Текст книги "Heir to scandal"

Автор книги: Andrea Laurence

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Текущая страница: 11 (всего у книги 13 страниц)

Twelve

Xander blew into his quiet, empty town house much later than he’d planned. The drive back from Connecticut had been fairly uneventful until he hit a bad accident on the interstate. It had left him stranded between exits for several hours as victims were transported by helicopter and cars were towed away. By the time his Lexus pulled up in front of his town house, it was nearly midnight.

The perfect capstone to two miserable weeks. It had started going downhill the minute he returned to Cornwall with Rose. Perhaps coming back to the comfort and safety of the Capitol would swing luck back in his favor.

Starting tomorrow. Tonight he was too exhausted to care about luck. He carried his luggage in and dropped it at the bottom of the stairs. He was too tired to carry it up right now. Eyeing the leather sofa in the sitting room, he seriously considered sleeping on the couch. His bed felt as though it were miles away and he couldn’t drag himself another step.

At the same time, he doubted he could sleep even in the comfort of his bed. His weary mind was endlessly spinning. Thoughts of Rose and how badly they’d parted. Leaving Joey behind without being able to tell him what was going on. Tommy’s body. Heath’s defeated voice on the phone. His parents’ worried expressions as they were interrogated again by Sheriff Duke.

The past two weeks had been ones you couldn’t pay him to live over, but perhaps the worst was behind him now. By the time he prepared to head home, things seemed to have quieted down on the farm. The cloud of potential problems still hung over their heads as it had for years, but for now, the case had reached a standstill.

Xander stumbled into the kitchen, pulled a bottle of Scotch from the cabinet and poured himself a few fingers’ worth over ice. He climbed onto one of the barstools and idly sorted through the stack of mail he’d left sitting there.

The Scotch burned as it went down, splashing into his empty stomach with a roar. The warmth spread through his veins and worked quickly to unknot the tense muscles in his shoulders and neck. He should’ve made a trip to the Wet Hen while he was there dealing with the cops. He was wound up tighter than a pocket watch and deserved a drink or two after fielding the press and the police at the farm.

That, at least, was easier than watching his parents deal with the tragic news. His cheerful, optimistic mother had been beside herself when she found out that the body belonged to her missing foster child. Molly had never quite forgiven herself for failing Tommy, despite her successes with so many other children. She hadn’t so much as raised a finger to Tommy, but she was consumed with misplaced guilt. She couldn’t even speak to the police the first day, she was so upset.

Ken had been distressed by the news as well, but he seemed to handle it better. Or at least more calmly than Molly. He’d sat on the porch, rocking in his favorite chair, as people came and went. Xander had sat beside him much of the time, trying to match his father’s level temperament and failing.

Ken didn’t have much to tell the police, of course, because he didn’t know the truth. All he could tell them was that Tommy had run away and he could take a lie detector test to confirm it. Xander had been sitting with Ken at the kitchen table eating breakfast when Wade had come to them with the note left on Tommy’s bed.

Xander had written the note himself, but he’d feigned surprise and chased after Ken when he’d rushed to the bunkhouse. There they’d found his bed hadn’t been slept in and all of Tommy’s things were gone. When asked, none of the boys said they had seen Tommy leave or knew where he could’ve gone. Ken had immediately called the police and turned over the letter. From there, the professionals had tried, and failed, to determine what had become of Tommy Wilder.

It was the same story Ken had always told. The same story Molly and Xander and everyone else told. It was all they knew to tell. The press and Sheriff Duke couldn’t do much more than write down their statements and go home. There was no crime scene to study or evidence left to collect. Tommy’s letter had been misplaced when the sheriff’s department archived old case files years ago.

There was an old story and a body, and between them, a gap big enough for Tommy to disappear into it.

Heath had been worried that it wouldn’t be enough, but it seemed to hold. Xander had planted enough seeds of doubt in the sheriff’s mind that attention would eventually shift away from his family. Tommy had been a magnet for trouble, after all. That was a well-documented fact. It wasn’t a stretch to suggest that perhaps Tommy had run off to meet someone. Maybe he’d been involved in dealing drugs or something else with dangerous and untrustworthy people. Anything could’ve happened to him once he left the safety of the bunkhouse.

