“You're lookin' good,” Tec said. “Damn good. Nick'll be real happy with the way you're comin' along.”
“We must please Nick at all costs, mustn't we?” Phila said wearily.
Tec looked up from where he was packing away the .38. “Somethin' wrong? You sound kinda funny this afternoon.”
“I'm fine, Tec. I think I'll walk back to my place.”
“It's a long walk.”
“I don't mind.”
“I'll drop the .38 off at the Gilmarten place on my way back to the house. I've got a key.”
“Thanks. You can leave it in a drawer in the kitchen.”
“Right. But move it into you bedroom tonight, huh?”
“Yes, Tec.”
Tec straightened and started for the jeep. Then he stopped. “This guy who jumped you. What's he look like?”
“Very big. Huge through the shoulders. Strange blue eyes. The last time I saw him, he had a beard and long hair, but that may be gone now.”
“You're sure he didn't hurt you?”
“No, he didn't get the chance. The cops arrived just as he was trying to drag me into his pickup.”
“Damn lucky for you.”
Phila smiled fleetingly. “Yes. Very lucky. I'll see you later, Tec.”
“Hey, you don't have to worry about that bastard, you know,” Tec said gruffly. “Nick'll look after you.”
“I've been looking after myself for a long time, Tec. I'm pretty good at it.”
Hilary poured coffee from the early-nineteenth-century pot and handed a cup to Eleanor. The beautiful coffee service had been a wedding gift to Eleanor and Burke nearly forty years before, she knew. It had descended through Eleanor's family and had been used by generations of her female ancestors.
Hilary wondered if a loveless marriage was also a family tradition. How many of Eleanor's forebears had poured coffee from this lovely Georgian silver pot and secretly wondered if it and all the other things they had were worth the price they had paid?
“She upset you, didn't she?” Hilary asked quietly as she sat back on the sofa, her own cup and saucer in hand.
Eleanor took a fortifying sip of coffee. “She's a very difficult young woman.”
“We knew that from the beginning. What did she say to you that disturbed you so much?”
“So many things. She made more of her vile accusations and refused to tell me what she's going to do with the shares.”
Hilary sensed there was more to the story than that, but she also sensed this was not the time to find out what it was. “I think we can assume she's going to hand the shares over to Nick or at least vote them the way he tells her to vote them.”
Eleanor sighed. “I was so certain Nick would do the right thing. I thought he could convince her to return the shares to us. Nick was always good at business matters. So good at making deals. I never dreamed it was going to get this messy.”
“What made you think Nick would do the right thing in this matter when he didn't bother to do the right thing three years ago?”
Eleanor shook her head vaguely and looked away. “This is business. Family business. I thought surely…” She let the sentence trail off. “I was wrong.”
“You thought that in a pinch he would come through for you? For the sake of the families?” Hilary smiled regretfully. “I know you did what you thought was best, Eleanor. But the net result is to make things infinitely more complicated than they were before you involved Nick.”
“I know. I just wish I knew what that Fox woman wants from us.”
Hilary looked at her pityingly. “Don't you know yet what Philadelphia Fox wants from us? It's rapidly becoming perfectly clear. She wants exactly what Crissie wanted. To be a part of the families.”
Eleanor shuddered. “My God. Do you think she honestly believes she can get Nick to marry her?”
“Why not? Nick is obviously encouraging her to think precisely that.” Hilary set her cup and saucer down on the table. “After all, he is sleeping with her.”
“That means nothing. I warned her not to put too much stock in that kind of sordid maneuvering. She must realize she's far beneath him and that he's just using her.”
“Perhaps. But she may be shrewd enough to put a price tag on those shares before she hands them over to him.”
“Marriage being the price tag?” Eleanor shuddered. “Do you think he would pay that price, Hilary? She's such a little nobody.”
“He wants those shares very badly,” Hilary reasoned. “I think it's possible that, if he can't seduce them out of her, he might marry her for them. After all, he can always divorce her later.”
“She'd make him pay heavily for a divorce.”
Hilary lifted one shoulder negligently. “Her notion of a large settlement would probably be small change to Nick. He can afford it. Or perhaps I should say Castleton & Lightfoot can afford it.”
“What are we going to do, Hilary?” Eleanor asked wearily. “Whatever are we going to do?”
Hilary ran her finger lightly along the delicate carving of the scroll-back sofa. “Nick can't do anything drastic at the annual meeting with just his shares and Phila's. He needs another large block to be able to control things.”
“I know. But if he can talk Darren or Reed into going along with him, he could take control of the firm.”
“Or you. He could do it if he had your block of shares, Eleanor.”
“Don't say such things. I'm hardly likely to back him.”
“It would certainly put Darren's future at risk, wouldn't it? If Nick regains control of C&L he's not going to make it easy for your son to go after the governor's mansion. You heard Nick the other night at dinner. He doesn't have any interest in financing a political campaign for Darren.”
“No,” Eleanor said uneasily. “It's obvious Nick's attitude toward a member of the families going into politics is as negative as it ever was.”
