A Woman's Touch

truth.“ They approached the black Porsche, which was parked at the end of the driveway. „Let me have your keys, Kyle.“
    He reached into the wet pocket of his jeans and fished out the keys, but he didn’t turn them over to Rebecca. „I’ll drive.“
    „No, you will not drive. You’ve had too much to drink.“
    Kyle hesitated, shrugged and handed over his keys. „Take it easy,“ was all he said. He climbed into the passenger seat, heedless of the damage his wet clothes might do to the upholstery. „Turn right on the road at the end of the driveway. You ever been behind the wheel of a Porsche before?“ He fastened his seat belt.
    „No, but a car’s a car, isn’t it?“ Rebecca blithely shoved the key into the ignition and fumbled with the gears. „I’ve been driving for years.“
    Kyle winced but stoically said nothing as finely meshed machinery ground in protest. Rebecca got the car in motion and spun the wheel. The Porsche jerked violently to the right.
    „Tight steering,“ she remarked as she straightened out the nose of the Porsche and headed for the road at the bottom of the driveway.
    „Very.“ Kyle’s voice was even tighter than the steering.
    Rebecca slid her passenger a sidelong glance and stifled a small grin.
    Her amusement faded, however, as she sped down the road. She lapsed into a silence that was thicker than Kyle’s.
    It wasn’t until she had driven over five miles that she began to get suspicious.
    „You’re taking this whole thing amazingly well,“ Rebecca finally observed.
    Kyle leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. „Win some – lose some,“ he stated with admirable sangfroid.

    The truth dawned on Rebecca slowly. „I get it,“ she said finally. „You think you won tonight, don’t you? You succeeded in accomplishing what you set out to do. You crashed the Ballard’s party and got me out of their clutches.
    Congratulations.“
    Kyle didn’t open his eyes. „Thanks. The victory wasn’t without its down side. I didn’t count on ending up in the pool.“
    „I suppose you weren’t even as drunk as you appeared?“ Rebecca’s hands tightened on the wheel.
    „The only thing I had to drink was half of that can of beer Ballard gave me.“
    „I see.“
    Kyle opened his eyes then, his gaze shadowed in the dark confines of the car. „No, you don’t, but maybe you will one of these days. Take a left up here where that other road joins this one.“
    Rebecca obeyed, wondering if she should be furious at the deception. She couldn’t seem to work up the energy.
    Too many other things were going through her mind.
    „You can’t afford to hang around here keeping an eye on me for long, Kyle. You’ve got a company to run back in Denver.“
    „I’m practicing delegating authority, just like you taught me. I left Harrison in charge.“
    „You left Rick in charge?“ Rebecca was amazed. „After the way you chewed him out for nearly losing the Jamison deal?“
    „He’s got a lot to learn,“ Kyle muttered, „but he’s basically smart enough to hold things together for a few days.
    You told me that, yourself, once. Remember?“
    „I didn’t think you were listening.“
    „I always listen to you, Becky. You ought to know that by now.“
    Rebecca was silent for a while, turning that over in her mind. „I read an interesting passage in Alice Cork’s journal today,“ she said finally.
    „Yeah?“ Kyle didn’t sound encouraging.
    „It was about something that happened on a Halloween night several years ago. Back when you and Glen Ballard were teenagers. Alice wrote that she had some trouble that night.“
    „Kids get up to all kinds of things on Halloween.“
    „She noted that a gang of boys from the neighboring town decided to trash her barn as a Halloween prank.“
    „The kids used to tell each other she was a witch.“
    „She was worried about her livestock that night. Afraid some of the animals might be injured,“ Rebecca continued.
    „Alice always did like animals.“
    „She wrote in her journal that she was nervous. She wasn’t sure what to do. There were a number of boys involved, some of them quite rough. She figured she couldn’t just start shooting. They were, after all, just kids.“
    „I didn’t realize old Alice had such fine scruples. God knows she was always willing enough to wave her shotgun in my face.“
    Rebecca ignored that. „Alice was scared that night, Kyle. Scared for her animals and maybe a little scared