Deception

by Carolyn Haines

  “I’ll bet.” Connor spoke under her breath. There was undoubtably a lot more to this story than met the eye, but on the surface it made her skin crawl. Six months locked away, all her friends thinking she was on vacation.

  “Connor, maybe you don’t understand how bad things were for Ms. Talla. She was wild, and getting worse. She didn’t care who got hurt. Little Renata was dogging her footsteps like a pale ghost, watching her all the time, taking in everything she said and did and how she had all those men coming and going. And she wasn’t nice to them. It wasn’t as if she cared about any of them. That’s why Renata is like she is today. She saw too much of how her mother acted. And got her way doing it. Mr. Clay had to do something.”

  “Couldn’t he just have divorced her?” Sally wasn’t the person she should ask that question of. As soon as she said it, Connor regretted opening her mouth. “Let’s go see about Willene. Has she had any rest?”

  “Very little.”

  “Then let’s order her to bed.”

  Sally smiled, a look of pure relief. “You can do that, at least very soon. You’ll be her boss.”

  “Now that’s a frightening thought,” Connor said, forcing a smile and a light tone. “I can’t imagine anyone ever really being the boss of Willene.”

  “That’s why Jeff said she never married. He said no man would put up with such pushiness in a woman.”

  “I wouldn’t take Jeff’s assessment of Willene or any other woman,” Connor said gently. “It is interesting that Willene has never married. Maybe she’s given herself so completely to Oaklawn that she never had time to build a family of her own.”

  “Jeff said that his mother told him that Willene had loved a man once, a real long time ago. And that he wasn’t true to her.” Sally picked up the tray and Connor held the door. When they were both on the landing, Connor made sure to lock the door behind them.

  “That’s sad. Willene has a lot of love to give. She would have made a wonderful mother.” Connor shook her head.

  “It is sad. Since her parents died, I know she’s glad to be back at Oaklawn full time. I know she’d come out here, after Ms. Talla died and no one was living here at all, and she’d cook for Old Henry and Jeff on the days they came to work.”

  “She’s extremely dedicated to this family.”

  “And she has no one of her own. She has that little house, but she doesn’t stay there much. Jeff said it was toward Mississippi. That’s how she and Mrs. Helveston see each other to talk. Willene says Jeff’s mother is a hard-working woman.” Sally cut a look at Connor. “They’re a hard-working family.”

  “Jeff works hard, too, Sally, but that doesn’t make him the right man to marry.”

  “He’s going to give me a ring next Christmas.”

  “He’s said so?” Connor smelled a lie. “Jeff doesn’t strike me as the marrying kind.”

  “Maybe not before, but I can change him.”

  “It’s almost impossible to change a person, Sally.” Connor felt a deep sadness touch her. The information about Talla and Beausonge was extremely troubling. Clay had not told her the complete truth. The fact that he’d had his wife involuntarily institutionalized was no little matter.

  “What’s wrong?” Sally asked.

  “Who else knew that Talla went to Beausonge?”

  Sally made it to the bottom of the steps before she answered. “Mr. Clay and Willene. Dr. Sumner. That’s all.”

  “Not even her parents?”

  “No, the Bienvilles would have had Clay put under the jail.”

  “Why didn’t they do that when she got out?”

  “Well, once she was there it was, it was like, part of her record or something. And they didn’t want to make a stink about it because it would get out all over town.”

  “They let their daughter be sent, involuntarily, to a mental institution for half a year and they didn’t protest it because they didn’t want gossip?” Connor couldn’t help her voice rising. This was insane. This was as bad as any picture Richard Brian had ever painted of the crazy priorities of the people of Mobile.

  “That’s right. Would have ruined her, and maybe the children.”

  “That’s …”

  “Mobile.” Willene finished the sentence as she stepped out of the dark at the entrance to the hallway. “I thought Sally had flown the coop to go build a nest with Jeff. I was coming for that tray myself.”

  “I’m sorry, I got to talking with Connor and I just forgot the time.”

