Really? It seemed unlikely that one of her friends was coming to stay at the Willows, but she supposed stranger things had happened. Who is it?
Well, youre just not going to believe it when I tell you. The faint look of triumph on Jeannettes face made Meredith vaguely uncomfortable. Im sure he was once a special friend of yours.
Merediths fingers tightened around the milk bottle, and somehow she already knew whose name was coming out of Jeannettes mouth.
Zachary Randal. Jeannette proclaimed the name loudly enough that everyone in Millers Shop could hear it. Now, tell me Im not wrong. You two were an item once upon a time, werent you?
The smile on Merediths face was probably frozen, but it had nothing on the icy hand that gripped her heart at the name. Zach Randal, returning to Deer Run after thirteen years? Surely not. Hed made it plain enough when hed stormed away from her that he would never come back.
Zach Randal? Anna joined the conversation, diverting Jeannettes focus, thank goodness. Well, that is interesting news. Itll be nice to see how that boy turned out after all these years.
Jeannettes expression suggested she smelled something nasty. Not very well, Im sure. If anyone had asked me, Id have said hed be in prison by this time.
Meredith discovered she was still capable of being roused to anger on Zachs behalf. If thats so, why did you rent a room to him?
Jeannette shrugged, spreading her hands wide. I run a business, after all. What can I do? But Im surprised you didnt suggest he stay at your friend Rachels little inn.
Rachel ran Mason House, a thriving new B and B that was giving the Willows a run for its money. But never mind the barbJeannette was fishing for a response. She was probably torn between wanting to be the only person who knew of Zachs imminent arrival and her desire to find out if Meredith was still in touch with him.
The thought of exposing her feelings in public kept Merediths spine straight and her face composed. Theres no reason for Zach to contact me about his plans.
So sad. Jeannette shook her head as if in sympathy, but her gaze was that of a robin with its eyes on a succulent worm. When you were once so very close.
Just casual friends, she said, knowing full well that everyone in the store probably saw that for the lie it was. Knowing, too, that she couldnt keep this front up much longer. Excuse me. I must get home.
She brushed past Jeannette and hurried out the door, trying not to look as if she were running away.
She didnt run away. Shed never been able to. Running away was what Zach had done. She had just provided the reason.
* * *
ZACH HAD EXPECTED hed have some time to adjust to being back in Deer Run before his inevitable first sight of Meredith King. Hed been wrong. As he pulled up in front of the Willows, Meredith was letting herself in the gate to her front yard, right across the street.
He could have stayed at a big, anonymous motel out on the interstate, but conducting this business had become a matter of pride to him. If he had to come back to Deer Run, hed come, and nobody here could intimidate him again.
Including Meredith. He slammed the car door, making her face turn toward him, and started across the road. Sauntering, not hurrying. Hed greet her like any nearly forgotten acquaintance he hadnt seen in years. Hed show both her and himself that nothing remained of their long-vanished love.
That was easier said than done, given the fact that just the sight of her made him feel as if hed been rammed full-on by a semi.
He came to a halt a few feet from her. Meredith stood still, just looking at him, her hand arrested with the gate half-open.
Meredith. Luckily his voice came out as cool as hed hoped. Undercover work had honed his acting skills. Its been a long time.
He might have hoped to find that his first love had turned into a frazzled housewife carrying an extra twenty pounds and with a whining toddler in tow. She hadnt. If Meredith had added any weight since she was seventeen, it had certainly gone to the right places. The lovely girl shed been had turned into a beautiful woman.
Thirteen years, she said. She seemed to realize that she was gripping the gate tightly, and she let it swing closed, creating a barrier between them. How are you, Zach?
Doing fine. He probably resembled the drug dealer hed been posing as, with his tight, well-worn jeans, hair over his collar and stubble on his jaw. Fine. Let Deer Run think ill of him. It always had.
Meredith, on the other hand, looked like a polished professional woman with her shining brown hair worn in a sleek, just-below-the-chin cut, neat slacks and a soft coral sweater, with a touch of gold at ears and wrist.
Not on her hands, though. Hed seen that bare ring finger first thing.
I just learned from Jeannette that you were coming. Those big brown doe eyes focused on his face. I was surprised.
