Four White Roses
Page 19
“As always, Richard Lee, it’s not your humility that gets you in trouble.”
“Okay, I agree, but it’s an occupational thing. It only happens occasionally. Tell me, what will get you off my back so you’ll disappear?” Frowning, he leaned against the post connected to the porch rail.
“Occasionally?” The rocker moved more spritely this time. “Find the jewels, find your half-sister, and find real love. Real love, Richard Lee.”
The rocker stopped. A breeze kicked up and the world around him fell silent again.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Rich lay beneath the covers, arm bent beneath his head, as he pondered what his grandmother had said. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t divert his thoughts about Torrie from running through his head. He loved her. And he didn’t need the ghost of his grandmother to tell him. He also loved Iris as much as he loved his own daughter. He tried to imagine what life would be like as the girls grew into teenagers and young adults. Electrifying and mystifying. Tumultuous, even strenuous. Everything he had come to love over the past few weeks.
The bedside clock said 2:38 a.m. when he finally convinced himself he had to get sleep or he’d be useless in the morning. Drifting off, he almost missed the light rapping on his door. It sounded again, then the door creaked open and a head peeked around the edge. “Rich,” Torrie whispered, “are you awake?”
“I am now,” he said and resisted a chuckle.
She tiptoed in, then eased the door closed behind her. “I can’t sleep.” She stood in the moonlight glowing through the window. Her hair cascaded down over her shoulders and the milky white color made her appear angelic. She was dressed in the same sexy black lingerie she had taken to New York. It highlighted every perfect curve on her delightful body.
He threw back a corner of the covers. “Come here,” he said softly. She slipped in alongside him and he drew her close, her head resting comfortably on his shoulder.
“It’s so quiet down there,” she said, “and I don’t want to be alone tonight.” She laid a hand on his chest. “I just want to be held and have someone tell me everything will be all right.”
“Of course, it will.” He kissed her on the corner of her forehead.
“I never asked what you learned from your visit with Dr. Winters?”
“Ivan tried to disrupt the entire meeting, but Lulu foiled his plans and got some pictures of the files. We’ll find out tomorrow. She took my phone home with her.” He stroked her arm lying on his chest. “I want you, Lulu, and the girls to go shopping for clothes tomorrow.”
“But…but…I have no money and—”
“Shhh,” he whispered. “I don’t want to hear it. You’re taking a fistful of cash and getting some clothes until we can figure out what can and cannot be saved in your apartment. There’ll be no discussion about this.”
Torrie snuggled closer, yawning, and mumbled. “You know, Richard Lee Junior, I think I’m falling in love with the belligerent side of you.” She looked up at him in the dark and she found his lips, kissing him. It was gentle at first, but then became more insistent and he gave himself up to her seductive powers. Her hand slid to his waist and then downward, stroking his abdomen and silk shorts, then slid lower.
He captured her hand with his and said, “Torrie, we both desperately need sleep. We’ll be worthless walking zombies tomorrow.”
“Not if we hurry,” she whispered and stretched up for another kiss while her hand proceeded downward to caress the exact spot she had been looking for before the interruption.
“Heck,” he said and pulled her on top of him, sliding his hands down her back. “Sleep is overrated anyway.”
****
Lemon yellow sunlight forced its way through the bedroom blinds and fell in a slotted pattern across the foot of the bed where Rich and Torrie were sleeping. Through a stupor of partial wakefulness, Rich heard what sounded like giggles floating out on the air…maybe somewhere nearby, maybe filtering under the bedroom door. His eyes popped open when his brain registered the noise came from across the hall and the girls were wide awake. He looked over at Torrie lying beside him. She slept deeply, soundlessly, and as motionless as a rock. Face down, her luscious hair fanned out on the pillow beside him. He rose up on his elbow and caressed the tresses, so soft they felt like silk. As much as he hated to arouse her, he leaned down and whispered, “Hey, babe, I think we have to get up and get moving.”
One eyelid opened and an aquamarine eye peered at him through her blonde curtain of hair. “Why?” came the voice in an exhausted timbre.
