“Or maybe her brother asks her what’s on my plate at the moment,” he said, following the theory that the older woman was merely an innocent gossip. “Either way, I’m out of the picture. That leaves Ty and Lilly.”
“Why would Dunne care who inherits the trust fund? He’s just the trustee. The distributor of funds.”
“Now that’s the question that begs to be answered.” Knowing he’d captured her interest and that she had the time as well as the means to question her older landlady, Hunter made his suggestion. “Maybe you could have tea on the porch and find out?”
“I could,” Molly said slowly. “But let me make something clear. I wouldn’t be doing it for you.
I’d be doing it to clear Marc’s name.”
Hunter nodded. “Fair enough.”
He’d get the info rmation Ty and Lilly needed and Molly would discover Hunter had been right.
Her faith in Dumont was misplaced. As much as Hunter would hate to see her hurt, she’d be better off knowing the truth.
Without warning, Molly pushed her chair back and rose to her feet. “I have to go.”
“Wait.” He stood and came up beside her, grasping her hand before she could pull away. “You and I may not agree right now, but I’m on your side. I only want what’s best for you and I don’t want to see you hurt.”
Moisture filled her eyes and she blinked back tears. “Well, I’m sorry I can’t appreciate that at the moment. I was honest with you. You know how important family is to me. You know this is my first chance at even having a relationship with my mother.”
Hunter tried for pragmatic logic. “Don’t you want that relationship to be real and not based on a middleman who might not be what’s right for her?” Hunter asked.
“I can’t argue with that and I’m not as big a fool as you might think. But I just can’t let myself wonder about what would happen if you’re right about Marc. I don’t want to imagine myself all alone in the world again.” She stepped back, pulling her hand out of his. She nearly tripped on a chair, steadying herself before he could help her.
Her pain lanced through him. “Molly, I’m sorry.”
She shook her head. “Maybe. But you care more about being right than you do about what I need. I’ll let you know if I find out anything.” Without another word, she darted past him and wove her way through the crowd until she disappeared from view.
Thirteen
T he next morning, Lacey curled up on the bed in Ty’s old room with Digger by her side. She opened her agenda and phone book and checked in with all of her clients, making sure everyone was happy with the week’s service and nothing had been missed in her absence. Then she called Laura to check on how the employees were handling things. To her relief, all was well but still, a part of her missed being needed. She’d been gone for a while now and the business she’d previously thrown all of her attention and devotion into was running smoothly without her.
With a professional cleaning service airing out and cleaning Ty’s apartment, she had nothing useful to do there, either, at least according to him. And he refused to let her take a walk without him. He was busy with a potential client in his mother’s den while Flo had gone out for the day with Dr. Sanford, her new friend, as he’d been introduced. Lacey grinned because Flo had looked so happy it was contagious.
Antsy, she decided to do some digging on her uncle without Ty’s help. She rummaged through her purse for the number Molly had given her last night. But when she dialed the other woman at work, her secretary said Molly had taken the day off. Lacey tried her at home next.
“Hello?” Molly answered the phone.
“Hi, it’s Lacey.” She pushed herself up against the pillows. “I thought you’d be at work.”
“I wasn’t feeling up to it.”
Lacey frowned. “Are you sick?”
“Sick of everything,” Molly muttered.
“What’s wrong? If it has to do with my uncle, I promise not to pass judgment,” Lacey said, crossing her fingers behind her back. At the very least, she wouldn’t say anything to upset her new friend.
Molly drew a breath so deep, Lacey heard it on the other end of the line. “Last night Hunter accused him of being behind the attempts on your life.”
“I’m sorry.” Lacey shut her eyes, feeling badly for both of them.
“Well, I went to Marc and flat-out asked him.”
Lacey practically flew into a sitting position. “You told him we thought he was after me?”
Molly paused. “If it was true, knowing you suspected him would hardly stop him. Besides, none of you thinks he’s doing his own dirty work, am I right?”
“Probably,” Lilly admitted. “What did he say?” She twisted the phone cord around her finger until it cut off her circulation, then released the tension before rewinding the cord again.
“He said he could understand why you’d all come to that conclusion but it’s not him.”
“And you believed him.”
Molly could hear the question in Lacey’s voice. And she couldn’t blame Lacey for asking. “The thing is, I want to believe him,” she said softly. “I need to believe him. My mother’s been married four other times. The first time to my father and that lasted for about five years, if you include the separation period. The next time I was eight and she made me stay home with a nanny. The next two times, I was at boarding school and then college. Not once did she ever ask me to come home, let alone be a part of the ceremony. This time, she wants me to be a bridesmaid when she marries Marc.” As always when she talked about her mother’s neglect, a lump grew large in her throat and she couldn’t have spoken more even if she’d wanted to.
Which she didn’t. She’d unloaded enough on someone who was practically a stranger. Then again, Lacey didn’t feel like a stranger. Hunter had been right, damn him. Molly liked Lacey after all.
“I get it.” Lacey’s voice traveled through the phone line. “Marc is the first person who’s brought you closer to your mother instead of further away.”
“Exactly,” Molly said, glad the other woman had made the connection. “Hunter knows that and he tries to understand but I can’t deal with him on this subject.”
“But you can deal with me?” Lacey asked incredulously. “How is that when I’m the one whose very existence has everyone in turmoil?”