by Mary Brady
She couldn’t understand how she was going to let him go. How quickly it had become so easy to turn to him.
Pushing away from the wall, she turned her face up to the pouring water. There might be tears in her eyes, but the water washed them away.
She had to lose him. To let him go. That was all there was.
Because she loved him.
She had told him she’d loved him the first moment she saw him, but what she hadn’t told him was that she loved him now. Loved him with all her heart and she would always love him.
The knot in her chest eased a bit. At least she hadn’t lost him in the fire, lost him completely and irrevocably.
She rinsed off and toweled her body. Clean jeans and blouse made her feel much better. She pulled on a sweater and her quilted coat and headed out the door for Brianna’s school. She’d volunteer to help with her daughter’s gym class or art or something. Whatever they’d let her in to do. She just needed to see Brianna right now. If that made her a bad mommy, well, too bad, so sad for the rest of the world.
* * *
HUNTER IGNORED THE inquisitive looks of the people as they filed one by one and in pairs past his office. They’d get their gossip soon enough. Right now he had papers he needed to work on.
The Anning boy had ended up in the situation he was in because his parents didn’t make any contingency plans for him, and the courts gave him to the boy’s uncle because he was a blood relative and the aunt was only the widow of a blood relative.
Brianna Talbot deserved to have two parents of record. Whether she was his daughter or not, he planned on being a part of her life, at least legally, if Delainey allowed it.
He couldn’t agree to the DNA testing. At least, not right away.
If it was proved that he was not Brianna’s father, he would be irreparably separated from the two of them. The pain of not being attached to Delainey and Brianna suddenly seemed worse than anything Callista White had made him endure. He knew that someday he’d need to establish paternity, maybe even soon, but he couldn’t do it yet. He needed a little more time to savor the possibility.
Move here. The words popped into his head, but “move here” was not reasonable. How could he find purpose in Bailey’s Cove? How could he be a good friend, good attorney to anyone if he could find no real purpose in his life, if he always longed for things he had given up?
“Mr. Morrison.” He looked up to see Shirley standing in his doorway. They had pulled out the big guns. Send the younger one up to talk to the giant ogre who was ignoring them.
“Yes, Shirley.” He would let her speak her piece before he sent her away with no more info than she’d come with.
“There’s someone here to see you.”
That was new. He hadn’t seen more than a handful of people in the office since he’d arrived. “Who is it, Shirley?”
“His name is Zachary Hale. He lives in the old mansion up on Sea Crest Hill. He’s supposed to be related to the pirate Bailey.”
“Did he say all that?”
“Well, no, sir.” Shirley’s cheeks turned pink.
“Did he say what he wants?”
“He says he wants to speak with you.”
“Me personally or an attorney?”
“He asked to speak to Hunter Morrison.”
“That seems pretty specific. Thank you, Shirley. Show him up.”
“Right away, sir.”
“And, Shirley. Don’t let anyone use the bathroom, and especially no toilet flushing.”
She grinned and left. They did know he could hear them.
He put the papers he had been working on in a folder and stored them in a drawer of his desk.
“Right here, Mr. Hale,” Shirley said a minute later as she led a big bearded man into his office.
Hunter stood up. “Mr. Hale, I’m Hunter Morrison.”
“I know who you are.” The man could have been a Maine fisherman except for his expensive suit. Hale had probably been five years ahead of him in school.
“Thank you, Shirley.” The young woman scooted around Hale and fled.
“Have a seat, please.” Hunter put one hand in the pocket of his suit pants, aware he smelled like smoke, but it couldn’t be helped.
“I need an attorney.” Hale took a seat, not afraid he’d be made to feel smaller. The man was confident in himself. “I need you.”
Hale leaned forward in the chair.
Then it came to him. He knew what this guy did for a living. Maybe the small-town law firm wasn’t good for his mental alacrity. Zachary Hale of Hale and Blackenstock Investments, LLC. One of the largest investment funds on the East Coast.
Hunter nodded once and Mr. Hale knew he had been recognized. His mouth drew into a thin line. “My partner is about to dump a Ponzi scheme in my lap and call it mine.”
“Is it yours?” Hunter liked the punch of a quick direct question. There was a lot to be gleaned from a startled reaction.
Hale didn’t so much as twitch a face muscle. “No.”
“And you’re coming to me and not going to the Securities and Exchange Commission because?”
“The SEC will file an emergency motion to freeze the assets and appoint a receiver, but they won’t work fast enough to recover much of the investors’ money.”
“In spite of the SEC taking steps to reduce the chances that this kind of fraud could occur or at least not go undetected for as long?”
“My partner is counting on it.”
“I take it your clients’ assets are not maintained with independent firms?”
Hale sat up in his chair. “Correct.”
“And that your partner’s somehow using the third-party written report assessing the safeguards that protect the clients’ assets to his or her advantage.”
