Cinderella Busted (The Cinderella Romances #1) (37 page)

“I swear I don’t know anything about it,” Whittenhurst gasped and scurried from the Council Chamber before Rhett could grab him again.

“Mr. Buchanan, would you please explain what the devil is going on here? I’m losing complainants and defendants right and left.”

Rhett straightened. “I hired Whittenhurst as I said. I was led to believe all three properties on the short list his legal team had prepared were for sale. Since Ms. Foster’s property was not for sale, and Ms. Foster was not made aware of a code inspection, I can only assume any person or persons conducting such an inspection trespassed on her property, making such information inadmissible in this arena. Would you not agree?”

Bealer stared intently at Rhett for several moments. “And you were not behind any of this?”

“I was also led to believe the Jupiter property was no longer available,” Rhett responded.

“Well then, why would Mr. Whittenhurst go to—”

“One of the many reasons,” Rhett interjected, “why Mr. Whittenhurst is no longer in my employ.”

Bealer sat back in his chair and exhaled. “I agree with you as to the inadmissibility of the illegally-acquired inspection information and as such, will drop the code-violation complaint. I cannot however restore the grandfathered status of Ms. Foster’s right to reside at her business property, as the admissible argument-to-void was based on sound legal precedent, case law, and promulgated city code.”

Rhett sighed and nodded his agreement.

“Thus I render this case complete. The Code Compliance Special Magistrate Meeting will adjourn for a twenty-minute recess.” He banged his gavel and exited the chamber through a door to the right of the dais.

Rhett turned and spotted Delia trying to squirm out of the row behind him, and he latched onto her arm. “Just where do you think you’re going?”

She actually batted her eyelashes and drawled, “Why Rhett Buchanan, fancy meeting you here. I was just on my way out.”

“Mind telling me why you’re at a Special Code Compliance Meeting?”

“Well, I, uh—”

“Why?” He gave her arm a little jerk.

“You’re hurting me.”

“No, I’m not. Tell me why you’re here.”

“I thought I was supposed to meet Daddy here. He’s going to take me to lunch today. Guess I got the wrong meeting.” She gave a half-hearted giggle. “Silly me.”

“No, I think you had the right meeting, Delia,” he said menacingly and watched her eyes go wide. “You and your daddy are up to your eyeballs in this with Whittenhurst, and I intend to get to the bottom of it.”

“Well, I never,” she huffed and struggled to free her arm from his grasp. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“If I catch you within a hundred yards of Lily Foster, I can and will bury you and your father so deep the legal system won’t be able to dig you out.”

“That’s no problem.” Delia sniffed. “I don’t want anything to do with her. It’s you I care about.”

“And I don’t want to see you ever again.” He tossed her arm free.

“You can’t mean that, Rhett,” she said, her drawl all but gone. “You and I are too good together. I don’t believe you.”

“Believe it!” he snapped and started for the chamber doors.

“Rhett, I can explain everything,” she called after him.

He kept walking without a backward glance.

“You’ll come back to me. You always do.”

He heard an angry Aidan Cross tell Delia, “Even if Rhett lets you off the hook, I won’t. I’m going to get to the bottom of this mess you and your sharks tried to involve me in. You can bet on it.”

Rhett smiled grimly and stepped through the chamber doors.

Garrett appeared at his side and thumped him on the back. “Nice job! You saved Lily’s property
and
got rid of Whittenhurst and Delia.”

“But I lost Lily’s cottage,” he said disgustedly. “We didn’t get here in time.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve made a mess of things for you.”

“That’s not true at all,” Rhett said. “If it hadn’t been for you, Whittenhurst would have coerced Lily into selling sooner or later, and I never would have known.”

The two men strode through the lobby without stopping.

“Why didn’t you turn Whittenhurst in for ethics violations?” Garrett asked when they stepped outside. “Why didn’t you tell them Whittenhurst was trying to steal the property himself? He went after a property you hired him to acquire. That has to be a conflict-of-interest rap.”

Rhett stopped to face him. “Whittenhurst is too sharp an attorney and would squirm out of any ethics violations with a hand slap. Me firing him, on the other hand, has far worse repercussions for him. A man like that has more pride than is healthy for one human being and an ego to match. Word will get around that I fired him, and BDC has friends all over the world, so the story will definitely get around. Stigma like that for a man like Whittenhurst is worse than a prison sentence.”

Garrett sighed. “I sure hope you’re right after what he did to Lily.”

