Free Jilted by Varina Denman Page A

saw her. He frowned, running memories through the movie projector in his mind, but he couldn’t remember her smelling that strong when they were young.
    Her bracelets jangled as she patted Nathan and greeted Fawn, but Clyde kept his eyes trained on a tumbleweed rolling down the front sidewalk.
    Two years ago, when Clyde returned to Trapp, Susan had been as cold as a norther blowing in from Colorado, but back then, Neil had been sitting on the pew next to her. Like two stone pillars, the Blaylocks had reigned from the second pew, the faultless church elder and his pious wife. When Neil stopped attending worship, Susan had been forced to thaw, but only slightly.
    Now she and Clyde would greet each other real quick-like, just enough to show they were acting like Christians, but not enough for church members to make up crazy stories about them.
    Fawn watched as her mother pranced away from them. “Did everything go all right when they picked up Nathan Friday?”
    â€œI guess so.” Clyde didn’t bother mentioning Neil’s peculiar behavior to Fawn, but she brought it up herself.
    â€œDad’s been stressed lately.”
    Clyde wondered what sort of things would stress Neil Blaylock.
    â€œMother thinks it’s a midlife crisis.” She shrugged. “Here comes JohnScott.”
    â€œHey there, Clyde.” Fawn’s husband approached with a cluster of teenagers, hung back to let them pass, then shook Clyde’s hand.
    â€œGood game Friday night,” Clyde offered. Every person in town greeted the coach with one of two greetings, depending on stats, but Clyde didn’t bother to get creative. “We at home again this week?”
    â€œYep.” JohnScott grinned. “One more home game, and then we head to Tahoka.”
    The four of them went through the double wooden doors together, but Fawn continued down the aisle to sit near her mother while JohnScott settled next to Clyde on the back pew. Clyde knew the coach would sit with him until a moment before the service started.
    â€œSorry to hear about your dad,” Clyde said softly. “Ansel’s one of my favorites.”
    â€œHe’s everybody’s favorite.” JohnScott’s eyes drooped.
    â€œYou all right?”
    â€œNot really.”
    Clyde nodded. “Might take a while yet.”
    â€œYou hear about those bones out at the lake?” JohnScott seemed to shake the gloom from his thoughts, and Clyde went along with it.
    â€œI’m not deaf, right?”
    â€œLast I heard, they’re definitely human remains, but they don’t know who it is.”
    Clyde lifted an eyebrow. “What do you think?”
    â€œAw …” JohnScott ran the tip of his tongue across his lips. “I’m figuring it to be a lost Boy Scout mauled by a mountain lion, but nobody ever reported him missing because he was such a toot in the first place.”
    â€œYou think?”
    â€œWhat about you?” JohnScott asked. “What’s your take on it?”
    Clyde rubbed the back of his index finger along the bottom of his chin. “Skydiving expedition gone bad?”
    â€œAnd … why didn’t anyone ever report him missing?”
    â€œThey did, but the wind carried him for miles.”
    JohnScott opened his mouth in a wide grin. “Maybe it’s the same kid. Jumped from an airplane, then got mauled by a mountain lion.”
    â€œIt could happen.”
    Fawn’s husband pulled a dry washcloth from his pocket and dabbed a blob of moist cookie crumbs on Clyde’s shoulder. “I see you held Nathan this morning.”
    â€œSure enough.”
    The coach smiled, then joined Fawn and Susan near the front.
    Clyde stared at the backs of their heads, wondering, remembering, thinking about the past. Life had turned out to be a strange, unpredictable storm, but he had long since determined to ride it out. Fawn’s curly ponytail fell across the back of the pew, and Clyde