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"Hey! Maxi has a week off from school coming up. How about taking him for a little vacation?"
"Right or left?" he asked.
"Right."
The station wagon skidded on the road, but David had it under control. Just like everything in his life.
"Vacation?"
She turned towards him. "As in sun, beach, water." Miles from here.
He paused long enough for her sense of accomplishment to surge from her booted feet to her brain. Nice
going, Hamilton, she thought. That was a stroke of genius. He'd be spending time with Maxi and not be
able to interfere with her work. Her heartbeat skipped. She was not only clever with machinery, but with
trickery as well! As if a pile of snow had been lifted from her body, she could breathe easier.
"I didn't know he had time off from school soon. A vacation with Maxwell would be wonderful...but."
He pulled into the driveway of the hardware store. Before he turned the key off, the old station wagon
groaned as if it'd never turn back on again.
She opened the door and stepped out. Over the top of the car she looked at him. Oh hell, he's got a
"but."
"I would love to take him for a vacation, but I am not going to."
"What do you mean you am...are not going to?"
"Annie, you heard how happy he was to have us all together. So am I."
She knew he was talking, but the avalanche of snow from his revelation smothered her-or else she'd
gone deaf from shock in an attempt to protect herself and her heart.
Chapter Five
Annie shook her head as if that would help clear her hearing. As she watched David make his way
around the snow-covered parking lot towards her, his words about their son reverberated in her head.
You heard how happy he was to have us all together. Damn David for reminding her. She ran his words
through her brain again. But she had no more ammunition to counter his move this time than she could
come up with when he'd first said them. David wouldn't take Maxi on a vacation. Oh, she knew their son
was thrilled to have them together, but it wasn't going to last. He would find that out sooner or later.
Double darn. Now what could she do or say to get David out of her hair?
"Annie? It is cold out here," David said.
Not if anger boils in your blood stream, she mused. "Sure. Cold." She motioned for him to go inside in
case he got the bright idea of helping her across Henniker's parking lot. The last thing her mangled
brain needed right now was David's interference-or his touch. She'd had enough in the short time he'd
been here.
Inside the hardware store, Mrs. Henniker told them she'd have to order the new paint as they'd had a
bad batch of base paint and had to send it all back.
"What?" Annie asked.
"They'll get it soon, Annie," David interjected.
He must have noticed Annie's eyes bugging out and how she had to hold her hands back from shaking
Mrs. Henniker by the lapels. "But, ordering takes so long-" She spun towards the storeowner. "How
long will it take? Wait! Maybe you have some in the store room."
David gave a weak chuckle and pulled Annie by the sleeve. "Excuse us." He nodded towards the woman.
Near the shelves of interior paint, he leaned close. "What is wrong with you?"
"Nothing," she mumbled, knowing she was behaving like some lunatic.
"Nothing?" he whispered. "You nearly accosted that woman over some paint-"
She pushed at his chest. "Don't be so dramatic, David. You'll cause a public display-" She hadn't meant
to hit a nerve, but when she looked up into his eyes, she wished she hadn't said that. He'd been brought
up to keep to himself, and not make any scenes in public. No one was allowed to soil the Grainger
family's name-not even a Grainger. In a softer tone she said, "It's just that I have things to do and
wanted the repairs finished as soon as possible."
He paused. "Things...like concocting some invention?"
So much for her attempt at being nice. She brushed past him towards the paint thinner. "I do have my
own life you know."
When she turned back, she noticed him take a deep breath. He came forward. She knew that look. David
was so much more sentimental and softhearted than she. Not that Annie would consider herself
hardhearted. Far from it. She cried at movies, while reading schmaltzy books, and whenever Maxi made
a goal during his soccer games-even if not very often. But how many times during their marriage had [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]