“Standing there next to Whittenhurst, I had all I could do not to throw him out of the chamber on his ass,” Rhett said.

“I caught up with Lily out here.”

A stab of hope sped up his heartbeat, and he locked eyes with Garrett.

His friend grimaced. “She wouldn’t speak to me, just took off. Tammy and Rob did, too, but I tried to get them to stay. No one from Bloom & Grow was here to see what you did.”

“Damn,” Rhett grumbled. “Let’s go. I’ve done enough damage for one day.”

He turned toward the parking lot and froze. Tammy Waynette waited on the sidewalk.

She stepped forward. “I came back to the Council Chamber. I was afraid Garrett was telling the truth.”

Garrett leaned in. “I told Tammy you didn’t know what Whittenhurst was up to.”

Rhett met her gaze. “I didn’t. I only found out this morning.”

She nodded. “I heard everything. Thank you for what you did for Lily.”

“I wasn’t in time to save her cottage,” he said grimly. “She won’t be allowed to rebuild.”

She smiled. “No, but she’s needed a place of her own for a long time. She’ll be all right.”

“Tell her—”

“Tell her what, Rhett?” Tammy asked.

He shook his head. “Nothing. It wouldn’t matter.” He stepped around her. “If you’ll excuse me.”

“I’ll catch up in a minute, Rhett,” Garrett called after him and moved to Tammy’s side.

“Oh no,” she said, staring at him, “I don’t like that look in your eye.” She turned to go. “And I know I don’t want to hear whatever it is you’re about to tell me.”

Garrett pulled her back. “Now just listen to me for one minute.”

Chapter 18

Tammy walked into the nursery office and found Lily busily working at her desk as though the man she loved had not just tried to steal her beloved nursery.

“Here you are. I went to the apartment thinking you’d be over there. You disappeared when we got back from Town Hall.”

Lily kept her head down, kept right on writing.

“I saw Rob outside. He said you showed up right after I dropped him off.”

She shrugged noncommittally. “I had errands to run, and now I have work to do.”

“Are you okay, Lil?”

She nodded, but still didn’t look up.

“Rob said Rhett has called twice, but you refused to talk to him.”

She didn’t bother to nod this time, but her pencil stopped momentarily.

“Aidan Cross called, too. Twice.”

That did make Lily look up. “I don’t want to talk to him either. He’s involved in this somehow.”

“I don’t believe that for a minute. Things may not be what you think,” Tammy declared. “Lily, I—”

“Believe it! Aidan was over at BDC the day I was delivering the interior plants, and he and Rhett were meeting over swapping properties. I hate all of them.”

“Lily Foster, you’ve never hated anyone in your whole life, and right now, you’re going to sit there and listen. I’ve got some
splainin’
to do.”

Rhett lounged in a deck chair and stared out across the dunes as late afternoon storm clouds formed out over the Atlantic. He took a long pull on the first of the three beers he had carried out from the kitchen. Mrs. Burkhart had left him a casserole warming in the oven, which he ignored opting instead to change clothes and sulk on his deck.

He had stalked out of his Palm Beach headquarters after an unsuccessful afternoon spent trying to concentrate on at least one of his development projects. He had barked at his astonished secretary, chewed the heads off two design directors, and told Garrett to get lost when he showed up unannounced in Rhett’s office. He’d had to get out before his employees staged a revolt.

After driving around Palm Beach for a while, he had given up and gone home to Jupiter Island. Funny word . . . home. Never had his mansion felt more like a real home than the few days Lily had lived there. He had dreaded the emptiness he knew he would find when he got here, and he hadn’t been disappointed.

He took another long pull on his beer and lamented over his situation, listening to the waves crash against the sandy shore. The wind had picked up out of the east, and the waves held more than their usual exuberance.

He had lost Lily, and he would never her back.

No possible explanation he could give would be believable. As far as she was concerned, Rhett had tried to steal her beloved nursery and endangered her life by blowing up her propane tank. Though his presence at her cottage the night of the fire might have given him a slim chance of acquittal, Lily had definitely caught him—almost naked—on the floor on top of Delia Armstead wearing a see-through nightgown. No man alive could talk his way out of that one. A woman would have to be crazy in love with a guy to forgive that scenario, and he hadn’t had enough time with Lily for that possibility.

He had dreamed up several ploys to win Lily back and had cast them all aside—the most foolish being to buy all the plant stock at Bloom & Grow in small quantities, so he had a perpetual string of inspections to do. Hell, Lily would just send Rob or Tammy to do the inspection in her place.

