Dance Away with Me(84)

“But you didn’t.”

He came nearer. “I don’t tolerate anyone upsetting my wife.”

She forced herself to move away from the cabin’s front wall. “You need to leave.”

“I found this in my wife’s things.” He pulled something from his jacket pocket and held it out so she could see.

It was Tess’s phone number written on the notepaper with her old clinic’s letterhead.

He wadded the paper in his fist. “Kelly should have told me right away you were harassing her, but she didn’t want to bother me.”

“Harassing her?”

He dropped the crumpled paper to the porch floor. “The way you’ve been trying to get her to meet with you so you can badger her with more of your propaganda.”

Tess put the pieces together and didn’t like what she saw. Brad had found Tess’s phone number, and Kelly had lied about why she had it.

He moved closer, using his size to intimidate her. “My wife and I think alike. Do you really believe you can make her change her mind? She never interferes with politics.”

“Politics?” Tess shoved her thumb in the waistband of her jeans. “I thought this was about what’s best for kids.”

A pair of headlights swept across the clearing. They both turned to see a silver Lexus stop in front of the cabin. The engine shut off, the door opened, and Kelly sprang out.

She stood at the side of the car, her gaze darting nervously between Tess and her husband, clearly worried about what Tess might have told him. She moved toward them. “Is something wrong, Brad? I saw your car parked down the road. You weren’t supposed to be back from Nashville until tomorrow.”

“We finished early. Where have you been?”

“Margie Wexler’s mother’s sick. I sat with her for a while.”

“That was good of you.” He stepped off the porch and stretched his arm toward his wife. Not going to Kelly but making her come to him. She hesitated for only a moment before she complied.

The possessive way he wrapped his beefy arm around her slender shoulders reminded Tess of the way Connor had entrapped Ava. “I needed some exercise,” he said, “and I also needed to talk to Tess here. I know you didn’t want me to interfere, but you’re too easy on people. Tess needs to understand that she’s not ever to bother you again.”

Kelly’s stricken eyes flashed to Tess and then to her husband. Brad chucked her under the chin as if she were a child. “You’re not the only one she’s been bothering. Connor’s mother called me today. It turns out Tess has been meeting with some of our teenage boys. Helene’s not happy about it.”

Kelly fixed her gaze on her husband. “Of course she’s upset.”

“Nothing like sneaking behind our backs to teach a bunch of randy boys how to have sex.” He released his wife to turn on Tess. “You keep sticking your nose in where it’s not wanted.”

It was Tess’s turn to be belligerent. “You seem to be spending a lot of time poking your nose into my life, so let’s call it a fair exchange.”

His chest puffed up like a hot marshmallow. “You’re not to harass my wife or anyone else in this community. We aren’t interested in your opinions. Isn’t that right, Kelly?”

Kelly dipped her head and muttered something inaudible. Tess hated this woman’s timidity. Where was her backbone?

He wasn’t satisfied with his wife’s muffled response. “Kelly?”

Her head came up. “You should listen to Brad, Tess,” she said stiffly.

Any warm feelings Tess had experienced for her vanished in the face of her cowardice. “I only listen to people I respect, and right now, you’ve both fallen off my list.”

“Is that so?” He released his wife. “Go on home, baby. I’ll walk back to my car.”

Kelly regarded them hesitantly—still afraid Tess would expose her lie. Tess could have given her some kind of reassuring gesture, but she wasn’t that nice a person.

Kelly walked slowly to her car. Tess didn’t want to be alone with him, but she couldn’t make herself run inside. Brad called after his wife. “I’d love to have a drink waiting when I get there. Three olives this time. Those good ones you stuff with blue cheese.”

The confident woman who’d first confronted Tess at the Broken Chimney over the condom display had disappeared. Kelly gave a short, jerky nod and drove off.

Tess regarded Brad with disgust. “They don’t make men like you anymore.”

“I’m old-school,” he retorted, “and I won’t apologize for it. I protect my family.”

“Yeah, I’m a big threat, all right.”

He jabbed his finger at her. “Leave my wife alone. My daughter, too.”

“Here’s a thought. Why don’t you do them both a favor and let them speak for themselves?”

“Do you seriously think you can challenge me? You’re nobody.”

She mustered all the bravado she could. “And you’re a big deal. The undisputed king of Tempest, Tennessee. I get that. I just don’t care.”

“You will.” He turned away and disappeared into the woods.

Tess went back inside and locked the door. Brad Winchester was narrow-minded, pretentious, and combative—the worst kind of bully. But was he also violent?