by Leona Karr
“How about two?”
She swung around to see if he was kidding. He wasn’t. Her mouth suddenly went dry.
“What are you saying? We’re not sleeping together,” she said flatly.
“I’m afraid we are,” he replied just as firmly. “But only in the literal sense.”
“You’re serious,” she said in disbelief.
“The quickest way for someone to tumble to the truth about our marriage is telltale signs of separate sleeping arrangements. Of course, both of us will have to be on the honor system,” he added with a grin. “And you’ll have to promise to stay on your side of the bed.”
How could he make light of such an impossible situation? Just the prospect of his virile body lying warmly next to hers fired her hormones in a way she’d never felt before. Did he sleep naked? What if she turned over and felt his inviting body pressed against hers?
“What about the adjoining room?” she asked. It wasn’t that she’d ever had the luxury of a lot of space for herself. She lived in crowded foster homes growing up, and at the hospital, she was used to both male and female interns bedding down on cots in the same room whenever they could snatch some rest. But that was different from sharing a bed with a stranger who happened to be pretending to be her husband.
“That room’s a small study,” Adam told her.
“Well, if there’s a couch, I can sleep on it,” Carolyn informed him. “The bed in my apartment is narrow and most of the springs are broken.”
As she started toward the door of the study, he reached out and stopped her. “I’m sorry, Carolyn, but we can’t take a chance of someone coming in and finding us sleeping separately. There’s too much at stake here.” He put his hands on her shoulders. “I promise you that the sleeping arrangement will be strictly platonic, nothing more.”
She wanted to believe him, but common sense mocked the sleeping arrangement. How could they maintain a business relationship in such intimate closeness as sleeping together? Still, what choice did she have? None. Again she admonished herself to get a grip. She’d agreed to do everything she could to make this marriage pretense a success. After all, she’d known that there would be demands that would challenge her determination to hold firm until Adam succeeded in his investigation.
“Okay,” she agreed, and forced a smile. “But no swiping of covers.”
“I promise.”
He was about to drop his hands from her shoulders when there was the sound of muffled footsteps in the hall. He let his hands slip to her back and draw her close, so they appeared to be in a loving embrace when Mack knocked hesitantly on the open door. A short, squarely built man, he had a ruddy complexion and round face.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “Morna told me to bring these things up.”
“Yes, thank you,” Adam said, keeping his arm around Carolyn’s waist as they faced the man. “Your wife told us you’re the groundskeeper.”
“The landscaping is beautiful,” Carolyn offered. “I glimpsed some lovely gardens as we drove up. I can hardly wait to take a walk around. I’m afraid I don’t know all the names of flowers and trees that you’ve planted, but I can tell you have a green thumb.”
A pleased flush stole up his cheek. “Thank you, ma’am.” Then he nodded his balding head and lumbered out of the room without saying more.
“Nice going, Carolyn. I think you may have gained a supporter there.”
“I meant what I said.” She didn’t like Adam’s inference that her remarks had been calculated.
“I know. That’s what worries me a little. You have a tendency to always say what you mean. And in this situation it could be dangerous. Don’t take anything at face value,” he warned. “Don’t trust anyone.”
She glanced at the bed. “I won’t.”
He laughed then, fully and deeply.
LUNCH WAS SERVED ON A flagstone terrace outside large French doors at the back of the house. A shy Asian girl quietly brought them a delicious mandarin salad, hot potato rolls and a whipped fruit dessert. They learned that her name was Seika and that her father, Mr. Lei, had been recently hired as a cook; his two daughters were housemaids. The three were new on staff apparently, and Adam wondered if this change of staff had been Della’s decision, and why.
As soon as dessert and coffee were served, Adam leaned closer to Carolyn across the small round table. “Request a second cup of coffee and linger at the table as long as you can. It’s time for me to take a look around.”