All Xander needed was reasonable doubt and he was satisfied that he had it. Thankfully, he’d reached that point when he had. Congress would be back in session come Monday. He couldn’t do anything more at the farm right now. The only other reason for him to stay in Cornwall was to work things out with Rose, and as much as he might want to do that, she was very firm about him staying away for a while.

So he went home. Once he was able to lose himself in his job again, maybe the sharp pain that stabbed him in the chest every time he thought of her would fade away.

Xander sipped the last of his Scotch and sighed. The liquor had done its work and numbed the darkest thoughts in his brain. Now perhaps he could get some sleep. He wasn’t going to pass out on the stool at the kitchen island, so he needed to head upstairs. He left the glass on the counter and stumbled back to grab his bags. He hauled them up into his room and set them on the foot of the bed. His bigger bag could wait for the morning to be unpacked, but he needed his toiletries and things out of the smaller duffel that he used for his sleepovers at Rose’s apartment.

Methodically, he went about unpacking it, setting aside his case of grooming items and a few other things. He was rummaging through some dirty clothes when his fingers brushed against something hard and rough in texture. He didn’t recall packing anything like that, so he felt around until he found it again and pulled the item out to examine it.

Holding it in his hand, Xander glanced down and his mouth dropped open. He stumbled back to sit on the mattress before his knees gave out.

It was a picture frame. He remembered making one just like this when he went to scout camp twenty years ago. It was a craft project made of painted Popsicle sticks and backed with felt. Hard macaroni noodles were glued to the frame and decorated with puff paint and glitter.

The picture in the frame was of him, Rose and Joey under the Camp Middleton sign. He’d forgotten they’d even taken that picture until now. They looked just like a happy family in the photo. Joey was beaming with the excitement and anticipation of going to camp. Rose seemed nervous, but she hid it well from her son. Xander smiled awkwardly, as though he felt out of place, but Rose’s grip on his arm kept him firmly in place. It was a nice picture of the three of them.

And then he looked at the words along the top. Spelled out in foam cutout letters was Dad, Mom & Me.

It was as though someone had punched him in the gut as hard as they could. Joey knew. They hadn’t told him. Hadn’t breathed a word of it, but he knew the truth. His son had made this picture frame for him at camp and slipped the gift into his bag when he wasn’t looking. Probably while Xander was in the bedroom fighting with Rose.

His son gave him this gift and minutes later Xander had walked out of his son’s life without a word of explanation. He felt sick. The Scotch that only a moment ago had soothed him was now churning in his belly and threatening to rise up into his throat.

What was he going to do? How could he convince Rose to let him back in their lives?

Xander had no intention of abandoning his son. It was bad enough that Joey had gone through the first ten years of his life without a father. But if the situation with Tommy took a turn for the worse, would it hurt his son more to have an absent father or, as Rose had pointed out, a criminal one?

He dropped his forehead into the palm of his hand and stared down at the picture. His son’s eyes were so much like his own. He reminded him so much of himself when he was that age. The same age when he had lost his father.

It would be cruel to give Joey a father at last and then rip him away in the same breath.

Rose might not like it, but he wasn’t going to stay away. He’d already kept his distance for far too long. No matter what happened on the farm this week or next week or next year, he would be a part of Joey’s life. He wasn’t going to walk away from his son.

Or the mother of his child.

* * *

Rose placed a curl of candied lemon peel as the finishing touch on her lemon chiffon cake. It was beautiful and delicious, the fifth dessert she’d made today. She slid it into the dessert display case and went back out front to check on a few of her diners at the counter.

It had been a month since the bake-off. Three weeks since she’d thrown Xander out of her apartment and tossed away their future together. In that short amount of time, things had changed very quickly for her.

First she was approached at the diner one afternoon by the man who owned three other eateries in the area. He was one of the judges of the bake-off and wanted to know if she was interested in providing all the desserts for his restaurants. One of his locations was a dinner-only establishment, so he offered her the kitchens to bake in the mornings. He even told her she could do any kind of baking she liked, even for other restaurants.

It wasn’t enough to keep her from having to wait tables, but it was a start. The major impediment to starting her own baking business was getting the licenses and permits. She needed a dedicated kitchen that was subject to health inspections. That was something she simply couldn’t afford, but using the restaurant kitchen was perfect. Making desserts for both places was a great supplement to her income and there was always the hope that it would lead to more work with other restaurants. Then maybe, one day, her own bakery.