  “And you forgot your position. You know gossip isn’t tolerated here. Mr. Clay will be asking for your resignation.” Willene’s words were cold, as harsh as a slap.

  “There’s no need for Clay to know any of this,” Connor said smoothly. “I coerced Sally into talking. There are certain things I need to know.”

  “And the proper person to ask is Mr. Clay.” Willene wasn’t about to budge. She blocked the hallway so that Sally couldn’t pass with the large tray and Connor was blocked behind her.

  “I’ll ask Clay, but this house has secrets upon secrets. Sometimes I haven’t a clue what to ask because I haven’t learned the questions.”

  “Sometimes it’s better not to know.”

  “Whatever you believe, Willene, Sally will not be punished because I forced her to talk.”

  “You aren’t wasting any time giving orders, are you?”

  Connor heard Sally gasp at Willene’s tone. “I suppose not,” she said. “I didn’t mean it as an order, Willene. I’m not in the habit of ordering anyone around, nor do I intend to do that. But I can promise you that Sally won’t be punished. I think I have that much influence with Clay. That’s what I meant.”

  Willene turned slowly. “We’re all too nerve-jangled. If we’re not careful, we’ll be fist-fighting. Now let’s go to the kitchen and make us a fresh pot of coffee.”

  Connor cleaned her tack, again, and waited. For the first time in recent memory, the minutes dragged for her. And each hour got more difficult. Clay had called once from Emelle, only to say that he was going to Washington. He’d left the message with Willene. Connor hadn’t even had a chance to speak with him. If he’d left any numbers where he could be reached, Willene wasn’t giving them out.

  The tension at Oaklawn was thick as cold soup. Willene was still sore over the encounter in the hall. Sally took every opportunity to avoid Connor. Renata had gone to spend a few days with her Grandmother Bienville. The request was so unusual that Willene had indicated Connor should grant it. There was almost no contact between the children and their grandmother. After what had happened in the garden room, both Connor and Willene agreed it would be best if Renata was away.

  Only Danny remained his normal self. Riding was his passion. Not even Renata’s begging and tantrums could convince him to finish his Christmas vacation in the Bienville house in town. He insisted that he would stay with Ali Baba … and Connor.

  Against all rational thought processes, Connor had watched the arrival of the big black Towncar at Oaklawn. The driver had gone to the door to collect Renata and her things. The only evidence that Talla’s mother had also come was when Renata walked down the steps, the back door of the car had opened and a slender arm in red wool had beckoned the child to the car. That was it.

  Connor put the clean pieces of her bridle together and picked up another to clean. Life had taken a definite downward spiral. But for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why she was so depressed. Clay had asked her to marry him. That should be joyful.

  Elvie was beyond joy at her good fortune. Connor finally smiled, thinking about her friend’s wild enthusiasm about Clay’s marriage proposal. She and Elvie hadn’t spent a great deal of time together, but they were developing a solid friendship. Maybe, in the future, if things did work out and she stayed at Oaklawn, just maybe Elvie could come and help her train.

  When she heard the sound of the car at the front of the drive, she looked out. Harlan Sumner. My, the gossip vine was already throbbing. No doubt Ha
rlan had come to tell her how much he’d give her to leave town.

  “I’m in the tackroom,” she called out to him without stopping her cleaning. When she felt his presence in the doorway she looked up. “So you’ve heard Clay’s asked me to marry him.”

  “He’s an impetuous son-of-a-bitch. And you must be something else in bed.”

  “Save your breath, Dr. Sumner. Nothing you say or do will have an impact on my decision.”

  Harlan walked into the room. He picked up the bridle she’d just cleaned and let the leather slide through his fingers. “Zat so?”

  “Your money doesn’t mean a thing to me.”

  “I guess not, if you think you’re going to get your hands on all of Clay’s.” He laughed. “I never thought you were stupid.”

  “I mean, money isn’t the issue with me.”

