Cross My Heart (11 page)

“After ten years apart you know him that well?” Molly asked.

Lacey nodded. “Like I said, he's my family.” Ten years couldn't erase that feeling. “So forgive me for saying this to you. If you're playing a game, if you just like messing with the flirtation, then let it go. Don't bother acting the part of someone who's been hurt. Just leave him alone and let him move on.”

Molly's eyes widened, partly in surprise, partly in admiration. “You're protective of each other. I respect that.”

“You care about Hunter.” Lacey decided they'd talked about so much, she might as well lay it all on the line.

“Our relationship is complicated,” Molly said.

“Name one that isn't. The thing is, if you care about Hunter and you trust his judgment, then you need to know one more thing about our past.”

Molly raised an eyebrow. “What's that?”

“After I left, Uncle Marc was furious that he'd lost any hope of gaining access to my trust fund.”

Molly's shoulders stiffened.

Lacey refused to be deterred. “He was angry and needed to blame someone. That someone turned out to be Hunter and Ty but Hunter got the worst of it. Uncle Marc had Hunter removed from Ty's mother's home.”

“How do you know Marc was behind his removal?” Molly asked.

Lacey remained silent.

“So it's like you said earlier about the car theft—there is no proof.”

“Touché.” Lilly smiled grimly. “But I think you need to allow for the possibility that there's truth in my story. In our story. Talk to Marc. Ask him. And talk to Hunter. I've never known him to lie.”

A smile curved Molly's lips. “I'll do that.”

They started walking again, this time toward the exit of the mall closest to where they'd parked. Lacey felt as though she'd accomplished a lot with Molly, from telling her the truth about the past to opening up the possibility of a relationship with Hunter. In her heart Lacey believed that even if Hunter had ever had feelings for her in the past, he considered her just a friend now.

They walked out the doors to the parking lot.

“Where are you parked?” Molly asked.

“That direction.” Lacey pointed toward the area she'd left Ty's vehicle.

“Me, too.”

They started toward their cars. Since it was a late weeknight, near closing time, and on a drizzly evening, it made sense that the lot was nearly empty. Although it was dark, the overhead lamps provided steady streams of light in all directions.

“I hope you're happy with the outfit you bought,” Molly said as they walked.

“I am. I couldn't have bought it without you with me to tell me I looked good.” She shook her head and laughed. “I'm just so nervous about seeing all the relatives for the first time, you know?”

“I can imagine.”

Lacey saw her car straight ahead of her. She wanted to question Molly about the trust fund before she lost the opportunity. “Listen, I know you were going to help my uncle with—” Out of nowhere, a car careened toward them, cutting off her thoughts.

Lacey screamed and barreled into Molly, deliberately pushing the other woman toward the grassy embankment on Lacey's right. She rolled to her side and a nondescript car drove off in a squeal of dust, leaving both women shocked and shaking on the grass.

“Are you okay?” Lacey asked, panting as she spoke, her heart beating wildly in her chest.

“I think so. What happened?” Molly pulled her knees toward her, hugging her legs tight.

Lacey shook her head. Unexpected dizziness assaulted her. “I guess some idiot took a joy ride through the parking lot and aimed for the only people around. Us. Whew!” Lacey lay on her back and stared at the sky, willing her pulse to return to normal.

“Did you notice anything about the car that we can report?” Molly asked, joining her on the ground.

“Other than the fact that it was dark out and so was the car? No. I just saw that it wasn't a New York plate as it drove off, but that's it. You?” Lacey rolled her head toward the other woman.

“No.” Molly closed her eyes and exhaled hard. “I can't get behind the wheel just yet.”

“Me neither,” Lacey muttered, shutting her own eyes, too.

“When I came on this shopping trip I didn't know what to expect. Who knew?” Molly laughed, slightly hysterical. “Accidents happen, but that was way too close for comfort.”

“Lacey and Molly's Excellent Adventure.” Lacey shivered. Accident or not, she was unnerved but good.

 

T
Y DECIDED
to take his mother up on her invitation to come over for lunch. With Lilly's return, they needed to talk. Ty stopped by the office to check up on their borrowed P.I. who was now handling the missing husband case of Ty's, while Derek handled surveillance on Dumont. Then he headed over to his mother's. He hadn't seen her since he brought Lilly back and he dreaded the conversation.

His mother still didn't know Ty had had a role in Lilly's disappearance and though she'd made her secret deal with Marc Dumont, that knowledge didn't make Ty's role in his mother's pain over the years any easier to bear.

She'd raised him and she'd done it alone. As she always said, she'd tried her best even if some of her choices had been misguided. With Lilly's return, Ty was forced to see his mother in a new light. She'd kept her secret from him and he realized now he'd kept his.

When he arrived, his mother was puttering around the kitchen. The decor had changed since Ty was a kid. The cabinets were no longer old stained wood but a modern white laminate and the once hideous yellow appliances had been replaced with shiny stainless steel. As always when Ty stepped into the renovated kitchen, he had to push aside the reality of where the financing for this upgrade had come from.

“Ty! I'm so glad you could come by.” His mother greeted him with a huge hug.

Wearing an apron that signaled she'd been cooking along with a huge smile, she was the mother he loved and he wrapped his arms around her, too.

“You didn't have to cook for me. But I'm glad you did.” He stepped back and surveyed the stove and its many simmering pots, inhaling the delicious aroma that filled him with warmth.

“I still love cooking for you. I made your favorite homemade tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich with butter on the bread.” She smiled. “But I have to admit you're not the only reason I'm so busy in the kitchen.”

