by Kwan, Coleen
Nana Alice went all teary-eyed. “Oh, it looks beautiful on you, my dear.”
Silently Jacinta held out her hand weighed down by the giant rock.
“Well, isn’t that nice?” Holly spoke up, a crisp bite in her voice. “A surprise engagement to round off the weekend.”
Was Holly jealous over the ring? And what about Kirk and Uncle Ralph? Personally, Lex thought the ring was too big and ostentatious for Jacinta. If he were to buy her an engagement ring, he’d choose something elegant and simple, something she could wear every day, because he’d want her to wear his ring all the time and never—
Hold it right there. Why was he even thinking about engagement rings when this whole thing was a concoction of his grandmother’s?
“Nana, you’ve taken us by complete surprise,” he said. “To be honest, we’re not ready for all the attention.”
In an instant his grandmother was all contrition. “Oh dear. Have I made a mess of things? I didn’t mean to preempt you.” Her worried eyes darted between him and Jacinta. “I wasn’t thinking straight. I do hope you’ll forgive me.”
“There’s nothing to forgive.” Jacinta moved closer to Lex. “We just, er, weren’t expecting this.” She glanced at him. “Were we, Lex?”
“That’s right,” he said. “We weren’t going to make an announcement for a while.”
“I won’t say a word.” Nana Alice bit her lip before glancing around at the others. “And none of you will say anything, will you?”
They all shook their heads. Lex was pretty sure they meant it. How would it profit any of them to blab the news that he and Jacinta were engaged? Engaged. Hell. The prospect made him feel as if he were about to bungee jump off the Golden Gate Bridge—nauseous, terrified, but…excited too.
That disturbed him, that sneaky frisson of excitement. He’d always thought he was the last person who should get married—just look what a crappy example his parents had set for him—but Jacinta... A few minutes ago he’d been disheartened about not sharing a bed with her anymore. But really, it wasn’t just a bed he wanted to share with her. Was it possible she could change his mind about commitment?
He scowled, his mind shying away from the possibility. He didn’t want to think about it now. He’d handle it later, after the meeting, when the rest of the family had departed and he could think straight.
…
The glower on Lex’s face sent Jacinta’s heart into a nosedive. Did he have to look so upset at the idea of being engaged to her? Even a fake engagement? She turned away, irritated by his reaction. He should be grateful to her for not trampling over his grandmother’s wildly incorrect assumptions. He didn’t have to look as if he’d swallowed a fishing hook.
Kirk jingled the change in his pocket impatiently. “I hate to break up the celebrations, but isn’t it time for our meeting?”
“Yes, the meeting,” Nana Alice said. “I almost forgot.”
“Let’s go, then,” Lex said. “Nancy is setting up things in the library.”
“You’ll come too.” Nana Alice gestured toward Jacinta. “You’re part of the family now.”
Kirk and Ralph exchanged looks, and Holly frowned. Lex nodded. “Yes, come and sit in.” He waited until the others had walked out of the room before he murmured to her, “This is your chance to spot something during the meeting.”
Her lips tightened. “We need to talk.”
Grimacing, he checked after the others to make sure they wouldn’t be overheard. “About the engagement, yes. You don’t have to worry. I’ll explain to her as soon as I get the opportunity.”
A lump formed in her throat. “You should do it quickly,” she said, “before she starts sending out wedding invitations.”
“We can’t have that happening. But first, let’s get this meeting over with.” He held out his hand to her and sighed impatiently when she hung back. “We’re supposed to be a newly engaged couple, remember?”
He curled his fingers around hers, and the pressure from his hand seemed to tighten around her heart as well. She was just another item on his To Do list. Family meeting. Find mole. Break off fake engagement.
…
As Lex led Jacinta into the library, he struggled to focus on the agenda of the upcoming meeting. How could he even remember his own name when his head felt like an overloaded, overheated dryer? He had to get this engagement misunderstanding sorted out, pronto. After the meeting was over he’d have a quiet word with Nana.
