Beverly Barton - The Outcast

Reece headed straight for her. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd come to your senses and gone back to Sequana Falls."

For one brief instant Elizabeth felt Reece's fear-he'd been afraid that she had left him. Swallowing down the overwhelming emotions choking her, Elizabeth smiled, secure in her knowledge that, despite how much Reece protested, he truly wanted her at his side.

"It took a while to get the supplies. The checker was talkative. And a highway patrolman came in the store and they started discussing you and your second escape."

Reaching inside the car, Elizabeth picked up a grocery sack and handed it to Reece. "Can you carry two?" she asked.

Nodding, he accepted the second sack. Elizabeth took the third and they walked toward the cottage. She glanced around, taking in the two-story white frame house with dark green shutters and roof. A wraparound porch, graced with carved banisters, circled the house.

"Why did you decide to come here instead of your father's hunting lodge?" Elizabeth asked, wondering who owned this lovely summer cottage.

"Flossie pointed out that the sheriff might have the hunting lodge under surveillance, since Kenny would alert them that I knew how to locate the lodge."

"You spent time with your father at his hunting lodge?"

"Yeah. Once. B.K. liked roughing it, liked hunting. He took Kenny and me up to his lodge to do some hunting last year." Reece led Elizabeth up the porch and inside the house.

Just as she had suspected, the interior had been perfectly decorated by someone with good taste and money. Pastel, spring colors dominated the living room. Fragile lace curtains had been pulled back to expose the row of French windows facing the front porch. Sturdy white wicker furniture held thick cushions and pillows covered in blue, rose and cream floral prints. A brass screen stood in front of the fireplace, which had been painted a pale cream and was adorned with a simple wooden mantel. A cheerful fire burned brightly in the fireplace.

Elizabeth followed Reece into the kitchen, an open area adjacent to the living room. The stainless steel appliances were modern and matched the sink and countertops. White hexagonal tiles covered the floor and glass-fronted white cabinets lined the walls. "I didn't realize that you ever socialized with your father and his family."

Reece helped Elizabeth unsack the supplies and place them in the empty cupboards, storing the beer and colas in the double-wide refrigerator.

"I didn't socialize with the family. Not really. I was never invited to their house, but B.K. saw to it that I attended some of the same social functions." Reece retrieved one of the beer bottles, snapping the lid with a decorative metallic opener attached to the side of the refrigerator. "The hunting trip wasn't socializing. It was a contest B.K. contrived to see which one of his sons was as rough and tough and mean as he was."

Elizabeth watched Reece put the beer bottle to his lips and pour the liquid into his mouth. "Are you saying that your father deliberately encouraged a rivalry between you and his other son?"

After downing a third of the beer, Reece set the bottle on the counter and wiped his mouth. "I'm saying that B. K. Stanton's legitimate son was a disappointment to him. Kenny lived the good life. Never had to get his hands dirty. He's a spoiled, weak mama's boy."

"Everything you're not."

"Everything that B.K. and Alice Stanton's wealth and social positions made him, and yet, he wasn't what B.K. wanted." Looking toward the front of the cottage, Reece gazed out the windows. "Are your bags in the trunk of your car?"

Elizabeth nodded. When Reece walked past her, she reached out, laying her hand on his chest. "Your father discovered that you were more of a man than his other son, is that it? He found that you possessed the qualities he admired, the qualities he couldn't find in Kenny."

Reece glanced down at her hand. "Yeah. I'm the exact opposite of my big brother. And our father finally saw how he could use those differences to his advantage. He thought that if he threw me up in Kenny's face often enough, Kenny would eventually grow a backbone and become the son B.K. wanted." Reece walked away from Elizabeth and out onto the porch.

A stinging warmth of pain spread through her when she realized how deeply Reece had been affected by his father's manipulation. She met him at the door when he returned with her bags.

"There is one bedroom downstairs and two upstairs. They're all pretty much the same. I'll put your bag in here." Opening the door to the downstairs bedroom, Reece walked in, tossed the bag on the old iron bed and turned quickly, his body colliding with Elizabeth's. He grabbed her by the shoulders to steady her.

"Looks like we won't need to share a bed tonight," she said. The memory of waking in the early-morning hours to find herself snuggled into Reece's arms warmed Elizabeth with the hope of what lay ahead for them.

"Not unless you ask me real nice," he said.

"Oh?"

Reece laughed. "I'll have to hunt up some more firewood, since our only source of heat is the fireplace. There used to be some electrical heaters the Burtons kept for cool autumn nights, but since they use this place mostly in the summer, I don't think they keep the heaters around anymore. If you get cold in the night, you can always come get in bed with me."

"I'll keep that in mind." She smiled, trying to imitate his jesting. But talking about sharing a bed with Reece reminded her just how much she had liked awakening in his arms this morning. Reece was a virile man, and if they shared a bed again, he would probably expect them to have sex. Was she ready for such an important step in their relationship? More importantly, was Reece ready?

"Did you have any problems finding this place?" Reece asked.

"No problems. Flossie's instructions were perfect."

"The sheriff didn't try to stop you or question you, did he?"

"I left before they gave up searching the motel for you."

Reece turned toward the fireplace, warming his hands. He'd thought twice about building a fire in the fireplace, since a helicopter might spot the smoke, but he'd been listening to news on the radio and there had been no mention of a search outside Newell. Roadblocks had been set up and a manhunt begun, but the law figured Reece Landry was either on his way out of town and they'd catch him at a roadblock or that he was hiding out in one of his old haunts and a door-to-door search might reveal his whereabouts. The police had no reason to come snooping around Spruce Pine, no reason to connect him with Tracy Burton Stanton's parents or their summer house.

"Lizzie, you shouldn't be here with me. You shouldn't be involved in this."

"I thought we'd already settled that argument once and for all," Elizabeth said. "I'm staying and that's all there is to it."

"I'm no good, Elizabeth." Reece kept his back to her, his focus on the fire in front of him. "If you stay with me, I could get you killed, or at the very least, break your heart."

Elizabeth refused to acknowledge the possibility that Reece was right. Together they would prove Reece's innocence and come through this nightmare. And she would save Reece, save him from himself. If he broke her heart in the process, she would survive.

"Are you hungry?" she asked. "I'm starving. I haven't had a bite to eat since I stopped for a hamburger on the way to Newell yesterday."

Reece slapped his hands against his hips, then rubbed them up and down his thighs. He turned to face her. "Yeah, sure. I'm hungry."

"Let's fix lunch. I can open a can of tomato soup and make some grilled cheese sandwiches."

"I'll do the soup," Reece said. "You fix the sandwiches."

Elizabeth spread out the bread, cheese and margarine on the stainless steel counter. "Whose place is this, anyway?"