by Eve Gaddy
“My heart?” He scoffed. “I can’t afford a heart. Not when I’m on a case. I’m a Ranger. I look at the facts, not my feelings.”
But he had a heart, nonetheless, she thought, and it was hurting. “Isn’t the evidence circumstantial?”
“Yeah. Pretty damning circumstantial evidence. And that’s not all. I can’t find a motive for anyone except Jed. Frannie had no enemies. Not that I can discover. She was honest, hardworking, dependable. No one hated her, no one had it in for her. As far as I can tell, she wasn’t a threat to anyone.”
Startled, she asked, “Jed had a motive to kill her?”
Will scrubbed a hand over his face. “Possibly. They argued the morning of her death. Emmy and I witnessed it. It’s common knowledge, thanks to Amanda overhearing Jed and me talking about it.”
“Do you really think he was angry enough to kill her?”
“Like I said before, not purposely. But accidents happen. More often than you might think.”
“Could it have been a random act of violence? Obviously, it’s too late to tell whether—” She stopped, unwilling to voice her thoughts.
“Whether she was sexually assaulted,” he finished. “It’s possible. But with Jed sitting there with motive, means and opportunity, not to mention a boatload of circumstantial evidence, it’s going to be damned hard to convince anyone of that.”
She set her coffee mug down, put her hand over his and squeezed. “I’m sorry.”
He laced his fingers through hers and brought her hand to his lips. “Me, too. And I can’t move forward with the investigation until I get the report back on that glasses case you found.”
“When do you think you’ll get it?”
“Hard to tell.” He shrugged. “Not for a few days, anyway. Which leaves me free today. What about you?”
“I don’t have anything special planned.”
“Good. Let me take you to Jefferson. I never did manage to, and I think you’ll like it.” He set his mug on the porch beside the swing. “How does a riverboat ride sound to you? We can go this afternoon, see the sights, then eat dinner at a place I know. The Black Swan. Cajun and Creole food. Sometimes they have entertainment, too. A jazz piano player, or even a Cajun band.”
“It sounds like you’re romancing me,” she said, charmed.
His mouth lifted in a wicked grin. “I am, honey. That’s exactly what I’m doing.” He took her face between his hands and planted a lingering kiss on her lips.
She was so caught up in him, in the kiss, she didn’t even hear the car drive up. The first hint that they had company came when she heard a disgusted voice say, “Theresa, really. You’re making a spectacle of yourself.”
Her eyes flew open. Lips still on hers, Will chuckled before his hands dropped and he released her. She turned her head and stared at the woman who had halted a few feet away. Red hair, perfectly styled in a short, straight pageboy. A classic linen suit in shades of ivory. An aristocratic face with frigid blue eyes gazing at her disdainfully.
“Mother? What in the world are you doing here?”
“Obviously, I’m here to see you.” She turned her attention to Will, studying him with a scholarly detachment. “And this is?”
Tessa flushed and stood, Will rising with her. “Sorry. Mother, this is Will McClain. He’s the Texas Ranger who hired me to work at the murder site. Will, my mother, Dr. Olivia Lang.”
Will stepped forward, offering a hand. “Nice to meet you, Dr. Lang.” Though he wasn’t smiling, Tessa could see his lips twitching. She wanted to smack him. No, she wanted to smack her mother. Why in the world had she chosen to show up on Tessa’s doorstep before eight o’clock on a Sunday morning? Tessa hadn’t seen her in months and hadn’t expected to see her for several more.
Olivia took the proffered hand and shook it briskly, inclining her head regally. “Mr. McClain.”
“Ranger McClain,” he corrected, “but call me Will.” He turned to Tessa, flashing a smile. “I’ll leave you two alone. I’ve got some errands to run, anyway.”
“Don’t go,” she said, a little desperately. She really didn’t want to be alone with her mother. Not given her ominous expression.
“You sure?” When she nodded, he said, “I’ll go catch a shower, then.”
