‘Have I hurt your feelings? Or have you decided not to speak to me?’
Kelsey jerked back to the present. ‘I was thinking.’
‘About …’
‘How good Stuart has always been to me.’
‘That doesn’t really mean anything, Kelsey. It certainly doesn’t change Stuart Girard’s psychology. Blakemore could have a hold over him and want revenge. I think he’s a danger to you. So does Cole.’
‘Why would Cole give a damn about me?’
‘Cole’s a pretty good guy, Kelsey, no matter what you think of him. He cared about your sister and she adored you. That means a lot to him.’
Kelsey couldn’t answer. She breathed hard, stared straight ahead and set her jaw stubbornly.
‘OK. I understand that you don’t want to talk about Lorelei’s relationship with my brother, so I won’t talk about her. But Cole thinks that Girard wants Delphina, probably because her family owns the Arienne bourbon distillery. They’re a big deal in the local social scene and they have a lot of money.’
‘Yes, they do,’ Kelsey said, ‘but Stuart seems devoted to Eve Daley.’
‘Seems, Kelsey.’
Kelsey closed her eyes in frustration. ‘You keep saying that! Why are you convinced Stuart’s a danger to me? If I don’t want to sell my stock to him, he can’t make me.’
‘Based on things Lorelei told him, Cole agrees that if Stuart had the capital your father would sell him your stock in MG Interiors if you were to die. Also, you and Lorelei are the daughters of one of the men who put Teddy Blakemore in prison. How do you think Stuart feels about that?’
‘So he knows Blakemore was trying to get a foothold in March Vaden, but surely he’d understand it was vital to stop him?’
‘Oh, so Stuart Girard is a saint?’ Declan paused, then said harshly, ‘Wake up, Kelsey! Vernon Nott shot your sister twice, and if Rick Conway hadn’t come after him with a gun Nott would have shot you in the head! That could have been payback.’
Kelsey gasped, feeling as if someone had punched her. She could hardly get her breath.
Declan reached out to touch her, but she dodged his hand. ‘I’m sorry I sounded so brutal. I really am, Kelsey.’
She wouldn’t look at him. ‘I don’t believe any of your paranoid theories, and I don’t believe you’re sorry you made such awful accusations,’ she said shakily as a lump formed in her throat.
‘That was unforgivable of me. I just blurt out things—’
‘You certainly do. Horrible things!’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘So you said.’ At last, Kelsey was able to draw a deep breath. ‘I wish I’d called a cab. I wish I’d walked home from Brad’s rather than ride with you!’
‘No wonder.’ He glanced at her. ‘Do you want a cigarette?’
‘I don’t smoke!’
‘I do.’
‘Well, at least be polite enough not to smoke with me in the car!’
‘OK.’ After a pause, he asked miserably, ‘Want to go to a bar, get really stinking drunk and forget all this?’
A combination of nerves, anxiety and Declan Adair’s ridiculous suggestion were too much for her. Kelsey drew in her breath to verbally cut him to shreds. Then, to her surprise, she started laughing. Loudly. She couldn’t stop, even when she saw Declan looking at her in a mixture of astonishment and genuine concern. ‘I do this when I’ve reached my limit,’ she told him through gasps and giggles and guffaws. ‘Just … ignore … me.’
‘I can’t. Are you getting hysterical? Do we need to go to an emergency room?’
‘No! Don’t you dare—’
‘All right! I’m sorry!’
‘Stop saying you’re sorry!’ She wiped at the tears of laughter on her cheeks. ‘Oh, my God, what a morning!’
‘I guess it hasn’t been great for you.’ Declan kept his gaze on the road. Then he asked suddenly, ‘Have you had breakfast?’
She managed a normal breath. ‘I fixed coffee when Olivia came banging on my door this morning.’
‘You need something to eat.’
‘No, I don’t.’
‘You do. Believe me.’
‘You think food will make me feel better?’
‘It’ll help.’
‘You just can’t be inviting me to breakfast, Mr Adair.’
‘I can. I am. My mother always said breakfast was the most important meal of the day. Besides, I’m starving and I don’t want to eat alone. And my name is Declan. Will you do me the honor of joining me, Kelsey?’
