Scarlett Heart (The Scarletts

by Brenda Barrett

  "Noah Scarlett."

  "Ooh," she stared at him her eyes wide. "The writer? I just asked you to discuss your own book with me!"

  She clapped her hands and giggled girlishly. "It's great to meet you. I am a fan."

  Noah smiled. "Thank you."

  "I am not trying to sweeten you up to hire me as your manager. I am really a fan," she said quickly. "Though, I must say, I really need this job especially now. I have five months of school left and I found out just this morning that I was being kicked out of my apartment by the end of the week."

  Noah raised a brow. "Why are you being kicked out?"

  She looked uncomfortable. She squirmed in her seat for a while and he watched her.

  "It's a long story and I shouldn't say kicked out," She finally said. "Apparently, the place was leased and the time for the lease is up. It came as something of a shock to me that's all."

  "Ah," Noah murmured.

  She looked to the left of her to the parking lot and then at him, a nervous plea in her eyes. "This is the worst time for all of this to be happening."

  "Why?" Noah said softly.

  "I have college," she said her voice low and husky. "Just a couple months to go."

  "What are you doing in college?" Noah asked feeling more than a little surprised to hear that she was in college. She was not what he was expecting as Bradley's secret lover. He didn't expect her to be smart—pretty and sexy and dripping with feminine wiles, yes—but pursuing an education, no.

  He couldn't explore his biased thoughts because she was answering his question and he needed to concentrate.

  "Tourism management emphasis in marketing and sales. See, I am a good fit for this place. It gives me good practice for the theory."

  "How old are you?" Noah asked.

  He straightened up when she said twenty-four. He felt as if he already knew that instinctively. Like this was not new information.

  "Have you ever met me before, Raine?" He leaned forward and looked at her cataloguing her features one by one. She had a mole on her right cheek. She wasn't wearing any makeup. She had a faint bruise mark under her eye, a half crescent circle that probably indicated lack of sleep.

  He hoped that he didn't spook her with his intensity but her answer was very important to him right now.

  She responded by giving him a guarded look, like she was trying to determine whether she should run for the door and scream for the security.

  "No." She shook her head. "Should I know you? I mean apart from the fact that I read your books?"

  "Well..." Noah eased back in the chair. "It's just that I feel as if I know you, been here before, seen this place before."

  She chuckled in relief. "Oh, that's what you mean, like a déjà vu sort of thing?"

  "Yes." Noah nodded. "Exactly like that."

  "I feel that way sometimes about certain places and things. Like this one time. I dreamed that I was at this place in Kingston and then I ended up going there."

  Noah nodded and then changed the topic throwing her off guard. "Are you and Bradley McInnis lovers?"

  She swallowed hard and stiffened her shoulders. Like he had slapped her. She didn't say a word. Her mouth was opened in a frozen o.

  Noah sighed. "Listen, Raine, I am not judging you."

  "I don't want to talk about Bradley. He wouldn't like it that I do," she said hoarsely. "Can we talk about something else?"

  Was that guilt he saw lurking behind her not quite shuttered expression?

  And why was he feeling such a crushing disappointment. When he spoke his voice was heavy. "Bradley is married to my sister."

  She closed her eyes tightly and nodded as if she was seeing things in her head that she found distasteful.

  Noah almost asked the next question that was throbbing in his head from the moment he felt as if he recognized her. It wasn't rational nor was he expecting an affirmative answer. He needed to know if this recognition had anything to do with his heart.

  Do you know Dean Long? But he didn't ask it.

  He did not want to come across as absurd but if he didn't ask he would never know. Surely there were more creative ways to get the answers to his questions.

  Noah sat back and steepled his fingers.

  What were the odds that this woman who was his brother-in-laws mistress and would also know the very man that he was trying to find?

  He was going to have to keep her close. He didn't need a professional detective after all. He was up to this current task.

  Chapter Four

  Raine wheeled a suitcase of her belongings into her new accommodations. The place was a downgrade from where she was staying before. This was a lower middle class neighborhood with an abundance of stray dogs and an old rusting car or two in front of a couple of the houses, but she wasn't complaining.

  At least this time she had a space all to herself. It was the half side of a house that had a fully furnished living room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchenette and washroom.

  She was also paying for the peace of mind.

  When she was living at the luxurious Rose Hall Suites with its sea views and modern amenities her conscience had bothered her constantly.

  Now this place was better, her landlady was an elderly Christian woman who had three cats. She expected no excitement here.

  One of the cats, a ginger colored male, sat and watched her as she pulled her bags from the car.

  Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she dragged it out while opening the door.

  "Hey." Bradley's voice sounded garbled like he was underwater. Raine had wanted to call him ages ago but she was forbidden to call him unless it was a life or death situation and she had adhered to his rules.

  Raine closed the door behind her and her mood, which had been fair to middling, crashed to the floor.

  "Bradley McInnis thanks a lot for letting me know that you are selling the bookstore. Oh, and lying to me about the apartment too. Do you know how embarrassing it was to find that eviction letter? You told me that apartment was yours!

