One

The telephone’s shrill ring interrupted Carly’s conversation with Leslie and Jill, her best friends and the only two people in Goosebury who would have anything to do with her at the moment.

“Aren’t you going to answer it?” Leslie asked when the insistent bell clanged through the room a third time.

“No.” Carly pursed her lips in disgust. “Why should I? It’s him. I know his ring.”

“His ring?” Leslie shared a look with Jill.

“Okay, maybe that sounds crazy, but he hasn’t stopped calling since Mrs. Vance caught us arguing in the park two days ago.” And heard every disparaging, condemning word aired.

“You weren’t to blame, Carly,” Leslie soothed. “We know that. No one thinks any less of you for what happened.”

Carly knew better. “I feel as if everyone in town has branded me with some sort of scarlet letter. In line at the post office this morning, two old women were whispering. They mentioned my name and kept darting glances my way. And yesterday when I popped into the news office to see if you wanted to do lunch, everyone looked at me, then became real busy, though a few told me ‘hi’—nervous ‘hi’s,’ I might add.”

“I think you’re seeing things that aren’t there.” The gentle flow of Jill’s Australian accent helped soothe Carly’s nerves, nerves the jangling phone attacked as it rang once more. “You did used to work there, and after that row you had with Abernathy, I imagine they were surprised to see you. Don’t worry about what others say or think. The bush telegraph will judge how it wants to in any case, and that’s the way of it—the town gossips,” she inserted when Carly looked at her stupefied. “Once news of a more shocking nature comes along, this will be forgotten.”

“You’re right, Ju-Ju,” Carly said with a wry twist of her lips. “The vultures will gather once a new corpse has been found in someone else’s closet. What about you?” she asked Leslie. “Does Dear Granny have any pearls of wisdom for me today?” She gave a rueful shake of her head. “If I’d just taken your advice, I might not be in this jam.” Leslie had often spoken to her about God in the year and nine months they’d known each other. In her top-secret profession as Goosebury’s advice columnist to the lovelorn, Leslie gave biblical advice with the aid of her grandmother, advice that at first annoyed Carly. However, as the months progressed, she and Leslie looked beyond their differences and became good friends. Carly had known Jill less than half that time, but they, too, had become close.

Leslie’s eyes held sympathy. “I think Jill’s right on with this one, Carly. Nobody at the office has been gossiping about you, not to my knowledge. And if a few old ladies have nothing better to do than to run people down, well, that kind of thing has been going on for centuries. Don’t let it get to you; it’s not like you to get so upset.”

Frustrated with the entire situation, Carly swept the receiver up as it shrilled a seventh ring—“Hello!” Warmth crept over her face at the stern greeting she received. “Oh, hi, Aunt Dorothy. . .No, he’s not home yet. . .Okay, sorry about that. . . Yes, all right, I’ll tell him.”

“That was my aunt,” she needlessly explained as she hung up the phone. “She wanted to know if my uncle Michael was home.”

“See, you worked yourself up over nothing,” Leslie gently chastised. “Jake has probably given up chasing you.”

“You don’t know how much I’ve wanted to change this phone number these past two days!” Carly groaned and slumped to a chair. “Always having to sprint for the phone before my family could pick it up hasn’t been easy. My aunt must know about Jake from all the gossip—I’m amazed she hasn’t confronted me with it yet. But if she knew he was calling me, still trying to see me. . .” Carly sighed.

“Can’t you just explain matters to her?” Leslie asked.

“Are you kidding? My aunt wrote me off as a bad seed the moment they took me in. She’s always treated me as the unwanted child; not that I care. I don’t.” She ignored the prick in her heart that told her otherwise.

“Why didn’t you just bail out once you came of age?” Jill asked.

“I should have, but life intervened. The year I graduated, I’d planned on getting an apartment with a classmate, but that was also the year my aunt got sick with the tumor, so I stuck around here to help out. Trina was too young to do much for her mom or take care of the house, and I felt obligated since they’d given me a place to live. My uncle hasn’t been so bad, but my aunt sometimes looks at me as if she hates me.”

Carly knew the reason for the woman’s hatred but didn’t voice it, still ashamed by what her aunt said her mother did all those years ago. Before Carly even knew of such things, Aunt Dorothy had claimed that a mother’s sins became the daughter’s and had placed Carly in the same despicable class as her mother. If Aunt Dorothy learned of this situation, everything she’d ever accused Carly of would be justified.

Leslie broke the silence. “I’ve talked to Blaine, and we’ve decided to move into my loft and rent out his house. We don’t need two places, especially since they’re next door to each other. Would you be interested?”