It was the one bright thought she clung to during the darkest of days. Xander had been the one to suggest the idea of opening her own bakery and it had offered a welcome distraction. It gave her something to talk to Joey about where she didn’t get upset. She didn’t want to cry in front of her son. Then she might have to explain what was really going on and where Xander had gone.

She didn’t know if he was still in town or not, but he had done as she asked and stayed away. It was probably easy for him with everything else happening. She wasn’t entirely sure what was going on; she was avoiding the news as best she could. She already knew more about the situation than she’d ever wanted to.

Rose couldn’t get away entirely, though. As she wiped down the counter, the sound of the local newscast taunted her from the other side of the counter. There was no way she could get away from it with the television in the diner always finding its way back to the local news every time she turned around.

“Rose, can you turn it up? They’re talking about the body again.”

“Which is why I turned it down, Paul. People are eating,” Rose complained, but she still grabbed the remote off the counter and turned the volume up a few notches.

“Police have questioned the family that had owned the property for over thirty years, but they are not suspects at this time. Ken and Molly Eden reported Tommy missing the morning after he disappeared. What happened after Tommy left and how he ended up in that shallow grave is still a mystery.”

“You must’ve known the dead kid,” he pointed out. “You were going with one of the Eden boys back then, weren’t you?”

“I was. And I did know him, but I didn’t have much to do with him.” She didn’t elaborate. She wasn’t keen to invite this topic of conversation. The news crews were hot for people to interview who might’ve known Tommy or the Edens back then. Rose didn’t want any part of it.

Paul watched the television thoughtfully. “I’ve heard he was a pretty rotten sort. His own parents couldn’t handle him, so the state took him away.”

Rose nodded, pretending to listen, as she had every day since Tommy Wilder’s body was identified. Instead she cleared a few empty plates, scooped a few dollars’ tip into her apron pocket and went back into the kitchen to put the dirty dishes into the dish pile.

She hoped that by the time she returned, the segment would be over. And it was. It was fortunate since Paul was now gone and the flame-red hair of Tori Sullivan could be spotted at the far end of the counter. She was probably tired of the news, too.

“Hey, Rose,” she said in greeting.

Rose put on her best smile and headed in that direction. She poured a glass of water and set it down in front of her. She wasn’t unhappy to see Tori, but at the moment, she was trying to avoid anything to do with the Edens. Tori could be here to gossip, to get a piece of pie or to try and convince her not to be mad at Xander. She hoped it was the pie.

“What can I get you today? I just put out a beautiful lemon chiffon cake.”

Her blue eyes lit up, and then disappointment crossed her delicate features. “I’d love to, but I can’t.”

“Why not?” If anyone deserved cake, it was people with police officers traipsing through their yard.

“The wedding is coming up. I had my dress fitting last week and the seamstress threatened my life if I gained or lost any weight. Mostly gained,” she added with a smile. “That means no lemon chiffon cake for me.”

Rose nodded sympathetically. “Well, if you find you’ve somehow lost weight without intending to, you march right down here and get some cake to get you back where you need to be.”

Tori smiled widely. “I absolutely will.”

So she wasn’t here for dessert, Rose thought with a frown. “What about lunch, then?”

The woman eyed her, her pink lips twisting in thought. “I shouldn’t. I really didn’t come down here for food.”

Shoot. Why couldn’t it have been the pie?

“What can I do for you, then, Tori?” She wished she could say the restaurant was slammed and she didn’t have time to chat, but they were the only two people in there at the moment. It was that odd time that was too late for lunch, too early for dinner. Things would pick up in an hour or so, but until then she had nothing better to do, apparently, than talk to Tori.

“I wanted to talk to you without the boys or anyone else around.”

Rose leaned her elbows onto the counter. “About what?”

Tori tilted her head to the side like a confused puppy. “Come on, now, Rose. You can be honest with me. I mean, I know about Joey. This whole thing has to be hard on you.”

The sympathetic words brought an unexpected rush of tears to her eyes. “It’s okay. Really,” she argued, snatching a napkin out of the nearby dispenser to halt the flow. “I never really envisioned a life with Xander in it.”

“Liar,” Tori said. “You know you’ve spent the last decade fantasizing about him being back in your life.”

