Cause For Alarm (22 page)

“C
ome on, sweetheart,” Kate murmured to Emma, who was swinging her arms and legs for all she was worth. “We want to be pretty for our company, don't we? And for Daddy?”

In response Emma kicked harder and squealed louder, laughing at her mother's attempts to dress her. Kate shook her head in amused exasperation. “I guess not, you little stinker.”

Kate bent, pressed her lips to the child's bare belly and blew, giving her daughter a raspberry. Emma froze, then let out a gurgle of delight. Kate used the moment to slip the garment over Emma's head, then ease her arms in. Before she could protest, Kate snapped up the legs and crotch.

She grinned at her daughter. “Gotcha.”

Aware of time passing, Kate checked her watch and saw that Richard and his new assistant would be arriving in minutes—and she wasn't even dressed yet. After lifting and locking the crib rail, she wound Emma's colorful mobile, which the child would watch for as long as Kate could keep it moving, and dashed to her bedroom to throw on something she wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen wearing.

Sure enough, as she fastened the last button at the neck of her soft, swingy dress, she heard Richard arrive home. “Be right out, hon,” she called from the bedroom door. “There's a bottle of white in the fridge and a red in the rack. Pour me a red, will you?”

Kate went to the mirror to check her appearance one last time. She confessed to being a little nervous at the prospect of meeting Julianna. Richard had done nothing but sing the young woman's praises, and when he had mentioned needing to put in some late hours, she had suggested they come to the house. They could all have dinner together, then he and Julianna could get to work while she cleaned up and tended to Emma. After all, she had teased, she wanted to meet this prodigy. He had teased right back, accusing her of being jealous of all the time he was spending with another woman.

She had laughed and kissed him.

She wasn't laughing a few minutes later when Julianna turned, smiled and held out her hand. “You must be Kate,” she said softly.

Kate shifted Emma in her arms and took the woman's hand. From Richard's description she had expected a young, eager and unsophisticated woman. She had expected her to be pretty.

But not beautiful. Not mysterious and sexy-looking. She hadn't expected her to be so poised and self-confident.

And she certainly hadn't expected the almost possessive way Julianna looked at her husband.

“And you're Julianna,” she said. “It's good to finally meet you.”

The young woman shifted her gaze to Emma. Her lips curved into a small, knowing smile. “And this little beauty is Richard's baby. Emma Grace.”

Kate bristled. “Yes, this is Emma.
Our
daughter.”

Julianna looked at Richard. “I'd love to hold her.”

He smiled. “Go ahead.”

“No.” Kate drew back instinctively as the girl reached out. Embarrassed by the involuntary action, she cleared her throat. “Sorry, but sometimes Emma doesn't react well to strangers. She needs time to warm up.”

“Since when?” Richard said with a laugh, on his way out back to light the grill. “Let Julianna hold her. I'm sure she'll be only too happy to give her back if she starts fussing.”

He was right. She was behaving like an overprotective idiot.

Kate handed Emma over, a lump forming in her throat. As she watched the younger woman cuddle and coo to her daughter, Kate fought the urge to snatch her back.

What was it about this woman that affected her like fingernails dragging across a chalkboard? Kate wondered. Why had she taken such an immediate and overwhelming dislike to her?

She was acting petty and jealous, Kate decided. A form of dementia brought on by an adult spending all her time alone with an infant.

Be that as it may, when Emma began to squirm, Kate used the opportunity to take her back. “You know babies,” she said lightly, forcing a smile, “no one will do quite like their mothers.”

“Richard tells me she's adopted.”

Kate turned and looked at the other woman. Again, she wore that small, knowing smile. Not a smile, Kate decided, gritting her teeth. A smirk. As if she knew a delicious secret and it made her feel really superior.

Kate wanted to snap that adopted or not, she was still Emma's mother. But she didn't, managing to hold her tongue by reminding herself that this girl was one of Richard's employees. “That's right,” she said coolly. “If you'll excuse me, I'll get the appetizers.”

Much to her chagrin, Julianna followed her into the kitchen. “You must feel really lucky. I hear it's hard to find babies to adopt.”

Kate counted to ten. Normally she didn't let people's well-meaning but sometimes hurtful questions about Emma's adoption get to her. Kate accepted the fact that her daughter was adopted as simply a part of who Emma was, one of the many things that made her special and unique. When someone made a stupid or offensive comment it was because they didn't know any better, and Kate always used the opportunity to educate them.

