Green Calder Grass (Calder Saga 6)

He threw a look beyond her. “Is Jessy coming down?”

“In a few minutes, she said,” Cat replied.

“Good. I—” Chase broke off the sentence, catching the muffled roar of a fast-traveling vehicle outside.

He turned with a frown as headlight beams slewed across the windows. This was not a night when people would call to offer their sympathies. Tonight was a time for the family to grieve in private.

As the bright beams swung away from the windows, brakes squealed and tires skidded. In all of it, there was a sense of alarm. Chase headed for the front door as racing feet pounded up the porch steps.

“Dear God, what’s happened now?” Cat picked up the same vibrations and darted a worried look at Logan, but he had already followed Chase into the wide hall.

The front door burst open with a force that slammed it against the doorstop. A wild-eyed Tara rushed in and halted briefly when she saw Chase, wet streaks of black mascara running down her cheeks.

“Chase, thank God.” She launched herself at him, desperate fingers clutching at his shirtfront. “They just told me—” Tara broke off the sentence with a denying shake of her head. “It’s not true. It can’t be true. Ty is here, isn’t he?” Emotion sobbed in her voice. Frantic, she looked past him. “I need to see him.”

“Tara.” Chase gripped her shoulders. “Tara, it’s true. Ty is—”

“No!” she screamed to silence him and twisted in a wild frenzy to pull away, fear giving her a man’s strength. “That’s a lie! He isn’t dead. He’s here. I know he is.”

In a frenzy, Tara charged toward the living room. Logan made a grab for her, but she jerked free from him as easily as she had from Chase.

“You aren’t going to keep me from him. None of you!” Tara hurled the warning, a half-crazed glare in her eyes. “I’ll find him. Ty!” she called then saw Jessy coming down the stairs, her outer calm in direct contrast to Tara’s hysteria. Tara froze for a split second then ran for the steps. “He’s up there, isn’t he? Ty! Ty?”

At the landing, Jessy blocked Tara’s path. “You can’t go up there. You’ll wake the twins.”

“Get out of my way!” Tara shrieked and reached to push Jessy aside. “Ty’s up there! I have to see him. Ty! Ty!”

As always, she had met her match in Jessy. Jessy shoved her back. “Stop it, Tara! He’s dead.”

Wild with denial, Tara threw herself at Jessy again. “You’re lying,” she sobbed hoarsely. “You’re all lying.”

Reinforcements arrived in the form of Logan as he grabbed Tara from behind and pulled her off Jessy. When Tara started to fight him, Jessy slapped her hard across the face.

“I have wanted to do that for a long time.” Jessy glared at Tara with a kind of cold, controlled anger. “Now, get it through your head—Ty is dead. All the ranting and raving in the world won’t change it.”

With a horrible cry of pain, Tara collapsed into Logan’s suddenly supporting arms. He managed, with some difficulty, to scoop her up and carry her down the short flight of stairs, her arms, legs, and head dangling in limpness.

“I think she fainted,” he said to Cat and Chase.

“I’ll see if Sally has any smelling salts.” Cat moved toward the kitchen.

“Ordinary household ammonia will work just as well,” Logan told her as he carried Tara into the living room.

Awakened by the commotion, a sleepy-eyed Quint looked on in confusion. “What’s wrong, Dad?”

“Nothing, son. Tara fainted, that’s all.” With Quint on the couch, Logan deposited the unconscious Tara in the overstuffed armchair.

Jessy followed them into the living room and looked at Tara with dispassion. “I don’t care what you do with her, but she isn’t staying here.”

“Don’

t worry. She won’t,” Chase stated.

Busy propping Tara in the chair, Logan made no comment. When Cat returned to the living room, Sally was right behind her. Revived by a couple of whiffs of ammonia, Tara coughed and choked into wakefulness. She looked around wildly for a second. Then her eyes focused on Sally.

“He’s gone, Sally,” she blubbered. “What am I going to do?”

She immediately began to sob and wail hysterically. When Sally took over the job of attempting to console her, Logan left her to it and turned to Chase.