The library was cleared and tidy for the meeting. Nancy Bird was already there, a pile of documents in her arms. She shot Jacinta a surprised squint over her steel-rimmed glasses but said nothing.
Jacinta moved away from Lex and chose a chair in a corner as if to emphasize she was just an observer. He watched as she sat down and crossed her legs, the giant ring winking at him as her nervous fingers played with the ends of her ponytail. His fiancée. A burning sensation swelled up in his chest. Christ, how was he going to get through this meeting with that thought prancing through his mind?
A faint disturbance behind him caught his attention. He turned to catch his uncle confronting Nancy Bird. Ralph had planted himself in front of the assistant, his chest puffed out.
“Ten thousand dollars,” Ralph muttered. “That’s my final offer.”
The assistant clenched her jaw. “I’ve told you before, Mr. Rochester. I’m not selling.”
“Oh, come on. Ten thousand is twice what it’s worth. Why are you being so stubborn?”
The sheaf of documents quivered in Nancy’s grip. “The clock is mine. I’ll never sell it.”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
Lex stepped between them and eyed them both. “What’s going on here?”
“This is a private matter.” His uncle scowled at him. “Nothing that concerns you.”
“It is my concern if you’re harassing my assistant,” Lex retorted, his voice deceptively smooth. “Are you hassling Nancy to sell you the clock my dad left her?”
A thick vein pulsed in Ralph’s forehead. “That clock was meant for me. Philip always promised me he’d eventually let me have it, and then he leaves it to his—his—” He jabbed a bony finger in Nancy’s direction. “Her!”
Lex shook his head. “I don’t understand. It’s just a clock. You can afford to buy any other clock in the world.”
“It’s not just a clock.” Ralph glowered at him, his face an unhealthy puce. “Trust a Philistine like you to think it’s just a clock.”
Lex folded his arms. In spite of his uncle’s rudeness, he was determined to keep his patience. “So tell me what makes it so special.”
“It’s French, antique. Frederic Berthoud, not that you’d know who he was. It’s part of a three-piece set together with a pair of candelabra. I managed to buy the candelabra years ago, but Philip refused to sell me the clock.”
“I remember that clock. He used to keep it in his office.” Lex shrugged. “I can see why you’d want to complete your set, Ralph, but the fact is, the clock belongs to Nancy.”
“She doesn’t know anything about clocks. She doesn’t deserve it.”
Nancy inhaled a sharp breath. Her hair trembled as she glared at Ralph. “I deserve much more than just a gaudy clock. After everything I’ve done, after all the years and all the sacrifices...” Her lips shook. “After all that, to be left just a silly, useless clock that has to be wound up all the time... It’s an insult.”
Lex shifted his feet. “Nancy, I didn’t realize—”
“What more did you expect?” Ralph burst out. “You’re just a frigging assistant, for God’s sakes!”
Someone in the room gasped.
“You think I was just Philip’s assistant?” Nancy wheeled about, sweeping her gaze across the others. “You all think I was just his assistant, but I was more, much more. For over twenty years I took care of him behind the scenes. I was the only one he could truly talk to, the only one who really understood him. Philip and I were lovers, for many, many years,
right up until the end.”
Everyone in the library froze. Lex heard the air going in and out of his nostrils as he stared at Nancy. He knew he should say something, but the awful thing was he didn’t know what to believe.
Ralph cackled. “You? He would never have looked at you twice, and you know it. You’re lying.”
Nancy flung down the documents. They splashed across the carpet. She shook her head so violently, several bobby pins came flying out. Her hair sprung out in bunches around her blotched face. “I’m not lying! Philip and I were lovers. Yes, he had affairs with worthless tarts, but in the end he always came back to me. To me.” She stabbed her forefinger at her breast.
“Yet he kept you a secret.” Ralph’s upper lip curled into a sneer. “And after so many years of devotion, all he left you was a clock.”
Lex turned on his uncle. “That’s enough—”
“He promised he’d take care of me, promised I wouldn’t have to work after he was gone.” Nancy’s arms fell to her sides, and her shoulders slumped. She stared into space. “And yet all he left me was a clock. What am I supposed to do with a clock?”
