Dreams: Part Two by Jayne Ann Krentz Read Free Book Online

take the news of your sudden marriage?“
    Diana grinned. “She’s thrilled with Colby, and she let him know it. More or less told him she’ll be everlastingly grateful to him for marrying me. She’d figured I was going to spend the rest of my life on the shelf.“
    Evelyn chuckled. “She sounds delightful. Nice change in mothers-in-law for Colby.“
    In the end, there were no embarrassing scenes. Margaret Fulbrook nodded stiffly to Colby when they encountered each other in the crowd. Colby nodded back, and that was the end of it. Neither spoke to the other. Diana decided that was probably just as well.
    Harry Gedge, Margaret Fulbrook’s beefy odd-job man, hung around at the fringes of the crowd. He stayed out of Colby’s way, which was also just as well, Diana thought. The grudge between Harry and Colby wasn’t going to disappear just because of a wedding party.
    Somewhere in the middle of the affair, Eddy Spooner drifted over to where Diana was standing alone. In honor of the event he had evidently polished his old army boots and washed the camouflage shirt and pants he favored. He shoved a handful of long, thin blond hair out of his eyes and gave Diana a quizzical twist of a smile.
    “It’s just like I was telling Harry a while back. Colby Savagar always did have all the luck. I been workin’ at that gas station for years. Put gas in damn near every car in town. Clean the windows, check the oil and fix problems every damn day of the week. But no one here even knows I exist. Colby, though, he leaves town with everyone around callin
    ’ him every name they can think of, and he comes back twenty years later like some kind of hero.“
    “I don’t think they consider him a hero,“ Diana said gently. “They’re just curious about him because of his past and the fact that he wrote some popular books.“

    Eddy shook his head. “It ain’t that. People always talked about Colby. They were always curious about him.
    Whenever he got into trouble, everyone in town gossiped about it. I was with him a lot of the times he got picked up by Sheriff Thorp, but no one said much about me. They just talked about Colby.“
    “I gather that when they did talk about him, they didn’t have much good to say,“ Diana reminded Eddy.
    Eddy nodded. “They all claimed he’d come to a bad end, all right. But as usual, Colby made out like a bandit. Some guys get all the breaks.“
    Half an hour later Diana caught sight of Colby making his way toward her through the crowd. His eyes narrowed briefly as he saw the kindly-faced older woman to whom his wife was talking. Then he smiled faintly.
    “Hello, Mrs. Grimley,“ he drawled as he drew close. “Giving my wife a quick rundown on what an outstanding student I was in high school English classes?“
    Ada Grimley smiled with the air of superiority only a veteran high school teacher can muster. “As a matter of fact, I was just telling Diana that I always knew you had the ability. It was just a matter of your settling down and getting to work, which you obviously eventually did. Congratulations, Colby. I’ve read all your books, and I like to think I can take some personal credit for having pounded the basics of English into you. Lord knows it was tough going at times.“
    Colby grinned, surprising not only Diana, but Mrs. Grimley. “Yes, ma’am. I know it was. But I couldn’t have written any of those books if it hadn’t been for you. I never thought I’d say it, but here goes: thanks for all the hours you spent beating English Lit. and grammar into my head.“
    Ada Grimley beamed. “You’re quite welcome, Colby. I shall look forward to your next book.“
    “There you are. Dad. I’ve been looking for you.“ Brandon wove his way through the crowd. He was carrying a small package, and he had Specter at his heels. The dog was licking wedding cake frosting off his muzzle as he trotted along in Brandon’s wake.
    “What’s that?“ Colby asked, eyeing the package in his