She didn’t want to do any such thing, and she struggled to hide her dismay. “Life’s complicated. That’s a hard thing to promise.”

“ ’Course it’s hard,” she snapped. “You didn’t think bein’ married to this man was gonna be easy, did you?”

“No, but…”

“Do what I say. You promise me right now, gal.”

Under the force of those sharp blue eyes, Jane’s own will dissolved, and she found she couldn’t deny this old woman. “I promise that I’ll do my best.”

“That’s good enough.” Once again, her lids closed. The creak of her rocker and her wheezy breathing underscored the smooth molasses voice coming from the speakers. “Calvin, promise me you’re gonna look after Janie Bonner like a husband should and that you’ll think about her welfare before you think about your own.”

“Aw, Annie, after all these years of waitin’ for the right girl to come along, you think I wouldn’t take care of her once I found her?”

Annie opened her eyes and nodded, having failed to notice either the malevolent gaze Cal shot at Jane or the fact that he hadn’t promised a single thing.

“If I’d of made your mama and daddy do this, Calvin, maybe things would of been easier for them, but I wasn’t smart enough, then.”

“It didn’t have anything to do with being smart, you old hypocrite. You were so happy to see your daughter catch a Bonner that you didn’t care about anything else.”

Her mouth pursed and Jane saw where her crimson lipstick had bled into the age lines around her lips. “Bonners always thought they was too good for Glides, but I guess we showed them. Glide blood runnin’ true and strong in all three of my grandsons. At least it is in you and Gabriel. Ethan’s always been a sissy boy, more Bonner than Glide.”

“Just because Ethan’s a preacher doesn’t make him a sissy.” He rose from the couch.“We have to go now, but don’t you think I’ve forgotten about that front step. Now where are you hiding those damn cigarettes?”

“Somewhere you won’t find them.”

“That’s what you think.” He headed for an old bureau next to the kitchen door where he dug into the bottom drawer and pulled out a carton of Camels. “I’ll be taking these with me.”

“You just want to smoke ’em yourself.” She rose from the rocker with great difficulty. “When Calvin comes back, you come with him, Janie Bonner. You got a lot to learn ’bout bein’ married to a country boy.”

“She’s working on a real important research project,” Cal said, “so she’s not going to have much time for visiting.”

“Is that true?” Jane thought she saw a flash of hurt in the old woman’s eyes.

“I’ll come visit whenever you like.”

“Good.”

Cal’s jaw clenched, and she realized she’d displeased him.

“Now go away.” Annie shooed them toward the door. “I want to listen to my Harry without all this talk.”

Cal opened the door for Jane to slip through. They had just reached the car when Annie’s voice stopped them.

“Janie Bonner!”

She turned to see the old woman regarding them through the screen door.

“Don’t you wear nothin’ to bed, not even in the winter, you hear me, gal? You go to your husband the way your Maker made you. Stark naked. Keeps a man from strayin’.”

Jane couldn’t summon an appropriate response, so she waved and got in the car.

“That’ll be the day,” Cal muttered as they drove away from the house. “I’ll bet you wear clothes in the shower.”

“It really galls you, doesn’t it, that I didn’t strip for you?”

“The list of what you’ve done that galls me, Professor, is so long I don’t know where to start. And why did you tell her you’d come back whenever she likes? I brought you here because I had to, but that’s it. You’re not spending any more time with her.”

“I already told her I’d come back. How do you suggest I get out of it?”

“You’re the genius. I’m sure you can figure something out.”

Chapter Seven

A s they drove down off the mountain, Jane saw an old drive-in movie theater on the right. The screen still stood, although it was damaged, and a deeply rutted gravel lane led to a ticket booth that had once been painted yellow, but had faded to a dirty mustard. The overgrown entrance was marked with an enormous starburst-shaped sign outlined in broken bulbs with the words, Pride of Carolina, written inside in flaking purple-and-yellow script.

Jane couldn’t tolerate the thick silence that had fallen between them any longer. “I haven’t seen a drive-in in years. Did you used to come here?”

Somewhat to her surprise, he answered her. “This is where all the high-school kids got together in the summer. We’d park in the back row, drink beer, and make out.”

“I’ll bet it was fun.”

Jane didn’t realize how wistful she’d sounded until he shot her a curious glance.“You never did anything like that?”

“I was in college when I was sixteen. I spent my Saturday nights in the science library.”

“No boyfriends.”

“Who was going to ask me out? I was too young for my classmates, and the few boys I knew who were my own age thought I was a freak.”

She realized too late that she’d just given him a golden opportunity to take another verbal swipe at her, but he didn’t do it. Instead he turned his attention back to the road as if he regretted having even such a short conversation with her. She noticed that the hard edges of his profile made him seem very much a part of these mountains.

They’d approached the outskirts of Salvation before he spoke again. “I’ve always stayed at my parents when I visit, but since I couldn’t do that this year, I bought a house.”

“Oh?”She waited for him to offer a few details, but he said nothing more.

The town of Salvation was small and compact, nestled in a narrow valley. The quaint downtown section held an assortment of stores, including a charmingly rustic restaurant, a shop that featured twig furniture, and the pink-and-blue caboose-shaped Petticoat Junction Cafe. They passed an Ingles grocery store, then crossed a bridge. Cal turned onto another winding, climbing road, then pulled into a lane paved with fresh gravel and came to a stop.

Jane stared at the two wrought-iron gates directly in front of them. Each held a pair of gold praying hands at its center. She swallowed, barely repressing a moan. “Please tell me this isn’t yours.”

“Home sweet home.” He got out of the car, pulled a key from his pocket, and fiddled with a control box on a stone pillar to the left. Within seconds, the gates with their praying hands swung open.

He climbed back in the car, put it into gear, and drove forward. “The gate operates electronically. The realtor left the controls inside.”