The Rebel Daughter (Daughters Of The Roaring Twenties Book 2)

by Lauri Robinson

  “I’ve missed you, too.” He planted a simple kiss on her forehead, much like he had last night. “Now behave while I go and talk to your father, or I won’t take you flying again.”

  Despite how dismal everything seemed, her heart fluttered. “Do you mean it?” she asked. “That you will take me flying again?”

  His smile grew slightly, giving way to a dimple or two. “Yes, I mean it. But only if you behave.”

  She bit down on her bottom lip and pressed her heels against the floor to keep from jumping up and hugging him. Oh, yes, she’d behave, and she’d prove to everyone just who Twyla Nightingale really was.

  He chuckled and led her away. At her father’s office door, which was open, she saw her father sitting behind his desk and Ty in one of the chairs in front of it. Forrest squeezed her hand before he let it go.

  “Behave,” he whispered.

  Twyla nodded and waited for Forrest to close the door. She’d then move down the hall to Norma Rose’s office, which was where she was sure to find her sisters. Both of them would no doubt be ganging up against her.

  Something snagged her attention and she leaned sideways, in an attempt to glance around the closing door. The door clicked shut and she frowned. In the background, over Forrest’s shoulder, she could have sworn she’d witnessed her father grin and wink at her. She tried her best to recall that very moment. Even closed her eyes briefly. Yes, it had happened. She wouldn’t have dreamed that up.

  A smile tickled the corners of her mouth and she gave it free will to appear. Her father was proud of her for all she’d done lately, had told her so more than once. Smiling fully, she nodded to herself, happy there was one less person she had to prove herself to.

  With Forrest’s advice and her father’s silent, simple encouragement, Twyla entered Norma Rose’s office with more confidence than ever before.

  “What were you thinking?” Norma Rose asked as soon as Twyla pushed open the door.

  “About what?” Twyla asked calmly while closing the door behind her.

  “Don’t be smart with me,” Norma Rose snapped. “Do you have any idea how dangerous flying is?”

  Twyla refrained from saying she wasn’t being smart, not in the way Norma Rose implied, and that her sister knew nothing—absolutely nothing—about flying. Instead she sighed. “I know how marvelous it is. How freeing and utterly fantastic. You should try it someday.”

  “I will not,” Norma Rose said.

  “Suit yourself.” Twyla sat down in the chair at the table near the window, where Josie sat in the opposite chair. Norma Rose was behind her desk, making herself as superior as ever. Biting back a smile, Twyla said, “But Forrest is an excellent pilot. He’s never crashed. Not once.”

  “There’s always a first,” Norma Rose said. Her attitude had calmed considerably. “And Forrest should have known better than to take you flying without my permission.”

  “I don’t need your permission, Norma Rose,” Twyla answered. “Just like Josie doesn’t need your permission to attend her Ladies Aid meetings.”

  “Don’t bring me in on this,” Josie said, holding up both hands.

  “I’m not bringing you in on anything,” Twyla said. “I’m merely making a point. None of us need to ask permission from one another.” Twyla held up her hands. “I’m not saying we shouldn’t talk about things and get each other’s opinions, especially when it comes to running the resort.” She pointed to the snow globe sitting on Norma Rose’s desk. “But when it comes to going to the amusement park with a man, or flying with an old friend, we don’t need to ask for permission. None of us are children anymore.” For added weight, she said, “Not even Ginger, who’s younger than all of us.”

  Norma Rose’s gaze had settled on the snow globe. “I guess you’re right.”

  “Thank you,” Twyla said sincerely, shocked as she was that Norma Rose had given in so quickly. Not about to lose the opportunity, she continued, “I want us to be more than sisters. I want us to be partners. We need to be, in order to keep the resort in tip-top shape with all the changes happening.” Lifting her chin, she added, “In order for that to happen, we need to treat each other like the adults we are.”

  Josie, always the most quiet, nodded as she glanced between Twyla and Norma Rose. “Most of the time.” Glancing back and forth again, she added, “Most of the time we act like adults.”

