Marc had always known that Fancy loved Case. In his heart he’d hoped something might develop between them, but it had never moved past friendship. He’d left Savannah in order to give Fancy’s relationship a chance to heal and for Case to get over his ruffled feelings. Although he’d left town, the damage had been done. Case and Fancy had been apart for two years, during which time Marc had traveled the world. It had only been very recently that they’d mended their relationship and gotten re-engaged.
Marc needed to be home in Savannah. He could no longer punish himself for falling for Fancy. And he wasn’t going to put Fancy and Case’s needs above his family. His beloved father was dying. Cancer had come in like a thief in the night and grabbed Lucien Cabron by the throat. And it hadn’t let go, not since the terrible day he’d been diagnosed. Stage three cancer. At the present time, his father’s cancer had worsened to stage four. The entire family knew that he was nearing the end. It drove Marc a little crazy that he’d been away from home for so long in an effort to make up for the past. He didn’t want to think about all the days he’d missed with his father. It only led to anger.
The click of heels on the hardwood floor alerted him to the fact that the ladies of Savannah House were joining him in the parlor. One by one they filed in to the room, greeting him with more civility than he’d ever imagined. After all, hadn’t he been the bad guy in the Case-Fancy breakup? Because Fancy was their friend and Case was related to both Callie and Charlotte, he’d been the obvious villain in the situation.
He could try and pretend as if that hadn’t wounded him, but it wouldn’t be the truth. When he’d left Savannah two years ago his heart and his soul had been wounded. If he added in all the grief he hadn’t dealt with regarding Gretchen’s death, it would amount to a tsunami of emotions he had had been grappling with.
Fancy approached him and gave him a warm hug. Although it felt a little awkward to have five pairs of eyes staring at them, he felt grateful for Fancy’s warmth. She was a good person. He knew that with a deep certainty. And he also knew with just one look at her that he no longer was in love with her. If he ever actually had been. He still wasn’t sure if his feelings for Fancy had been real or a rebound situation after Gretchen’s death. Either way, nothing but trouble had come of it.
“Thanks for coming, Marc. We really appreciate it,” Fancy said, gesturing toward one of the seats at the table. “Why don’t you sit down Marc so we can get started.”
Marc took a seat without realizing it placed him directly across from Charlotte. She hadn’t stopped glaring at him for a single moment.
What is her problem? He fumed. Didn’t she realize that he wanted to move past the drama of two years ago? And couldn’t Case fight his own battles? Why did Charlotte think she had to wage war against him to defend her brother?
Callie began to elaborate on the information he had briefly heard about in the initial phone conversation. Savannah House and the inheritance left to the six women by Hattie Alexander was being challenged by an unknown entity named Grayson Holloway.
“From what we discovered from Mr. Mayhew, this Holloway character resides in Atlanta as far as we can tell, although he also has a residence in Massachusetts. He’s represented by counsel,” Callie explained. She shrugged her shoulders and let out a frustrated sigh. “We don’t really know much more about him.”
“That’s where you come in,” Olivia said with a smile. “Hopefully.” She crossed her hands in prayer-like fashion. “We really need you to dig into Grayson’s background and provide us with information that would show the falsity of his claim.”
“His entire case is built on false statements,” Hope added.
“How do you know it’s false?” Marc asked, his mind whirling with the possibilities. It would be a shame if the ownership of Savannah House was turned over to someone else. But it was possible. And he had the feeling all six of the ladies knew it, whether they wished to acknowledge it or not.
“Miss Hattie was childless,” Charlotte said in a clipped tone. He met her frosty gaze and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Accepting this assignment would be so much easier if Charlotte played nice with him. The last thing he needed was more stress in his life. But something told him that Charlotte was going to make him pay dearly for causing her brother pain.
“Do you know that for a fact?” he asked, challenging Charlotte.
Charlotte didn’t back down. “Yes. We do. She shared quite a bit of her life with us and we would have known if she had a child.”