Tessa resisted the impulse to tell him not to do that, either. Might as well get it over with. She was a grown woman, not a twelve-year-old child. Her mother shouldn’t be able to inspire dread in her anymore.
Except she did.
“Come inside, Mother,” she said as Will left them. “Can I offer you a cup of coffee?”
Olivia glanced at her watch and frowned. “No, thank you.”
“How have you been?”
“Quite well, thank you. I don’t have time for idle chitchat, Theresa, so I’ll get right to the point.”
Her mother swept into the room, a look of revulsion crossing her face when she saw Pepe lying on the couch. Tessa stifled a giggle when she thought of what Olivia’s reaction to Goofy would be. A good thing the exuberant dog was out in the yard, she thought, eyeing her mother’s immaculate suit. It occurred to Tessa that she’d never seen her mother mussed. Even after a day in the field, she appeared neat and tidy. How she managed it, Tessa couldn’t imagine.
Choosing Goofy’s favorite chair beside the couch, Olivia waited to speak until Tessa also sat. “I have come, at great trouble to myself, I might add, to see what could possibly be so important that you felt you needed to jeopardize your future career for it. And what do I find when I arrive?”
Assuming it was a rhetorical question, Tessa remained silent, merely reaching out to rub Pepe’s head. Somehow the contact steadied her.
“A man.” Olivia’s expression, if possible, grew colder. “I couldn’t believe my eyes.”
A quick spurt of temper had Tessa asking, “What exactly couldn’t you believe, Mother? That I might have taken a lover? Or that any man might be interested in me?”
Olivia sailed past that question. “This is why you refused to go on the Peru dig. So you could indulge in a tawdry affair. Where are your priorities? Have you lost your senses?”
Don’t get mad, Tessa reminded herself. It never helps. She drew in a breath and fought for calm. “First of all, Will is not the reason I said I couldn’t go. I’ve explained several times why I refused, you simply haven’t listened. Second of all, I’m not having a tawdry affair.”
“What?” Olivia’s well-modulated voice rose and she sat forward in her chair. “I saw you with my own eyes, sitting in your robe on your front porch with a half-naked man. That was no innocent kiss.”
“I didn’t say he wasn’t my lover. I said I wasn’t having a tawdry affair.” She raised her chin and locked gazes with her mother. “There’s nothing tawdry about it.”
Olivia’s jaw tightened, her eyes snapping with glacial fury. She seemed about to say something, but apparently thought better of it. “I can see it’s futile to talk to you about this—this affair. So we’ll say no more about it.” Nodding decisively, she swept on. “I didn’t come here to discuss your love life, but something much more important. Your career.”
Her personal life had never been important to Olivia. Why should Tessa think that had changed? “Please, if you’re going to harp on about Peru again—“
“Not Peru. Another opportunity.” Her eyes sparked with purpose. “An even better one. I must say, I can’t believe your good fortune.”
Tessa’s head ached, tension tightening her neck muscles. “Mother, I can’t do anything right now. I have commitments here in Uncertain.”
“This expedition won’t begin until fall. You’ll have the summer, at least, to finish up your Ph.D. and whatever else—” her gaze cut to the open hallway and back “—you think you need to remain here for.”
Whatever else,
Tessa thought. Meaning Will.
“Aren’t you even going to ask where it is?”
“All right. Where?”
“China. The Lost Emperor’s tomb,” she said, referring to a famous and supposedly mythical Chinese emperor. “Imagine, Chang Su Lin’s tomb. And I can tell you right now, the word is this find will make Tut pale in comparison.”
“China? How did you manage to get a position for me on a dig like that?” The Chinese weren’t much on Westerners invading their territory. Her mother was right. This was a one-of-a-kind opportunity, if it worked out.
Olivia waved a hand. “I happen to be one of the administrators for the American contingent. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you can’t pass on this opportunity. Not if you have any intention of developing a brilliant career.” She sent her a scathing look. “Or have you abandoned that goal in favor of having affairs with men you hardly know?”
