Scarlett Heart (The Scarletts

by Brenda Barrett

  "So you loved him?"

  "Yes," Raine nodded, "I actually did." She laughed uncomfortably. "At the time. I mean, who doesn't think their first love is the one great love of their life. He was a great guy, ambitious and responsible. Very unlike anybody else in my life at that time."

  "Did he love you?" Noah asked gently.

  "Yup, I think so." Raine turned back to the bookcase. "We used to be inseparable but I chose pragmatism over love. We broke up at an after school party just when that song came out. He cried then, I almost changed my mind and stayed in Paddington but I was determined not to be my mother, living in a small space with a horde of children that I couldn't afford to send to school. Poverty is not as fabulous as everyone is hyping it up to be."

  Noah laughed. "I guess if it were, everybody would be doing it."

  Raine smiled at him.

  "So here you are." Noah looked at her for an uncomfortably long minute. She imagined he was thinking about her relationship with Bradley and how messed up she had become.

  The CD stopped and he got up and rummaged through the stack beside it. "Any requests? My mother has quite the taste in music."

  "I am not particular, really."

  "Mmm." Noah skipped through the cases and then he looked over at her. "So where is he now, your high school boyfriend?"

  Raine inhaled and then turned back to the bookcase. "He died."

  Noah was still for a while, she had to look back at him to see if he was okay.

  He smiled at her faintly. "That's sad. My condolences."

  "Thanks," Raine nodded. "He was so young, had his whole life ahead of him and then poof, just like that, he's gone."

  "How did he die?" Noah asked one eyebrow raised.

  She blinked rapidly and cleared her throat. She had already said too much. The less she said about the whole thing, the better off she would be. "An accident."

  Noah nodded.

  She breathed a sigh of relief as he turned back to the CD player and held up a CD. "This one is my writing music. I wrote a couple of books here back in the day."

  She turned back to the shelf and pulled out another book.

  "When did he die?" Noah asked her after one of the songs finished playing.

  "About nine months ago." She turned around and looked at him. "Why?"

  "Nothing," Noah shrugged.

  "It's your time to talk about your relationships," she teased him. She wanted to change the subject.

  "Relationships, as in plural?" Noah sat on the ottoman. "I have never really had any lasting long term ones. I am damaged goods, after all."

  He pointed to his chest.

  Raine snorted. "Really? You are handsome and witty and easy to talk to, who would care?"

  Noah stared at her after she made that revealing statement and then grinned. "You would be surprised. My high school girlfriend had a plan—since I was one of the heirs to the Levy fortune she would marry me after we graduated, so that if by chance I 'kick the bucket', her fortune would be secure as my widow. That was high school..."

  "Lies." Raine laughed. "That is totally made up."

  "Unfortunately, it was true," Noah said resignation heavy in his voice. "Unlike you and what's his name, I had no great love of my life. To be honest, I never really encouraged relationships because I was always cognizant of the fact that my heart was an issue."

  Raine turned back to the bookshelf.

  "What's his name?" Noah asked.

  "Who?" Raine frowned.

  "Your high school boyfriend? What's his name?"

  "Marcus." She raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so interested in my high school boyfriend?"

  Noah shrugged. "I am weird like that."

  Raine smiled. "I get it, your writer thing?"

  "Yes," Noah said, then turned to her suddenly. "What's his surname?"

  "Long." Raine rolled her eyes. "His full name is...was... Dean Marcus Long. He loved sports, especially football, it was a fascination of his. He even wrote for the sports section of the Western Herald. He worked on his father's dairy farm but his true love was the writing thing". She paused at that. "Kind of like you, just different."

  "And?" Noah was holding himself stiffly as if he wasn't breathing.

  Raine shook her head, "And nothing...I left Paddington at seventeen. Marcus was seven years ago. "

  Noah sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Sorry."

  "You okay?" Raine asked Noah.

  "Yes." Noah nodded. "I am going to take a walk."

