Susannah's Garden (Blossom Street #3)(43)

“Here and there. I moved around a lot.”

Her heart sank. In other words, he wasn’t interested in telling her.

But then he surprised her. “I lived in the Fresno area for a time,” he muttered.

“How’d you get up here?” she asked, trying again. It was a bit awkward, the two of them standing there, making stilted conversation. She gestured toward the chair. Dave declined, shaking his head.

“I don’t stay in one place for long,” he said. “I was never one to put down roots.”

“What about family?”

“Don’t have any.” Sadness darkened his eyes and he looked away.

“None?” she repeated slowly.

“None.”

“What about a wife?” It was a bold question and she felt astonished at her own audacity in asking it.

“I was never married.”

“Never.” Carolyn could hardly believe it.

“Like I said, I wasn’t one for roots.”

She wondered what had happened to this man that kept him from living a normal life. Then it came to her. He’d been in prison; he must have been. It was the only thing that made sense. He preferred not to discuss his past. He hadn’t settled down anywhere. He was attractive and appealing and vital, yet he’d never married.

“What about you?” He spoke softly, almost as if he regretted asking the question.

“I’m divorced.”

“Children?”

“No…My marriage ended a lot of years ago and well, I never—you know—I never met anyone else.”

“That’s a shame,” he said in a low voice.

She swallowed tightly. “You?”

“I don’t have children, either.” He retreated a couple of steps, apparently uncomfortable with the information he’d shared. “I should get to work.”

Carolyn stepped back, too.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“For what?” she asked.

He didn’t answer right away and set the empty tumbler carefully on the table. “The tea,” he said.

Carolyn had the distinct impression that his appreciation went beyond a glass of cold tea.

CHAPTER 16

“I’ m glad you came by,” Susannah said as she held open the front door for Carolyn late Saturday afternoon. She’d dreaded the thought of spending the evening alone. For the second day in a row, Chrissie had gone off with Troy Nance. Much to her consternation, her daughter seemed utterly enthralled by him.

Susannah had disliked Troy on sight, and every meeting since had confirmed her negative opinion of her former schoolmate’s son. She didn’t like the way Troy looked at her daughter, either, as though he was salivating over some tempting delicacy on a restaurant dessert platter. As far as she could determine, he was unemployed, smoked, drank and generally lived on the edge. She was afraid drugs might be part of that scenario, too.

“I brought dinner,” Carolyn said, holding up a plastic grocery bag. “A few goodies that’ll help us remember our time in France.”

Susannah guessed it was a baguette, soft cheese and sun-dried tomatoes in seasoned olive oil. And, of course, Carolyn would include a bottle of red wine. As schoolgirls they’d spent many a weekend afternoon in the Loire Valley, enjoying a repast just like that. Those picnics had always included chaperones, but they’d been fun all the same.

When Carolyn left Colville as a high school sophomore, she and Susannah had been good friends. But during that year in the French boarding school, they’d truly bonded. Susannah wasn’t sure why they’d let their relationship erode in the decades that followed.

“Sun-dried tomatoes?” she asked and closed her eyes in ecstasy.

“Plus fresh bread and chèvre.”

“My favorite.” Her stomach rumbled in anticipation.

“Did you think I’d forget?”

“You didn’t have to do all this,” Susannah said, although she was relieved to stay home. After an entire day of physically demanding labor, she was content to relax, enjoy this feast and simply talk.

They sat across from each other at the dining room table, and drank wine out of plastic cups. The bread, cheese and tomatoes were served on paper plates.

“Where’s Chrissie?” Carolyn asked.

Susannah slowly shook her head. “She met Troy Nance yesterday and they’ve barely spent a minute apart since then.” Okay, that was an exaggeration, because Chrissie had helped Susannah for most of the day. She’d been to visit Vivian, as well. But when she was with Susannah, she’d talked nearly nonstop about how wonderful Troy was.

Carolyn didn’t say anything but from her frown, Susannah deduced that her friend’s opinion of this young man was the same as hers.

“What do you know about him?” she asked.

Carolyn shrugged. “Not much. He worked at the mill, but he didn’t last long. We have a drug-testing program—because of all the heavy equipment—and once Troy heard about that, he stopped showing up.”

Just as Susannah had feared, he seemed to be involved with drugs. Carolyn’s story implied as much.

“I don’t understand what Chrissie sees in him,” she said. That was putting it mildly. “She recently broke up with her boyfriend from school and I suppose she’s still feeling hurt.”