“I haven’t abandoned my career or my goals. None of this has anything to do with my relationship with Will. And not that it matters, but I do know him.” Better than she knew the woman sitting across from her. Olivia might have been a stranger for all the care she showed her daughter. But then, Tessa had always been a disappointment to her mother. Why else would Olivia have foisted Tessa on her grandmother?
“You’re infatuated. These things pass, Theresa. Your career is more important than a temporary sexual fling. However exciting that might seem now.”
“What if I said it was serious?” Will had said he loved her. That sounded serious, even if it wasn’t permanent.
She gave a smile of disbelief. “Is it?” When Tessa didn’t respond, she said, “I thought not.”
“Why is it beyond the realm of possibility that I might have a serious relationship? Am I so unworthy that I don’t deserve . . .” Someone to love me, she thought, breaking off. Her hands curled into fists of helpless anger.
“You’re overreacting, and I find it very unbecoming. We were discussing your career. The one you’re busily throwing away.”
A brilliant career. What she’d always believed she wanted. “I’ll have to think about it. I can’t just decide on the spot like this. I need more information.”
“Of course. But if you let this go, Theresa, all because you’re caught up in a tangle of hormones, then you’re a fool.”
“Thank you, Mother. It’s reassuring to know some things never change. Such as your opinion of me.”
“My dear.” She stretched out a hand, let it fall. “I’m concerned about you. I’m not blind, you know. He’s very . . . attractive. It’s no wonder you’re infatuated. But really—” she laughed indulgently “—what could a man like him see in you? Have you asked yourself that question?”
“Your daughter’s a beautiful woman,” Will said, walking into the room. “Haven’t you noticed?” He came to stand beside Tessa and smiled down at her.
Tessa felt slightly nauseated, as she always did when her mother berated her. It didn’t matter that she was a grown woman—when she heard that voice, those tones, she felt like a grieving, vulnerable child again, trying desperately to live up to her mother’s expectations. But Will’s response steadied her, and so did the reassuring squeeze he gave her hand when she slipped it into his.
“Sweet words for any woman to hear, Ranger McClain.”
“But true,” he said. “And it’s Will.”
Olivia examined Tessa as she might have an archaeological find, her gaze sharp, assessing. Finally she said, “You’ve done something different to your hair.”
Tessa nearly laughed. “Yes, I did. But we can leave this discussion until another time. How long will you be staying, Mother?”
“Not long. I’m flying out of Shreveport early this afternoon. In fact—” she glanced at her watch again “—I really must be going.”
“I could show you the Caddo dig if you stayed until tomorrow.” Though Tessa made the offer reluctantly, somewhere deep down she wanted to share her work with her mother. Hoping for an approval she would never gain.
“I couldn’t possibly. I’m sure it’s quite interesting,” she said in a lofty tone that meant she believed no such thing. “However, I only scheduled an hour with you. I wanted to tell you about the China expedition personally.”
“Thank you,” she said, because it was expected. But she didn’t feel thankful, just confused. And hurt.
“It was no easy task to make this happen for you, Theresa,” her mother said sharply. “I have your best interests at heart. Surely you can see that.”
How many times had she heard her mother say that very thing? Her best interests. Her career. “I’ll be in touch about it.”
“See that you are. And don’t wait too long to decide. It’s not as though they won’t have others who can recognize their good fortune at being offered such a coup.” She stood and gave a terse nod. “Fascinating to meet you, Will.”
“Likewise,” he said, with a wealth of meaning to the single word.
Tessa walked her to the door. “I’ll expect to hear from you,” Olivia said. “Very soon.”
Tessa closed the door behind her. Shell-shocked, she turned to look at Will.
“Man,” he said, and whistled, lifting an eyebrow. “Is she always like that?”
She couldn’t help smiling, and wanted to hug him for making her feel better. “Yes. Especially when she isn’t getting what she wants.”
His mouth quirked as he met her gaze. “I don’t think your mother likes me.”