He stared in the direction of Sea Turtle Park and thought of the night his odyssey with Lily had begun. He had known on some elemental level that first night that Lily was a perfect fit for him, instinctively knew she was different from any woman he had ever known. His gut had never steered him wrong, yet he hadn’t listened to his gut when he felt sure she had betrayed him. He had let Lily go—shoved her away—and the light had gone out of his world.

He had gained that precious light back only days ago and experienced a peace he had never known—an unbreakable bond—until the bitch Delia had worked her evil. He knew in his soul Lily had felt their link, too. So, how could she not trust him? How could she toss their future away like so much trash?

He knew things had looked bad when Lily stood in the doorway to his bedroom, horrible in fact, but she hadn’t let him explain. Had not taken his calls.

Dammit, she owes me a chance to explain! Even a felon gets his day in court.

Rhett eased from his chair and moved to the edge of the deck where he could see past the shrubbery border to the boundary for Sea Turtle Park. A sudden inexplicable anger flooded through him, and his jaw clenched hard. Dammit, he hadn’t done anything wrong! Hurling his half-full can of beer into the landscaping, he stalked off the deck, needing to walk off his frustration if that was even possible. Down the deck steps and out through the garden, he headed toward Sea Turtle Park.

By the time Rhett reached the park boundary, he fairly vibrated with anger—anger because Lily had never let him explain, anger because she had so blithely tossed
them
away like a piece of trash. He wasn’t trash. He had spent a lifetime proving that to the world, and he refused to let her casually cast him aside without a fight. He had fought for everything he had ever accomplished in life.
That’s
what he did.
That’s
where he excelled.

All his pent-up hurt fed his anger. Lily hadn’t considered their relationship worth the effort, and his memories of their special place only served to taunt him tonight.

The late afternoon sun created shadows among the sea grapes lining the park path to the beach. He stalked over the dunes, his step determined. He needed to make a decision, and he would make it here where their odyssey began. He had always been a gambler, and now he had to decide.

Hold ‘em or fold ‘em. Now or never.

He had plum run out of second chances. His always-calculating mind said now was the time to cut his losses. The last rays of sunlight slanted across the beach and ocean making the incoming waves sparkle like thousands of bits of shattered glass.

Oh yeah, my future is shattered all right. I need to fold ‘em.

He lengthened his stride along the beach. He would need a good long walk to figure out how.

Lily pulled her truck to a stop and peered out into the gathering twilight on Jupiter Island. Lights were on in Rhett’s mansion, not many but a few. As she stared up at the single light on the second floor, her heart beat unevenly, and her throat went bone-dry. Memories swirled around her. Good
and
bad—some of her happiest and some of her worst. She had been thrown out of that very mansion by an angry ogre, carried in by Prince Charming, and fled the mansion on foot over an adulterous betrayal.

Perceived betrayal.

Tammy had convinced Lily she owed Rhett a chance to explain. He had swallowed his pride and gone to the nursery the night of the fire to get her explanation. She had to swallow her pride and go knock on his door tonight to ask for his explanation. She needed to hear the truth from him about what had happened with Delia. She would be able to
feel
if he embellished or told a lie.

After the code compliance meeting, he had called the nursery twice and even stopped by. Then he had given up, had made no further effort to contact her, other than the call to Tammy to be sure Lily was safe. What did that mean?

Only one thing. The next move was hers to make.

So here she sat, out in front of his mansion, too chicken to pull in the driveway. She had driven out to the island ostensibly to retrieve the clothing she had left behind after catching Rhett with Delia. As good a reason as any. Her pride could still be salvaged if he was no longer interested in a resolution or worse still, had truly gone back to Delia.

She could hear Hank’s voice in her head. “Quit being a baby, Lily, and march on in there. Stand up for what you want or let it go.”

She couldn’t let it go. She couldn’t let Rhett go. Not without giving him a chance to explain. She just hoped he still wanted one.

She smiled inwardly, threw the truck in gear, and proceeded down the sloping drive. Rhett’s Navigator was visible inside the detached garage.

He is home!

Her heart clamored wildly in her chest.

Showtime.

As she eased the truck forward, she spied a dark-green Jaguar parked on the circular portion of the drive near the mansion’s front door. Rhett had company? Her stomach took a painful lurch.