‘Oh, whatever!’ Kelsey said, her laughing fit draining to a raw, undignified halt. ‘I’m too tired to put up a fight. Besides, even if Brad Fairbourne has gone crazy and vanished into the netherworld, I’m starving.’
Declan laughed – a deep, joyous sound that made the lump of ice in Kelsey’s stomach melt for the first time since she’d entered Brad’s house.
Kelsey speared her last piece of strawberry pancake and ran it around the remnants of strawberry syrup and thick whipped cream mixed with powdered sugar, then popped it into her mouth. She closed her eyes and swallowed. ‘Oh my gosh, that was good!’ she burst out. ‘If I keep eating sweets like I have the last few days, I won’t fit into any of my clothes.’
Declan looked at her seriously for a moment, then grinned. ‘I always take my mother out for strawberry pancakes on Mother’s Day. She’s as slender as a ballerina but she eats every bite and doesn’t worry about it.’
‘Then she’s …’
‘Alive? Definitely. Beautiful, alive, and madly in love with a wealthy man who adores her. He’ll be her third husband. They’re getting married in late June.’
‘I’m so glad!’ Kelsey realized she sounded too exuberant. She barely knew this man, after all, but out came, ‘Good for her!’
Declan looked puzzled. ‘Why the change in tone?’
Because I feel happy when I look at your finely chiseled face, the dimple in your chin, and the depth of your sapphire blue eyes, she thought in surprise, wondering where all of that had come from while she tried for a merely polite smile. ‘I get loud when I’m on a sugar high,’ she said unconvincingly. ‘My parents always wanted me to sound like a lady.’
‘Really?’ Declan looked into her eyes and she felt color crawling up her cheeks. ‘I think they always wanted you to sound happy, ladylike or not.’
Which was exactly the truth. ‘Well, they did want me to be happy. Lori, too, of course. But I always felt they made a special effort with me.’
‘Because you’re adopted.’
Kelsey nodded. ‘They tried so hard to make us feel that they didn’t love one of us more than the other. Sometimes I think they went overboard with me. I wondered if Lori was jealous of me because I was allowed to do things she wasn’t or I was given things before she was … A car, for instance.’
She looked up to find Declan’s blue gaze searching her face. ‘I don’t know you well enough to express an opinion – but I’m brash, so I’ll do it anyway. Kelsey, you’re taking on guilt you don’t deserve. Of course your parents gave you things before they gave them to Lorelei – you were older. It’s as simple as that. She was six years younger than you.’ He cocked an eyebrow. ‘What would a ten-year-old have done with a car?’
Kelsey glanced at him in surprise for a moment before she giggled. ‘I meant I got a car when I was sixteen but she didn’t get one at sixteen. She was a terrible driver at sixteen. And seventeen. Then when she was eighteen, she went to New York City and didn’t want a car. I did sound dumb, though!’
‘You’re not dumb. Just the opposite. You’re extremely intelligent – maybe more than Lorelei.’
Kelsey suddenly bristled. ‘What do you mean by that?’
‘Nothing. Just a suggestion. You need to remember that lying isn’t my strong point. I didn’t know your sister, but I know you wouldn’t have gotten involved with Cole.’
‘So you’re admitting it. Cole has a history of seducing young models.’
‘He doesn’t always confide in me but he’s not the man you seem to think he is. I know there have been affairs in the past, but he’s always been discreet. He didn’t stay with Delphina because she was successful. Her supermodel title ended at least five years ago and she hasn’t taken it well, to say the least. In spite of her perpetually foul mood, he stayed, even though they led the life Delphina wanted instead of having the children he wanted.’ Declan paused. ‘Cole really wanted me to meet Lorelei. We were supposed to spend half an hour or so over a drink. Two hours later, we were still laughing and talking. She was a delight. Cole cared about her, Kelsey. Cole loved her.’
‘And Delphina knew about her,’ Kelsey said flatly.
