Mack got to his feet and went through the handshaking ritual with Stanford. He turned to Randall. As long as he was up, he might as well get this over and done, he decided.
Randall extended a firm hand. “Easton, was it? So you’re Cady’s new friend?”
“Yes. And it will soon be fiancé, not friend. Cady and I are planning to announce our engagement in the near future.”
Cady stiffened.
“Heard about the upcoming engagement.” Randall’s grin was ice cold. “Congratulations. You’re getting yourself a terrific wife.”
“Randall ought to know.” Stanford chuckled and tossed back a lot of the martini. “He was married to her himself for a while. I’m sure you’ve heard all about that nine-day wonder, eh, Easton?”
Cady tensed. They all looked uncomfortable.
Mack took note of the cooling temperature in the vicinity, but it didn’t affect him. He was too busy dealing with the white-hot wave of possessiveness that was crashing through him. It had been so long since he had experienced this sense of primitive male territoriality that it took him a few seconds to recognize and catalog it. He wondered if Cady would fire him on the spot if he succumbed to the almost overpowering urge to smash his fist into Stanford Felgrove’s face.
“I heard about her marriage,” he said. He looked at Randall. “Everyone makes mistakes.”
A long time later Cady came to a halt and leaned on the steel railing that guarded the waterfront path. She looked out over the moonlit surface of the bay to where the lights of the city glittered in the night. She was exhausted and keyed up at the same time. It had not been a comfortable evening.
She turned toward Mack. “All right, go ahead and say it.”
He came to a halt beside her and leaned back against the railing, looking at the homes that marched up the hillside. “Okay, I’ll say it. You and Randall Post seem pretty friendly for a couple that was divorced three years go.”
“It was a friendly divorce.”
He nodded. “I’ve heard about those. Never actually seen one, though.”
“Well, now you have.”
“Why’d you two get married in the first place?”
“You don’t think he’s my type?”
“No.”
“You think you know what my type is?”
“I’m not going there.” He sounded slightly amused. “I just know that Randall Post wasn’t for you.”
“How do you know that?”
“Male intuition.”
“So, there is such a thing?”
“Sure. Real men don’t talk about it much, that’s all.”
“I can see where it might be a little awkward to discuss in mixed company.”
“Sort of like telling off-color jokes.” He contemplated the hillside lights for a moment. “So, why’d you marry him?”
“For a long time I assumed the experience of falling in love would be a lot like looking at a really fine work of art. I’d know the real thing when I saw it.”
“Sometimes it is like that.”
“Maybe. But I have a hunch that most cases of falling in love at first sight are actually cases of falling in lust. Sometimes you get lucky and the relationship works on other levels. But you can’t count on that happening. The thing is, if you’re one of the lucky ones, you don’t go back and question your good fortune. You just assume your intuition was right on target.”
“And if you’re one of the unlucky ones?”
“You obsess on what went wrong and you ask yourself how you could have been so dumb.”
“I take it you obsessed for a while?”
“Sure. I’m good at that.” She hesitated. “What was it like for you when you decided to get married?”
“I was one of the lucky ones. Love at first sight. Rachel and I met during our sophomore year at college. I took one look at her and never looked twice at anyone else. We got pregnant in our junior year. Ran off to Vegas to get married. Everyone in both families had a fit. Dewey and Notch were the only ones who sent gifts.”
“Your families were probably afraid that you wouldn’t finish college.”
“Marriage did delay things for us. I joined the army and we went into debt and in the end we managed to work things out. When Gabriella came along the following year, all was forgiven.”
“How did you lose your wife?”
“Drunk driver.”
“Dear heaven.”
“Yeah. You feel so much rage for a time and there’s nowhere to go with it. You want to talk obsession? I can tell you all about obsession.”
She shivered. “I can imagine.”
“Knowing I had to be there for Gabriella kept me hanging on by my fingernails. Sometimes it was the only thing that kept me hanging on. I managed to stay just this side of sane for the most part, but there were days when I wasn’t sure I would make it.”
“You were fortunate to have your daughter.”
“I can’t even think about what it would have been like if I hadn’t had her. We just kept moving forward through the nightmare together because we didn’t have any choice. And then one day we looked around and realized that we had gotten past the worst of it. The light at the end of the tunnel wasn’t an oncoming train after all.”
“I am so sorry for both of you.”
“It’s been six years. Gabriella and I are okay. You don’t forget nightmares, but when they’ve been exposed to enough sunlight, they fade.”
She leaned on her forearms and loosely linked her fingers. “I’ve always heard that men who were happily married generally remarry after the loss of their wives. But you didn’t.”
“No.”
“Because you never again fell in love again at first sight?” She turned her head to look at him. “Because you never found another woman as wonderful as Rachel?”
“I’ll let you in on a little secret, Cady. You don’t fall in love at first sight unless you’re actively looking.”
“And you haven’t been looking?”
“Rachel was taken from us just as Gabriella was heading into the teenage years. She got very anxious when I started seeing women socially again. Her therapist told me that the idea of having to cope with a stepmother disturbed her deeply.”
