Deception (36 page)

“Why didn’t you tell me that when I questioned you?”

Amanda shook her head. “I didn’t want anyone to know Simon was deceiving me. I didn’t want to tarnish his memory, to have you and the rest of the family think horrible things about him.”

She caught Jill’s perplexed look. “I know this is difficult for you to understand, but it’s so Simple, really I loved him. And he loved me, too. He had this weakness and I… accepted it, because in the end he always came back to me. And because he was a wonderful husband, in his own way.”

“Oh, Mom.” Tears were running freely down Jill’s cheeks as she embraced her mother. “I love you so much.”

“So do I, baby. So do I.”

An hour later, Jill and Dan were back at the loft.

“Coffee?” Jill asked as they walked into the kitchen. “We might as well. Neither of us will be getting much sleep tonight. We’re too keyed up.”

“I don’t mind keyed up.” He tossed her an Irresistible grin. “The last time you felt that way, you made me a very happy man.”

Jill smiled but said nothing. Tonight should have been a night of celebration and hopes for the future but she didn’t feel like celebrating and her future’ looked bleak without Dan. He’d be returning to Chicago soon and getting back into his academic routine.

Within a few days, Jill Bennett would be nothing but a distant memory to him.

Taking her arm, Dan turned her around. “What’s the matter, Red? You haven’t said three words since we left your mother’s house.”

“I guess I’m just tired.”

“That’s not it. Come on, out with it. What’s wrong?”

Jill threw him a dark look. Didn’t he know? Couldn’t he see that the thought of losing him again was tearing her apart?

“Tell me what I can do to bring a smile back to those beautiful lips,” he teased.

Stay. Say you love me.

No, dammit, she wasn’t going to say it. if he could walk away from this relationship, and not be devastated, then so could she.

“How about a little magic?” Dan asked brightly. “You used to like my little tricks.”

“I’ve outgrown magic.”

“No one ever outgrows magic.” From her hair, he plucked a small paper rose and handed it to her with a flourish.

Jill smiled.

“Ah, no big belly laugh, but it’s a start.” He turned around, inspecting every corner of the kitchen. “Let’s see.” Facing a cabinet, he raised his arms, sliced the air with his hands in a quick, crisscross motion. “Abracadabra!”

He yanked open the cabinet door and reached inside. When his hand came out again, it held a dozen beautiful, very fragrant, very real red roses.

Bowing at the waist, he presented her with the bouquet.

This time, Jill laughed. “How did you do that?” She sank her face into the flowers and inhaled deeply.

“I cannot tell a lie. Ashley was in charge of the roses.”

“She has great taste.”

“I’ve managed to make you laugh, but have I restored your faith in magic yet?”

Sensing he had more in store for her, she shook her head.

“Ah, the lady still resists. Very well.” Positioning his hands above the brilliant red bouquet, he did his abracadabra routine once more. Then, plucking one of the flowers, he handed it to her. “Maybe this rose will restore your faith.”

Puzzled, Jill glanced at the rose, started to smell it, then gasped. Buried in the flower’s center was a diamond.

Her eyes wide with wonder and disbelief, she looked up. “What…?”

When he shrugged, she took the diamond out and almost gasped again when she realized it was a ring—an engagement ring.

Tears had replaced the disbelief. “Is this…? Are you … asking me to marry you?”

Suddenly solemn, Dan took the ring from her hand and slid it on her finger. It was a perfect fit. “if you’ll have me.”

“But what about.. your job?”

“Well, I’ve got that covered, more or less. I’d like to finish the semester in Glenwood, which means that until May we’ll have to content ourselves with a long-distance relationship. After that, I’ve made arrangements to be transferred to NYU, where the professor who teaches applied criminal psychology will be retiring soon. That’s why I was so busy these last couple of days.” He laughed. “I was trying to solve a crime and hunt for a job at the same time.”

“Oh, Dan.”

“Is that a yes?”

