Presumed Guilty & Keeper of the Bride (9 page)

She stared at him, suddenly confused by the signals he was sending. By the signals her body was sending. He had her closed off from all retreat, her back pinned against the kitchen sink. She had to tilt her head up just to meet his gaze, and the view she had of him, towering above her, was more than a little frightening. Yet it wasn’t fear that seemed to be pumping through her veins. It was the warm and unexpected pulse of desire.

She slid away and paced across the kitchen, as far as she could get from him and still be in the same room. “I meant what I said. About refusing all rights to Rose Hill Cottage. In fact, I think we should do it right now. Go to the lawyer.”

“Is that really what you want?”

“I know I don’t want anything of his. Anything to remind me of him.”

“You’d give up the cottage, just like that?”

“It doesn’t mean a thing to me. I’ve never even seen the place.”

Chase looked surprised. “He never took you to Rose Hill?”

“No. Oh, he told me about it. But it was his own private retreat. Not the sort of place he’d share with me.”

“You could be handing back a fortune in real estate, sight unseen.”

“It’s not my fortune. It never was.”

He regarded her with narrowed eyes. “I can’t figure you out. Every time I think I have, you throw me a curve ball.”

“I’m not all that complicated.”

“You managed to intrigue Richard.”

“I was hardly the first woman to do that.”

“But you’re the first one who ever left him.”

“And look where it got me.” She gave a bitter laugh.

“You may not believe this, but I used to think of myself as a person with high morals. I paid my taxes. Stopped at every red light. Followed all the rules.” She turned and stared out the window. Softly she said, “Then I fell for your brother. Suddenly I didn’t know what the rules were anymore. I was slipping around in strange territory. God, it scared me. At the same time I felt…exhilarated. And that scared me even more.” She turned to him. “I’d give anything to turn back the clock. To feel…innocent again.”

Slowly he came toward her. “Some things we can’t recapture, Miranda.”

“No.” She stared down, her cheeks flushed with guilt. “Some things we lose forever.”

His touch, so unexpected, made her flinch. It was the gentlest of strokes, just his hand tracing the curve of her cheek. Startled, she looked up to find a gaze so searching it left her nowhere to hide. She hated feeling so nakedly exposed but she found she could not break away. The hand cupping her face was warm and so very compelling.

Here I am, falling into the same old trap,
she thought.
With Richard I lost my innocence. What will I lose to this man? My soul?

She said, “I learned my lesson from your brother, Chase. I’m no longer fair game.” She turned and walked away, into the living room.

“I’m not Richard.”

She looked back. “It doesn’t matter who you are. What matters is that I’m not the same dumb, trusting soul I used to be.”

“He really hurt you, didn’t he?” He was watching her from the kitchen threshold. His shoulders seemed to fill the doorway.

She didn’t answer. She sank into an armchair and stared at her dirt-stained knees.

Chase studied her from across the room. All his anger toward her, which had built up since that morning in Les Hardee’s office, suddenly evaporated. In its place was a fury toward Richard. Golden boy Richard, who had always gotten what he wanted. Richard the firstborn, the one with the classic Tremain fair hair and blue eyes, had bought everything he ever coveted with the coin of wit and charm. But once he’d attained his goal, he’d lose interest.

That was his pattern with women. Once, Richard had wanted Evelyn DeBolt, and he’d won her. He’d had to marry her, of course. You didn’t play games with the only child of Noah DeBolt. But after the prize was his he’d grown bored with his wife. That was Richard, always coveting, never satisfied.

And here was the one woman, the one prize, he hadn’t been able to keep. Such an unassuming female, thought Chase, feeling a strange ache in his throat. Was it pity or sympathy? He couldn’t tell the difference.

He sat in the chair across from her. “You…seem to have recovered from last night.”

“Just some sore muscles. That’s all.” She shrugged, as though she knew he couldn’t possibly be interested. Whatever turmoil was swirling in her head, she kept it carefully concealed. “I sent Annie home this morning. I couldn’t see the point of her staying.”

“Safety’s sake?”

“Safety from what?”

“What if it wasn’t an accident?”

She looked up. “At the moment I’m not terrifically popular in this town. But I can’t see one of our upstanding citizens turning hit-and-run driver.”

“Still, one of our upstanding citizens did steal Mr. Lanzo’s car.”