“’Cause our girls are awake.”
Her instant response caught him by surprise. “Oh. Oh! Ooooh nooo!” She gasped and rolled her naked body expertly over the top of him like a frightened gymnast and landed on her feet in front of his night stand, righting herself. “Rich, I need clothes!” She pushed back her hair flying around her head in a tousled disarray. Frantically, she searched the bedroom and probably would have wrapped herself in the nearby drapes if he hadn’t gestured to the chest of drawers in the corner.
“There are clean T-shirts and a pair of sweat shorts in the top drawer,” he said through a yawn.
She jerked on the dresser knobs and pulled out a pair of gray running shorts with a drawstring waist. She danced a little jig as she hurriedly jammed her feet into the pant legs. Still topless, she drew the cords until they bunched at her waist and knotted the ties, her hands shaking.
A series of footsteps in the hall jerked their heads upright. They heard Estella’s clear voice tell Iris they should check with Rich before they headed down to breakfast to see what time they needed to be ready for the shopping excursion.
“They’re going to be here any minute.” Torrie waved a frenzied hand at him. “Stop them,” she whispered with a hysterical hiss. She stepped closer to the bed and shook her finger at his nose. “And get out of that bed, Rich. Now!”
“Women,” he mumbled and rose, searching the room for a pair of jeans.
Still in a state of panic, Torrie dived back into the drawer and yanked out a charcoal T-shirt. She dragged it on over her head and squinted at herself in the dresser mirror, grimacing. “Do I look pathetic or just homeless?” Her anxious eyes found his calm ones in the mirror as she finger-combed her wild hair.
“You look gorgeous,” he whispered and tugged on his jeans, snapping the waist before he crossed the room and put his hand against the door to prevent it from opening. Footsteps sounded outside, drawing near, and the doorknob turned.
“Daddy, the door is stuck,” Estella shouted. She pounded on the door.
Torrie shot across the room.
“Daddy, let me in!” Estella screeched.
When Rich swung the door open, pajama-clad Estella with a bear in her hand stumbled in, and he caught her, setting her upright.
“There’s something wrong with the door,” she whined.
“Why are you yelling?” He spoke in a calm but firm voice.
Behind Estella, Iris peeked into the room, with her teddy bear in tow, but also with a doll exactly like the one left in Estella’s room when she arrived. This one had blonde hair like Iris and aqua-colored eyes.
“Look what I found this morning,” Iris exclaimed with a dazzling smile. “Thank you. Thank you!’
A shiver went up Rich’s back as he eyed the doll. Gertie was at it again. “You’re welcome, sweetie,” he said.
Estella peered around him, her gaze circling the room. She zeroed in on Torrie, who was now standing in his walk-in closet. The wire hangers squealed on the rod as Torrie pushed them aside.
“What’s Torrie doing in here?” Estella asked. She stared at her father with little round suspicious eyes.
“She’s…ah…she’s looking for some clothes to wear.”
“I thought we were taking Iris and Torrie shopping today,” Estella pointed out. “Lulu, too.”
“You are,” he agreed. “But Torrie was wondering whether I might have a few everyday clothes sh
e could borrow when she went to the gym or wanted to work in the rose beds.”
Estella gave him a disbelieving look and shook her head, sending her mop of dark hair flying. She reached for Iris’s hand and pulled the younger girl to the doorway. “Come on, let’s go see if Lulu is here. Maybe we can get her to make some blueberry waffles and hot chocolate.”
“Great idea,” Rich said. “Tell her to put the coffee on. We’ll be down in a minute.”
Seconds later, the clomping of little feet resonated on the stairs.
From where they stood in the bedroom, Rich and Torrie sighed in relief, but not before they heard Estella say in a low conspiratorial voice, “I sure hope your mom doesn’t wear that horrible outfit of Daddy’s in public. She looks like my Barbie doll in fat lady’s clothes.”
“No,” Iris replied in a serious whisper. “I think she was just trying them on to see if they would fit. Anyway, Mommy doesn’t like gray. She said it makes her look washed out. What does that mean?”
