by Winnie Reed
“Why do you think it had anything to do with him?” I asked, barely able to contain myself. Here was somebody who was actually there back in those days, somebody who held a wealth of information.
“No one was a good enough for him. He even sent her away for a while, to Philadelphia, where she could stay with his sister and meet suitable young men. Oh, Millie was furious. She never cared for her aunt, or for that social circle. By the time he passed away and she was free to do as she wished, I suppose she was too set in her ways. She couldn’t see her way to learning to compromise with someone else. I was busy with my family and my children at the time, and I do regret our growing apart.”
“That’s a shame,” I murmured. Poor Millie. “Was there ever a man named Frank in her life?”
She frowned, her face practically collapsing into wrinkles. “Frank? The only Frank I remember was the gardener’s son. There was no Francis, Franklin. Not that I can recall.”
If there was one person whose memory I trusted, it was hers. The woman was sharp as a tack, even at her age. “And you say her father sent her to Philadelphia? How long was she gone, can you remember?”
“Certainly, since that was the summer I was married. I did so want her to be there, but there was no denying that man when he set his mind to something. She left in late winter, and didn’t return until autumn.”
A theory was starting to build in my head. “Thank you so much, I love talking about those times.”
“Well, feel free to pick my brain anytime you want. It’s nice for an old lady to feel like her memories won’t go with her.” She stood then, shaking invisible wrinkles from her flowy, flower printed caftan. “As much as I hate to leave now, with so much delicious eye candy on display, I have some visiting to do.”
Eye candy. The woman was a trip.
At the last second, something occurred to me. “Do you remember Frank’s last name?”
“Welburn. His father was Mr. Welburn.” She patted my hand. “Remember: don’t waste your youth. Grab him while you have a chance.” Her faded blue eyes sparkled, making me wonder what it would have been like to know her when she was young. I had the feeling we would’ve been friends.
I followed her out the door with my eyes, and watched as someone who was just on his way into the café held the door for her. She expressed her gratitude, touching his arm and calling him a gentleman.
Sure, he was a gentleman.
He also happened to be Deke Bellingham.
And when he found Joe approaching the table to sit where Mrs. Merriweather had just been sitting, his smile turned to a frown.
Chapter Thirteen
Uh-oh.
“Hey!” I called out, waving. “Good morning.”
He seemed hardly impressed, focusing on Joe who by now had noticed him, too. “Yeah, good morning. I thought I might find you here today.”
I let out a nervous chuckle, glancing over at my mom who of course was watching this play out. Would she help me somehow? Of course not. She was too busy observing. “I worked here during the early rush.”
“Then she introduced me to yoga, which I’m not sure if I should thank her for or what.” Joe stood, extending hand for Deke to shake. “Good to see you again, Deke.”
“Yeah, same here.” Not only did his insincerity practically ring out for everybody to hear, but he was still frowning as he shook Joe’s hand.
“Here, sit down. You want something to drink? I could get it for you.” Heck, I would’ve gladly run all the way down to the boardwalk and gotten him a funnel cake. Or maybe flown to Paris for croissants. Anything to get away from that table, where two men stared each other down while trying to make it look like they weren’t.
“Emma? Can you help me here?” There were a handful of people waiting at the counter, looking like they were all part of the same group. Probably a family on their way home that morning, hoping to beat the traffic.
“Gladly,” I called out, hurrying to the kitchen to wash my hands before filling orders.
“What in heaven’s name is that about?” she hissed as we passed each other behind the counter.
“You’re asking me?”
“Has Deke committed to anything?”
“No! You don’t think I would’ve said something if that was the case?”
“How would I know? You’re awfully selective about what you will and won’t share.”
“Now’s not the time to get offended,” I muttered, watching them out of the corner of my eye. They just… sat there. Joe asked a question, Deke answered. Deke said something, Joe nodded in agreement. The iciness was enough to make me shiver.
“Maybe they’re both terrible when it comes to small talk?” she suggested, which got nothing but an eye roll out of me.
The fact was, while I didn’t really technically owe either of them anything, Deke’s presence while Joe happened to be in the café at the same time had made my stomach clench, hadn’t it? Which meant I knew there was something wrong about this whole situation even if I didn’t want to admit to myself.
But I was only friends with Joe. Wasn’t I?
And Deke and I were only casually seeing each other. And only when our schedules permitted. That was the way it had always been.
So why did I feel like I had been unfaithful to both of them?
Once we had the family taken care of, I poured a coffee and brought it to the table. “Black, just the way you like it.”
Deke turned his full attention on me, smiling. But it was a tight smile, insincere. “Thanks. I was just on my way around town, admiring the scenery. I think I’ll take this to go.”
“You don’t have to.” But he was already standing, waving to Mom and thanking her for the coffee while on his way across the room. I shot Joe a pleading look before hurrying out the door after Deke.
“Deke, you don’t have to leave. I wish you wouldn’t.”
He stopped, his back to me. “What’s going on there?” he asked.
“Nothing. He’s a friend. He’s in town this week.”