  Why would you lie to me? Me!"

  "Oh come on Raine." Bradley whispered hoarsely. "No need to sound so accusing. You know how it goes with me. Besides, it was mine while the lease was current. Whitney became aware of it, jumped to conclusions and is mad as hell right now. I can't even talk on the phone without suspicion, cut me some slack!"

  "I didn't expect you to lie to me of all people. Why couldn't you just tell me that you leased the apartment and that I would have to get out some day?"

  Raine went to the windows and opened them to let in some light. "I should have left nine months ago. Remember I was short listed for that job at Paradise Hotel, but you convinced me to stay and work at the bookshop. Now the bookshop job is as good as gone!"

  He sighed down the phone. "I have some money saved that Whitney doesn't know about, I could give you some until you find another job and place to stay."

  Raine walked from the generous spaced living room to her bedroom and sat on the bed, it felt firm and new as if her landlady, Mrs. Fisher, had bought a new one.

  She closed her eyes in appreciation and then answered Bradley carefully. "I don't want your money, Bradley. I never felt comfortable taking any of your newly acquired riches or living in that apartment anyway. I found a place to stay and I am moving in today."

  "Where?" Bradley asked, surprise evident in his voice, his whispering forgotten.

  "Oh no," Raine found herself shaking her head as if he could see her. "Not telling you. I don't want you to know. If we are to keep our distance this is a good thing, you don't need to know where I live."

  Bradley snorted. "Keeping our distance around other people."

  Raine sighed. "I don't know, I think we should cut off all contact.Though, I may show up at your funeral, slip into the back pew someday in the future."

  "If I die first, you don't know if you will go first." Bradley chuckled. He was obviously not taking her seriously.

  "And I may... just may... visit th
e hospital, if you are terminal..."

  "I have a clean bill of health." Brad objected vigorously, "and if I ever become terminal with anything, you would have to visit when Whitney isn't around."

  Raine sighed. "See, I hate this hiding around and dodging and secrecy, and that is why you will not get my new address. Don't call me either. You want me to pretend that you don't exist, that we mean nothing to each other. Fine. It's done."

  "About the bookshop." Bradley's voice was back in low tones, "Whitney said she is selling it to her brother."

  "I know." Raine hissed. "I met him four days ago. I wonder if he'll keep me on. My scholarship does not cover living expenses as you know."

  "If you stay there, you can't tell him anything about me." Bradley warned. "Nothing at all. Noah is as sharp as a whip he picks up on every thing. Be very guarded."

  "Guarded is my middle name." Raine grumbled. "And I am only like this because of you. I am not sure you deserve this loyalty."

  Bradley snorted. "You are only saying that because you are mad at me. And I am sorry; I truly am about all of this. It wasn't my original plan to..."

  "I don't want to hear it." Raine interrupted him. "Maybe all of this was God's way of saying, get out now, Raine."

  "Did God also say, keep your mouth shut, Raine?" Bradley sneered. "I don't want you to have an attack of conscience and then hear about my past in some newspaper exposé couple months down the line. I don't want to lose Whitney."

  "I wouldn't do that." Raine sighed.

  "Yes, I know you wouldn't," Bradley paused, "not with newspapers. Maybe at church, that one that you love to visit on Union Street. Don't give any testimony and mention my name."

  Raine chuckled. "I won't, but it's kind of hard to be thankful and not mention you."

  "All churches are organized scammers," Bradley sneered. "They feed you rules to keep you in line while they skim off your money and tell you that God says you should contribute to their coffers."

  "And you would know." Raine retorted bitterly. "It takes one to know one."

  "Somebody is coming." Bradley's voice went even lower. "Be good. I'll keep in touch."

  He hung up the phone without a goodbye. She would change her number if she could afford to but unfortunately she had more important things to worry about than completely blotting Bradley from her life to make a point.

  She was for the first time completely on her own without any support. She dearly wished that Noah Scarlett would keep her on at the bookstore. Job-hunting while in the last semester of school wouldn't be fun.

  So far, his business manager, Arnold, had shown up at the store twice since their initial meeting earlier in the week. The first was the day after she met him and Noah Scarlett.

  He had introduced her to an accountant who had stayed in the office all day auditing the books. Arnold had looked at her scornfully as if she was little more than a nuisance.

  The second time the accountant had come in and greeted her civilly and told her that she could keep working at the store. He informed her that, "Mr. Scarlett had bought the store and would be making decisions in the coming week."

  She guessed that the account books had passed the test. She knew they would have, since being at Bookalicious she had done impeccable accounting. She knew that they were making a profit too. The place had slowly developed a reputation as a hangout spot for the artsy crowd.

  It was a good business in a high traffic and popular plaza. It must be nice to be able to afford to buy a store just like that after seeing it just once, Raine thought giddily.

  Bradley had really married into a crazy rich family. She remembered how incredulous she had been when she overheard him plotting to marry Whitney Levy. She had no idea who the Levy's were so she had gone to the trusty Internet to research. She had been flabbergasted.

