Revelation of Hearts (Stacey and Shane Mcleod, #3)

by Rikki Dyson

  The two men left the coffee shop and walked across the street to Cartier. The manager brought the ring for Shane’s approval. The ring was platinum with a green peridot stone nestled against two small perfect pearls. Both men were impressed with the simplicity and beauty of the ring. Shane said, “I’m going to ask Aunt Lora and Richard to baby-sit tonight so I can take Stacey out to dinner and surprise her with this beautiful Mothers ring.”

  The last week in October, Stacey and Shane received an invitation to a surprise birthday party for Miles Strayhorn. The RSVP was to be sent to a Mrs. Longbow. Stacey showed the invitation to Shane and asked, “What in the world do you give to a man who has everything.”

  Shane laughed at her and said, “I doubt if gifts will be required, sweetheart.”

  Stacey didn’t feel right about the ambiguity of the gift giving so she called the number for Mrs. Longbow. When the woman answered the phone, she was a bit sharp with Stacey when she inquired about the gift giving. With a petulant voice, Mrs. Longbow informed Stacey that Mr. Strayhorn was registered at Harrods and she felt they would be able to answer any and all of her inquiries. Stacey lost her cool and told the woman she was a snooty bitch and hung up. When Shane arrived home and Stacey told him of her conversation with Mrs. Longbow, he almost fell off his chair laughing.

  A few days later, Stacey and Annie made a trip to Harrods to look around. The sales clerk showed them the register and made suggestions. Everything was so very expensive. Stacey told Annie, “I don’t see anything here that I associate with Miles. Everything here he could buy for himself if he wanted. I want to give him something he would never think to buy for himself.” They walked around for a while and then Stacey saw a beautiful crystal covered cake plate. She bought it and then she and Annie went to lunch with a smile on their faces.

  The night of the party, Stacey couldn’t go because all three of the children had the sniffles and were irritable. Aunt Lora and Richard had a previous engagement and Gracie was going to baby-sit. Matthew had a cold and had unintentionally shared it with his playmates. Neither Annie nor Stacey would leave their children so Shane and Hugh went to the party together. Shane didn’t want to go without Stacey. He felt his place was with her to help with the little ones. Stacey insisted he go if for no other reason but to deliver the gift for Miles. The gift was beautifully wrapped and the card on top stated it was, ‘For the man who has everything.’

  George met them at the lift to take their coats. Hugh had only been there a couple of times before. He really didn’t know Miles that well. Miranda, he remembered from her time of dating Shane. Hugh had liked her well enough as she was friendly, confident and never showed a possessive nature, not that he remembered. The party was being catered and a bartender was on hand. Champagne was being served to the guest. As the waiter came their way, Shane and Hugh took a flute. They saw a few people they knew and talked small talk for a while.

  At the hors d’oeuvres table, Shane and Hugh were sampling the caviar when an attractive woman in her late twenties joined them and introduced herself as Sandra Parker. She was surprised when neither of them recognized her name. They talked and chortled with people. Sandra flirted for a while and then said, “I see you both have on wedding rings, but your wives aren’t here. In case you’re looking I have a friend, that girl over there, Joann and I of course, would enjoy a good time.”

  Hugh smiled at Shane and said, “As our rings indicate we are both married, happily married I might add.”

  The other woman joined them with a dazzling smile until Sandra informed her that both of these handsome men were happily married. Joann lit a cigarette, blew out smoke and said with disbelief, “What you’re saying is both of you are faithful husbands. God help us, I thought, you blokes died out with the dinosaurs.”

  Both men chortled and Hugh said, “Goda’mighty, that’s the best laugh I’ve had all night.”

  A few minutes later, Miles walked in with Miranda. Now that the guest of honor had arrived, the party could get in full swing. Miles was shaking hands with one guest or another when he saw Shane and come over to say hello. As he looked around, he asked about Stacey. When Shane explained about the children not feeling well, he understood but was disappointed just the same.

  Secrets were damn near impossible to be kept in the office, so of course, Miles knew about the surprise party. The only reason he had gone along with Miranda’s subterfuge was in the hope of spending time with Stacey.