Did that Jaguar belong to Delia? If so, Rhett hadn’t wasted any time, and everything Garrett told Tammy had been a lie.

“Do what you came here to do,” Hank’s voice echoed in the stillness of her truck.

She needed to know the score once and for all. If Delia
was
inside with Rhett, Lily would have her answer. No more wondering. She took a deep breath and felt stronger, knowing an end to the madness lay in sight.

She climbed out of the truck and with a confidence borne of resignation, marched boldly to the front door. About to press the ornate doorbell, she noticed the door was unlatched and open a bare crack. Without thinking, she eased the enormous door further open and peered into the foyer.

Deserted.

She slipped inside. Her sneakered feet edged soundlessly across the cavernous foyer to the bottom step of the grand staircase.

She pulled in a deep breath, prayed for a spat of courage, and called out, “Rhett? Are you home?”

No answer.

She listened for movement on the lower floor. Heard nothing. Maybe he was upstairs. Her gaze tilted upward. What if he was in his bedroom? She thought of the Jaguar parked out front and remembered the hurt and anger she’d felt at the sight of Rhett lying across Delia, her manicured nails scrabbling at his broad naked back.

Could I manage this twice?

She took a deep fortifying breath.

Hells bells, yes! I have to know. Once and for all.

“Rhett?” she called again.

“Well. Well. Well,” a female voice sneered from the deep shadows of the great room. “What do we have here?”

Lily wheeled around.

Delia Armstead slithered up to the top step and into the light of the foyer. Clad in a tight snakeskin jumpsuit with her dark hair pinned up in a wild mass of curls, she looked like a rattlesnake coiled to strike. Her cold-blooded eyes glittered while gauging the distance between them.

Lily remembered her childhood fairy tales, and the evil witches who could take almost any form, and she almost smiled. Almost.

At least Delia wasn’t in Rhett’s bedroom.

“What are you doing here?” Delia demanded. “You’re trespassing.”

“And you’re not?” Lily retorted, though Delia’s accusation smacked of possessiveness.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m more than welcome, been coming and going here for years.” She creeped forward, one slow step at a time, like a pit viper cornering prey. “I asked you what you’re doing here.”

Lily tilted her chin defiantly. “I came to see Rhett.”

“Well, he doesn’t want to see you,” Delia snapped. “He’s tired of you. I’m surprised he was with you at all.”

Had Rhett told her that? Or was Delia just being nasty? The woman was back here at the mansion for the second time in as many days, Lily reminded herself uneasily.

“Rhett and I are none of your business,” she fired back.

Delia’s mouth curved in a reptilian smile to match those stalking eyes. “Think so? He told me all about you. We laughed over your naïve little interlude.”

“I don’t believe you,” she cried. “Rhett wouldn’t do that.”

“Then you don’t know Rhett very well.” The witch batted her eyelashes provocatively. “Not like I do.”

Damn her
.

Lily did know Rhett. She had felt a riveting connection with him. Delia had to be lying for spite. But the witch had said
naïve interlude
, and Rhett had called Lily naïve more than once.

“I do know Rhett,” she declared, her hands balling into fists. She refused to concede the upper hand to this witch.

“No, you only see what you want to see.” Delia slinked forward two more steps, shaking her head. “You can’t see the truth. Rhett can’t love you. You cannot possibly fit into his world. You don’t belong there.” The witch smirked. “I do. He’s realized that now.”

Lily didn’t want to believe Delia, but the witch’s spiteful words ripped at her heart, like pieces were being torn away. She
had
worried about fitting into Rhett’s glamorous world from the moment she met him. She was Cinderella on the outside looking in. Yet, the thought of her world without Rhett in it hurt too much to let go.

“Where’s Rhett?” she cried, hating the tears she could feel stinging the backs of her eyelids. “I want to hear that from him, not you.”

Delia’s eyes danced gleefully at the sight of her prey’s weakening resolve. “Rhett went for a walk. I was just about to join him. He’s waiting for
me
at the beach, and he doesn’t want to see
you
. You have caused him nothing but trouble. He said he doesn’t have time for your tantrums.”

Ouch! That held a ring of truth.

She thought of the flowers and skywriting and other ploys she had so cavalierly waved off when Rhett tried hard to see her and make up. Her heartache sliced again. Soon, she would have no heart left. She took a deep breath. What now?

Save your pride. Walk out with your head high, not looking whipped.

Lily took another deep breath to steady her voice. The lancing pains at her heart would just have to wait.