Diamonds and Dreams by Brenda Bone Page A

helped her, I would have because I owed her a lot.”
    “Really?”   Lindsay became further interested.
    “In
high school, as I said earlier, I was captain of the football team.   When my grades slipped, the coach threatened
to kick me off the team unless my academic skills improved.   Connie agreed to tutor me on her lunch
hours.   If it hadn’t been for her, I
might have failed, and certainly wouldn’t have been able to become a star
player on the team.   She inspired
me…boosted my confidence…encouraged me so I went on to succeed.”
    Their
reminiscent stories about Connie caused grief to fill Lindsay’s heart again,
but she did her best to hide her emotions.   She regarded each of them, taking in everything about their expressions.   Why was she stung by the suspicion that one
of these three people knew more than they told about Connie’s death?   She once read somewhere that people who were
extremely close were often tuned into one another’s inner feelings, almost like
they possessed ESP.   Her relationship
with Connie had been this way.   Perhaps
this was why she thought she could detect tension and the hidden truth in either Ariel , Nicole, or Rafe now.
    The
sight of Brant walking toward her temporarily made her feel better.   “Come sit with me,” he invited.   “We have time to relax now that everyone
seems busy enjoying themselves.”
    Everyone
but me, she thought gloomily, but I might as well
try to have a little fun.
    “Why do you look so melancholy, Lindsay?   Are you uncomfortable here?   I’ll get you a ‘mystery drink’ and maybe it
will cheer you up.”
    “A mystery drink?   What’s that?”
    He
shrugged.   “We’ll find out.”
    “Sorry,
but I don’t feel daring tonight.   Get the
mystery drink for yourself and order a Coke for me.”
    “So
you want me to be the guinea pig?   All right.”
    A
dark-eyed, dark-skinned young woman who was stunningly beautiful appeared,
dressed in a long grass skirt and wearing flowers in her black hair like the
other waitresses.   “What would you like?”
    “Coca-Cola
for my lady and the mystery drink for me.”
    The
waitress giggled.   “Yes,
sir.   Be right back!”
    “What
did I say that was so funny?” he whispered to Lindsay when the waitress left.
    Shortly
she returned with a Coke and a tall glass of luau watermelon punch on a
tray.   She gave the cola to Lindsay, and
then after she set the other glass in front of Brant, she bent and kissed him
on the cheek.
    “Thanks!   But what was the kiss for?” he asked her.
    “It’s
the mystery that goes along with the drink you ordered.”
    Lindsay
felt the sudden urge to slap her when she flirted so brazenly with Brant, but
she didn’t give away her feelings and remained in control.   The next few hours passed slowly.   At last, the party ended.   She stood beside Brant at the door as they
bid goodnight to the guests that lingered there long after the reunion
ended.   Watching Rafe leave, then Ariel and Nicole, she felt again the nagging doubts inside her that
made her believe one of them knew information regarding how and why her sister
died.   Yet she’d been unable to find out
if, indeed, one of Connie’s former classmates hid important facts about her
sister.
    “Now
that it’s time to go home, was the evening really so painful?” Brant asked.
    “Yes.   It really was.”
    But I
don’t have to relive the tragedy now that the reunion’s over, she
thought, emotionally exhausted.   After a
good night’s sleep, Connie would return to where she belonged—in the past.

 
    CHAPTER
SIX

 
    Lindsay
and Brant became constant companions on and off the air.   Being together with him, she found, provided
the precious final ingredient her life needed to become complete.   Brant revealed that he felt the same
way.   “Before I met you, I began to think
all the honest women became extinct,” he told her one evening after they
finished their program.   “I’m