Janet’s glazed eyes swept around the room. “To think someone, some slimy creature—and I emphasize slimy—slithered across my floors and sneaked around my apartment? Makes me want to throw up.”
“Have you called the police?”
Janet shook her head.
“You should, you know.”
Janet frowned. “And have more strangers roaming around, searching through the apartment and asking questions. I can’t do it. Besides, I don’t think my prankster wants to hurt me.” She gave a weak smile. “I think he just wants to have a little fun at my expense.”
“There’s something you’re not telling me. I know you too well.”
Janet hesitated. “Breakfast is ready,” she said and headed toward the kitchen.
Chelsea followed along behind, pulled out a chair and sat down. She waited while Janet poured the coffee and filled their plates. Then she spoke. “Okay, let’s have it.”
“I’ve been getting phone calls.”
“Obscene?”
“They’re obscene all right, but not the way you mean.”
“You’re being harassed?”
“Harassment? I’m not even sure I’d call it that—more like a game. He seems to be having the time of his life playing word puzzles and riddles.”
“Riddles?”
“Crazy stuff—about having wisdom and talent, about achieving greatness.”
“Sounds like something from the Bible.”
“No, Chels, I don’t think he’s religious.”
“The caller’s a man?”
“That’s another thing I don’t know. The voice varies. Sometimes it’s a raspy coarse whisper, then the next time slightly effeminate. I never know what to expect.”
“Maybe it’s more than one person.”
“Maybe.”
Chelsea took a sip of coffee and set the cup down. “You could get caller I-D.”
Janet snorted. “We both know he’d find a way around that: pay phones or cellular. And I’ve thought about getting an unlisted number, but heck, anybody with as much savvy as my mysterious caller would get the new number and then call and gloat about it.”
Chelsea spread jelly on the steaming roll and cast a suspicious eye in Janet’s direction. “You have no idea what might be going on?”
“Do you?”
“Think, Janet.”
Janet nodded. “Etienne. The will.”
“It seems awfully funny that all this only started after Mrs. Lancaster died.”
“Too much of a co-inky-dink, huh?”
“By far too much. And don’t forget the main ingredient: there’s a ton of money involved.”
Janet frowned. “But why wouldn’t he just come forward to claim his half? After all, he’s entitled to it.”
“Maybe he wants it all.”
“But to get it all, I’d have to be out of the picture.”
“You mean like Hilda?”
Janet gave a shaky laugh. “Whoa, now we’re getting into the bizarre.” She stood up and ran a weary hand over her face. “Life is far too complicated. Etienne. The Lancaster estate. Stephen. And now Adam.”
At the thought of Adam, she dropped back into her chair.
Chelsea shot her a look of skepticism. “Okay, what else is on your mind?”
“Adam asked me to marry him. We had dinner last night, and he actually asked me to marry him.”
Chelsea’s eyes widened and a grimace tugged at the corners of her mouth. “And what did you say?”
Janet laughed. “Well, I didn’t say yes.”
“That means you didn’t say ‘no.’ You’re too good for that money-grubbing weasel. You do know that?”
Janet smiled. “He can weave a mighty spell,” she said. “Besides, he declares he’s changed. Maybe he has.”
“What about Stephen? You haven’t mentioned him for quite some time.”
“I don’t know about Stephen. He’s like a whiff of smoke. First he’s here, then he’s gone. Do I trust him enough to confide in him? I’ve asked myself that question again and again.”
“And what did you tell yourself?”
Janet shook her head.
“Well, when it comes to the hard calls, you’re level-headed enough to make good decisions.” Chelsea smiled. “You may get a little wild in your imaginings, thinking Sebastian’s a Hobbit—”
“Have you ever seen his feet? No, and neither have I. I’ve been trying to think of a way to get him to pull off his shoes.”
“You would,” Chelsea shook her head and laughed. “Heaven help me, and don’t ask me why, but I trust your judgment. Whatever you decide to do, I’m behind you all the way.”
“You’re a true friend, Chels. I owe you.”