Carolyn bit back a demand to know what he was going to do. She knew she’d have to get used to his acting without her knowledge and approval, but it wasn’t easy to accept the fact that he would probably keep her in the dark about a lot of things. Still, it made sense not to trust her with any information that she might, inadvertently, blurt out.
Adam quickly left the table and slipped through one of the open French doors. As he followed a hall that led to the front of the house, he passed several open doors, revealing a beautifully furnished room within. When he passed a dining room with a high ceiling and crystal chandeliers, he saw Morna at the far end of the room, by the butler’s pantry.
Grateful that she had her back to the door, he slipped by the open door without being seen and hurried up the main staircase. From an earlier report, he knew that Jasper, Della, Lisa and Buddy occupied the wing opposite the one that contained the master suite he and Carolyn had been given. It was pure luck that they were all out for the day. He wanted to get a feeling about these people, and giving their living quarters a quick scrutiny might prove helpful.
As he entered the rooms occupied by Jasper and Della, it was obvious they were cohabitating. Her stuff was mingled with his in the style of a married couple. They each had their own walk-in closet, and judging from the clothes hanging there, both seemed fairly conservative, if quality conscious, in their choice of attire.
Adam was much more interested in an adjoining study, which was obviously a home office and had its own exit into the hall. A large executive desk held the latest and most advanced computer system. Everything needed to transact business was right there in this room, and it appeared from notes and memorandums lying on the desk that Della spent many hours sitting there.
Speculation instantly filled Adam’s mind. What programs did she have running? Would they help in his investigation of Horizon? Was there time to log on— These questions came to an abrupt halt as muffled voices floated down the hall.
Someone was coming!
He stared at the door to the hall and prayed they wouldn’t use it. Their voices came closer. A man and a woman. Damn. Jasper and Della had come back.
“We have no choice, Jasper. You know that,” Della was saying. “It doesn’t matter what we think of her. Nothing can be done. We’ve got to look ahead and see what opportunities may come our way. I can’t believe Arthur put one over on us like this.”
A low grumble was his only reply.
“Morna says they’re having lunch on the terrace,” the woman continued. “We’ll take a minute to freshen up and then go down with smiles on our faces.”
Adam let out his breath when they turned into their private rooms, giving him a chance to ease out into the hall. He couldn’t go back the way he’d come without going by their open door. Should he chance it? He had to get back downstairs and join Carolyn as quickly as possible before Della and Jasper made their appearance on the patio.
They’d left the bedroom door open, and he could hear movement inside the bedroom. If he tried to pass the door, one of them might see him.
Deciding not to chance it, he headed in the opposite direction down the hall. As he passed rooms obviously occupied by Lisa and Buddy Denison, he glanced in. The young woman’s bedroom was stark white with burgundy accents and filled with designer furniture. Buddy’s was that of a young man who chose comfort over style and was cluttered with mementos of his various pastimes: boating, golfing and tennis. The idle rich. These two young people had the lifestyle down to a T.
&n
bsp; There wasn’t any sign of back stairs at this end of the hall, which Adam had counted on. Only two doors. The first one he tried opened to a linen closet, but as he opened the second one, he breathed, “Bingo.”
He knew that in these old mansions, back stairs, or servant’s stairs were a must. It was important that staff members serve their masters without cluttering up the main halls and staircases.
When Adam closed the upper door behind him, he was in the dark, except for a thin light coming under the door at the bottom of the stairs. Musty air in the passage made him doubt that it was still in use, and he feared that the door at the bottom might be locked. When he reached it, his hand curved around the old doorknob, and it resisted his pressure, but at last the door opened with a squeak.
He saw that a narrow passage in one direction led to the kitchen, the other to a narrow outside door. No one was in sight as he quickly let himself out of the house and hurried toward the back terrace.
He was congratulating himself on making it back to Carolyn unseen when he realized that she was no longer sitting alone at the table.
A young man with curly chestnut hair that stuck out from under his captain’s cap occupied the chair next to her, and both of them looked up when he came into view.
