Catching Her Rival (Mills & Boon Superromance)

by Lisa Dyson

  “How are you doing, Charlotte?” Marie asked. “Still painting your pictures?”

  Charlotte smiled. Over the years, so many people had belittled her artwork as just a hobby. She’d stopped worrying about it a long time ago, once she was able to support herself with her “little hobby.”

  “Yes, I have a show in a few weeks.”

  “How nice for you!”

  Charlotte had to get to the reason she called Marie. “I need some information. I was wondering if you could tell me anything about my mother’s finances back around the time she was adopting me.”

  “Her finances? What do you want to know?”

  Charlotte sucked in a breath and related the story. “I was going through her old bank statements and discovered she suddenly had a large deposit. A very large deposit. Thirty thousand dollars. Then a few days later, she wrote a check to Cash for the same amount. I can’t read the signature on the back of the check, so I don’t know who cashed it. And this all took place right around the time of my birth.”

  Marie was quiet for quite a while. “That was a very long time ago. Maybe you should leave it in the past.”

  “I can’t let it go. I need to find out about my adoption. That’s where this all started.” She told Marie about meeting Allie and how they were born on the same day, but in different states. “She’s digging on her end, and I’m doing the same on mine. We already know her parents paid thirty thousand dollars to a lawyer for her, so it seems like my mother paid the same amount for me. Maybe even to the same lawyer. We need answers.”

  “But what will you gain by digging up the past? I doubt this money has anything to do with your adoption. A coincidence, I’m sure.”

  “Then what did she use it for? Did she buy something expensive?”

  “Maybe she took out a loan and then lent it to someone,” Marie suggested. “Who knows?”

  Charlotte would bet her art supplies that Marie knew more than she was letting on. “Does the name Gerard Stone sound familiar? He was a lawyer that might have been involved in my adoption.”

  “Oh, dear.” Marie’s voice lowered to a near whisper. “I’m afraid I need to go lie down. I’m feeling a dizzy spell coming.”

  How convenient.

  “If you think of anything else, please let me know.”

  But Marie had already disconnected.

  Why was Charlotte getting the distinct impression that Marie knew more than she was telling?

  * * *

  JACK HAD LEFT early from work on Monday to visit his grandfather in the rehab center. Granddad still wasn’t pleased about not being home, but at least he’d stopped blaming everyone around him.

  He was happy to hear Empire won the animal-food account, though. He wasn’t familiar with Allie’s company, but he said of the third competitor, “DP is a second-rate organization.” He went on to spout off about the fiasco concerning Allie’s ex-boyfriend. “They actually thought using extortion to get accounts would work. Can you believe that?”

  “I don’t think anyone still at DP was involved in any of that,” Jack said with authority, now that Allie had been forced to confide in him.

  “Doesn’t matter. They hired criminals in the first place. Should’ve known better.”

  Allie had sworn she didn’t know a thing about her ex’s extortion plan, but she had no trouble pushing the envelope when it came to business. Was there more she hadn’t told him about her dealings with her ex?

  Fortunately, Granddad calmed down as soon as Jack told him about the Fairleigh job, and Jack was able to leave while his grandfather was in a better mood.

  Jack had brought casual clothes with him to work that morning, so he left the rehab center and went to his grandfather’s house to change before picking Allie up for dinner. He no sooner unlocked the door when he got her text.

  Harvey gone.

  That might be the saddest text in the fewest amount of words that Jack had ever received. He answered her right away.

  I’ll be there in fifteen. Dress comfortably.

  He quickly changed into plaid shorts, a collared sport shirt and boat shoes. He would suggest they go to a sports pub, figuring the energetic atmosphere was more what she needed, rather than a quiet restaurant where she might dwell on losing Harvey.

  “Hey,” he said when she answered her door a little while later. She didn’t say anything in return, merely turned away, leaving the door open for him to enter. She was obviously in pain, and he would be hurting in a different way if he didn’t stop focusing on how well her jeans fit over her firm butt. He nearly groaned aloud, reminding himself about his higher purpose for being here.