“That’s okay,” she told him. “She doesn’t like me, either. She never has.”
Chapter Fourteen
“NEVER?” Will asked. He had started to say something soothing, but one look at Tessa’s face and he couldn’t do it. The truth hurt, but lies crippled.
She smiled and crossed the room to him. “You have no idea how refreshing it is that you didn’t tell me I must be wrong. That she cares about me, and it’s simply her personality.”
Tilting his head, he studied her. “Maybe it is. And maybe she does like you, but from what I saw, she sure as hell didn’t act like it.” He didn’t believe Olivia Lang gave one good damn about her daughter’s feelings, but he wouldn’t be that blunt. Besides, Tessa obviously knew it. “She didn’t exactly treat you like her best friend.”
Tessa gave a humorless laugh and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her robe. “No, we’re not friends. Never had a chance to be, and she never showed any interest. Until I was twelve and my grandmother died, I only saw my parents a few times a year. I didn’t know them, and they didn’t know me.” Catching his gaze, she asked, “Do you know what it’s like to be taken care of only out of duty, not love?”
“No. My mother was never big on either one.” She hadn’t had a responsible bone in her body, nor, as far as he knew, any love.
Regret flashed in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I—I forgot. Here I am whining about my childhood when yours—”
He interrupted before she could beat herself up any more. “Tessa, you have a right to your feelings. Just because I had a lousy childhood doesn’t mean yours wasn’t bad.”
“It wasn’t like yours. At least I had my grandmother.” Her expression softened. “She was a wonderful woman. She loved me, and I always knew it. That carried me through, even after she was gone.”
“I had Frannie,” Will said, thinking about the unconditional love she’d given him. Given all of them. “For a while, at least.”
“Will—”
“But we were talking about your mother.” They’d talked of Frannie and about Will’s past, but never much about Tessa’s. And he had a feeling she needed to talk about it. “Why doesn’t she like you? Do you know?”
After a long, assessing look, she accepted the return to the original subject. “I’m not sure. My mother is a very driven person. Her
career—and my father’s while he was alive—have always been the most important things in her life.” Her laugh was strained. “Certainly more than me. I’ve always been an inconvenience and an annoyance to her. And I’m certain I wasn’t planned.” She closed her eyes, then opened them to gaze at him. “If she’d wanted me, why would she have given me to her mother to raise? Why wouldn’t she have made an effort to see me more than twice a year?”
Good point, he thought. “Some people aren’t cut out to be parents.” His mother hadn’t been. Funny he and Tessa should have that in common.
“What about your father?”
“Father?” She looked surprised. “Father was . . . oblivious. Sometimes I wonder if he even remembered he had a daughter, he was so immersed in his work.” She shrugged. “He didn’t dislike me, he just . . . was never really there. When he died—” she smiled wryly and continued “—my mother had more time to spend on a new project. Me.”
“Sounds uncomfortable.” He knew he wouldn’t like to be seen as anyone’s project. A telling choice of words there.
“It can be,” she said. “Especially if we don’t agree on what my best course is.”
“Why did she come?” he asked. “I thought you said she wanted you to go to Peru, but I heard her mention China as she left.”
“The first job was in Peru. Since that didn’t work to get me out of here, she looked for something else. Now she’s found me a position in an expedition going to China.”
China? It just kept getting farther away. His tone carefully neutral, he asked, “Is that what you want? To go to China?”
She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. “I don’t know. It sounds like something I should do. If it doesn’t fall through, it would be an unprecedented opportunity.”
“How long would you be gone?”
“A year or two. Maybe three, depending on the size of the find.”
Two or three years? His stomach bottomed out. “So it’s a big deal.”
“Yes, a very big deal. But I don’t know all the details. I can’t make up my mind until I do.” Her hand stopped massaging her neck and she looked at him and smiled. “Don’t worry, it’s not until this fall. I wouldn’t leave you high and dry. I’m almost through with the site work, anyway.”