That was enough to make him turn around and glare at me. Those pretty, gold flecks in his eyes weren’t so pretty when he looked mad enough to spit fire. “Don’t you think you could’ve told me about that? That there was another guy in town, wanting your time and attention?”
Well. I could be apologetic when the situation called for it, but this is not that situation. I felt my chin jutting out, while my hands found my hips. “Hold on just a second. For one thing, I didn’t know he was coming in. That was a surprise. For another thing, you are so vague about if and when you would decide to grace me with your presence. I didn’t even know for sure until you strolled into the café whether or not you actually planned on visiting for sure. Who knew? Maybe something would come up and you’d suddenly leave the country and I wouldn’t know. Or maybe Marsha would send you off on assignment and you’d drop everything and go. Either way, I don’t owe you an explanation. If you wanted all my time this week, you should’ve told me. And even if you had told me, I would’ve told you that I still have a life here. I can’t drop everything.”
He backed away, shaking his head. “Well, don’t let me take up any more of your time this morning.”
“I won’t.” I spun on my heel, determined to march into the café and plop down in front of Joe. Only Joe was on his way out the door.
“Where are you going?” I asked. “You didn’t even finish your muffin.”
“Yeah, my eyes were bigger than my stomach. I’ll see you later.” He barely even looked at me before starting down the sidewalk.
“Wait!” I trotted beside him. “Don’t do this. I know you’re mad about something. Do you have a problem with Deke? I didn’t know anything about that.”
“I don’t have a problem with him. Okay?”
“Then what’s the matter? Why won’t you talk to me?”
He stopped, turning to face me, and I suddenly wished I hadn’t followed him. He had his Detective Joe face on. “How come you
told me there wasn’t anything happening with you two? Remember, you said he dropped off the face of the earth.”
I could hardly believe this was happening. “Yeah, I vaguely remember saying that. And at the time, it was true.”
“So you let him waltz back into your life like nothing happened? Sorry if I have a problem with that.”
“It’s not for you to have a problem with! It’s my life and my situation.”
“Well, sorry if I had a hard time sitting there pretending to be buddies with him. I don’t like it when people I care about get treated that way.”
I could barely keep up. People he cared about?
“It was all a misunderstanding. Even so, we’re not together. We’re not a couple. It just so happened that he had a break in his schedule for the first time in a long time, and he decided to spend a few days here. Nothing more than that. And why am I even defending myself to you? I don’t owe anybody an explanation.”
“You’re right. You don’t. If you’ll excuse me, I have to go wash off the yoga.” He stalked away, and this time I didn’t bother following. Not only had we attracted a little attention—unwanted, obviously. But he could take a walk into the ocean and never come out as far as I was concerned just then.
The nerve of him!
I got my things at the café and shook my head when it looked like Mom wanted to ask questions. “I can’t. I need to go home and shower, anyway. I’m sorry I can’t stick around to help out.”
“I have it under control,” she assured me. “So long as you’re all right.”
“Raina’s at the apartment with Lola. If I need to talk, she’ll listen.” I kissed her cheek and dragged my feet out the door and down the sidewalk.
The nerve of both of them. Neither of them owned me. I didn’t owe either anything.
So why did it feel like I did?
Was Joe starting to feel something more than friendship? He’d referred to me as somebody he cared about. How deep did that go? I cared about him, but as a friend.
Right?
“You have nothing to feel bad about.” Raina was on the floor playing with Lola as I paced the apartment and fretted. “Deke keeps you guessing all the time, and if Joe thinks of you as more than a friend, he should say so.”
I squeezed my eyes tightly shut. Raina didn’t know about his past. Nobody did except for me. It wasn’t my story to tell, how his wife was killed in that hit-and-run accident. For somebody who’d suffered that sort of tragedy, it wouldn’t be as simple as admitting feelings for a person.
Even then, admitting feelings was never simple.
If he had started to develop feelings for me, it would’ve meant daring to take a chance again. There I was, clueless, assuming he would never see me as anything more than a pal, a somewhat annoying presence. All because he’d been hurt so badly, because he’d suffered so much.
Not to mention the fact that I did flat-out annoy him at times.
“It’s not so easy for some people,” I settled on saying. “Sometimes, something so terrible happens that you can’t bring yourself to say those sorts of things. Did I miss a sign somewhere?”
“Well, the man did yoga with you today. He doesn’t strike me as the yoga type. But he made the effort. Whether or not that was for you, I don’t know. But it tells me he’s willing to make an effort for your sake.”
I waved a hand, shaking my head. “Please. He probably figured I would never let him live it down if he didn’t at least try.”
“Sure, keep telling yourself that.”
“Whose side are you on?”
She looked up, brows lifting. “I wasn’t aware there were sides to be on. If there’s a side, I’m always on yours. You know that.”
I flopped down on the couch, gratified by the way Lola jumped up to be next to me. A few kisses on the cheek brought a smile to my face. “Sometimes I wish I were you,” I admitted. “Life is so much simpler.”
