Deeply, Desperately (20 page)

"His ex."

"She's got nothing on you. I'm sure she's an ugly, warty, big-nosed rhinoceros of a girl with a mean streak as wide as her ass."

"Dovie!"

"What?" she asked innocently as she shook the tumbler. "I'm just supposing."

"She's not any of those things." I tried hard to keep the tears at bay. "But she might be sick." I explained the whole situation. "She's having all these tests done, and begging Sean to be by her side the whole time. He can't say no."

"I suppose not. He's a good man, that one." She opened the tumbler, poured in more gin, started shaking
again. So vigorously I was afraid if the tumbler slipped and hit the wall, it would leave a hole.

She poured the martinis. "What are you going to do?"

Softly, I said, "I don't know. What can I do?"

"But he and you, you and him ... belong together."

"Dovie, if she's sick, really sick ..."

"It's the curse for sure." She handed me a drink.

I pulled a face. "I thought he was the one to break the curse?"

"You shouldn't listen to me."

I nodded, watching the olive bob in my cone-shaped glass.

Dovie said, "I see the way that boy looks at you, LucyD. He's head over heels."

I nudged the box of letters. "We both know sometimes love isn't enough."

"But sometimes it is."

"How are we supposed to figure out which is which?"

"Damned if I know."

I drained my glass, smiled at her wry tone.

My phone vibrated. Dovie raised an eyebrow.

"It's Sean," I said, checking the screen.

"Answer," she urged.

"Hi," I said, my cell phone warm against my cheek.

"Hey."

"I'm waiting up."

There was a stretch of silence before he said, "Lucy ..."

"Don't tell me."

"Lucy, I don't like this any better than you. Just
remember that Cara's mother is flying in tomorrow night."

Then what? I wondered. Would he still feel the need to stick around? Or would he be able to walk away--for good?

"Are you going to be at work tomorrow?" I asked.

"I'm going to try, but the MRI is scheduled for noon."

"Okay."

"That's all you have to say,
okay
?"

"It's all I have right now."

He swore under his breath and hung up.

Dovie was perched on the edge of the sofa, the box of letters in her lap. "The ex?"

I nodded.

"The battle begins."

Why did I suddenly feel like surrendering?

The next morning, the ringing phone jarred me awake. I reached over Grendel and grabbed the handset. I mumbled a groggy hello.

"LucyD, your father is on his way over here. He wants to talk. Do you know what this is regarding? He said he's already spoken to you."

"Hello, Mum."

"Don't hello me. He sounded serious. You know stress isn't good for his heart. What's this all about?"

"What time is it?" I rubbed my eyes.

"Eight."

Eight! I'd overslept. I wanted to get an early start to the day. I needed to follow up with my vision in Portsmouth, find a way to see Leo, and after seeing Dovie last night, I had a plan to help take her mind off Grandpa Henry.

"Is he sick? Dying? Was his heart attack a symptom of something bigger?"

I pressed my fingertips into my temples. "You're giving me a headache."

"It might be from drinking with Dovie last night."

"You've already talked to her?"

"Of course! Dovie mentioned you called
her
your favorite felon. Where's the love, LucyD? Where's the love?"

"Sorry. I wasn't thinking straight."

"Why? Are you worried about your father too? Because I'm worried."

"Nothing to worry about."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I am."

"You're not going to tell me."

"Not my place to tell."

"You used to be my favorite child."

"I'm your only child." Not something I could say any longer with my father.

"Easily remedied. I can adopt one of those big-eyed adorable orphans from India that the guy from
Trapper John, M.D.
is always talking about on TV."

"Isn't that Africa?"

"Lucy!"

"What time is your court appearance?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Eleven."

I winced as I said, "Do you want me to come with you?" I didn't really have the time and was hoping she'd say no.

"Not necessary, LucyD. It's not like it's the first time."

"Don't I know it."

"Sass!"

"Genetic."

"Are you sure he's not sick?" she asked.

"Mum."

"Lucy! Tell me!"

"I've got to go, Mum. If you want to talk later, call me."

