Trouble Me: A Rosewood Novel (28 page)

“So what names have you come up with?” she asked as she sat down next to him.

He passed her one of the menus. “Let’s order first, so the waiter doesn’t hover. He must be new. He’s extremely eager.”

Indeed he was. All it took was Jade turning her head in his direction for the young man to hurry over to their table.

“May I take your order? Some tea?” he added hopefully.

“I can vouch for it.” Greg lifted his cup.

Jade saw a glass-and-metal sugar dispenser next to a bottle of soy sauce. Unsweetened Chinese tea was too bitter for her taste buds. “Sure, that’d be nice. And some ice water, please.”

The waiter nodded. “Do you know what you’d like to order, or would you like more time?”

Having been to the Moon Palace before, she didn’t bother to consult the menu. “I’ll have the steamed dumplings and the sesame noodles.” If her stomach became cramped with nerves again, she could have them boxed to eat later.

“And I’ll take an egg roll and the double-cooked pork with eggplant.” Greg handed back his menu.

After the waiter had poured her tea and hurried into the kitchen to relay their orders, Jade looked at Greg expectantly. “So?”

He didn’t make a move toward the briefcase that she’d spied resting by his leg. Instead, he asked, “How are things going at home and your new job?”

“Good. The kids I’m teaching are great. We’re going
on an apple-picking trip tomorrow, our first field trip. Classes in my new riding program start the day after that.”

“And things are good between you and your sisters?”

Her brows drew together as she recalled the stricken look on Margot’s face. “Yeah, things are good.”

He cocked his head inquiringly. “Things are good, but …”

She picked up her chopsticks, pulled them out of their paper wrapper, and separated them with a snap of her wrists. “Margot knows I’m meeting you here.”

“Ah. I was wondering how you’d keep the fact that you’d hired me a secret from them. It’d be difficult, especially since you and your sisters seem very close.” He took a slow sip of the hot tea. “So Margot’s upset.”

“You could say that.”

“And you are too, because worrying her makes you feel lousy. Which brings me to my next question. Knowing the way you’re feeling already, are you absolutely sure you want to take this next step? You don’t have to look at the names on my list, Jade. You can just walk away and let it go. Enjoy your students, your horses, and your relationship with your family. Live your life—it sounds like it’s a fine one. Discovering the identity of TM might shoot it all to hell.”

He was making a valid point, she conceded with an inward sigh. Things were basically going well for her. Why stir things up?

Tracing a random pattern on the black tablecloth, she said, “I’m not sure I can explain why this means so much to me. All I can say is that since I read my mom’s diary, she’s been a stranger to me. If I know who TM is, perhaps I’ll be able to understand her. I’m willing to deal with whatever happens as a result.” Raising her gaze, she met his squarely. “Could I please see the list?”

Greg gave no clue to his thoughts as he stared her
down for seconds more. Then, bending over, he rummaged in his briefcase and, when he straightened, a file was in his hand. Setting it on the tablecloth, he opened it and said, “Remember, this is just a preliminary list that I’ve drawn up. Since you’re determined to see this thing through, I thought we could go over names tonight. As my investigation continues, it’s possible other names may surface.”

Opening the file, he picked up the top sheet of paper and handed it to her.

Her heart changed its tempo, thudding heavily in her ears as she took the list and read five typed names:
Tom Medina; Taft Miner; Tony Myers; Timothy Marquand; Christopher McCallister
.

Frowning, she looked up. “Christopher McCallister?”

Greg nodded. “You probably know him as Topher—”

“Oh! Of course.
Topher
McCallister. I saw the
C
and blanked.”

“I gather he’s been called Topher since day one. He’s the oldest son of Eleanor and George McCallister. You were in high school with his younger brother, Dean.”

“Yes,” she answered, fighting a blush. She suspected that Greg knew about the spectacularly stupid make-out session she’d engaged in with Dean McCallister at a house party. She’d necked with Dean to wreak vengeance on Blair Hood, who’d been spreading vicious stories about Jade’s mom. Blair had had the major hots for Dean. Jade had succeeded in exacting her adolescent revenge against Blair but hadn’t escaped the evening unscathed. Feeling rotten about herself for having used Dean, she drank way too much. When, after receiving a call from the neighbors about the noise, the police arrived to bust up the party, she’d been passed out. That was the night Rob Cooper entered her life. He’d driven her home in his police car, and at some point during the trip she’d puked all over the backseat.

