Big Girls Don’t Cry (Dundee, Idaho #6)(22)
Author: Brenda Novak

“No problem,” he said, and shoved the wallet into his coat pocket.

CHAPTER SEVEN

AS MUCH AS ISAAC WOULD HAVE preferred to slip Reenie’s wallet inside the screen door and walk away, he couldn’t. If she discovered it was missing, she might panic. Or the dog could get hold of it and chew it to pieces.

He knocked and forced himself to wait on the stoop.

A moment later, the door swung open and Reenie welcomed him with a friendly smile. “Hi. Change your mind about letting me help you get rid of that headache?”

“No.” He lifted her wallet into the hazy glow of the porch light. “You left this at the restaurant. I just wanted to drop it by.”

“How nice of you.”

“It was no trouble,” he said as he handed it to her. “Have a good evening.”

He started to walk away, but she spoke before he could clear the porch. “While you’re here, why not come in and have some peppermint tea? Then I can show you a few exercises that will ease the pain in your head.”

Isaac had never tried a home remedy for migraines that actually worked. Fortunately, he didn’t suffer from the headaches very often and, when he did, his weren’t as severe as those endured by a lot of folks. “I’ll be fine.”

“Don’t be so stubborn.” Her eyebrows gathered in annoyance. “It’s stupid to suffer when I can help you. It’ll only take a minute.”

When he hesitated, she opened the door wider. “Come in and sit down.”

The expectation in her manner made it difficult for him to refuse. What would it hurt to let her give him a cup of tea and explain her cure for migraines?

With a shrug, he stepped inside her living room. It was only eight-thirty. Now that he knew all he needed to know, he planned on returning to Boise instead of staying in Dundee. But he still had plenty of time to drive there and rent a motel room before it grew too late.

“Make yourself comfortable,” she said. “I’ll get your tea.”

Surrounded by a series of black-and-white photographs of her family, he sat on the couch while waiting for her to return from the kitchen. According to the signature in the bottom right-hand corner of the photos, they’d been taken by someone named Hannah Holbrook. Reenie had told him she had only one sibling, so he guessed Hannah had to be her mother, her brother’s new wife or maybe an aunt. On the piano he discovered Keith and Reenie’s wedding picture and couldn’t help getting up to examine it.

They made a handsome, happy-looking couple. So where had things gone wrong? Had Keith always had a wandering eye? Or had Elizabeth been his first affair?

Footsteps sounded in the hall and Reenie returned carrying a steaming mug. “I can’t believe you weren’t going to let me help you,” she said.

The scent of peppermint tea filled the air. “You did help me.”

She handed the mug to him. “With your research?”

He kept his attention on the brown liquid in his cup. “Exactly. I hated to ask you for anything else.”

“Hey, you’re a friend of my husband’s. That makes you a friend of mine.”

A friend of her husband’s…. God, if she only knew.

“You have some nice furniture,” he said, because it was true and he wanted to change the subject.

She beamed at him. “Gabe makes it.”

“Your brother? The ex-football player?”

“Good, isn’t he?”

“Very.”

“He started working with wood right after the accident. Now he makes all kinds of things. He and Hannah sell certain pieces out of the lobby of her photography studio.”

That answered his question about the photographs. “Hannah does nice work, too.”

“She does. You should drop by her studio while you’re in town.”

“Maybe I will.” Except he wouldn’t be in town after tonight. With Reenie as forthcoming as she’d been, there was no longer any need.

The phone rang. She excused herself to answer it while Isaac sipped his tea and continued to circle the room.

“Can I call you later? I’m with someone,” she said, her voice carrying back to him. “He’s a friend of Keith’s…they used to work together.”

Isaac sat on the edge of the couch, feeling uncomfortable again.

“Yeah…at Softscape, several years ago…Okay…Wait, have you called Lucky yet?…Why not?…Jeez, Gabe…The party’s next week.”

It was her brother.

“A lot of good,” she said. “No, but…” At that point, she must’ve moved into another part of the house, because Isaac could no longer make out what she was saying.

He waited, wondering how many times Keith had sat in this very room. Did his brother-in-law ever regret what he was doing? Fear discovery?

Closing his eyes, Isaac leaned back on the couch and thought about calling Liz. He wanted to get his terrible announcement over with. Tonight. But he decided to wait and tell her in person, so he’d be there to help with the kids, give her a chance to recover. Somehow, he and his sister would get through the coming weeks just like they’d survived the years with Luanna.

Finally he heard Reenie’s voice again, saying goodbye. When she came back into the room, he stood to hand her his cup.

“Tea was great,” he said. “Thank you. I’m feeling much better already.”

“Good.”

“I’d better get going.”

She blinked in surprise. “But we’re not finished yet.”

“I still need to rent a room.” In Boise…

“Give me another minute or two. They’re not going to fill up at the Timberline.” She set his cup on a neat stack of magazines. “Have you ever heard of One-Eye Integration treatment?”

“No.”

“It’s usually for people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. But someone did a study somewhere that showed it’s effective for migraines.”

She’d managed to pique his interest in spite of his eagerness to leave. “What does it entail?”

“Eye exercises, basically. By manipulating your field of vision, you can dramatically reduce your headache symptoms. Just cover one eye and—”

The telephone rang again.

“I’m sorry,” she said with a helpless shrug. “I’ll be right back.”

Isaac silently cursed this new delay. He should’ve left when he had the chance. He wanted a few minutes alone on the Internet to research what might happen to Keith, and to plan what he was going to say to Elizabeth. Maybe he should sit down with his sister and his brother-in-law, so Keith would have to admit the truth.