Hale didn’t show it much, but he was impressed to have the situation assessed and summed up so quickly. “She has a member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in her pocket. My partner has decided I am the enemy and plans to take me down and be the innocent bystander in all of this.”
“I can help you.” This was a case he could get his teeth into. All he had to do was get back to Chicago, where he had the infrastructure to deal with the case. In fact, the Chicago firm would not be able to turn down the chance of getting Hale as a client. He could have his old job back inside of a week.
Unless, of course, Hale was using him to take down an innocent bystander. A lot of work and a lot of hours would go into finding out.
“I don’t want to spook her. She’ll react to being probed by pulling out all the stops. Money will flow out of the country as fast as her IT personnel can make it flow. The problem with most Ponzi schemes is the manager has no exit strategy.”
He had nearly run into a fire to rescue a child today, a child he didn’t even know. Was he looking for meaning? Excitement? Something real? Whatever Hale’s angle, this case was up to the standards of kick-butt law.
“If you’re interested, I’ll consider you a client. Things will have to be investigated. When I’m in contact with the accountants, I’ll need to put them in contact with yours.”
“I am interested in engaging you as my attorney, as long as everything goes through me.”
After he saw Hale out and returned to his office, Hunter sat back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. This case would have international monetary ramifications. He couldn’t begin to handle it here in Bailey’s Cove with the staff of Morrison and Morrison—nothing against them.
He smiled, thinking fondly of this group.
He’d need a team of attorneys, accountants and support staff. He needed to make some more phone calls tonight.
He was pulling his trench coat on over his suit when Shamus appeared in the doorway of his office.
“I heard, Hunter, my boy. About Zachary Hale.”
“He’s looking for help with a sensitive issue at his investment company.”
“There are stirrings about that company within a few circles these days.”
“Whether he’s the good guy or bad, I don’t know, but I’d like to find out.”
“I had to leave Connie in Portland today in the hospital, and I need to get back. I’m going in an hour. She wanted a few things, says they’ll help her feel more at home.”
“I’ve got Morrison and Morrison covered for as long as there’s a need. I have a few people who might be interested.”
“I’m sure whatever you do is going to be just fine, Hunter.”
Hunter saw Shamus out to his car. “Take care of your wife, Shamus, and give her my best.”
His best. That was what he’d give to Shamus.
It wouldn’t be hard as long as Chicago was on the horizon.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“CAN I TRY on my dress again?” Brianna asked as she danced around the kitchen hopping from one foot to the other.
“You can sweep under the table because two piggy people must have eaten dinner here tonight.” As she put another clean dish in the rack, Delainey nodded at the table in the small nook that seemed to be growing corn and miscellaneous crumbs beneath it on the floor. “And after...”
“After?” her daughter asked as she ran to the utility closet where the broom and dustpan lived, cleaning tools that didn’t see the light of day often enough.
“Mmm. After you take a good shower and get clean and use shampoo on your hair.”
“Oh, Mom.”
“Don’t be ‘oh, Momming’ me just because I know all your shortcut shower tricks.”
Her daughter gave her a toothy grin and proceeded to start sweeping under the table.
“Be sure to sweep in the corners.”
“The corners aren’t under the table.”
“But they are crumby and if I’m not mistaken, the green thing over there is a pea. We haven’t had peas since Saturday.”
Brianna giggled. “It’s not a pea. It’s a bead.”
“From the bracelet you broke...last week. I definitely gotta get you sweeping more often.”
“But there’s hardly anything here.”
“And the moon is made of green cheese.”
“Oh, Mom.”
“Oh, sweep.” Delainey put the last of the dishes in the rack and dumped out the water and began to dry.
Almost as soon as Delainey put away the last glass, Brianna cried, “Done.”
Delainey smooched her daughter on the top of the head and took the broom. “I’ll put the broom away. You go take a shower. Call me when you’re ready for me to check your hair and make sure you got all the bubbles out.”
Brianna handed over the broom and scampered away.
So, my beautiful one, are you Hunter’s child? she thought as she swept up a few more crumbs. If she was, Hunter would be in their lives more. She was not sure she’d be able to stand that. He had been gone six years and look how easy it was for her to remember all she had felt for him. Truthfully, it took about five seconds.
She retrieved the bead, tossed the debris and put the broom away.
Hunter had offered to give her child support for a child that might or might not be his. After much debate with herself, she had decided to accept the offer—it would make a big difference to Brianna one day.
“Mommy! I’m ready.” Her daughter’s little voice came from the bathroom after less than ten minutes.
In record time. “Coming, sweetie.”
Drying off and hair brushing took place and it was then time to try on the dress Grandma had finished over the weekend—for the second time.
Delainey held the dress and Brianna stepped into the billows of the skirt. Delainey pulled the zipper up the back and Brianna spun. The tail of her trailing sash lifted as she turned. She looked adorable.
