A Woman's Touch

for herself, too.“
    „I didn’t think anything could scare Alice Cork.“
    „She was a woman living alone in an isolated area. Of course, she got nervous at times. Anyone would.“
    „You never even met the woman,“ Kyle muttered. „How do you know what she felt?“
    „I just know. At any rate, she wrote that, in the end, she didn’t have to worry after all. A couple of teenage boys, local kids, drove up in a pickup truck that belonged to the Stockbridge ranch. The two boys got out of the truck and proceeded to beat the stuffing out of a couple of the bigger kids who were trying to trash the barn. The rest of the gang ran off into the night. The two boys who had saved Alice’s barn and maybe her animals got back in the truck and drove away.“
    „Who would have thought old Alice would have kept such a detailed journal?“
    „That was you driving the pickup that night, wasn’t it, Kyle? You’re the one who ran off that gang of toughs who were threatening Alice.“
    „I had help.“
    „I know. Glen Ballard.“
    There was silence from the other side of the Porsche. „Alice saw us both?“
    „Oh, yes. She saw you and Glen. She knew who had come to her rescue. She wrote in her diary that there might be hope for the next generation of Ballards and Stockbridges, after all. When the chips were down, apparently, the two of you could put aside the feud long enough to work together.“
    „Don’t forget that Ballard and I both had a long-term interest in Harmony Valley,“ Kyle said. „You may have noticed we’re both kind of possessive about it. Neither of us was about to let a bunch of young toughs trash Alice’s barn that night We took it personally, I guess you could say. When I heard about the plans for Halloween, I borrowed Dad’s truck and went to find Ballard. I knew I was going to need a little help. I figured he had a vested interest in the situation, same as I did.“
    „Where did you find Glen that night?“
    „He was cruising town with a bunch of his friends. I told him what was happening and he got in the truck without asking any questions. We drove over to Harmony Valley and took care of the problem. Then I drove Ballard back to town and dropped him off in front of the gas station. End of story. We never said more than ten words to each other during the whole thing.“

    Rebecca nodded thoughtfully. „But Alice knew what had happened.“
    Kyle shrugged again. „And based on that one incident, she came to the conclusion Ballard and I could some day coexist?“
    „I think Alice Cork was a very perceptive woman. And there have been other incidents, haven’t there, Kyle? Not very many, I’ll grant you, but one or two. Alice wrote about how you and Glen split the cost of Herb Crocket’s bypass surgery a few years ago. The Crockets didn’t have any insurance at the time.“
    Kyle swore bluntly. „She knew about that, too? No one was supposed to know about that. I told Ethel to send the hospital bill to me and keep quiet about it. But Ballard got wind of what was happening and demanded to split the tab with me.“
    „And you let him.“
    „Hell, yes. I let him. You got any idea what bypass surgery costs? At the time I wasn’t nearly as well off as I am today. Neither was Ballard. It made sense for both of us to go fifty-fifty instead of one of us trying to cover the whole thing. Besides, we’d both known Herb all our lives.“
    „Just common sense, hmm? Naturally you’d both want to make certain no one found out you and Glen were capable of cooperating. Bad for the image.“
    „Believe me. It wasn’t what you’d call real cooperation, Becky. Don’t romanticize it. And don’t get any ideas about riding into town on a noble white steed and ending the Stockbridge-Ballard feud, either. Life doesn’t work that way.
    Turn right here.“
    Rebecca swung the wheel a bit sharply and Kyle grabbed at the dashboard. „Sorry,“ she said lightly.
    „I can tell.“ He threw her a dangerous glance. „The house is at the end of this driveway. Up there on that hill.“
    Rebecca peered ahead. Lights were on inside the sprawling, two-story ranch home, but the illumination didn’t seem to project a feeling of warmth. In the dark it was hard to see much, but she got an impression of a house built for grim endurance. There were other large structures out back that looked like stables.
    „You can park over there,“ Kyle said, indicating a stretch of concrete in front of a large