“Pshaw,” Chelsea said with a grin. “You and I owe each other nothing. That’s why we’re such bosom buddies.”
Janet carried the dishes to the sink while Chelsea returned the butter and jelly to the refrigerator. After wiping off the table and countertop, Janet took Chelsea’s arm and headed them toward the door.
“Okay, buddy. Let’s get to work before we have the wrath of the Wicked Witch of the West to deal with.”
Janet spent the morning letting the healing environment of the library work its magic. In a corner, the kindergarten class of Middlebrook Elementary sat wide-eyed as Chelsea read the story of a little mountain girl and her grandfather. She watched their eager faces and tried to remember the first time she heard the story of Heidi. Across the room, the door to Miss Austin’s office stood open and Janet could hear Sebastian’s laughter. The world seemed to be rotating on an even keel, so she turned her attention back to work.
The morning passed almost without Janet realizing it. So deep was she in concentration that she was not aware of another presence until a shadow fell across her desk. Her head jerked up.
“Ready?” Chelsea asked.
“Ready?”
“You know—lunch. Reading to four-year-old seat-squirmers gives me a big appetite.” Chelsea laughed. “You forgot, didn’t you? It’s just as well, since it’s my turn to treat.”
Then Janet remembered that it was the middle of the month. Payday. Every two weeks they had lunch together. On the first she treated. The middle was Chelsea’s turn.
Janet switched off the work lamp and pushed her chair back.
“Oh no, you don’t,” she warned. “And don’t even think McDonald’s. If you’re all that starved, how about hitting Victoria and Albert’s?”
“Me and my big mouth,” Chelsea groaned. “Have you no mercy?”
“Lots. It’s my middle name,” Janet said as they slipped into their coats. “As a matter of fact, my fine feathered friend, today’s on me.”
“You’re sure? We can make it dutch.”
“Nope. I declare this a special day, and who’s more special than you and me?”
Chelsea laughed. “Nobody that I know of.”
Sebastian came out of Miss Austin’s office. Light filtering through the stained glass windows highlighted his copper hair and brushed across his elfin face.
“You two going out?”
“Lunch,” Janet said. “Want to come?”
He grinned. “I’ll stay and help Amanda hold down the fort.”
“Can we bring you anything?” Janet asked. “My treat.”
He waved them away. “Maybe next time.”
“Don’t you love it,” Chelsea said, pushing through the foyer doors. “He’s only been here a few weeks, and already he’s calling her ‘Amanda.’”
“Better him than me,” Janet said and took Chelsea’s arm. “No more about them. For the next hour it’s just you and me, and food.”
“Lead me to it,” Chelsea said. “I’m starved.”
In a joint effort to enjoy the fine day and each other, they marched in time-step that reminded Janet of Laverne and Shirley: schlemiel, schlimazel. A light breeze ruffled their hair and tumbled away their words. They reached the restaurant and passed through the familiar oaken
doors that framed a frosted oval etched with wisteria and ivy.
To Janet’s mind, Victoria and Albert’s Fine Dining had the best shrimp salad in the state—maybe even the world. Today she decided it was definitely the whole world. She scraped the last bite from the plate and touched the linen napkin to the corners of her mouth. Across the table Chelsea was doing equal justice to a diminishing pile of crab-legs. The waiter replenished their iced-tea glasses.
“I may never get into this dress again,” Chelsea said, leaning back and trying not to be obvious as she loosened the sash.
“You? You barely weigh anything. What about dumpy me?”
A frown wrinkled Chelsea’s ivory brow. “Don’t let me hear you say that. You’re not dumpy—not even close. You’re the cheerleader on top of the pyramid; cute and bouncy.”
Janet laughed. “And stuffed.”
“We just had to come here, didn’t we?” Chelsea scolded. “You made me, you know. I didn’t want to.”
Janet leaned forward and lowered her voice. “But wasn’t it great?”
“Stupendous,” Chelsea said and rolled her eyes.
Janet glanced at her watch.
“We’d better get back,” she said and signaled for the check. She felt someone touch the back of her chair.
