Taming Mr. Right

by Tonya Kappes

  “Impossible.”

  “Leonard, Grace, Earl and Rosemary said you were always leaving those damn candles lit and you were always carrying a lighter.”

  “And that makes me an arsonist? What about Comet? Do you honestly think I’d hurt Comet?”

  “That’s what I said to Lucia. She said that the officers told Leonard that you could’ve planned to get to the animals before they got hurt.”

  “Why would I burn down the barn?”

  “The insurance.”

  “What insurance?”

  “Leonard had a lot of insurance on all the barns. If they were to get insurance money, it would help save the Lady B from the loss of money from the Brilliance deal that is going south.” Momma told me how they had come to the hospital and informed her about the investigation. “Unfortunately, you don’t have a solid alibi.”

  “Clay said he was with Grace?” I asked knowing the answer was going to hurt.

  “No.” Momma shook her head. “Grace said he was with her.”

  “What did he say?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear the answer.

  “He. . .” Momma choked. “He is unconscious.”

  Chapter Twenty

  The accusations about me setting the barn on fire were probably the thing I should be focusing on, but it wasn’t.

  Clay.

  The idea that he was lying in a hospital bed because of me made the situation even worse.

  Momma and I went back to her apartment in Chevy Chase. She made sure I was okay before she headed out to the grocery store. Since she was always cooking at the Beidermans and spent the majority of her day there, she had the essentials. Butter, milk, and coffee. That was about it.

  “I could go to Starbucks and get a coffee.” I picked up her phone and called 411. “Yes, can I get a cab please?”

  Before I knew it, I was in a cab telling the cab driver to take me to Central Baptist Hospital. The coffee could wait until after.

  “Can you please tell me an update on Clay Preston?” I asked the hospital operator on the way over to see him.

  “He is still listed in the ICU in critical condition,” the woman responded. “Are you a family member?”

  “No.” I knew they weren’t going to give me any information. Abruptly, I hung up the phone. I held the money over the seat. “Keep the change.”

  I rushed through the doors and asked the volunteer behind her desk for directions to the Intensive Care Unit.

  There was a button I had to push to get into the ICU.

  “Can I help you?” A woman’s voice came over the speaker.

  “I’m here to see Clay Preston.” I knew it was a long shot, but one I needed to take.

  “Are you a relative?” she asked.

  “I’m. . .his sister,” I lied and wondered if his mom knew about him being here.

  The woman didn’t give me any grief because the door buzzed and opened up, allowing me to walk right on in.

  “Right in room number three.” She pointed without looking up at me.

  The large glass doors to his room were open, but the curtain was pulled shut. I barely opened them and slipped into the darkness. Clay’s silhouette lay still in the bed as the monitors lit up around him. The beeping machines echoed, keeping time with my heart.

  Slowly I walked over to him. He looked like he was sleeping but with an oxygen mask on his face. His arms were neatly tucked at his side with a couple IV’s running from the poles into his veins.

  “Your mom called.” The curtain shrieked along the steel rod as the woman walked in. “She said she’d be here sometime this afternoon.”

  “What time did she call?” I asked the nurse. There was no way I wanted to be around when Adela showed up.

  “A plane ride ago.” Adela stood in the center of the glass doors. She wore a pair of black slacks, black flats and a black tee-shirt. “Hello, daughter.” Her eyes drew down and back up. Her lashes were long and left shadows on her cheeks. She turned to the nurse. “How is my son?”

  “His vitals are good. His oxygen level is up and I think they are going to slowly bring him out of the coma this afternoon.” The nurse gave Clay’s mom a few papers to sign before she disappeared.

  “So.” Adela pulled the chair up to Clay’s bedside and stroked his hand. “Do you want to tell me what really happened?”

  “Your son set me up.” I knew it wasn’t the place to discuss this. It was proven that while in comas, patients could still hear people talking. “He came to Lexington to spy on what my employer was doing with Brilliance. The horse that Infiniti Farms has been so desperately trying to get.”

