Текст книги "Crowned and Moldering"

Автор книги: Kate Carlisle

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Текущая страница: 13 (всего у книги 18 страниц)

Chapter Twelve

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” I asked, as Sean and I crossed the high school campus after work the following Monday. “It would just be for a few weeks, until the play is over. My friend is a little worried that things won’t get done in time.”

“I don’t mind at all,” Sean said. “It’ll get me out of the house a few nights a week.”

“That’s really generous of you.”

And clever of me, too, I thought, but it wouldn’t do to crow too loudly.

Sean held the door for me and we walked into the auditorium, down to the edge of the empty stage, where I looked around for Lara Matthews. “She must be here somewhere,” I muttered.

“Break’s over, guys,” Lara shouted as she walked out onstage, staring at her tablet. “Come on. Shake a leg. I need the Von Trapp kids front and center to rehearse ‘So Long, Farewell.’ Everybody onstage.”

She glanced down and noticed us when I waved. “Shannon? You’re back. Are you a glutton for punishment?”

“Hi, Lara,” I said, smiling. “I came up with a solution to your carpenter problem. This is Sean, one of the guys on my construction crew. He’s willing to help out your carpenters for a few weeks, if that works for you.” I turned to Sean. “Sean, this is Lara Matthews.”

They stared at each other for a moment; then she stooped down and stuck her hand out. “Welcome to the show, Sean.”

He shook her hand, grinning. “Nice to be here, Lara.”

Lara gazed at me. “Wow, you make good things happen.”

I shrugged modestly. “Just want to make sure the carpentry crew shines.”

*   *   *

That night, flush from my brilliant introduction of Sean to Lara, I walked down to the pub to pick up a celebratory burger for dinner. As I was about to place my order, Eric walked in.

After greeting me, he asked, “Are you meeting someone?”

“No, I was going to get something to go.”

“Why don’t you join me?” he said.

“I’d love to.”

The waitress showed us to a booth along the far wall and took our drink orders. I was willing to admit it was not a hardship to gaze across the table at him. “You come here a lot, right?”

“Yeah. This and the wine bar are pretty much my go-to places when I don’t feel like cooking.”

“Mine, too,” I said. “But I might be a little prejudiced when it comes to the wine bar.”

“True—your uncle owns the place. But I can speak objectively. And I say it’s the best Italian food around.”

“On behalf of Uncle Pete, I thank you.”

We both smiled. Everyone knew my uncle owned the wine bar. It was officially known as Bella Rossa, but more commonly was referred to as the wine bar on the square.

As soon as our drinks were served and we’d ordered our food, I said, “Anything new on the crime-fighting scene?” and had the pleasure of watching him scowl.

“You just asked me that to watch my blood boil, right?”

“No, but that’s a delightful side benefit.”

He shook his head and glanced around. “I’m not about to tell you anything while we’re sitting here, but I will say that we’re not much farther along than we were when I saw you in my office the other day.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” I glanced around, too. The booth was one of the most secluded in the pub, but I still thought it best to lower my voice. “I spoke to Sean. He said you didn’t find what you were hoping for.”

He knew what I was talking about and nodded somberly. “It’s too bad. On the other hand, I’m not sure if those tests would’ve proved much, anyway.”

The DNA tests, I guessed. “You mean, because the mother’s genetic code and her father’s would be too similar to discern?”

He was scowling again, but it was still sort of fun to talk to him cryptically.

Eric leaned over to whisper, and he was so tall that he almost reached my ear. A good thing, because what he said next was totally confidential. “The real problem is that the tests won’t be conclusive, no matter what. It’s got something to do with the genealogical pattern of chromosomes descending within the patrilineal line vis-à-vis the matrilineal line.”

“Translation, please.”

His laugh was short and humorless. “That’s a direct quote from the medical examiner. Bottom line is, it’s not worth our time and money to test Hugh Brogan’s DNA.”

In my head, I decoded what he’d told me. That Lily’s DNA was too close to her father’s DNA for anyone to tell if the baby was his or not.

With a sigh, I said, “I think it’s for the best.” When he looked puzzled, I lowered my voice to a bare whisper and scooted closer. “If I were Sean, I would hate to know that my own father had raped my sister, then killed her when she got pregnant.”

He grimaced but had no comment.

“Because that’s basically what you’re trying to prove by testing Hugh’s DNA, right?” I sat back. “And that’s just too horrific a scenario to contemplate.”

