Caroline nudged her grandmother. “He came for my high school graduation, Gram.”
“He didn’t even spend the night. That doesn’t count.”
The old woman glared at her son, and Hayden immediately recognized the expression. At least he knew where Caroline got it.
“He spent the night when he came for Gramps’ funeral two years ago. That was the last time he came.” Caroline’s voice was quiet, sorrowful.
“But he left as soon as they read the will, and he found out he wasn’t getting a penny.” The old woman’s scowl deepened. “Three times in nearly fifteen years. And every one of them was a forced visit. That doesn’t show he cares, just that he’s barely willing to do his duty.”
For a moment, Hayden questioned whether or not he was on the right side. Except, as his father often told him, his job wasn’t to figure out which was the right or wrong side. His job was to represent the client to the best of his ability.
Even though he represented Stephen, Hayden couldn’t help but feel sorry for an old woman whose kids never came to visit. He also wondered about Caroline. He’d heard of kids who lived with their grandparents, of course, but they came from bad families. Not one as prominent as the Hearsts.
Hayden shook his head. That’s not what he was here for. Do the deal, not get sucked into some weird family drama. But he couldn’t deny there was something about the sadness on Caroline’s face that made him want to make it all better.
“Let’s not quibble over details,” Stephen said smoothly. “We’re here now, and we care about you. We wanted to see you, but Caroline insisted on separating you from us, she wanted us to go sit in a conference room rather than spend time with you.”
“It’s true, Mom,” Donna Bigby Marsh said. “With you screaming elder abuse, I’m wondering if Caroline truly has your best interests at heart.”
Hayden closed his eyes. He knew exactly where this was going. Since the Bigby clan would fail in their attempt to declare Enid incompetent and gain control, because Caroline had Power of Attorney, they were going to accuse Caroline of elder abuse. Which, if they were successful, Caroline would lose control, and the deal would be back on.
These people were sick. Terrible people. And Hayden had any other choice in the matter, he’d turn around and walk away. But where would that leave him? His father had already warned him that this was his last chance at proving himself. If Hayden failed, he’d be fired. And if Hayden were fired, he’d never have the chance to even try to have a relationship with his father. But worse, even if Hayden left, his father would simply take over. And when Mark Donnelly wanted something, he took no prisoners.
He opened his eyes and tried not to look at Caroline Hearst. But he could feel her eyes on him. Like she knew that he would be the one to destroy her. God help him, he didn’t want to destroy her. He didn’t want to destroy anyone. But God didn’t help men like him, didn’t help little boys like him, who’d grown up praying for God to see him, praying that God would give him a dad just like all the other boys. When he finally stopped praying, his father had finally come back into Hayden’s life. And all Hayden had to do to keep him was prove that he was worthy of a man like Mark Donnelly.
Which meant hurting what seemed to be an innocent woman.
The din of voices around him, asking Caroline questions about her grandmother’s care, they all blended together as he watched Caroline shrink, like a gazelle on one of those wildlife shows, just before it was about to be devoured by a lion.
Hayden took a step back. He couldn’t be a part of this. Not when there was nothing in him that believed Caroline was guilty. But if he left, his father would step in. His father would have no problem crucifying Caroline. Like a God forsaking his only son. Why did Christians believe that garbage anyway? To justify sacrificing their kids to achieve their own ends?
Sick. Sick, sick, sick.
So why did Hayden crave the approval, the love, of a man who would be so vicious?
Maybe Hayden was a little sick, too.
If there was a God, a God who actually cared about people, Hayden just hoped he’d hurry up and make his move. Do something to stop this family from eating each other alive. Or at least give Hayden some way to not be part of the carnage.
Chapter 2
Caroline never thought she’d be so glad to have someone call security in her life. But her family had created a big enough scene that they were all asked to leave, and somehow, Dr. Sloan had managed to convince them to let Caroline stay and help her grandmother get settled back into the hospital room.