  “I know.” Her voice was low. “But I also know that he had fallen in love with you in the process and had decided to quit while you two were in town.”

  She continued to look at him. She leaned over the railing and stroked his hair.

  “Let’s start with yesterday when he came back to town,” she suggested.

  “So he was here. I didn’t imagine it.” But where had he gone after I saw him at the pond?

  “He insisted on seeing you. I told him to call first, but he knew you weren’t going to take the call or listen to your voicemail.”

  “He was right.”

  “I’m listening,” Adela encouraged me to go on.

  “After I ran back to the office, I kind of lost my mind when Leonard asked me to take a leave of absence.” My face felt red. Embarrassed. “He asked me to hand my stuff over to my assistant, Grace. Who is capable of doing my office job, just not the daily grind. I felt like Leonard had dismissed the fact that Clay was there.”

  “Clay had called Leonard personally and told him about the inside job. The company had offered Clay everything he had ever wanted. A piece of Infiniti Farms. The deal with Brilliance relied on it.” She continued to soothe her son. “I told him that it wasn’t a good idea, but he assured me that everyone in the industry has their little insider secrets and this was no different. He never figured on you.”

  “What about Bella?” I asked.

  “Bella. Bella.” She shook her head. “Clay and Bella had been on again, off again. She’s a nice girl, but not for Clay. He knew it and I knew it. So when Infiniti asked him to come here, he jumped at the chance. He took off across the country doing a little sightseeing along the way and ended up here a day earlier than expected.”

  “Why would he not tell her? Why just leave her at the altar?”

  “He did tell her. He went to her house and he told her that she could handle the announcement the way she wanted,” she paused. “She chose to announce it at the wedding. We had no idea the wedding was still on. We thought she had called it off and let people know.”

  “She’s the one who has almost saved the day for the Lady B.”

  “Almost?” Adela’s eyes questioned me.

  “The Sheikh’s wife just so happens to be a close family friend of the Beidermans. When Bella told me about Clay and how they were setting me up, Birdie, the Sheikh’s wife, picked me up to take me to the airport.” I looked out the window. The sun was out, much unlike yesterday. “Bella must’ve seen Birdie pick me up. I had left something behind and accidentally left my briefcase in the taxi. Thank goodness Birdie watched the tape because it shows Clay working with Brilliance.”

  “That is wonderful.” Adela seemed happy with the news.

  “Not really. It showed the Sheikh what Infiniti had done to me.” My voice trailed off when I noticed Clay’s fingers move. “I better go.”

  “Clay?” Adela stood up and got close to his face. “Clay, honey?”

  I took a long look at them. I wasn’t sure why I had gone to see him at the hospital. I half wanted an explanation and half wanted to know exactly why he was back in Lexington.

  “Did you know? From the beginning?” My hand swung the curtain open. I glanced over my shoulder to see her reaction.

  Adela’s hair hung down the side of Clay’s face when her head tilted toward me. She didn’t have to gesture or say a
word. I could tell by the pain in her eyes that she knew exactly what Clay was up to.

  “Vivian, wait.” She rushed over to stop me from leaving the ICU.

  “There’s no need to explain.” I shook my head, trying to keep the tears at bay. “Just take Clay home and I hope he gets better.”

  “He never—and I know because I’m his mom.” She put her hand on my forearm. “He has never loved a woman like how he is in love with you. When he came home to tell me about you and how you were in town, he was a mess. He didn’t know that he was going to find the love of his life while scheming for Infiniti. I know it’s no excuse for his actions because he continued to play the game with Brilliance while he was at the Lady B. But how he treated you was never an act.”

  I gave a slight grin. Though her words were nice to hear, it still didn’t help matters.

  “Are you okay, Miss?” The cab driver who had graciously waited for me asked.