  Chapter Eight

  Noah walked all the way down Great House Drive before he really registered where he was. He walked down the hill in a kind of hazy disbelief and wonder. Dean Marcus Long. That was his donor's full name. He probably didn't use the Dean, that's why he couldn't find anything about him on the Internet!

  Noah now knew his past address, everything...just like that. He had sensed that Raine was significant to Dean. And now he proved it to be true.

  This was overwhelming. For months he had searched and now he had information and he had it in spades. He slowed down and turned to go back up the drive.

  Now, what of Cassandra Green? Would Raine know anything about her?

  Maybe not.

  Raine was just Dean's ex girlfriend from high school but now that he knew where to look, he might not need Raine to find out who Cassandra was.

  He pushed his hand in his pocket, glad for the overcast skies and the fact that it was January and the place was feeling cooler than usual. His impromptu walk had been necessary. He needed to get some things straight in his head. Like what he was going to do next.

  He felt like going to Paddington, St. Mary right now, but he needed more information. He had waited months. He could wait a few more days. He walked back into the study to find Raine humming to the CD. She was very unaware of the detonation that she had just set off in his head.

  "Your mother loved to cook?" She held up a recipe book still encased in plastic.

  He sank down in the ottoman. "Yes, you should come to one of her brunches where she treats us like her guinea pigs."

  He regretted the invitation as soon as he said it. He had completely forgotten that Raine would not be welcomed especially with her Bradley association.

  She understood because she gave him a faint smile and murmured. "I don't think I would be welcomed."

  They worked in silence until lunch time when he suggested that they have lunch at the Beach Cafe.

  Raine had a way of rounding her eyes in surprise and then adjusting quickly. She had that look on her face when he suggested the beach cafe.

  He drove over because the cafe was a part of the Tryall property but on the other side of the road. As its name suggested, it was right on the beach and had a pier. They opted to eat outside under an almond tree.

  A pelican decided to do an ungainly dance close to the pier and it was the perfect start to a conversation; Raine was laughing, her brown eyes lit up in glee. She was relaxed and ready to be questioned but she turned to him and started questioning him instead.

  "Tell me about you."

  "Me?" Noah groaned inwardly. He couldn't brush her off and to be honest it was only fair to give her something about himself. It might make her more amenable to answering his questions.

  He cleared his throat. "I am not sure what to tell you."

  Raine grinned. "Your parents, that sort of thing, you are a Scarlett and not a Levy. I am sure that there is some story there."

  Noah smiled faintly. "I guess it's only fair to divulge my story since you told me yours."

  Raine grinned. "Yep."

  Before he could begin, he was spotted by some of his mother's friends. They greeted him jovially and exchanged pleasantries.

  "Where was I?" He asked, folding his hands and giving Raine his full attention after they left.

  "Your parents," Raine said almost shyly. "I asked you about your surname."

  Noah nodded. "Well, my dad was my mother's first husband. They got a divorce
soon after I was born. After a while my mom got married to Alan Levy. He was a widower with three girls who needed a mother. My mom was a single mother with a son. We became a family."

  "Why did you become a writer?" Raine asked after they gave their orders to the waiter.

  "Because I love books." Noah shrugged. "I have never wanted to do anything else really. I have a degree in Library Studies. I worked in the public library system for years until a year ago."

  "When you got your new heart?"

  "Yes." He nodded, "and since then I haven't been able to write a word."

  "Why not?" Raine sipped her drink contemplatively.

  "Because the person whose heart I have had some unresolved issues. I don't know." Noah shrugged. "I am hoping that if I resolve these issues, I can get to writing again."

  "Really?" Raine asked. "Like how would you know he had unresolved issues."

  "Because I can feel it." Noah didn't want to get into that conversation with Raine. He was relieved when the waiter brought the food.

  But Raine wasn't giving up the subject. She was staring at him, fascinated. "You mean like, you can feel what the person felt?"