He gazed at me for so long that I started to wonder if I had food smeared on my cheek or something.

“You know, Red,” he said, “for a civilian, you’re pretty darn smart.”

I clutched my chest dramatically. “Oh, be still my heart. That may be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

He was grinning now. “I know. Don’t get used to it.”

“Ah, that’s better. The earth has returned to spinning around its axis.”

*   *   *

The next day, all went according to plan. I drove Callie to school, and we walked together until we reached the parking-lot construction site; she kept going to the building.

Several hours later, it was getting close to lunch and I had just turned off the jackhammer to relieve the relentless shaking of every bone in my body. I usually let the guys work that particular piece of machinery, because even though I had rather awesome upper body strength for a woman, I couldn’t match Sean’s or Douglas’s ability to hold and control the machine.

It made me wonder if Sean’s idea of buying—or, better yet, renting—a hydraulic hammer for jobs like this would be a more reasonable idea all around. It would save wear and tear on my guys because, let’s face it, jackhammers were brutal on anyone’s system. I could protect them from the noise level by requiring them to wear their headphones, and I was a regular maniac when it came to wearing protective eye gear, but what could I do about the body-jarring effects of the machine? I usually mitigated things by setting a time limit and making the guys switch jobs so that no one man had to suffer for hours at a stretch.

Naturally, my guys loved using the jackhammers, although if given a choice of sticking with those battering machines or switching to one of those gigantic hydraulic hammers that the SolarLight guys were operating, I’d bet they’d go with the big hammer.

As I set the jackhammer back in its portable carrier, I saw Douglas coming toward me with purposeful strides.

“Hey, Douglas. You going to lunch?”

He pressed his lips together, looking like he was thinking about something, then blurted, “Cliff Hogarth has offered me a lot of money to go work for him.”

I almost choked on my own breath. It was as if he’d kicked me in the stomach. My head began to spin and all I could do was nod distractedly. “I see. Okay. Thanks for telling me.”

Before he could make excuses, I walked away. I didn’t want to hear how much more money he could make or whatever else Hogarth had promised him. As soon as I was far enough away that he couldn’t see me, I started running all the way to my truck. I was sick to my stomach and out of breath by the time I got there. Douglas had worked for me for five years. He was a part of my family. “But he’s not your family,” I muttered angrily as I fumbled for my keys.

My eyes were hot with unshed tears, but not for long. As soon as I got inside the truck, I slammed the door and locked it, then laid my head on the steering wheel and started to cry. After a minute, I lifted my head and wiped away the tears. All I needed was for someone to see me and tell Cliff Hogarth that he’d made the girl cry.

I didn’t even know if Douglas was going to take the job with Cliff, but I couldn’t imagine him turning down a huge raise, either. I paid fair wages, but Cliff was clearly not above bribing my guys.

“I hate him!” I shouted, and pounded the steering wheel really hard, wishing it were Cliff Hogarth’s head.

“Ow! You idiot.” That hurt. I had to shake my hand and flex my fingers to make the pain go away. I didn’t need to break my hand on top of everything else.

I looked around the parking lot, knowing I had to get out of there before someone came along who knew me. Without thinking too hard, I realized where I had to go. I shoved the truck into gear and took off toward Main Street. I pulled into the closest parking space and stormed over to the inn.

In the restaurant, the hostess smiled. “Do you have a reservation?”

“No.” I pushed past her and spied my target across the elegant dining room. He sat at one of the power tables in front of the wide plate-glass window that overlooked Main Street, the pier, and the ocean beyond. He wore another expensive black suit and his hair was perfectly coiffed, as usual. All in all, he was buffed and polished to precision, and looking at him, one would never guess he’d ever soiled his soft hands working on a construction site. He was dining with my friend Dave, another local contractor. Wasn’t that just dandy?

As I stomped closer, I had a vague thought that it would probably be a good idea to calm down first, but that was impossible. I was incensed. This confrontation had been too long in coming, and now I was a runaway train, ready to collide with my worst enemy.

“Cliff Hogarth,” I said crisply, and marveled that my tone was relatively modulated.

“Why, it’s Shannon Hammer.” He actually looked surprised to see me, and that just infuriated me more. “You know Dave, don’t you?”

“Of course I know Dave. I’ve known Dave for years.” I turned to Dave. “Hello, Dave. Nice company you’re keeping.”

“Hi, Shannon.” Dave had the good grace to recognize my wrath and avoided direct eye contact.

