would ever understand that. Rachel lived to work. So did Leslie. It was the
strongest bond they shared.
She couldn’t very well explain to Rachel what she didn’t understand herself.
“I don’t want to go into the of? ce every day and have people look at me as if
there’s something wrong with me,” Leslie said, which was partially true. So
many half-truths. “I’ll get this straightened out while I’m up there and be done
with it.”
“I don’t know that I can get away, darling. You know what my calendar—”
“I don’t expect you to.” Leslie reached through the aluminum bars of the railing
for Rachel’s hand. Her skin was smooth and soft. “I’ll miss you if you can’t ?
nd a way to come up, but I’ll understand.”
Rachel leaned over the railing and kissed Leslie quickly. “Good.
Call me when you get settled up there. I’ll see what I can do.”
• 27 •
RADCLY fFE
“Okay. You should go before you’re late.” Leslie watched Rachel walk out the
door, wondering when she would see her again. Rachel likely wouldn’t even
miss her, not when she was this tied up in a big case. With an increasing surge of
melancholy, Leslie admitted that she didn’t really mind.
• 28 •
WHEN DREAMS TREMBLE
CHAPTER THREE
Shortly after 6 a.m., Dev opened her eyes to sunshine and the unmistakable
sounds of morning in the mountains. Birdsong.
Wind rustling in the trees. A far-distant hum of an outboard motor. Her rented
cabin was the last in a row of ten similar rustic log cabins that were situated at ?
fty-yard intervals within small clearings in the woods.
A meandering dirt path connected them to one another and to the main lodge at
Lakeview Cottages. Similar wooded trails led from each small front porch down
to the water and a sliver of sandy beach. She couldn’t see the other cabins,
most of which were still empty so early in the season, or the lodge where the
owners also lived, nearly a quarter of a mile away. The solitude was welcome,
and although meals were included in her weekly rent, she had yet to avail herself
of that amenity in the three days she’d been at Lakeview. She hadn’t quite
gotten over her uneasiness at ? nding herself at the Harrises’.
When she’d called the park ranger headquarters a month before to explain who
she was and the work she’d be doing in the lake area that summer, Natalie had
extended the professional courtesy of arranging local accommodations for her.
Dev had been happy to have one fewer thing to do, her only stipulation being
that she wanted a private cabin that was as far from the popular tourist haunts as
possible. She hadn’t even considered that Natalie might reserve a place for her
at the Harrises’ secluded resort just north of Bolton Landing, and when she’d
found out, there hadn’t really been a good reason to refuse it. It was close to the
Institute’s labs, and she doubted that anyone would recognize her. No one had.
• 29 •
RADCLY fFE
Even so, when she’d arrived to check in, she couldn’t shake the disorienting
effect that seeing the place again produced. She hadn’t expected to be bothered
—it had all been over so long ago. Dead and buried and gone.
At the moment, though, lying naked beneath a soft ? oral print sheet that smelled
of wind and water, she was very glad to be there.
Turning on her side, she just enjoyed the beauty outside her windows.
She also re? ected on the question of why she was enjoying it alone.
When Natalie had casually asked her to dinner at the end of the workday the
night before, it had seemed natural to say yes. They’d worked well together all
day, collecting samples, planning when and where to take others, and
conversation had come easily.
Dinner hadn’t had the feel of a date, not quite. It had the feel of two women
who liked one another at ? rst meeting, getting to know each other better. And
when they’d returned to the park of? ce so that Dev could pick up her truck for
the drive back to her summer quarters and Natalie had casually kissed her good
night as they’d stood in the dark parking lot, that had felt natural too.
Recalling the kiss, Dev knew if she’d done any more than return it lightly and
then step away, they might be waking up together right now. She suspected that
would have been pleasant. It had been a long time since she’d met someone like
Natalie, someone who might offer uncomplicated but satisfying intimacy. It was
an unusual combination, and hard to ? nd. Which was probably why she hadn’t
had sex in over a year. But there was no rush, and she might be wrong. Not
worth the risk.
Still, thinking about it would give her something to enjoy in the shower. Smiling,
she stood and stretched and headed to the small, neat bathroom to start her
day.
v
At 1:00 that afternoon, Dev pulled her black Chevy Colorado into the parking
lot at Lakeview, planning on a ? fteen-minute stop to change clothes before
driving to a meeting in Troy. As she climbed down from the cab, she nodded to
Eileen Harris, who looked over from where she was leaning beneath the hood of
her dusty green Jeep Cherokee. Dev recognized it and ? gured it had to be
twenty years old.
“Hey,” Dev said. “Problem?”
• 30 •
WHEN DREAMS TREMBLE
Eileen Harris, in her early ? fties and still looking youthfully blond and ? t in her
baggy jeans and well-worn blue cable-knit sweater, gave an exasperated sigh.
“The damn thing won’t start. Again.” She wiped sweat from her forehead with
the back of her hand and left a streak of grease behind. She looked even
younger then. “Paul has been promising to look at it, but you know how that
goes. He’s ferrying a group of campers out to the islands right now.”
Lake George Islands campsites, accessible only by boat, offered some of the
best recreational ? shing, hiking, bird watching, sailing, and camping in upstate
New York. Not for the fainthearted, however, since everything had to be
packed in by water, and private arrangements needed to be made for trips back
to the mainland. If her husband had gone out with a group, he might not be back
for a while.
“I’d lend a hand,” Dev said, “but I don’t know as I’d be much help. Can I offer
you a lift somewhere instead?”
“Ordinarily it wouldn’t be such a problem,” Eileen said. “But I have to be at the
train station in Rensselaer this afternoon, and even if I reach Paul and get him
back here, and he can ? x it, I don’t think I’ll make it in time.”