  Twyla had to agree with that.

  Norma Rose nodded, too, but then she lifted her gaze, which was very somber and sincere. “Speaking of resorts, did Forrest tell you his father is being paroled?”

  Twyla felt as if she’d been hit with a ten-pound hammer. “No,” she whispered, more in protest than in answer. “No, he can’t be.”

  “He is,” Norma Rose said. “Forrest told Father last night. Father asked Ty to investigate, make a few phone calls. Father talked to people, too, and it appears as if Galen will be given a new trial if the repeal his lawyer submitted is accepted. The lawyer claims to have new evidence.”

  Twyla pressed a hand to her forehead and then to her mouth. She fought a silent battle as the room turned eerily quiet. Under most circumstances, she’d never share a secret, as she had many of them herself, but in this case, when it came to Forrest’s safety, she had to tell her sisters.

  A huge, burning lump formed in her throat, one she couldn’t swallow around, and she had to blink at the sting in her eyes. She sniffled, too, more affected by the news than she would have imagined. The image of Forrest injured, broken and bruised by a man who proclaimed to be his father had her hands balling into fists.

  “There’s more,” Norma Rose said gravely.

  Twyla wrung her hands but the shaking wouldn’t stop.

  “The new evidence implicates Father,” Norma Rose revealed.

  Quiet and rational, Josie said, “Of course it would. Father is the one who sent Galen to prison.”

  “Exactly,” Norma Rose said, “and perhaps Forrest only returned home in order to—”

  Unwilling to let Norma Rose finish what she was about to say, Twyla jumped to her feet. “Forrest wouldn’t do that.” Her sister’s insistence that they all should hate Forrest had gone on long enough. “And he’s not his father.”

  “Who?” Josie asked. “Who’s not whose father?”

  “Galen Reynolds isn’t Forrest’s father,” Twyla said quietly, and repeated the short explanation Forrest had given her. While that was settling in for both of her sisters, she added, “And Forrest never left town by choice.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She briefly shared what Forrest had told her. A tale that made her insides burn all over again.

  “Oh, dear heavens,” Josie whispered. “Did Forrest tell you that, too?”

  “Yes,” Twyla answered. The need to protect Forrest grew stronger inside her. “But please don’t act like you know. I said I wouldn’t tell anyone.” Turning to Norma Rose, Twyla paused. Her sister looked rather ashamed.

  “You knew, didn’t you?” Twyla asked.

  Norma Rose shook her head. “No, but Father always insisted there were things I didn’t know about.”

  “Father knew?” Twyla asked, a bit shocked.

  “What doesn’t Father know?” Josie responded.

  The room grew silent. Mostly because, just like her, her sisters were probably contemplating a few things they hoped their father didn’t know about.

  Josie was the first to speak. “Remember how mean Galen Reynolds was when Mother died?”

  “Who could forget,” Twyla said, her stomach churning. “I thought he was the devil reincarnated.”

  “And now he’s being paroled,” Norma Rose said.

  Twyla’s backbone shivered, and she straightened her spine against it. That filled her with something else, a sense of power perhaps, because she let her
gaze roam between her sisters. “But this time, we aren’t children, and he can’t frighten us with his evil glares.”

  Norma Rose lifted her chin. “And we have ten times more money than he ever hoped to have.”

  As Twyla and Norma Rose’s gazes met, Twyla felt her newfound power growing. In unison they turned to Josie.

  With a somewhat frightened look, Josie swallowed visibly. “What are you two thinking?”

  “I don’t know yet,” Twyla said. “But there has to be something we can do.” She turned to Norma Rose, hoping this once they could stand together. “Right?”

  Norma Rose was chewing on a fingernail, but nodded.

  “But Galen Reynolds is evil,” Josie said. “He truly is.”

  Twyla sensed there was more behind her sister’s statement. “What do you know that we don’t?”