He managed a short laugh. Id say appalled was closer to the truth, right? That came out sounding more bitter than hed intended.
Just surprised. Because I remember hearing you swear that Deer Run had seen the last of you. Those full lips might have trembled for an instant on the words.
We talk a lot of nonsense when were seventeen, right? Things like I love you. Ill always love you. He shrugged. It was time I dealt with the property I own here. Had a few vacation days coming, so I figured Id clear things up.
I see. She glanced away, as if at a loss for something else to say.
He could remember when it seemed theyd never run out of things to say to each other. Theyd walk around town in the summer twilight, sharing secrets and dreams as if they were two parts of a whole.
Meredith seemed to regain her poise after the momentary lapse. I guess this visit wont be much of a vacation from work for you. What are you doing now?
He raised an eyebrow, wondering how shed react. Police. Detective Zachary Randal, Pittsburgh P.D., believe it or not. I imagine most people in Deer Run expected me to end up on the other side of the bars.
Im sure thats not true. A faint flush touched her cheekbones, denying the words.
Come on, Meredith. He put his hand on the gate, dangerously close to hers. We both know what this town thinks of me.
Deer Run has changed, she protested.
He took an obvious look down the street at the same lineup of century-old Victorian houses and small shops. A few cars were parked in front of the grocery store, an Amish horse and buggy was hitched at the side of the hardware store. The village snoozed under the shelter of the mountain ridge that seemed to cut it off from the rest of the world.
Really? Looks the same to me. He raised an eyebrow and had the satisfaction of seeing a spark of anger in those brown eyes.
You shouldnt judge what you dont know. Her chin came up, reminding him of the sensitive good girl whod still had the courage to date the bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks.
The front door of the house rattled, and a high, sweet voice called out, Meredith? Come inside, please. I need you.
The door closed again. Apparently Margo King had her daughter so well trained that she didnt need to call twice.
Meredith half turned away from the gate. Im sorry. I have to go in.
Meredith half turned away from the gate. Im sorry. I have to go in.
Yeah. Right. Bitterness welled up, raw in his throat. I see one thing hasnt changed at all.
Before she could answer he turned and walked away, his fists clenching as he tried to stamp down feelings hed been sure had died a long time ago.
* * *
ANGER WAS MEREDITHS only shield against pain, and she clung to it as she hurried into the house. If all Zach had to offer her was bitterness, so be it. He might at least have given her a chance to explain.
The thought drew her up sharply. What was there to explain? Shed said she loved him, but she hadnt had the courage to go against her family, her mothers imagined social status or the opinion of Deer Run to prove it. Zach knew that as well as she did. Their love was long since dead and buried, and it might have the decency to stay in its grave.
What on earth were you doing, talking to that boy? Standing there at the front gate where everyone in town could see youMeredith King, you should have better sense. Her mother waited in the entryway, shaking with anger from the top of her carefully tinted hair to the tips of her neat leather loafers. I cant imagine how he has the nerve to show his face in Deer Run again. Whats he doing here, anyway?
Meredith sucked in a deep breath and prayed for calm. Im not sure, Mother. I believe he has some business to take care of. She kept walking, heading for the kitchen. Id better put the goats milk in the fridge.
It was too much to hope that her mother wouldnt follow her. What kind of business? If hes come back here to moon after you again, he might as well go back where he came from.
Dont be silly. That came out too sharply. You know all that was over a long time ago.
You shouldnt have talked to him at all. Her mother sank onto a kitchen chair, pressing her fingertips to her temples. It gives me one of my headaches just to think about Zach Randal, right at my front gate, looking like some kind of a hoodlum.
Zach had looked a bit rough around the edges, hadnt he? That had always been part of the allure, Meredith supposed. It was classic, a good girl like Meredith King falling hard for the boy who was bad to the bone, or so people said. And Zach, with his disdain for small-town attitudes, had seemed to enjoy shocking the denizens of Deer Run. If he wasnt cutting school, he was sauntering in late. And hed been quick with his fists at the slightest opportunity.
I understand hes a police officer now, she said, opening the refrigerator door to shield her face while hoping to head off some of the inevitable speculation.
