Forbidden Ground (Cold Creek #2)(66)
As usual, merely touching her sent a jolt of energy through him. If he made love to her, possessed her body, would that stem the ache she’d created in his life?
*
Kate thought Keith and Velma Simons made a strange team. She was as short and wiry as he was tall and brawny. She had hair bleached so blond it looked almost white, while his was dark. She talked a lot; he was a man of few words. Velma was proud of their new things and showed them off, while Keith seemed a bit embarrassed by them.
“Your cousin just took a break and is eating his lunch over on the hillside,” Keith told Kate, pointing. “You can see the hill but not him from here.”
“I fed him up good yesterday,” Velma said. “Today I wanted to keep him off by hisself for you to talk to. So nice to meet someone’s been all over Europe, like you, Kate. I got Keith here to promise me we might go to Paris someday, so’s if you can fill me in on that, much obliged.”
“I’d be happy to,” Kate told her, looking out the window in the direction of the hillside. “My sister and Gabe will be back this weekend from France and—”
The moment that was out of her mouth, Kate realized these people wouldn’t want anything to do with Tess and Gabe, since it was their evidence that had sent Keith’s brother Jonas to prison for working with the meth gang. And Gabe had fired Keith’s sister, Ann, whom he used to date, though she’d pled to a lesser misdemeanor and was only on probation.
“But sure,” she said quickly. “Never mind them. Let’s talk about Paris at lunch.”
“Better go out to see to your cousin now,” Keith said. “You know, while he’s on break, not working. See—we understand how blood’s thicker’n water, if’n you get what I mean, that you’re worried about your kin.”
“And you’re worried about yours,” she said. “Of course, I understand that and thank both of you for helping Grant set this up for me. I do worry about Lee, Grace and their kids at that commune.”
“Oh, yeah,” Velma said, hands on her skinny hips. “For sure that squirrel—Bright Star—got more than one screw loose. We’ll hold lunch for you now.”
Kate was grateful they’d given her a pass on her misstep. One thing she recalled about this area fringing the Appalachians was that kin counted. Grudges and insults could go on for decades, kind of like the Hatfields and the McCoys. And here she was, sister-in-law to the sheriff. At least Keith didn’t hold it against Grant.
As she left the three of them talking, she saw Grant position himself so he could watch her out the window. Kate crossed the front porch with its new lawn furniture—Grant had said there used to be a beat-up, old couch there—and toward the hill. She could see the white picket fence Lee was erecting and painting. She supposed they got the wood from Mason Mill.
She passed Lee’s tools neatly laid out on the ground, his closed can of paint, the few slats and boards he had yet to assemble. A longing for her own excavation tools laid out on the ground near a dig swept through her. She spotted the top of Lee’s head first, then saw he was sitting down the hill and had finished his lunch. He was dressed in the muted, nondescript clothes the Hear Ye male converts tended to wear.
“Lee,” she called so she wouldn’t startle him by coming up behind him. “Grant Mason and I are having lunch here today, and they mentioned you were working on a fence out back. I thought I’d just take a minute and say hi.”
He sprang to his feet and turned to face her so fast that she thought he might tumble down the hill. He looked dismayed, as if she’d caught him at something.
“Kate. What a coincidence.”
“I guess so—a good one. After all, the last time we were together, Bright Star ran the show.”
“He always does—more than a show. Reality. Eternity.”
She wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but she didn’t want to get confrontational or stuck on some philosophical topic. “Well, it was good to see you and Grace anyway. How’s everyone doing lately? I will make an appointment to visit both of you and the kids. Tess will be back this weekend, so you’ll see her soon, too.”
So she didn’t seem to tower over him, she walked down the hill a ways. She was tempted to sit, but she didn’t want to invade his space. She was an outsider to him, maybe a dangerous one if Bright Star found out about this private chat. Would Lee have to confess it as if it were a sin?
“I thought Grace looked good,” she rushed on. “Maybe a little tired.”
“She works hard. The angels do.”
“The angels?”
“Like, ah—those who are specially chosen.”
“Leaders in some way?”
“For sure,” he said, but she couldn’t decide if he sounded proud or angry.
Kate had meant to question Lee about what the star Grace had drawn on her chest could mean, but suddenly, she hesitated. If Grace had been trying to give something away or even call for help, could she be punished by Lee or Bright Star? It had been obvious that she’d meant to show the sign only to Kate.
“So,” Lee said when she hesitated. “Are you going to be allowed to dig in the ancient mound? The Adena were infidels, you know, pagan people. Pieces of their past, things they left behind, should be buried for good, not brought into the light of day, where they would be studied, cherished and idolized.”