  Gnawing on her bottom lip, Josie once again glanced between sisters. With a sigh, she said, “I’m sworn to secrecy, so it can’t leave this room.”

  “What can’t?” Twyla demanded.

  “Galen Reynolds never had a film company. Not a real one.”

  “We know that,” Twyla said, disappointed.

  “It was a front for shipping girls to California—those he promised movie deals to. And most of those girls that he took to Hollywood disappeared.”

  A shiver rippled down Twyla’s spine. “Disappeared?”

  Josie nodded. “Disappeared. Never have been seen or heard from again.”

  “How do you know that?” Norma Rose asked.

  “I just do,” Josie answered.

  Twyla didn’t want to sound cold, but her insides had turned to ice thinking about Ginger and how she’d talked about going to Hollywood. “I thought they were prostitutes he hired to work at the Plantation.”

  “He’s the one that turned them into prostitutes,” Josie said. “It wasn’t what they’d been promised.”

  “How do you know that?” Norma Rose asked.

  “I can’t tell you,” Josie said. “But it’s true. And there’s more.”

  “What more?” Twyla asked.

  “Some that didn’t disappear,” Josie said, “were found dead.”

  Twyla believed her sister fully. Goose bumps covered her arms as she turned to Norma Rose. “What are we going to do?”

  “I don’t know yet,” Norma Rose answered. “I need to talk to Ty, and Father—”

  “But he’ll stop us.” Desperation crept up Twyla’s spine.

  Norma Rose nodded. “They all will. Father, Ty, even Forrest. None of them will want us involved. However, on the other hand,” she continued, “we can’t come up with a plan if we don’t know what’s happening. Let me gather a bit more information, and then we can decide what we can do.”

  Twyla wasn’t impressed with that plan, but considering she didn’t have one of her own, she nodded.

  “Sometimes,” Norma Rose said thoughtfully, “when you make your bed, you have to lie in it.”

  Twyla’s insides jittered. She had no idea exactly to whom Norma Rose was referring.

  * * *

  Forrest had sat down in the extra chair and without protest accepted the glass of brandy Roger had poured for each of them. The alcohol might do him some good, and it wasn’t as if he was going to go flying again today.

  Roger had climbed out of his chair as soon as Forrest had closed the door, and had been making small talk ever since. About driving around with Palooka George, looking at land the man might be interested in buying, how swell the party had been last night, even how successful businesses in the area were.

  Having finished his drink, Forrest leaned over to set the glass on the table between him and Ty—at the same time Ty did—and they locked eyes. Forrest took it that Ty was just as perplexed by Roger’s behavior as he was.

  Roger picked up his glass then, having been too busy talking to drink much of it, and finished it in one long swallow. He set the empty glass on his desk and included both Forrest and Ty in a long, somewhat scrutinizing stare. Sitting down in his chair, he let out a sigh. “I wanted to give both of you a chance to get over that little scene outside. I know my girls can be a handful, but you two handled it quite well, keeping those girls apart.”

  Forrest glanced toward Ty, curious to know how the other man was reacting to that compliment.

  Once again, Ty met his gaze. “I don’t know about you,” Ty said, “but I was hiding behind Norma Rose for protection.”

  The ice that could have been filling the room cracked, and the laughter Roger let out melted any frost that may have been lingering behind. Forrest grinned at Ty in agreement. “I was sure it was going to break out into a full-blown boxing match.”

  “Without gloves,” Ty added.

  “I haven’t seen those two go at it like that in years,” Roger said.

  “Really?” Forrest asked dryly. “I remember them fighting fairly regularly.”

  Roger shook his head. “Things have changed since you left, Forrest. Norma Rose was always full of herself, but she lost a bit of it for a while. I figured giving her charge over her sisters would bring it back. It wasn’t the trick I’d hoped it would be. She turned into a tyrant. I still wasn’t too concerned, figured when the younger ones got tired of it, they’d give her what for.” Roger sighed again. “I was right, while also being wrong. Norma Rose’s iron hand kept the girls at home, where they needed to be...protected, but it also made them stir-crazy. They started sneaking out. Running away.” He ran a hand through his silvery white hair. “Ginger ran away to Chicago, you know. I’m heading down there tomorrow to get her, something I almost don’t want to do.”