How did she know Rose so well? “And look what it got me, Tori. He’s a criminal.”

Tori nodded. “If Xander is a criminal, you know who else is? Wade. And I’m going to marry him anyway.”

Rose was taken aback. She’d assumed that Tori knew about what had happened, and yet she hadn’t ever considered that the wedding was happening despite that fact. “Did Wade tell you...?” Her voice trailed off.

“He told me some. The recent news has helped me piece together the rest of the story. But I believed it when Wade told me he’d do anything to protect his family and the people he loved, including me. Don’t focus on what they might have done. Think about why. About how important it must have been to protect someone they cared about. You’d do anything for Joey, wouldn’t you?”

Rose knew exactly how quickly her hackles got up where her son was concerned. Just thinking of when she got the call about him breaking his arm... If he was in true danger, she would do anything to protect him. “Of course.”

“I don’t know everything that happened that night, but I have to believe that it wasn’t with malice aforethought.” Tori smiled and shook her head. “Apparently, I’ve been watching too many crime shows trying to decompress from the wedding planning. But listen,” she added, flicking the bright red waves of her hair over her shoulder. “I know that your father going to jail was hard on you. I can only imagine how difficult it made life here in Cornwall. Small towns are rough, and when it comes to not fitting in, I’m at the top of the list. I never fit in anywhere, not even here, before Wade.

“But you can’t let other people’s opinion of you—or someone in your family—dictate your life or your self-worth. You’re not trash, Rose. Not your father or anyone else could make you that. You’re a good person. A great mother. A fantastic pastry chef. That’s way more important than the deeds of your family members.”

Rose felt a rush of embarrassment reach her cheeks. “You don’t need to say all those things, Tori.”

“Yes, I do. Because you need to hear it. And you need to know that Xander and your father are two very different people committing two very different crimes. Xander would never deliberately hurt you like your father has. He loves you. And he loves Joey. He may not have said it, but I’ve seen that sad, moony look in his eyes. He misses you both so badly. I think it killed him to have to go back to D.C. with things unresolved between the two of you.”

“He’s gone?” Rose asked, and Tori nodded.

Rose shouldn’t have been pleased to hear that Xander missed her, but somehow knowing he was suffering a little bit while they were apart was nice. He should at least be as miserable as she was, although she doubted he was. Tori might think Xander was in love with her, but he wasn’t. He was in love with the idea of their family and being a dad. Now that he was home and surrounded by his old life, he’d forget all about that.

“I won’t keep him away from Joey forever. I just need to make sure that whatever this is—” she gestured toward the television “—doesn’t blow up. I don’t want to tell my son who his father is only to have to visit him on Sunday afternoons during inmate visitation. I’d rather wait. We’ve waited this long.”

“And what about you?”

“What?”

“You said you wouldn’t keep Joey away from him forever. What about you? Are you going to keep your distance from the man you’ve loved since you were fifteen years old?”

“Maybe,” Rose admitted.

“What could he do to convince you to give him another chance?”

Rose shook her head and turned to look out the window. The sheriff’s car blew by, probably heading up to the Garden of Eden again. “I don’t know that there’s anything he can do, Tori. Maybe our chance ended back in the summer before college.”

Tori’s clear blue eyes were nearly penetrating as she looked at Rose. They were beautiful and icy, making her want to shiver in her uniform. After a moment, Tori got up from her chair and put a five-dollar bill on the counter even though she hadn’t bothered to order.

“What’s this for?” Rose said, holding up the bill.

“It’s for working hard for far less money than you deserve. You’re entitled to some happiness. You just have to be open to the possibilities. And it’s possible that back in high school was just the beginning for you two,” she said before slipping out of the diner and out of Rose’s sight.

Thirteen

Things weren’t exactly going as Xander had planned. He’d hoped to get back to Cornwall as soon as he could, but work got in the way and he found himself wrapped up in congressional committee sessions that lasted late into the night nearly every day.

It had taken him two weeks to get things in motion and he’d had to cash in a couple favors to get away, but he was two miles outside of Cornwall and closing in fast. But now that he was here, he had to wonder where everyone else was.

