The Secret Sister (29 page)

“I'd rather not discuss it.”

“Didn't go well.”

“Not particularly.”

“She doesn't want you to see me.”

“No.”

The silence stretched out again. Then he said, “I can't say I'm surprised, but...I have to admit that sounds pretty unfair. I've never done anything to make her dislike me. I've worked hard, been reasonable with my prices and I'm doing a good job. She doesn't know how we met, does she?”

“I haven't told anyone how we met.”

“So it's just that I don't wear a suit to work.”

And the fact that he had a special-needs daughter, which her mother viewed as an unnecessary burden... “She doesn't want me to make another mistake.”

“How does she know I'd be a mistake?”

“She thinks she knows everything.”

“Are you going to listen to her?”

“To be honest? I probably would if I could. I'm in no condition to get involved in another relationship.”

“But...”

“None of that seems to matter. I want you, anyway.”

“Careful,” he said, his voice sexy and low. “I'm just around the corner. If you get me too worked up, we'll be late for dinner.”

She imagined his bare skin against hers, his hands touching her... “There are worse things than putting dinner off for twenty or thirty minutes, right?”

“I expect you to be naked by the time I get there,” he said, and hung up.

28

S
o much for slowing things down and using caution. Maisey couldn't get Rafe's clothes off fast enough. Almost as soon as he walked through the door, she pushed him up against the wall and unbuttoned his pants. Fewer than three minutes later, they were on the floor, in too much of a hurry to even make it to the bedroom.

Maisey had never experienced such overwhelming desire. That was part of what scared her. If she was going to enter a new relationship at such an ill-advised time, and against the wishes of her opinionated and powerful mother, she didn't want to be doing it for the wrong reasons.

Lust is different from love, Maisey.

Jack had told her that...

Or did she just want to believe this was lust so she didn't have to face the frightening possibility that it could be much more?

“I'm sorry your mother doesn't like me,” Rafe said when he'd had a few minutes to catch his breath. “I hate that her dislike of me separates you from your family. That it puts you right back in the terrible position you've been in for the past decade.”

His arms tightened around her as she shifted closer. “Fortunately, I like you enough for both of us,” she said.

“But will there ever come a time when you'll resent me for it?”

“Of course not. It's not
your
fault.”

He pushed her gently onto her back and leaned up on one elbow to look down at her. “What do you have to do in town? I assumed you were visiting your family, but now...I'm guessing that's not the plan.”

She ran a finger over the contours of his face. “I need to talk to someone, a woman by the name of Lindsay Greenberg.”

When she got close to his mouth, he bit her finger playfully. “I know Lindsay Greenberg.”

Maisey wasn't surprised. Fairham wasn't that big, and Rafe had been back long enough that he'd probably bumped into most of the residents. She was curious to hear the context, however. “How?”

“Fixed her roof last winter. But...why do you want to talk to her?”

“She might know something about the day my sister fell from that cliff.”

“Really? Why her?”

“According to Dinah, she was there.” She told him about her phone conversation with Dinah and what had happened when her mother and Keith arrived afterward.

He groaned. “You're going to continue to chase this thing?”

“I have to.” She dropped her hand. “I came here to help my brother, but since I've been home, things have only gotten worse for him.”

“Through no fault of yours.”

“True. He's his own worst enemy. But what Dinah told me has created some questions in my mind, and I won't be able to rest easy until I've done everything I can to find the answers.”

He tapped the end of her nose. “Even though you might uncover information that would be more damaging to your brother?”

“I don't think he pushed her, Rafe.”

“Because...”

“Because he didn't lock me in the attic.”

“That's not an entirely logical conclusion.”

“Love is never logical,” she said. “But knowing he's not the one who locked me in enables me to trust him—a little. That's all. And since I'm probably the one person in his life who
can
muster any trust, I have to defend him, and the only way I can do that is to follow any lead that might bring in new information. Lindsay doesn't seem like the kind of person who'd make things up. I guess I'm hanging my hopes on that.”

“I'd have to agree with you there. She's a sweet person—a real Pollyanna.”

“Maybe learning he didn't do it will encourage him to keep fighting, to make the changes he needs to make in his life.”

