A Very Dishonest Scandal (The Hero Next Door Book 5)

by Rebecca King

  ‘It won’t help if you have to repair here as well as live in the property,’ William mused, reaching out to brush at a rotting door frame, which crumbled in his hand.

  ‘I am afraid that I have been a little remiss in making sure that the place is maintained,’ Thomas sighed.

  William shared worried looks with Roger and Luke. He knew that they were all thinking the same. Thomas Tynesdale, as kind and clever as he was a professional craftsman, was at the end of his tether. His business, which had been his life’s work, had been damaged by the spite of a handful of people over a short period of time, leaving Thomas heartbroken and struggling to understand what was happening, but before that, work had demanded that he focus on making his clocks and running the shop rather than repairing his surroundings.

  ‘Right, well, at least we have a place to start. Given what has just happened, we will look no further than Finley and Samantha Morton and their supposedly missing fob watch,’ Roger informed William.

  ‘Do you think they are likely to call by here again?’ Thomas asked, his eyes wide with concern.

  Roger turned to look at him. ‘I am afraid that I don’t think they are going to try to attack the shop again. I know they will.’

  That was enough to make Thomas look around his shop worriedly. For the first time in his life, he wasn’t going to be sorry to see the back of the place. Where once it had been a retreat, a source of pride and joy, it now created a vulnerability, a burden that he didn’t want anymore. All he could do was hope and pray that Rosemary wouldn’t want to return to the house she had grown up in when this was all over either.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Later that week, Luke dropped the last of the boxes he carried onto the floor of Thomas’s new workroom. Thankfully, moving Thomas and Rosemary to Wickerstone had been incredibly easy. The Star Elite had been so clandestine when removing their belongings that nobody had noticed anything happening. While they had worked, the Star Elite had all expected Finley Morton to appear at the magistrate’s office with the fob watch’s valuation report, sketch, or description, or even proof of its existence, but he hadn’t. It proved that their suspicions about Morton’s fraudulent scheme were correct.

  ‘That’s the last of it,’ Luke announced to a distracted Thomas, who was hunched over a highly polished clock.

  When he looked up, Thomas blinked myopically up at him as if he were mentally many miles away. Luke was about to repeat himself when Thomas beamed at him.

  ‘Thank you, thank you. That’s wonderful,’ Thomas cried. ‘I have made space for them, so I will put them up later.’

  Luke nodded and watched the man work again but knew from the level of absorption on his face that Thomas wouldn’t hear him if he tried to speak again. With a rueful shake of his head, Luke left the man to work in peace and made his way over to the house.

  Over the course of the last few days, Luke had spent little time in the house he now called home. He had tried his hardest to stay away not only to give Rosemary a little peace to settle into her new home, but because he wanted to be involved in closing the shop down. It had become routine for him to leave just before dawn, when he wasn’t required to take the night watch. He had then returned to the house after dark when everyone else was in bed. Consequently, Luke had spent the past few days so exhausted that he had done nothing more than stagger upstairs, fall into bed, and crawl back out again in the morning.

  ‘Rosemary?’ he called as he pulled the kitchen door open.

  Luke immediately froze and studied the transformation of his kitchen in shock. The cobwebs had been swept, the floors scrubbed and polished, the work surfaces, cupboards, and dressers had all been buffered to a high shine. The fireplace had been swept out and washed down. A small vase of flowers sat in the middle of the table beside a freshly baked loaf of bread. A large pale of water sat beside the door, but from it came the wonderful scent of lemons, which made the room smell clean and fresh. If that wasn’t enough to tempt him, the shutters were open, allowing the sunlight to bathe the room in a warm, golden glow that was welcoming and homely. Further, the heady scent of meat pie and ham wafted toward him, tempting him deeper into the room.

  Curious to see what other transformations Rosemary had wrought upon the place, Luke ventured into the main hallway of the house. This too had been scrubbed. At the base of the steps, Rosemary had positioned a small side table against the wall upon which was another vase of flowers, and an ornament of some kind. To one side of the hall was the room he had intended to use as his study because it had rows upon rows of empty shelving as one would expect in a library. To his shock, not only had Rosemary found a huge desk and a Captain’s chair, but also hundreds of books from somewhere. They were crammed onto every shelf, lined up in glorious display.