“Not surprising.”
“We probably could have worked things out if the right woman had come along. But as I said, I wasn’t really looking. I had my hands full raising Gabriella and getting Lost and Found up and running. I didn’t have time to work on a marriage too.”
“I can understand that.”
Silence fell. Cady listened to the slap of the dark water below the path. She did not look down at it.
“You haven’t answered my question,” Mack said after a while.
“Why did I marry Randall?” She drew a breath. “Well, let’s see. I was twenty-nine years old and it had become very clear that I had been, in my mother’s words, much too picky when it came to men.”
“Picky, huh?”
“I told myself it was time to stop looking for a fantasy and get real. I decided to go for friendship and shared interests.” She paused. “Everyone knows friendship and shared interests make a really solid foundation for marriage.”
“I’ve heard that.” He folded his arms. “So you married a friend who shared your interests, is that it?”
“The pressure was on. I could hear my biological clock ticking.”
“You wanted a family.”
“Is that so wrong?”
“Hell no. Sounds perfectly normal to me.” He looked at her. “Go on.”
“It wasn’t like Randall and I didn’t have lot of strong connections. We’ve known each other all of our lives. He took me to the senior prom when my date dumped me for a cheerleader at the last minute. He gave me my first kiss.”
“First kiss. That’s a big deal, all right.”
“Well, it was actually more of an experiment. Neither of us had ever been kissed and we decided to find out what the big deal was. We were
both seriously disappointed. Which, in hindsight, should have been a clue.”
“Yeah.”
“It was Randall who raised the subject of marriage. He had just ended a relationship with another woman. She married someone else. Someone much older and wealthier. Randall and I started spending time together. Somehow the idea of marrying him just seemed very sensible. Everyone, especially Aunt Vesta, thought it was a terrific idea.”
“When did you and Randall decide you’d made a mistake?”
“On our wedding night.” She paused. “When Randall started sobbing at about the time I figured he should have been inflamed with passion.”
Mack winced. “He actually cried? Are we talking real tears?”
“Yes. We spent the night sitting side by side on the edge of the bed, discussing the fact that he was deeply in love with another woman.”
“Who?”
“The woman he had been seeing before our marriage. Her name is Brooke Langworth now. She married George Langworth immediately after she broke up with Randall. They have a home here in Phantom Point.”
“Tough way to spend your wedding night.”
“Yes, but at least I finally understood why Randall had been such a gentleman during our engagement. I thought he had been holding back because he found it awkward to make the transition from friend to lover. And that was true, but not for the reasons I had assumed.”
Mack turned his head to look at her. “Do I take it that you two never, uh—”
“Consummated our marriage? Nope. We reverted to being friends. It was a lot more comfortable for both of us. We spent our honeymoon discussing how we were going to fix the mistake we had made. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay in Hawaii forever. When we got home I filed for divorce.”
“Do you know this Brooke Langworth?”
“I’ve met her on one or two occasions, but that’s about it. Brooke didn’t grow up here in Phantom Point. She lived in the city until she married Langworth.”
“How did she and Randall meet?” Mack asked.
“She worked for Austrey-Post for a while. They started dating at that time.” Cady hesitated. “Sylvia told me that Brooke’s husband, George, is in the last stages of terminal cancer.”
“Interesting.”
She was startled by the thoughtful tone of his voice. “Why? Aside from the soap-opera elements of the story, I fail to see anything really interesting about it.”
“Probably because you were in the middle of it.” He straightened, draped an arm around her shoulders and urged her gently along the path. “Congratulations on getting yourself out of that mess, by the way.”
“It wasn’t like I had much choice. I couldn’t stay married to Randall. Not after I realized that he was still passionately in love with Brooke. Randall and I are friends, but friendship has its limits.”
“I’m with you on that. The guy should have leveled with you going into the marriage.”
She sighed. “Randall’s intentions were good. He did his best to try to put Brooke behind him and get on with his life. The problem was that he didn’t give himself enough time to heal from the pain of the breakup of their relationship.”
“You and Sylvia do this a lot?” Mack asked.
“Do what?”
“Make excuses for good old Randall?”
She glared at him. “I’m not making excuses. I’m explaining.”
“Sounds to me like you’re making excuses.”
“Randall is a friend.”
“Let him make his own excuses,” Mack said.
Seventeen
Mack contemplated the artistically arranged pile of elegant old snuffboxes.
“Magnificent, aren’t they?” asked a voice. “I believe we can let you have the lot for somewhere in the neighborhood of six thousand.”
“An interesting neighborhood.” Mack picked up the discreetly folded card that sat next to the boxes. There was a number written in a fine hand inside. “Price tag says ten thousand.”
“According to what I hear, you’ll soon be entitled to the family discount.”
“Forget it. I don’t do a lot of snuff.”
The stranger chuckled and put out a hand. “Mack Easton, right? I’m Parker Turner. Leandra pointed you out. Thought I’d introduce myself. I believe we have something in common.”
“That would be—?”