  “Money’s always the issue. It’s just the price that’s in question. Did you ever hear the joke about …”

  “I don’t have time for jokes. Dr. Sumner.” She reassembled the bridle and picked up the last one she had to clean. “This is it. Then I’ve got work to do with the horses. If there’s something you really think you have to say to me, you’ve got about ten minutes.”

  “So, you don’t like jokes.” Harlan was unruffled. “What about history?”

  “U.S., or western civilization?”

  “You are a smart-mouthed little thing, aren’t you?” Harlan smiled, but his eyes were small and mean. “Personal history, sweet thing. Clay’s personal history. Or has he told you about little Melanie?”

  Connor felt her lip curl up in a sneer and couldn’t stop it. “In fact, he has. I know all about her.”

  “You do, do you?” Harlan’s smile said she did not.

  “Clay told me all about her. There’s something you need to understand, Harlan. Clay has been completely honest with me. I know everything about the girl in high school, about his wife, and about Melanie. There’s no dirty little secret you can drag out and slime up our relationship with, so you might as well give it up.”

  “Then he told you about the abortion?”

  Connor tried not to let her reaction show, but she could tell by Harlan’s face that she hadn’t been successful.

  “Maybe he did forget that little minor point, eh?” Harlan got up and walked around the tackroom. He sauntered over to one of the medicine cabinets, giving his back to Connor. “Let’s see, Talla used to keep a little libation around here.” He pulled open the door and pushed aside jars of salve and bandages. He reached his arm way back into the corner and drew out a bottle of Maker’s Mark. “Talla always had good taste in bourbon and clothes. She was piss-poor when it came to picking out men, though.” He turned back to Connor. “How about a little nip? You look like you could use one. Your face is absolutely bloodless.”

  Connor still held the bridle she’d been cleaning. It was all she could do to put it down without letting her hands tremble out of control. No matter how much she wanted to know, she couldn’t ask Harlan what he meant.

  “Why don’t you give it up, Harlan? You can’t come between Clay and me. Not with this kind of stuff.”

  Harlan put the bottle of bourbon on the windowsill and applauded. “Brazen it out, Ms. Tremaine. I admire your pluck. Not many women would try to stand up to the fact that the man they loved had gotten a nineteen-year-old girl pregnant, then tried to buy her off, and when she wouldn’t leave, forced her into having an abortion.”

  “How can you say this about your own brother?” Connor almost hissed the words.

  “Because that selfish bastard convinced me to do the abortion.” Harlan’s mouth had tightened into a line of hatred. “That’s always the story of my life. Clay fucks up, and he gets me to sweep up the mess after him. People look at Clay like he’s a hero, someone magnificent. The truth is, he’s a million times worse than me. He’s just smooth enough to get away with it.”

  “I’m sure he didn’t hold a gun to your head and make you do anything against your will.” Connor held onto her belief in Clay. She clamped her mind around it and refused to consider Harlan’s accusations.

  “Oh, no, Clay would never use force, at least not with me. I’m his brother. He used his charm and reasoning and the power he would have if only I helped him get out of this one last scrape. And so I did. What he forgot to tell me was that the girl didn’t want an abortion. Didn’t know she was going to have one. Can you imagine what it’s like when you’re with a girl who comes out from anesthesia and finds that you’re the one who’s killed her fetus?”

  No matter how hard she tried, Connor couldn’t block out the images Harlan threw at her. “She didn’t know she was having an abortion?”

  “Clay told her it was a routine exam. He brought her to my office late at night. There was no nurse present, at Clay’s request. He’d given her something to make her sleepy, and she was already incoherent when I got there. I assumed she was there of her own free will, and that she’d decided the abortion was the best thing since Clay wouldn’t divorce Talla and marry her.”

  The deception was unbelievable. Incredible. Impossible for Clay to commit. Connor’s body was cold and sweating. Sickness pushed at the back of her throat, but she held it at bay.

  “You’re telling me that you performed an abortion on an unwilling woman, and that Clay brought her to your office against her will? That he deliberately deceived her and you?”