‘I think she did. Cole thinks she did. But Lorelei didn’t destroy his marriage. I think he’d had enough of Delphina and wanted out when along came Lori and gave him the impetus he needed. I’m sure he would have left Delphina within a year or two even if he hadn’t met Lorelei. But New York City can be a very small town. The people who are personalities seem to know everything about each other. There were rumors. There had been rumors about Cole and various models before, but if the rumors were true the entanglements weren’t serious. Never. Lorelei was different.’ He paused uncomfortably. ‘And Delphina was different. I don’t know if her problem is too many meds for her various real or imagined health problems, too much alcohol, or maybe drugs – but something has been really off with her this last year. She’s always been possessive of Cole, even though she’s had her own flings – but suddenly last year she got out of control. When she couldn’t go places with him, she had him followed. She called him constantly. She wasn’t happy with him, but she wasn’t going to let go of him without a desperate fight.’ He shook his head slowly. ‘I’m not certain how far she’d go to hold on to him and Cole’s not certain, either.’
‘But he still got involved with Lorelei,’ Kelsey said bitterly. ‘Why would he do that if he loved her?’
Declan was silent for a moment. Then he asked, ‘Do you know the phrase “the heart wants what it wants”?’
‘Would that be from the poet Emily Dickinson or the singer Selena Gomez?’
‘I’ll ignore your sarcasm. You know I meant from Emily Dickinson. My mother said it a lot. “The heart wants what it wants – or else it does not care.” Cole isn’t a perfect man, Kelsey. He can be selfish. I think he was being selfish when it came to Lorelei. Even though I’m sure he was serious about her, he shouldn’t have dragged her into the mess of his marriage. But he did.’
‘And what happens if you find out Delphina hired a hitman to kill Lori?’
Declan stared at her steadily, although Kelsey noticed his hands clench and his jaw tighten. ‘If I or the Louisville police find that’s the truth, Kelsey, she won’t get away with it. I swear to God – if she’s guilty, she’ll be pay for what she’s done.’
FOURTEEN
‘Dad, I can’t believe I got you! I’ve been calling since Saturday!’ Kelsey stood in her kitchen nibbling a piece of dry toast for breakfast. Her mood immediately lifted when she heard her father’s voice.
‘I’m sorry, honey.’ Truman March sounded slightly distracted. ‘I’ve been so busy with March Vaden that I’ve ignored my daughter. Well, I didn’t purposely ignore you—’
‘You just forgot to call me back. That’s OK. Helen has been keeping me apprised of your busy schedule. She said that today you’re going into your office for the first time since … well, since Grandfather died.’
‘Yes and it feels strange. On Monday mornings, he was always rested and full of ideas and energy. I tried to go back last Monday but the place felt worse than empty without him. It was like the heart of the business had stopped beating, and I came home after a couple of hours. Helen and I agreed that if you knew you’d worry about me, so we decided not to tell you. I’m trying again this week.’
‘Grandfather was such a force of nature that everyone must feel his absence, but you’re a force too, Dad. People will adjust to Grandfather being gone. More important, you will adjust.’
‘Maybe.’ Her father sounded doubtful and Kelsey closed her eyes, wishing she could do something to help. Only time could help, though. Time and her father’s strength and devotion to the business her father and grandfather had built. ‘To what do I owe this pleasant morning call?’ he asked.
‘Nothing in particular. I just wanted to hear your voice and catch up a bit.’
‘It’s great to hear your voice, honey. As for catching up … Well, you’ve probably heard that Brad was dismissed from the law firm.’
‘Yes. Olivia came to my apartment yesterday morning. She couldn’t reach Brad and she thought I might have keys to his house. I did. We went together but he wasn’t there. The place was a wreck. Do you know if he’s come home yet?’
After a beat of silence, Truman said, ‘I haven’t talked with Olivia since Friday evening. I don’t believe I’ll be talking to her again for quite some time.’
‘Oh? Did you have an argument?’
‘I guess you could call it that. Brad called me on Friday afternoon. He was drunk. He wanted me to go to bat for him with John Reid. I was honest with him, Kelsey. I told him that someone had sent me the photos, that I’d forwarded them to John, and that I wouldn’t help him. Well, he blew up, started shouting, and told me something that shocked me to the core. Honestly, Kelsey, I still can’t believe it. I’d like to think he was lying, but …’
Kelsey heard the pain in his voice. ‘Brad told you that Milton Fairbourne was involved with Olivia for well over thirty years and that Milton is his real father?’