Hospital room. She was supposed to be going home. But now, because her family and that idiotic lawyer of theirs created such a ruckus, Gram was being assigned a case worker to make sure she was safe and that Caroline wasn’t somehow harming the old woman.
As if Caroline would do anything to hurt the woman who had taught her all about unconditional love. Sure, Caroline wanted to throttle her from time to time, like when she’d screamed elder abuse in the middle of the hallway because she was mad that they were making her take pain medication. But mostly, Caroline didn’t know how she was ever going to live without her grandmother.
“Stop your moping, or I’m sending you home,” Gram said, nudging Caroline.
She looked over at Gram, who was still eyeing the lunch the nurse had brought her.
“This is serious. They’re trying to prove that you’re crazy, and therefore can’t take care of yourself.”
Gram shrugged. “Well, we’re all a bit nuts, you know. Some more than others. I suppose I have my share of crazy, but I’m entitled to it after eighty years. Especially having to put up with Bart for the past fifty-nine. Do yourself a favor, girl. Don’t name a kid of yours after a dead brother who was nothing but a pest. That kid will only turn into the same kind of pest and spend the rest of his life annoying you.”
“Gram!”
With a grin, Gram took a sip of her iced tea. “It’s true. I know you’re supposed to love your children, and I do. But for whatever reason, Bart has been nothing but trouble for years.”
“You seem to forget that my father is causing the ruckus this time.” Caroline shook her head. “I’m so sorry. He has more money than a person should be allowed to have, and it’s still not enough.”
“True, but it’s probably because he’s tired of Camille always giving money to Bart. If Bart had his own money, he wouldn’t need to go bugging his sister.”
“What’s this about Dad?” Andrew stepped into the room. “You don’t look like you’re ready to be discharged.”
“You missed it,” Caroline said, getting up from the chair beside Gram’s bed so Andrew could give Gram a kiss.
“Oh?” Andrew kissed Gram’s cheek, then plopped down in the chair. “Eat your lunch, Gram.”
“I’m not eating that. All kinds of poison in that food.” Gram pushed the plate farther away.
“Who would poison you?” Andrew dipped the fork into the mashed potatoes, then held it out for her. “Now eat, or I’m going to have to feed you, which means I’ll make a big mess and your lunch will be all over your pretty new nightie.”
“Ask her.” Gram shot a look at Caroline before grabbing the fork out of Andrew’s hand.
Caroline let out a long sigh. “That is why we are here, dear cousin. And why it would have been great if you’d gotten here when you said you would.”
Andrew shrugged. “Accident on the bridge. Traffic was stopped forever, and I was hungry, so I grabbed a burger.”
Before she could start on her summary of events, her parents entered the room, flanked by security and slimy Hayden.
“You can’t keep stopping us from seeing your grandmother,” her father said.
Right. Because in all of his sweet princess talk, he’d left out one important thing. There was no, “hey, daughter, glad to see you, we’ve missed you.” No, it was all about whether or not she was going to go along with his precious plan.
Which was the only reason why he e
ven wanted to see his mother-in-law. Growing up, Caroline had heard all about how much her father hated Gram. He used to say that Caroline’s mother was the only Bigby without a few screws loose. Basically, he hated her whole family, and the only time he was nice to any of them was if he had some use for them.
“Of course not,” Caroline said smoothly, taking a step out of the way. “Please, come. Say hello to Gram. She’s just having lunch.”
Gram ate the potatoes Andrew had spooned up for her, then flung the fork down. “I’m finished. I’m not eating another bite of this poison. It’s just part of the conspiracy to have me killed for my land.”
“Gram, it’s not poison.” Caroline reached for the fork. “Look, I’ll prove it.”
Gram slapped her hand away. “Don’t you dare! Just because they’re trying to kill me off doesn’t mean you have to go down with me.”
The nurse stepped into the room. “Is there a problem?”
Caroline said, “no,” just as Gram said, “I’ll say there’s a problem. What’s with this poison you have on my plate?”
