Page 8 of Final Escape
“It’s a tough call for a lot of parents. I don’t know what I would do, if it was me.” But it wouldn’t ever be. After her rocky marriage, she couldn’t imagine ever risking another bad choice and that kind of heartbreak again. How could she have been so totally wrong about one of the biggest decisions in life?
She might as well wish for the moon as to long for the happy little family she’d once dreamed of back in her naive, younger days.
“Well, I’d go with the medications that helped them settle down and learn, but that’s just me.” Marie adjusted her wire-rim glasses. “But, hey, we’ve already got one day down, and just eight weeks to go. I’ll trade you physics for art appreciation any day. You should look at the mess in my room after our gravity experiments this morning.”
“Are you a regular teacher here?”
“Honey, Igraduatedfrom Granite Falls High. I went off to Montana State, came back, and I’ve taught here ever since. Ten years.”
“You must know all of the families well, then.”
“It’s a really close-knit community. Tourists come and go, but the locals really watch out for each other.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Carrie muttered under her breath.Really glad.
“Hmm?” Marie gave her a distracted glance as she held up her hand to slow down a straggler racing for the door. “I hear you’ll be full-time in the fall. Where did you teach before?”
A brief, painful memory of Billy’s erratic, footloose ways cut through Carrie’s thoughts. “Until now, I’ve...just been able to do some substituting, now and then. We moved around a lot.”
Marie gave her an approving smile. “Lucky you to find a permanent position here. It isn’t easy these days.”
“I know. And I’m thankful for this summer job, too. I need the money.”
Marie chuckled. “Don’t we all. Did you find a decent place to stay?”
“I have to start looking for something long-term in the fall, so let me know if you hear of anything. I have just a summer lease out at a rafting company property.”
“Which one?”
“Wolf River. Logan and Penny Bradley.”
“Really.” Marie’s eyes widened. “How did you end up there?”
“Weeks of searching on the internet—and the first day the apartment was listed, I nabbed it sight unseen. It’s really nice,” Carrie added, feeling defensive at the hint of incredulity in the other woman’s eyes. “Despite being a little noisy with the tourists coming and going on raft trips. I moved in over the weekend, and it was crazy on Sunday.”
“I can imagine.” Marie looked at her closely. “And what about the Bradleys? Have you had a chance to get to know them?”
“Not really, but they both seem like nice people.”
“Yes. Well...I’m sure they are.”
The tone in her voice didn’t ring quite true. “Is there something I should know?”
After casting a glance down the hall to where several teachers had emerged from their classrooms and were striking up a conversation as they headed toward the door, Marie flashed a diffident smile. “Well, I’m not one to gossip, you know. Maybe I shouldn’t say anything.”
“Now you have me worried.”
“Well...the Bradleys had a little...uh, trouble a year or so ago.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“Nothing proven,” Marie reassured her. “It all turned out okay...for them. There are people around town who still really want answers, though. Hey, I’d better get busy, or I’ll be here all afternoon.”
Nothing proven?Uneasy, Carrie watched Marie waggle her fingertips in farewell and scuttle across the hallway to her classroom. First Deputy Munson and now Marie had hinted at trouble, though neither had given her any concrete reason to worry.
So what on earth was going on? Tomorrow afternoon she had to go back to her brother’s ranch to pick up the last of her possessions, but when she returned, she was going to find some answers.
* * *
