That Summer (23 page)
What if it was Liam's medal?
It can't be. Liam wouldn't lie to me about this.
How the hell did a miraculous medal, which was an old-fashioned devotion not often seen nowadays, come to be near Leslie's grave?
Maybe Liam still had the medal! I got out of bed, got my cell phone and rang Wellington again. Once again Liam answered.
“Hi,” I said. “Do you still have your medal, Liam? If you could show the police that you still have yours, that would disassociate you from the medal they found.”
“I think I do still have it, Annie. I'll have to look.”
“Look hard,” I recommended. “It could be your ticket out of this mess.”
“I'll do that.”
“Let me know if you find it.”
“Stop worrying, Annie. Everything is going to be all right.”
“I hope so.”
I hung up and went back to bed but it took me two hours before I finally fell asleep.
W
hen I woke up the next morning, I felt as if I had a cloud hanging over me. It didn't take me long to remember the medal. The police would probably show it to the Wellingtons today.
Mom had already left for work and I made myself breakfast. I sat at the table, eating cereal and worrying about the medal. Liam had told me it wasn't his, but what if the police didn't believe him? How many other people in Midville, Virginia went around wearing miraculous medals?
Someone knocked on the front door and I went to see who it was. Kevin was standing there.
“Good morning,” he said. “I hope I didn't wake you up.”
“I was just eating breakfast. Come on in. Do you want some coffee?”
“Coffee sounds wonderful.”
He followed me to the back of the house and sat down at the kitchen table. My hair was hanging loose and I pushed it out of my face as I poured a mug of coffee for Kevin.
“Sexy pajamas,” he said with a smile.
They were my oldest and baggiest pair. “I have no one I'm trying to impress,” I said.
“Well, that's put me in my place.”
It was my turn to smile.
I sat across from him. “Did Liam get a chance to talk to you?”
“About what?”
“About the police's new discovery.”
“No, he hasn't talked to me. What have the police discovered?”
I hesitated.
Should I tell Kevin? Will he agree to protect Liam?
I said slowly, “They found something on the ground out near Leslie's grave.”
He raised his golden eyebrows. “I haven't heard anything about it.”
“You haven't been around these last few days.”
“True. What did they find?”
“Liam was supposed to tell you.”
“Well, he didn't.” He drank some coffee.
“Have you seen him at all this morning?”
“No. He was gone when I got up.”
“I think I'd better tell you, Kevin. You should be prepared.”
He put his mug down and stared at me. “For God's sake, what is it?”
I took a deep breath. “They found a miraculous medal.”
Kevin didn't say anything. He just kept on looking at me. I looked steadily back. Then he said, “Is it Liam's?”
“He says it's not. He was going to look for his, but I don't know if he found it.”
“This doesn't look good.”
“Liam didn't do it, Kevin!”
He slapped his hand on the table. “Then how the hell did his medal come to be by Leslie's grave?”
“It isn't his medal!”
“Oh, yeah, half of Midville wore miraculous medals that summer.”
“You've got to say you don't recognize it,” I said intensely. “You can't connect it to Liam.”
“You and I are not the only persons who know that Liam wore a medal. It wasn't exactly invisible.”
“How many people would remember after all these years?”
“All you need is one person to connect it to Liam.”
“Well, don't let that one person be you, Kevin. Please
please
don't tell the police about Liam.”
He scowled. “What am I supposed to say? I don't want to be arrested for concealing evidence. It wouldn't look good to my fans.”
I wanted to say
To hell with your fans,
but I couldn't alienate Kevin. I said, “Can't you just say you can't connect it with anyone? After all, you have no way of knowing if it's really Liam's medal.”
His scowl deepened. “I don't like this, Anne.”
“I don't like it either. I can't believe that the police came up with that damn medal.”
He asked, “How do you think it got there?”
“I have no idea. All I know is that Liam did not kill Leslie.”
“Well… I'll think about it.”
“You're an actor. You can pull it off.”
“I'm not worried about pulling it off. I'm worried about being caught in a lie to the police. My agent would kill me if he knew I was doing something like this.”
