Treasured Past (15 page)

The door that I had just closed to Melanie’s office suddenly flew open, and the look on Melanie’s face was something close to horror.

“Are you okay?” Annie and I said the words at nearly the same instant, watching while Melanie looked first at Annie and then back at me.

“You two know each other?” Her eyes continued to shift between us.

I laughed. “Very well, actually.” I turned toward my lover and felt my stomach begin to turn as I saw the look on her face. Her complexion had paled, and she looked like someone who was in shock. She was staring directly at Melanie. I followed her gaze and saw that Melanie was returning the stare. Something was definitely wrong. It felt as though I had just stumbled into a room and caught my lover having an affair. My mind reeled as I glanced quickly between them.

“What’s going on?” I demanded. “Why are you two acting this way?”

I heard Annie let out a huge sigh beside me. Melanie seemed to recover from whatever it was that had gotten her so upset, and a sort of calmness fell over her.

“I think we have a problem,” she said quietly.

I felt completely disjointed. “With what?” I asked stupidly.

Melanie kept her attention focused on Annie. “Annie, Kate is representing your husband in your divorce case.”

“Excuse me?” Obviously, I hadn’t heard her correctly.

“You’re
representing
him?” The sound of her voice was like a screech in my ear. I felt incoherent, as if everything was suddenly happening in slow motion and I couldn’t quite keep up. This was just plain ludicrous.

“You mean Donald Gold?” My eyes swam to Melanie and back to Annie.

Annie was seething. “Of course I mean Donald Gold. You’re his
lawyer?”

“Well, yes. But I don’t understand, Annie. What’s this all about?” My eyes flew back to Melanie’s, begging for her to help me make sense of the confusion.

“This is all some kind of setup, isn’t it?” Annie began rambling irrationally. “He put you up to this, didn’t he.” She began to move across the floor, pacing.

“Annie.” I said her name several times, but it was as if she wasn’t hearing me. Then she stopped pacing, her face inches from mine. Her lips curled sarcastically.

“You’re good,” she laughed. “I fell for it completely.” She shook her head, anger and sadness mixing together in her eyes. “Make sure you tell Donald that whatever he was paying, he certainly got his money’s worth this time.” She turned and began walking away from me.

“Annie.” I called after her and took two steps in her direction when I felt Melanie’s hand clamp down firmly on my shoulder. I tried to shake her off.

“Annie!” I knew my voice was too loud, but I didn’t care. People were staring at me from all corners of the office. Annie didn’t bother waiting for an elevator. She threw open the door to the staircase and disappeared from my sight.

“Come into my office.” I could barely hear Melanie speaking the words close to my ear.

I turned on her, furious and bewildered. “No!” I pulled my arm from her grasp. “What in the hell is going on, Mel?”

Her expression was grim as she grabbed my arm and pulled me into her office. I followed her in a stupefied trance, dropping in the chair in front of her desk while she closed the door behind her.

“Jesus Christ,” she muttered. “What a mess.” She dropped into her chair and rubbed her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me that you knew her?” She lifted accusing eyes to mine.

“Melanie.” My temper was almost out of control. “I don’t even know what the fuck is going on here. All I know is that my lover is suddenly furious with me and now you’re accusing me of something that I know nothing about.” I shifted forward in my chair. “What is she talking about, Mel? What’s going on?”

“You really didn’t know?”

“Know
what?”
I could have strangled her.

She stared at me, eyes flat. “Annie is Donald Gold’s wife.”

I stared at her. Not quite comprehending. Not quite understanding. Definitely not believing.

“That’s ridiculous,” I insisted. Annie was divorced, wasn’t she? Didn’t she say that she
used to be
married? Didn’t she refer to her husband as her
ex?

“It’s true, Kate.”

I refused to believe her. “That’s impossible. Donald Junior is married to someone named Hildegard Gold. I reviewed the divorce papers, Mel.” My voice was heavy with sarcasm.

Melanie nodded, her voice quiet now. “Annie’s name is Hildegard Ann Gold.”

“No,” I insisted. “It’s Annie Walsh.”

Melanie took a deep breath. “Walsh is her maiden name. She kept using it because it made things easier for business purposes. Her parents owned Treasured Past and it just made sense to continue using the name that everyone was familiar with.”

I blinked hard and began to panic.
This can’t be true. It can’t.
But my stomach was sinking and my legs felt weak.

“Jesus Christ.” My stomach began to churn, and I leaned forward, stars snapping and popping behind my closed eyes.

“You had no idea?” Melanie prompted.

“No,” I insisted. “Why would I have any reason to think that Annie was Gold’s wife? She told me that she was divorced.” I thought about it for a moment. “At least I thought that’s what she said.” I shook my head, trying to clear the cobwebs.

“How long have you been seeing each other?” Her voice was quiet and steady.

