Karen Harper - Broken Bonds

“Will you go out to a doctor to have the baby or does a midwife come in?” Kate asked. “I heard they do deliveries here, but we can arrange a doctor for you.”

“Yes, I’ll have a trained midwife, with lots of good support. I’ll be very well taken care of,” Grace assured them, but her voice was shaky.

Char wondered if Lee didn’t approve—of what?—because he kept glowering at them and had so little to say. She rose from the bench next to Grace and spoke to him. “Do you want a boy or a girl, Lee? With one of each already, do you have a preference?”

“A son. We look forward to a son,” he said.

This close to him, Char noted that the pupils of his eyes were large, as if they’d been dilated for an eye examination. Could he be drugged? He seemed almost robotic, zombielike as Kate had said earlier.

After only fifteen minutes together, it was time to say goodbye. Grace gripped Char’s hand and darted her eyes toward the wall with the morning star Bible verse again. Did she want them to understand that the name Bright Star was precious, special? Was she drugged, too? Surely not in her advanced state of pregnancy, but Char sensed she dare not ask. Maybe if she came alone later, brought a baby gift here, she could find out more.

They said their goodbyes, promising to be back soon with something for the children and the new baby—a month yet to go, Grace had told them. They all hugged again and when they did, Grace grabbed Char’s wrist and whispered what she thought was the word, watch, but she quickly stepped back and moved away without another glance.

Then it hit her. Grace had only pretended to admire Kate’s new engagement ring but she had tapped her watch. And she had whispered, “watch!” and looked at the wall with the framed quote. Watch for what? Was that a warning?

In the hall, Char noticed another framed quote about a bright and morning star, only in different script—big, bold letters, not fancy, cursive writing. It looked as if it hung opposite the one on the other side of the wall. The glass over the quote reflected in the hall light. On impulse, she stepped forward and lifted the frame from the wall. There was an eyehole behind it, so there must have been one on the other side!

“Hey, put that back,” their escort said.

“Oh, I just think it’s such beautiful words,” Char told him, pretending to stare down at the quote and turning her back on the small hole as if she hadn’t seen it. Blessedly, neither of her sisters said a word. “Do you know...” Char asked, giving the quote one more fake, lingering look. “Can I order one of these?” She handed it back to the man as Grace and Lee stood in the doorway staring. “I’ll drop by to find out later. And thanks for guiding us in to see our family today.”

Tess looked puzzled, and Kate looked livid as they walked out. They were back in the day care van before Tess demanded an explanation. “What was that all about?”

“Good work, Char,” Kate said. “But I’m not sure you covered up your discovery like that plaque covered the hole. That sounded pretty heavy-handed about wanting to buy one of that maniac’s self-aggrandizing quotes he’s ripped off from the Bible to justify his power.”

“What? Tell me!” Tess insisted.

“Grace is in some kind of trouble,” Char said. “Deeper than just not wanting to have her baby there. There was a peephole in the wall, and she was trying to tell us she—or we—were being watched.”

6

Char had hoped to calm down after the visit to the Hear Ye cult by the time Matt picked her up for dinner at the cabin that evening. But just being with him was revving her up in a far different way. It had been a while since she’d got dressed up for a fancy date—and it seemed ages since she’d been with a man so attentive and attractive.

As her mother would have said, Matthew Rowan “cleaned up well.” Not that he hadn’t looked nice this morning at Tess’s, but—well, who knew a suit coat over a shirt and V-necked cable-knit sweater could look so good. Char wasn’t one to care about appearances, but to have been picked up in a luxury car, not a truck, which was all she’d been used to for months—years...

Get hold of yourself, Charlene Lockwood, she lectured herself. You don’t care about luxury items. This guy is not Prince Charming. You will not let this turn your head.

As they walked through the door into La Maison, the blonde hostess gave Matt a kiss on both cheeks, which jarred Char back to reality. “ Bonjour, mon ami. Booth or table, Matt?” She had a French accent, no less, and Matt said something to her in French.

The place looked about half-full, probably mostly with Lake Azure residents. A low buzz of conversation mingled with recorded music. Char knew this was one of Tess’s favorite places. Since her honeymoon, Tess was into everything French. And this woman knew Matt fairly well, so he was no stranger here.

“A back booth would be great,” Matt told the hostess.

They followed her past the bar. Several people sat there, including Brad Mason, the younger brother of Kate’s fiancé, Grant. Brad was a slightly shorter version of Grant with dark blond hair, blue eyes and a muscular build. He was talking to another man but was obviously watching the front door over the other guy’s shoulder. Char had only met Brad a couple of times at Grant’s house, once at the announcement party for their engagement. All she really knew about him was that he used to work at the lumber mill with Grant but now worked for the fracking king, Royce Flemming. So that meant Matt must know him, too.

“Yo, Matt,” Brad said, standing to shake his hand. “Glad you’re back among the living and—” Brad did a double take as he took her in. “Charlene, future sis-in-law. I heard you were there to save the day—and save Matt.”

“He got out of the truck on his own, but I was there.”

“So Royce said.”

“You’re not meeting him here, are you?” Matt asked, taking her arm, rather protectively, she thought. The two men seemed merely cordial, not really friendly, when she assumed their ties to Flemming would make them on the same team at least.

“Met with him earlier today—at length,” Brad said. “He’s working late at the lodge tonight. Actually, I’m waiting for another local success story, the Fencers, who live down the road from where your family lived, Charlene.”

“Sure, I know the Fencer place,” she said. “The current owners are probably the third or fourth generation there. It used to be a pretty big farm, but now it’s just a few fields. When we were kids, the Fencers didn’t have girls for us to play with but we got along well with the boys. So, you’re saying they’re getting a contract for drilling on their land?”

“That would make sense since they’re the closest place to the old Hear Ye cult land that’s got so much action there,” Matt said.

“Ah, yeah, right,” Brad said and took a quick swig of amber liquor from his glass. Not beer, the drink of choice around here, Char thought, but then times were changing. She could see the glass bottoms of numerous wine bottles nestled in a crosshatch pattern of shelves behind the polished wooden bar.

Brad went on, seeming nervous. “Yeah, that old Bright Star cult land above Cold Creek is a really busy place. Getting oil and natural gas out of there galore. Quite a production.”

They chatted about Kate and Grant’s coming wedding—Brad would be best man and Char and Tess would stand up with Kate. “And the view from the reception in their living room will be a burial mound,” Brad said with a shake of his head. “I’m sure the late-night comedians could make something out of that, but I’ll skip the one-liners.”