He nodded. “Have fun,” he said absently.
“Who was that?” Ted asked when she was gone.
“Amy.”
“See? Even she’s going out tonight.”
“Why didn’t someone tell me?” he growled. He didn’t have to explain that he’d already gone back to the “other” subject.
“Wasn’t our place. But I’m glad the news is out. That volcano’s been about to erupt for ages.”
“The news isn’t out. He’s not telling his parents, doesn’t feel he can. That means we can’t tell anyone, either.”
“I’m not going to say anything, Noah. I love Bax, too.”
“I don’t love him in that way. I never could.”
He laughed softly. “You don’t have to explain to me.”
But if the others knew, he felt he had to explain it to them. He didn’t want them secretly wondering if Baxter could turn him. Or thinking that maybe they’d been fooling around, just to see. “Not everyone will take that on faith.”
“Everyone we know will. That’s all that matters.”
“So...is he coming tonight?” he asked again. “Because if he is, I’m not.”
“You can’t be around him?”
“It’s not me. It’s him. He doesn’t want anything to do with me. Says he needs some space. But he needs friends, too, and...and if he won’t let me fill that role any longer, I’m hoping he can still hang on to you guys.”
“That’s generous of you, Noah, but he told me he’s going to San Francisco tonight.”
Where he probably had g*y friends—friends Noah was now seeing in a whole new light. What kind of life did Baxter lead when he went there? It had to be a hundred and eighty degrees different from the one he led here.
As much as Noah had been hoping that what had happened would simply blow over, it wasn’t going to. He’d known that in his heart, but there’d been moments, were moments, when he still wished. “Is he really selling his house?”
“From the looks of that sign out front, yes.”
“I don’t want him to go.”
“No one does. But I do have a bit of good news.”
Noah climbed onto his work stool. “What could that possibly be?”
“I invited Adelaide to the party tonight.”
He jumped to his feet again. “Did she say she’d be there?”
“She didn’t make any promises but...she might come. Just leave your car at home. I’ll pick you up.”
“You’re going to trick her into thinking I’m not there? Why doesn’t she want to see me?”
“Because she wants to see you too much.”
Could that be it? When she looked at him, she seemed to feel what he felt—an attraction. But her actions were so inconsistent with that. She had him confused as hell. “How can you tell?”
“You can’t?”
* * *
Adelaide felt ridiculous walking around wearing a sheet, but being able to hide her identity without drawing attention to herself was simply too good an opportunity to pass up.
She’d left the house as a flapper and created her alternate costume in her 4-Runner, purposely doing a sloppy job to make her look like a teenage boy. She’d cut the eyes out unevenly and surrounded them with black marker. She’d cut a jagged hole for her mouth, nothing for her nose and added an old straw hat that had belonged to Grandpa Davies. She’d even gone back to the mercantile once it got dark and bought a red pair of canvas high-tops so her shoes would be juvenile and unrecognizable.
So far she’d passed numerous children wearing costumes ranging from cowboys to firemen to Catwoman to the Little Mermaid. The older ones ran in packs, while the younger ones walked with their parents. She turned a few heads; it was impossible not to stand out when she was six feet tall and out alone. She’d tried to think of a way around that, but she couldn’t exactly ask someone to lend her a kid. She joined up with various groups but floated away before they could ask any questions.
Kevin’s house had been easy to canvass. Tom’s, too. They both lived in well-lit areas that saw a lot of traffic. She managed to time her approach for when trick-or-treaters were at the door. She stood at the periphery and checked the driveway and the street before moving on. Kevin owned a black truck with a lift kit. In her opinion, his truck matched his inflated ego. But it was higher than the truck she’d been forced into the night of the abduction, it wasn’t the right color and there wasn’t a scratch on it. Maybe he had another vehicle in the garage, which she couldn’t see because the door was down, but chances were slim it would be another truck.
Tom had been telling the truth about his vehicles. He didn’t own a truck or an SUV. He had a compact car and that old Bug he said belonged to his wife. She could tell that he wasn’t as well-off as Kevin. His house was smaller, more modest. The handmade welcome sign on the door, and the homemade curtains suggested that his wife was a stay-at-home mom—which meant they were living exclusively off his postal employee’s wages.
Stephen’s place was in the country, on Kyle Houseman’s property. From what she could surmise, Kyle had built a couple of simple homes for his workers on some land behind the factory. According to the phone book, Stephen lived in one. Addy wasn’t sure who lived in the other. There were no trick-or-treaters out here. The place looked deserted. She wasn’t even sure Stephen still lived at this address. Unlike the house next door, his had no Halloween decorations, no porch light burning and no car sitting out front.
She was just leaving when she passed him on the road. She didn’t immediately recognize him or his vehicle— an old white Chevy with a camper shell—but she saw him turn into the driveway when she glanced into her rearview mirror.
“There you are.” After giving him a few minutes to park and go inside, she flipped her 4-Runner around and went back, but she was too nervous to get out. She hadn’t seen any damage on his truck, but by the time she realized it was him, it was too late to really check.
Deciding she’d come back later, when he was asleep, she moved on to Derek’s four-plex, where she hoped to have better luck.
A lot of vehicles crowded the lot. Some even spilled out into the road. She could hear scary music and laughter, which grew louder every time a certain door opened and closed. Pot and cigarette smoke hung in the air, telling her this Halloween party had nothing to do with children.