When the elevator opened, she zigzagged throw a group of Shriners in the lobby. That’s when she noticed Fox standing by the circular check–in desk chatting with an attractive brunette. “Hey, Fox,” Lea said. “I thought you were going to wait in the car.”
“Come on, now, I’m the type of guy who comes up to the door to pick up my dates.” Fox’s gaze went up and down Lea’s body. He swallowed.
The lady at the counter smiled, said to Lea, “Oh, yes, he’s quite chivalrous.”
Like she’d know. Who was this bimbo? Seemed every time Lea turned a corner, another chick was hitting on her man. Well, a chick had hit on her lately too. Talk about flattering. Lea would never forget that steamy prequel to her night with Fox.
“Lea,” Fox said, gesturing toward the lady behind the counter, but not taking his eyes off of her. “This is Janine. She’s an old friend of mine.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Janine smiled. “You too.”
At least Janine was friendly.
“Well, you ready?” Fox said, holding out his arm.
“Sure am.”
Once they walked out the revolving doors, Lea said, “Wow, you sure do have a lot of lady friends.”
“I know. Sorry, she caught me walking by. I was trying to cut it short, but she wanted to play catch up.”
“You said she was an old friend, Fox,” Lea said. “Is that what you meant? Or was she your lover?”
“Would my answer change our relationship?”
Lea thought for a moment. “No.” That wasn’t completely true. Seeds of doubt were sprouting up faster than the virus’s on her mother’s computer.
“That’s what I like to hear.” Fox walked to the passenger’s side of a silver Toyota Prius and opened the door. “Madam,” he said holding out his hand.
“Thank you.”
Fox closed the door and Lea sat there dumbfounded. Fox drove a Prius! That was environmentally friendly! The perfect fit for a county girl like her.
Fox got in and turned on the engine. “Whoa! What is that smell?”
Lea shrugged. “What smell? Is it good or bad?”
“Good… I guess. Just… strong.”
“Oh, that’s the perfume Karrigan suggested. It’s called Alien.”
Fox nodded, laughed. “How fitting. God bless her,” he murmured.
“I knew it would be too strong for you.”
“I liked the way you smelled the first day you were here. I told you, don’t go by what Karri says.”
“You haven’t mentioned anything about my dress,” Lea said, pulling the hem down closer to her knees. “Do you like it?”
“It’s missing an arm, but the lace is nice. It’s not something I can see you picking out for yourself, though.”
Duh! Fox knew that Karrigan picked it out, not Lea. He could at least compliment her for attempting to dress up for him, she thought.
“I love the color of your shirt,” Lea said.
“Thanks. I saved it for a special occasion. That’s you, sweetheart.”
Just like that, he was redeemed.
The restaurant Fox chose was a place called Monte’s. Beautiful, member exclusive, luxurious dark wood all round, high, beamed ceiling. Dimly lit and candlelight on every table. The epitome of romantic.
They’d placed their orders already, and now they were just waiting. “Sometimes it can take a while for the food to come out, but trust me, it’s worth the wait.”
“I’ll bet,” Lea said. There was a different mood between them tonight. Like Fox had something to say, but wasn’t coming out with it. Several times Lea had caught him staring out into nothing. “A lot on your mind, Fox?”
He reached across the table, cupped her hand. “I’m sorry. Something transpired today at work that has me baffled. I don’t want to get into it and ruin our dinner. Let’s talk about us.”
“Us?” Lea smiled. “Why does that sound so good to me?”
“The same reason it sounds so good to me. We both know we found something that comes around only once in a lifetime.”
“Really? That’s how you feel about me?”
“Of course it is. Never second–guess how strongly I feel for you.”
“There’s one thing that’s bothering me, though,” Lea said.
“All right.” Fox leaned forward, grabbed his glass of wine and drank. “Put it on the table.”
“We haven’t talked about my leaving tomorrow. I’m going back to Augusta. It’s not like that’s a short drive away. We’re talking two and half hours distance. Where does that leave us?”