“Good afternoon, Janet.”
She turned around and looked up at the stately figure towering over them.
“Mr. Chandler,” she said. “How nice to see you.”
The cut of his suit draped a fine line from his wide shoulders to the tip of his Italian shoes. His bearing was one of old-school elegance. Even though his hair glistened like the finest platinum, Janet guessed Ethan Chandler to be no older than mid-to-late forties, and she couldn’t remember a time that he hadn’t looked exactly as he did now. Before his wife died, the two of them had been frequent guests at Heather Down. He was one of the few men Elizabeth Lancaster trusted implicitly.
He stepped closer to the table. “How are you, my dear? I haven’t seen you since your grandmother’s funeral.”
“I’ve been just fine,” Janet said with a smile. “Mr. Chandler, I don’t know if you’ve met Miss Parker or not. Chelsea works at the library.”
“I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure,” he acknowledged the introduction. “Nice to meet you, Miss Parker.”
“Mr. Chandler’s chairman of the library board,” Janet explained to Chelsea.
Chelsea gave him a pleasant smile. “I thought the name sounded familiar,” she said. “I’m pleased to meet you.”
Ethan Chandler seemed to return her apparent pleasure. “And how are things getting on at the library?” He seemed to be speaking to both of them, but clearly his attention was drawn in Chelsea’s direction. “Still running smoothly, I hope. Terrible business about Miss Jamison, the accident and all. Just terrible.” At last he pulled his eyes from Chelsea and looked at Janet. “How’s the new employee working out?”
“So far, so good,” Janet said.
“I’ll have to stop around one day and meet the young man.” He looked at Chelsea again. “I don’t see you library people nearly often enough.” He turned to leave, then stopped suddenly and turned back. “By the way Janet, did Mr. Hastings get in touch with you?”
“Adam?”
“I ran into him in the clubhouse at the lake. The boat he came in on had just docked,” Ethan Chandler said, pulling on black leather gloves. “I didn’t remember ever meeting him before, but he said you’d introduced us sometime back. I asked him if it might have been at your grandmother’s funeral, but he said it wasn’t.”
“You’re sure you asked him about the funeral?”
“Janet, are you all right? You’ve gone white as a sheet.” He pulled out a chair, sat down at the table, and laid a hand on her arm. “Can I get you a drink of water?”
She shook his hand away. Snatching open her purse, she tossed a bill on the table. Her movements were frantic and irrational. She was slightly aware of the concerned glances that passed between Ethan Chandler and Chelsea.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Chandler,” Janet said. “I can’t tell you how important it’s been for me to run into you today.” She snapped her purse shut. “Now if you’ll excuse us, we really have to get back to the library.”
As she stalked from the restaurant, Janet was well aware just how unbecoming her behavior was. Her grandmother would have scolded her for being so inconsiderate. She was ashamed of herself and skidded to a halt on the sidewalk.
“Chelsea, I’m sorry. I had no right to act like a raving maniac.”
“You must’ve had a reason.”
Janet nodded and they resumed their walk. She turned up her collar.
“He lied to me,” she said.
“Who?”
“That worm, that detestable grubby slug.”
“Oh, Adam—what other detestable slug do we know?”
“He said he didn’t know Grandmother had died, and I believed him. Oh, how I believed him.” She stopped and took Chelsea’s hand. “He asked me to marry him, you know.”
“I know.”
“And what’s worse, I was considering it. Oh, I don’t think I’d have actually done it, but I was turning over the possibility in my mind.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Good lord, don’t be. Just think what my life would’ve been like if I had’ve married that big phony.”
“What are you going to say to him?” Chelsea asked as they reached the library.
Janet pulled back the door.
“I don’t know.”
Janet worked the rest of the day in a kind of fog. On more than one occasion she was aware of Sebastian speaking to her repeatedly before getting her full attention. She just wanted the day to pass. Chelsea, with her understanding heart, kept busy and did not fuss over her. Janet was grateful. Finally, five o’clock arrived and the library closed its doors.