God, what a mess of a kid she’d been, she thought, with a familiar shiver of self-disgust.

Pushing the loathsome memories aside, she focused her attention on the list, concentrating on the name she knew best. “How old is Topher again? I think he used to come to the Radcliffe Roast, Mom and Dad’s big annual bash, but I don’t remember much more about him than that.”

“He’s a year younger than your sister Jordan. After graduating from college, he came back to Warburg to work in his father’s insurance company. He’s now its VP.”

“I guess he wouldn’t have been too young for Mom,” she said in a voice tinged with doubt.

“He’s the youngest of the group, but I put him down as a possible candidate based on the fact that he considers himself quite the Lothario.”

She definitely wasn’t going to be able to eat her order of dumplings and sesame noodles. Her stomach was already in knots and she had yet to discuss the four other names Greg had supplied.

“And the others? I don’t recognize them. Oh, wait—Tom Medina. He used to come to the Roast too.”

Greg nodded. “Tom Medina was a business associate of your father’s. Unfortunately, some of his hot investing tips didn’t pan out, although he personally didn’t suffer financially.”

“And you think Tom Medina might have been the type who would sleep with Mom? What a charmer.”

“Medina’s second marriage was already on the rocks. And your mother was a beautiful woman.”

“What about these guys?” she asked, tapping the paper with her index finger. “I definitely don’t recognize their names.”

“Taft Miner owned a restaurant in Leesburg your parents liked, Miner’s Mill. He sold it shortly after their deaths and moved to Charleston, South Carolina. Timothy
Marquand owns Beresford Jewelers. He’d joined the Warburg Hunt Club about four months before your mother’s diary started.”

“So there would have been time for them to get acquainted. And how about Tony Myers?”

“He works as a stylist at True Beauty, the salon in town.”

“A stylist?”

“A stylist who looks like an Argentine polo player.”

Jade shook her head. “You can scratch him, Latin-lover looks notwithstanding. Mom wouldn’t have been willing to risk someone guessing about her affair. Too many women who loved to hate her patronized True Beauty.”

“Women like Nonie Harrison and Pamela Hood?”

She didn’t ask how he knew about her mother’s social rivalry with Nonie and her sister, Pamela. Greg was obviously very thorough at his job.

“What if your mother knew that they’d had affairs with Tony too?”

She blinked in surprise and then wondered at her reaction. Why should she be shocked that these other women were having affairs? Then another thought occurred to her, and this time she couldn’t hide her shock. “Wait a sec—Nonie Harrison and Pamela Hood are sisters. Do you mean they were sleeping with the
same
guy?”

He smiled. “Too kinky for Warburg?”

“Well, yeah!” Flabbergasted, she sank back against her chair. “How wild. I admit to being completely blown away by that piece of info. And it’s quite effectively killed my appetite—a tragedy, since I love sesame noodles. But back to Mom. So what you’re saying is that she might have risked an affair with this Tony guy because whatever ammunition Nonie, Pamela, and their friends had would have been rendered useless since they were sleeping with him too?”

He shrugged. “It’s possible. I’ve encountered stranger things. It could also be the reason tongues started to wag so viciously when your mom and dad died. This would have been a good way for Mrs. Harrison and Mrs. Hood to cover up their own actions.”

Well, Greg had warned her of the pitfalls lying in wait if she chose to pursue the investigation. Just going down the list had made her head pound, and now she was feeling positively ill.

She rubbed her forehead to soothe the tension there. “Crikey. I guess you should investigate all of them, then.”

“All right,” he said with a nod. “I’ll get on it and see if any other names come up.”

He plucked the file in front of her and closed it, and she realized that the waiter was bringing metal-dome-topped dishes toward to the table. She liked that Greg was so careful.

“Are you really not going to be able to eat any of this?”

With a rueful smile, she shook her head. “Nope. Sorry, I guess I’m not much in the way of a restaurant date.”

“You’re just fine.” Addressing the waiter, who’d begun placing the dishes in the middle of the table, he said, “We’ve decided we’d like to have these boxed to go. Could you do that for us?”

“Of course. No problem, mister.”

Alone again, Greg said, “I’ll get back to you with what I’ve learned. In the meantime, enjoy those students of yours.”