  Why did he have to be so attracted to a woman who had vowed to avoid anything more than friendship with men? Damn all the men who came before him who’d caused her to be so afraid.

  He entered her apartment and shut the door behind him. Harvey’s empty crate sat where he and Allie had placed it last week, like a beacon to remind Allie the dog was gone. Possibly for good.

  “I thought we could go to Kit’s Pub over on Chestnut,” he said. “Unless you’d like somewhere quieter. Kit’s will be busy, what with the Red Sox game tonight.”

  “Kit’s is fine.” She’d gone into her bedroom. He could barely make out her words. “I’ll be right there.”

  “No hurry.” That was a lie, since Jack was having a difficult time holding himself back. He desperately wanted to take her mind off Harvey as well as fulfill their basic desires. He wanted to walk directly into her bedroom, throw her down on her bed and kiss her senseless until she realized her vow was ridiculous and she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

  He held himself in check only because he knew he couldn’t be the settling-down kind of man she needed him to be.

  On the short drive to dinner, Jack tried his best to keep the conversation away from Harvey. Since work was off-limits and the weather was too general a subject, he asked, “Did you find the adoption lawyer yet?”

  Allie nodded. “There’s a CPA in his old office now, but she knew him. She verified the lawyer was the same as the one I found the obit for.” She told him what she’d discovered last night. “She knew him because she and her husband used to rent another office in that shopping center at the same time the lawyer was there.”

  She told him about the lawyer’s kids she’d found on Facebook, sounding stronger and more like herself as she went on. “The oldest daughter sent me a message today.”

  He glanced at her before backing into a parallel parking space on the street about a block from Kit’s. “That’s great. What did she say?”

  “Unfortunately, she doesn’t have her dad’s files. When he died, his practice was sold to another lawyer. She gave me his name, but she didn’t know if he still had files going back that far.”

  “What happens if he doesn’t have your file? Is there somewhere else to look?”

  “I don’t know. The daughter, Caroline, did say there’s a chance her brother might have her dad’s personal files. They have a storage unit somewhere nearby, and there are things in it they haven’t been through yet. I guess they’re all busy with work and family.” She shrugged and got out of the car. “You know how it is.”

  He got out, too. “We could offer to go through the storage unit if it comes to that.”

  They walked side-by-side on the uneven cement pavement. “I hope we won’t have to go that far,” she said.

  They reached the front of Kit’s Pub, and the noise level went up as soon as Jack opened the oversize wooden door. They were shown to a counter-height table in the corner, making it slightly easier to talk over the noise in the place. High on the walls were flat-screen TVs in different sizes. Below them hung sports paraphernalia and pictures of local teams of all ages that the pub supported.

  As soon as they placed drink orders and their server departed, Allie leaned in and said, “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For this.” She spread her arms. “For dinner, for takin
g my mind off Harvey. For all of it.” She stopped, her lip quivering slightly. “This might not work out, you know.”

  “Dinner? Why wouldn’t it work out?”

  “No, not dinner. I’m talking about Harvey. The people checking him out tonight might decide he’s not the dog for them.”

  “That’s true,” he said. “But you do know he’ll be adopted by someone eventually, right?”

  She shrugged, her focus on her fingernails.

  “I mean it, Allie. It’s going to happen. You need to be prepared.”

  “Okay.”

  “Hey.” He reached across the small table and lifted her chin with his index finger until her eyes met his. “What is it?”

  “I don’t know,” she said almost too quietly to hear. “I guess I didn’t expect to get so attached to him.”

  “Kind of backfired on you, didn’t it?” He was being flippant on purpose.

  She traced her finger along a ridge in the table. “I’ve never had any living thing be so dependent on me before, and at first it was frightening.”

  “And then?”