  Forrest attempted to keep his surprise hidden, both at hearing Ginger had run away and Roger’s statement, yet he had to ask, “You don’t?”

  Roger shook his head. “Oh, I want her home, but I’m glad she took a stand. The others haven’t. Josie’s buried herself in that cumbersome Ladies Aid Society, throwing birthday parties for women four times her age, and Twyla, well, up until lately, she’d reverted back to being ten. Which drove half the men in my employ, as well as her sister, crazy. I couldn’t even punish her when she snuck out to the Pour House or the boxing match down in St. Paul.” Settling his gaze on Forrest he added, “Or when I found out about her kissing booth.”

  “I wondered if you knew about all that,” Forrest admitted.

  “How could I not?” Roger asked. “My men tell me everything. I also know a man can’t keep his children under his thumb forever. My girls have been cooped up like a brood of chicks for years. But that’s how it had to be.” Roger paused briefly to glance at Ty. “Until Galen went to prison.”

  “I’m not blaming you, Forrest,” Roger said, turning his way. “I know what happened. I know if Bronco and Jacob hadn’t stepped in when they did, you’d have been killed. And I know Galen hated me more for that. Which I never minded.”

  Forrest wasn’t surprised Roger knew what had happened. He was, however, surprised to learn it had been Bronco who helped Jacob save his life that night. Remorse settled deep at the way he’d turned his back on those men, on his inheritance and on the only people he’d ever cared about for so many years.

  “I did mind,” Roger said, leaning forward and lifting both brows, “how Galen threatened my daughters, and I did mind how he prevented you from returning home.”

  Forrest’s hands balled into fists. He’d wished a million times things had turned out differently, but never more so than right now. “That will never happen again. Galen threatening your daughters.”

  “I know it won’t,” Roger said. “So let’s get down to business. Besides being a lawyer, Ty’s a private investigator and has learned your father may get a new trial.”

  Forrest was more than ready to get down to business and knew where he had to start. Whether he
wanted Roger to be involved or not was no longer an issue. Protecting Twyla and her sisters meant he’d take all the help he could get. But blood, in Roger’s eyes, ran thicker than water. It was time he knew the truth. “Galen Reynolds isn’t my father.”

  Roger’s sigh seemed full of relief. “Karen finally told you.”

  Taken aback, Forrest asked, “You knew?”

  “My wife, Rose, knew, and she told me,” Roger said. “I’ve never told a soul, but I wanted to tell you more often than not.”

  “My uncle Silas told me while I was staying at their house,” Forrest explained, “and my mother confirmed it when I returned home before going to Nebraska.”

  Roger waited as if he expected Forrest to say more, but Forrest figured he’d said enough. Turning to Ty, he said, “I know a new trial has been requested—I want to know who requested it.” He turned toward Roger and asked, “And why.”

  Roger answered. “Ty hasn’t figured out who’s behind it, but he will. He’s the best of the best.”

  That was fitting, and explained plenty. Roger only hired the best of the best, so for Ty to be so readily included in the Nightingale family, he had to be top-notch. Yet Forrest questioned exactly what type of private investigator Ty might be. However, either way—gangster or federal agent—the man could uncover the answers he hadn’t been able to find. “You were behind Galen’s arrest,” Forrest said to Roger. “Why California? Why not here?”

  “Because I wanted him as far away from my daughters as I could get him,” Roger said. “And from you and your mother, too.”

  Forrest needed a more definite answer than that, and he let his gaze say so.

  Roger shook his head as if in dismay. “As hard as it may be to believe, I don’t know everything. But I do know your mother held the purse strings.”

  Forrest had no idea what that had to do with anything. “There was no money,” he said. It wasn’t something he was bitter about.