“I’ve seen a lot of secrets come rising to the surface in my line of work,” he said. “Always expect the unexpected.”
Charlotte let out a disgruntled noise. “I’m guessing you know a lot about keeping secrets. Isn’t that your specialty?”
“Charlotte!” Olivia chastised her friend. “That’s uncalled for.”
Fancy looked at Charlotte with a surprised expression etched on her face.
Marc stood up and let out a sigh. “Sorry ladies. This isn’t going to work out. Thank you for inviting me here.” He nodded his head, then said, “I wish you the best of luck in this endeavor. I sincerely hope Grayson Holloway is just a crank with no leg to stand on.”
Hope let out a groaning sound. “Don’t leave us hanging, Marc.”
Olivia jumped up and trailed after him. “Marc! Please come back. We really need your help.”
He had reached the front door of Savannah House. Marc turned toward Olivia and sent her a wry grin. “I’m sorry, Olivia. There’s a lot going on in my life at the moment. My dad is terminally ill and I have a lot of ground to cover in many areas due to my absence from Savannah. I don’t have time to deal with petty grudges.”
“Wait! Please don’t go,” Olivia called out after him.
He wrenched the door open and walked out into the January sunlight. It felt good on his face as he tilted it up toward the sky. It was a beautiful day on Tybee Island. Way too gorgeous to waste his time being mistreated or judged. He was done with that. For two years he’d been away from his family because of the vicious Savannah gossips.
Tomorrow wasn’t promised. Life was way too short to waste a single second on small-minded people. Although he truly liked and admired the ladies of Savannah House, he thought that Charlotte Duvall had to be one of the most spiteful women he’d ever encountered.
Marc had given enough blood, sweat and tears. Whatever he had left to give was going toward his beloved father and his family.
“Loving Fancy wasn’t really a choice for me. When you truly fall in love with someone all choices go out the window.”
Case Duvall
Chapter Two
Charlotte shifted in her seat as tension hovered in the air. The vibe in the room was uncomfortable. Charlotte didn’t need anyone to tell her that she’d messed up something fierce. She felt in right down in her soul.
“What in the world were you thinking?” Callie asked Charlotte in a raised voice. Her arms were folded across her chest and the expression on her face was one of frustration mixed with anger. Her green eyes were blazing.
Olivia walked back into the parlor and shot Charlotte a mystified look. She threw her hands up in the air. “He left. I tried to talk him into coming back but he wouldn’t hear a word of it. You really messed things up for us, Charlotte.”
Fancy shook her head at Charlotte. “You don’t need to bash Marc on my account. Or Case’s. I’ll say it again in case you didn’t hear me before. He’s not the bad guy. We’ve moved on. And part of moving on is letting go of grudges.”
“And he was going to help us with this mess,” Morgan said. “Now what are we going to do? We’re going to have to start back at square one and find somebody else to help us.”
“I’m sorry,” Charlotte spit out, feeling the heat of five pairs of eyes focused on her like laser beams. “I don’t like the guy. And I know you say things are over and done with, Fancy, but he caused a lot of pain and heartache.”
“So did I,” Fancy sa
id in a soft voice. “I thought we’d moved past this. It just feels like you’re holding on to it.”
Charlotte immediately regretted causing Fancy any upset. She could tell by the crushed expression etched on her face and the shaky tone of her voice that she was distraught.
Charlotte got up from her seat and rushed to Fancy’s side. She threw her arms around Fancy and whispered, “I’m sorry for dredging things up, Fancy. When someone hurts my brother I just get so twisted up inside about it.”
Fancy addressed Charlotte. “I know how much you love Case, but honestly, Marc shouldn’t be the scapegoat for this. He really has gone through an awful lot.”
“I apologize for ruining things,” Charlotte said in a small voice. “I shouldn’t have baited Marc. It was childish.”
“We can all agree on that one,” Hope quipped.