  ‘What on earth have you done?’ Luke whispered when he sensed movement in the hallway behind him. He couldn’t take his eyes off the room before him. It was something he had only ever dreamt of being able to call his own. It was a gentleman’s study, with a drinks table, and landscapes on the wall, again which hadn’t been there the day he had moved in, that were of hunting scenes and various landscape drawings of the garden surrounding the house.

  ‘Do you like it?’ Rosemary asked nervously. She wrung her hands and tried not to be too worried about his reaction but battled a curious mixture of nerves and anticipation as she waited.

  Luke turned to look at her and couldn’t hide his astonishment. ‘You did all this?’

  ‘I have no other way of repaying you,’ she whispered. ‘I had to do something. You have been so kind and generous. I was bored and so decided to help you set up your home. I know you said that I could empty some of the boxes if I needed furniture and the like, but I decided to empty all of them. Feel free to change it. I won’t get offended if you don’t like it.’

  Luke was unable to take his eyes off the wonderful room that was going to be his sanctuary. ‘How did you do all of this? When? God, how could I have missed this?’

  ‘On the first day, I went exploring, and found the pictures in the attic together with the side table, and a few other bits and pieces,’ Rosemary explained. ‘I just cleaned them down. If you don’t like it, I can change it and put things back, if you wish.’

  ‘No!’ Luke coughed and forced himself to lower his voice. ‘God, no,’ he huffed around a laugh. He looked at her in awe. ‘It’s wonderful. It truly is wonderful. I love it.’

  Rosemary grinned and felt a heavy weight of worry lift off her shoulders. She sighed with satisfaction because the delight on his was an honest reaction to what she had done. Nobody was that good at pretending that they could feign the avid way he was studying everything within the room with warm approval. He slid gentle fingers across the highly polished surface of the table. Lovingly stroked the elaborate carving of the mantlepiece and shook his head at the highly polished sparkle on the windows.

  ‘Can I see the rest of the house?’ he asked quietly when he had finished.

  Rosemary nodded but couldn’t speak because she didn’t know what to say. The changes she had made to every room were evidence enough of what she had been doing. What she wanted to do was watch him and witness his true feelings about the transformations she had made to his house. What she couldn’t tell him was that she had made the changes she thought made the house a home. Rosemary had turned it into the kind of place she would like to live. It was important to her to understand if the house was now a place where Luke could envisage himself living in as well.

  Luke wandered around the house viewing the changes one woman had made in just a few days. Everything sparkled, and now resembled a home.

  ‘I haven’t helped you,’ he moaned.

  ‘I know I should have asked you for your permission, but this is my way of saying thank you for everything you have done to help me and my father,’ Rosemary said.

  Luke heard the nervousness in her words and stepped closer but only so he could slide a gentle thumb down her cheek. ‘I am deligh
ted with it. It’s wonderful, Rosemary. Thank you. I confess that I would not have been able to turn the house around so quickly myself. While it still needs repairs, it does now resemble a home. It’s beautiful.’

  Because it has you in it. Luke didn’t say that aloud, though, because Rosemary looked nervous enough. He didn’t want to do or say anything that would frighten her away.

  ‘You don’t have to repay me,’ Luke whispered. ‘I am glad that I was there on the day that Samantha Morton pushed you over.’

  ‘I – we – my father and I, have put you out. You have only just moved in here yet found yourself with two house guests.’ Rosemary smiled. ‘Further, you then were drawn into an investigation you hadn’t planned on having to deal with, all because you rescued me that day.’

  ‘Moving you in here was the best decision I could have made, obviously,’ Luke whispered tenderly.