But Kate found something about this young woman sly. And smug. Julianna's comments rang not of naivete but of nastiness. Kate decided she didn't like Julianna Starr at all.

“We didn't
find
her, Julianna. We adopted her through a very reputable agency.”

“Grill's hot,” Richard announced, rubbing his hands together as he entered the kitchen. He crossed to the platter of Brie, strawberries and crackers and sliced himself a wedge of the cheese.

“Kate and I were just talking about adoption. I think it's so wonderful that you were able to adopt Emma.”

He beamed at the young woman, and Kate nearly choked on a strawberry. Obviously, her husband did not feel the same way she did.

“We think so, too,” he said. “In fact, we consider it a kind of miracle.” Richard turned to her. “Don't we, hon?”

Kate smiled at her husband, loving him so much in that moment it took her breath away. “That we do.”

“Why don't you give Julianna a tour of the house while I cook the steaks?”

Giving Julianna Starr a tour of her home was the last thing Kate wanted to do, but she saw no graceful way out of it. As they moved from room to room, Kate had the strangest feeling that Julianna had been here before, that she knew the layout of the house already, that she was familiar with the room designations, the decor.

Unsettled, Kate hung back slightly to see what Julianna would do. As Kate had suspected she would, Julianna took the lead, and Kate experienced the oddest sensation that
she
was being given a tour of her own home. The sensation made her skin crawl.

“And this is Richard's study,” Julianna murmured. She moved into the room, and closing her eyes, breathed deeply through her nose. “It smells like him.”

The hairs on the back of Kate's neck stood up. “Excuse me?”

“He's a wonderful man,” Julianna said, looking at Kate. “You've been very lucky.”

“You make that sound like my luck's about to change,” Kate murmured, forcing lightness into her tone.

“Did I? Sorry.” Julianna moved her gaze over the room, then fixed it on Kate once more. “I'd love to see the nursery. It's just down the hall, I'll bet.”

“It is. But I'm sure there's nothing of interest—”

“Don't be silly, Kate. I have to see precious Emma's room.”

She smiled at the infant, and Kate shifted her daughter to her opposite shoulder, the one farthest from Julianna. “All right, then. It's this way.”

Kate led her down the hall to the nursery. When they reached it, Julianna rushed into the room, making a sound of pleasure. “It's a little girl's dream room,” she said. “All pink and pretty.”

She crossed to the dresser and the framed photographs that decorated the top. She inspected each, unabashedly curious. After a moment, she looked over her shoulder at Kate. “There are none of Emma and her daddy.”

Kate stared at her, a chill moving up her spine. “We had one,” she murmured, her mouth dry. “It was stolen.”

“Stolen?” Julianna repeated, bringing a hand to her chest, looking horrified. “You mean someone broke into your home? How awful.”

Kate laughed a bit self-consciously. “I should say, maybe stolen. Maybe misplaced. Suddenly, it was just gone.”

“That happens to me all the time. I just hate it.” Julianna shook her head. “I'm sure it'll show up.”

Kate said she hoped it did, then having finished the tour of the upper floor, which served as the main residence, led the other woman downstairs to her studio. Julianna wandered through, touching this and that.

Kate let her wander, using the moments to study her. Richard had said that Julianna reminded him of her. At first, she hadn't seen it. But now she did. Gazing at Julianna was like gazing at a distorted image of herself in a fun house mirror. Julianna wore her hair the way she did; her dress, though made of different fabric and in different colors, was the same style as hers; Julianna's smile, laugh, the way she gestured, all reminded Kate of herself.

Kate swallowed hard, unsettled. It was almost as if the woman had crept into her bedroom in the middle of the night and borrowed her identity.

She wondered what else of hers the young woman might want.

She glanced at her watch. “I'll bet the steaks are almost done. Why don't we go check on Richard?”

Julianna acted as if she hadn't heard her. “I wanted to be an artist,” she confided. “But I…” She let her words trail off and picked up Kate's autographed copy of
Dead Drop.
“I just read this. Have you?”

“Not yet, no.”

She opened the book and read the inscription. Again Kate had the urge to snatch something of hers out of the girl's hands.

“You and Richard know the author?”

“Yes. He's an old friend of ours.” Kate crossed to her and held out her hand for the book. Julianna handed it over, and Kate laid it back on the shelf. “Now, we really must go upstairs. I'm certain Richard's waiting.”