“I have a way you can make things right,” Olivia said, her face twisted with irritation.
“Uh oh. Something tells me I’m not going to like this very much,” Charlotte said, nibbling at the end of her nail. It was a bad habit of hers whenever she got nervous.
“You can hunt Marc down and apologize. And get him to agree to work for us in this investigation of Grayson Holloway,” Olivia said in a no-nonsense voice.
“W-what?” Charlotte sputtered. “Apologize? I didn’t really say anything that bad. Not really.”
“It was fairly aggressive,” Morgan said, shooting Charlotte an incredulous look. “And evidently he didn’t take too kindly to it, since he up and left.”
“Come on, Char,” Callie said to her cousin in a coaxing voice. “Put your big girl panties on and deal with this head-on.”
Five pairs of eyes gazed at her. Not a single one of her friends seemed inclined to let her off the hook. Charlotte let out a loud groan. “Are you saying I have to track him down now?”
Charlotte watched as Callie wrote something down on a piece of paper, then thrust it at her. “This is the address for Marc’s office in downtown Savannah. It’s a small space off Bull Street.” As soon as she heard the street, Charlotte shuddered.
“If you hurry you can probably beat the lunch traffic,” Morgan suggested.
“Just great,” Charlotte mumbled as she took the piece of paper from Callie. She looked around at the women. “Anyone want to come with me? We can have lunch on River Street. My treat.” She really didn’t want to go to that area alone. It would bring up way too many bad memories.
“I really have to get back to work,” Fancy said. “I need to get on a conference call with the furniture store in Raleigh. They may be able to track down a few of the pieces I’ve been searching for.”
Olivia chimed in. “Mary is at the front desk but she might be overwhelmed since she’s a new employee.”
Since Savannah House was doing so well they’d hired a few part-time employees to help out with the inn. Most of them were college students looking for an opportunity to make some income. It was the perfect win-win situation for all involved.
Morgan looked at her watch. “I really need to get back in the kitchen. Before I know it the guests will be gathering for lunch.”
As the women scattered from the parlor, Charlotte let out a tremendous sigh. “Me and my big mouth,” she muttered. “Why couldn’t I just let sleeping dogs lie?”
Charlotte grabbed her purse and made her way to the front door of Savannah House. Whether she liked it or not, she was going to have to track down Marc Cabron at his place of business. The very thought of seeing his smug face set her teeth on edge. But, like Callie had told her, she needed to put her big girl panties on and act like a mature woman.
“Easier said than done,” she reminded herself as left Savannah House in order to head to downtown Savannah.
* * *
Marc drove back to Savannah in a foul mood. He wasn’t really the type of man who allowed his emotions to rule his head. He considered himself the calm, cool and collected type. He let out a laugh. Although he wasn’t prone to fits of anger, he did become emotional where love was concerned. He’d done it on a few occasions, most recently with Fancy.
And from the moment he’d met his fiancé, Gretchen, his heart had been wrapped up in her. He felt a tight sensation spread across his chest. His heart still ached for the loss of the woman he had loved. The woman he had wanted to marry. Happily ever after hadn’t been their destiny. He missed her friendship and loyalty each and every day.
Marc beeped his horn at the car that ran through the stop light. He loved living in Savannah but he didn’t enjoy the traffic snarls that impeded his ability to get back to the office.
If one could call it an office! At the moment it was pretty bare bones. He was still trying to hire staff and order furniture. Two years out of the loop had cost him a few contacts and clients. Thankfully, his strong reputation in the security and computer fields continued to be an asset.
Marc gazed at the sign embossed on the glass portion of his office door. Cabron Security. At least his door looked official, he thought as he let himself in to his office. Marc let out a sigh. He needed to hire a secretary and fix this place up so clients wouldn’t feel as if they were dealing with a novice. He sat down at his desk and quickly noticed the flashing green light on his phone. Marc pushed the button and listened to his messages. Gratitude flooded him as he heard messages from several prospective clients. A sense of relief flooded through him.