  Luke knew that he should keep his hands off her, and take matters a little more slowly between them, but found it impossible to do whenever he was alone with her. He was compelled to touch her, to love her, to show her how much she already meant to him. He wanted her to know that the house wasn’t the only thing that was healing. Over the last few days, while he now knew that she had been busy, she had also lost the dark circles beneath her eyes and the ashen hue of her cheeks. Now, her eyes sparkled, and her cheeks were a healthy peachy hue that was delightful.

  She looks even more beautiful because she is here. She is at home.

  It was clear to Luke that Rosemary had revelled in being lady of the house and being able to make her own decisions for herself by herself. He was glad to see that she had blossomed in confidence as well. Her shoulders were wider, her back straighter. Further, the shadows that had lurked in her eyes had been replaced with a rueful twinkle that made her look bashful yet adorable at the same time.

  ‘Thank you,’ he murmured lovingly.

  ‘Thank you for letting me loose on your house,’ Rosemary replied gently.

  Luke’s lips twitched but, before he could reply, his stomach rumbled loudly. Rosemary laughed. ‘The pies should be ready now. Would you like me to cut you a piece?’

  ‘I should love some,’ Luke breathed, but when Rosemary went to leave the room, he just couldn’t allow her to go without snatching a few brief, very loving kisses.

  When they did make their way down to the kitchen, Luke held her hand and only released her because she had to remove the pie from the fireplace. His stomach rumbled even louder when she also removed more bread and potatoes. With his plate piled high, Luke took a seat at the table before insisting that Rosemary ate with him.

  ‘I should fetch your father,’ Luke mumbled around his first mouthful of delicious meat pie. He paused to moan in delight and savour the wonderful flavours.

  ‘He ate earlier. I asked him if he wanted something to eat about half an hour ago,’ Rosemary explained, delighted that the pie had turned out so well, and Luke was enjoying it.

  Deep inside, she wondered if this were what married life would be like. To share a meal with a husband like Luke would be something she could only dream of. It was heavenly, intimate, special. She revelled in every moment of it and didn’t want it to end because Luke turned out to be a delightful dining companion. He regaled her with exploits of his youth, his jesting with his colleagues from the Star Elite, his troubled investigations and successful missions. He proved to be as bashful and modest as she was, and a lively, engaging man who really stopped everything he was doing to listen to her when she spoke to him. He didn’t continue to eat, as most people would. When she talked, Rosemary watched his gaze lift, his eyes meet hers, and he watched her talk and listened to every word attentively. It left her in no doubt that her opinion mattered. He wasn’t just indulging in idle chatter to while away the mealtime. She felt special, cared for, and felt a sense of unity begin to blossom between them that was wonderful. It was evident that Luke felt it too. When they had both finished eating, Luke placed his warm palm over her hand and simply left it there. It was as if he couldn’t bear not to touch her.

  ‘What is happening at the shop? Has anything happened yet?’ Rosemary dreaded asking but was curious. ‘I know that you have the matter under control but, now that the cleaning and organising has been done here, I have started to wonder about what I have left behind.’

  Luke sighed. ‘Well, your father told you about what happened when Finley Morton appeared to collect his fob watch.’ He mentally cursed when Rosemary’s face turned solemn.

  ‘He is lying. I was there when he dropped it into the shop. It was the one with the tag. Father doesn’t take them off. He is the only one who handles the watches,’ Rosemary explained.

  Luke smiled at her. ‘You don’t have to explain. We all saw the arrogant way Morton treated your father. The man is up to his neck in something, we just don’t know what yet. William is trying to find out where Morton originates from. We need to find out where they used to live to know if they did something similar to people living near to their previous home.’

  ‘Do you think they have done this before?’ Rosemary gasped. ‘Why?’

  ‘Well, Morton has tried to claim money or goods from your father that aren’t rightly his. It might be extortion. It might be fraud. I mean, if Morton caused enough fuss, or damaged someone’s reputation badly enough, a business owner might be tempted to give him what he demanded just to shut him up and stop the gossip.’

  ‘That’s blackmail,’ Rosemary cried.

  ‘I am not saying that is what happened. I just think that is what might have happened,’ Luke reasoned. ‘Unfortunately, Morton’s biggest problem is his arrogance. He cannot just go through life thinking he can do what he likes to people and not face justice for it.’

