Queen of Diamonds (9 page)

When he knocked on the door, Caroline answered. “Hi, Mr. Hunter. My Mommy’s not home.”

“That’s okay. Maybe I can spend some time with you and your grandpa.”

“Sure, we were getting ready to make haystacks, want to help?”

“You mean you’ve already eaten the last batch?”

“You helped.”

“So I did.”

Caroline skipped beside him, chattering as they walked into the kitchen. Bill stood at the stove with a white towel tied around his waist. He looked up and smiled. “Logan, what a nice surprise. There’s beer and iced tea in the fridge. Help yourself.”

Logan rummaged in the refrigerator and poured himself a glass of tea before glancing over Bill’s shoulder where Chow Mein noodles stuck out of the chocolate, like spindly legs. “Looks interesting.”

Bill grinned. “They don’t call them haystacks for nothing. Okay, Caroline, you’re up. Got the wax paper laid?”

“Yup.” She stepped onto a stool and waved a spoon. Bill brought the pot over and angled it where she could dig inside the pan. “Don’t burn yourself.”

“I won’t.”

Logan watched as the little girl thumped down spoonfuls of rich chocolate goo.

“So what brings you our way?” Bill asked, his eyes never leaving his granddaughter.

“I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop in and see my favorite poker buddies.”

Caroline grinned. “We’re going to go see Grandma and take her some haystacks. They’re her favorites. Right, Grandpa.”

“That’s right, honey.” A momentary sadness flickered across the older man’s face but was quickly replaced with a smile. “Do you want to go, Logan?” Bill asked.

“I don’t want to impose.”

“No imposition. Company’s always good for Caro.”

“All right then. When is Kendall due in?”

“Sometime this evening.”

Logan chatted with the two of them while they finished making their haystacks. Caroline insisted Logan try one even though it hadn’t completely set. Laughing, he managed to eat a piece of the gooey, rough-structured candy without making too much of a mess.

He licked his sticky fingers. “Best candy I’ve ever had.”

“Gramps and I do a good job.” She lifted her chin and smiled proudly.

She might look like her dad, but her mannerisms were all Kendall.  As Logan chomped down the realization hit him that he was actually enjoying himself. Sitting in a kitchen while a senior citizen and a little girl made candy was not something he’d been exposed to. His parents were both career-oriented and there’d been one nanny after another until he was old enough to be sent to boarding school.

“It’s not polite to brag, Caroline.” Bill’s admonition pulled him out of thoughts that were heading rapidly toward self-pity, something he rarely allowed himself to indulge in.

“Well, I don’t know if I’d call telling the truth bragging.”  Logan reached for another.

Bill laughed. “I’m in complete agreement. But I don’t think her mom would hold with our point of view.”

“There are some things it’s better Mommy not know.” Caroline reached for a haystack.

Logan leaned toward her. “For a little girl, you’re pretty scary. What are you going to be like when you’re twenty?”

“My Mommy.” She grinned, Kendall’s grin.

“That’s what I’m talking about.”

“And I’m not scary, see?” She reached over and gave him a kiss.

Logan’s heart turned over. He scooped her up, gooey chocolate and all, and hugged her.

Bill shook his head. “The boys aren’t going to stand a chance. Wish I’d be around to see it,” he muttered under his breath. He looked directly at Logan. “I want to make sure my girls are properly taken care of after I’m gone.”

Normally, that would have been enough to have Logan heading out the door, but all he said was, “Why, Bill, are you wining and dining me with haystacks and iced tea?”

Bill laughed then waved a spatula at him. “Just don’t go breaking my little girl’s heart.”

“More like the other way around.”

Bill gave him a speculative look then went back to rinsing out his pan. “I’ve got to believe a smart, good-looking man like yourself, could bring one headstrong lass around.”

“Are you giving me permission to try?” he was shocked to hear himself ask.
What was in these things, truth serum?

Bill’s sharp gray eyes skewered him in place. “Depends on your intentions.”

He stunned himself again by saying, “I believe they may be honorable.” 

“You better make damn certain of it.”

“No cussing, Grandpa. What are you two talking about?”

“Just about Mr. Hunter being a good friend to your mommy. Now why don’t you scoot upstairs and put on something pretty to go visit your grandma in.”

“Okay. Even if she doesn’t recognize me she likes seeing pretty things.” Caroline went skipping out the door.

An awkward silence fell until Logan broke it. “So who do you follow? Jaguars or Panthers?” That carried them through until Caroline returned wearing a pretty pink dress and a toy tiara.

Logan grinned. He just couldn’t get enough of this kid. It occurred to him, he’d let himself get completely sidetracked from the purpose of his visit. It was crazy anyway, what were the odds that the Queen of Diamonds was working for him? He shook his head at his imagination.

