Silver Linings

by Mary Brady

  He didn’t ask any of them about the mysterious woman, because any paranoia on his part might reflect badly on Shamus’s practice, and he had already done damage to one law firm, a big one that had been able to take a lot of battering. Shamus depended on the continued income of Morrison and Morrison for his retirement. Hunter had no intention of ruining that.

  If she was here in Bailey’s Cove, Callista would have figured out he came to the Roost most days at about this time. She would have hung out until she saw him coming and made sure he saw her go into the tavern.

  He gave one last look around the bar. If Callista had come in, somehow she’d disappeared, which would have been her plan. She would sometimes blatantly appear at a place where he was and she shouldn’t be. Sometimes she would be like a ghost, and he would doubt himself until he later found evidence that she had been there—a flower on his desk, a kerchief with her perfume on it in his car or draped over the door of his condo in downtown Chicago.

  He pushed up from the bar when the door from the back room swung open.

  A shapely light-brown-haired woman came in and sidled over to Michael. She wasn’t particularly tall and she definitely wasn’t Callista. The woman kissed the bartender and the men at the bar greeted her as Mrs. Erickson.

  “All finished back there?” Erickson asked his wife.

  “Done as I can be,” she replied, “for a man who can’t seem to keep track of his inventory.”

  “I’ll try harder, my sweet.”

  “You know, I haven’t believed you for years when you say that.”

  Could he have been that mistaken about the woman he had seen entering Braven’s? He finished his beer and said goodbye to the men at the bar.

  He needed to get the bisque home to Connie before she got too tired to enjoy it. Paranoid—he had no idea if he ever would not be paranoid about the woman who had made his life hell for so long. He slid his overcoat back on and headed for the door.

  “Darlin’, who was that woman who came in to see you? I sent her back. I hope that was all right,” Erickson said to his wife.

  “She’s interested in opening a tavern of her own. I showed her around and let her out the back door.”

  Hunter whipped open the heavy oak door and stepped out onto the sidewalk. He looked both ways and then strode quickly around to the rear of the tavern. The woman was gone, probably long gone. Maybe she was lurking somewhere right now, watching his reaction. She would find out he was staying with Shamus and Connie. She would discover where he worked and she would know about Delainey.

  He had to warn them.

  * * *

  “MOMMY, IS IT time to go? Can we go to school now?”

  Delainey knelt down to speak with her daughter on this most auspicious of days, Brianna’s sixth birthday. “It’s a bit early. Not even the teachers are there yet.”

  And she didn’t want to go to work so early. Hunter might be there and she wasn’t sure she could face him without others there as a buffer.

  Brianna was so earnest. The smile on Delainey’s face came from the motherly love that burst from her heart at times like this.

  “Can I have one of the muffins, then?” Brianna asked as she glanced at the trays of muffins Delainey had gotten up early to make as a birthday treat for Brianna and her classmates.

  “You already ate Os and strawberry yogurt.”

  “I’m still hungry.”

  “Of course you are. Tell you what. You get your coat and boots and put them by the door, and you and I will split a muffin.”

  Brianna ran off. Blueberry bran muffins with dinosaur flags was the compromise they’d reached with the teacher instead of cake or cookies.

  Besides the birthday celebration for Brianna at school, Christina and their parents were coming for cake after dinner tonight. It would be a long “celebrate Brianna” day and Delainey couldn’t think of anything she would like better. And the more she thought of Brianna, the less she thought of Hunter.

  She poured them each a glass of milk and, in the spirit, put a whole muffin with a lit candle on each plate. They were having another breakfast.

  Just before the school day started, and after helping Brianna carry muffins, Delainey decided the best way to deal with facing Hunter was just to do it. On most levels, she didn’t even regret what she had done. If Hunter was still up for it, she’d be his friend. If not, she’d be his subordinate at a law office. She could do either.

  Delainey heard muffled voices as she climbed the stairs to the second floor of Morrison and Morrison. Hunter was with someone and his door was closed.

  At least he wasn’t waiting in her office to tell her what a ridiculous person she was. She looked at her watch. If he took too long with whomever he was talking to, she wouldn’t have to see him. Shamus was taking him to court soon and they could be gone most of the day.

  She had barely hung her coat up when there was a light knock. She looked around the door to see Bruce Montcalm, chief of police in Bailey’s Cove. He stood ramrod straight, his police jacket unzipped, his hat in his hand.

  Delainey corrected her posture. Just being in the room with Chief Montcalm made a person feel like being at attention and at the same time feel safe and cared for.

  “Good morning, Chief. It’s always good to see you.” She meant the words. This man did things few people even knew to hold the town together. Last summer when treasure hunters could have made life difficult for Bailey’s Cove, he and his team held them off. She knew only because Shamus did, and he’d told her there might be some litigation involving vandalism, but things were to be handled as quietly as possible to keep the press from blowing things out of proportion.

  “Good morning, Ms. Talbot. How are you and how is Brianna?”

  “She’s six today. They are having bran muffins to celebrate. Thank you for asking, and I’m fine.”