“Liam's life is more important than your agent.”
“Maybe.”
I wanted to scream, but I held onto my temper. “All you have to say is that you've never seen it. It isn't Liam's medal so, technically, you really have never seen it. You won't be lying.”
“But what if it is Liam's medal? Then I would be lying.”
“Then you can say that you thought Liam's medal was different from this one, that you made a mistake. Nothing terrible will happen to you, Kevin, but something terrible might happen to Liam if you say you recognize that medal.”
He let out a long breath. “Oh, all right, Anne. I can't out-argue you. I'll say I don't recognize the bloody medal.”
I gave him a tremulous smile. “Thank you, Kevin. Oh, thank you.”
He finished his coffee. “I came to ask you about the Preakness, but I guess it's not what's at the top of your mind today.”
“No, it isn't. But we had a great time. Wasn't Buster fabulous?”
“That he was. I bet a hundred on him and raked in a bundle.”
“Great.”
“It's hard to believe that Wellington Farm has a horse vying for the Triple Crown.”
“I know. But Buster doesn't belong to the farm, Kevin. He belongs to Liam.”
He frowned. “How is that? I thought Uncle Lawrence owned all of the horses here.”
“He owns most of them, but Liam bought a few of his own mares and he pays board for them here at the farm. Buster is the son of one of Liam's mares.”
“Wow. How lucky is that.”
“Yes.”
We talked for a little longer and then he got up to go.
“Remember what you promised,” I said.
“I remember, but you know what, Anne? I'm beginning to think that old Liam did it.”
“How can you say that?” I cried passionately.
“I can say it because I don't see him through the same starry eyes that you do. He's far from perfect, you know.”
“I know he's not perfect, but I also know he's not a killer.”
“Then whose bloody medal is it?”
“I don't know!”
“I'll protect him for now, because he's my cousin, but I'm not risking my own reputation for him, Anne.”
“Okay,” I said. “But for now you'll go along with us?”
“If I can do it without an outright lie.”
“You're clever, Kevin. You can manage that.”
“We'll see,” he said grimly.
He left and I sat back down at the table. My hands were shaking.
Please, dear Mary,
I prayed.
Don't let your medal become a trap for Liam. Help us to find a way out of this.
After awhile I got up and began to put the dishes in the dishwasher. Then I went out to the track to work with the horses.
It started to rain as we were completing our work at the track and when we finished with the horses, Jacko and I went to stand inside the barn to talk.
We were still standing there, evaluating each youngster's progress, when Liam pulled up in the farm's oldest truck. He got out and walked through the rain to join us. My heart leaped in my chest as I watched him come.
Jacko said, “Anne and I are impressed with the Magus filly. She's very intelligent, very calm. And she can run.”
Liam said, “She's going to have to go to auction, Jacko. They're all going to go to auction. Dad just told me that he has to liquidate all his assets.”
“Oh Liam, no,” I cried.
“Yes.” He looked bleak. “Our only keepers will be Pennyroyal, My Holiday and Crescent Moon—my mares.”
“He's selling all the mares?” Jacko said in horror.
“And the stallions too.”
“Not Thunderhead?”
“Yes, Thunderhead too.”
Jacko cursed under his breath. “Why would he do such a thing?”
“He needs the money, Jacko. He's in debt and he has to pay it off.”
Jacko looked at me. “I'm almost glad your father isn't here to see this.”
I nodded. My heart was aching for Liam. He had spent so much time figuring out the right bloodlines for each of his horses; so many happy hours comparing the virtues of one horse as a mate versus another. All of the babies were the products of his careful matchmaking. And the mares! He loved his mares. And Thunderhead, who he had bred himself and now was the sire of a potential Triple Crown Winner. Liam was a hands-on professional, one who was there in the barns every day to form an attachment to the animals. He was emotionally invested in his horses and the loss of them would break his heart.
I said, “If Buster wins the Belmont, you'll have the money to buy some of them back. The sale isn't until July.”
The bleak look never left his face. “That's a big ‘if’, Annie.”
“I suppose you'll be letting all the help go?” Jacko asked.