Because she didn’t trust her voice, she nodded and threw herself into Dan’s arms.

Thirty-Eight

“Dispelling early rumors that Lilly Grant’s return to Broadway wouldn’t be the success many had expected, the Aquarius Theater was packed with an elegant and eager crowd when Jill and Dan arrived on opening night.

Jill, looking stunning in a red beaded dress, glanced around her. “Whatever happened to dismal ticket sales and lukewarm interest?”

“The wonders of publicity,” Dan said.

Not to mention that Lilly had played every morsel of it to the hilt, Dan thought.

Unlike Amanda and other members of the Bennett family, who had refused to be interviewed by the press, Lilly had welcomed reporters and television crews with open arms, skillfully avoiding their questions about the murder and directing their attention to what truly mattered—herself And the play, which she had predicted would be a hit.

In the last forty-eight hours, her face, her voice and her quips had dominated the media. The producers, quick to capitalize on a good thing, had sunk every cent they had into a massive publicity campaign.

Almost overnight, her face was everywhere—on billboards, on city buses and in parking garages. The

New York public, unable to resist such hype, had rushed to the box office in droves.

Yesterday, a beaming Luke Mansfield had announced that the play was sold out for the next three weeks.

As the curtain lifted ten minutes later, Jill gripped Dan’s arms. “I’m scared, Dan. Tonight means so much to her.”

Dan patted her hand. “Relax, Red. She’ll be fine.

Jill glanced at the crowd around her. “I wish we could have all been seated together.”

Luke Mansfield had tried, but due to the sellout, he’d only been able to hold a few seats together. Amanda and the rest of the Bennett family were farther back and would be meeting them later in Lilly’s dressing room.

As the lights dimmed and Lilly walked onto the stage, looking regal in a 1920s lacy gray gown and a foot-long cigarette holder in her hand, the audience greeted her warmly with a solid round of applause.

But when the final curtain came down an hour and a half later, thunderous applause broke out and shouts of “Bravo” could be heard from every row of the old theater.

And when Lilly came to take her bows, two thousand spectators rose to their feet and continued clapping, bringing her back for five curtain calls.

As Jill and Dan made their way backstage a few minutes later, Jill wiped away a tear. “She was magnificent, wasn’t she?”

Dan wrapped his arm around his fiancee and held her tight as they walked. “She was. I predict a ten-year run, at least.”

Just before they reached Lilly’s dressing room, from which they could already hear the sound of popping champagne corks, Jill stopped and pulled Dan away from the crowd. “You know,” she said with a mysterious smile on her lips. “I never did thank you properly for all you did for me and my family these past four weeks.”

Facing her, Dan braced a hand on the wall behind her head. There was a gleam in his eyes. “Am I about to be properly thanked?”

“Well…” Jill chuckled. “I am in a rather… generous mood.”

“In that case, maybe we should skip the backstage party and go home?”

“or maybe…” Jill opened a small beaded purse the same vibrant color as her dress. “I should give you part of your present now.”

Dan raised a brow. “It comes in parts?”

“Yes.” She took out a small white card and handed it to him.

Dan took it, flipped it around a couple of times. Except for a plus sign drawn in blue ink, the card was blank.

Puzzled, he smiled and looked at her again. Her eyes were unusually bright, her cheeks flushed. He had never seen her looking so radiant, so utterly breathtaking. “What’s the matter, Red? You want me to add something for you?”

“No, silly.” The mysterious smile deepened. “I want you to think positive.”

“I see,” he said, not seeing at all.

Taking his hand, she guided it to her belly. “Positive,” she murmured for him alone. “As in pregnancy test?”

It took Dan only a moment for the words to fully register. When they did, his expression turned from bewilderment to pure, undiluted joy. “You mean…?”

Jill nodded emphatically. “I’m pregnant. I took two tests to make sure. Both came out identical.”

With a yelp that brought Lilly and her entourage out from her dressing room, Dan Santini picked up his bride-to-be and kissed her passionately.