“Terri and Billy went together for over a year. Their... What do the kids call it? One of those initial things. PD... Public...”
“PDA? Public display of affection?”
“That’s right. Those two were always all over each other. Groping. Fondling. And Terri kept wearing less and less clothing. I tried to talk to Brody about her, but he wouldn’t listen. He was downright rude!”
“What a shame,” Nate said. “And there you were trying to help.”
“That’s exactly what I thought! And I turned out to be right because Terri dumped Billy. She dumped him. Flat. Just like that. One day they were all over each other and the next she wouldn’t speak to him. I tried to get Brody to tell me what was going on, but he said he didn’t know and that it was none of my business. I’ve always cared about him and his child so how was it not my business?”
“I bet you didn’t let his words stop you.”
Della gave a girlish laugh. “Certainly not! Poor Billy was heartbroken. We saw him pleading with Terri to listen to him. Begging! It was humiliating. But Terri would walk away. To see one of Virginia’s finest young men debase himself like that was more than most of us could stand. I mean, Brody is a tip-top man, but Terri is Leslie’s daughter. How did she dare hurt the Thorndyke son?”
All Nate could do was swallow and nod. If he spoke he might tell the vindictive little woman what he thought of her.
“Anyway, about a month later, the Thorndyke family moved. It was like on some murder mystery show. They didn’t tell anyone they were planning to go. They just packed up and left in the middle of the night—and they never returned. They hired someone to oversee the packing of their furniture, and sold the house to someone in the family. In the years since, they’ve never returned to visit all the people they know and love. We heard that Billy’s father took a job in Oregon. But what kind of state is that? Who lives there?”
Della took a breath. “All because Terri dropped dear Billy. He was the type of boy who was destined for great things but he didn’t do any of them. The world never heard of him. He still lives in Oregon, and I think he works for his father.” She looked at Nate as though she was about to cry. “How could Terri have done that to such a lovely young man?”
Only years of training enabled Nate to keep from lashing out at the dreadful little woman. “Did you try to find the answer to your question?”
“Oh yes. I asked everyone what they knew, but not even Brody had an answer to explain what his daughter had done.” Della’s eyes were bleary as she again leaned toward Nate. “I tried to tell him that I could have helped. If Terri had been my child, things would have been very different.”
Nate had to grit his teeth to keep from replying to that scary thought. “What happened with Terri’s mother?”
Della was struggling to keep her eyes open. “No one told you? She ran away with another man and left her young husband and two-year-old daughter behind.” She paused to let this revelation sink in. “That child was left alone and she cried for hours. I think a lot of her problems now stem from that horrible night. She may think she doesn’t remember it, but she does.”
“And Brody?” Nate asked softly.
“He never recovered from his wife leaving him. I told him we’d all seen it coming. The way Leslie used to swish around this place in her skimpy dresses made men go crazy for her. Just as I predicted, she ran away with one of them.” Della gave a sleepy, one-sided smile. “You want me to tell you a secret?”
“Very much.”
“I tried to tell Jake—you know, Brody’s partner—this when it happened, but he wouldn’t listen. He threatened me that if I told anyone he’d... I don’t want to remember what he said but I’ve kept quiet all these years.”
“What did you tell Jake?”
“I believe that Leslie ran away with the man staying in cabin twenty-six. He was a very handsome man. Not as good-looking as Brody, but he had the advantage that he was rich. The man told me he was there because his wife was visiting her college girlfriends. He said she didn’t like water, so it was his chance to stay at a lake. I never believed him. I saw the way he looked at Leslie. And I saw her talking to him. Twice!”
“You certainly keep an eye on people, don’t you?”
“I do my best.” She fell back against the sofa, too tired to keep her eyes open. “Today no one wants to hear about what I see. Now they have the internet and reality shows. I ask kids why they’d want to watch what’s going on with strangers when the same things are happening right here.” She suppressed a yawn, but didn’t open her eyes. “Have you seen the lights that move around the lake at night?”
“I have,” he said softly.
“The stories I could tell you about who visits whom! Those women have babies nine months after a visit to Lake Kisses.” She gave a little laugh. “I tell people that we’re as good as a fertility clinic. They... They...” She was drifting off. “People think I can’t keep secrets but I do. I haven’t told the mayor that you’re living with Terri. That counts, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Nate mumbled, and he saw that she had at last fallen asleep.
It took Nate several moments to recover from the anger he’d kept inside as he’d heard what the woman said
. Whatever the truth was behind a high school breakup, Della Kissel had magnified it into something horrible—and years later she was making sure the flames kept burning. Bad things had happened to the Rayburn family, but instead of comfort and support, they’d had to deal with Della’s snide innuendos and her endless prying into painful wounds.
As Nate stood up and looked down at the little woman, he shook his head. What in the world had caused her to become so miserable that she wanted to take everyone down with her?
He left her on the couch. She was small so it fit her and the huge silk garment would keep her warm.
Outside, he felt as though he’d left a den of poison, as though an evil smoke was curling through the place, seeping into every crevice, into every pore of his skin.