Cliff gave me a smarmy smile. “We’d invite you to join us, but . . .” He glanced around. “I’m afraid there’s no room for another chair.”

“I wouldn’t join you if you were the last man on earth. The poisonous stench you give off would ruin the excellent food here.” I edged closer so he could hear every word I said. “I am sick of you bad-mouthing me to my clients, stealing my workers behind my back, and trying to undermine my business. If you don’t back off immediately, I will make you sorry you ever showed up in this town again.”

He chuckled and tried to appear blasé, but I could see his neck turning red. “Is that a threat?”

“No, that’s a promise.”

“Oh yeah?” he said cockily. “Good luck with that.”

I leaned over his table and jabbed him in the chest for emphasis. “And good luck surviving a slander lawsuit, you creep.”

And then I turned and walked out of the place.

*   *   *

Back in my truck, I had to breathe deeply. The initial rush of fury was gone and I was crashing precipitously. I glanced around and realized I was parked where anyone in town could see me, so I had to get away from there.

I turned on the engine and started driving. I went east to Highway 101 and then drove north. A few miles later I exited, and it was only then that I realized I was headed toward the nursery. And that was a good thing. I could wander the pathways and stare at pretty flowers for a while and maybe bring my heart rate down a little.

I walked for twenty minutes and finally sat down on a worn burl bench in front of a miniature waterfall that had been created by redirecting part of the brook to spill over a short wall of slate bricks. It was a charming sight, but it was the sound of the water babbling and gushing that most appealed to me. It was a happy sound, and it drowned out my own voice repeating itself over and over in my head.

That’s a promise.

You creep.

I covered my face with my hands. It had been stupid of me to verbally attack Cliff Hogarth in public like that. But what else could I do? I had endured his direct assaults as well as the shadowy rumors of certain malicious comments from him. I had brushed off Ms. Barney’s concerns after Hogarth berated her and slandered me. And I’d barely tolerated Whitney’s idiocy over the guy. But now he was trying to take Douglas from me and it was suddenly very personal.

The whole town knew what Cliff was up to, so there was no point in pretending otherwise. So, really, what had I done that was so bad? I’d stood up for myself, my crew, my business. I’d showed everyone that I wouldn’t roll over and play dead for a low-life interloper like Cliff.

I could rely solely on my own good reputation to see me through this crisis, or I could hire a lawyer and sue Cliff. If I chose to go the way of a lawsuit, I wondered how much damage I might’ve just done to my case by confronting him personally. I supposed there was only one way to find out. I pulled my tablet out of my purse and made a note on my calendar to call our business lawyer tomorrow and find out.

I put away the tablet and began walking farther down the path, wandering among the plants and greenery. I’d done this before, of course. Gardens had always soothed me, ever since I was a little girl and my mother, Ella, who was a botanist, had taught me all about gardening. I could still picture her laughing as I tried to grow green beans up the side of the house.

“Oh, dear.” I had to stop and concentrate on the feathery leaves of a nearby willow tree. Thinking of my mom often brought me close to tears. And memories of my mother’s death reminded me of Lily’s kindnesses. I desperately blinked back the waterworks. Today had already been overly emotional for me and I really hated to cry. It turned my eyes red and my face puffy, besides clogging up my head and making me feel like a sad little five-year-old.

“You look so lonely.”

I flinched at the sound and looked behind me. “Hey. Hi, Denise.”

“You okay?”

“Oh, sure. I’m not really lonely, just hiding. And de-stressing.”

She smiled. “This is a great place to do both.”

“I know. It’s so beautiful here.”

“It is.” She gazed around. “Sometimes I wonder how my life would’ve turned out if I had traded my garden tools for a briefcase. There was a time when I actually had to make that decision.”

“I think you made the right one,” I said, brushing my fingers over the wispy strands of pink pampas grass growing along the path.

“I like to think so,” Denise said. She moved her rake in and around the nearby bushes, extracting dead leaves and weeds. “If you’ve got something on your mind, Shannon, feel free to vent. I figure anything said out here stays out here.”

I laughed lightly, recalling that I’d said almost the same thing to Eric a few days back. What happens here in the jail, stays in the jail, I’d assured him.

“I guess it might help to talk it through,” I said.

“Go right ahead. Pretend I’m not here if it helps any.”

“No, I don’t mind talking to you. Especially since you know the players.”

“Now you’ve stoked my curiosity.”

