Rimrock before she noticed the car behind her.

A blue Toyota, a little worse for wear, and very familiar. It was David's car; Jenny recognized it the minute she turned onto the main street. Had he been following her or was this just a coincidence?

Finding a parking place was no problem, as usual. She had her pick and pulled into one right in front of the grocery store. The Toyota pulled in next to her. Jenny got out and so did David. Tall, loose-limbed, dark-eyed David.

"I tried to call you a little while ago," he said, joining her on the sidewalk.

No "Hi, how's it going?" she noticed. No small talk. "I guess I was ... ?" Where? She hadn*t left the house since late yesterday afternoon. "Oh. In the shower. But we have a machine." Except there hadn't been any new message on it when she left.

"I know. I didn't use it. I hate those things."

Loose-limbed, dark-eyed, old-fashioned David, she thought. *WeU. So. Why did you call?" No beating around the bush for her, either.

He stuck his hand into the pocket of his jeans and pulled something out. A bracelet, woven of narrow, multi-colored strands of cloth. "I found this in my car this morning," he said, holding it out to her. "I guess it fell off some time that night."

No need to ask what night. Jenny remembered now that she'd worn it, but she hadn't missed it at all. *Well. Thanks." She shpped it over her hand and smiled at him. She'd been complimented on her smile a few times in her life; supposedly it brought

out a dimple at the comer of her mouth, although she'd never been able to see it. According to her mother, it also lit up her face and made people want to smile back. Jenny always thought her mother was just prejudiced, and now she was sure of it, because David wasn't smiling back at all. She cleared her throat. "Have you . . . um . . . been to see Diana?"

"I've been to the hospital," he said. "But nobody can see her except her family."

"Is she still the same?"

He nodded.

"That's too bad." That sounded awfully weak, but Jenny couldn't think of anything else.

However, David didn't seem to be listening to her lame conversation. He was looking at her again the way he had in the diner, as if she were fascinating but frightening.

Jenny stood it as long as she could and then laughed nervously. "Is there something stuck on my teeth?" she finally asked. "If there is, please tell me and I'll get rid of it."

This time he did smile, and little pinpoints of hght flashed in his nearly black eyes as they took in her cutoffs and faded blue workshirt. "No, you look great, Jenny."

"Well, that's good. The way you were staring at me, I felt like I was under a microscope."

"Sorry," he said, running a hand through his hair. "I've been thinking."