  Noah sighed. "Yes, I can to some extent. Sometimes, I get a yearning sensation but it is possible it could be something else. I don't know. I am still investigating."

  She nodded, "Your life is so cool."

  "I wouldn't think of my life as cool. Right now I am living a life of quiet desperation."

  Raine stopped her fork midway to her mouth.

  "That's how I feel when I am not writing," Noah said quickly. "I know it might come across as high drama but each day that goes by and I fail to write, I get more jittery and uncomfortable."

  Raine chewed her food and then swallowed. "I wasn't thinking high drama. I was just thinking, you have this life, you have all of this at your fingertips," she indicated to their surroundings, "sun, sand, beach…a lifestyle that most ordinary people don't have and yet you speak of quiet desperation."

  Noah looked at her contemplatively. "Maybe I am ungrateful to a certain extent. If you had all of this, you would be content? Fulfilled?"

  "I don't know." Raine frowned. "I might be. Well after a couple days it may get stale but..."

  Noah shrugged. "When you were with Bradley living in Rose Hall Suites were you happy?"

  "No!" Raine said a bit too loudly. "I only lived there in the first place because..."

  Her voice trailed away and she bent her head. "I should get a bridle for my tongue."

  Noah smiled. He thought it wise to change the topic to get her comfortable again.

  "I think we are happiest with people not things. And this is coming from a man who likes to be alone writing books, hating distractions, especially people distractions, but at the end of the day, after self imposed isolation, most times I am very grateful for the few genuine people I have left in my life."

  Raine nodded. "Who are they, the people closest to you?"

  "My family." Noah shrugged, "a few friends."

  "You are close to your family?"

  "Yes." Noah nodded. "My mom's family mostly. My mother is very family-oriented. She is always having dinners and brunches and parties and get-togethers so that we can keep in touch.

  "My dad's family I am just getting to meet. I recently discovered that I have three brothers and a sister, cousins, aunts and uncles, a whole gamut of relatives. I went to my brother Oliver's wedding in September and then my sister Lisa will be getting married in February. Want to be my plus one?"

  Raine gasped. "Me?"

  "Why not you?" Noah asked, "I would have gone alone otherwise. The wedding is on a Sunday…won't interfere with your school at all."

  He changed the topics to books before Raine could protest further. "So, what do you think of my mother's collection of books?"

  ****

  They were getting into a groove. By the fourth day he had taken to picking up Raine at her place and everyday he learned a little more about Paddington, St. Mary. He could reconstruct the place in his minds eye. He was poring over a street map spread across his desk when Dotty stuck her head in his office.

  "Morning, I know you haven't been eating here lately but do you want dinner this evening?"

  "No thanks." Noah looked at her apologetically. "Sorry Dotty."

  "That's fine." Dotty came further into the room. "What's going on?"

  "I am getting books from Mom's place," Noah said glancing at her suspicious expression, "so I eat at the beach cafe. This evening we are getting the last of the books. I'll be back late. I might get something to eat at the Great House."

  "Mmmph." Dotty frowned. "I know a female is involved. I can only say, what I always say, be smart."

  Noah shook his head. "I am not having some secret romance."

  It was not a romance. They talked a lot, they laughed together a great deal. They had lunch together. He was getting to know her and what he knew he liked.

  Yes, she was Bradley's ex, but that was beginning to become less of an issue the more time he spent with her.

  What was confusing him these days was not that he was liking Raine. It was the niggling feeling that somehow he was predisposed to liking her because of this new heart and her past with Dean Long.

  He rubbed his hand over his chest absently.

  "I'll leave you to it," Dotty said skepticism high in her voice, and then she turned back. "Did Whitney say anything to you about hosting the executive dinner party this year? She is thinking of having it here, by the pool."

  "No." Noah raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with her house? One of the hotels?"

  "Her pool is being repaired. Here is bigger. Hotels are booked." Dotty shrugged. "She said she completely forgot about it due to personal issues."