Walking to their cars, Chelsea pulled Janet close. “Call me later if you want to talk.”
Janet’s indigo eyes clouded with uncertainty. She nodded.
At long last she was going to give her love for Adam its last rites, a stake through the heart, and then the proper interment it deserved. She dressed in a floor-length black sweater-dress; funeral weeds, she thought. Instead of the usual braid, she pulled her hair back into a Roman-styled sweep, spiraling flame-colored curls at the sides of her face and sticking in a few sprigs of baby’s breath. Usually so casual with her makeup, she used her artist hand to sculpt and create an illusion that had been their relationship. She etched the lines and planes of her face in an exaggerated fashion that left her hardly recognizable. And while she might not have rivaled Helen of Troy, she didn’t look half bad. She wanted to make him sorry he was losing her, regret—ten-times over—his deception. He had been sure of himself, sure of his power of persuasion over her. So much for the best-laid plans.
The doorbell rang just as she dabbed a spot of Sweet Revenge on the throbbing hollow of her throat. She was anxious to let him in and get the circus underway.
“Hello, baby,” Adam said when Janet opened the door. He stepped into the room, slipped off his khaki topcoat and tossed it across the back of a chair. He reached to pull her close. “You look incredible.”
Janet extracted herself from his arms. “Come over and sit down,” she said, motioning him toward the sofa. “I’ve made coffee and cherry tarts with fresh whipped cream.”
“You remembered they’re my favorite?”
“I remember everything about you, Adam.”
“I’m flattered,” he said and smiled like the conquering hero. “Let’s not waste any more time. Please say you’ll marry me.”
Janet ladled thick, rich cream onto the bed of shiny red cherries. After she handed the plate to him she poured coffee from the china server and laid a small silver spoon on the saucer beside the cup. Then she handed him one of her best linen napkins. She knew he took special notice of the elegance. Adam was easily impressed. She turned to
face him.
“I’ve been thinking about your proposal.”
He beamed like a knight about to rescue a damsel in distress. Janet could see victory—and dollar signs—flash in his green eyes.
“There’s so much to be considered. Since Grandmother died I’ve had nobody but myself. And there’s the estate—a ton of money.”
She lowered her eyes but continued to watch from beneath her lashes. He was beginning to salivate. Greed was eating him alive and she could see him as he mentally spent all those beautiful dollars.
“Baby, the money’s not important.”
“But it’s there. We have to deal with it.” She tucked her legs beneath her body and smoothed down the dress. “The house at the Point. The land holdings and the properties. They’re worth millions. More than one person could spend in a lifetime.”
His hand quivered as he sliced his fork through the flaky crust of the tart and raked an extra portion of frothy cream on the cutaway section. He shoved it into his mouth and washed it down with a gulp of coffee. Janet hoped he didn’t choke on his eagerness.
“You can count on me, Jan. I’m here for you.”
A speck of crust hung at the corner of his mouth, the same mouth she could never get enough of. Now he just looked ridiculous, as his confidence seemed to expand.
“You need me to look out for your interests.”
As she watched the creature seated beside her on the sofa, revulsion slithered through Janet’s veins like a two-headed viper. How had she ever been in love with such a vile thing? For he surely had always been as he was tonight, she told herself silently. How was it she had not seen it before now?
Janet gave him a sweet smile. “Chelsea and I had lunch at Victoria and Albert’s today.”
“That’s nice.” His internal gyroscope was on automatic pilot—and aimed in one direction. “But, about us.” He slid closer to her, put a hand on her shoulder, and made to draw her near. “Don’t you think it’s time to set a date?”
Janet looked at him with a slight simper and gave him her very best I’ll-leave-everything-up-to-you smile. That was all the encouragement he needed.
“I want you to have a proper wedding, one you’ll be proud of. And a ring. I want to get you the finest diamond available. We’ll fly to New York and get it at Tiffany’s. I know a couple people who are expert at making deals.” He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “Of course, it’s going to cost money. A lot of money. You deserve nothing but the best.”
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