“I get how much this means to you. And I agree it might help if you could free him from the belief that he's a born psychopath. But you do realize that for your father to have paid Gretchen Phillips that much...”

“He must've believed her story,” she finished. “Yes, and Keith realizes that, too. That's what hurts him the most. No decent person wants to see himself as capable of murder, even at such a young age—
especially
at such a young age,” she said, correcting herself. “That implies he was predestined to be bad, as if he's never had any choice in the matter. Not only that, we tend to believe what our parents think of us, right? So knowing Dad bought into that story makes Keith think he
must
be to blame, even though he doesn't remember it. I hope to convince him otherwise.”

Rafe said nothing, but she could tell from his expression that he wasn't completely sold on what she planned to do.

“You don't think I should pursue it,” she said.

“It could go very wrong,” he responded. “I can't imagine that your mother will be happy to have you poking around in the past. Why would she want that old scandal back in the light when she paid so many people to let it fade away in the first place?”

“I'm sure she won't like it, since she believes he did it, too.”

“Exactly. She'll see no point in stirring the pot.”

“Still, I have to do it.”

He sat up. “You're prepared to piss her off?”

She sat up, too, and leaned over to peck his lips. “It won't be the first time.” She was feeling less confident than she sounded. Taking on her mother was a scary proposition, but she had to live according to what her heart dictated. And right now her heart told her she had to investigate the details surrounding that terrible day. She was also fairly certain she was falling in love with Rafe. But she wasn't going to say that. She wasn't ready to admit it.

As he stood, he extended his hand and drew her to her feet. “Let's get dressed and go see what Lindsay has to say, then.”

“You know where she lives?”

“I know where almost everyone lives. I've worked all over this island.”

She bent to grab her clothes, then he pulled her up against him for one last kiss.

* * *

Lindsay was every bit as sweet as Rafe had said. In her late fifties or early sixties, she was tall, willowy, attractive. She had a ready smile to go with her gently lined face, and she immediately welcomed them into her small house.

“Sit down. Can I get you cup of tea or something else to drink?” she asked as she gestured toward the sofa.

“No, we're sorry to barge in on you like this...” Maisey started, but Lindsay, who obviously didn't remember her, interrupted.

“Oh, it's no bother. Any friend of Rafe's is a friend of mine. With what I owe him, he can barge in on me anytime.”

When Maisey shot Rafe a questioning look, he shrugged. “It was nothing,” he said.

“It was definitely something!” Lindsay argued. “I doubt I could've survived last winter without him. I had a serious leak in my roof, one that was causing a lot of damage. So I hired him to fix it—and asked if I could pay for the repairs in installments, since...well, since so many of my students had moved away. Winters can get lean, what with everyone hunkering down to avoid the cold. Many of my students head off to college as they get older, so business ebbs and flows like the tides around here. Anyway, he came over immediately and spent one whole day patching the hole. But when I tried to give him my initial payment, he wouldn't accept it. And he hasn't accepted any of the others I've tried to make since. He says he likes having me in his debt—as if he'd ever ask for anything in return.”

“You can give Laney a few voices lessons when she gets older,” he said. “I'll consider that a fair trade.”

A warm sensation washed over Maisey. Rafe hadn't mentioned that Lindsay owed him money, hadn't said a single word about his good deed. “He makes people feel important, doesn't he?” Lindsay murmured.

Rafe looked startled, even embarrassed, by the compliment. He didn't like them making a fuss over him, but what she'd said was true. Maisey felt like an entirely different person when she was with him, as if all the terrible things in her life didn't matter as much as all the wonderful things she had to look forward to.

“You might not be so happy we stopped by for a visit when you hear why,” he told Lindsay.

Lindsay sobered instantly. “What is it?”

Rafe touched Maisey's arm. “Do you know who this is?”

“I'm assuming it's your girlfriend. I've been waiting for you to introduce her.”

“It's Maisey Lazarow, Josephine's daughter.”

Her eyes flew wide. “Oh! Of course. I recognize the family resemblance now, but...I—I didn't see it at first.”

And she'd probably never expected Maisey to be with Rafe.

“I'd like to talk about that day you were on the beach below Coldiron House,” Maisey said, but she was pretty sure Lindsay had guessed that the minute Rafe identified her.

