All Summer Long (Fool's Gold #9)(30)

Chantal took off at a run and didn’t glance back. In what seemed like seconds, people in fireman coats and pants were climbing onto the biggest truck. The ambulance beside it pulled out and turned left onto the street. As soon as it was out of sight, she heard the siren begin.

Someone who looked suspiciously like her daughter opened the driver’s door of the biggest truck and climbed inside.

“Chantal?” Dominique asked, unable to believe what she was seeing.

The driver gave her a quick glance before starting the engine. Dominique sank back onto the bench as the vehicle followed the ambulance.

She doubted it had been even two minutes since the first alarm. Where there had been controlled chaos, there was now silence. Just as unsettling was the realization that her daughter had been the one driving.

Until recently Dominique hadn’t spent much time thinking about her daughter’s day-to-day life. She knew Chantal worked for the fire department, but had never considered what it was she did there. Seeing Chantal in real time wasn’t comforting. There was no place for her in this world. She could never belong, never fit in. The sad truth was she was alone. She was also aware that she really had no one else to blame for that state.

Collecting her small Fendi bag, she walked out of the fire station. Justice was waiting by the limo.

“It was a fire or an accident,” he told her. “An emergency. She had to go.”

She gave him a smile. “You’re being very kind.” She glanced around. “I’m going to walk. Why don’t you take the car back to the hotel.”

He nodded and climbed back into the limo.

Chantal’s station was in the middle of town. It was a Saturday morning and many people were enjoying the late-summer morning. She saw families together, mothers with daughters. A couple of teenage girls were laughing, each holding a Starbucks cup.

Growing up, Dominique had never had close friends. There was no time. She’d started dancing when she was three and hadn’t stopped until she’d retired some forty years later. Her childhood had been spent studying dance. At sixteen, she’d joined her first ballet company. She’d soloed at seventeen, became a principal dancer at twenty. She toured the world, was a guest in the most prestigious ballet companies and starred in several television productions.

There had been no time for “normal” pursuits, nor had she been interested. She’d lived a life others could only dream of. She was wealthy, beautiful, remarkable. And lonely, she admitted to herself. Her recent health scare had shown her how isolated she’d become. There had been no one to call, no close friends to visit her in the hospital. No one she trusted to see her looking anything but her best.

She stopped in front of a bookstore. There was a display of mysteries by Liz Sutton. A sign declared her to be a local author. Dominique stepped inside to buy a copy of her latest release. Perhaps a novel would help pass the time until she decided what to do next.

She paid for her purchase, but before she could leave, two women approached. One was about her age, the other a decade or two older. The white-haired woman was dressed in a suit that seemed expensive.

“You must be Dominique Guérin,” the older woman said with a friendly smile. She held out her hand. “I’m Marsha Tilson, the mayor of Fool’s Gold. I’ve so wanted to meet you. How nice we could run into you today.”

Dominique shook hands with her, pleased to have been recognized. “Mayor Tilson.”

“Please, call me Marsha. This is my friend May Stryker.” Marsha smiled at the dark-haired woman. “Or is it May Simpson?”

May laughed. “I haven’t decided.” She turned to Dominique. “I was recently married. While I love my husband, I must admit I’ve been a Stryker for so long, I can’t imagine getting used to another name. Glen swears he doesn’t care, so I’m still making up my mind.”

Dominique listened with feigned interest. Something she’d perfected as a child. People were forever telling her things about their lives that she didn’t find the least bit compelling.

May seemed friendly enough, but her clothes! She wore jeans and a worn short-sleeved shirt. Her face had held up over time, but she had freckles and her arms were a little saggy.

“We were going to get a coffee,” Marsha said. “Would you like to join us?”

“I, ah...” Dominique hesitated, not wanting to bother with the women. But she reminded herself that the only cure for loneliness was company. Better this than nothing. “That would be nice. Thank you.”

They walked to the Starbucks on the corner and went inside. Once there, they stood in line and then ordered. Dominique was used to an assistant bringing her coffee. Things were different now, she reminded herself. She would have to get familiar with things like standing in line and ordering for herself.

Once they were seated, May smiled at her. “I know your daughter. Charlie keeps her horse at our ranch.”

Dominique stared at her, not sure which was more horrifying. That May called Chantal Charlie or that her daughter had a horse.

“She rides?”

“Very well. You didn’t know?”

“No.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. I thought...” May shifted in the chair.

Marsha, who had much better posture than her friend, lightly touched May’s arm. Dominique knew it was some kind of silent communication but couldn’t figure out what was being said.