  Hugh had been mingling when he looked at his watch and realized it was later than he thought. He looked around for Shane, but he was nowhere in sight. As he passed Miles office to retrieve his coat, he heard Shane talking to Miranda. “Of course, I miss our friendship Miranda, but your obsession about my wife has made it impossible to maintain a friendship. I fail to understand why you try to provoke Stacey every chance you get.”

  “Shane darling, perhaps it’s because I see you being cock holed and you’re too blind to see what is obvious to others.”

  “What the bloody hell are you talking about, Miranda?”

  “I’m talking about that little boy that your sneaking, deceptive wife, has fostered off on you. Are you so blind Shane, that you cannot see, that child is not yours?”

  Shocked to the core, Shane said, “Shut the hell up, Miranda. Don’t ever let me hear you malign my children or my wife again. Talk like that is exactly why we can never be friends again. You have turned into a malicious harridan.”

  As he turned to walk away, Miranda screamed, “You’re going to be sorry Shane when you find out who that child’s father really is.”

  As Shane stormed through the door, Hugh handed him his coat and they stepped into the lift. Shane was so angry he was shaking. “You were standing there, did you hear what she said.” Hugh nodded his head. “I don’t want Stacey to hear about this. I shudder to think what she might do.”

  “What the hell is she talking about, Shane?” Hugh asked. “She knows nothing about Eric or Jennifer does, she?”

  Not to my knowledge, how could she?” Shane asked, defensively. “What does she mean, ‘when you find out who his father really, is.’ Who does she think Nicky’s father is? There’s no way she could know about the adoption. Is there?” As they stepped from the lift, Hugh lay his hand on Shane’s shoulder and asked, “You’ve never let anything slip to Miranda about Nicky have you?”

  Shane turned to Hugh in disbelief, “Of course not, what kind of fool do you think I am?”

  “Sorry mate, I know you and Miranda were close at one time. That you might have confided in her last summer when you were so upset with Stacey.”

  Shane frowned at Hugh and said, “Where is this coming from, I didn’t see Miranda at all during that time. I would never hurt Stacey that way. What a fool I am, I should never have stepped into Miles office with her tonight.”

  “Why did you? How did she maneuver you in there?”

  “I don’t know, on some pretense or other. I never knew her to be so devious.”

  When Shane arrived home, the kids were sound asleep and Stacey was studying on the internet. When he leaned over to kiss her, she said, “Your nose is cold.” Shane had a worried look that she noticed right away. “How was the party? Was Miles surprised?”

  “I’m not sure, he didn’t seem that thrilled about the whole thing. He was polite and cordial, but I had the impression he would have rather had a quiet dinner at home.”

  “Did he like his present?”

  “I don’t know, sweetheart. Hugh and I left before the gift opening.”

  Stacey asked no more questions. She could see Shane was tired so she shut down the computer, took his hand and they went upstairs. Stacey checked on the children, as Shane got ready for bed. He stepped into the nursery to kiss the little ones goodnight. Stacey was standing by Nicky’s bed with her arms crossed over her chest.

  She looked at Shane and said, “Is it cold in here or is it just me.” She laid her hand over her heart and said, “I know this sounds sill
y, but sometimes it feels cold around my heart, and I get a feeling I need to protect our children.”

  Tonight, Shane felt the same way. He lay in bed with Stacey in his arms, but there was no way he could tell her about Miranda and her denunciation.

  Chapter-68

  Friendships

  A cold, wet November had arrived. It was too wet to take the children out to the park so they were riding their tricycles around the flat. Stacey was in the kitchen when she heard the crash and Nicky crying. She came running and found Nicky on the floor with his inchworm on top of him and Jackie loving him saying, “I soy Nicky, don’t kie, I soy.”

  Stacey sat down on the floor, took Nicky in her arms, kissed him and soothed away his tears. “What happened?” she asked the girls. Both girls started talking at once, “Jackie, tell me what happened,” her mommy gently said.