"Argh!"

I made kissy noises into the phone, hung up, and wandered into the kitchen. As I ground coffee beans my phone rang again. It was Em.

"Why is Marisol inviting Aiden to Dovie's party? Are they dating?"

I nearly dropped the phone. "She's what?"

"She told me she's bringing Aiden to Dovie's party, as her guest. Do you know why? Did she tell you?"

"No, I don't know." Though I had a good idea. Jealousy was a powerful motivator. "How're things with you? You okay?"

Grendel skulked to his food bowl, stared at me.

"I don't know."

"Did you talk to Joseph?"

I'd almost said "him." Too much time with Marisol.

"He wasn't home when I came back, then I must have fallen asleep. When I woke up I lost my nerve because he was acting so weird."

"How so?" Probably he was wondering the best way to broach a prenup conversation.

"Paranoid. Thinks people might be following him."

I choked on my coffee. "Why would he think that?"

"How the hell should I know?"

"Grumpy."

She exhaled. "I really am. I'll talk to you later."

I fed Grendel and was pouring a second cup of coffee when someone knocked on my door.

I peeked out the window and half expected it to be Sean. It wasn't.

Aiden smiled. "I brought doughnuts."

"You've come bearing gifts. Should I be scared?"

"Only if you're terrified of crullers."

I poured him a mug of coffee and sat in my favorite chair. "You're out early."

"Thought I'd bring bad news to you in person."

"Bad news?"

"The lead on the Handmaiden letters didn't pan out. We had a partial fingerprint."

"Whose?"

"A man who works at Milton Hospital in registration. His prints happened to be in the network for a long-ago shoplifting conviction. He took a lie detector test of his own volition--he's never even heard of you, Lucy. We'll find out who's behind those letters. I promise." He reached for a cruller, glanced at the Christmas tree. Automatically tipped his head to the side.

I was beginning to believe we'd never find out who was behind the letters, that I was always going to live in fear, one eye in the rearview mirror, my house alarm always set.

"I met with Scott Loehman yesterday."

Aiden coughed. A piece of cruller went flying across the room. Grendel made a dash for it and dragged it away. "You what?"

"I met with Scott Loehman."

"Alone?"

"In a public park. Very busy. Lots of kids to defend me if necessary."

"It's not funny."

"I was fine. I did a reading on Sarah's wedding ring."

"And?"

"I saw it in Portsmouth. I'm going up there today to check it out."

"Damn it. I have a meeting today. Can you hold off until this afternoon?"

I shook my head. "I just heard on the news another storm is blowing in. I'm afraid if I don't go today, then it'll be days."

"That might not be a bad thing."

"I'll be fine, Aiden."

"You're bringing Sean, right?"

I shook my head. "He has other plans."

"Jesus." He swiped a hand over his face. "Don't go alone."

"Okay."

"Lucy ..." he warned.

"You're cranky when you don't get enough sleep." He growled. It reminded me of the first time I'd met him, when he thought I was a crackpot and he'd been nothing but rough and tough, a mean old cop.

"Tell me what you saw."

I went through the reading I'd had with Scott Loehman. "The bracelet I could see being a fluke. Maybe Jerry White picked it up at a pawnshop, a different yard sale, something. But to have her bracelet
and
her wedding band?"

"And what are you planning to do, Lucy? Barge in and get a confession?"

"Hardly. Sean was running into trouble getting
anything on Jerry White. I thought I'd get his license plate number, maybe try to talk to him. The neighbors mentioned he comes home for lunch everyday. I'm going to stop at an office store and get a clipboard and pretend I'm getting a petition together. I'll make up something on the fly. That way when I hand him the clipboard, I'll get his fingerprints. I figured you would know what to do with them."

He let out a long string of curse words. "Tell me Sean didn't teach you these tactics."

I tried not to take offense. I thought it was a good plan.

"As soon as my meeting is over, I'll head up there. I'll try to cut things short. I can probably be up there by noon. Do not approach the house on your own, Lucy."

"I'm not stupid."