“Honorable intentions toward certain female members of the Briggs clan. I’m hoping that Leandra and I will also be announcing an engagement soon.”
Mack shook hands. Parker’s grasp was firm and strong. A small gold signet ring gleamed on one of his fingers. He wore a tux, as did the other men on Chatelaine’s staff tonight. The female employees were dressed in discreetly cut black evening gowns. Cady, Sylvia and Leandra also wore black. They circulated among the clients and guests who had been invited to the reception.
No expense had been spared tonight as far as Mack could see. The champagne and hors d’oeuvres alone must have cost as much as one or two of the better pieces of old furniture. The event had the sophisticated ambience of a museum or symphony fund-raiser, but he knew that most of the cash raised here tonight would go directly into the coffers of Chatelaine’s. The trick was to make the clients feel that they had been invited to an elite event in the world of the arts, not to a rummage sale.
“I’ve heard your name mentioned,” Mack said. “You’re on the staff here at Chatelaine’s, aren’t you?”
Parker nodded easily. “Been with the firm for over twenty years. Started in shipping and receiving.”
Mack surveyed Parker’s excellently tailored tux. “Looks like you’ve moved out of shipping and receiving.”
Parker laughed and glanced self-deprecatingly down at the expensive attire he wore. “Between you and me, everything you see standing here in front of you, I owe to Vesta Briggs.”
“How’s that?”
“The day I went to work for her, I was dressed in jeans, a T-shirt and a cheap leather jacket. I wore a headband, if you can believe it. At the time I thought I was cool. Miss Briggs took me in hand and redefined the word for me. The lady changed my life and I will be forever grateful to her memory.” Parker raised his champagne flute in a small, respectful gesture.
“Did Vesta take such a personal interest in all of her employees?”
“No.” Parker looked amused. “Only in the ones she thought would be useful to Chatelaine’s.”
“I get your point.”
“Don’t mistake me, I admired Miss Briggs enormously. She was utterly devoted to the company. Everything she did was for the good of Chatelaine’s. Never met a more single-minded human being in my life. She was really quite amazing and, as I said, she had a profound effect on my life. If it hadn’t been for her, I’d probably be driving a truck today instead of drinking champagne and wearing a tux.”
“When do you and Leandra plan to make the big announcement?”
“As soon as I can convince her to take another chance on marriage. She got hurt in a very nasty divorce about eighteen months ago. Takes a while to recover from something like that.”
“So I’ve heard.”
Parker looked across the crowded showroom to where Leandra stood chatting with two men who were examining an antique microscope. His expression tightened. “It was hard watching her marry that sonofabitch, Spooner. Everyone, especially Vesta, knew that it would end in disaster.”
On the other side of the room, Leandra gestured toward the old microscope. Mack watched one of the pair shake his head. He got the impression that the instrument did not fit into whatever budget the two had established for investing in art and antiques.
“Were you in love with her when she married Dillon Spooner?” Mack asked.
Parker grimaced. “I think it was seeing her marry him that made me realize the depth of my own feelings. I’d known Leandra for years, of course, and liked her. But she’s several years younger, as you can see. We didn’t move in the same circles. I thought of her as just one
of the kids in the Briggs family.”
“What happened?”
“I was invited to the wedding along with the rest of the staff here at Chatelaine’s. Danced with Leandra at the reception and suddenly realized that she was no longer a kid. But by then it was too late, of course. Besides, she was wild about Spooner. She wouldn’t have looked twice at me. All I could do was stand by, together with her family, and wait for the marriage to fall apart.”
“What made everyone so sure this Spooner guy was a loser?”
“It was obvious that he thought he’d found a meal ticket by marrying into the family that controlled Chatelaine’s.” Parker’s mouth quirked slightly. “Vesta Briggs soon set him straight on that point. The marriage fell apart when it became clear that she wasn’t going to finance his painting. She expected him to get a day job and keep it. That came as a serious shock to Spooner.”
On the far side of the room, Leandra laughed at something one of the two men said. She caught sight of Mack and Parker and raised her glass to acknowledge them.
“After the divorce you moved in to pick up the pieces, is that it?” Mack asked.
“That’s how it started. I was divorced myself several years ago, so I knew the ropes. What about you? How did you meet Cady?”
“Business connection.”
“Do you collect art or antiques?”
“Neither.” That was the simple truth. “But a friend of mine was looking for a piece for his collection and he needed some help. I asked around on his behalf and Cady’s name came up.” Close enough. “One thing led to another.”
“I see.” Parker nodded. “Well, I wish you the best of luck.”
“Same to you.”
Parker smiled wryly. “Don’t know about you, but personally I find it a little scary to be contemplating starting a family at my age. Always thought of fatherhood as one of those things you stumbled into when you were young and impulsive.”
“Family?” For some reason the word seemed to get stuck in Mack’s brain. “As in kids?”
“Leandra tells me she wants two. How many is Cady talking?”
“We, uh, haven’t discussed the subject.”
Something in his voice must have given him away. A knowing look gleamed in Parker’s eyes.