Was it his imagination or did her cheeks flush before she rushed over to the oven to peek inside. “What's going on?”

“I'm cooking for a friend.” She didn't turn to face him.

“You're cooking for a man?” he asked, surprised.

His mother had always claimed she was too busy to get involved again. Although he'd believed that line while he was growing up, a part of him had long suspected that she said it to protect his illusions of her as his mother. But he was a grown-up now and could handle his mother dating. In fact he'd much rather she wasn't alone.

“Dr. Sanford asked me out and I accepted. We went to the movies one time, dinner another. I'm cooking for him tonight.”

Ty nodded. “I hear he's a good guy. Is it serious?”

“It could be,” she said, trying to sound nonchalant. She busied herself pouring soup and serving their lunch before sitting down beside him at the table.

“Well, I'm happy for you,” Ty said. Nobody deserved to be alone for all the years his mother had been.

His mother smiled. “I'm happy for me. And for you. Now tell me when you're going to bring Lilly by because I don't think I can stand another day without giving that girl a big hug and a kiss.”

He'd known this subject was coming and he was prepared. “I know you missed her and you're relieved she's fine but before you see her, we need to agree on something.” He turned his attention to his lunch. Any food was delicious as always when his mother prepared a meal. “This is excellent,” he told her.

“Agree on what?” she asked, refusing to be deterred.

“The money remains our secret.” He'd thought long and hard about this, and as much as he'd hated the lies that had sprouted between all of them, he couldn't see any good reason to compound Lilly's pain by telling her the story that still haunted Ty.

Marc Dumont had met Flo in her position as school nurse. He'd overheard Flo discussing being a single parent and wishing she could give her son the quality time and things he deserved. Dumont had asked Flo to take his niece into her home and say she was a foster child from the state. In return, he promised Flo enough money to invest wisely in her son's future. To allow her to give Ty the things she'd wanted him to have, she explained, after Ty had uncovered the truth a few years ago.

“I don't see what good hiding it will do now,” his mother said, frowning.

“Lilly already lives with the fact that her parents were killed and her uncle sent her to foster care. She doesn't know that you took an ungodly amount of money for the privilege.”

His mother slapped her napkin onto the table. “Tyler Benson, you know good and well I loved Lilly like my own daughter. If she'd landed on my doorstep without a penny to her name, I'd have treated her as well and loved her as much as I love Hunter. And the state only paid me a pittance to care for and feed him.” His mother turned pale as she spoke.

Ty placed a hand on her more fragile one. “Calm down, please. It isn't good for your heart to get so upset.” She had a heart condition and took medication, but since the heart attack years before, Ty was always nervous.

“I'm okay,” she assured him.

Ironically it was her first heart attack and subsequent surgery during Ty's junior year in college that had led him to the paper trail regarding Dumont's money. He'd been temporarily in charge of her accounts while she was laid up and he'd discovered almost immediately that his mother had a ridiculous amount of money saved for a school nurse.

He'd gone to visit her loaded with questions and she'd revealed the whole sordid tale, grateful to have the secret out in the open. Once the truth had set in, so had Ty's reality—everything his mother had bought for him, everything she paid for, including college—had been at Lilly's expense. Not that she'd have been better off with her uncle, Ty understood that. But he hated the fact that he'd lived well, while she'd had to fake her death and run off to New York City. Alone.

“Are you sure you're not dizzy? Light-headed? Anything like that?” Ty asked, focusing on his mother.

“No, I'm fine,” she said.

“Good.” He tried to believe her and relax. “For the record, I wasn't trying to say you loved Lilly more because of the money. All I meant was she doesn't need the additional burden of knowledge right now. That's all.” He met her gaze.

Flo nodded. His mother still appeared paler than before and Ty decided a subject change was in order. “So tell me a little more about Dr. Sanford and his intentions.”

“Andrew is a widower with no children. He's nearing retirement and he thinks he'd like to travel. I might like that, too,” she said, her voice lightening.

Ty breathed a sigh of relief. With the subject change, her coloring returned to normal and she grew excited about Andrew Sanford. He wondered if he needed to meet the man who made his mother so happy.

Ty's cell phone rang and he unhooked his phone from his belt. “Hello?”

“Hey, Benson, it's O'Shea.”

“What's up?” Ty asked Russ O'Shea, a cop he'd met during an investigation, who was now one of his poker pals.

His mother cleared off the table as he spoke.

“There was an incident at The Cove,” he said of the local mall.

Every muscle in Ty's body stiffened. “What happened?” he immediately asked, knowing in his gut it had something to do with Lilly.

“Lilly Dumont and Molly Gifford had a close call with a car. Some bastard took a joy ride through the parking lot, narrowly missing them. A patrolling security guard showed up as the car skidded out of the lot. The women say they're fine. They dove out of the way just in time. Since it was Lilly, I thought you'd want to know.”

“Thanks, Russ.” Ty snapped the phone shut and rose from his seat. “Gotta go, Mom.”

“Is everything okay?” she asked, concern in her eyes.

He nodded. “Russ wanted to fill me in on a tip in an ongoing investigation,” he lied. His mother had just started feeling better. He couldn't burden her with this, especially since O'Shea said Lilly was fine.

Ty needed to see for himself.

His mother relaxed her shoulders. “Well, don't let me keep you then. I'm happy you came by. I just wish you'd do it more often.”

He grinned. He saw her once a week, but called her much more often. “Sometimes I think mothers were put on this earth to remind their kids of all the things they don't do,” he said wryly. “Thanks for the meal. It was delicious as usual.” He kissed his mother on the cheek.