by Laura Moore
“Will he wear his uniform?”
“Highly doubtful. I think you can rule out Officer Cooper picking apples in his police uniform.”
The answer left several of them looking vastly disappointed.
Eugene raised his hand. “If he doesn’t bring his handcuffs, then how will he catch the bad guys?”
“Apple orchards aren’t where bad guys usually spend their time, so I’m pretty sure it will be all right if Officer Cooper leaves his handcuffs at home.” She cleared her throat. “Now that we’ve settled that question, let’s decide what recipes we might want to make from the apples we pick.…”
After the kids voted for candied apples and fritters—and maybe muffins if there were enough apples left over—the bell rang and it was time to gather their belongings and pack up. As the kids dashed to their cubbies to collect their things, Eugene approached her.
“Miss Radcliffe?”
“Yes, Eugene?”
“Can I ask my parents to come on the apple-picking trip too?”
Oh, joy. “Of course. Your parents would be more than welcome.”
Eugene beamed. “My daddy probably won’t be able to, because he has to work, but my mommy might.”
“Well, you ask her when you get home, and she can call me tonight or simply show up tomorrow in time to leave with us on the bus, okay?”
With a quick, happy nod that contained the same bubbling excitement Hayley had displayed, Eugene ran off to grab his backpack. Recalling Christy Harrison’s mention of her jam-packed schedule of very important responsibilities, Jade hoped Eugene wouldn’t be too disappointed if his mother declined his invitation.
One thing was certain: This apple-picking trip was going to be loads of fun.
JADE WOULD never have anticipated that teaching at Warburg Elementary, starting a riding program, and helping train Rosewood’s horses would consume so much of her energy that she was actually surprised to receive a call from Greg Hammond. The private investigator gave her the news that he had a preliminary list of men—or bastards, as Jade thought of them—who might have been involved with her mother. Of course, as soon as she heard that, her former urge to discover the identity of her mother’s lover returned full force.
They’d arranged to meet on Tuesday evening, after she’d finished exercising the horses and ponies. Their rendezvous would be at a Chinese restaurant in Leesburg where, Jade was confident, they wouldn’t run into anyone she knew.
As she watered and then fed the ponies, she couldn’t help wondering who’d made it onto the list. Reaching Sweet Virginia’s stall, she dropped three sections of hay onto the bedding and offered Ginny a “buen provecho” before shutting and bolting the stall door and brushing her hands on her breeches.
That was it. The ponies were set for the night. She’d have just enough time to shower and change before she had to meet Greg—Jade’s internal monologue was interrupted by Margot, who’d wandered into the barn.
“Hey, Jade. Need a hand with these cuties?”
“Thanks, but it’s a wrap. Ginny and her pals are happily munching away. Then it’s sweet dreams for the lot of them.”
“Wow, you got your chores done fast,” Margot said as they stepped outside and together pulled the barn’s sliding double doors shut. “Which is good. We’re having dinner on the early side as it’s a school night. Come on up to the house and join us. Ellie made three turkey potpies. Jordan’s bringing a huge salad and I think I heard her say something about a peach crumble for dessert. There’s ice cream in the fridge. The gang’s gathering in a half hour.”
Jade’s stomach rumbled, her exemplary lunch of a pb&j sandwich, carrot and celery slices, and a pear a distant memory. “That sounds great, but I’m going to have to take a pass. I’ve got plans for dinner tonight.”
“Oh, that’s nice. Who are you having dinner with?”
Drat, she should have said she had a meeting at school. “Uh, I don’t think you know him.”
Her answer must have set off Margot’s internal radar, since between Margot, Jordan, Travis, and Ned, they knew an awful lot of people in Loudoun County. Even Owen, a relative newcomer to Warburg, was accumulating acquaintances fast, thanks to his architectural restoration-and-design firm.
“Jade, is something going on?” Margot asked in a voice tinged with concern.
Sometimes her older half sister forgot that she didn’t have to act as Jade’s guardian anymore.
“It’s nothing. Really.”
