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And now, out of the hole, away from the terror, she was at a complete loss Had she been pushed, or had it been the wind?
She due--the su to be the saht she’d hate the outfit the rest of her life anyway, always associating it with an afternoon in an open grave Before hopping beneath the shower spray, she opened the medicine chest and downed several ibuprofen tablets, anxious to avoid the headache that threatened
A shower had never felt so good She had the water steaer than she should have But she eer than she had when she had first eed from the pit
The rain had turned the warmth of the day into a coolness that didn’t quite fit with the Virginia suht knit sweater and jeans, and dressed quickly
She paused for a , but watching She felt as if the roohost was there, and watching, it ith sympathy, and no other emotion
She exited her room just as Matt left his
"Ready? We don’t have to rush If anyone wants to ht It will dry"
He nodded, and lifted an ar that she should precede him down the stairs She was irritated to realize that she was afraid to do so
She hurried down each step, anxious to keep a distance from him When he opened the front door, they saw that the rain had stopped co was there, and the darkness seemed more ominous than ever
Matt didn’t seeer’s seat door of his car She slid in
He didn’t speak on the drive to the Wayside Inn But she caught hi with you?" he asked her
"Nothing Really I was pretty shaken up, of course No one likes to fall into an open grave And, of course, I was soaked But now…I’ her, as if not believing a word she’d said But they reached the Wayside Inn, and she juer’s seat before he could walk around Darcy hurried toward the door and was startled when it was flung open
Clint was the first one out, reaching her, picking her up, swinging her around, and looking at her anxiously
"Poor baby! We all walked off and left you in a grave!" he said, dismayed
"Clint, you can set me down I’m fine Just fine"
"Darcy!" Adam was the next one out He didn’t lift her, and she offered hi before he could crush her
"I’et "
"Matt! Good going But how did you find her?" Carter asked, bursting out the door behind Adam
"Hardly brilliant police work," Matt said dryly "We’d left her in a churchyard I went back to it"
"Naturally!" Penny said, poking her head out of the door "Darcy, dear, I ordered you a ha with a new one for Matt I hope that’s okay I host buster isn’t necessarily a vegetarian Why one would assuht?"
"Lovely, Penny, thank you," Darcy said
"And we’ve nice hot coffee on the table for you already!" Mae called loudly from within
"Bless you!" Darcy shouted back
Clint held the door open Carter ushered her on through Mae caught her, hugged her, and Mrs O’Hara cae "Poor, poor, dear! You are accident prone, Darcy But I hope you don’t think that it’s Stoneyville We’re really a wonderful little place I’d never want you to go away thinking otherwise"
"Great!" Clint teased, grabbing Darcy’s hand and leading her to her place at the table "Don’t be fooled They all thought you’d gone over to the enemy Okay, so maybe I did, too"
"The enemy?" she said
Clint o off with Max Aubry"
"Did you tell hihosts?" Penny asked anxiously
"No," Darcy said She are of Matt watching her, arms crossed over his chest "I explained to Mr Aubry that our firh solid research, and that was that"
"Clint! This is horrible We’re worried about what poor Darcy rave," Penny protested
"I would have died," Delilah said "I would have flat-out died of the fear But then, you are you, and I ihosts what they could do with thehtened Truly frightened It was an eerie experience--even for me"
"Let’s hope you don’t catch your death of cold!" Mae piped in "Drink up that coffee, it’s nice and warm Soup! You should have some soup And I made chicken noodle from scratch Sio for a bowl myself," Matt said "Sih to grab the chair next to Darcy’s He touched her cheek "Thank God!" he said softly He shook his head, arave! And you still found her"