  She lifted her gaze to look at him. “And then I realized how easy it was to take in a living thing that’s been abandoned and love it unconditionally. It made me realize how much my parents really do love me. It’s not like I didn’t know that before, but after having Harvey—” She stopped suddenly and looked down. As if she couldn’t get out the words.

  “You finally believe you’re worth loving?”

  She gave a slight nod. “I know that sounds crazy. I guess a part of me took their love for granted, not really believing they could truly love me because I wasn’t their biological child.”

  He reached out for her hand. “I’m glad Harvey showed you differently.”

  “Me, too.” She smiled at him, and he smiled back.

  “What are you getting to eat?” He opened her menu and set it in front of her. “My favorites are their jalapeño burger and the Buffalo chicken sandwich.”

  “I think I’ll just have a garden salad.” She lacked any enthusiasm even after her epiphany.

  He needed to figure out some way to liven her up, because after tonight, he’d be spending a lot of overtime working on the Fairleigh project.

  * * *

  ALLIE TRULY WASN’T HUNGRY. She’d become attached to a dog in a mere week. A dog, for heaven’s sake.

  A dog who’d chewed her shoes when they first met.

  A dog who also worshipped her with his big, brown eyes when she was least expecting it.

  He didn’t care if she was successful with her advertising agency. He didn’t expect her to find a husband and make a family. As long as she fed him on time, he was happy.

  Just like Allie, he’d been given away at birth. They’d both been lucky to be loved by caring people.

  She didn’t want to give Harvey to anyone else, but she didn’t know how to stop the process.

  She swallowed the lump in her throat and peered across the table at Jack, who was trying his best to make her feel better. He really was a sweet guy.

  “Maybe I’ll have the chicken Caesar wrap instead of a salad.” She didn’t know if she could force it down, but seeing his eyes light up at her words was worth it. She couldn’t help but feel good about his concern.

  They enjoyed a pleasant dinner, keeping track of the Red Sox game and commenting on it as they ate. Allie had relaxed enough to force down a few bites, and before she knew it, her wrap was nearly gone.

  “I guess I was hungrier than I thought.” She pulled out her wallet.

  “Put that away,” he instructed her. “I asked you to dinner, and I’ll pay the check.”

  “But you only did it to cheer me up.” She pulled out a charge card that was close to being maxed out. Letting him pay would be the smart thing to do.

  “That’s not the only reason.” He was looking at her, his meaning clear.

  “I—”

  “Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not a ‘pay for dinner and expect sex’ kind of guy.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Although...”

  She grinned. “I know—you wouldn’t turn it down.”

  He winked at her. “So you have thought about it.”

  More than she would ever let on to him. “Maybe.”

  Her face heated as he leaned closer across the table and lowered his voice. “Want to share those thoughts?”

  She balled a paper napkin and tossed it at him. He laughed and so did she. “Come on, I need to get home.” She rose from her seat and slung her purse over one shoulder.

  “At your service,” he said as he rose, too.

  She began walking toward the exit and heard him say, “The sooner we get to your place, the sooner you can tell me about those thoughts of yours.”

  She turned her head in his direction and stuck out her tongue.

  He chuckled and said, “That’s a good start.”

  * * *

  CHARLOTTE HAD LONG lost the light in her studio, so she’d stopped working on the Newport doorway she’d sketched and taken a box of her mother’s files downstairs to spread out on the kitchen table.

  The box contained tax returns and every pay stub her mother had ever received.

  “Wow. Mom never threw out anything.”

  Charlotte went directly to the envelope with 1986 on it in her mother’s handwriting, hoping to discover that she’d been given a bonus of thirty thousand dollars that year.

  No luck. Every pay stub was exactly the same, at least until she came to October, when it appeared her mother had been given a salary increase of about fifty dollars in take-home pay each pay period. At that point, she still wasn’t even making thirty thousand dollars a year.

  Where the heck did that money come from?