“Then why am I getting a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach?” Margot folded her hands across her chest and waited, feet planted on the gravel of the barns’ courtyard, looking like she’d be willing to stand there for hours until Jade gave her the full story. Hours that Jade didn’t have to spare if she wanted to arrive on time to her meeting with Greg and finally read the names on that list.
Sighing, she realized she had to tell the truth. She didn’t want to lie in any case: She’d told Margot enough lies and half-truths as a teen.
“The person I’m meeting is named Greg Hammond. He’s a private investigator I’ve hired to find out who TM was.” She kept talking even when Margot’s mouth fell open in astonishment. “And don’t say I shouldn’t try to find out who the scumbag sleeping with Mom was, because you’ll be wasting your breath. If you were in my shoes, you’d do the same. You know you would, Margot. You can tell Jordan it’s no use trying to dissuade me either, since I’m sure this will be topic number one at dinner tonight.”
“Jade, listen, I—”
She shook her head. “Sorry, but there’s no changing my mind. I’ve got to go or I’ll be late.”
She hurried off toward her cottage, miserable at the thought that she was again causing Margot distress.
Although she’d rushed through her shower and dragged on a pair of cords and a sweater, she hadn’t dared speed on her way to the Moon Palace. She was convinced that if she did, Rob Cooper would be there to intercept her with flashing lights and a blaring siren, and she really and truly had no desire to explain to him where she was going in such a hurry or why.
She spotted Greg seated at a corner table. He was sipping tea from a blue-and-white porcelain cup. The bowl of crispy fried noodles in front of his plate looked untouched. The man was clearly disciplined. She loved dipping those noodles in sweet-and-sour sauce. She could empty a bowl of them awfully fast.
He rose from his chair as she approached, but she waved him back down. “Have you been waiting long?”
“The tea hasn’t even cooled yet.”
This evening he was wearing a suit and tie. She wondered whether he’d needed the suit for one of his investigations. She couldn’t help but be fascinated by his line of work.
“So what names have you come up with?” she asked as she sat down next to him.
He passed her one of the menus. “Let’s order first, so the waiter doesn’t hover. He must be new. He’s extremely eager.”
Indeed he was. All it took was Jade turning her head in his direction for the young man to hurry over to their table.
“May I take your order? Some tea?” he added hopefully.
“I can vouch for it.” Greg lifted his cup.
Jade saw a glass-and-metal sugar dispenser next to a bottle of soy sauce. Unsweetened Chinese tea was too bitter for her taste buds. “Sure, that’d be nice. And some ice water, please.”
The waiter nodded. “Do you know what you’d like to order, or would you like more time?”
Having been to the Moon Palace before, she didn’t bother to consult the menu. “I’ll have the steamed dumplings and the sesame noodles.” If her stomach became cramped with nerves again, she could have them boxed to eat later.
“And I’ll take an egg roll and the double-cooked pork with eggplant.” Greg handed back his menu.
After the waiter had poured her tea and hurried into the kitchen to relay their orders, Jade looked at Greg expectantly. “So?”
He didn’t make a move toward the briefcase tha
t she’d spied resting by his leg. Instead, he asked, “How are things going at home and your new job?”
“Good. The kids I’m teaching are great. We’re going on an apple-picking trip tomorrow, our first field trip. Classes in my new riding program start the day after that.”
“And things are good between you and your sisters?”
Her brows drew together as she recalled the stricken look on Margot’s face. “Yeah, things are good.”
He cocked his head inquiringly. “Things are good, but …”
She picked up her chopsticks, pulled them out of their paper wrapper, and separated them with a snap of her wrists. “Margot knows I’m meeting you here.”
“Ah. I was wondering how you’d keep the fact that you’d hired me a secret from them. It’d be difficult, especially since you and your sisters seem very close.” He took a slow sip of the hot tea. “So Margot’s upset.”
“You could say that.”
“And you are too, because worrying her makes you feel lousy. Which brings me to my next question. Knowing the way you’re feeling already, are you absolutely sure you want to take this next step? You don’t have to look at the names on my list, Jade. You can just walk away and let it go. Enjoy your students, your horses, and your relationship with your family. Live your life—it sounds like it’s a fine one. Discovering the identity of TM might shoot it all to hell.”