  “I heard from a little birdie it was her birthday today.” He smiled and from a pocket inside his jacket, he produced a small, brightly wrapped package with a big prissy pink bow.

  Tears sprang to her eyes. “Chief, you are the best.” Brianna was going to love it just for its wrapping.

  “I remember wanting just one more present for my birthday.” His fierce dark eyes, creaseless forehead and salt-and-pepper hair made him look well-aged and added to his mystery.

  She took the present and gave him a small hug in return.

  “We’re having cake this evening, if you want to come by.”

  “Best offer I’m likely to get today, but you all have a nice family get-together.”

  “We’ll see you at the wedding then.”

  “I’ll be there. You have a nice day.” He started to leave but turned back. “Be careful out there.”

  He turned and walked away. After a moment she could hear the third step from the top squeak.

  There was a man with a story if there ever was one. She wondered if anyone in town would ever know what it was.

  Be careful out there. She had been careful since the day she understood she loved the child growing inside her she thought as she put the present in her coat pocket.

  “Delainey?”

  She jumped and turned at the sound of her name.

  “Hunter.”

  He stepped inside her office and closed the door.

  “I need to talk to you and I can’t do it here and I can’t do it now.”

  “Okay.” She started to go around her desk to put something solid between them. Whatever this was, Hunter wasn’t angry—he was scared and that frightened her even more.

  “Is Brianna at school?”

  She spun back to face him. “What’s Brianna got to do with anything? What’s wrong, Hunter?”

  “There is a woman in town who may want to do harm to you or Brianna.”

  “Wh
at...are...you talking about? Why would someone want to harm my daughter or me?”

  “To get to me.” His mouth flattened into a grim line and his brows drew together.

  “Hunter.” The air seemed to have left her lungs. “Would she really harm Brianna?”

  He ran his hand through his hair the way he had that summer after college, obliterating the part, making him look younger, more vulnerable. “I don’t know.”

  Her chin and her hands began to tremble and the feeling would have spread, but she stopped it cold because she had to. “What do you know? Would she mess with the people here?”

  “I’m not sure. She might. How does Brianna get home?”

  “She rides a school bus to my mother’s.”

  “Can you pick her up? Or have your mother pick her up from school?”

  “My mother...” She put her hand to her chest. “My mother couldn’t even run away from danger. She needs to have her hip replaced.”

  She heard her voice quaver and felt her lower lip begin to tremble again. She pulled her lip between her teeth. This was too close to home, too close to her heart for her to maintain the detachment she needed.

  Hunter pulled her against him. “I’m so sorry, Deelee. I am so sorry to get you mixed up in this.”

  She pushed away in anger. “In what, Hunter? What are you involved in? You need to tell me everything.”

  “Shamus and I have to go to court. I’ll make sure we are finished as soon as possible and meet you at my place.”

  “Your place?”

  He reached into his pocket for a piece of paper with the address of his condo. “The furniture arrived yesterday.”

  “I have a meeting at four I need to keep.” She didn’t have contact info for Cynthia Wenger and wouldn’t want to stand up the woman and her son. At Pirate’s Roost they’d all be safe. “After that, Christina will probably be able to have Brianna.”

  “Five o’clock, then.”

  * * *

  HUNTER LEFT DELAINEY standing in her office in shock. He had assumed things could get no worse than they were in Chicago, but he was wrong. The idea of subjecting the people here in Bailey’s Cove to Callista White’s antics was more than concerning.

  The drive to the county courthouse took a long hour and twenty minutes. Though Hunter had informed Shamus about Callista when Shamus first asked him to come and work for Morrison and Morrison, he brought the older attorney up to speed on the possibility that Callista was in Bailey’s Cove.

  Shamus assured him Connie would be all right, as she had already left with her sister for Portland for treatment. Hunter couldn’t help feeling profound relief at that news.

  “There is an alarm system in the house. Unusual for a small town and particularly this one. But there you have it. Nervous city contractor built the place,” Shamus said. “I guess he wasn’t so crazy after all. I’ll call the security company today and have them check it out, get it up and running.”

  “I’m sorry to bring this in on you, Shamus. You’ve got enough on your mind.”

  “I’ll be glad for you if you can get that particular monkey off your back. My advice to you is to stay as clear of her as you can and let the police handle it. Chief Montcalm’s force is reliable and good at the job.”

  Once they were at the courthouse, the morning seemed interminable, though the two of them moved the cases along as fast as justice would allow. They helped one pair who didn’t really want a divorce to reconsider and retract their petition. He got a father to see the benefits of letting the child’s mother see her child more than every other weekend for two supervised hours. The woman had been out of rehab for six months and tested dry every time. Most of the other cases had been of lesser value and a few were dispatched with the mere formality of appearing in court with an attorney.

  When afternoon arrived, every hour that passed, Hunter’s agitation grew. He couldn’t help but think of Callista in Bailey’s Cove plotting her revenge.

  * * *

  WITH BRIANNA IN the car, Delainey felt relief and tried not to let her anger at Hunter spill out all over her daughter. “How was you birthday celebration, sweetie?”