“Don’t you work from home?” Fox asked.
“Yeah.”
“Simple. Move to Atlanta. Live with me.”
It didn’t sound so simple. Live with him where? In the hotel? In his house that he hadn’t yet taken her to.
“Fox, that’s a huge step. We haven’t been together long.”
“I have no doubts about our relationship. Do you?”
“Well, no… but…”
“But what? Do you have something or someone tying you down to Augusta?”
“No.” Was he implying she had a boyfriend back home, or did that just come out really bad? “I do have my family there. People who depend on me.”
“Listen, babe. You don’t have to map out the rest of your life right here and now. Just know that I’m always going to be right here for you.”
Lea didn’t know what she wanted Fox to say exactly. He was offering all he had, but it came across half–hearted. Tonight his eyes never lingered on hers for more than a second before he was staring into space again. He was saying the right things, but his body was telling another story. There was something more pressing on his mind.
They both did more picking at their entrees than eating. When they were on their way out, Fox ran into a male acquaintance.
“Hey, Buster, meet my girlfriend, Lea,” Fox said after he shook the man’s hand.
Lea offered her hand. “Pleasure.” She noticed Fox staring at her face extra hard.
“Haven’t seen you on the green lately,” the man said to Fox.
“Yeah, been pretty busy,” Fox said. He looked at Lea with a furrowed brow. Looked back at the man. “I’ll have to make it a point to come out again soon. Well, we better head on out. Nice seeing you, Buster.”
When they got outside, Fox stopped underneath the burgundy awning of the brick building. “Lea… uh… you were a bit heavy handed on the eye makeup tonight.”
Yeah, she’d worn the mascara Karrigan had bought for her, and maybe she’d put on too much. She was just trying to look better than average. And if he’d looked at her for longer than a second all night, it wouldn’t have taken him so long to notice. She couldn’t speak. Her lip quivered. Before she could get her emotions under control, the tears started flowing.
“Hey,” Fox wrapped his arms around her, “don’t cry.”
“Just… take me home, Fox.” Lea dabbed at her eyes with the side of her finger.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
—Fox
At Lea’s hotel, Fox held Lea’s hand while they took the elevator up. She hadn’t said a word since they’d left Monte’s. And he couldn’t say he blamed her. He regretted making that comment about her makeup. He didn’t know how else to get the point across that he liked her better natural. It seemed like the more time they spent together, the more she was morphing into someone he didn’t recognize.
That and this thing with Roman. His past had caught up to him in a jiffy, and it couldn’t simmer on the back burner. If he was going to live and love anyone in his life, the hauntings of his past had to be exorcised.
Lea backed up to her door. Didn’t invite him in.
Fox put his hand on her face, leaned in. He kissed her tight, cold lips.
“Please, Lea, don’t be mad.”
“I’m not mad,” she said softly.
“When can I see you again?”
“I’m
leaving early in the morning. Maybe even before daybreak. So I guess this is it for a while.”
“Can you please call me and let me know you made it home safely tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I can do that.” She was still looking down.
“I want you to know your being here this week has been incredible. Made me see that I need to make some real changes in my life, so I can share my life. Lea, I want to share it with you.”
A black tear fell from her eye, but she wiped it away as fast as it came out. Her mascara smeared below her eyes. “Thanks for dinner,” Lea said, turned and went inside, leaving him standing there.
Fox ignored Janine as she bid him good–bye from the front desk. How did this night go so wrong? All he wanted tonight was Lea in his arms at his home. Now he would be sleeping alone. Or maybe not at all.
It was time to pay a visit to the mansion.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
—Lea
Lea opened the closet inside her hotel room and pulled her sweater off the hanger. She threw it on top of the clothes already packed in her suitcase. It was three a.m. and she was contemplating getting on the road right then. How could she sleep after her date with Fox last night? She was so confused. Felt like Alice in Wonderland here—an out of place misfit. It was like this whirlwind romance had all been a dream, and when the sun rose back in Augusta, she just assume be in her own familiar bed.