  ‘But he does,’ Rosemary whispered.

  Luke lifted her hand and pressed a loving kiss to the back of it. ‘I work with my gut, Rosemary. Most of my work with the Star Elite requires me to live by my instincts. If my gut tells me that a situation is wrong or a person is suspicious, my gut usually warns me. Morton is one of the people I really cannot relate to or like very much. I don’t know if it is his arrogance, that spiteful sneer of his, but something about that man just annoys me. I find myself studying him far more than I really should need to if he were an honest and decent citizen. Morton is the kind of man I wouldn’t turn my back on.’

  ‘You cannot mean that he would hurt you.’

  Luke smiled gently at her. Rosemary looked so horrified by the possibility of him being hurt that he began to suspect she was starting to have feelings for him in return. He was delighted by it but had no idea how to find out if the woman he already adored felt anything for him in return. He suspected that the best way to find out was to spend as much time together as possible. So far, she wasn’t averse to his kisses. She had also made a lasting impression on his home, and he was delighted with the results. Further, she had started to make herself at home in his house. It hinted that she wouldn’t be objectionable to making her stay more permanent.

  ‘The arsonist doesn’t know that you have moved out yet,’ Luke replied. ‘Consequently, anybody who is anywhere near your house is in as much danger as you were when you lived there.’

  ‘How do you know? I mean, nothing has happened since we moved out, has it?’

  ‘No, that’s true, but it may be because Morton is responsible for the arson attack and the dead animals, and the gossip, but has had to cease his attacks to contemplate his options. He was challenged by us and the magistrate when he called at the shop the other day. While he has retreated, Morton won’t have given up,’ Luke reasoned. ‘We have dealt with worse scoundrels than him. Try not to worry about me. Just concentrate on settling in here.’

  ‘But it isn’t a good idea, is it?’ Rosemary hated to point it out to him because it rather looked as if she was quietly asking for reassurances and she wasn’t, but she said: ‘At some point, this will be all over. You will have to move on to your new investigation and my fa
ther and I will have to find somewhere else to stay.’

  ‘Let’s deal with that when it happens,’ Luke edged. ‘We have a long way to go yet.’

  ‘How long do you think it will take?’ Rosemary asked.

  Luke sighed. ‘We have another investigation waiting for us so we cannot stay on this case forever. We will nudge things along soon because Roger will need to report to London and have the new investigation underway in the next few weeks. For now, we have every man in the team working to find out from the locals what is being said about you. I can’t ask the locals myself because Morton has seen Roger and me in your father’s shop. Questioning the locals is something the others in the Star Elite will do. So far, they can’t get anyone to talk to them.’

  ‘Why? I just don’t understand why anybody would want to protect Morton.’

  ‘Can I just ask you something?’ Luke asked quietly, absently stroking the back of her hand with his thumb while he contemplated the situation. He was staring down at their linked fingers but was mentally miles away and so missed her nod. ‘If your father had been on his own the other day in his shop, would he have given Morton another watch, or a clock, or something to compensate him even though he knew that he had done nothing wrong?’

  Rosemary nodded. ‘My father is the kind of man who hates confrontation. He would have given Morton a watch just to stop him gossiping and feeling aggrieved. The watch was, after all, in the shop at the time that Morton claims it was swapped.’

  ‘But your father has no proof that any watch was left with him,’ Luke muttered, aware that Thomas was indeed the kind-hearted type of man who would appease Morton.

  ‘I think my father is going to have to change the way he accepts watches for repair,’ Rosemary whispered. ‘I have already discussed this with him and suggested that when he accepts watches, he not only issues a ticket to the customer but while the customer is there, describes the item being left for repair, the damage, any engravings or distinguishing features of the item that makes it unique, or personal. We are both relieved that you were there when Morton called. It gave you the opportunity to see the kind of scorn we face from the Mortons. That said, Morton’s behaviour has made my father contemplate just how vulnerable he has made himself accepting watches for repair and putting trust in his customers’ honesty.’