Heron's Landing: The Complete Series

by Iris Morland

  Immediately, she got up and turned off the light in Adam’s office. She waited and listened, clutching her bag. The footsteps continued and seemed to go past the front desk into the kitchen. Slowly opening the door, Grace looked around. She’d locked the backdoor, so whoever was here must have their own key. Maybe it was Jaime? She kept listening, but she heard nothing more.

  She walked toward the exit, making as little noise as possible. When she reached the backdoor, she saw it was unlocked. She turned the knob, and it creaked so loudly on its hinges she swore underneath her breath. But she stepped out and into the cold outside, almost running to her car.

  She stopped in her tracks, though, when she saw the car parked next to hers. She’d know that red car anywhere. Eric. Why is Eric here again?

  “Funny how we keep running into each other here.”

  She whirled. Eric stood in front of her, his head cocked to the side.

  Grace tipped her chin up. “I just had to pick something up. What are you doing here?”

  “Same thing as you.” He stepped closer. “Although I have a feeling you might have been looking for things that are none of your business.”

  Her heart pounded so hard she felt dizzy. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “Just what I said. Don’t get involved where you don’t belong.” He looked up to the sky, then shrugged with a smile on his face. “I can’t guarantee what’ll happen otherwise.”

  She watched as Eric got into his car and drove off. She stood there, frozen, her hands shaking. She knew who’d set Jaime up. She’d suspected since the beginning, but this had made it clearer than day. Eric. It was Eric. She didn’t know if she had enough proof, though.

  As she drove away, she pulled out her phone and called the one person she knew who could help her get that evidence.

  “Kat? Hey, can I come over? I need to talk to you about something.”

  14

  A fter leaving Grace and returning back to his house, Jaime showered and tried to put things away from the search warrant. Despite the cloud of doom hanging over his head due to this entire investigation, he couldn’t feel completely hopeless, either. As he put away clothes in his drawer, he thought about everything that had happened last night.

  Grace, kissing him. Grace, trembling in his arms. Grace, so lovely and wet and tight and amazing. He’d never slept with a virgin, except when he’d been a virgin himself, and he hadn’t known what to expect. He’d been afraid that she’d have a change of heart or even cried, but he should’ve known better. She’d known what she’d wanted and had only faltered for one moment, before she insisted they continue what they had started.

  He laughed a little at himself. If anyone had been afraid, it had been him. He’d been afraid he’d hurt her unintentionally. What did he know about women and their first times beyond that it was supposed to be painful and there was blood involved? But in the morning, there had been no bloody sheets or anything that macabre. Simply Grace, sleeping peacefully beside him, her hair fanned across the pillow, her ass pressed up against his groin, making him want her all over again. He’d wanted to stay with her all morning and take her for a second, third, thousandth time, but he’d pulled himself away.

  He had to clear his head. He had to focus. He couldn’t let her distract him.

  But here he was, staring out the window like a moody teenager, his heart practically floating above his head. He tossed the rest of his clothes in a drawer. Was he going to start writing poetry now? Maybe he’d go to her window and sing her a song of his love?

  He froze. Jaime was not adverse to love. Love was great, it was messy, it was interesting, it was what it was. But he’d never used that word in reference to Grace Danvers. Suddenly, it seemed like the walls in his room were closing in. It was like everything came into focus while simultaneously becoming entangled and knotted.

  Was he in love with her? He didn’t know. But he did know that whenever he thought about her, it was with a mixture of longing and dismay. He didn’t understand the dismay: was it his conscience, flaying him for losing his self-control? Or was it something deeper, like he was dismayed with himself for letting himself fall for her.

  He shook his head. Going into his office, he cleaned that up while refusing to think about Grace any longer. He’d drive himself crazy doing that. Besides, how could they have a relationship when her own brother had warned him away from her? He scowled, remembering Adam’s warning. Well, it’s too late now…

  As he cleaned, his phone rang. Seeing that it was his dad, Jaime answered it while placing pens and other office supplies back into their places on his desk.