“I don't think it would be wise to go into it,” she said, “not after all these years.”

“It's important we revisit it, Ms. Greenberg. I'm worried about my brother. He's heard he's responsible, and if he
didn't
do it, he needs to know.”

Lindsay took several seconds to respond; Maisey could tell she was reluctant to help despite her plea—until Rafe leaned forward to lend his support. “We're only looking for the truth, Lindsay,” he said. “If Keith is guilty, he'll have to accept that. We all will. But if he's not...”

“I understand—but what if I'm wrong?” she asked. “That's why I've mostly kept my mouth shut. Every once in a while, I'd try to speak up. My conscience demanded it. But then this other side of me would override that impulse, just in case I was wrong and would be getting an innocent person in trouble.”

“Gretchen's dead,” Rafe said. “You can't hurt her. But you might be able to help a very conflicted man sort out something that's incredibly painful to him.”

Her chest rose and fell as she took a deep breath. Then she nodded.

“Can you tell us how you came to be where you were that day?” Maisey asked.

“The shells at the public beach were all broken. So I parked at the bottom of the Point, hiked around the mountain and over those big rocks so I could search your beach. I'd just realized the tide was in, that I wouldn't be able to get down there, when...when I heard a scream.”

“Then you turned and looked up, or... How close were you?”

“I couldn't see the Point from where I was. I was afraid someone from the house would spot me poaching on your beach. I didn't feel I was doing anything wrong, but I was still trying to stay out of sight. Once I heard that panicked scream, I scrambled higher to get around to where I could see. When I did, I saw Gretchen Phillips standing at the top of the cliff with you and your brother.”

“Where was my mother?”

“In the house, I guess. A maid came out to search before she showed up.”

“But no one recovered my sister's body.”

“No. Before too long, the police arrived, and they looked, too. But the only thing they found was your sister's doll, bobbing in the surf.”

“What was Gretchen doing while everyone else was searching? Was she looking, too?”

“Not with any real intensity. She was just sort of...watching. Someone else had taken you and Keith by then. I went up to console her and when we could safely do it, we both went down to the water's edge.”

“I've heard that...that you found her response to the situation strange. In what way?”

“Besides the fact that she wasn't really searching the waves for any sign of Annabelle? That she didn't seem intent on finding her?”

“Yes.”

“Well, for one thing, what was she doing with three small children at the top of that cliff? There were far easier ways to get down to the beach, including the stairs leading from the house. She couldn't have taken you to the beach, anyway, since the tide was in. I thought
that
was strange—that a caregiver would take small kids to such a dangerous spot. And then, when Annabelle fell into the ocean, Gretchen started screaming, but she didn't move. Didn't grab you two and run to the house to get help. Maybe they would've been able to find Annabelle if—if Gretchen had acted with more sense.”

“Did anyone ever ask her why she just stood there?”

“Of course. She claimed she was too shocked by what had happened. That she was immobilized by the horror of it all.”

“Which could be the truth,” Rafe pointed out.

“Yes,” she allowed. “See why I'm so confused? And yet the one thing that made me the most uncomfortable isn't anything I can even explain. It was just a feeling that she was hiding something. What, I couldn't begin to guess. Who'd hide anything about the death of a child? I went to visit her right after the incident, to see if I could get rid of my misgivings. But she said she didn't want to talk about it. Then she up and moved away, and within weeks it was as if Annabelle had never existed.”

“Do you have any idea where Gretchen went? If she stayed in contact with anyone?”

“No,” she said. “We didn't have any friends in common...” Suddenly, she stopped. “Wait a second. She used to babysit one of my current voice students. I wonder if they kept in touch.”

“Would you mind giving us her name and address? Or a phone number?”

“Her name's Heidi Hildebrandt. I wouldn't feel comfortable giving out her address without permission, even to you, Rafe—because she's my client. But I'll bet you can ask around to find out where she lives. She owns the bakery in town.”

“I know her place,” Rafe said, then focused on Maisey. “I'll take you over there.”

“Right now?” Maisey asked. “Shouldn't we get Laney first?”

“Going to Pizza Planet will make up for us being a little late. She isn't used to having me come at a set time, anyway, since my work doesn't always end at five.”