The town was quieter than usual for four o’clock in the afternoon. There weren’t a lot of cars on the road. He drove out to Rose’s apartment, but her car wasn’t there. He cruised back to Daisy’s, but her Honda wasn’t there, either. No one was there, actually. He would have called Rose on her cell phone if he thought for a moment that she would answer.

Instead he headed to the town watering hole. There wasn’t a single vehicle in the lot outside the Wet Hen, either, except for the bartender’s old truck parked out back. Curious, Xander pulled in. The bartender, Skippy, would know where everyone was. He typically had the pulse of the town.

The skinny, leathery old man at the bar looked up when he came in. “Congressman Langston,” he greeted with a casual wave. “What brings you to the Hen?”

It was a good question. Xander hadn’t stepped foot in the place in years. Of course, it looked exactly the same as it had then. And the fifty years before then. And the fifty years before that. The Hen had opened in 1897 and aside from those newfangled electric lights and the cooling systems for the liquor and the patrons, not much had changed. He went to the bar and settled onto one of the worn leather stools.

“Afternoon, Skippy. I came into town for the weekend and I can’t seem to find anyone around. Any idea where they’ve all gone?”

Skippy nodded and leaned up against the bar where Xander had seated himself. “Everyone’s probably at the ball field. The local Little League team made it to the final four in the state championships. Tonight they’re playing their last game. If they win it, they’ll play the other winner for the state title. People have really gotten excited about it. It’s all they’ve talked about on the news lately.

“I’m kinda relieved,” Skippy added. “I’m tired of all that nonsense about your folks’ place. That Wilder kid could’ve found trouble wherever you put him. Did you know I actually caught him stealing liquor out of the back room once? Who knows what he got himself into? Harassing good people like the Edens won’t get Sheriff Duke anywhere.”

Xander was glad to at least have Skippy on their side. He probably had more pull in town than the mayor did. People were very suggestible when drunk. “Thanks, Skippy. Do you know what time the game was supposed to start?”

Skippy eyed his watch. “About a half hour ago. You’d better hurry on if you’re going to see your boy play. He got his cast off a few days ago. Doc cleared him to play with a brace as long as he wears his glove and catches with his right hand.”

Xander’s gaze met Skippy’s weary dark eyes and the old man smiled. Skippy truly knew everything that went on in this town. It was a little scary. Thankfully, time had proven that Skippy kept most of his knowledge to himself. “Uh...thanks again. I’ll see you around.” He slid off the stool and bolted from the bar.

The community ball field was about five miles away. It wouldn’t take him long to get there. It did, however, take him a while to park. Everyone, and it really was everyone, had come out to support the team.

He found a spot in a lot about a block away. Little League games were only six innings, so he worried he might have missed it entirely, but everyone was still at the field and he could see the little boys in the outfield as he got closer. Xander glanced at the scoreboard. It was the bottom of the fifth inning. Joey’s team, the Litchfield Lions, was ahead by two runs. A glance at the crowd gathered around the field was intimidating. They’d spilled off the bleachers and lined the sides in lawn chairs and blankets. He tried to spy Rose in the stands, but there were so many people.

The crowd shouted encouraging words to the boys as the Lions struck out and the team ran to take their positions in the outfield. Xander took the opportunity to get people’s attention without distracting the players. “Rose!” he shouted. “Rose Pierce!”

Quite a few people turned in his direction, but she was not one of them. “She’s at the top of the bleachers by the Lions’ dugout,” someone yelled.

“Thanks!” Xander stepped through the crowd, dodging folks with popcorn and soda. With the area narrowed down, he was finally able to spot Rose sitting beside her brother, Craig. She was wearing a bright blue Litchfield Lions T-shirt and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She didn’t see him. She was fully focused on the game.

Xander stopped at the bottom of the bleachers. This was it. The moment. His heart raced like election night, but he wouldn’t let his nerves get the better of him. He performed best under pressure, right?

Rose’s gaze met his then, and she froze. A flash of surprise, then fear, then concern crossed her face before it went blank. Xander started climbing up the bleachers, cutting through the cluster of people and nearly stepping on a couple to reach the top.

This probably wasn’t the best conversation to have in public. With the whole town watching. He’d prefer to have this moment in a dark, romantic restaurant or, at the very least, without his scowling future brother-in-law there to witness the whole thing. But that was the hand fate had dealt him. At the very least, she couldn’t cause a scene. Rose didn’t like attention being drawn to her. She would have to sit there and listen to what he had to say.