  When she first saw Whitney's picture she had laughed at Bradley's audacity. There was no way a girl like Whitney would marry him. She was way out of his league. She was pretty and pampered and from a family who could probably pay off the national debt. Her father had owned diamond mines! Her mother though deceased had been the only child of a very wealthy family.

  She had money from both sides of the fence.

  Raine had enviously pored over every article on Whitney Levy. She had dated a popular British singer for a while and had been linked to Middle Eastern royalty.

  The media loved her. They featured her every chance they got, especially the Montego Bay Mirror. She dominated the social section.

  Raine had taken to buying the weekly papers to follow up on a serialized story the paper was running and also to check up on the adventurous social life of Whitney Levy. Her regular checks turned into a mild obsession especially when, quite unbelievably, Bradley wheedled his way into her social crowd.

  God knows what he had told Whitney Levy to get her to see him but it obviously had worked. For a full year, he drove himself into bankruptcy trying to maintain a facade of being well off.

  Buying Whitney gifts, renting high-end apartments so that he could entertain comfortably, leasing expensive cars so that he would look like one of the crowd and it had worked.

  He had married Whitney, mission accomplished.

  When they announced their engagement, Raine had written a tell-all letter and sent it to Levy International, their Montego Bay branch. She didn't know where else to send it. She revealed everything that she knew about Bradley.

  She had dearly hoped that the relationship would have faltered that somehow Whitney Levy would come to her senses but she hadn't.

  She had fallen for the con.

  Raine had thought that the rich did due diligence when checking out their potential partners, since they could afford to and all, but apparently that wasn't the case.

  She got up off the bed and started packing out her bags. That was water under the bridge now. She had to start thinking about the future.

  She had five months of school to go. Just five. Who knew that she would be here on the verge of graduating college? It was a long hard road. She was the first one from her family to do it.

  Her mother was a high school drop out, her father had not even seen high school, he had started working construction from he was barely twelve.

  Both her parents had quite a number of children between them and from different relationships. Her mom had nine. Her father had fourteen.

  She sighed dramatically. She had barely made it out of rural St. Mary. If she hadn't gotten that scholarship, after working at the Diamond Star hotel for three years and struggling to make ends meet, she wouldn't be here now.

  She was determined to make something of herself. She wished she had Noah's number to call him and tell him just that.

  She was sure that he was spending all of his weekend thinking about replacing her at the bookstore.

  She imagined him, his curly reddish brown hair and his intense hazel eyes looking over a list of suitable candidates and pondering each name. He was so handsome and serious looking, like a man who didn't talk much but had a treasure trove of knowledge behind his beautiful eyes.

  He was probably in an office somewhere pondering her fate and judging her for having a relationship with Bradley, even though she had not admitted to anything.

  She worried her bottom lip as she packed out the clothes, giving the wrinkled ones a thorough shake before she hung them in the closet. Her hands lingered on an expensive green dress. She had never had occasion to wear it.

  Bradley had bought it for her a few months ago. She inhaled and put it back in the bag.

  Good grief, she was hungry.

  Her belly rumbled and she hurriedly finished putting her clothes into the closet on the racks. She needed to find a supermarket, and soon. She had no funds for fast food. Her new life could not support that kind of luxury.

  Chapter Five

  Noah was summoned to family brunch at his mother's new place. He wished he could tell her no; he had a book working on, but he didn't. She knew about his writer
's block and was milking it shamelessly.

  He drove up to his mother's apartment building and parked. His mother lived quite close to the Rose Hall Suites property that Raine had lived at the largesse of Bradley. He scowled when he thought about it.

  He had been thinking about the whole scenario all weekend, which was a welcome change from his usual thoughts about his heart donor and the mysterious Cassandra Green.

  Should he or should he not keep on Raine at the bookstore? He passed through the glass doors of the outer building almost bumping into a resident.

  "Sorry." He mumbled.

  The resident, a middle-aged lady, winked at him. "No problem, honey."

  He went back to his thoughts on his way up to the elevator. Raine Childs was going to be a problem. What would he tell his sister if she found out that her husband's mistress worked for him?

  Oh sorry Whitney but I have a vibe that Raine has a link to my heart donor and I have to find out more.

  Whitney would go ballistic.

  His mother's apartment was on the penthouse floor. Only two apartments were up there. He headed for the door that had initials in curly gold letters, CLML, Caroline Linda Marshall Levy. His mom had too many names. He looked at the door as he pressed the buzzer, she rarely used Caroline, she preferred to be called Linda. She kept the Marshall because of family obligation. His grandparents had four girls, the Marshall name had to live on somehow.

  There was a time when she kept the name Scarlett, just because he had it, but she dropped it quickly when she married Alan Levy. And now with a new marriage on the horizon she would have yet another one.

  She yanked the door opened and smiled at him widely.

  "Honey, you are early! Wonderful!" She pulled him inside and hugged him tightly. "How are you?"