I smiled. “Okay. So one of my favorite crew members—well, they’re all my favorites, really. I’ve been working with the same guys for years now and they feel like my brothers, you know? Anyway, one of them just told me that Cliff Hogarth offered him a lot of money to quit my company and work for him.”

“I’m so sorry. That’s just wrong.”

“It’s very wrong, mainly because he only did it to harass me.” I told her about the slanderous statements he’d made to Ms. Barney and others, and I was about to complain about Whitney, too, when I remembered that Denise and Whitney were friends.

And speaking of friends, it just occurred to me that since Cliff had dated Lily, maybe Denise had been friends with him, too. Oh, boy. I should’ve kept my mouth shut.

“I probably need to stop talking,” I said. “For all I know, you and Cliff are old pals.”

“Believe me, we’re not,” she rushed to say. “I’ve always thought he was a scumbag.”

“I never liked him, either, and now it’s worse than ever.”

Her eyes narrowed as if she were searching back to a certain moment in the past. “Cliff was always a troublemaker. Always pushing people’s buttons. He pushed Lily’s plenty of times, and sometimes I hated him for it.”

“He’s sure been pushing mine,” I muttered.

“And, frankly, don’t you wonder why he came back to town?” Denise leaned on the rake handle and squinted up into the sun from beneath her gardening hat. “I mean, he got here, and within a month you’d all found Lily. It makes me wonder.”

So I wasn’t the only one who had questioned the timing of Cliff’s return to Lighthouse Cove. Why had Cliff come back? And why now?

“But now I can see that I’m feeding your anger,” Denise said, “and I don’t like to do that.”

I smiled. “Then let’s change the subject. How are you and Brad doing? How’s the kitchen working out?”

“You know, we love it.” She talked about how Brad—Mr. Jones—loved cooking now that they had a wonderful, state-of-the-art kitchen. “Before, he would never even boil water, but now he’s always experimenting with new, amazing recipes, like short ribs and chicken piccata and lots of yummy sauces, you know? And it’s all because of our kitchen. So thank you. You did a fabulous job.”

Laughing, I said, “Well, I fished for that compliment, but thank you. I’m glad it makes you happy.”

“The only thing we need now is a few kids running around the house.”

I grinned. “Are you planning a big family?”

“I would love three or four, but Brad thinks two would be plenty.” Denise smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Of course, we haven’t had much luck in that area yet.”

Her happy tone had completely faded. I tried to think of something encouraging to say, but all I could do was reach out and squeeze her arm lightly. “But you will. I know it.”

“I hope so. It’s funny. Back in the day, after we realized we were in love with each other, we were hesitant to rush into having kids. It didn’t seem right. Because of Lily, you know? But now . . .”

“I understand, and I’m so sorry you’re having problems now. But you’re both such good people, I know good things will happen for you.”

“Thanks, Shannon.” She took a deep breath. “I guess we’ll see how it goes.” She shook her head as if to shake away the melancholy and changed the subject. “What about the lighthouse mansion? How is that job coming?”

“We just got back in there, after it was declared a crime scene for a week. And it’s going to be beautiful. I’m hoping I can talk Mac into joining the House and Garden Tour in May. It would be great to open the place to the public for a day or two once we’ve finished the rehab.”

“That would be fun,” she said. “I’d love to see it. It’s in the perfect spot, isn’t it? Right there where the breakwater and the lighthouse and the beach and the cliffs all come together. I always loved walking along the rocks when I was little.”

“Me, too. My dad used to drive us out there. Remember when there were sand dunes between the road and the beach? We used to slide down them and pretend we were surfing.”

“Of course I remember. They’re mostly sand mounds now.”

“Sand dune-lettes.”

We both laughed. It was nice to reminisce with someone who’d grown up experiencing the same joys.

“You’ll laugh at this,” I said. “The first time I walked inside the mansion, I barely made it to the kitchen before this tiny white rat came skittering across the floor. I went screaming out of there. It’s so embarrassing to think about.”

She laughed. “I don’t mind little white rats. It’s the ugly big gray ones that freak me out.”

I moaned. “I’m just a wimp.”

“I wasn’t always good with rats, but I got used to having the little white ones around when Brad and I got married.”

I was confused at first, then realized what she was talking about. “Oh yeah. The first time I ever saw a white rat was in Mr. Jones’s biology class. It freaked me out then, too.”

“He’s still got them in the classroom.”

“It’s nice to know some things never change.”