“We must make certain no one in either family wavers.”
Eleanor shot Hilary a searching look. “Do you think Reed might? He's starting to change toward Nick. I can feel it.”
“Reed will do what he knows is right, regardless of how he feels about Nick. He might soften toward his son, but he would never back him to take control of Castleton & Lightfoot. He would never really trust Nick again.” Hilary hoped she was right on that count. “But in any event, I think I will make another personal stab at getting the shares back from Phila.”
“If she turned down your offer, what makes you think you have any chance of talking her out of them?”
“Crissie used to talk a great deal about Phila. I know more about her than she realizes.”
“What's to know about that cheap little hustler?” Eleanor's cup rattled in the saucer. She set it down quickly. “She's just like Crissie.”
“No,” Hilary said thoughtfully, “she's not just like Crissie. And that's why I may be able to use another tactic.”
Phila had intended to go straight back to the cottage from the firing range, but when she passed the path down to the beach, she changed her mind. The beach was empty. The promise of windswept solitude lured her. She started down the path.
She was halfway along the trail through the trees when a familiar yelp alerted her. She glanced back just as Cupcake and Fifi started to bound down the path. Darren Castleton followed more leisurely in their wake.
The dogs crowded around Phila for a moment. She patted them absently, her eyes on Darren. He was watching her with a thoughtful gaze.
“Hello, Phila. Tec said you were walking home from the range. Thought I'd meet you. I wanted to talk to you.”
“What about? Or is that a dumb question under the circumstances.”
“Not so dumb.” He followed her down to the beach, his hands in the pockets of his windbreaker. “I'm not sure myself what I want to say.”
Cupcake and Fifi raced to the water's edge and began chasing sea gulls.
“The dogs really love it down here, don't they?” Phila shov
ed her hands in her jeans pockets. “Look at them. Do they ever catch the gulls?”
“No. But, then, I'm not sure how hard they really try. It's just a game to them. They're not serious about the hunt right now.”
“What happens when they get serious?”
“Then they're dangerous. Just like some people I could mention.”
“Is this a veiled warning about Nick's intentions?”
“I take it you've had a lot of such warnings?” Darren smiled and kicked idly at a small shell.
“From just about everyone, including his own father.”
“Reed's got his reasons for warning you about Nick.”
“Silly reasons.”
Darren glanced at her. “What makes you say that?”
“We're talking about Hilary's famous baby, right?”
“So you know about that. You think Nick was right to let his father pick up the pieces after that disaster? Because that's exactly what Nick did. Reed felt obliged to step in and protect Hilary.”
“Then he was a fool. Nick is perfectly capable of handling his own disasters. Reed should have known that.”
“Wait a second. You do know the baby was Nick's don't you?”
“I know that's what everyone thinks, including Reed, apparently,”
Darren frowned. “But you don't believe it?”
“Not for a minute.”
“Well, I guess your viewpoint is bound to be a little biased. After all, you're having an affair with Nick. You want to believe the best of him.”
“He's no angel,” Phila muttered, thinking about the phone call to Santa Barbara that morning. “I know that. He's secretive, and I know for a fact he's deliberately misled me in some things. He's also quite mysterious, and I'm not sure how far to trust him when it comes to certain matters. But I do know he wouldn't have let his father step in and take responsibility for the baby if the baby had been his.”
“You sound very sure of yourself. Why would Hilary have lied?”
“Good question. Perhaps because the marriage was falling apart and she didn't want to lose everything she'd gained by marrying into Castleton & Lightfoot?”
Darren was silent for a moment. “I thought of that possibility myself, once or twice three years ago,” he finally admitted. “But my mother seemed so sure of her. She was convinced Hilary had been abused by Nick and that Reed as well as Castleton & Lightfoot owed her protection. She feels very protective toward her. How much do you know about Hilary?”
“Just the little Crissie told me.”
“You can probably discard most of that,” Darren said. “I know she was your friend, but Crissie Masters couldn't be trusted an inch.”
“I could trust her.”
Darren shrugged that aside. “Back to Hilary. Eleanor introduced her to Nick about five years ago. If it wasn't a case of love at first sight, it was definitely a case of satisfaction at first sight. They both seemed to want what the other was offering. Nick was ready to marry, and Hilary was a stunning woman who looked as though she would be a perfect wife for him.”
“I know.” Phila wrinkled her nose. “Good family background, good looks and lots of old money. The perfect combination. Too bad she didn't love him.”
“He thought she did. Or at least he thought the potential for love was there. I don't believe he would have married her otherwise. He had been raised in a loving marriage, and I think he fully expected the same sort of relationship for himself when he married. But you're wrong about one thing. Hilary didn't have a lot of old money.”
“No?”
Darren shook his head. “She had the family background, all right, and the looks, but that was about all that was left. She came from an old family that had been living on its expectations for the past couple of generations. Unfortunately, they hadn't produced anyone strong enough to keep the income flowing into the family coffers during the last forty years. They made the classic mistake of dipping into capital. They were on the verge of bankruptcy when Hilary married Nick.”