Lea knew that Fox had his mother on his mind last night. It was evident by the faraway look in his eyes. But still, she thought that since it was their last night together, he’d have been more attentive. She felt stupid for expecting anything, really. She’d had no other dates with him to compare it to.
He crushed what little sense of self–confidence that had trickled back when he made that comment about Lea’s mascara. When she looked in the mirror back at the hotel, she saw what he meant. She had stroked on so many layers her “row” of lashes had clumped into three really huge ones. Note to
Lea: Overkill. That’s what you get when you apply too much expensive cosmetics. But Fox says he likes simple, so that’s what she was staying true to from now on. She finally got it.
But it might be too little too late.
Fox talked like he was certain about how he felt about her, but her jealousy and trust issues could prove a huge roadblock. He had so many connections in Atlanta. Lea assumed that if they tried to maintain a long distance relationship, she could lose her mind wondering what/who he was doing. Can a ladies’ man like him really change overnight?
With luggage in hand, Lea grabbed her keys and opened the door. Took one look back at the room. Her purse was there on the bed. She heard Fox’s voice in her head reminding her not to forget it exactly like he had a few days ago. She’d gotten used to depending on him always being there. Now she feared she’d gotten to close too fast.
—Fox
Fox normally avoided the place where his mother took her last breath at all costs. The Kemp mansion had too many ghosts. He’d only returned a handful of times since he went off to college at eighteen.
He took the long driveway along eighty acres of private, gated land. It seemed to go on for an eternity. A cleared, open space, yet it felt so claustrophobic. So dark.
Pulling into the long, circular driveway in front of the mansion he turned off the engine, looked up at the arched, brick entranceway.
His heart raced as he rang the doorbell. After a minute, a man with silver hair opened the door.
“Foxworth, my boy,” Frederic said, embracing him. “Come in, come in. It’s been so long.”
Frederic had been the Kemp butler since Fox was a young boy, before the twins were born. He was a kind man. Would do anything for Fox.
“Hey. How’ve you been Fred?”
“Good, good. Old leg still giving me a fit.”
Fred had always walked with a limp, but now it was much more pronounced. He was at least seventy by now. Arthritis had likely set in to complicate the matter.
“Where’s Britta?” Britta was the plump, black lady who’d cared and cooked for all the Kemp kids. Roman had kept her on, even after he’d stop coming around. She and Fred were now simply caretakers for the structure. Roman would rather hold on to the family mansion and waste money on the upkeep than sell it and let someone else live on his land.
“Oh, Britta, she’s not well,” Frederic said. “She’s in the hospital. Cancer.”
“Oh, no. I hate to hear it.” Fox walked through the foyer into the open family room. “Please send her my best.”
“Certainly.” Fred walked behind Fox as he thumbed through a bookshelf.
“Have you married Foxworth? Children?”
“Not yet. But I’m likely headed in the right direction. Keep your fingers crossed, will ya’?”
“Indeed.”
Fox spun around, facing Frederic. “Would you mind terribly if I take my time in here?”
“No, stay as long as you wish. This is your home after all.”
“No, Fred. This is Roman’s house. Not mine.”
Fred nodded, crossed his hands in front of him. “I’ll be around if you need me.” Fred turned, limped off.
Frederic and Ms. Britta were fine people, who’d practically raised Fox and his siblings. Not crooked in any sense like Roman. Then again, Roman had not been the one who’d hired them. It was Frances, Fox’s saintly mother. Roman had simply kept them on after Frances passed.
Once Fred was out of sight, Fox repositioned a book on the shelf, placed it face down. The bookshelf slowly turned, the sound as creepy as the house he stood in. In years past, Fox had not dared pass through the secret entranceway to where the Kemp family archives were kept. Roman had spent plenty of time in there when he was a kid, and it was explicitly enforced that no child shall ever enter under any circumstances. Not a child anymore, Father.