Carly smiled at her friend’s thoughtfulness; she’d never understood how Leslie could be so tolerant toward her, when she’d been so undeserving of her forgiveness during those first months Leslie started work at the Goosebury Gazette. Blaine had been something of a landlord to Leslie before they married, and both shared the trait of a protective attitude toward others.

“If I still had my job, I’d jump at your offer, Les, but I have no income to afford my own place. I am a complete dolt—what’s that word you use, Ju-Ju? For a fool that’s duped?”

“A mug.” Jill looked sympathetic.

“Yeah, that’s what I am. A mug.”

“Since Mr. Abernathy is my boss and has married my grandmother, I could put in a good word for you,” Leslie suggested.

Carly winced at the memory of her last outburst at the Gazette. Over a year ago, when she’d first discovered Jake’s lies, she had created a scene while conducting an interview. Her boss had given her a fiery tongue-lashing but also a second chance. Always restless, and unhappy at the Gazette, she’d wanted to quit then but had needed the income and couldn’t find another job that suited. This last time when she’d learned she’d been deceived, while taking a phone call at the office, she’d had a meltdown and Abernathy had had enough.

“I doubt I’ll get good references from the Big Chief,” Carly said. “Or a third chance. And anyway, I don’t want to get you involved in my problems.”

“You’re my friend. That makes me involved already.”

Carly didn’t know what she’d done to deserve these two, but she was grateful for friends like Leslie and Jill.

“Say. . .” Jill’s blue eyes looked thoughtful. Carly had seen that expression enough times to recognize her friend was cooking up a plan. “Some of my mates from church are joining me and Ted to hike up the Long Trail into Canada in two weeks. You’re between jobs and want to distance yourself from Goosebury until things cool down. Why not join us?”

At the word church, Carly inwardly cringed. Ironic that her two best friends in the world were Christians, since Carly wanted nothing to do with Christ. “Will there be a lot of preaching?”

“We’ll hold a Bible study and have devotions each night before we turn in, but we won’t tie you to a tree and force you to attend, Carly.”

Carly chuckled at the sparkle in Jill’s eyes. She’d never been on the Long Trail, though she’d promised herself she would attempt the extensive hike someday. As she listened to Jill gush about the exquisite scenery, the scope of mountains, and the experiences she’d shared with her husband when they’d section-hiked the trail, an idea came to Carly. She had made a living as a writer. Maybe she could document her experience and write a guidebook for beginners by a beginner. That idea might reel in the readers, especially those interested in the outdoors.

Still, she hesitated. “Is there a list of items I’d need? I can’t invest in anything extra right now.”

“I’ll get you the list tomorrow. Anything you can’t afford, I might have a spare. Ted and I have done a lot of hiking over the years, so I have heaps of gear. You can have my old tent—it’s ace, not a thing wrong with it; we just needed a bigger one after we married.” Jill fairly bubbled with enthusiasm. “You’ll only need what you can carry in a backpack, along with a pair of good sturdy shoes. The sporting goods store is having a corker of a sale from what I saw in an ad this week, so no worries there, either. And you’ll have plenty of time to break them in. Oh, this is exciting! Ted’s bringing his mate along, and now I’m bringing mine.”

“Ted’s bringing a friend?” Carly felt her internal radar go on the alert.

“Oh, no worries about Nate. He’s fair dinkum.”

“Uh, yep, I’m sure he is.” From her experience, Carly doubted any guy was genuine or trustworthy.

“You two are making me jealous,” Leslie complained with a sad chuckle, putting a hand to her six-months-pregnant stomach. “I would love to go hiking. It seems as if it’s been forever since Blaine and I went anywhere, even to visit covered bridges.”

“Oh, poor you.” Jill threw a semi-mocking glance her way. “If I could, I’d exchange places with you in a heartbeat.”

Leslie’s face reddened, and remorse swept over Jill’s features. “Oh, Leslie, I didn’t mean that the way it came off.”

“I know. But you’re right. I should count my blessings instead of complaining about what I can’t have.”

Sensing unease in the atmosphere, and knowing Jill’s frustration stemmed from being married five years and not having the child she desired while Leslie became pregnant within three months after her marriage to Blaine, Carly voiced her decision.

“All right, Ju-Ju, you’ve convinced me. I’ll invest in a pair of hiking boots and take that 270-mile journey down the long, long, Long Trail.”

They all laughed, but restlessness still coiled deep inside Carly.