Phila stumbled over a small piece of driftwood. “Did Nick know that?”
“Sure. He's not exactly stupid. At least not when it comes to money.”
“Do you think he worried he was being married for his money?”
“Nick's a natural risk-taker. I think he just decided to take the risk in this case. After all, everything else looked good and Hilary certainly appeared to be in love with him.”
“And your mother was pushing for the match?”
“Yes. She felt that after Nora died she had a duty to find a proper wife for Nick. She liked Hilary, and her family had known Hilary's family for generations.”
Phila frowned. “Did she know Hilary's family was just about broke?”
“She probably did. But she understood that kind of situation. She didn't see it as a negative. Why do you think she married my father?”
“What?”
Darren smiled again, briefly. “I'm afraid so. A marriage of convenience, as they used to say. Her family was Southern aristocracy. Bloodlines all the way back to the Colonial era.”
“But they were out of money?”
Darren nodded. “They had enough to put up a good front, but basically they were in deep trouble when Burke Castleton went east looking for a proper lady to marry.”
“Poor Eleanor!”
“She knew what she was doing. It was expected of her. She may not have had money, but she had a strong sense of family honor and obligation. Who knows? Maybe in the beginning she actually cared for my father. God knows he had a way with women.”
“She tolerated nearly forty years of marriage to a man she probably considered beneath her?”
“She did her best to elevate him and the rest of us. She's spent years polishing the image. I think she sees it as her life's work.”
“In other words, she fulfilled her part of the bargain. She brought a little class to the Castletons and the Lightfoots.” Phila grimaced. “And so it goes. Life among the rich and famous.”
“Not that rich and certainly not that famous,” Darren said. “Don't act so damn condescending.”
“You don't have to lecture me. I'm already feeling bad enough for the way I talked to your mother this morning.”
Darren's expression hardened. “What did you say to her?”
“She was accusing Crissie of having caused a lot of pain and anguish. I pointed out that the blame belonged on Burke. He was the one who played around all those years ago. I also pointed out that if he'd played around once, he'd undoubtedly done so many times.”
“You said that to my mother?” Darren's voice was grim.
“I'm afraid so.”
“You are a real little bitch, aren't you?”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
A real little bitch.
Just like Crissie.
The words reverberated through Phila's mind as she fixed herself a salad that evening. They made her feel worn-out and depressed.
Phila took her plate over to the kitchen table and sat down. She'd lost her appetite again, she realized. She really didn't want to eat the salad. She didn't want to eat anything.
There was another storm moving inland. Rain was already striking the windows in big fat drops that sounded like small-weapons fire. She was becoming an expert on that particular sound.
The only thing she was accomplishing here on the coast was causing more trouble, Phila told herself, trying to face the situation clearly.
Crissie was dead. There was nothing to be done about it. There were no questions to ask. She had known that from the beginning. It was time to turn the shares back to their rightful owner and be done with it.
Strange how things had become so painfully clear this afternoon after that conversation with Eleanor. There was no point trying to punish the Castletons and Lightfoots. They had done a fine job of punishing themselves over the years.
On top of everything else, she was a fool to stick around and play dangerous games with Nick Lightfoot. The
re was no sense kidding herself. Everyone was right. Nick never did anything without a reason. He was using her. She knew it; they all knew it. Phila didn't blame him particularly. After all, she had been using him. But she was suddenly very tired of dealing with the situation.
She knew she had allowed Nick to persuade her to come to Port Claxton because she had not known what else to do with herself. She had needed a focus for her burned-out emotions. She had needed something to revitalize herself. Creating trouble with the C&L shares had seemed a way to do that for a while. She could pretend she was somehow avenging Crissie. But the more Phila got mired in the quicksand of the emotional politics between the families, the less vengeful she felt.
It was time to call it quits and get out. Phila made her decision as she sat watching the storm come in. She would give the shares back to Darren in the morning, and then she would pack and head for Seattle.
Seattle seemed like a good place to start job hunting, and she had a life to put back together. It was time to get busy on that task.
Nick's Porsche pulled into the cottage drive just as Phila started on her salad. The sound of the powerful engine took her by surprise. She had not expected him back tonight. Slowly she got to her feet as Nick came through the front door. She went to meet him.
“I didn't think you'd get here until tomorrow,” Phila said quietly as he set down his luggage.
He looked at her. “I finished my business and decided to come back early.” He paused, eying her quizzically. “I think there's something wrong with this scene.”
“Is there?”
“Shouldn't you be rushing into my arms? Climbing all over me? Ripping off my clothes?”
“Should I?”
“Oh, Christ. What happened?” He shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it across the nearest chair.
“Not much. I've decided to leave tomorrow, Nick.”
He didn't move, but his eyes turned bleak and hard. “Is that right? What are you going to do with the shares?”
Phila turned back toward the kitchen with a humorless smile. “The first and foremost question, of course. What will I do with the shares. Well, you can all stop wondering. I'm going to give them back to Darren. They belong to him.”
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