He was making a valid point, she conceded with an inward sigh. Things were basically going well for her. Why stir things up?
Tracing a random pattern on the black tablecloth, she said, “I’m not sure I can explain why this means so much to me. All I can say is that since I read my mom’s diary, she’s been a stranger to me. If I know who TM is, perhaps I’ll be able to understand her. I’m willing to deal with whatever happens as a result.” Raising her gaze, she met his squarely. “Could I please see the list?”
Greg gave no clue to his thoughts as he stared her down for seconds more. Then, bending over, he rummaged in his briefcase and, when he straightened, a file was in his hand. Setting it on the tablecloth, he opened it and said, “Remember, this is just a preliminary list that I’ve drawn up. Since you’re determined to see this thing through, I thought we could go over names tonight. As my investigation continues, it’s possible other names may surface.”
Opening the file, he picked up the top sheet of paper and handed it to her.
Her heart changed its tempo, thudding heavily in her ears as she took the list and read five typed names: Tom Medina; Taft Miner; Tony Myers; Timothy Marquand; Christopher McCallister.
Frowning, she looked up. “Christopher McCallister?”
Greg nodded. “You probably know him as Topher—”
“Oh! Of course. Topher McCallister. I saw the C and blanked.”
“I gather he’s been called Topher since day one. He’s the oldest son of Eleanor and George McCallister. You were in high school with his younger brother, Dean.”
“Yes,” she answered, fighting a blush. She suspected that Greg knew about the spectacularly stupid make-out session she’d engaged in with Dean McCallister at a house party. She’d necked with Dean to wreak vengeance on Blair Hood, who’d been spreading vicious stories about Jade’s mom. Blair had had the major hots for Dean. Jade had succeeded in exacting her adolescent revenge against Blair but hadn’t escaped the evening unscathed. Feeling rotten about herself for having used Dean, she drank way too much. When, after receiving a call from the neighbors about the noise, the police arrived to bust up the party, she’d been passed out. That was the night Rob Cooper entered her life. He’d driven her home in his police car, and at some point during the trip she’d puked all over the backseat.
God, what a mess of a kid she’d been, she thought, with a familiar shiver of self-disgust.
Pushing the loathsome memories aside, she focused her attention on the list, concentrating on the name she knew best. “How old is Topher again? I think he used to come to the Radcliffe Roast, Mom and Dad’s big annual bash, but I don’t remember much more about him than that.”
“He’s a year younger than your sister Jordan. After graduating from college, he came back to Warburg to work in his father’s insurance company. He’s now its VP.”
“I guess he wouldn’t have been too young for Mom,” she said in a voice tinged with doubt.
“He’s the youngest of the group, but I put him down as a possible candidate based on the fact that he considers himself quite the Lothario.”
She definitely wasn’t going to be able to eat her order of dumplings and sesame noodles. Her stomach was already in knots and she had yet to discuss the four other names Greg had supplied.
“And the others? I don’t recognize them. Oh, wait—Tom Medina. He used to come to the Roast too.”
Greg nodded. “Tom Medina was a business associate of your father’s. Unfortunately, some of his hot investing tips didn’t pan out, although he personally didn’t suffer financially.”
“And you think Tom Medina might have been the type who would sleep with Mom? What a charmer.”
“Medina’s second marriage was already on the rocks. And your mother was a beautiful woman.”
“What about these guys?” she asked, tapping the paper with her index finger. “I definitely don’t recognize their names.”
“Taft Miner owned a restaurant in Leesburg your parents liked, Miner’s Mill. He sold it shortly after their deaths and moved to Charleston, South Carolina. Timothy Marquand owns Beresford Jewelers. He’d joined the Warburg Hunt Club about four months before your mother’s diary started.”
“So there would have been time for them to get acquainted. And how about Tony Myers?”
“He works as a stylist at True Beauty, the salon in town.”
