The Sugar Queen (19 page)

"Not careful enough."

Everyone knew Pelhams didn't make promises easily, because they were incapable of breaking that promise, once made. It simply was not possible for a Pelham to go back on his word. And it wasn't good old-fashioned taught honesty, either. It was in their genes, like their blue eyes and their russet hair.

"And of course the only—" His voice suddenly gave out, but his lips continued to move, as if he hadn't realized he'd lost his vocal ability. She didn't understand what had happened until she saw that they weren't alone anymore. Helena had entered the room quietly, a glass of water in one hand, Margaret's pill in the other. Rawley's lips stopped moving and they both watched as Helena put the water and pill on the table beside Margaret, then walked out of the room again.

Rawley's voice immediately returned. "The only time I saw you after that was in public, so how could I say to you how much I missed you, how much I wanted you? How could I say when your husband died that I had never stopped dreaming of you? You never approached me. You were always so firm in your decisions."

She reached for the water to take a sip. Rawley watched her, his eyes taking in every movement, every splash of water, every quiver of her lips. She shakily set the water back down.

"Do you remember, under the tree in the woods behind the old theater?"

Her hand went to her heart, just a fluttery movement, as if to brush away a bit of lint, or worry her brooch. "Of course I remember that place."

"We were making love one day and you looked up at me with those beautiful blue eyes. I said, 'I love you, Margaret. I will love you forever.' And you said, 'Promise?' "

"Oh, God," she whispered. How could she have done such a thing?

His gaze was steady. "You've always known what you wanted, and I've always admired that. I never really wanted anything as I was growing up. I could never make up my mind. School, Army, home. But then I met you. Every day since then, my life has been about wanting. Wanting you, Margaret. It's been my choice, and I've reveled in the beauty of it.
My choice.
Promising to love you has been the easiest promise I've ever made."

She had to look away. This was too much. When she heard the scrape of the doorknob turning, her head shot up.

Who would be more wrong, God, for giving her this

second chance when she clearly didn't deserve it, or her, for refusing to take it?

"Wait, Rawley," she said. He paused in the doorway, his back to her. She took a deep breath and said what she should have said forty years ago. "Please don't leave."

Life Savers

Chloe had just gotten
in from work late that afternoon when there was a knock at the apartment door. She put down her coat and answered it. To her complete surprise, Jake's mother was standing there, looking perfectly pressed and nervous.

"Faith! What are you doing here?"

Jake's mother smiled and held up a basket. "I brought you a gift."

"Your Christmas goodies." Every year Faith filled beautiful willow baskets with a variety of gourmet holiday treats for all her friends. Her cook started going over recipes months in advance and made samples the day after Thanksgiving for Faith to taste and approve.

"I know you always liked tasting the samples with me. I hope you like what I decided on this year."

"Your taste is always exquisite. Thank you. Come in." Chloe took the basket and stepped back. She closed the door behind Faith, then walked over to the coffee table and set the basket on it. "Can I get you something?"

"Oh, no. I'm fine." Faith toyed with the clasp of her handbag. "I heard you're buying the house on Summertime Road."

That was why she was here? Was she wondering when Chloe was going to move out of Jake's apartment? Was she here to ask her to leave? It seemed so unlike Faith, but after that incident at her shop when she heard Kyle tell Jake to stay away from her, she didn't know what to think. Was Jake's family encouraging a breakup? The very thought of it made even her skin hurt. She loved Jake's family. "Yes, I am."

"Tell me when you move in. I'll bring you a housewarm- ing basket."

"Okay," Chloe said, confused.

Faith, still by the door, looked around the apartment. The silence grew uncomfortable. "I'm glad you're doing it," Faith suddenly said.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm glad you're buying the house. It's important to have something of your own. You have a good head on your shoulders. I've always liked that about you." Faith walked up to her by the couch, her expression anxious. "Do you blame me for what Jake did?"

"Blame you?" Chloe said, taken aback. "Of course not."

Faith sat down on the edge of the couch and folded her hands in her lap. "I didn't want him to turn into his father."

"He hasn't," Chloe said.

"At least he told you, right?" Faith said, looking up at her. She was a pretty, delicate woman, as anxious as a bird. "You didn't find out from someone else. And he acted like he was sorry, didn't he? Please tell me he did."

"Yes. I think he's very sorry."

"Good. That's good." Faith took a deep breath. "I love him so, Chloe. I fought Kyle over sending him to boarding school, but in the end I let him go, even though it broke my heart, because at least it meant Kyle wouldn't be a daily influence on him. Maybe it was a good decision, after all. Still, if I had just been closer to him, maybe he would understand that it isn't right to treat a woman this way."

