Fatal Trust (27 page)

Six weeks later

Catherine glared at her office phone. She couldn’t ignore
it, even though the call had a better than fifty-fifty chance of making her
headache worse. At least she knew it wasn’t her mother, since her mother
currently wasn’t speaking to her.

She picked up the phone.

“Sorry, but I couldn’t get your secretary,” the receptionist
said. “There’s a man in the lobby who wants to hire you. I told him you’re not
taking new clients, but he’s insisting on seeing you anyway.”

The throbbing in her forehead intensified. Catherine
massaged it with her free hand. She’d figured it was probably a client either
wanting something yesterday or completely changing what he or she had wanted
yesterday, but this was worse. A former client who wouldn’t work with anyone
else, and one she’d end up handling a new project for because her firm would
ask her to, even if she didn’t have time. “Who?”

“I don’t know. He won’t give his name. He says he was
referred by Max Windsor, which is really weird since he’s dead.”

Catherine moved her hand from her forehead and instead
pressed it to her stomach, which had begun twisting and whirling. Her heart was
drumming double time against her chest. “Send him back.”

In three minutes Ben Windsor was standing in the doorway of
her office. He was wearing a perfectly tailored suit and a tie that matched his
vivid blue eyes, the same thing he’d worn that first night at Nevermore, back
when she’d realized how attractive he was.

He looked even better now. And she was so glad to see him.

He strode into her office with his usual confidence, closed
the door behind him, and sat down on one of the leather chairs in front of her
desk. “I need some estate-planning work done,” he said. “I’ve recently come
into a little money.”

“A
little
money?” Catherine asked.

A corner of his mouth quirked. “Okay, enough money to
support a small country, which is why I’m also thinking of using a good chunk
of it to set up a charitable foundation. I know you’ll be able to help me with
all of that. Max Windsor told me you’re one of the smartest people he ever
met.”

“Even though I’ve got a stick up my ass.”

Ben grinned outright. “He was wrong about that part.”

“I can’t do your work myself, but I can refer you to someone
else.”

His grin faded. “You won’t do it?”

“As I said, I can’t do it. I’m leaving the firm in a couple
of weeks.”

He’d seemed completely at ease, but now his body tensed.
“You’re leaving? Why?” His voice sounded strained, like his vocal cords were
tense, too.

Catherine got up and rounded her desk. “I need a change. I
considered being a cocktail waitress or maybe an exotic dancer, but my
relationship with my mother is too tenuous for me to try that.” She sat down in
the chair next to Ben’s. “Aunt Jessica left me money to use to follow my bliss,
as she phrased it in her will. I’ve never touched it, because I didn’t think
practicing law was her idea of bliss. I think she’d approve if I used it to
support myself while I write.”

“You’re quitting law to write?” He sounded a little less
tense.

“Don’t tell me you disapprove, too. My mother had a fit. But
she’ll get over it easier than she would exotic dancing. At least I hope she
will. If she doesn’t, that’s her problem. Dad thinks it’s great.”

“Actually, I agree with your dad,” Ben said. “Coincidentally
I’m also going to be starting a new career. I’m selling the garage to Shawn.”

Catherine blinked. “Selling it? I thought you’d be expanding
it.”

“It didn’t seem appropriate to use Grandfather’s money to do
that.” He shrugged. “To be honest, I’ve gotten bored with being a mechanic.
Being around a smart professional woman made me realize Grandfather was right.
I miss using my brain the way I did in my old career. I’m going to start a
financial consulting business. Although I’ll only take clients I want to work
with, since I certainly don’t need the money.”

“In Lakeview?” Catherine asked.

“Most of my clients so far are on the East Coast. I can do
most of my work online and over the phone, although I will have to travel a
little. That means I can live almost anywhere.”

“I thought you were going to buy Nevermore.” When the
trustee had mentioned that Ben had asked about purchasing it, the news had
stabbed the pieces of her already broken heart. He clearly didn’t care enough
about her to ever contemplate leaving Lakeview, conclusive evidence things were
over between them forever.

“I considered buying it,” Ben said. “Grandfather would have
liked it kept in the family, and no one else wants it. Maybe he’ll even decide
to haunt it, which could be interesting. But I can’t, because I have this
problem.”

“What’s that?”

He reached out and took her hand. “I’m in love with a woman
who’s got a rule against flings. Not that I’d be satisfied with a fling with
her. I’d actually like a relationship, maybe even a permanent one. She puts
long-distance relationships in the same category as flings, though, so we need
to be in the same city. That city is Philadelphia.”

Catherine’s stomach untwisted, replaced by a bubbling warmth
that filled her body. “And here I’ve realized I’m tired of Philadelphia and the
lifestyle I can’t escape if I live here. I also have a feeling my mother and I
will get along a lot better if we aren’t in the same city.”

“Where are you planning on going?”

She met his eyes. “I’d consider Lakeview,” she said. “I’m
not crazy about the possibility of snow in June, but the nice people who live
there more than make up for it. Aunt Jessica said she did some of her best
writing at Nevermore, and it obviously worked for Max.”

“Who turned out to be a hell of a matchmaker, much as I hate
to admit it.” Ben got out of his chair and pulled Catherine to her feet. “I
love you, Catherine.” He kissed her thoroughly.

“I love you, too,” Catherine said. “So much that if you’d
waited until I’d finished my job, I’d have shown up in Lakeview.” Even knowing
he’d planned to buy Nevermore and there was an excellent chance he’d reject
her, she’d realized she had to risk it. She owed it to herself. And she owed it
to Aunt Jessica, since she had a feeling Ben might be even more her bliss than
writing was. “With my fingers crossed that you hadn’t gotten back with Amber,”
she added.

“No way.” He kissed her again, more thoroughly. “Would you
really be willing to move to Nevermore?”

“On one condition.”

“You want me to promise I’ll never make you ride a
motorcycle.” Ben held up his hand. “I swear it.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you kidding? If I’m going
to be living out there, I want my own motorcycle, and you’re going to teach me
how to operate it.”

He chuckled. “I knew you were just pretending to hate it.
What do you want? Besides a motorcycle.”

“I want you to promise that you’ll never call me Catherine
again,” she said. “From now on, my name is Lexie.”

THE END

Award-winning author Diana Miller has wanted to be Nancy Drew
ever since she started looking for hidden staircases as an eight-year-old girl (though she’s never found a single cryptic clue for all her trouble).
Since then, she has worked happily as a lawyer, a soda jerk, a stay-at-home mother, a hospital admitting clerk, and a conference host.
Still, she itched for a way to inject some suspense into her otherwise satisfying life, until she realized fiction was the key.
Her debut novel,
Dangerous Affairs
, won a Golden Heart Award from the Romance Writers of America, and has been nominated for a
Booksellers Best Award and an Aspen Gold Readers Choice Award. She has received five Golden Heart nominations, including one for
Fatal Trust
.
She lives in the Twin Cities with her family.

This book was originally released in Episodes as a Kindle Serial.
Kindle Serials launched in 2012 as a new way to experience serialized
books. Kindle Serials allow readers to enjoy the story as the
author creates it, purchasing once and receiving all existing Episodes
immediately, followed by future Episodes as they are published.
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selection of Serials titles, visit
www.amazon.com/kindleserials
.