Record after record, Fox mulled over paperwork until he was nearly cross eyed. Then he found it. A file, which was labeled Project Ninety–five to deter any curious eyes. Inside it contained information on Frances’s passing.
Fox thumbed through the death certificate and coroner’s report. Then his hand brushed across some yellowed newspaper clippings. One read: Businessman acquitted due to discrepancy in the prosecution’s evidence. No eyewitness to substantiate the allegations. The next one: Witnesses who testified for the defense claimed that Kemp was a man of great character, who lived an honest and peaceful life. Baloney.
Fox shuffled through the articles. Some folded, some ripped, all damning. Another article: Mr. Kemp accused of killing Frances shortly after she’d asked for a divorce; Testimony revealed today says that Mrs. Kemp conducted an affair with gardener; Defense argues that Mr. Kemp contested divorce proceedings and was fearful that he would lose everything.
So, now it all made sense. Roman had a motive to kill Fox’s mother. His mother who was a cheater.
“Why’d you do it, Mom?” Fox said aloud as his fingertips trembled around the clippings.
He ran a hand through his hair. Couldn’t believe his mom had it in her to cheat. To lie.
Fox loved her still. She’d always been a kind, hands–on mother. He wouldn’t allow this information to taint her beloved memory.
Fox held that file out. It was going with him. Before he left, he decided to skim through and see if he could find any clues to link Roman to her murder. If a jury didn’t convict him, maybe he was innocent. Then his own voice rang through his mind. Money can manipulate the way the ink dries on the paper.
There had to be more.
After browsing a few more files, Fox came across a photo of a redhead. A voluptuous, familiar looking redhead. The picture was faded. Fox recognized the vinyl seat she was sitting on belonging to Roman’s 1970s Cadillac. She was in Roman’s car. No big surprise. Roman had probably slept around with hundreds of women. He put the photo with the files he was keeping, and walked out of the secret room. He waited for the slow–moving, creaking wood shelf to close then made his way to t
he foyer.
“I’m leaving, Frederic.”
Frederic limped from around a corner. “So, soon?”
“Yes, but I’ll check in with you again soon. You take care, Fred.”
“You too, Foxworth, my boy. You too.”
Frederic had a knowing glint in his eye. Fox wondered if he should have been asking him questions. He’d likely return sooner than later.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
—Lea
Lea folded one leg beneath her and sat at her mother’s kitchen table. She took a sip of the coffee her mother had made her. As always, her mother had put in the amount of cream and sugar just the way Lea liked it. Her mother sat across from her at the table.
“Thanks for the coffee, Mom,” Lea said. “It’s perfect, as usual.”
“Oh, you’re welcome, hon. It’s the least I can do after you worked on my computer for two hours.”
“It’s still running system checks. We won’t know if it’s really fixed until that’s through.”
“Oh, that’s fine honey. It doesn’t have to get fixed tonight.” Lea’s mother had the patience of a saint. She was a retired librarian who’d worked back in the card catalog days. Keeping up with ever–changing technology was proving quite cumbersome for her…especially when she ran into problems.
The sun beamed in through the kitchen bay window. Birds chirped just outside. Lea stared out across the acres of barren land. Land that, five years ago, would have been lush with vegetables and fruit. Now the area of growth had been reduced to one square acre that her mother managed alone.
“What’s going on Lea? You’re awfully quiet.”
“Just thinking about Fox.”
Her mother’s eyes lit up. “Tell me about him.”
“He’s a great guy, but he’s from a world much different from mine. He owns his own hotel.”
“Wow, what a catch.”
“Yeah, he’s handsome, Mom.” A pause. “Real sweet.”
“Why the hesitation in your voice, then? I can sense something’s wrong.”
“It’s moving fast. He already wants me to move to Atlanta. But I haven’t even been to his house yet. I haven’t met his father, who spends much of his time in the hotel. And Fox… he’s so busy. Has a lot of women clients. Oh, and did I mention how handsome he is?”
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