"Good to know. And as a friend, I'm asking you not to go alone."

Inwardly, I groaned. He'd played the friend card. No way could I betray that. "All right."

"Who're you taking?"

Sean was out. Mum and Dovie too, since they were due in court. Aiden couldn't make it. My father was busy, Raphael too. Marisol was working. Em was having a crisis. It really only left one person. Someone I wanted to have a word with anyway.

"Lucy?"

"I'm taking Preston Bailey."

Preston's voice was clear over the phone line despite background noise; she was at work. "You're going where?"

"To Portsmouth. I thought you might want to come since it involves Sarah Loehman."

She said, "I'll go."

"I'll pick you up in ten minutes."

"Twenty?"

"Eight minutes."

"Fine." She hung up.

I took side roads into Scituate. In front of the paper, I set the parking brake so I didn't slide down the hill into the harbor. A bright swath of teal Atlantic stretched, broken only by moored sailboats, rocky jetties, and the lovely white column of the Scituate lighthouse.

Preston dashed out of the building, slid into the passenger seat, took one look at me, and her face fell.

I released the parking brake, swung the car around. "I know about Cutter."

I glanced her way. Her forehead was crumpled, her lips twisted, her eyes in a tight wince.

"And," I said, "I know you were blackmailing my father."

"Blackmail," she squeaked, "is such a harsh word."

"Is that one of your shades of gray?"

"It was a favor for a favor, that's all."

Slushy snow piled along the sides of the road the color of charcoal. Gritty sand covered black pavement, scraped smooth by the plows overnight.

"And threatening to bring Cutter to Dovie's party?"

Her chin went up a notch. "Insurance."

"Blackmail."

"I never would have gone through with it, you know. It was all a bluff."

"How am I supposed to believe that?"

She shrugged. "Because I'm telling you it's the truth."

"And you never lie."

"There's a difference."

"How so?"

"It's another of those shades of gray. I might lie once in a while, but when I say I'm telling the truth, I'm telling the truth." She adjusted the heater vent, turning it away from her flushed face.

I arched an eyebrow. "Once in a while?"

She cracked a smile. "Hardly ever."

I merged onto the highway. "Right."

We sat in silence for a few minutes. Finally, Preston said, "Why did you bring me along today? Why are you still even talking to me?"

"I figured I'd swap you one big story for another. You forget everything you know about Cutter, and
I'll give you the exclusive on Sarah Loehman's disappearance."

"You already promised me the exclusive."

"No, I agreed to let you in on the story."

"So much for black-and-white."

I smiled. "You must be rubbing off on me."

"I'm not reading that as a compliment."

"How intuitive of you."

"You know, just for the record, I was feeling really bad about asking your father for a favor."

"Blackmailing him?"

"Whatever. I tried to contact him a few times, call it all off, but he's been avoiding me."

He'd been avoiding everyone but Sabrina McCutchan. And though I liked to think they were solely discussing Cutter's best interests, I had my doubts. My father didn't go to L'Espalier without having something else in mind.

"Why would you do that?" I asked. "It's the story of a lifetime."

She frowned and fussed with the fringe on her scarf. "I don't know, really. It just didn't feel right. Not after I got to know you."

I looked her way--she seemed serious.

I thought about how I'd suspected she might be my sister--and my father's reaction to the subject. I couldn't help but laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"Did you know that for a while I suspected you might be my sister? With all your questions about siblings, and your strange reaction that day Leo asked if
we were related. I see now why, but at the time you had me worried."

She wasn't laughing with me. "Would it have been so bad?"

I stole a look and noted the hurt in her eyes. It took only a second for me to remember that Preston had no family left. I tried to lighten the mood. "We're all too nutty for the likes of you."

"Yeah, 'cause I'm the pillar of sanity."

"There's a saying: 'In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.' "

Her eyebrows dipped. "Are you calling me a one-eyed man?"

"I think so."

"Again, not feeling the compliment." But she smiled and said, "Now tell me what we're doing."

I filled her in on the reading I'd had with Scott Loehman, the little yellow house, and my plan to get more information.