Despite himself, Lex felt a stab of sympathy for her. If what she said was true, and he had a feeling it was, then his father had well and truly betrayed her, just as he’d betrayed so many others before. Even in death Philip had managed to humiliate a faithful employee and friend.
He stepped toward Nancy. “Miss Bird, I can see you’re very upset over this, but I think it’s best if you and I discuss this later in private.”
She turned on him, and he had to brace himself not to step backward, so unexpectedly malevolent was her expression. “There is no later,” she hissed. “I resign, as of right now. I won’t be this family’s doormat anymore.”
The sight of her contorted face triggered a shrill warning bell in him. As she swung away, he clamped a hand on her shoulder. “Before you leave, I have a question for you. Are you the person responsible for the leaks we’ve had these past few months?”
Her eyes darted around like a hunted animal’s. “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t you?”
Her expression hardened. “No,” she snapped. “I haven’t the faintest idea.”
His heart sank as Nancy met his gaze defiantly. He’d trusted this woman all his life, but now he was convinced she’d betrayed him. Was there no one he could count on? He paused, winded by his isolation.
Then Jacinta spoke from the corner, her voice clear and dispassionate. “Nancy, you’ve been present at every meeting where a leak has occurred. You’ve just admitted harboring a grudge against this family ever since Philip Rochester died and failed to provide for you. Earlier this morning, I examined the work logs from your computer, and after each family meeting, I found a pattern of activity at odd times of the day and night. Now, I don’t exactly know what you were doing, but once your computer is audited, I’m sure the truth will come out. Do you still insist that you’re innocent?”
Lex stared across the library at Jacinta. She must have done her investigations after he’d left their bedroom. Her calm, decisive manner appeared to dent Nancy’s defiance.
“I—I—” Nancy turned red. “What right do you have to go snooping around my computer?”
“Lex asked me to help him because I’m an IT security consultant. I only started suspecting you yesterday after your altercation with Ralph, but now I’m ninety-nine percent convinced you’re responsible for the leaks.”
From red, the assistant’s face grew ashen. “I didn’t realize...” The woman gulped before she drew herself upright and addressed the room. “Well, so what? Why should I be the only one to suffer?”
Nancy’s smirk made Lex’s stomach turn. The repercussions of what she’d done sunk in, and anger began to rumble through him.
“Do you have any idea of the damage you’ve done? You’ve betrayed me, my family, and Jubilee, the company that employed you for the past twenty-five years and placed you in a position of utmost trust. You’ve betrayed everyone.” A roar built in his ears as he moved toward Nancy.
She flinched and backed away from him. “I don’t have anything against you personally, but I couldn’t let Philip get away with what he did to me. He took the best years of my life from me and left me with nothing. ”
Her words barely penetrated the angry mist foaming inside his head. “You two-timing backstabber. You made me suspect it was one of my own family. You made me mistrust those around me, and all the time it was you! The person right under my nose.”
He thrust his fingers through his hair. All these months of mounting business problems, of growing suspicion and stress. All because of a gullible woman betrayed by his father. Goddammit. How had he let things get so screwed up? Just as he thought he’d burst a blood vessel, he felt a light touch on his arm and looked down to find Jacinta at his side.
“Lex?”
He couldn’t trust any woman now. He shook her off impatiently.
“What’s this about leaks?” Uncle Ralph pushed Nancy to one side to plant himself in front of Lex. “Did I hear right? There’ve been company leaks for several months, and you haven’t even considered telling any of us about them? Why not?”
Lex swallowed hard. Shit. He’d been so shocked by Nancy, he’d revealed more than he’d meant to.
“Because he suspected it was one of us.” Kirk drawled from behind his father. “That’s what you just said, right, Lex?”
“One of us?” Ralph glared at Lex, his lips working furiously. “You mean—you mean to say you thought it could have been me, or Kirk, or even Holly?”