As Adam came toward them, he knew the moment had come when the curtain was going up on a very dangerous pretense.
Chapter Five
Carolyn had been about to get up from the table and return to their suite when her attention was drawn to a white cabin cruiser coming across the water with a foamy wake, and heading for the mansion’s private boathouse and dock.
She watched as the craft eased into a berth, and a young man emerged from the cabin. After tying the bow line, he came sauntering up the path with a leisurely gait.
Carolyn knew instantly who he was. Buddy Denison. From the few things Adam and Bancroft had told her, she had already formed an impression of him. He was a young man who sponged off his mother and filled his time pursuing his own interests. Boating must be one of them, Carolyn thought, as he approached the terrace. He was medium height, well-built, and his light brown eyes rounded as he saw Carolyn sitting there, watching him.
“Well, I’ll be. It’s the rich girl, herself. Mom told me you’d be here today.” He gave her an embarrassed grin. “She warned me to make myself presentable. I guess it’s too late now.”
His relaxed manner put her at ease. “You look very presentable, Buddy,” she assured him, nodding approval of his fashionable whites. “I’m Carolyn.” She extended her hand.
He wiped his hands on his trousers before taking it. “Nice to know you…I mean…” He faltered, obviously searching for the right greeting for someone who might boot him out of the house at any time.
“It’s a weird situation, isn’t it?” she said, truthfully. “Please sit down.”
“Is it really true you’re a doctor?” he asked as he plopped into the chair that Adam had vacated. “You don’t look like one.”
“I only just graduated,” she said lightly. “That’s a nice boat you have.”
He instantly brightened. “She’s a honey. The Suncrest doesn’t go with the house. She’s mine.” There was a warning in his tone. “You can’t take her.”
Before Carolyn could respond, their attention was drawn to a movement below the terrace as Adam suddenly appeared from around the corner of the house.
“I see you found some company while I took my walk,” Adam said pleasantly as he took a chair opposite Buddy.
“This is my husband, Adam Lawrence,” Carolyn said. Relief that he was back made her reach over and impulsively squeeze his hand. “Darling, Buddy was just telling me about his boat.”
Where the conversation would have gone from there, she didn’t know, because his mother’s voice intruded into the conversation. “Buddy, I didn’t know you were back. I thought you said you’d be out all day.” Della stepped out onto the terrace.
“No, that’s what you said your plans were. What brought you back early?” He grinned at her. “Couldn’t wait to see for yourself what the rich girl looked like, I’ll bet.”
“Mind your manners, Buddy.” Before she could say anything more, a startled gasp jerked everyone’s eyes to the doorway behind her.
A tall, thin man with slightly stooped shoulders stood there, staring at Carolyn as if he’d seen a ghost. As he walked slowly toward her, he breathed, “Dear God in heaven, it’s little Alicia, all grown up.”
Carolyn quickly stood. “Uncle Jasper?”
There was such a fullness in her chest she didn’t know if she could keep breathing. He was searching her face with an intensity that seemed to bore into her very soul. Della seemed ready to say something to break the weighted moment, when he sighed heavily. “It’s true, then, what Arthur believed? You’re Alicia’s child?”
Carolyn nodded and tried to find words to tell him that she was as stunned as he was to learn she was his sister’s child.
“Where have you been all these years? And why did your mother break our hearts the way she did?” His tone was pointedly accusing, as if years of rancor had finally found a release.
“I don’t know anything about my mother except what I’ve been told,” Carolyn responded firmly, lowering the arms she had been prepared to put around her uncle in a hug. His glare didn’t invite any expression of joy or acceptance. Just the sight of her seemed to ignite a long-simmering fire, and Carolyn thought with an edge of bitterness that maybe her birthright was something she would have been better off without.
Della moved forward, purposefully edging Jasper to one side. “Carolyn, I’m sorry we weren’t here to greet you and your husband.”