Chloe really didn't want to do this, but she sat down and said anyway, "Faith, Jake is a good man with a healthy respect for women. You did a good job with him. And he loves you too."

Faith smiled and looked down at her hands. "I put you in the position of defending him when I know that's the last thing you want to do, and yet you still try to make me feel better. Thank you for that. I really just wanted to come by to give you some Christmas treats and say hello. I've missed you."

"I've missed you too."

"I should be going," Faith said, standing. "Remember, tell me when you move. Invite me over."

"I will." Chloe followed her to the door, more confused than ever.

Chloe opened the door for her and Faith walked out.

But she'd only taken two steps when she stopped and said, "Oh my."

Chloe looked out to see Julian leaning against the wall directly opposite her door. Faith stared at him, as all women did, before turning to walk down the staircase. She cast a few glances back as she did so, almost tripping. Julian watched her go, easily, lazily. When Faith had disappeared, he turned his eyes on Chloe.

He didn't move, just smiled at her. His long hair was down and seemed to float around him. She could feel his pull from here.

"Julian," she said, "what are you doing here?"

"I haven't heard from you in a while. I wanted to see if you were all right." His words surrounded her like perfume. It felt so soothing after her awkward encounter with Jake's mother.

"I'm sorry. I've been busy."

"Back with your boyfriend?" he asked, but he already knew the answer. "No."

"Are you going to invite me into your place?"

She looked back into the apartment and thought about it. It didn't feel right, Julian in Jake's apartment. "It's not my place."

"You don't live here?" he asked, surprised. "I was told you did."

"I just meant it belongs to Jake. I'm buying a house, though," she said.

He tilted his head, interested. "Really? I'd love to see it. I might be looking for a place of my own soon too. Maybe you can help me out."

"How?"

"How many bedrooms does the house you're buying have?"

She hesitated. "Three. Why?"

"Just wondering," he said gently. "Are you ready to find out who Jake slept with?"

Her lips parted and she felt a ping of unadulterated excitement. "Is that why you're here?"

"Of course, sweetheart. I've been sitting on all this information. It's not doing me any good. Come on." Julian pushed himself away from the wall and walked down the stairs.

"Where are you going?" she called after him.

"To your car. Don't you want to see where she lives?"

She didn't seek out this information, the information came to her. That was important. That was a distinction. That meant she was supposed to know. Didn't it?

She stood there for a moment. Which would be worse, spending the rest of her life knowing who it was, or spending the rest of her life not knowing?

"I'm coming," she said, grabbing her coat and purse.

When they got in her Beetle, Julian said, "Are you ready for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"All right. Go left at the end of the street. Head east toward the Catholic church on All Saints Boulevard."

It was going to take some time to get there, so Chloe turned on the radio, eighties music. On the half hour there was a news break, and they listened while at a red light.

"Police now confirm that it was a jogger who discovered the body in the Green Cove River this morning. They're still not releasing any more information, just that it's the body of a woman and it appears to have been in the water for several weeks."

"That's terrible," Chloe said, and her first thought was of going to Jake to see if he'd heard anything more about it at his office. People were still jumpy after the Beasley murder case, and this was sure to have tongues wagging. But then she realized she couldn't do that anymore, she couldn't go to him.

She turned off the radio.

Once she reached All Saints Boulevard, Julian said, "Turn on Saint Joseph's Lane. It's number twelve."

She was feeling woozy when she got there, so she pulled over and parked opposite the house. It was a beautiful colonial-style home behind an iron security gate.

"This place looks familiar," she said, which she didn't understand. She'd never been on this street before.

"This is where Eve Beasley lives."

She jerked her head around to face him.
"Beasley?"

"You have no idea what I had to do to find this out. I feel so dirty," he said, grinning.

"Jake slept with
Eve Beasley?"
Chloe said, completely bowled over.

"You know her?"

"You don't?"

He shrugged. "I've never heard of her."

The Beasleys were fairly new residents in Bald Slope. They'd bought a vacation home and spent about three or four months out of the year there. Wade was a fifty-five-year-old retired stockbroker, and Eve was his beautiful forty-five- year-old wife. No one knew much about them, and it would've always been that way, had Wade Beasley not murdered their housekeeper, an illegal immigrant, and dumped her body off a trail near the state park.

There was only circumstantial evidence tying Wade to the murder, and halfway through the trial Jake was prosecuting, it had looked like the jury was going to acquit. But then Eve Beasley, who had stood by her husband from the beginning, suddenly filed for divorce and agreed to testify against him. She was the only one who knew her husband had sexually harassed their housekeeper. She'd seen it. She was the only one who knew, who had experienced, his violence firsthand. She'd been away visiting her sister when the murder occurred. When she came back and found the housekeeper gone, she'd asked her husband what happened. Wade had said, "She couldn't take it. She wasn't as tough as you."