“I’m not sure. Like maybe she just came out of the shower?”
****
Rich waited until Lulu, Torrie, and the girls were on their way to the local department store, before he scanned his phone Lulu had returned to him. Puzzled, he looked at the paperwork she had taken pictures of before calling the Jordan house. Laura Jordan, Kyle’s wife, answered the phone.
“I was wondering how long it would take before I got this call,” she said. “I told Kyle you would eventually figure it out once you realized I was Dr. Winters’s nurse before we moved to Michigan.”
“I don’t think I have it figured out completely. Can you meet me somewhere and talk?” he asked.
“How about Webster’s Burgers and Fries for dinner,” she said, “and I’ll explain everything then.”
Minutes later, Rich telephoned Marlene and after a lengthy discussion asked her to meet him at the First National Bank. Sorting through the suits in his closet, he finally chose a crisp white shirt and brown lightweight suit to match his favorite Justin dress boots. If you were going to do banking, you had to look your best, he decided. And if you’re going to get down to some real serious business dealings, you need to look like a serious-minded businessman—or lawyer, he amended his thought. Smiling, he snatched up a shoe brush and shined his boots until every inch of leather sparkled from the lizard skin toes to the hand-tooled leather shafts.
The drive down to the First National Bank took only minutes.
Marlene was waiting outside the bank when he parked the SUV across the street and strode over. She wore a stunning suit of kelly green along with white and silver four-inch heels. They flashed in the sunlight like mirrors.
“I don’t know why you need me, Richard Lee,” she said and threw the strap from her handbag onto her shoulder. “But I have the feeling you may need a witness.” She straightened her suit jacket and looked down at his feet. “And since you’re wearing those audacious-looking boots, I imagine you’re not trying to hide your Texas ego either. I’m surprised you didn’t wear your big white Stetson.”
“Mine is a tan Stetson with a pinch front crease,” he replied with a sour expression. “I don’t know anyone who wears a white hat, unless he’s impersonating the Lone Ranger or he’s an unscrupulous car salesman.”
“Well, excuse me.” Marlene rolled her eyes. “Joe warned me to stay out of trouble if I was in cahoots with you.”
“Cahoots?” Rich’s forehead wrinkled. “I don’t know if we even use that word any more in Texas. I’d prefer collaboration.”
This time she laughed outright. “Ah, this is going to be fun. You have the temperament of a rattlesnake this morning.”
“You don’t have to get involved if you don’t want to.”
“You know I couldn’t resist. You know how much I adore this two-bit bank and its good-for-nothing president. Where’s Torrie, partner?”
“I sent Lulu, the girls, and her out shopping for new clothes.” Rich patted his chest where his check book was tucked into an inside breast pocket. “I don’t want her involved with any of this. She’s afraid of Ivan Winters, and there’s no point in putting her through any more trauma than she’s had to experience with her roses and the fire.”
“Do you think Ivan had anything to do with them?” Marlene asked.
“Well, we’ll find out when we go in, won’t we?”
“He’ll never admit it.”
Rich only raised an eyebrow and offered her a slight smile of defiance.
“I don’t like the look on your face.” Marlene shook her head. “By the way, I called the police department and fire department, and as we speak, they are accompanying the restoration company to get most of Torrie’s belongings sorted, removed, and cleaned. They gave me an update and said most of the clothes in dressers could be easily dry cleaned or washed without any smoky residue. The fire inspector is certain the fire started in the basement of the building in a pile of old rags soaked with gasoline.”
“Thanks, Marlene. You’re a saint. I hope Joe knows he’s got a good woman.” He winked at her.
“I hope so, too,” she said. “I also rented a storage unit. Once everything is cleaned, it can be properly stored. Unfortunately, a lot of Iris’s stuffed animals are ruined as well as the couch, pillows, and anything with padding or stuffing in it.”
“Not a problem.” He figured Estella had enough of those fuzzy things to hold hands and encircle the earth.
Rich looked at his Rolex. “Well, it’s nine o’clock sharp. Banking hours have begun. Let’s go pay a visit to Ivan Winters and pay a loan.”