Adam was ready to jump in and protect Carolyn from both Jasper and Della, if need be. He decided that Della was a woman who was making the best of being fifty. Her dark hair was fashionably cut, curled and colored. Her eyebrows had been precisely thinned, her lashes darkened with mascara and her bold mouth shaped by glossy lipstick. A simple tunic dress was cut in straight lines that flattered her thickening figure. There was a commanding presence about her that warned Adam to be on his toes.
“I’m Della Denison,” she said as her dark eyes settled on him for the first time.
“I bet they already know who you are, Mom,” Buddy said, his light-brown eyes sparkling in obvious enjoyment of the little scene. “It’s my guess there aren’t any surprises in this little gathering. We’re all just one happy family, aren’t we?”
He winked at Carolyn as if sharing a private joke with her, and in a way she was grateful for his inappropriate, juvenile behavior. At least it was honest.
“I’m sorry if seeing me has distressed you, Uncle Jasper,” Carolyn said, giving her attention to him, instead of to his paramour. “I know this situation is a difficult one. I wish we could have met while my grandfather was still alive.”
“I can’t believe Arthur kept such a secret from me,” he lamented. “Even though my sister, Alicia, and I weren’t very close—there was a ten-year age difference—I still deserved to know.”
“He didn’t say anything about having found me and providing me with financial support through medical school?” Carolyn prodded. She was anxious to find the tiniest thread of connection between her and the man who had made her his heir.
“Not a word,” Della answered in her curt way before Jasper could say a word. “But that was just Arthur. I worked for your grandfather for nearly ten years and was always finding out things he was trying to keep secret. Of course, this situation tops them all.” She didn’t bother to hide the resentment in her tone.
“Easy, Mom,” Buddy said with an apologetic look at Carolyn.
Della ignored her son. “Arthur had a habit of not letting the right hand know what the left was doing. Believe me, it wasn’t easy trying to keep things running smoothly in the company when he kept holding things back.”
“Arthur never interfered in my lab,” Jasper said as if he felt the need to defend his fathe
r. “He liked the way I handled everything.”
“Then why didn’t he leave you fifty-one percent of the shares, instead of only thirty-nine? You were his son, after all.” Her tone was bitter.
“It doesn’t seem right, does it,” Adam said, deliberately fanning the fires. “I wonder why he didn’t.”
“He was a sentimental old fool, that’s why,” Della answered, ignoring the fact of Jasper’s miserable record of business failure and bankruptcy. “And Carolyn is going to realize in short order that Horizon needs more than sentiment to keep it afloat.” Then she added pointedly, “Of course, there’s no reason for her to get involved in the running of the company. It’s very demanding. I’m sure the two of you have plans of your own.”
Carolyn and Adam avoided looking at each other. Della had unwittingly hit the truth right on the head. They did have plans of their own, but certainly not the kind this controlling woman expected.
“I want to familiarize myself with Horizon,” Carolyn said smoothly. “Because of my medical background, I have an interest in the pharmaceutical industry. Of course, I don’t intend to immediately try and run the company, but I think my husband may be of help in pointing out some ways to improve production.” She gave Adam a sugary-sweet smile. “Why don’t you tell them, darling?”
As Jasper and Della listened to Adam explain his background as an efficiency expert, their hostile resistance was almost palpable.
“So you see,” Adam finished in an eager voice, “I’ve put all my other commitments on hold while I gain some helpful insights on Horizon and make some professional recommendations.”
A tense muscle flickered at the corners of Della’s mouth. “Your work sounds impressive, Mr….”
“Adam, please,” he corrected her lightly.
“To be honest, Adam, there’s no need for that kind of streamlining at Horizon. Our production and shipping departments are running very smoothly, and I think it would be a mistake to alter them.”
“I don’t want anybody fooling around in my laboratory, telling me what to change,” Jasper said flatly. “Especially someone who doesn’t know a beaker from a Bunsen burner.”