  “I’ll be fine. Back to where you picked me up, please,” I choked, tears streaming down my face when the flood gates opened and the torment of what had taken place found its way out from the depths of my soul.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  I know you didn’t do it. So do the parentals. We just have to lay low for a few until we get this all investigated. Luvie texted. I’m heading over there now. Do you need anything from your cottage?

  No. I texted back. It would be good to see her.

  “Where did you go?” Momma asked when I walked back in the door. “What happened?”

  “I went to see Clay at the hospital. I wanted to confront him about Grace and everything he had done to me.” I swallowed and pushed back my hair. “As he lay there, I realized he had gone in the burning barn for me. To save me. He didn’t even care about the horses, just my safety.”

  “None of this makes sense.” Momma walked into her small kitchen. I followed, taking a seat at one of the bar stools at the small granite-top island. “The evidence is so strong against you.”

  “Mom,” I said, “it was my lighter they found. I did leave it in there by accident.”

  A knock at the door made me jump.

  “That’s Luvie.” I walked down the little entry hall and opened the door. Grace was there with a stack of files in her arms.

  “I thought I’d sneak the work out to you.” Her face held a look of sympathy. “I know you couldn’t have done it. You love that place.”

  “You didn’t have to come here.” I opened the door and left plenty of room for her to walk in.

  “Are you kidding? There is no way I can take your place until this is all settled. I don’t know a thing about all of this.” She tapped on the files. “Plus, I figured you could use a friend.”

  “You’re right.” I planted my arm around her shoulder and walked with her back down the hall guiding her into the kitchen.

  “Just in time.” Momma smiled and poured three glasses of sweet tea, handing one to each of us. “How is it going over there?”

  “We are all starving,” Grace joked. “The cops are still there. The arson team. It’s a joke. They asked me about Brilliance and why we had left him in there. Did you know about the insurance money?”

  “No. I wouldn’t know anything about that.” I took a gulp of the cold tea. It felt so good going down.

  “Evidently, the insurance is just enough money to cover the lost revenue if Brilliance doesn’t train at the Lady B.” She sucked in a deep breath. “And they have that tape where we filmed Clay and Brilliance.”

  “Tape?” I questioned. There was nothing on that tape but Clay breaking the wild horse.

  “I overheard the police telling Leonard about me and you talking while I filmed.” She shrugged. “He claims that you were talking about the situation with Infiniti and the Lady B and you said something along the lines that you’d do whatever you needed to keep the Lady B up and running.”

  “And I would.” My brows furrowed.

  “Arson?” Grace leaned on the island and crossed her arms.

  “No!” I gasped. “I was talking about Brilliance.”

  “They seem to think you were talking about the Lady B. I told them there was no way you would do that. Especially with Comet in there.” She stopped when another knock on the door interrupted her.

  “Hold that thought.” I put my finger in the air. “That’s Luvie.”

  “Oh,” she spewed and followed me with the files in her hand. “I’m not going to bother you with this then.”

  I opened the door. Luvie and Millie stood on the other side. Millie had her sun-kissed blond hair pulled up into a tight bun. Her mahogany eyes were always smiling.

  “Hey, Grace.” Luvie stepped in. “What are you doing here?”

  “I wanted to go over these files, but I realize it probably isn’t good timing.” She smiled.

  “See ya.” Luvie and Millie passed us in the small hall. Grace walked out.

  “Grace,” I stopped her. I leaned my weight on the edge of the open door. “Were you with Clay during the fire?”

  I wasn’t sure if I should go there.

  “You know about that.” Nervously she bit her lip. “I. . .”

  “No.” I brushed it off. “You don’t need to explain. I just wanted to make sure he wasn’t on the property when the fire started. He was determined to get Brilliance at Infiniti (as much as me to keep him here). But. . .”

  “But what?” Grace asked. She hugged the files to her chest.

  “Nothing. I’ll talk to you soon.” I smiled and shut the door between us.

  “Seriously? The other woman though?” Luvie was saying to Momma and Millie. “I told Daddy to fire her.”

  “Oh now. Just because she is a little tramp.” I laughed.

