grabbed him back into themselves.
Elsie stared at her son-in-law with undisguised scorn. “Claire, please put your husband to bed.”
At her mother’s words, Claire scrambled to her feet, her hair falling over her face. A crimson blush peeked through the auburn veil. “David,” she pleaded in a low voice, “let’s go. Come on, it’s time for bed.”
“Leave me alone,” he mumbled. Claire reached out and grabbed her husband’s hand and pulled. “Leave me alone, you cow!” he barked. Elsie’s face darkened and she gripped her cane until her knuckles showed white. Anna, sensing her mistress’s emotion, leaped to her feet and growled at David, the black hairs on her back standing up in an angry salute.
Graham stood up and roughly yanked David to his feet. “How dare you speak to Claire like that!” he hissed, his black brows bristling. “Get out of my sight before I lose my temper!”
“Who the hell are you to talk to me like that?” David retorted, his face dark with anger. “She’s my wife and I’ll talk to her any damn way I please. You think you can stop me?” David pushed himself off the couch and onto unsteady feet. I held my breath. David was clearly well past his fifth glass of scotch of the night; anything was possible when he was this drunk. However, once he was upright, his body gave way and he fell into Graham.
“Graham, please,” Claire pleaded. “It’s okay. He doesn’t mean it. You know how he gets when he’s... ” She started to say drunk but finished with “tired.” “Please,” she whispered, “don’t make a scene.”
“I didn’t,” Graham shot back, as he attempted to prop David up. “He did!”
Blythe was now on her feet as well. “Graham, honey, calm down. Let’s just get him to bed.”
“Fine with me,” Graham muttered, as he spun David around and roughly shoved him toward the stairs. Blythe put her arm around Claire’s slumped shoulders and led her away as well. Elsie watched them go with a shake of her head. “It’s a real toss-up which one of them I detest more. You know, sometimes I think the animal kingdom has it right. They have no problem thinning the herd when necessary—and both Roni and David certainly present valid arguments for us adopting the practice.”
Turning back to Peter, Bridget, and me, she said, “I’m going to bed, my loves. And I suggest that you all do the same. Peter, I’ve put you upstairs with Harry in the green room. Bridget will show you. Now remember, the electrician hasn’t finished rewiring the bedroom wall switches, so you’ll have to use the lamps instead. Try not to trip over yourself in the dark, Bridget,” she said, surveying Bridget’s shoes with a critical eye. Waving her cane at us, she left, followed closely by Anna.
Bridget frowned at Elsie’s retreating form. “Are you okay?” I asked.
Giving herself a shake, she looked at me, her lips pulled up into a sad smile. “I’m fine. It’s just that after scenes like that, I realize how lucky I am. My parents might drive me crazy nagging me about my hair and clothes, but I know they love me. I can’t imagine what a nightmare it would be to have either Roni or David as a parent.”
From behind us a chair scraped across the floor. Horrified, I turned around. Megan! I had completely forgotten she was in the room. She stood up and walked out from behind the plant.
Bridget’s face flushed bright red as she stuttered her apologies. “Megan, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were still here. I didn’t mean—”
Megan interrupted her. “Yes, you did mean it. But don’t worry about it. Being Roni’s daughter
Bridget stared at Megan and then nodded her head sympathetically. “It must be. I’m really sorry.”
Megan ducked her head, trying to hide her tears, and slowly made her way toward the staircase. “Me, too” was all she said.
Chapter 6
Avoid running at all times.
“Wake up!” this command was accompanied by a kick, a forceful kick.
“Unless it is a respectable hour, say anytime
Bridget was undeterred. She was also an absurdly early riser. “Let’s go for a run,” she persisted.
I cautiously opened one eye and peered at the clock on my nightstand. “Bridget! It’s not even six thirty!” I pulled the down comforter up over my head.
She poked me in the back. “Come on. I can’t sleep. I’m a nervous wreck about today. I need to go for a run.”
“Then by all means do so,” I said, curling into my pillow. As friends go, I consider myself loyal and true, but I do have my limitations. Running through chilly early morning mist is one of them. Actually, doing anything through early morning mist qualifies.
“We could run along the path by the trees,” she coaxed. “You know how pretty it is this time of year, with the all leaves starting to turn.”
“It is not everyone who has your passion for dead leaves,” I quipped.
She did not rebuke me for the line. Instead, she urgently whispered, “Elizabeth! Please?”
I eased the comforter down an inch and peeked over its snowy top to look at her. She was dressed in a purple tracksuit emblazoned with tiny orange roadrunners. I winced.
“Where on earth did you get that outfit?”
She looked down. “On eBay,” she said proudly. “It was a steal!”
“I would hope so. Now, what’s the matter?”
“I don’t know. I couldn’t sleep last night. I kept having nightmares.”
“About what? Not about you and Colin?”
“No. Not exactly. I just have a feeling that something bad is going to happen today. Something really bad.” She twisted her engagement ring around her finger, a habit of hers when agitated.
In addition to being an early riser, Bridget is convinced that she has a sixth sense about danger. A trait, I might add, that fails her utterly when it comes to her driving. It was on the tip of my tongue to point this out when it finally penetrated my sleepy brain that Bridget would never force (read: kick) me awake before eight A.M. unless it was really important.
“All right,” I said with a sigh, flinging back the heavy comforter and swinging my feet out onto the cool wood floor. “You win. Let’s go for a run. But don’t be surprised if the ‘really bad thing’ you’re foreseeing is me having to be carted away by ambulance.”
Thirty minutes later, we were off and running. Music from my headphones blared, but not loudly enough to drown out my pounding heart as I pushed my leg muscles to carry me forward. I need this, though, I thought as my lungs burned as I strained to match Bridget’s stride. As I mentioned, I’d been mastering my stress in the same manner a baker masters a pie crust: with a lot of sugar and butter. From the corner of my eye, I saw that she was trying to talk to me. “What?” I huffed, pulling the headphones away from my ears.
“I said, how far do you want to go?”
“I’m ready to stop whenever you are.”
She laughed. “Stop? We’re not even out of the driveway yet!”
I turned in disbelief. Sure enough, there was the house, a scant one hundred yards behind us. I sighed and clicked off my music. “Bridget,” I said, coming to a stop and resting my hands on my knees. “
Bridget placed her hands on her hips and considered me. “Are you telling me that you agreed to this run only because you didn’t think I deserved the compliment of rational opposition?”
“Have I really been watching the DVD that much?”
“You have indeed.”
“Well, you drove me to it.” I sighed. “Bridget, I love you dearly, but can’t we just take a walk while you tell