  “I soy, Mommy, us widing too fast and I wun over Nicky,” Jackie said as she kissed his little head again and told him she was sorry. Stacey knew how hard it was on the children to be cooped up in the apartment for days on end. She and Shane had taken down the twin beds in the first floor bedroom to make a playroom for the children.

  About a week later, the weather turned warmer and Stacey was getting the kids ready to go to the park when the doorbell rang. When she looked through the spy-hole there stood Miles Strayhorn’s butler George. She opened the door and invited him in. “Good afternoon sir, how are you.”

  “Very well Madame, thank you for asking.” George noticed the children dressed in their Jackets ready to go outside. “I hope I’m not interrupting your outing.”

  “No, of course not. We’re on our way to the park. We’ve had so little sunshine lately. I think they have a touch of cabin fever,” Stacey said with a smile.

  The children were standing looking wide-eyed at the stranger. Stacey said, “Mr. George, I would like for you to meet my children. These are my daughters Jessie and Jackie and my son Nicky.”

  George sat down the package he had with him and knelt down on the children’s level to say hello. “It’s lovely to meet both of the enchanting Miss McLeod’s and you too Master Nicky.” Then he remembered the package. “I won’t keep you from your outing, but I did want to return your lovely cake plate and tell you how much we enjoyed the delicious cake.”

  Stacey, a bit taken aback said with a frown, “Mr. George, I’ll be the first to admit that I had no idea what to buy for a person as wealthy as Miles. I’m glad ya’ll like the cake but the crystal cake plate was part of the gift. I didn’t notice you having one the day we had tea.”

  George was apologetic, worried he may have offended this lovely young woman, “Madame, I do beg your pardon. I hope you will forgive my ignorance.”

  “There’s nothing to forgive,” Stacey said smiling. “Tell you what I’ll do. I will keep the cake plate for a few days and return it to you refilled. Now with that settled, would you care to come to the park with us?”

  George, thought, only for a moment, “Yes, Madame, I would fancy an outing to the park very much.”

  They took the lift to the parking garage, where Stacey’s H3 was waiting with tricycles and inchworm in the back. George watched as Stacey strapped the children into their car seats. Sitting in the passenger side of the American made H3 he felt relaxed as he watched Stacey maneuver the streets to the park. At the park, Nicky allowed him to assist with the inchworm while Stacey took the trikes out for his sisters. George had not been around children since the death of his own child many years ago. As he sat talking with Stacey, the girls would ride by and say, “Watch us Miser George, watch us.”

  Nicky was bouncing along on his inchworm then he came up to George put his arms out and said, “Ol me Miser George, ol me.”

  George reached down, picked the little boy up, and sat him on his lap. Stacey handed him his sippy cup and before long, he got back down and rode his inchworm again. Every so often Nicky would come to Miser George stand between his legs and reach for his sippy cup. Stacey noticed the longing on George’s face and wondered what tragedy he had suffered in his past, but asked no questions.

  After a couple of hours at the park they reloaded the toys, strapped three tired children in their car seats and drove back to the flat. George helped take the children upstairs and thanked Stacey and the children for a lovely day and asked Stacey, “May I be of help to bring the children’s toys up?”

  “Oh, no, but thank you,” Stacey said. “If it’s another pretty day tomorrow I will take them out again, and if not I need to clean the wheels before bringing them up. Thank you for joining us today. If we haven’t worn you out too much maybe, you will join us again soon. My children and I have enjoyed your help and company today.”

  As George told the children good-by, Stacey walked him to the door and said as an after thought, “I won’t forget to refill your cake plate, I promise. Thank you for today and please join us again soon.”

  When Shane arrived home, Stacey told him about her day and the children’s day at the park and about Mr. George joining them at the park. “Oh, I almost forgot to tell you about the cake plate. Mr. George brought it back because he didn’t realize it was part of the gift to Miles. I told him I would refill it for them in a few days.”

  Shane took Stacey in his arms and said, “I’m sure that is the first time Miles ever received a gift as humble as a home made cake in a cake plate. I have attended only one birthday party for the privileged. At that time, the only gifts I saw were donations to the recipients, favorite charity.”