A muscle spasm contorted Lex’s shoulder blades. He glanced from Ralph to Kirk to Holly. Three grim faces stared back at him. “Yes, I thought it was one of you three.”
“You don’t trust us? Your own flesh and blood?”
“He doesn’t trust any of us,” Kirk said.
Lex mashed the heel of his hand against his forehead as pain burst inside his skull. “I worked on the facts before me,” he said tiredly. “Some of the information leaked could only have come from the family meetings we’ve been having. I’m sorry for suspecting it was one of you, but I had no reason to think it was Nancy.”
“While we all hold grudges against you, is that it?” Holly piped up from the fireplace where she’d been leaning against the mantelpiece. “Me, for protesting against the company and embarrassing you, Dad, for resenting your cutbacks to his art collection, and Kirk, well, just for being Kirk maybe. It’s a shame you couldn’t have taken us into your confidence from the beginning, because then we might have found out about Nancy a lot sooner.”
She tossed the meeting agenda she’d been holding into the fireplace and dusted her hands. “Well, as always, the Rochester business has been a laugh a minute. I guess this meeting isn’t going to happen today, so I’ll go finish my packing and head out as soon as I can.”
“Holly’s right.” Uncle Ralph crumpled up his meeting agenda and flung it aside. “No point having a meeting if we can’t trust one another.” He spun on his heel and followed Holly out of the room.
The hammering between Lex’s eyes reached a crescendo as he confronted Kirk. His cousin’s blue, fathomless eyes repudiated him.
“And you?” Lex asked. “Aren’t you going to stalk out too?”
Kirk’s mouth contorted into a dark smile. “I guess when it comes to trust, you follow in your dad’s footsteps after all.” He turned to Nancy. “Miss Bird, you will accompany me back to San Francisco now, where we’ll be met by company security officials. We’ll be confiscating all company property in your possession. Let me assure you that a thorough investigation will be conducted and if necessary, criminal charges will be laid.”
At his inimical tone, Nancy blanched a ghostly white, all fight gone out of her. Head bowed, she trudged after Kirk as he left the room. In the aftermath, silence descended on the library. Lex saw his grandmother groping for her walking stick as she struggled
to get to her feet, but when he hurried to her side, she waved him off.
“I’m not yet a corpse,” she snipped as she hauled herself upright. “I need to go after them. I need to talk to her.”
“Holly?”
“No, Nancy, of course.”
“Her? You want to talk with Nancy?”
She drew away from him, her face drawn, all her previous joy snuffed out. “Somebody has to.”
He could only watch as his grandmother limped from the room without another word. Only Jacinta remained in the library. In the stillness he heard the blood pounding inside his skull.
“Well?” He swept his palm across his brow and realized he was covered in sweat. “Aren’t you going to say I told you so?”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry it turned out this way for you.” She pleated her fingers together, then unpleated them. “It must have been a shock for you, learning about—about Nancy and your dad.”
His insides spasmed again. He bent to pick up the copies of the meeting agenda strewn across the carpet. “I guess I shouldn’t be that shocked. My dad had countless affairs, after all.” He riffled the sheets that Nancy had conscientiously produced. She’d always been so industrious and self-effacing. Everyone, including him, had taken her for granted.
“If my dad hadn’t used her and then neglected her, she wouldn’t have felt the urge to revenge herself.” But Philip wasn’t the only one responsible for this mess. With a muttered expletive, he ripped up the sheets of paper and hurled them into a wastepaper basket. “Who the hell am I kidding? I’m as much to blame as my lying, womanizing bastard of a father.”
His lack of trust, that was what had brought him undone.
“Will you be all right?”
The concern in Jacinta’s voice intensified his headache. He stared at her and realized he wanted to bury his face into her hair. He wanted to feel her arms around him holding him tight. But he couldn’t afford to succumb to his weakness.
He stretched his lips into a bleak smile. “I’ll survive. I always do.”
“Will you?” Her brow puckered. “But you still haven’t told them about the business problems. How will you get any consensus from your family now?”