They piled into Bill’s old station wagon and headed for the retirement center. When they pulled up in front of the imposing structure, his first thought was the pictures he’d researched on the internet didn’t do it justice. Quickly followed by suspicions that once again raised their head and crawled into his conscious. How the hell could she afford a place like this? Could a married man, who was supposedly married to an invalid, shell out this kind of money?  It was possible, of course, but how likely?

Bill parked the car and they got out.

“Looks expensive.”   Logan stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned on his heels studying the expensive façade.

“It’s nice. That’s for sure. Thank God Kendall was able to find that grant. I couldn’t bear the thought of my Caro stuck in one of those nursing homes where everyone sits around in wheelchairs and drools.”

Funny, he’d never heard of any grants for this place or any other of its caliber, unless it was hush-hush. Monday he’d have to come back and have a little chat with the manager.

On the second floor, Bill stopped in front of a door with a wreath of hydrangeas hanging on it, knocked and opened it. Caroline ran inside. “Hi, Grandma. Hi, Mommy.”

Crap, she won’t like it that I’m here
, was his first thought, quickly followed by
, interesting
that she’s here.
He took a closer look at her face and his heart turned over. Her guard down, she held her mother’s hand. Sadness and love on her exquisite features.

“Hi, hon, should have known you’d be here.” Bill walked to the bed, his gate stiff as if arthritis plagued his knees. He took his wife’s other hand and placed a kiss on her lips. “How’s my favorite girl?” There was something about his voice and the expression on his face that had Logan backing quietly away, the moment too raw, too intimate.  How could a young man’s feelings survive in the husk of an older man?

Even though the woman’s eyes were vacant it was apparent where Kendall got her looks. At one time the woman on the bed must have been a vibrant beauty. His glance slid to his publicist. Her eyes skewered him, the love on her face a moment ago replaced by smoldering anger. He stopped and squared his shoulders, time to man up.

“What are you doing here, Mr. Hunter?”

“I invited him, baby doll. I figured a new face would be good for your mom.” 

“I’ll leave.”  Discomfort tightened his chest. What was he doing spying on this family, sleuthing on the woman who’d done nothing but make his professional life a success? No writer, no matter how good, made it to the top without a huge amount of publicity.  Kendall had done that for him. And this was the way he repaid her.

He took another step back before Bill and Caroline both protested.

“Come and meet, my Caro. A new face will do her good.”

“Don’t leave, Mr. Hunter. You haven’t met Grandma.”

He looked at Kendall and raised an eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes and shrugged, clearly unhappy, that he was here. Then again his publicist was nobody’s fool. She knew he was up to no good. Or at least that’s how she’d perceive it. Hell, it was how he perceived it. He was spying plain and simple.

She stood. “Here, Dad, you can have my seat, I was just getting ready to leave.”

“Please don’t let me run you off.” Logan stepped forward.

Ignoring him, she kissed her mother’s withered cheek. “See you soon, Momma.”  Then turned and hugged her daughter, “Did you miss me, sugar?”

“Of course, I did, silly. Did you bring me anything?”

She rubbed noses with her daughter. “Of course, I did, silly.”

They both laughed. She released Caroline and gave her dad a quick hug. “See you at home, Dad.”

He gave her a troubled look. “No need for you to leave, girl.”

“I’ve got an appointment anyway.”

“I’d offer to drive you but I don’t have my car.” Logan combed his fingers through his hair and forced his muscles to relax.

“No need.”

“I’ll see you Monday then.”

“Yes.” Her heels clicked briskly across the floor then she was gone leaving him staring at the empty hall. He gave himself a mental shake and turned his attention to the woman in the bed.

“Mrs. Theron.” He took her frail, small-boned hand gently in his. She gave him an empty smile, her eyes the same color as Kendall’s, though where Kendall’s had the brilliance of emeralds, her mom’s were watered-down. Only when her husband squeezed her hand and caught her glance did the green sharpen and deepen for a moment before the vacant stare was back.

“I know you’re in there, Caro,” Bill murmured. “I’ll never give up on you, love. Never.”

“How long have you been married, Bill?”

“Fifty-one wonderful, stormy years.”

“That’s a long time to be with one woman.”

“Not nearly long enough.” Bill’s fingers slid up Caro’s arm.

“Were you ever tempted to,” he cleared his throat, “look elsewhere.”

“Hell, son—Caroline, pretend you didn’t hear that—I’m in love, not dead. ’Course I looked, but tempted to act on it, never.”

“You’re a very lucky man.”

“Don’t I know it.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Caroline took Logan’s hand and swung it.

“About how lucky your grandpa is to have your grandmother.”

“She doesn’t act like she knows us but Grandpa said she knows us in her heart.”

“I’m sure she does.” How was it this little family kept presenting him with long lost emotions, the need for a family, closeness to another human being.