  “Now you’ve finally got the picture.” The fury had left Harlan’s face, but the hatred was still in his eyes. “This is the man you’re going to marry?”

  “Where is the woman now? Where is Melanie?”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t believe a word you’re saying. I want to hear it from her.”

  “That might be a little hard to do.” Harlan’s smile was sharklike.

  “Surely wherever she is there are telephones or airports. I can find her, and it’s worth it to me to make the effort.” A small drumbeat of relief sounded in the back of Connor’s head. If Harlan wouldn’t give her the woman’s whereabouts, there was a good reason. Probably because he’d made up the whole incredible tale to discredit Clay, and hopefully to get her to move on.

  “She’s dead, Connor.”

  That was the one answer she hadn’t anticipated. Her hopes crashed. “How did she die?”

  Harlan rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger as if he were debating how much to tell. “She was so distressed over the abortion, she lost her mind. Clay’s deceit, the moral implications of the abortion.” He took a long swallow of the bourbon as if he needed it. “Even though she’d been an unwilling participant, it was all too much for her. She wasn’t an angel by any stretch of the imagination, she’d been around a bit. But she’d had a strict religious upbringing and became convinced that she was going to burn in hell because of the baby.”

  “Good God.” Connor didn’t bother to hide the fact that her legs had betrayed her. She could no longer stand. She sank onto a bale of hay.

  “Clay wanted nothing more than to be rid of her. He paid her tuition into a school out on the West Coast. A very good school, but Melanie wasn’t emotionally or socially ready for that scene. Dreams about the baby tormented her at night, and during the day she couldn’t seem to fit in. Then, I guess she fell into the wrong crowd. Drugs, sex, all the usual. Except she came apart at the seams. Somehow she got back to Mobile and back to Clay’s townhouse.” Harlan smiled. “And wouldn’t you know, Clay had to call on his brother once again to clean up his mess.”

  “How?” Connor had to hear the end of it. She was beyond feeling anything except a terrible dread.

  “I had her institutionalized under a false name. It took them about three months to get the drugs out of her system enough so that they could begin some work on her, but the prognosis didn’t look good. She was tortured by that dead baby. It was horrible to watch her talk about it and how she could hear it crying for her, all torn …”

  “Stop it!” Connor tried to hold bac
k the tears, but she couldn’t. “Just tell me how she died.”

  “Fell off the roof of the mental institution. Seven-floor drop.”

  “I see.”

  “Do you, Connor? Do you really see what getting too close to Clay Sumner can mean for you? Talla thought her name would protect her. It didn’t. Not even the Bienvilles could save her or avenge her. Do you really think a horse trainer from California with no family and no friends in this town could stand a chance if Clay ever really decided to get rid of you?”

  “I cannot believe this.” Whatever it cost her, she couldn’t let Harlan see the effect he’d had on her. “Can’t, or don’t want to?”

  “You’ve told me that your brother is literally guilty of murder and a host of other criminal offenses. I could go to the police with this. I could ruin him and you, too. Why are you telling me this, Harlan?”

  There was a snort and Harlan took a long swig out of the bottle before he lowered it from his mouth. “Not for Clay’s sake.” He stared at her. “I’m not sure I know all the reasons.”

  “Would it have anything to do with the power Clay can obtain? Power you think you can control?” Connor’s voice shook with fury.

  “You’re right. I want Clay to win that Senate seat. I need for him to win.” His hand trembled as he lifted the bottle again. “Mostly I don’t care what Clay does with his women. After Talla and Melanie, I didn’t think I’d have to worry about any serious involvements. But I knew when you got to town and he was talking about you that he wanted you bad. I had hoped I could get you to leave, before it got to all of this.”

  “Why can’t you just leave us alone?”

  “You’ll hold Clay back. You won’t even mean to, but you will. He’s already losing sight of the goal. He’s talking about you and horses and Oaklawn, just like he’s going to come out here and live the life of a country gentleman. He can’t have this and Washington, too.”

  Connor caught a glimmer of hope. “What if he wants this, Harlan? He has a right to have it.”