  “Jaimito, how are you?” Fernando asked in Spanish.

  They talked for a few minutes, Jaime avoiding the investigation while Fernando seemed intent on avoiding talking about their citizenship applications. This made Jaime tense, although his father sounded normal as usual.

  Ten minutes into their conversation, though, Fernando seemed like he didn’t know what else to say. Jaime heard a noise in the background, then his father cleared his throat.

  “I wanted to talk to you about something,” he finally said, his voice quiet.

  Jaime sat down in his office chair. “What is it?”

  “We got a call from our lawyer. We’re close to finishing our application, but he was informed of something that could make that difficult.”

  “Now you’re freaking me out.”

  Fernando sighed. “Jaimito, we know about the investigation. Why didn’t you tell us?”

  Jaime gazed out into his backyard, the grass brown and dotted with patchy snow. A breeze rustled the skeletal branches of a maple tree, a few large crows sitting in the tree. A chill ran through his veins.

  “I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to worry you. They haven’t pressed charges or anything like that.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” his father said in an earnest voice. “You should’ve told us. Jaimito, we’re your parents. Your mother…”

  Jaime winced. He could just imagine his mother’s face when she heard her only son was being looked at for possibly stealing from his workplace. She’d never believe it, but the potential taint of such an investigation was enough to make things difficult. She knew that, his father knew it, and although he didn’t want t o acknowledge it, Jaime knew it, too.

  “I’m sorry, Papá. I should’ve told you. But I hoped it wouldn't go beyond just looking at me. I never thought it would go this far.” Jaime felt his throat close up. He wished he were at home with his parents because right at that moment, he felt lonelier than he’d been in a long time.

  “I understand. I know you. You are a good man and a good son. But you know, too, that we don’t get the kinds of chances that other people do. You must be careful.” Fernando took a breath. “As of right now, I don’t think you can provide a character reference for us.”

  Jaime clutched his phone tightly. Since he was a citizen, he was one of the biggest reasons Immigration would grant his parents citizenship. He didn’t have to provide a character reference, it was true, but it would be more difficult if he didn’t.

  He gritted his teeth. He wanted to yell at his father, but instead all he said was, “I didn’t do it, you know.”

  “I know. I believe you. But do you see? It doesn’t matter. There are people looking at you, and not in a good way.”

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  “We’ll get through this,” Fernando said firmly. “You will, too. Know that your mother and I are here for you. Don’t keep secrets from us, yes?”

  Jaime smiled. “Considering you always find out anyway, I won’t try to again.”

  “Good. We’ll let you know if we have any updates with our application. Oh, and call your mother soon. She’s worried about you.”

  Jaime said goodbye before slumping in his chair. He stared out his window, not even sure how much time had passed. He watched as the sun set and a gray twilight transformed the sky. The crows had flown away h
ours ago.

  When he heard his doorbell ring, he stiffened. Was this day only to be full of bad news? He went to his bedroom, peering out the window to make sure it wasn’t more police, but he didn’t see any cop cars. He opened the front door to find Grace on his doorstep. Again.

  “Oh good, I was afraid you were out.” She came in and hugged him.

  And with that, his depressed mood lightened—at least enough that he felt like he could keep going. He hugged her back and then kissed her. She tasted like strawberries.

  “I missed you,” he admitted.

  She smiled. “It’s only been twelve hours.”

  “Doesn’t matter. Do you want something to eat?”

  “Maybe in a little bit. I have something to show you.” She set her bag onto the floor, rifling through it and pulling out a stack of papers. “I found these in Adam’s office.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “You were in your brother’s office? Does he know this?”

  She bit her lip, not looking at him. “What Adam doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

  “Huh. I’ll be sure to tell him that.”

  “Look, I know it’s not the best thing, but nobody else seems willing to look beyond the surface.” She fanned out the documents onto his coffee table. Jaime recognized invoices and checks, nothing that he hadn’t seen before.