Praise the Lord! Things were finally going his way, at least in this department. Now that he wouldn’t be accepting the assignment from the ladies of Savannah House, he needed to fill up his calendar with other jobs. Helping his family pay for his father’s medical expenses was crucial. Money was definitely an issue for his folks. Anything he could do to ease their burdens at this time would be monumental.
For the next half hour Marc returned calls and began filling up his calendar. God truly was good. He hadn’t been certain if his business would sink or swim once he returned home. But God was showing him that if he held fast to his faith, all things were possible.
A sudden rapping on the door to his office made Marc feel even more hopeful. A new client? An interesting case for him to work on? His pulse began to quicken with excitement.
“Come in,” he called out, intrigued by all the possibilities that awaited him.
His gut clenched as the door opened. Charlotte Duvall! What in the world was she doing here? Had she seriously left Tybee Island and traveled to his office in downtown Savannah to give him more grief?
He clenched his teeth. Lord please prevent me from saying something harsh.
“Marc, I’m sorry for the intrusion,” Charlotte said in a low voice. Her demeanor had changed from earlier. She no longer radiated disgust and anger. She seemed almost calm. Civil.
“What are you doing here?” he blurted out. He couldn’t wrap his head around the sight of her standing in his office. She’d made it quite clear earlier that she thoroughly disliked him.
Charlotte fidgeted with her fingers. She let out a sigh. “May I sit down?” she asked, surprising him yet again with her request.
Marc nodded and waved his hand in the direction of the chair directly across from his desk. Charlotte sat down, placing her purse on her lap. Marc studied her purse for a moment. It was black with a simple gold chain on the front. Practical. No-nonsense. He imagined Charlotte was much the same as her purse. A woman who rarely took risks. One who sat back and judged others. In his line of work summing up people was a skill.
“What can I do for you, Miss Duvall?” Marc asked in a crisp tone.
Charlotte met his gaze. Her eyes were filled with regret. He spotted it instantly. “Please call me Charlotte. I apologize for just showing up here, but I need to talk to you about my behavior earlier. I’m very sorry for the things I said…the way I acted.”
Marc frowned at her. “Are you truly sorry? Or is this more about damage control?”
Charlotte blushed. “A little of both if I’m being honest.” She ducked her h
ead down, appearing embarrassed. “I had no right to be so sharp with you. I was out of line. We really need your help with investigating Grayson Holloway. And my actions have jeopardized that.” She shook her head, her brown hair cascading about her shoulders. “I can’t live with that, Marc. Those women at Savannah House are incredibly dear to me. I can’t let things stand as they are.”
Marc shrugged. “I won’t work for someone who doesn’t respect me. And aside from all your pretty words, I don’t think you do.”
“I don’t know you, Marc,” Charlotte said in a raised voice. “Cut me a tiny bit of slack here. I love my brother. He’s my best friend in this entire world. I know you weren’t solely to blame, but he was terribly wounded by what happened two years ago.”
“And that’s in the past,” Marc said. “We can’t continue to dwell on it. If Fancy truly is one of your best friends, and if you really do love Case, you have to bury this. Now. Before they get married. Because if you don’t, you’ll never truly be wishing them well. This will always be eating you up inside.”
“I want to move forward. I thought I’d totally forgiven Fancy for hurting Case,” she said in a soft voice. “But maybe I haven’t. And yes, I’ve taken it out on you. You’ve been my scapegoat. But I think I’ve done that because I don’t really know you. You were the perfect person to blame. I made you the villain.”
Almost against his will, a kernel of sympathy flared inside him for Charlotte. She looked incredibly contrite. And sad. And whether she realized it or not, she’d admitted something huge to him. She still harbored resentment against Fancy for hurting Case.
Falling in Love (Secrets of Savannah Book 5) Page 3