He moved around the apartment, while Bill and Caroline visited with Caro. The sitting room had comfortable chairs and the window looked out over a lush garden that even in October still held beauty. From a small side table, he picked up a picture of a younger Bill and Caro and Kendall, in a silver-edged frame. He studied it. A lovely young woman smiled into the camera, vibrant and happy. Kendall was the spitting image of Caro and what a cutie. Even then she’d shown promise of being a heartbreaker.

“That’s my mommy when she was my age.” Caroline pointed at the young Kendall.

“No kidding.” He arched his brows and acted surprised. “I thought that was you.”

“Nope, it’s my mommy.” Caroline giggled, then skipped back to her grandma.

The visit lasted another hour. Even while he chatted his mind was elsewhere. He couldn’t get past the coincidence of the Queen hitting another jewelry store on the same weekend Kendall was out-of-town. He might be crazy, but he didn’t believe in coincidences.

Chapter Thirteen

She sat at her desk, her fingers flying over the keyboard, her brow wrinkled in concentration.
Dammit, didn’t anything faze the woman?
He’d barely gotten five thousand words written since he’d kissed her. His pulse picked up just thinking about it. If it wasn’t so pathetic he’d be laughing at himself.

He’d had affairs too numerous to count and ended up poleaxed by a simple kiss. No, that wasn’t right. There was nothing simple about it and if a lip lock could have that effect he might never survive the sex. She was a lot lustier than her demure manner signified. 

The pressure in his head increased, along with the throb in his body. He hadn’t been with a woman since his growing attraction to Kendall and it was damn uncomfortable. And if that wasn’t enough, he was afraid the lady he was falling for might be a jewel thief.

He shoved out of his chair, walked to the window and threw it open.  A light rain fell cleansing the air, leaving the scent of damp earth and falling leaves. He breathed deeply. Could this woman driving him so crazy be the Queen of Diamonds?  Could the two females he obsessed about be the same person?

He drew his head back in and leaned against the sill. “How was your weekend?”

“Fine.” She didn’t look up.

“How was your friend?”

There was a pause. “Fine. What were you doing at the nursing home?”

Uh-oh.
He squared his shoulders. “Your dad and daughter invited me.”

“You could have said no.” Her fingers had left the keyboard and were clenched on the edge of the desk. A white line stood out around her mouth.

“What’s the big deal?”

She turned in the chair, her posture stiff. “The big deal is I don’t want this to be more than a professional relationship.” She jumped out of the chair and walked around the room in long, agitated strides. “And now you’re coming over, wooing my daughter with donuts and poker, and my dad with fishing stories. And on top of that you had no right to visit my mom.” 

Blood rushed in and out of her face, and her chest rose and fell in agitation. He walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I don’t understand. I know you aren’t ashamed of your mom. Why do you mind me meeting her?”

She jerked away from him. One moment he had his hands on warm vibrating flesh the next he held air.

“I don’t want you in my life.”

His chest tightened. The pain surprised him. In a heartbeat, hurt turned to anger. In three quick strides he was beside her and this time his grip was unbreakable. “You couldn’t prove it by me.” His lips crashed down on hers. For endless seconds she didn’t respond.

The thought that she might not feel what he did tore at him and he deepened the kiss, plunging into the wet warmth of her mouth. And just as suddenly, the tigress was back, leaping at him, now the aggressor. Both fought for dominance as they shifted their positions, neither found it, equal meeting equal on the field of passion.

My God I’m drowning
, was his last coherent thought as she drew back long enough to jerk the tight white T-shirt he wore over his head before plunging her tongue in his mouth and scraping her nails down his back. He was fumbling with her blouse when her phone rang.

“Ignore it,” he murmured against the madly beating pulse in her throat. For one more ring she did. On the third ring her body stiffened and she shoved him back.  Her breath coming in short sharp gasps she answered with a breathless, “Hello.” A moment later she said, “I’ll get back with you on that.” 

When he reached for her, she took a quick step back. “Don’t even think about it,” she warned. Her fingers trembling, she shoved her blouse back into her skirt and buttoned the buttons he’d managed to get open.

“You’re killing me.” His heart was pounding like a jackhammer and all the blood in his body was still in his nether regions.

“People don’t die from celibacy. Trust me I know.” Her eyes widened and she clutched her throat. They stared at each other, the words hanging in the air between them.

He finally tore his gaze away. “I’ve got an appointment. I’m not sure when I’ll be back, lock up when you leave.” He grabbed his T and a shirt on a hanger behind the door before galloping down the stairs, letting the door bang behind him as he left the house and headed for his car. He jumped in, her words ringing in his ears. “People don’t die from celibacy. Trust me I know.”

He downshifted and tore out of the drive. It had been one lie after another. She was either celibate or she was having an affair. Doing both just wasn’t possible.

He shifted gears and headed for the nursing home.