  Stacey frowned and asked, “If that’s what they expected, Shane, why did they register at Harrods? And why didn’t that Mrs. Longbow tell me donations would be fine instead of saying he was registered at Harrods.”

  This had now become a mystery and Stacey decided she was going to investigate. Two days later, Stacey called George to tell him the cake was replaced and said, “It looks to be a cloudy day today, so the kids and I are taking an outing to the children’s pavilion. Would you care to join us?”

  The phone went to dead silence. In the absence of sound, Stacey felt she may have stepped over some invisible line of etiquette. “I’m sorry, of course, you have better things to do. Forgive me for being presumptuous. My mother did try to instill in me to look before I leap, but it seems I disregarded that lesson somewhere along the way. I’ll call a delivery service and have the cake delivered.”

  “Madame, should you give me a moment to answer; I will tell you that I would fancy a trip to the children’s pavilion. It’s been some time, but I remember it well. Shall I come now or do you have an alternate time.”

  “Yes, no, yes, of course, do come now,” Stacey said, laughing.

  At the pavilion, the children were enjoying the miniature rides until Nicky decided he did not want to vacate the cars. Stacey tried reasoning with him by telling him that other children wanted their turn to ride too. When Stacey finally stopped trying to reason with a fifteen month old and took him out of the little car, he kicked and screamed until they reached the Merry-go-round. Once he was astraddle a pony, he settled down.

  Stacey stood by Nicky and Mr. George stood between the girls. It was during their second go-round that George’s mobile rang. He told the person he was speaking with that he was at the moment on an excellent carrousel. What the person on the other end said caused Mr. George to chortle uproariously.

  After another go on the Merry-go-round, they took the children for a snack and drinks. Nicky was almost asleep and the twins were nodding off. On their way home, each of the children went to sleep. At the flat, Mr. George carried a little girl in each arm and Stacey carried Nicky. In the nursery, Stacey removed their shoes and covered them.

  Out of the nursery, on their way downstairs, Stacey gave a big sigh and asked, “Could I interest you in a cup of coffee?”

  George smiled and said, “Yes, ma’am, I could easily be persuaded by the enticement of a cup of coffee.” As he sipped his coffee, George asked, “How do you manage Stacey
with three toddlers, a busy college schedule, the flat and I know Doctor McLeod has functions he must attend as part of his career, of which, I feel sure he proudly displays you on his arm.”

  Stacey frowned and said, “Mrs. Wyatt comes five days a week for three hours, my aunt and Richard help with the children when they are available. I study on the internet and attend classes two days a week. It all comes together quite well. And as far as being displayed on Shane’s arm, I prefer to think I’m more to him than an exhibit.”

  “Yes, of course, you are. I beg your pardon that was an unfortunate choice of words.” George hid his embarrassment behind his beaker of coffee. What had possessed him to imply that. He was terribly fond of this young woman and wanted to make amends. In doing so he said, “You were most assuredly missed at Miles birthday regal the other night. He was quite taken with your gift. It was a first and most appreciated.”

  Stacey had been thinking about the ambiguity of the invitation and the unorthodox rudeness of Mrs. Longbow. She decided now was as good a time as any and asked, “Mr. George, may I ask you a few questions about the party that have been bothering me some what.”

  “Yes, of course, ma’am. Rest at ease I will answer all that I am able.”

  Stacey told him about the invitation and the phone call to, and the rudeness of, Mrs. Longbow. She told him about the trip to Harrods and the later phone call that endorsed the registry as a hoax. George listened and knew he would need to discuss this with Miles.

  “This is the first I’ve heard of this. I’ve been with Miles for some years and I have met many of his employees in upper management, however, I have never heard of a Mrs. Longbow. Of course, I am not acquainted with all of Miles employees.”

  “Shane advised me to let it go, but I intend to get to the bottom of this. This woman knew it was a deception and yet she administered it whole heartily. I talked with the salesclerk at Harrods and she told me no one had purchased any items from the registry. She also told me a Mrs. Longbow was the person that opened the registry.