  “Okay, Sherlock,” he said, “what have you uncovered?”

  She glared. “Do you want my help or not?”

  “I’d prefer you don’t get yourself in trouble on my account.” She glared even harder. “But thank you.” He kissed her. “Show me.”

  She explained the price discrepancies on the invoices, which Jaime didn’t find all that convincing. Prices went up with vendors. He tried not to show that he wasn’t remotely convinced, but Grace seemed to sense it. She then pulled the checks toward him. He looked through them, but he couldn’t see anything amiss.

  “The checks seem fine, right?” she said, her eyes wide. “But when I talked to Kat—”

  “Kat Williamson? Doesn’t she teach at the elementary school?”

  “She does. She’s also brilliant with computers.”

  When Grace didn’t explain what that meant, Jaime looked at her. As a flush climbed her cheeks, he said, “Graciela, what did you do?”

  “Nothing! Well, I didn’t do anything. I just asked Kat for a favor.”

  “What was that favor?”

  She chewed on her lip. “Just to look at some things on Adam’s computer…”

  “Grace!”

  She tugged on his arm. “It’s all for a good cause! Kat agrees with me. She knows something is wrong here. And we found a spreadsheet for all the checks that had been issued and we discovered a number of ones are missing here!”

  “They could just be in another folder.”

  “Maybe, but I think someone could be stealing them and depositing them into their own account.”

  Jaime set the copies back onto the table. “And who is doing this? Do you have someone in mind, or are you just coming up with this from thin air?”

  “I think I know who it is.” She wouldn’t look at him, though.

  He tipped her chin up, making her look him in the eye. “Tell me.”

  “Both times I went to the vineyard, I ran into Eric.” Jaime groaned, about to stand up. “No, listen to me. The first time he seemed interested in what I was doing there—”

  “I think anyone would’ve wondered what you were doing.”

  “Yes, but this time around, he said that I should mind my own business. That if I didn’t, he couldn’t guarantee what would happen.”

  He froze. Anger surged inside him. “Are you just now telling me that Eric threatened you?”

  She seemed nonplussed. “Yes…?”

  He swore. “That’s something you lead with, Graciela! Jesus Christ, what if he’d done something to you? Were you alone? Of course you were. My God, that little piece of shit…”

  “I’m fine.” She grabbed his arm. “He didn’t hurt me. He just wanted to scare me away.”

  Jaime growled. “This isn’t helping.”

  “Fine, but don’t dismiss everything I’ve said, okay? I think if we delve deeper, we can prove that Eric set you up. That he’s the one stealing from River’s Bend.”

  He knew she was about to say this, but it sounded so absurd that he barked out a laugh. “Eric O’Neill isn’t remotely smart enough to do something like this.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. But maybe he has help.”

  He could see she wasn’t going to back down. He sighed, taking her hand. He wanted to burn something down—preferably Eric’s place—at the thought of him threatening her. But at the same time, another emotion pierced through the darkness: gratitude. And awe. Both because this woman put herself on the line to find out the truth.

  He pulled her into an embrace. “Thank you,” he said. He couldn’t say anything more.

  “I’d do anything for you.”

  He just held her tighter, his heart about to burst from his chest.

  He didn’t deserve her. Burying his face into her hair, he knew this with a clarity that tore at his soul.

  15

  A lthough Grace would’ve preferred to stay at Joy’s for the foreseeable future, she knew she couldn’t avoid her parents forever. She also needed clean clothes. Thus, she made her way back home, wondering if she could sneak inside without anyone noticing.

  Seeing not only her parents’ car, but Adam’s car—and another one with a Massachusetts license plate, which she knew was Gavin’s—she had a feeling she wasn’t going to be able to sneak around anytime soon. She took a deep breath. Might as well get this over with.

