Free Into the Light by Ellen O'Connell Page B

spending an hour or two at the fair was one thing, an annual family outing, but two whole days in the crowds and hubbub of Hubbell’s Harvest Fair?
    Aunt Em had her best wide-eyed innocent look in place. “Oh, that’s a better idea, and we’ll have an excuse to dress up Saturday night for the dance.”
    “Dance?” Deborah straightened in her chair, her breath catching in her throat.
    “Oh, yes, the Harvest Dance is a big deal. Judith says the committee gets real musicians to play, and they decorate the town hall to a fare thee well. It will be fun. Promise me you’ll dance with Hiram Johnson and a few other eligible men before you run off for the evening. You don’t need to dance with your uncles.”
    Deborah nodded without considering what she was agreeing to. The light in the kitchen seemed brighter, the scents of fresh bread, fried chicken, and coffee more appetizing. Her carrots tasted of honey.
    Her mysterious stranger wouldn’t be there. He’d be back East again by now, attending college classes. Except what if he had graduated? He’d mentioned not returning East, so maybe he had. She should have asked when she had the chance. There must be positions in Hubbell these days for a college graduate, even if she didn’t know of any. Surely he’d rather stay near his family than go off to some big city.
    Busy calculating dizzying possibilities, Deborah smiled widely at her aunt and uncle without really seeing them. “That’s a lovely idea. I’m sure we’ll all have a grand time.”
    What harm could it do to have something to look forward to? No matter how slim the chance of meeting him again, for the first time in months, she felt like her old self. What harm could it do to slip away from the dance and steal some time? Maybe she would merely sit alone and remember. Maybe he’d be there, and his voice would reach out from the night and wrap around her like a soft blanket. Maybe....
    Deborah grabbed hold of the idea of the Harvest Dance the way a drowning woman would a rope.
     
    T REY LOOKED UP at the sound of a double tap on his bedroom door. At least he’d almost finished packing for a few days in town and could be gone in minutes.
    “Come in,” he said, his lack of enthusiasm for any visitor in this house in his voice.
    The door opened just enough for a sandy-haired head to poke through. “Is it safe?” Daniel Forbes inquired with humor. “You don’t sound welcoming.”
    “I suppose I’m not,” Trey admitted. “I apologize. You weren’t on my list of expected visitors.”
    “My brother has lured his wife into a walk while there’s still a trace of coolness in the air. We missed you at breakfast.”
    “Did you?”
    “Oh, yes, there was a marked conviviality in the group it lacks in your presence.” Daniel crossed to Trey’s unmade bed, sat, and ran his hand over the sheet as if checking the quality of the cloth.
    Daniel’s open face was full of humor. Trey regretted his own cautious reserve. Maybe the man could be a friend, an ally in winning Alice over. Even so, trusting anyone who held a high position in his father’s empire meant trusting someone who at the very least looked the other way when criminal acts were committed under his nose.
    Trey folded another shirt and piled it on top of the others in his valise.
    “Do you really enjoy these jaunts to the thriving metropolis of Hubbell?” Daniel asked. “Or do you just hide out and lick your wounds for a few days?”
    Trey had to laugh at the man’s bluntness. “Licking wounds is an exaggeration. Hubbell may not be a metropolis, but it is thriving these days, and yes, I do enjoy it. There’s a fair this weekend, a dance. You ought to come with me.”
    “And stay with Mr. Lenahan?”
    “He hasn’t got room. I suppose a place to stay might be a problem. The hotels will be full.”
    “Another time,” Daniel said vaguely. “I’m sorry about Alice. She isn’t usually so emotional. Vernon thinks once the baby comes, she’ll be