“A stylist?”
“A stylist who looks like an Argentine polo player.”
Jade shook her head. “You can scratch him, Latin-lover looks notwithstanding. Mom wouldn’t have been willing to risk someone guessing about her affair. Too many women who loved to hate her patronized True Beauty.”
“Women like Nonie Harrison and Pamela Hood?”
She didn’t ask how he knew about her mother’s social rivalry with Nonie and her sister, Pamela. Greg was obviously very thorough at his job.
“What if your mother knew that they’d had affairs with Tony too?”
She blinked in surprise and then wondered at her reaction. Why should she be shocked that these other women were having affairs? Then another thought occurred to her, and this time she couldn’t hide her shock. “Wait a sec—Nonie Harrison and Pamela Hood are sisters. Do you mean they were sleeping with the same guy?”
He smiled. “Too kinky for Warburg?”
“Well, yeah!” Flabbergasted, she sank back against her chair. “How wild. I admit to being completely blown away by that piece of info. And it’s quite effectively killed my appetite—a tragedy, since I love sesame noodles. But back to Mom. So what you’re saying is that she might have risked an affair with this Tony guy because whatever ammunition Nonie, Pamela, and their friends had would have been rendered useless since they were sleeping with him too?”
He shrugged. “It’s possible. I’ve encountered stranger things. It could also be the reason tongues started to wag so viciously when your mom and dad died. This would have been a good way for Mrs. Harrison and Mrs. Hood to cover up their own actions.”
Well, Greg had warned her of the pitfalls lying in wait if she chose to pursue the investigation. Just going down the list had made her head pound, and now she was feeling positively ill.
She rubbed her forehead to soothe the tension there. “Crikey. I guess you should investigate all of them, then.”
“All right,” he said with a nod. “I’ll get on it and see if any other names come up.”
He plucked the file in front of her and closed it, and she realized that the waiter was bringing metal-dome-topped dishes toward to the table. She liked that Greg was so careful.
&
nbsp; “Are you really not going to be able to eat any of this?”
With a rueful smile, she shook her head. “Nope. Sorry, I guess I’m not much in the way of a restaurant date.”
“You’re just fine.” Addressing the waiter, who’d begun placing the dishes in the middle of the table, he said, “We’ve decided we’d like to have these boxed to go. Could you do that for us?”
“Of course. No problem, mister.”
Alone again, Greg said, “I’ll get back to you with what I’ve learned. In the meantime, enjoy those students of yours.”
“Thanks.”
“I hear Nonie Harrison’s grandson is in your class.” At her raised brows, he grinned. “Oh, yes, most of Warburg has been made aware of that fact, as well as Nonie’s strong feelings about a Radcliffe—and Jade Radcliffe in particular—teaching her grandson.”
“It must be galling for the poor thing.”
“Pretty much,” he agreed cheerfully.
“Well, I’m sure I’ll lose a lot of sleep worrying over that.”
“Don’t bother. Seems to me you’ll need every minute of sleep if you’ve got a class field trip tomorrow. Dinner’s on me,” he said as the waiter returned with two paper bags.
“But—”
“No buts. I’ll call as soon as I have something to tell you.”
“Okay. And thanks.”
Jade walked into her cottage to find Margot and Jordan sitting on her living-room sofa. “Being energy conscious, I was sure I hadn’t left the overhead light on,” she remarked, dropping her bag by the sofa. “Glad to see you guys made yourselves at home.” Without sparing them another word, she went into the kitchen, took a fork from the silverware drawer, and pulled out the carton of dumplings from the paper bag, stowing the sesame noodles in the fridge. She turned to find Jordan standing on the threshold.
“Jade, we’d like to talk to you.”
“Natch.” Walking past her, she returned to the living room and dropped into the wide chair that faced the sofa at an angle. Propping her feet on the ottoman, she opened the cardboard box and speared a dumpling. “Okay, have at it. Tell me how stupid I was to have hired a detective.” She shoved the entire dumpling in her mouth, chewing busily as she prepared for her sisters’ lecture.