  When she went inside, she first went into the kitchen, but found no one. It was eerily quiet. She glanced upstairs before she walked into the living room. Seeing her entire family sitting there, she stopped in her tracks.

  Her mom and dad sat on one couch, while Adam and Joy sat on the other. Gavin with his young daughter Emma sat on a chair, and Grace thought Gavin looked particularly uncomfortable. He’d just arrived in Heron’s Landing with Emma last night, but Grace had been so preoccupied that she’d honestly forgotten all about it.

  “Gavin,” she said, choosing to ignore everyone else. “Emma!” She embraced the little girl, who didn’t hug her back. She drew back into her dad’s embrace, like she didn’t know how to take having her aunt standing in front of her.

  Gavin whispered something in Emma’s ear. She stood up, and then he embraced Grace.

  “Nice to see you, sis.” He pulled back to look at her. “How are you?”

  She rather felt like crying. It might’ve been because Gavin looked older and tired, and she could detect silver strands in his dark hair. When they were younger, he and Adam had often been mistaken for twins even though there was two years between them. Now she thought that Gavin looked older. She wanted to ask him about Teagan, about Emma, about himself, but she could feel the stares of the rest of the family on her back.

  She forced a smile. “I’m all right. I’m glad you’re here.”

  He gave her a lopsided smile, but only patted her on the arm. Emma sat down on the ottoman in front of the chair, her face decidedly blank. She had white blonde hair and the biggest blue eyes Grace had ever seen. She also had an uncanny knack to sit and watch people without saying a word. Grace hadn’t seen her niece much since Gavin and Teagan had been living in Boston, but she hoped she could get to know her, now that they were in Heron’s Landing.

  She heard someone clear their throat. Turning, Grace looked at each person in the living room, almost daring them to say something.

  “Grace, dear, why don’t you sit down?” Julia beckoned to her to sit on the couch next to her.

  Grace almost said no, but at her mother’s look, she decided not to fight. Sitting down gingerly, she asked, “Are we having a meeting of some sort? Because I have to tell you, I didn’t get an invitation.”

  She could see Joy looking li
ke she wanted to say something, while Adam looked like he had a dark cloud hovering over his head. Grace didn’t want to look at her father. She knew he was glowering at her.

  “We’re glad you came home,” Julia began, touching Grace’s knee. “We wanted to talk to you about something.”

  “I feel like it’s time for me to say that I did not agree to this,” Joy said. She gave Adam a look, and he gave her a “we’ll discuss this later” expression.

  “Thank you,” Grace replied. “I think?”

  “This is ridiculous. Just cut to the chase, will you?” Carl practically growled. “Young lady, you should know that your behavior as of late has been atrocious. You’ve completely disregarded basic decency, and to top it off, have decided that spending your time with a criminal is in your best interests.”

  “Jaime is not a criminal!” She glared at her father, who was about to open his mouth again when Julia shushed him. “Why are all of you so insistent on making him out to be a bad guy? He didn’t do anything wrong.”

  She was about to storm off, but Julia took her hand. “We know, dear,” she said soothingly. “Please just listen, all right?”

  Grace bit her lip and nodded.

  Adam leaned forward, and his expression was so stormy, so full of roiling emotions that Grace could barely look at him. “I was informed this morning by Sheriff Jennings that they are pressing charges against Jaime. Once the paperwork is done, he’ll be placed under arrest.”

  Grace stared at him. “Why…how…?”

  Her throat closed. This couldn’t be happening. Jaime didn’t deserve this.

  “They’ve found sufficient evidence, as far as I understand it. I know it’s not what you wanted to hear,” Julia said. “None of us wanted to hear that Jaime would do something like this.”

  She pulled her arm away from her mother. “Don’t. Don’t act like you care. Don’t act like you haven’t been convinced he was guilty since the second the money went missing.” She didn’t know if she wanted to scream or cry more. She looked at everyone sitting here, even at Gavin, who had nothing to do with any of this. She looked at Joy, who gave her a look full of sympathy.