“Poor Eddie.” She shook her head. “It’ll just reinforce his paranoia. Now he’ll add car thieves to that list of crazies he imagines cruising the street.”

“Yes, he mentioned that last night. Something about Peeping Toms.”

She smiled. “Eddie grew up in Chicago. He never did shake those big-city jitters. He swears he spotted some mob car watching my…” She suddenly paused, frowning. “You know, I never paid much attention to his stories. But now that I think about it…”

“When did he tell you about that car?”

“Maybe a month or two ago.”

“Before Richard’s murder, then.”

“Yes. So it’s probably not related.” She sighed. “It’s just poor, crazy Eddie.” She stood. “I’ll change clothes. I can’t go to the lawyer looking like this.”

“You really want to go right now?”

“I have to. Until I do, I won’t feel clean. Or free of him.”

“I’ll call ahead, then.” He glanced at his watch. “We can just make the ferry to Bass Harbor.”

“Bass Harbor? I thought Les Hardee was Richard’s lawyer.”

“He is. But this last will was drawn up by some lawyer named Vernon FitzHugh. Do you know him?”

“No, thank God.” She turned and headed up the hall.

“Or you’d probably accuse Mr. FitzHugh and me of fraud.” She vanished into the bedroom.

Chase watched the door swing shut behind her. “As a matter of fact,” he muttered, “the thought did cross my mind.”

Vernon FitzHugh was expecting them. What he didn’t anticipate was the purpose of their visit.

“Have you really thought this through, Ms. Wood? This is prime real estate we’re talking about. The north shore has just been rezoned for development. I expect your piece of property, in a few years, will be worth well over—”

“It should never have come to me,” said Miranda. “It belongs to the Tremain family.”

FitzHugh glanced uneasily at Chase, one of those sidelong looks that reveal so much. “Perhaps we should discuss this in private, Ms. Wood. If Mr. Tremain would care to wait outside…”

“No, I want him to stay. I want him to hear every word.” She looked meaningfully at FitzHugh. “So he can’t accuse us of collusion.”

“Collusion?” FitzHugh, alarmed, sat up straight. “Mr. Tremain, you don’t think I wanted to get involved in this, do you? It’s a messy situation. Two lawyers, two wills. And then, the complicating circumstances of the client’s death.” He assiduously avoided looking at Miranda. “I’m just trying to carry out Mr. Tremain’s instructions. Which are to ensure that Rose Hill Cottage goes to Ms. Wood.”

“I don’t want it,” said Miranda. “I want to give it back.”

FitzHugh looked troubled. He removed his glasses and set them on the desk. It seemed, with that one gesture, he simultaneously shed the role of the detached professional. Now he was speaking to her as a friend, an adviser. The flat accent of a working-class Mainer slipped into his voice. This man knew only too well what it was like to be poor. And here was this stubborn young woman, throwing away the promise of security.

“Richard Tremain,” he began, “came to me with a request. I’m bound to honor it. It’s not my job to decide whether you’re innocent or guilty. I just want to see that the intent of the will is carried out. I made very sure that this was what he wanted, and he wanted that land to go to you. If you’re convicted, then the point will be moot—you can’t inherit. But let’s say you’re found innocent. Then Rose Hill goes to you, no question about it. Wait a few days, Ms. Wood. If this is really what you want, come back and I’ll draw up the papers. But I won’t do it today. I have to think of Mr. Tremain’s last request. After all, he was my client.”

“Why
did
he come to you?” Chase asked. “Mr. Hardee has been Richard’s attorney for years.”

FitzHugh studied Chase for a moment, weighing the man’s motives. Coercion was what he suspected, the wealthy Tremain family putting pressure on this woman, this outsider, to surrender her inheritance. It wasn’t right. Someone had to take the woman’s side, even if she refused to stand up for herself.

“Richard Tremain came to me,” FitzHugh said, “because he
didn’t
want Les Hardee involved.”

“Why not?”

“Mr. Hardee is also Noah DeBolt’s attorney. I think Mr. Tremain was worried this would leak out to his father-in-law.”

“And what a riot that would have caused,” said Chase.

“Having met Mr. DeBolt this morning, yes, I can imagine there would’ve been fireworks.”

Chase leaned forward, his gaze narrowing on the attorney. “The day Richard was here to change his will, how did he seem to you? I mean, his state of mind. People don’t just walk in and change their wills for no good reason.”

