A Dawn of Death Read Free Page B

didn't particularly care what people thought of him. Nothing about his appearance, from his navy sports shirt and khaki pants to his cheerful expression and light step, suggested he was on his way to any sort of confrontation. "What kind of trouble could he cause?"
    "Cory O'Keefe is on the board of selectmen for Wharton. They are considering some legal issues related to ownership of the garden land. I thought they had been resolved, but his presence here today suggests otherwise. Dale will not want to hear what he has to say." Paul grabbed the handle of his cart. "If you will excuse me, I need to plant my seedlings and get to my office to clear up a few things. I hope to see you again, though, Helen Binney."

 
CHAPTER TWO
     
    Cory O'Keefe was heading for the front, left corner of the lot. Dale was there supervising Annie who was a lot stronger than her pixie-like appearance suggested, as evidenced by the ease with which she pounded the sledgehammer on the last of the stakes for the first half of the garden.
    Neither woman seemed to have noticed the new arrival. They'd been abandoned by most of the other volunteers who'd raced off to claim their respective plots as soon as they were marked with twine. Only a handful remained, presumably those with plots in the other half of the garden, either underneath the bulldozer or behind it.
    Helen's row of pea plants that had seemed like such a big accomplishment just a minute before now looked insignificant as gardeners rolled out sheets of black plastic in some plots and in others, planted thirty-foot-long rows of seedlings and covered them with floating row covers.
    Curious about what it was that Dale wasn't going to want to hear, Helen headed for the far front corner of the garden. O'Keefe should have reached the two women long before Helen did, but he kept getting intercepted by gardeners who took a break from their work to run over and talk to him. He never brushed anyone off but stopped each time to shake hands and share a few words.
    He did the same thing when he caught up with Helen a few feet away from Dale. "I don't believe we've met," he said. "I'm Corcoran O'Keefe. Everyone calls me Cory."
    She accepted his proffered hand, noticing as she shook it that the palm was more calloused than she'd have expected of a politician. "Helen Binney."
    Helen could see in his expression the exact moment when Cory put the name together with what he must have heard or read about her. She just didn't know whether it was her history as the governor's wife or her more recent notoriety here in Wharton.
    He didn't miss a beat, though, and just said, "Pleased to meet you. I didn't know you were a gardener."
    "I'm not sure I am, but I like trying new things."
    "I wish more people had that attitude. Perhaps we could explore new territory together sometime." Cory glanced at Dale, and while his smile didn't fade, his eyes did seem to narrow a bit. He was expecting trouble.
    Annie finished pounding the last stake into the ground and looked up, catching sight of Cory. She said something to Dale and scurried past Helen in the direction of the crosswalk to the retirement community, dragging the sledgehammer behind her.
    Dale turned to glare at Cory and then stomped over to confront him, her army boots sounding like a dozen people marching, not just one. "Well?" she said. "What are you doing here?"
    "It's my job to keep an eye on town property," Cory said patiently. "Until the selectmen have made a final decision about what to do with this land, it's not wise for the garden club to start planting. If you can wait a week, that will give us enough time to make the decision about whether the garden will remain here."
    "Mother Nature doesn't wait for anything," Dale said. "We have to plant when she says the time is right."
    "I understand." Cory's smile didn't waver. "It's just that gardening is hard work, and it would be a shame to make it harder than it has to be by making everyone do their planting