“There’s no poison. Who would be trying to poison you?” the nurse asked.
Taking a brief moment to clear her thoughts, Caroline said a quick prayer for patience. “No one is trying to poison Gram. She read a book a few years back about gluten and her takeaway is that gluten is poison, and anything with gluten will kill you. I asked for a gluten free meal, but she got chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes. I tried convincing her to eat just the mashed potatoes, but since we don’t know how much of the chicken fried steak touched the potatoes, Gram is worried that there is gluten in her potatoes. Is there any way we can get a meal that is completely gluten free?”
The nurse looked at her like she was crazy. “She thinks gluten is poison?”
“It’s a conspiracy,” Gram said. “The Communists are using it as a way to alter our minds so they can take over the world.”
Caroline let out a sigh. “We’re trying to convince them that you’re not crazy, remember?”
“Al-Qaeda, too!” Gram sat up straighter. “It’s how they’re going to defeat us. All that sugar and gluten in our diets. They’re just waiting for us all to keel over.”
Andrew patted Caroline on the back. He’d heard this particular rant just as many times as she had, and the two of them had mostly given up on trying to explain away this particular eccentricity. But when they had people in the room bent on declaring Gram incompetent, Andrew’s show of support didn’t feel like much.
Especially since Hayden Donnelly’s eyes hadn’t left Caroline since he’d entered the room. Did he think she supported this? Or that somehow Caroline was using Gram’s odd behavior as a way to manipulate her?
Caroline smiled at the nurse. “As you can see, she’s pretty passionate in her anti-gluten beliefs. Is there any way you can help us out here?”
The nurse smiled. “I will admit that this is the strangest reason I’ve heard for a gluten free meal, but I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks.” Caroline pasted a pleasant expression on her face, knowing that anything she said or did was probably going to be used against her at some point.
Once the nurse left, her parents stepped forward. Not close enough to touch Gram. After all, why would they hug her, like normal people did? Caroline couldn’t remember the last time either parent hugged her.
“Ah, Camille,” Gram said. “You are Camille, aren’t you? You’ve had so much work done, I hardly recognize my own daughter.”
Her mother looked horrified, but Hayden gave a tiny snort, and Caroline thought she caught a glimmer of a smile at the corner of his lips. Maybe he wasn’t all bad if he had a sense of humor. But he had such terrible taste in clients, Caroline couldn’t see much humanity left in him.
“Mother! This is why we never come. You always say such terrible things.”
“And you always put such terrible things in your body,” Gram said. “Why can’t you just love what God gave you?”
Mom turned and darted out of the room, tears streaming down her face. Her father stood there awkwardly, like he thought he was supposed to go after his wife, but still wanted to talk to Gram.
“What?” Gram looked around the room, her gaze finally resting on Caroline. “It’s the truth. Camille was always the beauty. But it was never enough for her. Just like you, Stephen, richer than Croesus, but you still want more. A perfect match the both of you.”
Caroline had thought the same thing about her father. But it had never occurred to her to think it about her mother. Yet it made sense, given the amount of cosmetic surgery her mom had done, the shopping, the personal trainers. That lifestyle had never appealed to her, which was why, until Caroline had come to live with Gram, she’d always felt like she didn’t belong.
So if her family thought they could just show up and dismantle the hard-won peaceful existence Caroline had created for herself, that just proved how little they really knew.
A woman stepped through the door, looking so official that Caroline didn’t have to know who she was to know it couldn’t be anything good.
“Hello,” the woman said, a pleasant smile on her face. “I’m Matilda Talcott, and I’ve been assigned as the advocate for Enid Bigby. You must be her family.”
Andrew gave Caroline a look as if to say, “you’ve got to be kidding me.” She shrugged. She hadn’t had time to fill him in on their family’s machinations, but as Matilda explained her role and what she was doing, she could see the smoke coming out of her cousin’s ears.
The only person who looked more agitated was Gram.