FitzHugh frowned. “Well, he seemed…upset. He didn’t mention any fear of dying. Said he just wanted to straighten out his affairs….” He glanced at Miranda and reddened at the unintentional double entendre.

Miranda flushed, as well, but she refused to shrink from his gaze.
I’m through with being punished,
she thought.
Through with cringing at the looks people give me.

“You said he was upset. What do you mean?” asked Chase.

“He seemed angry.”

“At whom?”

“We didn’t discuss it. He just came in and said he didn’t want the cottage to go to Mrs. Tremain.”

“He was specific about Evelyn?”

“Yes. And he was concerned only about Rose Hill Cottage. Not the bank account or the other assets. I assumed it was because those other assets were joint marital property, and he couldn’t redirect those. But Rose Hill was his, through inheritance. He could dispose of it as he wished.” FitzHugh looked at Miranda. “And he wanted you to have it.”

She shook her head. “Why?”

“I assume, because he cared about you. Giving you Rose Hill was his way of telling you how much.”

In silence Miranda bowed her head. She knew both men were watching her. She wondered what expression she’d see in Chase’s eyes. Cynicism? Disbelief?
You can’t imagine that your brother would feel love, not just lust, for a woman like me?

“So, Ms. Wood?” asked FitzHugh. “You agree this isn’t a move you should make?”

She raised her head and looked across the desk at the attorney. “Draw up the papers. I want to do it now.”

“Maybe you don’t,” said Chase quietly.

Miranda looked at him in disbelief. “What?”

“Mr. FitzHugh has brought up some points I hadn’t considered. You should think about it, just for a few days.” His gaze met Miranda’s. She could see that he was baffled by something he’d heard here today.

“Are you saying I should keep Rose Hill Cottage?”

“All I’m saying is this. Richard had a reason for changing the will. Before we go changing things back, let’s find out why he did it.”

Vernon FitzHugh nodded. “My thoughts exactly,” he said.

They exchanged scarcely a word on the ferry back to Shepherd’s Island. Only when they’d driven off the pier and turned onto Shore Circle Road did Miranda stir from her silence. “Where are we going?” she asked.

“The north shore.”

“Why?”

“I want you to see Rose Hill. It’s only fair you know exactly what you’re handing back to Evelyn.”

“You enjoy this, don’t you?” she said. “Running me around in circles. Playing your little mind games. One minute you say I’m stealing Tremain property. The next, you’re trying to talk me into playing thief. What’s the point of it all, Chase?”

“I’m bothered by what FitzHugh told us. That Richard wanted to keep the cottage away from Evelyn.”

“But it
should
go to her.”

“Rose Hill came from my mother’s side. The Pruitts. Evelyn has no claim to it.”

“He could have left it to you.”

Chase laughed. “Not likely.”

“Why not?”

“We weren’t exactly the closest of brothers. I was lucky just to get his collection of rusty Civil War swords. No, he wanted Rose Hill to go to someone he loved. You were his first choice. Maybe his only choice.”

“He didn’t love me, Chase,” she said softly. “Not really.”

They drove north, winding past summer cottages, past granite cliffs jagged with pines, past stony beaches where waves broke into white foam. Gulls circled and swooped at the blue-gray sea.

“Why did you say that?” he asked. “About Richard not loving you?”

“Because I knew. I think I always knew. Oh, maybe he
thought
he loved me. But for Richard, love was a lot of moonlight and madness. A fever that eventually breaks. It was just a matter of time.”

“That sounds like Richard. As a kid, he was always in pursuit of the never-ending high.”

“Are all you Tremains like that?”

“Hardly. My father was married to his work.”

“And what are you married to?”

He glanced at her. She was struck by the intensity of his gaze, the gaze of a man who’s not afraid to tell the truth. “Nothing and no one. At least, not anymore. Not since Christine.”

“Your wife?”

He nodded. “It didn’t last very long. I was just a kid, really, only twenty. Doing my share of wild and crazy things. It was a handy way to get back at my father, and it worked.”

“What happened to Christine?”

“She found out I wasn’t going to inherit the Tremain fortune and she walked out. Smart girl. She, at least, was using her head.”

He focused on the road, which he obviously knew well. Miranda noticed how easily he handled the curves, guiding the car skillfully around each treacherous bend. Whatever wildness he’d displayed in his youth had since been reined in. Here was a man in tight control of his life, his emotions, not a man in pursuit of the ephemeral moonlight and madness.