That turned the jury around quickly.

Jake had worked closely with her. He used to talk about her, how he felt sorry for her and how sweet she was. He felt for her because most people treated her like a pariah. Everyone blamed her for not speaking up sooner. But Wade Beasley had abused her for years. She was terrified of him. Chloe knew that Jake made her feel safe. Jake was the one who had ultimately convinced her to testify.

Then, when the case was over, when everyone was celebrating,
they'd slept together.

Chloe knew now. She understood why he couldn't tell her. If this got out, there was the possibility of a mistrial. People might think Jake had seduced Eve Beasley into testifying. Wade Beasley might go free because of this. And if he did, who knows how many other lives might be in danger?

"Ah, look," Julian said. "I'd hoped we would be here for this. She leaves for church every day about this time."

Chloe ducked as the gate opened and Eve Beasley pulled out, driving an Audi. She peered out the window as Eve passed. Eve was an elegant-looking woman, her hair prematurely silver, but her face was unlined and her skin was absolutely luminescent. No one knew why she was staying in Bald Slope. Most thought she would have left long ago. Was she staying for Jake?

"Jake and an older woman," Julian said as he watched her car disappear. "Not much of a scandal, but people make do, I suppose."

It was obvious Julian hadn't followed the trial. It was obvious he didn't know what was at stake. This was the second time in the space of an hour that she was put in the position of having to protect Jake, to defend him. And she didn't want to. "Jake is called the wonderboy at work. I'm sure everyone had a good Mrs. Robinson laugh," she said, to keep Julian on the wrong track. She still wanted to be angry with Jake, but she found the hurt was fading. There was a hole left where the hurt once was. It was deep and empty and numb.

"Now you know," Julian said, watching her carefully. "Here, sweetheart. Let me drive." Julian got out and walked around the car to the driver's side. Chloe obediently scooted to the passenger seat. She wasn't sure she could drive anyway.
Now what?
she kept asking herself.
Now what?
She'd spent all this time thinking that once she knew who Jake had slept with, everything would be clear.

Instead of driving back to the apartment, Julian took her to his house.

She was just going to drop him off and go home. She wanted to call Josey. "I need some time to take this all in," she said.

"Sweetheart, the last thing you need to do is think." He got out, taking her keys with him. "Come inside."

She would be lying if she said she wasn't curious about where this strange, beautiful man lived. So she followed him to the door of the yellow bungalow. When they stepped inside, Julian immediately picked up some piles of clothing from the living-room floor and threw them into a bedroom. He straightened the couch cushions and looked embarrassed, which, despite everything, Chloe found endearing. He probably knew that.

"I guess you still haven't heard from your girlfriend," she

said.

"No. And I'm not much of a housekeeper. Sorry."

Chloe looked around. There were feminine touches everywhere, baskets on the wall with artificial roses in them, a white wicker rocking chair with pink pillows. "This still looks like her place."

"It is, actually. She owns the house."

"It's like living in Jake's apartment."

"Exactly. I know what you're going through."

She nodded. He made her believe it.

He took her by the hand and sat her on the couch. "Let's get drunk."

Josey felt small gusts
of wind brush by her the entire time she was downstairs that evening. Once, sitting in the kitchen with Helena while eating dinner, she even got up to see if the kitchen windows were fully closed.

Helena kept rubbing her crucifix and mumbling under her breath.

Margaret and Rawley took dinner together in the sitting room, behind closed doors. It was well into the evening when Margaret finally walked him out, speaking to him softly. Josey and Helena came out of the kitchen to watch her.

Margaret smiled slightly, but didn't offer any explanation. She simply walked up to her room.

"What do you think that was all about?" Josey asked Helena.

"Oldgret like cab."

"Hmm," Josey said thoughtfully as she walked to the staircase. It felt like she was stepping into small swirls of frantic, nervous air. She stopped. "Helena, is there a draft in here?"

Helena glared at the ceiling and said, "No."

Josey shrugged and finally retreated to her room. She went to her closet and opened the door, then she took a startled step back. Della Lee was standing there. She'd never seen Della Lee stand in her closet before. The first thought that struck her was that Della Lee was shorter than she was. She hadn't known that. Her second thought was,
Something's wrong.

"What took you so long to get up here?" Della Lee demanded. She was nervous. Scared, almost. Tension was undulating from the closet like heat.

"I ate dinner. Then I waited to see if Rawley Pelham would come out of the sitting room alive."

"Check your messages," Della Lee said.

"What?"