I looked at his grizzled head. Where was Jacko going to get a job to equal this one?
Liam said, “You'll have a job as long as I have horses, Jacko. If Wellington shuts down completely, I'll be starting my own barn.”
The relief on Jacko's face was evident. “That's good to know, Liam. Thank you.”
Liam looked at me. “Come for a ride with me, Annie?”
“Sure.”
We dashed through the rain to the truck. We both climbed in and Liam drove off. Neither of us spoke. Then I said, “I'm so sorry, Liam. This is a terrible blow.”
“Yes. It is.” He continued to drive. The windshield wipers were working hard; the rain had started to come down fast.
“Are we going anywhere?” I asked.
“No. I just wanted to get you to myself. I'll park by the broodmare pasture.”
He parked the truck facing the pasture and we looked at the mares and their foals huddled under the run-in shelter that protected them from the rain and the sun. He said in a choked voice, “I can't believe all this is going.”
“I can't either.”
We sat together inside the cab of the truck with the rain pouring down outside. “You were afraid this was going to happen,” I said.
“I knew there was a problem, but deep down, I never thought it would come to this. To sell all my horses! When Dad said that, it was like a dagger went into my heart.”
“Oh, Liam.” Tears welled up in my eyes. “I am so sorry, so very very sorry.”
“Annie.” He turned to me and held out his arms. I slid across the seat and put my own arms around him as his closed around me hard. “I feel like I'm in a nightmare,” he said.
My arms were around him, my whole body pressed against his. “Is it a done deal or only a possibility?”
“It's a done deal.” His voice sounded muffled because his mouth was pressed against my hair. “He has to have the money. He borrowed money to put into the stock market and now he has to pay it back.”
“Is he going to keep the property?”
“He doesn't know yet.”
I almost reminded him of his idea of starting anew in Kentucky, but I caught my words back. There would be time to think of the future. Right now he was grieving too hard for what he had lost.
I wondered if the police had come out and shown him the medal.
He said, “I had to see you. You're the only one who understands how I feel about this.”
“My heart is broken for you, Liam. But you'll get some of the horses back. I know you will.”
“What if Buster doesn't win the Belmont?”
“You'll do what everybody else does, take out a loan.”
He said huskily, “You must think I'm acting like a baby about this.” His arms never loosened their hold.
“Of course I don't. I think you're devastated, and you should be devastated. Everything you've worked for for so many years is crumbling around you.”
My face was pressed against his chest and I could hear his heart beating under my cheek. It was as if we were alone in the world, with the rain making a drumming sound on the roof and windshield of the truck.
He gave a great shuddering sigh and I pulled away a little to look up at him. For a moment he looked back, then his mouth was coming down on mine.
I closed my eyes and let him kiss me, a long, sweet, gentle kiss. “Annie,” he said softly. “I'm glad you're here.”
“I am too.”
He kissed my cheeks and my forehead and then he came back to my mouth. I was so afraid of scaring him away by showing my neediness that I didn't kiss him back at all. I just received his kiss, as sweetly and gently as he gave it.
He raised his head and cuddled me close. I rested my head against his shoulder. I said, “Liam, did the police contact you about the medal?”
“Not yet. But I left the house right after Dad told me the news.”
“Where did you go?”
“I went for a walk. Then, when I couldn't stand my own company any longer, I came looking for you.”
“I saw Kevin this morning,” I said.
“Oh? Did he ask you for a date?”
“No. But I got him to promise not to say anything about you once wearing a miraculous medal.”
I could feel him stiffen. “You got Kevin to lie for me?”
“He's not going to lie. He's going to … evade … the issue.”
“And how the hell is he going to do that?”
“I don't know. Kevin is clever. He'll think of something.”
“Is he doing this for your sake?”
“No. He said he would do it because you were his cousin.”
Liam snorted.
“He did say that, Liam. Honestly.”
“Oh the hell with the medal,” he said angrily. “I'm losing my farm.”
I reached my hand up and smoothed his hair off his forehead. “If you want to cry, go ahead,” I said. “I won't tell anyone.”
“I'm not going to cry,” he said gruffly.