  Dotty snorted. "She said she asked you."

  Noah shook his head. "Can't recall."

  "It is next Sunday." Dotty looked at him pointedly. "Yay or nay?"

  Noah sighed. "Remind me not to be here."

  "Wish I could do the same," Dotty muttered. "I would much prefer not seeing her cheating-user-husband laughing with their business colleagues pretending that everything is all right. I may just strangle him."

  "Then you should excuse yourself from the party in case you give in, the board of Levy Industries actually like Bradley. Whitney still loves him. You won't have many sympathizers with your act of passion. "

  Dotty nodded. "You are right and I am too pretty to be in jail."

  Noah chuckled.

  "You know who I can't stand more than Bradley?"

  "Who?" Noah rolled up the street map and turned fully to Dotty.

  "The woman who knowingly cheats with him. I tell you, if I could get my hand on the mistress..."

  Noah inhaled sharply. "Dotty! Enough! No more talk of hurting people. All of this, is none of our business anyway."

  "Yes... maybe," Dotty sniffed and walked through the door. "But rest assured I am thinking bad things toward that particular female."

  Unfortunately, her words were ringing in his head when he went to pick up Raine and he found himself being grumpy all day. In a twisted kind of way, he was feeling let down by Raine as if the news of her affair with Bradley was fresh all over again in his mind.

  How could he like the very girl who had had an affair with his sister's husband? It was sickening.

  He watched as she bent over a box arranging the books so she could fit more in it. He waited for the feeling of abhorrence to kick in but none came. Today, she had her hair in two thick plaits, and had on no makeup. She seemed fresh and innocent looking; quite unlike the femme fatale that Dotty thought she was.

  Why would she have gone into an affair with Bradley? How did they meet?

  The questions came to him hard and fast. So far, he had managed to keep them at bay, but now they were pounding in his head like a hammer that wouldn't let up.

  They were in one of his mother's guest rooms, going through box after box of books that his mom had packed haphaza
rdly.

  The boxes had more than books. He was sifting through a box of letters. He crammed them back into the zip lock bag that his mother had them in. Most of them looked like bills, but one caught his eye. It had the insignia of a security firm. He pulled it open and sat on the carpet.

  Curiosity was egging him on to read it. He really shouldn't. It was addressed to his mother. Not him. And obviously it was not that important she had not taken it with her to her new apartment.

  He unfurled the heavy feeling paper and read the header. Owl Security: Surveillance Report for Subject Bradley McInnis.

  Noah almost choked when he read the name. His mother had checked Bradley out. He looked at the date. It was July 30, 2012, one year before Whitney got married to Bradley!

  He looked over at Raine who was leafing through a children's book and chuckling to herself and then back at the letter.

  Subject: Bradley McInnis, born the 13 of August, 1987, twenty-eight years old at the St. Mary Charity Clinic. Original address: Paddington, St. Mary.

  He inhaled sharply.

  Raine looked up at him. "You okay?"

  He nodded and then squinted at her. "Fine. Just discovered something."

  "What's that?" she pointed at the letter.

  "An investigation report," Noah said his voice clipped. She was obviously waiting for more but he bent his head and looked over the report.

  Criminal record— none.

  Previous wives—none.

  Previous serious relationships— ten accounted for.

  Noah frowned, no mention of any names. No mention of him having a mistress while dating Whitney.

  Previous jobs. One failed company, was previously employed to Newt and Co. an investment firm in New York. Reason for return to Jamaica, made redundant from firm, average employee.

  No employee infractions.

  He skipped through the rest of the report and then put down the letter. It was by and large what he knew, except for the Paddington, St. Mary bit.

  Everything was pointing to that place. Raine, Dean Long, Bradley... Cassandra Green?

  He had a feeling that somehow they were all interconnected. He put the letter into the bag and leaned on the wall with his eyes closed. If this were a book, how would he work out this plot?