  “Everybody liked my muffins except Janis.”

  “Janis isn’t very happy, is she?”

  “I guess not. I told her her new hair bow was pretty and then she ate all of the muffin.”

  “You are a wonderful person. Did you know that?”

  “Yeah.” Her daughter sounded less than convinced.

  Delainey pulled over to the curb across the street from the Pirate’s Roost and turned the car off.

  Brianna leaned forward in her safety restraint. “Are we going to have Roost’s macaroni and cheese?”

  “You can if you want, and you can undo your belt now.”

  “Yummy.” Brianna unhooked and scrambled into the front seat.

  “We’re meeting a woman named Mrs. Wenger and her son. They might move to Bailey’s Cove. She just wants to talk about the schools and parks and stuff like that.”

  Delainey and Brianna hadn’t been at the table for more than a minute when Cynthia Wenger breezed in by herself. Today she wore fitted jeans, a short brown suede jacket and fleece-lined boots. The ensemble looked great on the woman. It couldn’t possibly keep anything but her feet warm, but she looked stylish and very un-Bailey’s Cove-like.

  She dropped into the chair across the table before Delainey could stand in greeting.

  “Thank you so much for coming to meet me, Delainey. I’m so sorry my son couldn’t come. He’s getting a cold.” She turned to Brianna with a big grin. “But who’s this beautiful young lady?”

  Brianna ducked and smiled. “Brianna Talbot.”

  “Brianna, I’m Cynthia and it’s great to meet you. Are you six?”

  Brianna nodded shyly.

  The waitress took their order for tea and Brianna’s mac and cheese and hurried away.

  “Six, just like my son, L.J.”

  “L.J.?” Brianna asked.

  “Stands for Little Jared. He’s named after his daddy, but we didn’t want to get them confused, so we call our son L.J. And, Brianna, I think you’re just the person I need to talk to.”

  Brianna perked up at the attention.

  “What do you like best about Bailey’s Cove?”

  “Birthdays.”

  Cynthia’s laugh was just a bit over-the-top, but Delainey gave her a lot of credit for taking her children’s needs into consideration before moving the family. A bit of nervousness was understandable under the circumstances.

  “Tell her about the pottery shop.”

  “Oh, yeah. We go there on some Saturdays sometimes and we make things. I have three dinosaurs I made.”

  Cynthia’s eyes glazed for just a moment. Alarmed that the woman might be ill, Delainey looked around for backup.

  “Brianna, there’s the Fredericks. Why don’t you go say hello. I’ll call you if your mac and cheese comes.”

  Brianna jumped up and walked with the restaurant decorum she and Delainey had been working on.

  “Are you all right?”

  Cynthia sighed. “I left the kids with Jared at the motel. I love them to pieces, but they wear me out sometimes. I’m fine, really.” She brushed at her bangs. “Pardon me for saying so, but your husband’s quite the looker.”

  She had to be referring to Hunter. She couldn’t have seen the three of them for more than a glance. “Not my husband. He’s one of my bosses. I know him, but we’re not together or anything.”

  Cynthia dipped a tea bag into the pot of hot water the waitress delivered and gave Delainey a regretful smile. “I am so sorry. I saw the three of you at Miller’s the other day and I just assumed. How thoughtless of me.”

  “That’s all right. You said you had two
children?”

  “I do and I’m afraid I’m an indulgent mother. That’s why I need to check out this town before I even think about moving here.”

  Up close and in the light coming in the window, it was easy to tell the woman’s gorgeous red hair was a lovely wig. Cynthia must have noticed Delainey’s assessment, as she put a hand to her hair almost in apology.

  “Now I’m sorry,” Delainey said. “It’s lovely. I’m sure hardly anyone notices.”

  “I’m too sensitive. I hope to have my own hair back soon. My indulgence when it all fell out after the treatment was to go with a color I always thought I’d like to have. You do those kinds of things after chemo, sort of a bargain with yourself to prove things aren’t so bad.”

  Delainey reached across the table and patted Cynthia’s hand. “I hope you like what you see here. We’re a pretty friendly town, especially after you get to know us.”

  Brianna raced back to the table and climbed into her chair. “Mommy.”

  “Yes, sweetie?”

  “That man has a eagle on his coat, just like Daddy had on his shirt.”

  Delainey looked up to see the man Brianna was talking about. He was getting up from the table and he did have an eagle, wings splayed, on his jacket.

  “He looks like he’s part of a group of motorcycle owners. The eagle is a symbol for the group.”

  Brianna’s face lit up and Delainey knew what her daughter was thinking even before she spoke. “Do you think he knows my daddy?”

  “That’s something we can talk about at home. Right now, would you like to tell Mrs. Wenger what you like best about your school?”

  “But can’t I just ask him?”

  Delainey hugged her daughter. She didn’t want to turn her down, but she didn’t want her accosting everyone associated with a motorcycle and asking them if they knew her daddy. There was only so much heartbreak one child should have to experience.

  “I’m sure Mrs. Wenger would like to hear about what you like best about school.”