  Before searching another box, Charlotte looked at the pay stubs from the year before, in case her mother had received the money then and put it in a savings account to draw interest before moving it into her checking account.

  Again, no indication that her mother ever received a bonus of any kind.

  Charlotte returned all the records to the box and hauled it upstairs. She had several other boxes from the attic that she’d put in her studio. The first one held the rest of her mother’s tax returns. Charlotte didn’t think they’d be any help, so she moved the box aside.

  The next one had savings account information. “Voilà!” She didn’t bother taking it downstairs, merely searched the folders until she came to the one marked “1986.”

  She pulled it out and went month by month, perusing savings account statements. Her mother had regularly deposited one hundred dollars in the account every month during that year. The beginning balance on January 1 was a little over eleven thousand dollars. The ending balance on December 31 was less than twelve and a half thousand with accrued interest.

  Charlotte checked the year before, and every month of that year her mother had deposited ninety dollars. All of the earlier years’ statements showed that as her salary went up, so did her regular deposits into her account.

  But there was nothing that indicated she ever had anything close to thirty thousand dollars in the bank.

  Charlotte dug through the entire box, hoping to find another savings account or some other clue to the money.

  There was nothing.

  She sat on the floor of her studio, her legs crossed. She was at a loss. The money had obviously arrived in a lump sum, either as a gift or a loan. Maybe she’d sold something.

  Charlotte still couldn’t believe it, even though Allie had practically confirmed it. Had her mother really paid cold hard cash to that lawyer in order to adopt Charlotte?

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  JACK AND ALLIE pulled up to her apartment building just as her phone rang.

  She dug it out of her purse. “Hello?”

  He watched as Allie listened to the person on the other end and her face softened into a smile that grew into a huge grin. “Thanks, Joan, I’ll be there to pick him up in a few minutes.” She disc
onnected and, still grinning, turned to Jack. “I need to pick up Harvey. Turns out the couple’s dog and Harvey didn’t get along, so they’re not taking him. Isn’t that great?”

  “Absolutely.” He smiled and shared an idea that had been nagging at him. “Have you thought about adopting him yourself?” He didn’t want to see her heartbroken when someone else came along to adopt Harvey, which inevitably would happen.

  “Oh, I would love to, but I couldn’t. My lifestyle and a dog wouldn’t mix.”

  He hesitated to point out that she and Harvey had been doing quite well for the past week.

  She reached for the door handle. “I need to get going. Joan asked if I could pick him up at the Rescue League, otherwise he’s there for the night.”

  “Hold on.” He grabbed her arm. “I’ll drive you over there.”

  “But we don’t have his crate. He’ll be all over your car.”

  “For a few miles across town, you can hold him.”

  She appeared to think about it and then said, “If you’re sure.”

  “Positive.” He pulled out into the street, and she gave him directions to the Rescue League.

  A short while later, they were again parked in front of Allie’s apartment building. This time, Harvey was on her lap, full of energy. As much as he really wanted to at least kiss her good-night, Jack doubted Harvey would settle down long enough for that to happen.

  He couldn’t have been more surprised when Allie said, “Want to come up and celebrate Harvey’s homecoming?”

  His eyes widened. She had to know what she was doing, didn’t she? Or maybe she really did just want to celebrate Harvey’s return.

  Even though his common sense said, “Go home,” his body said, “Why not?”—and that’s what came out of his mouth.

  Allie was practically bouncing as much as Harvey as she and the dog got on the elevator in front of him. She was as excited as he’d ever seen her, and Jack couldn’t help but enjoy the two of them.

  When they entered Allie’s dark apartment and she turned on lights, she asked, “What would you like to drink? I don’t think I have champagne, but we can toast Harvey’s return anyway.” She named the drink choices while closing her bedroom door and moving barriers so Harvey could be out of his crate, though not out of sight, causing trouble. But he must have been tired after his evening of socializing because he immediately went into his crate on his own, curled up on his blanket and closed his eyes.