Knowing Jake, he would make another appearance in Goosebury soon, determined to see her. He hadn’t given up the first time, and she doubted he would retreat this time either. She needed to get as far away from him as possible. The next two weeks couldn’t go by fast enough.

❧

Nate stuffed as few articles in his backpack as he felt he needed for the month-long hike.

“So you’re really going then?”

At the unexpected voice, he jumped and turned toward his door. His father stood in the entrance. At Nate’s look of surprise, he explained, “I knocked, but the door was ajar.”

Nate gave a short nod. He must not have closed his apartment door all the way when he’d come home, loaded down with shopping bags. The air currents in the outside corridor had a habit of pushing the door open if it didn’t stick, but his frustrations didn’t end there when it came to this place. He really needed to find somewhere else to live, but it was the only place available in his price range when he had been looking. Still, if a reporter and not his dad had been standing there, Nate would have been cornered.

He eyed his father in his gray suit with navy tie, his silvering hair distinguished and brushed back from his face in a confident manner, his entire appearance calculated to assure clients he remained the man in control. But today his father didn’t look in control. New lines creased his brow, and a defeated hunch bowed his shoulders.

“Dad, I just need some time alone. To put distance between myself and Bridgedale and to sort things out.”

“She wasn’t worth it, son. I know it hurts, but any woman who won’t stand by her man doesn’t merit the money it takes to pad her lifestyle. You’re better off without her.”

Nate sensed that, but the reminder didn’t help right now. He had thought he might propose to Susan once upon a time but had held back. Now he was glad he had. Losing his job, several of his so-called friends, and his girlfriend within a twenty-four-hour period had been tough. Dealing with the newscast that sent his family’s life whirling into upheaval would have been that much more difficult if Susan had thrown his ring back in his face, too. Nate retrieved his camera from a shelf and stuffed it inside its protective carrier. He planned to take plenty of pictures while he connected with nature and, he hoped, rediscovered the peace that notoriety had wrenched from his life.

“Your stepmother is heartbroken. I don’t know what to tell her. I never had a teenager become so rebellious, and I have no idea what to advise her concerning Brian.”

Nate’s jaw clenched. The last thing he wanted to talk about was his felon of a stepbrother or the social-conscious woman who sucked his father dry of funds at every chance she could. Rail about the two of them, yes. Maybe that would ease the frustration packed inside him like a time bomb ready to go off. But seeing the once-proud attorney reduced to such a torn, humbled man twisted Nate’s heart, and he withheld his true feelings.

“I’m sure you’ll work things out, Dad. You always do.”

“This, I’m afraid, is beyond working out.” His father took a seat on Nate’s bed and shook his head.

Nate sympathized with his father, but he’d heard once that an empty vessel didn’t do much good at filling others’ pots, and his was as dry as a bone. None of the Bible promises he’d read during his long-ago studies seemed to float to mind, and he hoped that these weeks away would improve his connection to his Savior. Lately, he felt like the line between them crackled with static.

“I can’t say I blame you for leaving,” his father said. “The media can be merciless, but Julia wanted to stay close—though after that sad excuse for a preliminary hearing and the mob bearing down on us like baying hounds on the courthouse steps. . .” He sighed, breaking off his thought. “I was afraid she might have a breakdown. I should have taken her on a cruise months ago. Since my last client dropped me, I don’t know why I don’t.” He bowed his head into his hands. “She blames me for not representing Brian, though I’ve told her I’m not a criminal attorney. Even if I were, I couldn’t act in his defense because of the conflict of interest.”

“Maybe you should take that cruise. You need some peace, too.” Nate clapped a hand to his father’s shoulder in a show of support, all he could offer at the moment. “I’ll be back long before the trial starts. I’m not running out on you.”

“You’ve always been dependable, son. I know I can count on you. Your mother would have been proud.”

The reference to his mom made Nate think of his sister, a mirror-image to the first Mrs. Bigelow. “At least Nina lives in Connecticut and is immune to all this.”

His father slapped his leg in frustration. “It just isn’t right. You shouldn’t have been made to suffer so; none of this was your fault.”

“Yeah, well, life’s not fair. Never has been, never will be.” Nate shrugged into his backpack, adjusting the strap. “But we have to struggle along and make the best of things somehow—isn’t that what you always told me?”

His father let out a dry chuckle. “I never knew you were listening.”

“I always listened.”

The two men shared a look charged with emotion, each of them letting the other know without words that he was important.

“Just don’t make the same mistakes I did, son.”

Nate gave a slight nod. “I’ll keep that in mind, Dad.”