Xander stopped on the metal bench directly ahead of her. He squatted down, carefully balancing where she couldn’t avoid looking at him.

“What do you want, Xander?” Her voice was cold and angry, but he wouldn’t be deterred by that.

“I want to talk to you.”

“We’ve talked enough. I’ve told you to leave us alone. Now get out of the way so I can watch my son play.”

Craig suddenly stood up. “I need a drink.” He gestured for Xander to take his seat as he stepped out toward the concession stand.

“Thanks,” Xander said, plopping down beside her.

“Craig!” Rose complained, but it was too late. She sighed and inched away from him, although there wasn’t really anyplace she could go.

Xander sat awkwardly beside her for a moment before he said anything else. “How is Joey playing? Is his arm holding up okay?”

Her eyes were focused on the field as she spoke. “He’s doing well. The arm doesn’t seem to be holding him back. He made a run in the third inning.”

“I’m glad he got his cast off in time to play.”

“Me too,” she said, seeming to grow more comfortable as they focused on the safe territory of their son.

“I love you, Rose.”

That finally drew her attention, as well as the attention of several people sitting around them. Rose’s pale skin took on a pinkish hue of embarrassment. “Xander, shhh!” she said with wide eyes.

“Shhh?” Xander repeated. “That’s not exactly what I was hoping to hear.”

Her lips twisted with anxiety. “Well, both of us seem to be suffering from disappointment lately.” She turned back to the game and cheered enthusiastically at the boys on the field.

“No one is perfect, Rose. Not me, not you. Perhaps we’ve both built up this fantasy of one another since our high school days. I’m sorry I haven’t lived up to your expectations. But you’ve got to believe me when I say the only crime I’m guilty of is loving you too much.”

Rose didn’t respond, but she’d stopped cheering and seemed to be listening intently despite refusing to look at him.

“We’ve all made mistakes. We’ve all got secrets. Believe me when I say that if I could go back, there are a couple of things I would do differently. The first would be letting you walk away from me all those years ago. It’s my biggest regret. But I’m not going to make the same mistake twice. I’m not going to let you push me away again.”

Xander reached out to caress her cheek and gently turn her to face him. “I know you’re scared, Rose. So am I. But these last few weeks I’ve realized that the reality of losing you is far worse than the fear of what might happen if I came back here and told you how I felt.

“I want to focus on my future. Our future. You and me and Joey together the way a family should be. I don’t want anything you and I did in the past to come in the way of that.” Xander reached into his pocket and grasped the small velvet box in his fist.

“Xander,” Rose began, but stopped when she saw the box.

“I had this made for you. There’s only one other ring like it in the whole world.” He held it out and opened the lid on the hinge. “My hope is that you will wear this one every day of the rest of your life.”

* * *

It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t be.

It was surreal enough to have Xander here, telling Rose that he loved her. Tori had told her as much was true, although she hadn’t believed her. Having him produce an engagement ring was beyond her most secret of fantasies. But then he opened the box and the world tilted sideways.

Her mother’s engagement ring. At least, it looked like her engagement ring. After the cancer claimed her, Rose’s mother had been buried with her wedding ring and engagement ring on her finger. Xander had had it re-created for her.

With her hand shaking, Rose reached out for the ring and then gripped the platinum band tightly to keep from dropping it under the bleachers. Upon closer inspection, she could tell it wasn’t a perfect replica. For one thing, her mother’s ring had been white gold, not platinum. And the sideways oval diamond inset into the band was much larger and sparkled brighter than any stone her father could ever afford.

But the band had the same intricate crisscrossed mount with cutaways that revealed more tiny diamonds, just as her mother’s ring had. “How did you ever find a ring like my mother’s?”

“Like I said, I had it made. With help from Craig, if you can believe it.”

Rose tore her gaze away from the sparkling ring to frown at Xander in disbelief. “Craig helped you?”

“He did.” Xander smiled. “He sent me pictures of the ring so I could have a jeweler in D.C. re-create it for you. Do you like it?”

Rose’s mouth dropped open to answer, but she couldn’t find the words. Of course she loved it. It was absolutely perfect. Beautiful, sentimental and thoughtful, as Xander always tried to be. The issue was whether or not she could accept it.