Raina snickered. “Sure, as long as she has her toys and her treats—”
In a flash, Lola launched herself off the couch and started dancing in circles.
I looked at Raina, shaking my head. “You know better.”
She got up to procure said treat for my insane dog, and Lola’s little treat dance couldn’t have come at a better time. Laughing over her gave me the chance to reset my thoughts. “Oh! I forgot to tell you. Mrs. Merriweather was friends with Millicent!”
“You’re kidding!”
“I really hope I’m as sharp as she is when I get to be her age. She is amazing.” I gave her a rundown on what I’d learned.
“So Frank was the gardener’s son?” Raina leaned over the counter, her chin in her palms. “Do we think a really wealthy girl would get herself involved with a guy who had absolutely no money?”
“If she did, the way Mrs. Merriweather talked about Millicent’s father tells me he wouldn’t have been a fan.”
“But he went to Frank. Frank was the one who walked away.”
“I know. Maybe this isn’t the same Frank. But she swears she doesn’t remember anybody other than that one, particular Frank. But Millicent could have hidden somebody from her.”
“Did you say anything about the baby?”
“Well, I still don’t know absolutely for sure that Millicent was the one in that picture. Maybe I can show it to her, ask her if she can identify the pregnant girl.”
“Yeah, but what if Mrs. Merriweather never knew she was pregnant? That might come as a shock.”
“Now that you mention it, she did say something about Millicent’s father sending her to Philadelphia at one point. It meant missing Mrs. Merriweather’s wedding, which she sounded really sad about. How much do you want to bet that trip to Philadelphia was a way of hiding the pregnancy and birth?”
“Maybe not the pregnancy,” Raina pointed out. “She’s pretty pregnant in that picture, and she’s standing in front of the house here in Cape Hope.”
“Oh, that’s a good point. Well, maybe kept her confined to the grounds. He sounded like a real control freak. Maybe he wanted to, I don’t know, be around to make sure she was healthy? Maybe he didn’t want word getting out in Philadelphia if people saw her walking around like that?”
“I’ll tell you, after some of the stories I’ve heard about what went down in my grandparents’ times, I’d go with the latter explanation. He would’ve wanted to keep it a secret. People would talk if they saw her out there, and he never would’ve known she was being careful unless he saw it with his own two eyes.”
I tented my fingers under my chin. “So all we really need to do right now is confirm Millicent is the one in the picture. Maybe I can take a picture of her face with my phone and show that to Mrs. Merriweather, so she won’t see the belly.”
This idea got two thumbs up. “Genius. You’re a genius.”
Was I? After missing the signals Joe might or might not have been sending my way?
Chapter Fourteen
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I called out as I entered the café less than two hours after I’d left. Raina was with me, along with Lola.
“I wouldn’t dream of asking,” Mom called out in response. Raina snorted behind her hand, seeing this for the falsehood it was.
I went behind the counter pulled out two slices of carrot cake. “I hope one of those is for Raina,” Mom chided.
“No, I planned on falling face-first into them all by myself.” I stuck my tongue out at my mother as I placed one of the slices in front of Raina, who had taken a seat. It was early afternoon, the rush having died out long since.
The door to the restroom opened, revealing Trixie Graham. Auntie Trixie was in the middle of drying her hands on a paper towel. The moment she saw me, she hurried over. “Two men fighting over you?” She breathed, all excitement.
I glared at my mother, who made a point of busying herself. “Nobody’s fighting over me,” I whispered. “Please, do your best not to spread that rumor.”
“From what I heard,
it certainly sounds like they’re fighting.”
I raised my voice, glaring at the familiar woman behind the counter. “Well, whoever you heard that from is completely wrong and needs to learn to mind her own business.”
Mom shrugged. “I’m sorry, but it’s interesting to me. They’re both so handsome!”
“Yeah, well, look where that got me. It doesn’t really matter, does it? Neither of them are speaking to me right now.”
Since I was desperate to change the subject, I turned my attention back to Trixie. “Hey, do you remember writing those articles after Millicent Mountbatten died? Questioning what happened to her money, since nobody ever heard about where it went?”
“Sure, and I never did find any answers. No matter how many times I asked that lawyer of hers what was taking so long to settle the estate.”
“Bernard Lewis.”
“Right. I practically camped out in front of his house, but he refused to answer.”
“All the way up in Philadelphia?”
“No, silly. Here. His summer home. Well, not strictly a summer home, since he often spends time here throughout the year. I can’t believe you don’t know him.”
“I can’t know everybody,” I murmured, lost in thought. “So he wouldn’t tell you anything.”
“Not a thing. Not even whether she’d left her fortune to an individual, an organization. None of it. It was all very hush-hush.”
“What sort of feeling did you get about him?”
She snickered, adjusting her bright red glasses. “I don’t think you’re old enough to hear that sort of language, young lady.”
Raina burst out laughing. “There’s a ringing endorsement.”
I wasn’t laughing. “Do you think I could go down to the courthouse and find her will there? Has enough time passed that the public can read it?”