Like a true gentleman, he took her gently by the elbow and ushered her through the double glass doors, bypassing the tellers at the front and proceeding down the hallway to the offices in the back. They stopped at a receptionist’s desk positioned before Ivan Winters’s office. Engraved letters on a brass placard attached to a solid oak door behind the receptionist announced his position as president of the bank. Two large, plate-glass windows flanked the door, blinds drawn shut.
“We came to see Mr. Winters,” Rich said to the receptionist.
A petite young woman in a smart black business suit with matching black glasses perched on her nose looked up. “Do you have an appointment?”
“Just tell him Richard Lee Redman is here to see him.”
The receptionist rose, knocked softly on the door and returned, minutes later. “I’m sorry, but he’s busy. You’ll have to make an appointment.”
Rich leaned down next to Marlene’s ear and whispered. “This is the part where the fun begins.” Aloud, he spoke respectfully to the receptionist, “I don’t think so, ma’am. I have important business to discuss.” He strode past her desk to Ivan’s office door with Marlene behind him as the receptionist leaped from her chair and scolded, “Wait! You can’t go in there without his approval!”
The door swung open.
Ivan’s feet barely made it off the polished cherry desktop where they had been resting. “What’s the meaning of this?” he sputtered. He reshuffled his feet on the floor and inched his body upright in his chair. His face glowed red. “I told my secretary I’m not taking any appointments.”
“Ivan, Ivan. Working hard again, I see.” Rich grunted out a derisive chuckle. His gaze circled the room from the posh leather couch by the wall to the ornate framed pictures of what looked like Paris, France, on the far wall. He spied a round glass trophy on the corner of Ivan’s desk, given to First National Bank for its donation to the local Sportsmen’s Club.
Finally, his gaze settled on Ivan again. “Nice office. Do you give tours?”
“I would suggest you make an appointment,” Ivan said in an icy tone. “We give tours on Fridays.”
“I guess I’ll pass.” Richard removed the checkbook from his coat pocket, ripped off the top check, and dropped it on the desk in front of Ivan. Behind him, he heard a click as Marlene locked the door. “I came to give you a check for the remainder of what Torrie Larson owes you.”
Rich yanked him by the back of his suit jacket as he passed, spun him around, and pushed him up against the front edge of his desk. “Let’s get something straight, Winters,” he ground out. “You’re finished terrorizing this town and all the people in it—Torrie Larson included.”
“Let me go.” Winters unsuccessfully struggled to push him away. “I own this town,” he choked out as he wiggled from Rich’s grasp and tried to slip past him.
Rich spun him around again, yanking his arm behind his back and pinning it. “Now, let’s chat, Ivan,” he said in a dangerous low voice. “Who tore up Torrie’s rose beds at my house?”
“I don’t know,” Ivan hissed.
“Don’t make me hurt you, Ivan,” Rich muttered and tightened Ivan’s arm at his back.
“All right. All right. It was me,” he confessed through a groan. “I hired a high school kid to do it. I figured if Torrie realized the beds were in jeopardy, she’d stop hanging around Gertie’s house. But I didn’t start any fires.”
Rich released him, pushing him away.
Ivan stumbled, caught his balance, and staggered up. “I’m going to call the police and have you arrested,” he hissed through clenched teeth. He brushed himself off and pulled his suit coat sleeves over his shirt cuffs. His expression was callous and defiant as he glared at him.
“For what?” Marlene asked. “For asking a question? For paying off a loan?” She hooted out a long musical laugh. “Good one, Ivan.”
“So you’re in on it, too? You were always a troublemaker, Marlene. I’ll see you both never do business in this town again.”
His haughty attitude only infuriated Rich more. “Quite the contrary, Winters. You’re washed up around here. I’ve spoken with the First Federal Bank in Center City, and their board agreed to refinance any loans people have at your bank at a lower rate with better terms. Marlene has contacted all her fellow realtors who have, in turn, contacted customers having past and recent real estate transactions to tell them the good news. Letters went out yesterday announcing the spectacular refinance rates.”