‘So he told you too?’
‘Olivia did yesterday when we went to Brad’s house. I was surprised that she told me. Maybe it was because she knew you’d tell me.’
‘When I refused to help him with John, he struck back. Brad believed I was in love with Olivia and I’d be hurt because of what she’d done. I was hurt, but not because of Olivia. Milton was my friend and I thought highly of his wife – she wasn’t charming but she was a good woman and completely devoted to him. To find out that Milton was cheating on her for years was bad enough. To know that he was having an affair with Olivia, that Olivia had a child with him and that they’d both passed the child off as the son of a man who’d died when Brad was a toddler—’
Truman took a deep breath. ‘Milton’s gone, so I don’t have to confront him – but I could never look at Olivia the same way, although all I ever felt for her was friendship, mainly because she was so close to your mother. At least, Sofie thought they were close. That relationship was built on Olivia’s lies, too. Sofie always felt sorry for poor Olivia, who’d been widowed with a small boy. Ha! Widowed, hell! But she milked that story for all it was worth.
‘On Friday evening, Olivia came here all to pieces about Brad,’ her father went on. ‘She expected me to intervene with John. I told her Brad was not only a lousy employee, he was fool enough to seduce the boss’s teenage daughter. I showed her the pictures I’d received of Megan and Brad at his house and told her I’d forwarded them to John. Then I let her know everything Brad had told me about her relationship with Milton.’ Truman paused, then said in a harsh voice, ‘She went berserk. When I told her I never wanted to see her again, she flung herself at me, crying and clutching and flailing like a madwoman! She left a good-sized scratch on my face.’
‘My God! I’m sorry, Dad.’
‘It was a terrible shock.’ Surprisingly, he started laughing. ‘Helen came to my rescue. Normally she’s always polite to Olivia, but that evening she nearly dragged her out of here. I’ve never seen anything like it!’
‘Well, Helen is full of surprises, Dad! She’s the one who’s always had our interests at heart – not Olivia Fairbourne. And Helen is remarkably strong.’ She giggled. ‘I thought she was just strong emotionally, but I guess she can handle herself physically, as well!’
‘Olivia won’t forget Helen tossing her out the front door! What a sight! The venom that
poured out of Olivia’s mouth shocked me. She told me to be happy with Eve, whatever that meant.’
‘She told me that Eve has been pursuing you since Mom died.’
‘Oh, good lord! I think of Eve as a daughter and I believe she thinks of me as a father!’
‘She does.’
‘Anyway, you’re right. Helen is remarkable. I think I’ve always known that about Helen, and so did your mother.’ Truman paused then said lightly, ‘Enough about me. What’s on the agenda for my beautiful, brilliant daughter this week?’
‘Most important, before work today I’m taking Gatsby in for his yearly shots and a check-up.’ She glanced at the cat lying on his pad in the bookcase. ‘He knows something’s up and he’s watchful and expecting the worst – I can tell. I have a busy day, so I can’t pick him up until just before the veterinary clinic closes. He’ll be there all day.’
‘Oh, poor guy. Tell the staff to be gentle with him.’
‘They already know to be gentle, Dad. He’s been there before and they’ve learned the hard way that Gatsby doesn’t put up with much. Also, you know that I’m renovating Aaron and Josie Sanderson’s house. Yesterday the contractor began work on one of the major stumbling blocks in the project – skylights. Honestly, Dad, I thought Aaron and Josie would end up in divorce court over the damned skylights!’
Truman laughed again. ‘The things couples waste their time arguing about always surprises me. I assume they came to an understanding.’
‘Yes. Josie got her way, and I’m glad because she had the best ideas.’
‘Which I’m sure you let Aaron know in a diplomatic way.’
‘I tried. I’m not known for my diplomacy. I usually depend on Stuart for that side of the business.’ She thought of what Declan Adair had told her about Stuart and wanted to ask her father a dozen questions, but it was time he left for work. ‘I’m glad you’re feeling better, Dad. I can hear it in your voice.’
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