 

Hours later, after Julianna had left and Emma was soundly asleep, Kate stood in front of the mirror in their master bathroom, thinking of Julianna Starr. Richard was already in bed, going over his notes for court the next day.

She glanced his way. “I don't like her, Richard.”

He looked up. “You don't like who?”

“Julianna.”

He looked completely astounded. “Why on earth not?”

“There's something about her…” Kate looked from him to her own reflection, recalling the sensation of Julianna having stolen her identity. “A secretiveness. I don't think she's told you everything about herself.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “Of course she hasn't. I'm her boss, remember?”

Kate frowned. “That's not the way she looks at you.”

“For Pete's sake, Kate. She's—”

“You don't see it.” Kate squeezed toothpaste onto her brush, then waved it at him. “She looks at you like she'd like to eat you up.”

He burst out laughing. “Now there's a thought.”

She glared at him. “I'm serious about this. Did you see the way she looked at Emma. As if Emma was hers, not ours.” She began to scrub her teeth, then stopped. “When I walked her through the house she all but drooled.” At his amused expression, she added. “She acted like she had been here before. Like she knew this house.”

“She probably has been, Kate. In her dreams.” At her look he lifted his shoulders. “What kid starting out hasn't looked at what we have and drooled? Or maybe fantasized about how someday this would all be theirs? A beautiful home, nice things. A great marriage, successful careers.” He smiled softly to take the sting out of his words. “Instead of being suspicious, maybe you should be flattered.”

Flattered? She felt threatened.
“It wasn't like that,” she said, frustrated. “You didn't see it.”

“No, I didn't.” He patted the bed beside him. “Come to bed. You're exhausted and overwrought. In the morning you're going to feel pretty silly about being so suspicious.”

 

But in the morning, Kate didn't feel silly. She felt uneasy and unsettled. She hadn't slept well, tormented by dreams of being stalked by a creature she couldn't see but knew was deadly. A creature who threatened to consume her and all she held dear.

As Kate sat in her kitchen sipping her coffee and trying to shake the cobwebs from her head, she acknowledged that urging her husband to hire Julianna Starr might have been a mistake.

I
n the two nights since her dinner with Richard and Kate, Julianna hadn't been able to sleep. Both nights she sat on her bed, knees drawn to her chest, eyes wide and mind racing. Whirling with what she had learned about Kate, Richard and their relationship.

She saw now. She understood. What Richard needed. How she could win him from Kate. It had been so obvious, once she had spent an evening with them.

Julianna worked to slow her breathing, to calm herself. Her mother had been right. Every man had a place inside him, a well that needed to be filled. She had found Richard's.

Kate didn't love him enough.

Not the way she, Julianna, loved him. Not enough to sacrifice her own needs for his, not enough to lay herself adoringly at his feet. Richard needed a woman who made him feel strong and sexually potent. A woman who leaned on him, who not only asked for his opinion, but depended on it.

Kate was too strong-willed, too independent for that. She was too focused on Emma's needs to cater to her husband's. Julianna made a sound of disgust. Kate had hardly put the infant down all night, even bouncing her on her knee during dinner. She had stroked and kissed her, had cooed to her and attended her needs. In contrast, she had simply raised her mouth for a kiss from her husband.

Kate was making it easy for her.

Destiny.

A giggle bubbled to Julianna's lips and she brought a hand to her mouth to stifle the sound, as if someone might hear. Kate's inattention to her husband's needs was only one of the weapons available to her—Luke Dallas was the other. At dinner, Julianna had brought up the author and Kate's autographed copy of his latest book.

Richard had stiffened at the mention of the other man, an angry flush staining his cheeks. Kate had become defensive; she'd lied about where she had gotten the book. A friend had gone to his signing, she had said, and had gotten them a book. He remembered Meg Martin, didn't he?

Julianna knew the truth. She had been at The Uncommon Bean that Saturday morning, had overheard Marilyn tell Blake where Kate had gone. Kate had driven to New Orleans to be with Luke Dallas. She had lied to her husband about it.

Julianna could use that against the other woman. She could use that and Richard's jealousy as a wedge to drive them apart.

And once she did, she would make her move.

What she had to do was so simple. Be there for him. Cater to him, look up to him. Make him feel like a man. Smiling to herself, she scooted down under the covers. Be ever understanding and adoring. Richard would begin to confide in her, small confidences would lead to big ones. Each would bind him to her. Each would solidify their relationship.

And when the rift between the husband and wife grew too great, she would be there, waiting with open arms.