  “Tramp?” Millie asked.

  “Yeah.” I kept the memory of Clay’s naked body and searing lips in the background as I told them about the little tryst between the young farm hand and Grace. “When I asked her about it, she was embarrassed. But hey.” I shrugged. “We have all done it.”

  “Umm. No. I have never done it in a barn.” Luvie giggled. Her eyes slid to me. They widened as her mouth dropped. “Oh. My. God!” One hand covered her mouth and the other pointed at me. “You and Clay had sex in the barn?”

  “Lalalala.” Momma covered her ears and walked out of the kitchen.

  “Shhh.” I rolled my eyes. It wasn’t like Momma didn’t know or that she really cared, but still, it was my momma.

  “Enough about him.” Millie fanned her hand in front of her face. Luvie checked her phone. It chirped a text. “Let’s plan tonight.”

  “What’s tonight?” I asked.

  “The dance in Lexington!” Millie twirled around like nothing else was going on around us. “This little barn burning thing is not going to ruin our annual dance.”

  “I’m not sure I should go out in public right now.” I took another drink contemplating if I could go or not. “Though it would be good to get out of the house and try to not think about the fire or charges.”

  “Did they charge you?” Millie asked. Luvie was too busy texting away to engage in the conversation.

  “No, but Officer Prince told me not to leave town.”

  “That’s ridiculous.” Luvie was annoyed. “Birdie just texted saying that the Sheikh still wants to have Clay break Brilliance, but he has to stay employed at the Lady B.”

  “Great!” I threw my hands in the air. “He comes out of this smelling like roses, while I lose the job I have always wanted. Plus he and Grace. . .” I swallowed, holding back tears. “She’s his alibi during the fire.”

  “Do you think he set the fire?” Millie asked the question of the hour.

  “No.” Something in my gut told me he didn’t do it. “I don’t think he did. I know he didn’t.” Images of him standing on my porch, soaking wet, popped in my head. “He knew about the fire because he came to the cottage to get me.”

  “How did he know?” Luvie asked.

  “I don’t know.” I t
ook a deep breath. I knew they were going to yell at me after I told them what I had done. “After I got here from the hospital, I took a taxi to Central Baptist where Clay is in a coma.”

  “What?” Millie’s face scrunched up like a dry orange.

  “Hear me out.” I assured them not to gang up on me. “I had so many questions to ask him. Seeing him lying there was awful. He came to get me during the fire. I knew he didn’t do it.” I tapped my fingers to my gut. “I jumped in his truck and we went to the barn. I didn’t even stop to think about me or my safety. I ran in the barn to get Comet. I had told Grace to leave Brilliance in the barn earlier. So,” I closed my eyes trying to hold back the tears, but it was too late. The tears came back. I sobbed. “Clay ran in after me, telling me to go back. He would get them. But the smoke was so thick. Everything was on fire. The ceiling. The hay. And he continued to run to the back of the barn and save Brilliance.”

  Millie stroked my hair as I melted into Luvie’s arms. My chest heaved up and down. My heart felt like it was torn straight out of my chest. Nothing made sense. Nothing.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  After my good cry, I decided to go lay down. It wasn’t doing me any good to keep trying to figure out what happened. Somehow it would come out. It did look bad for me.

  I had candles all over the place. I had lighters all over the place and everyone knew I had a hard time remembering to blow them out.

  Luvie said that Leonard told the police that if I did do it, it was by pure accident and he didn’t want to press charges. Since arson was a felony, it was out of Leonard’s hands as to what the state charged me with. If they brought charges against me.

  “Are you going to go to the dance?” Momma’s shadow from the hallway light entered the room when she opened the door into the dark guest bedroom where I had found solace. “It might be good for you to get out. Get some fresh air.”

  “I don’t know,” I sighed. I picked up my phone. There weren’t any messages. Deep down, I really wanted to see a text or a call from Clay. “Do you know if Clay woke up?”