying. “You . . . you and Paula killed my husband because he knew too much?”

  With a snort, Orin shook his head. “So now you finally stop crying and use your brain. Too bad it’s all for nothing. I want—”

  “It’s a flash drive, isn’t it?” Nolan said. “Shaped like a toy rabbit.”

  Grace drew in her breath. She knew what Orin wanted—and where it was.

  At her sound, Orin looked at her for a moment and saw the fear there. Terror. A smile came across his face. “I knew it! That smart-aleck kid of yours has it, doesn’t she?” On the kitchen island was Grace’s cell phone. Grabbing it, and hardly removing his eyes from them, he texted Abby to come home immediately and bring . . . He looked at Grace. “Is it on a key ring?” He could see by her eyes that he was right. He finished the text and sent it. “Won’t be long now and she’ll be here.”

  Orin tossed the phone down and turned to Nolan. “So you’re the town computer nerd. Years ago, I had to listen to Grace rave about you. Took me nearly two hours to get her to believe she wasn’t worth a second husband. After all, she was such a bad wife that the first one killed himself just to get away from her.” Orin was smirking. “Grace is such a coward! That kid of hers has more courage in her little finger than she has in her entire body.”

  “So what’s on the drive?” Nolan asked. He was inching toward the sideboard, his right hand held behind him.

  “None of your business. You know, all this is happening because of that nerd kid you have. I’ve always been afraid that he’d see that little rabbit and know what it was. Paula told me it would never happen, but I knew it was only a matter of time. Was that a car?” Orin listened. “No. I’ll be glad to get out of here. I’m going to cry so hard at your funeral, Grace. Murder-suicide. Such a romantic story about a woman the whole town knows is
deeply depressed.”

  Grace looked at Nolan, her eyes telling him that she was going to do something. He gave a quick shake of his head, pleading with her not to risk it.

  On the kitchen counter was Abby’s cute little red Jambox. It was the size of half a brick and nearly as solid as one. Abby used it to play her music louder than the computer speakers allowed. Grace had often been amazed at how much sound could come out of something so small.

  When Orin turned his sneering glance at Nolan, she grabbed the solid little box and threw it as hard as she could toward Orin’s head, then immediately dropped down to her knees behind the island.

  The Jambox hit the side of Orin’s head, not enough to knock him down, but it cut him.

  “What the—” Orin managed to say before Nolan leaped on him.

  The two men hit the floor hard and the gun went sliding. Grace, still squatting behind the counter, flung herself forward and grabbed the gun.

  She was shaking, but she stood up and held it at arm’s length, just as she saw them do on TV.

  But Nolan, younger, taller, and stronger than Orin, had him under control. Orin was flat on the floor, arms and legs splayed, with Nolan’s knee in his back. “You have any plastic ties?”

  “Yes,” Grace said and rummaged in a drawer until she found some—long ones, left over from tying up the Christmas tree. She grabbed several and handed them to Nolan.

  As he took the ties, he gently pushed the gun she was still holding away from his head.

  “Oh, sorry,” she said and started to put it on the island, but didn’t.

  Nolan secured Orin’s hands behind his back.

  “I’ll give you two twenty-five percent,” Orin said. “It’s a lot of money. Hey! I’ll give you my lake house. It’s a lot better than this dump. You can—”

  Yesterday Abby had dropped mustard on Grace’s favorite red silk scarf, spot-washed it, then hung it on the coat-closet door to dry. Grace pulled the scarf off and handed it to Nolan.

  “Thanks,” he said, smiling at her. He tied it around Orin’s mouth. “That’s better.” He used another tie to fasten Orin’s ankles together, then stood up. “That should keep him from running away while I’m distracted.”

  “We need to call the sheriff. What could distract you from that?”

  “This,” Nolan said as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

  “Mmmm” was all Grace could say.

  When Sheriff Colin Frazier and his deputy, Melissa, burst into the house, with Eli and Chelsea close behind them, three of them holding guns, what they saw astonished them.

  On the floor, tied up as if he were being prepared for roasting, was Orin Peterson. Standing inches away were Nolan and Grace, their bodies intertwined and kissing, oblivious to all the commotion around them. However, still clutched in Grace’s hand was Orin’s gun.

  Colin nodded to Melissa, but she was already on her way to remove the gun from Grace’s hand.

  “You two,” Colin said, but the kissing couple didn’t move. Louder: “Nolan!”

  Reluctantly, Nolan pulled away from Grace, then was startled to see the people there, especially Eli and Chelsea. They were dressed for the prom, with Eli in a tux and Chelsea in a revealing blue dress that was just plain dazzling.

  “Let’s get him out of here,” Melissa said. She cut the tie on Peterson’s ankles, then Colin, a huge man, hauled Orin up with one arm.

  “I can’t wait to see what’s on that little rabbit,” Colin said and started for the door. He paused by Eli and Chelsea. “Thanks for not trying to handle this by yourselves.”

  “I don’t think they needed either one of us,” Eli said, nodding toward Nolan and Grace.

  When the sheriff and his deputy were gone, Eli and Chelsea went to the dining table. Nolan and Grace were sitting there, holding hands, and quietly talking.

  “How did you know?” Nolan asked Eli.

  “Abby knew Orin’s misspelled text wasn’t from you,” Eli said.