Caroline glanced over at Hayden, who at least had the decency to look uncomfortable. Part of her didn’t blame him, considering all this was probably her father’s idea, and when her father got an idea, there was no stopping him. But if he wasn’t man enough to stand up to her father, then as far as Caroline was concerned, he was no man at all.
“I’ve heard enough,” Gram said as Matilda pulled some papers out of a folder.
Matilda stopped to look at her. “About what?”
“There’s no elder abuse going on.” Gram pounded on her table. “This is all about greed, and my children not being patient enough to wait for me to die before they sell off my farm.”
Then she turned and smiled at them. “But don’t you worry your pretty little heads. Even when I do die, you’re not getting my farm. It’s all held in trust for my grandchildren.”
Gram looked around the room again, her gaze briefly settling on Andrew and Caroline. “At least the ones who bother with me.”
Before Gram could finish her tirade, Andrew’s sister, Allie, entered the room, breathless.
“Sorry I’m late. I ended up having to work over at the Gas ’N Shop because Ruby didn’t show up until half past. I know everyone says Dan should fire her, but you know, she’s got those kids to feed, and it just wouldn’t be-”
Allie stopped, finally realizing that this wasn’t a friendly family gathering. “Oh. Uncle Stephen. What are you doing here? I thought you said you weren’t setting foot in this godforsaken place again until you had to bury Gram?”
Actually, he’d used much more colorful language, and even though sometimes Caroline cringed at the way her cousin had adopted Gram’s blunt talk, she couldn’t help but feel grateful that someone was calling her father out.
Her father glanced over at Hayden, who gave a tiny shrug. “I think you’re mistaken,” her father said. “Or at least you misunderstood.”
Allie nodded. “You’re probably right. I think you might have thrown in a few f-bombs.”
Then she smiled. “So what is everyone doing here?”
“Didn’t you get my texts?” Caroline hadn’t gone into detail, but she had made it clear it was an emergency.
Allie rummaged through her purse and pulled out her phone. “Oops. It’s dead. Sorry. Andrew called me at the Gas N’ Shop to tell me I needed to come to the hospital because they wanted to observe Gram a while longe
r, but he didn’t say anything about your dad showing up.”
Then she pointed at Hayden. “What’s with the suit?”
Caroline and Andrew looked at each other and grinned.
“Why don’t we introduce you to Matilda Talcott instead? She’s Gram’s caseworker, assigned to make sure we aren’t abusing Gram to gain control of her estate.” Caroline gestured toward the woman, who now looked baffled at being thrown into the middle of what was clearly a family squabble. Even if she’d done this before, she’d never seen the level of crazy the Bigby family was capable of.
“You have got to be kidding me.” Allie marched up to Hayden and looked him square in the eye. No small feat, considering she was barely five feet tall, and Hayden looked to be nearly six.
“I’m guessing you’re the idiot lawyer my uncle must have hired to play his stupid game. If you know what’s good for you, you will give up. Uncle Stephen might have a ton of money, but we’re the ones who love Gram.”
Hayden took a step back. “I... Uh...”
Allie spun and marched back over to the bed, where she bent down and gave Gram a kiss on the cheek. “I’m sorry, Gram, I was rude in not greeting you sooner. I got distracted.”
“It’s all right, dear one.” Gram patted her on the hand. “You’re my little fighter, and I can’t imagine you’d ignore a fight.”
“This isn’t meant to be a fight,” Hayden said, sounding like he’d carefully chosen every word. “But with your injury, Mrs. Bigby, and the complaint of elder abuse we all heard earlier in the hallway, Mr. Hearst wants to be sure that there isn’t any funny business going on.”
“Funny business?” Gran snorted. “That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all day. There’s no funny business going on here, except the trouble Stephen is stirring up. So let’s all quit wasting this nice lady’s time, and you all go on back to the rock you crawled out from under.”
* * *
Romance Grows in Arcadia Valley (Arcadia Valley Romance Book 0) Page 41