I suppose he told you so, and you believed him. Just like you always did. Her mothers voice went up an octave, and she stopped massaging her temples to clutch at her chestnever a good sign. You believed him no matter what we said, causing your poor father so much grief.
Tears spurted from her mothers soft brown eyes, and her words came in little gasps. She was working herself into a state of hysteria, and if Meredith didnt intercede, shed end up with a frantic call to the doctor, insisting she was having a heart attack.
Now, Mother, thats all in the past. Theres nothing to worry about anymore. Zach is only here for a few days, and then hell be gone and well never see him again. Her heart seemed to lodge a protest at that, but she kept going. Im sorry his return upset you, but it doesnt need to. Why dont you come upstairs and have a nice rest before supper?
Still soothing, Meredith led her mother gently to the stairs. Theyd played this scene so often she knew it by heart. First it had been Daddy doing the soothing and comforting, and now it was Merediths job.
Keeping her voice calm, her touch gentle, she guided her mother up to her bedroom, pulled the shades, tucked her under the coverlet. Experience had taught her that it was useless to try and reason with her mothershe was no more amenable to reason than the average two-year-old. And too much emotion led inevitably to the racing heartbeat that frightened her mother as much as it did Meredith.
According to the doctors, her mothers atrial fibrillation was not nearly bad enough or frequent enough to require anything other than the mild medication she was on. Their assurances had never comforted her mother.
Finally, after repeated promises that Margo would never be subjected to the sight of Zach Randal again, Meredith was able to get away. An easy promise to make, wasnt it? It was hardly likely that Zach would care to confront Margo King after what she had done to him.
Meredith had barely reached the kitchen when she heard a tapping on the back door. Through the window she spotted Rachel, whod probably cut across the back lawn between their houses in the shortcut theyd developed in the past few months. The elderly Amish seamstress whose small house sat between the two didnt mind their frequent trespassing.
Meredith opened the door with a sense of relief. Here was someone she could confide in without the need to protect her feelings.
Rachel came in, handing her a package as she did so. This was on your back porch.
Meredith glanced at the label as she led the way into the kitchen and sighed. It looks as if Mother has been watching the Shopping Channel again. I cant seem to convince her that we cant afford every little thing that appeals to her. Shed have to have another of her futile talks with her mother.
Rachel nodded in sympathy. She knew all about getting by on a small income, since she was supporting herself and her young daughter by turning her former mother-in-laws house into a bed-and-breakfast. She still doesnt understand that her investments arent paying off the way they used to?
Understand? She wont even listen. Says it gives her a headache.
Meredith put the kettle on the stove with a little unnecessary force. Rachel was the only person in whom she confided, and Rachel was safe. Their childhood friendship had blossomed into a solid relationship since Rachel moved back to Deer Run.
How is she taking Zach Randals return? Rachel lowered her voice, as if Margo King might be lurking around the corner.
Its okay to talk. Shes taking a nap. Meredith set two mugs on the counter. The late-September day was cool enough to switch from iced tea to hot tea for their afternoon break. So the rumor mill is turning already, is it?
Im afraid so. Rachel hesitated, her usual gentle expression concerned. If you dont want to talk about it...
Id rather talk to you than anyone. I just cant believe Zach has come back. I never expected to see him again after what my mother did.
Your mother?
You didnt know? I guess you might not have. Rachel had still been Amish then, and their childhood friendship had faded by that time. Amish teenage girls were helping their mothers or preparing for marriage at a time when Englisch girls were engrossed in cheerleading and the latest hairstyles.
The kettle shrieked, a suitable sound for the way Meredith felt. She poured water over the tea bags.
My parents didnt want me involved with Zach, as you can imagine. He was the rebel, constantly in trouble with everyone.
She had to smile. It had been such a classic storylike Grease without the music. Or maybe more like West Side Story, even though no one died.
When we started getting too serious, my mother came up with a simple plan to get rid of him. I had let him into the house when she wasnt there, and she claimed money was missing from her desk drawer. She said Zach had taken it, and she threatened to prosecute if he didnt go away and leave me alone. The words were as dry as dust in her mouth. He was ready to leave Deer Run behind, anyway, I suppose. He wanted me to go with him. I said no. She set the mugs on the table with a clunk and sank into her chair.