  Grace took a deep drink of her wine. “Orin was going to . . . to . . .”

  “I know,” Chelsea said. “He wanted Abby to bring the flash drive here to him. He meant to kill . . .” She didn’t finish the sentence.

  “I didn’t get to see Abby in her dress,” Grace said, and suddenly the tears began. “She said I didn’t need to bother, that her new friend Chelsea was helping her.” She looked Chelsea up and down. “I understand because you look like you’re off the cover of Vogue.”

  “It’s okay.” Nolan patted her hand. “You’re just upset over what happened, but you’ll be all right. You just need—”

  “Men!” Chelsea said under her breath, then held out her hand to Grace. “Come on, let’s get you dressed so you can see your daughter in her prom dress. You!” She turned to Nolan. “Go shave and put on your best suit.” She looked at Eli. “Use all your spy techniques to get the owner of that little dress shop on the corner downtown to open up and let you buy that red dress in the window.”

  “Chelsea,” Eli said in a voice of great patience, “I can’t do something like that. My credentials don’t—”

  She moved so she was nose to nose with him. In her heels she was nearly as tall as he was. “If you ever plan to get me in bed again, if you have any hope of getting me to stay in this one-horse town, you will do this. Do you understand me?”

  Eli started to speak, but Nolan grabbed his arm and pulled. “One red dress coming up. Need any shoes?”

  Chelsea looked at Grace. “This one is a keeper.”

  “I think so,” Grace said.

  Chelsea looked back at the men, who were still standing there. “Go!”

  The two men hurried out of the house and Chelsea looked back at Grace. “Where’s your drawer?”

  Grace looked blank.

  “Where’s that drawer full of giveaway makeup, moisturizers, whatever you’ve accumulated over the years?”

  “Oh,” Grace said. “That drawer. This way.”

  It was late when the two couples got to the prom, but it was still in full swing. The band was on a break, but the teenagers were milling around, laughing and talking loudly.

  Abby was standing by the entrance door, still shaking, still scared of what was coming. Would the sheriff come to her with horrific news?

  When the door opened and her mother came in, Abby nearly collapsed in relief. She flung herself on her mother, the tears at last coming.

  “It’s okay,” Grace said, holding her daughter’s head to her shoulder. “Everything is fine. This is your prom and you should dance. Where is Baze?”

  Abby didn’t lose her grip on her mother but she sniffed. “He said I was no fun and he went back to Ashley. I want to go home and stay there forever, but you look beautiful.”

  Grace pulled her daughter’s face away to look at her. “He wasn’t worth you, and thank you. Now, I want you to get back on that floor and—”

  She broke off because the music began, only this time it was a much better band. It was loud and professional.

  Chelsea, standing nearby, said, “Who are they?”

  “I would imagine it’s the band I hired for Scully,” Eli answered.

  “You did what?” Around them, the teenagers were looking at the band in awe. The kissing couples started coming back into the gym.

  Eli gave a small smile. “You’re not the only one who can make plans in secret. Shall we go see the show?” He held out his arm for her.

  While they’d been away, dealing with Orin, new speakers had been set up and instead of local kids playing, some men in their forties, maybe fifties, were on the stage. Their faces had lines and wrinkles that only decades of substance abuse could produce. Their leather outfits looked as though they’d been through a lot of partying. One guy with a guitar nodded at Eli, then looked at Chelsea and gave a thumbs-up.

  Sh
e looked at Eli. “Friend of yours?”

  “He’s needed help a couple of times, so he owes me.” Eli pulled her into his arms, her back to his front. “I think you’ll like their music.”

  Abruptly, the band stopped playing. There was a drumroll, and everyone turned to look toward the back. The gym doors opened with a crash. Standing in a spotlight was Scully, wearing a tuxedo. He was flanked by two beautiful young women wearing short, revealing dance costumes.

  As the band began again, this time very loud and throbbing, exciting, Scully and the girls danced into the room. Everyone stepped back to watch.

  The dance show the three people put on was nothing short of spectacular. It was a story of the two beautiful young women fighting over the guy in the tux. The girls pranced and mock-fought, and Scully—who had mastered the art of looking disdainful—tried to make up his mind over which woman he wanted.

  The dancing and the music had everyone clapping and cheering. Which woman should Scully choose?

  When the girls seemed about ready to get into a brawl, Scully stepped away from them and walked toward the surrounding crowd. They parted to let him pass.

  Scully walked to Abby, who was standing by her mother. Her eye makeup had run a bit, but that just made her look more like a beautiful damsel who desperately needed rescuing.

  As the music pounded, Scully held his hand out to her.

  With a smile that dazzled, Abby accepted his hand and walked with him to the center of the floor. When the music slowed, Scully began to dance with Abby in an old-fashioned ballroom style. He dipped her, flung her out to the end of his arm, then pulled her back. It didn’t take Abby long to begin to add moves of her own. Everyone around them was clapping, smiling, cheering.

  When the music stopped, Scully pulled Abby to him and kissed her full on the mouth.

  The entire school erupted into cheers. As Eli’s two pretty cousins slipped sparkling crowns onto the heads of Scully and Abby, confetti rained down from the ceiling, covering everyone.

  Again, the crowd parted as, holding hands and wearing their crowns, Abby and Scully left the gym.

  “Limo outside?” Chelsea asked Eli.