“How do I look?”
“Exactly as you thought you’d look.”
“Like a princess. What are you going to wear, Mommy?”
“What do you think of my blue silk dress?”
“You’ll look like a princess, too.”
“Now, Ms. Princess. Off with the dress and go put your jammies on.”
She raised her arms up so Delainey could lift the dress off over her head. “Can we read books?”
“We can.”
“A big one?” Her daughter meant one of her favorite chapter books.
“I suppose a big book wouldn’t hurt.”
They both had their teeth brushed and their pj’s on and were sitting on Delainey’s bed with several books to choose from when Brianna turned to her. “I like Mia and Daniel. Do you think they will like my dress?”
“They’ll love your dress and you in it.”
Brianna didn’t say anything for a few moments. “They were really nice to me when I was bad,” she said sadly.
“You did something wrong, but that doesn’t make you bad.”
“Really? I thought I was bad.”
“We all make mistakes and people forgive us.”
“Have you ever made a mistake, Mommy?”
“Oh, I’ve made one or two in my life.” And sometimes we can even forgive ourselves, Delainey thought. Someday. Time for distraction. “I think you will be almost as beautiful as the brides.”
“How come Monique and Mia are getting married together? Will there be two brides on the cake?”
“Monique and Mia have been friends since they were your age. And they fell in love with their fiancés almost at the same time.”
“Are they all going to live together?”
“No. They will each have their own house. And as far as the cake, we’ll just have to wait and see if there are two brides on the cake.”
“And two men.”
“And two grooms.”
“Will you be a bride someday?” Big dark eyes searched her earnestly.
The doorbell rang a short burst. Thank heavens, Delainey thought.
“Who is it, Mommy?”
“I guess I’ll have to go see.”
“Can I come?”
Delainey sat back down on the bed beside her daughter. “I’d like you to stay right here. You can start reading books without me. I’ll be back.”
“Will you put the music on for me?”
Delainey switched on the music and adjusted the sound until it was just loud enough to help block out the sound of voices and kissed her daughter on the cheek. “I’ll be back.”
Before she got to the front door, she could see Hunter standing outside on her porch. Well, this was going to be interesting.
“Hello,” she said when she opened the door and motioned for him to come in.
“I wanted to talk to you.”
It must be urgent or something he felt he couldn’t speak to her about at the office. Or he couldn’t go home one more night and be alone.
“I was just going to read to Brianna.”
He took a step back. “I don’t—”
“Wait. Would you like to stay and join us? She’s a lot of fun.”
The first look to cross his face was fear.
She laughed and then put a hand on his arm. “If you could have just seen your face. Really, it’s not that scary and she’s such a small child.”
He grinned. “I’d like to stay.”
She held out a hand for his coat and hung it in the closet. “Make yourself comfortable and I’ll get Brianna and a book.”
When Delainey went back to her bedroom, Brianna was still on the bed listening to music and reading one of the books.
“Bria, Mr. Morr
ison is here. Would you like to do our reading out in the living room so he can listen, too?”
Her face brightened. “Yesssss.”
“Get your robe and slippers and then pick a book.”
Brianna ran out ahead, a book in each hand, and then backpedaled into her shy mode, disappearing behind Delainey when they got to the living room.
Hunter was sitting on one end of the couch and stood up. “Hello. It’s good to see you again, Brianna.”
He didn’t approach and Brianna stepped out from behind Delainey.
“Hello, Mr. Morrison.”
“Do you mind if I listen while you and your mom read books?”
“It’s okay.”
He looked to Delainey before sitting back down.
“You can sit on the couch with us. Book reading is a close-quarters activity for us.”
They sat down and Brianna curled up beside Delainey. “Which book would you like?”
“Bunny and the Dinosaur,” Brianna said. She picked up the book and handed it to Delainey. Bunny was a ten-year-old girl and the dinosaur was how she entertained herself on her lonely visits to her grandmother’s house. The kicker was, did Bunny see the big creatures or imagine them all? The books never really said, no matter how much Brianna demanded to know.
Hunter studied them with interest. As the book went on, Brianna made the same comments, asked the same questions as she always did when they read this story. Delainey could see Hunter getting more and more into it and every time Brianna shrieked or giggled, he smiled. When the book was finished and ended the same way it always did, Brianna picked up the second book and crawled over to Hunter on her knees and handed the book to him. “Your turn.”
He didn’t look frightened at all, but he did look just a little strained when Brianna sat beside him and motioned for Delainey to come closer.
“Are you all right with people so close to you when you read?” Delainey asked, thinking she might give him an easy out—just this once.
“I think I can manage,” he said, and opened the book to the middle.
“And then she crossed the rope bridge—”
“Wait!” Brianna was up on her knees in indignation and, turning her face up to his, said, “You have to start in the beginning.”