“A few months.” I shook my head, trying to sift through it all. “We never discussed her husband. She always seemed to avoid the topic.” I stared at my hands, then at Melanie. “Why would she have kept that from me?” I asked, hurt beginning to replace the anger.

Melanie shrugged. “I’m not sure, Kate. Unless it was because she knew she was almost divorced and she didn’t want it to be part of your relationship.”

I kept shaking my head, not believing it. “This can’t be happening,” I said aloud. Then I turned back to Melanie. “This is a nightmare.”

Melanie was nodding. “In more ways than one, Kate,” she began. “I know you’re upset and that you’re questioning your relationship right now,” she paused. “But just think for a moment about the implications on the court case, Kate.”

She had my full attention now. I didn’t think I could take much more. I needed to go after Annie, to talk to her and try to figure out what had happened.

“Did Gold’s father have any idea that you knew Annie?” Melanie was shifting into attorney mode.

“Of course not. He doesn’t know anything about my personal life.” As soon as I said the words, I wasn’t so sure any more.

“Are you sure? Is it possible that he set you up somehow?” Melanie’s eyes were driving into mine.

I tried to think back and remember the timing of everything. “I can’t be certain,” I admitted. “I can’t imagine that he would have any knowledge of my relationship with Annie. But then again, I wouldn’t put it past him to manipulate something if he thought it would get him what he wanted.”

Melanie chewed on this thought for several moments. “So it’s possible,” she began, “that Gold gave you this case knowing that you were involved with his son’s wife.”

My blood was beginning to boil as I joined her train of thought. My fists were clenching as she continued.

“It’s possible that he knew that sooner or later you would figure out who Annie was and that the entire case would blow up in our faces.”

“And if Gold’s main argument is that he found his wife having sex with another woman ...”

“Imagine what kind of ammunition he would have if he somehow managed to twist all this in front of a judge and make it appear as though Annie seduced you in order to compromise your position with your client.”

My head hurt. “This is crazy.” I rubbed my eyes, my mind drifting to Annie. Where would she have gone?

“Maybe.” Melanie shrugged. “Maybe not.” She leaned forward. “We need to tread carefully, Kate. We need to step back and plan our next moves.”

I knew she was right, but I was beyond reasoning. “I know,” I sighed. “We both need some time to think. I need to talk to Annie ...”

Melanie was quiet for several moments. “Then go and talk to her, Kate. See what you can do and what you can find out.”

I was already on my feet.

“But keep me posted, okay? Promise me we’ll put our heads together and come up with something.”

“Okay.” I reached for my briefcase. “I’ll be in touch.”

“And Kate?”

I turned back to face her as I opened the door.

“Yeah?”

Her smile was weak. “Good luck, Kate. Annie’s a sweetheart, and she’s been through an awful lot. Just remember that, okay?”

I nodded, digesting her words.

“Thanks,” I stammered, feeling my throat beginning to constrict. “She means everything to me, Mel.” I tried to smile. “Everything.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

My instinct was to drive to Treasured Past. It was Tuesday, and so I knew that the store was supposed to open. My car came to a screeching halt directly in front of the building. The CLOSED sign hung in the window, and I checked my watch. Almost one o’clock. The store was supposed to open at noon.

Refusing to give up so easily, I threw open the car door and ran to the front door. The doorknob wouldn’t budge.

“
Dammit
.” I had the key to the store on my key chain, and I held it in my hand, staring at it and turning it over several times. Somehow using the key to get into Annie’s store felt wrong under the circumstances. The way she had left Melanie’s office, it was impossible for me to predict how she might react if she found me waiting for her inside her own store. She would feel threatened, no doubt. I managed the few steps back to my car and slid in behind the steering wheel.

There had to be a solution, a way to find her.

“Well, duh!” I said out loud. I could just go to her house. I placed the key in the ignition and then dropped my hand, a cold finger curling up my spine.
I’ve never even been to her house. I don’t even know where she lives!

I fell back against the seat, mouth agape and dejection flooding over me. “Who’s been manipulating who, Annie?” Again I spoke out loud. Things suddenly began to fall into place.

Annie had always been resistant to talking about herself. She avoided talking about her ex-husband and virtually anything else about her past or personal life. She had never even once invited me to her house. At the time I hadn’t given it a second thought. I’d been too happy to have her in my home day in and out. It had certainly crossed my mind a few times that she seemed unusually reluctant to share some parts of her life with me, but I had overlooked all the warning signs.

“You lied to me.”

She
had
told me that she was no longer married. I was certain of it now.

I contemplated going back to my office but dismissed it immediately. Then I remembered the papers in my briefcase, divorce papers that included the address of the home that Donald Gold wanted to take from his wife.
His wife!

I could go there now, I thought. I could confront her and demand to know why she lied to me. My mind began to run through various scenarios, none of them playing out well.

Shutting my eyes, I tried to sort through everything that had happened.