Dead Silence (Stillwater Trilogy #1)(13)
Author: Brenda Novak

The reverend himself had told his stepchildren to call him Dad, and had gotten very angry when they didn’t, especially if other people were around when they slipped up. Once he was no longer part of their lives, their mother had insisted they continue the practice for the same reason they couldn’t pack up the office in the barn.

“Until my dad met your mother, it was just me and him,” Madeline said. “He was all I had.”

Her mother had committed suicide three years before the reverend married Irene. Grace had always wondered exactly what had caused her severe unhappiness and guessed she’d come to know the real man behind her husband’s pious mask. But no one ever talked about her. Even Madeline pretended Eliza Barker had never existed. Grace assumed Madeline hadn’t forgiven her yet.

“I know how much he meant to you, but—”

“I need some closure, Grace. If he’s dead I’ll have to accept that, right? Then I’ll know he’s not coming back. Like my birth mother. That’s something, isn’t it?”

“Does Kirk believe he’s dead?” Grace asked.

“Of course. But unlike most other people around here, he’s not blaming Irene.”

“That’s good,” Grace said with a fake laugh. “I’d hate to have anyone like that influencing you.”

“She’s part of the reason I can’t quit searching for answers,” Madeline replied. “I’m determined to finally prove to this town that she’s as innocent as you or I. They’ve been so unfair to her—and to you and Molly and Clay.”

After the reverend disappeared, Grace’s family was all Madeline had. Grace supposed she could’ve moved in with her cousins, but she’d never been particularly close to them. Not only that, her stubborn loyalty to Irene separated her from Joe’s family almost immediately.

Grace pressed the cool glass to her cheek and closed her eyes. “I appreciate that, Maddy.”

Her stepsister grew silent, then said, “We’ll be over in an hour, okay?”

“Maddy?” Lowering her drink, Grace opened her eyes.

“What?”

“Where does Kennedy Archer live?”

“In the old Baumgarter place.”

The Baumgarter place was a fabulous Georgian that sat back from the road a couple miles south of town. Grace remembered it well. Besides the fact that it was a landmark in Stillwater, Lacy Baumgarter had been one of the most popular girls in school and had held many lavish parties at that house.

Not that Grace had ever been invited….

“It’s a beautiful home,” she said, trying to keep her voice neutral.

“You should see how Raelynn fixed it up. After the Baumgarters moved away, the Greens bought it. They wound up getting a divorce, and Ann kept the house but couldn’t afford to maintain it so it fell into disrepair. Finally, she sold it to Kennedy and Raelynn, who restored it.”

“Wonderful.” Grace pictured the SUV she’d spotted on Apple Blossom this morning and felt a moment’s relief. On the way home from the pizza parlor she’d realized that Kennedy’s Explorer was black and had begun to think the driver of that vehicle might’ve been him. But if he lived in the Baumgarter place, chances were fairly good he wouldn’t be on Apple Blossom at six-thirty in the morning.

“Why do you ask?” Madeline wanted to know.

“I thought maybe he lived in town.”

“Nope. You heard he’s running for mayor, didn’t you?”

“I’ve seen the signs.” They were everywhere, but it looked as though Councilwoman Nibley was running against him and launching a pretty aggressive campaign of her own.

“I’ve endorsed him at the paper. Will you be around to vote?”

Grace set the hammock moving again. “I want to support you and your paper, Maddy, but I probably wouldn’t vote for Kennedy even if I was here for the election.”

“You don’t like him?”

Grace didn’t hesitate. “No.”

“Really? Why not? He’s nice. And I feel sorry for him.”

“He comes from the most powerful family in Stillwater, he’s handsome, fit and rich. What’s to pity, Maddy?” Grace asked dryly.

“He took Raelynn’s death really hard. I’ve never seen a man cry like that at a funeral.”

Grace remembered her mother’s mentioning the car accident that had claimed Raelynn’s life. “I feel bad about his wife,” she admitted.

“They’d been together since their sophomore year.”

Grace had gone to high school with them, so she was unlikely to forget that. “I know. But she was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known. He didn’t deserve her.”

A stunned silence met this response. “Do you have something specific against Kennedy Archer?”

Besides the fact that, unlike so many of his friends, he hadn’t found her worthy of notice? Grace couldn’t decide which was worse—being taunted and used or not being good enough to get that much attention. Somehow the contempt Kennedy had shown her in high school stung more than Joe’s or Pete’s cruelty. He’d never actively abused her. But she’d always known that if he’d broken rank with the others, they would’ve liked her, too. Kennedy was the leader. He formed his own opinions and judgments, and for the most part the others followed him. It was Kennedy she’d not so secretly admired. Yet Raelynn, the one girl who shouldn’t have been nice to her, had been kindest of all. And Kennedy, the one boy who could’ve changed everything, hadn’t bothered to acknowledge that she was alive.

“Nothing specific,” she said. “See you when you get here.”

“How’s your mowing service going?” Kennedy asked Teddy as he backed out of his parents’ drive. Kennedy had told Camille he wasn’t staying for dinner, but his father had seemed particularly interested in seeing him tonight, and his mother had everything on the table when he’d arrived. He’d decided to stay for his father’s sake, and they’d eaten together. Then he and Otis had talked politics for a while. It was nearly eight o’clock by the time he’d collected his boys and, taking the leftovers Camille wanted to send home with him, gone outside to the Explorer.

“He got into trouble today and had to sit in the corner,” Heath volunteered. Kennedy’s oldest son was now big enough for the passenger seat, but Kennedy made him sit in back, where it was safer. Raelynn had been on her way to have her hair cut when she veered into the center of the road to avoid a car that had suddenly turned in front of her—and hit a semi coming from the other direction. Nothing could’ve saved her from an impact like that. But Kennedy wasn’t taking any chances with his children.