My arms were covered in goose bumps by now, after all this talk about rats. “I hope you got used to them. Didn’t you have to take them home when school was closed for vacation?”

Denise made a face. “Not at first. Brad knew how I felt about the little critters. Darren Dain always took them home.” She rolled her eyes. “Doesn’t that just figure?”

The name was an instant buzzkill. “Mr. Dain? Dismal Dain, the world’s worst guidance counselor? He took care of the rats?”

She just laughed and nodded.

“Wow. That makes perfect sense,” I said, as the goose bumps returned. I shook my head at the thought of that horrible little man communing with rats. But, then, who else would put up with him all summer besides a bunch of squirmy rodents?

*   *   *

By the time I left Denise at the Gardens, I felt so much better. I would still call the lawyer in the morning, but at least I wouldn’t continue to suffer from that awful sick feeling in my stomach. It had faded sometime during my friendly conversation with Denise.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t forget that one moment when she confessed that she and Mr. Jones had tried to have children but hadn’t succeeded yet. They were still so young, though, so I refused to give up hope. I smiled at the image of Mr. Jones holding an adorable little baby in his arms.

My smile faded when I pulled into my driveway and saw Douglas pacing up and down my walkway. I was tempted to back up the truck and drive off, but that would be cowardly. Besides, maybe he’d decided to turn down Cliff’s job offer. I almost laughed. Why would anyone turn down more money? I gathered my work stuff and my purse, determined to listen to what he had to say for himself. And then I would pour myself a big glass of wine. I thought I deserved it after the day I’d been through.

Taking a deep breath, I jumped out of the cab and slammed the door shut. “Hi, Douglas,” I said, as breezily as I could muster, knowing that after this last confrontation, I wouldn’t see him at work again. I braced myself for that unhappy certainty as I strolled toward him.

“Shannon, where did you go?” He raked his fingers through his hair, something he’d been doing constantly, if his scruffy, disheveled hair was any indication.

“I took a little drive. What’s the problem?”

“What’s the—? Are you kidding? You just took off before I could even tell you that I would never quit you to take a job with Hogarth. None of us would. Why would you think that? You’re the best boss I’ve ever had, and Cliff is a jackass. Everyone in town knows that.”

“They do?”

“Yes. Believe me, I wouldn’t work for him on a bet. You have nothing to worry about where he’s concerned.” Douglas gave me a wary smile, as if half-afraid I might bolt again. “I’m just really sorry you were so upset. It’s all my fault. If you want to dock me, go ahead, because I didn’t get much work done this afternoon. I was too worried, thinking you might be at the bank, cutting off my paycheck or something.”

“Come here,” I said, and pulled him close for a hug. After a long moment, I let him go. “Thank you for telling me all that. And I’m glad you told me that Cliff approached you about a job. It’s good for me to know those things.”

“God, you scared the crap out of me. I thought you were so mad at me.”

“I’m not mad. Not at you. And I’m sorry I scared you. I scared myself a little, too. But that’s over now, and I’m delighted that you aren’t quitting.”

After he left, I went inside and poured that glass of wine I’d promised myself. I sat on the couch with Robbie and Tiger crowding me on both sides and thought about what Douglas had said. Mainly the part where everyone in town knew that Cliff was a jackass and he wouldn’t get many jobs after his bad reputation became more known. If only that were true.

Tiger climbed onto my lap and I relished the warmth. I reminded myself that Whitney had tried to hire Cliff, so not everyone in town felt the same way Douglas did. But despite Whitney’s moaning about her love for Cliff, chances were excellent that Whitney had only hired him to bug me.

I’d always been able to get along with my competition, although I had to admit I’d had my share of adversaries when I first took over my father’s business. Strangely enough, not everyone took kindly to a woman running her own successful construction company. But until Cliff came back to town, we had all managed to live in relative peace and harmony. Now the peace had been shattered, and I didn’t know what to expect next.

*   *   *

The phone rang early Wednesday morning and I had to run out of the bathroom with my toothbrush in hand to grab it.

“Hello?”

“Shannon.”

“Lizzie? What’s up?” I glanced at the clock by my bed. “For Pete’s sake, girl. It’s barely seven o’clock. Is everything okay? Are the kids okay? Is it Hal? What’s wrong?”

“Everyone here is fine, Shannon, but you’ll never guess.”

“You’re right—I won’t. So just tell me.”

“Cliff Hogarth is dead.”