Shadows in the Dark

Chapter 3

The divorcee walked down the beach wearing short shorts and a tube top. Male heads turned her way including the young teenage boys gathered in a clump. Judy Evans always kept an eye on her daughter while she was with her boyfriend Drew. They had been a couple for going on two years which worried her.

Judy was sitting with Kelly Harris and Marie Pelletier. Clustered on their beach chairs, they enjoyed the warm sunny day in late June. Summer was finally in full swing.

Judy whispered, "I heard she's entertaining a guest late at night!"

Marie replied, "Probably someone's husband."

Kelly added, "Judy, your husband is the one who gave her an apartment and a job."

Kelly had two sons whose necks spun when the divorcee walked by. She didn't want any Summer of 42 recreations with either of her boys. Jack was too busy hanging around with his friends, but Ryan who was only fifteen definitely spent time chasing the fairer sex.

"Did Todd tell you about her?" Marie tilted her head towards the divorcee who was sitting on the beach.

"No." Judy whispered, "I overheard one of the dames. She saw it. Another one said it was a husband! The question is... whose?"

None of the women spoke, each privately assessing the chance it could be their husband. Kelly didn't want to think about John sitting at The Landing in the morning while that woman worked. John Harris was a highly intelligent college professor and could talk for hours. John wasn't the slightly balding man in tweed you'd expect, but a tall, handsome man with deep brown eyes and a full head of brown hair. By the end of the summer, his skin would be bronzed and his hair would have gold tones from the sun. After almost twenty years, Kelly's heart still stopped when her husband looked at her and smiled.

Kelly wasn't stupid or naive. Her husband's good looks gave her worry. He was surrounded by young coeds, who were bound to have a crush on her beautiful man, but as time went on, their own sons were almost the age of his students. They both looked like their father, not exactly because a few of her traits were mixed in as a reward for carrying and delivering them. Both were extremely smart like their father, but Jack, the eldest applied himself more than Ryan. Her sons weren't lacking in attention from girls. Jack didn't notice it while Ryan lapped it up. Looking over, Ryan and his friend, Dougie were laughing with three bikini-clad teens.

Did she worry about John and the woman? Not really but she worried about being a fool for not worrying. It wasn't unusual for John to go out at night to check up on the boys. Usually, it meant making sure that Ryan wasn't up to anything he shouldn't be. By the time he walked the entire Point checking the usually dark places, he'd be gone awhile. No, she wasn't worried.

It was Marie who broke the silence. "It's probably Nora's husband. I don't know why that nice man stays with her."

Marie Pelletier did not get along with Nora Drake and didn't care who knew it. Nora had harped on her poor husband too many times and their poor daughter could never do anything right in her mother's eyes.

Judy replied, "Madelyn said Rose said Nora hasn't had an easy life. I'm not sure what she meant by that. Nora's little daughter plays with Rose's granddaughter."

"I thought Nora's Lana was inseparable with Jeremy Pendleton's daughter?" Kelly sighed.

Jeremy Pendleton was the most famous summer resident on The Point. He was a White House correspondent for a national network. Every night at six-thirty, he would come into America's living rooms to talk about whatever President Clinton may have done during the day. His perfect smile and golden hair made housewives across America swoon. The women on The Point had a chance to seeing the beautiful specimen shirtless on the beach each weekend.

"Maybe..." Marie said, "It's Jeremy! He travels internationally, so he would be attracted to a foreign bombshell."

"I don't know.  His wife and daughter just arrived last week. Maddie babysits for little Heidi."  Judy's daughter's babysitting gave her inside information.

Kelly laughed. "Maddie babysits for everyone. She probably knows more about what's happening around here than anyone."

The second most famous summer resident was Ruby Hughes. She and her husband Mason lived in Atlanta and came to The Point because Mason's family had always vacationed here. They had four children although Ruby looked as if she had never carried one. Ruby had to have had work done, because no mother could look so good. It was no wonder the Hughes and the Pendletons were best friends.

Ruby wasn't as famous as Jeremy, but she was a star on a cable home shopping channel. Any time of day or night, you could turn on the TV to find Ruby in a skimpy dress selling something — jewelry, luggage — you name it.

Marie commented, "If anyone was to have an affair it would be Will Drake or Jeremy Pendleton."

No one could argue with that statement.