“Thanks.”

“I hear Nonie Harrison’s grandson is in your class.” At her raised brows, he grinned. “Oh, yes, most of Warburg has been made aware of that fact, as well as Nonie’s strong feelings about a Radcliffe—and Jade Radcliffe in particular—teaching her grandson.”

“It must be galling for the poor thing.”

“Pretty much,” he agreed cheerfully.

“Well, I’m sure I’ll lose a lot of sleep worrying over that.”

“Don’t bother. Seems to me you’ll need every minute of sleep if you’ve got a class field trip tomorrow. Dinner’s on me,” he said as the waiter returned with two paper bags.

“But—”

“No buts. I’ll call as soon as I have something to tell you.”

“Okay. And thanks.”

Jade walked into her cottage to find Margot and Jordan sitting on her living-room sofa. “Being energy conscious, I was sure I hadn’t left the overhead light on,” she remarked, dropping her bag by the sofa. “Glad to see you guys made yourselves at home.” Without sparing them another word, she went into the kitchen, took a fork from the silverware drawer, and pulled out the carton of dumplings from the paper bag, stowing the sesame noodles in the fridge. She turned to find Jordan standing on the threshold.

“Jade, we’d like to talk to you.”

“Natch.” Walking past her, she returned to the living room and dropped into the wide chair that faced the sofa at an angle. Propping her feet on the ottoman, she opened the cardboard box and speared a dumpling. “Okay, have at it. Tell me how stupid I was to have hired a detective.” She shoved the entire dumpling in her mouth, chewing busily as she prepared for her sisters’ lecture.

“You’re not stupid in the least. Margot and I would have done precisely the same thing.”

She barely managed to keep the half-chewed blob of
pork in her mouth. Swallowing hastily, she managed, “What?”

“We understand why you need to do this—”

“It doesn’t mean that we’re not worried about how it might end up hurting you even more, though,” Margot added.

Jade swallowed again, this time against the emotion that was causing her throat to tighten. How had she managed to luck out and have such great sisters? “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Greg Hammond sooner. I was sure you guys would be really upset with me.”

“If anything we’re upset
for
you,” Jordan said.

“But if it’s what you need to do, then just know we’re here for you, sweetie.”

“Thanks. Have I told you that you two are amazing?”

“Don’t you forget it,” Margot said with a grin.

Jordan leaned forward to squeeze Jade’s leg. “You’re mighty fine too, you know.”

“Don’t you forget it,” she said.

“So tell us about your detective,” Margot said. “Has he got any leads?”

Suddenly ravenous, Jade began polishing off the dumplings as she filled them in. “He’s got a list of names he’s looking into for me.” She decided not to name any names until she’d heard more from Greg. Four of those five men—perhaps all of them—were innocent until proven guilty.

“And this detective, are you sure he’s good?” Jordan asked.

“Oh, yeah,” she said with a nod. “He’s sharp. He’s already found out stuff about Warburg’s citizens that I would never in a million years have suspected.” Her mouth stretched into a wide smile. “For instance, he discovered who Nonie Harrison and Pamela Hood were burning up the sheets with back when Mom was having her own affair.” This piece of information was priceless;
she couldn’t resist sharing it with the two women she loved best.

Margot’s crow of delight filled the room. “Oh, do tell!”

“You wouldn’t know him, Margot, since you prefer Serenity Spa’s salon treatments.”

“Wait, you mean Nonie and Pamela were both cheating with staff from True Beauty? I hadn’t realized they had so much eye candy in the salon.”

“Oh, no, Jordan, Nonie and Pamela are really special sisters. Apparently all they needed was one prime specimen.”

“One?” Margot’s jaw dropped. “Oh. My. God!” Dropping back against the sofa, she kicked up her heels in delight. “Do you think they did threesomes? Jordan, I love you, but no way am I ever sharing. Same goes for you, Jade.”

“There goes my secret fantasy,” Jordan replied dolefully, before succumbing to a fit of giggles. “Oh, Lord,” she said, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes. “You’ve got to hand it to Nonie: Her hypocrisy is unparalleled.”

“True,” Jade said. “The woman is a champion.”

Margot was still shaking her head in amazement. “It’s a real shame we didn’t have this nifty nugget of information when Nonie was busy with her smear campaign against you and your mom, Jade.”