Deadly Ever After Read online

  Theodore gave Daisy a small bow. “I’ll keep an eye out for anything that might help you in your work coming onto the market.”

  “We’d appreciate that,” she said. Her smile at him was nothing more than casually friendly.

  “That’s a striking ring you’re wearing,” he said. “Most unusual.”

  “Daisy,” James said, “doesn’t go for the usual.”

  She gave him a fond smile. “And you love me for it.”

  James and Charlene headed for the stairs. “Hey,” he said, “I forgot to mention. One of my mates back in the UK sent me a link to this hot new artist everyone’s saying is the next big thing.”

  “I can’t wait to hear it,” Charlene said. “Why don’t you come up to my office before starting work and help me download it?”

  The corners of Daisy’s mouth twisted in a grimace. “James and that awful stuff he calls music. Makes the man a nightmare to live and work with. I’m so glad they invented earphones.” She ran after them. “Don’t you dare play that racket around me, James Dalrymple.”

  “I’m sure you’ll love it, Daisy,” Charlene called over her shoulder, “if it’s as good as James thinks.”

  “That,” Daisy said, “is a matter of taste. I have good taste. James has none.”

  Charlene laughed and led the way up the spiral iron stairs. Charlene loved rap and hip-hop music with a passion, and she firmly believed that if everyone else was only exposed to it enough, they’d also come to love it.

  So far, that wasn’t happening to me.

  “Lucy,” Theodore said, “you called me on Saturday to say my copy of the book club book is in?”

  “It’s on the holds shelf.”

  “I’m looking forward to diving in,” he said. “I haven’t read Sir Arthur for a long time. Are you a Holmes aficionado, Mrs. Lewiston?”

  Evangeline started. “What? I mean, no. Sherlock Holmes? Not at all. Dreadfully pedestrian. All those ridiculous television shows. I’ll see you at dinner this evening, Lucy. I’ve made a reservation for seven o’clock at your cousin-in-law’s restaurant because your mother mentioned how marvelous the food was at your cousin’s wedding.” She practically ran out of the library, her heels tapping on the tiled floor.

  “That was odd,” Theodore said.

  “She is odd,” I said. Yes, Evangeline could be “odd,” but she was never rude. Seeing James had shaken her, but I didn’t bother to wonder why. He clearly didn’t know her. Maybe he reminded her of something or someone in her past. Did Evangeline have a secret past?

  I chuckled to myself and answered the ringing desk phone.

  Chapter Three

  I told Connor I’d meet him at the restaurant at the assigned time of seven o’clock, and as soon as the library closed for the day, I ran upstairs to change into something suitable to wear for dinner with the family, and then I drove to Uncle Amos and Aunt Ellen’s house. Mom and Dad were staying there, which showed how things were changing between my mother and her sister. In the past Mom had always stayed at a hotel, saying she didn’t want to “inconvenience” her sister. Aunt Ellen had been more than happy not to have her, not wanting to wait on Mom hand and foot.

  “Your father,” Mom said, giving Dad a poisonous glare, “told Rich about the engagement party.”

  “I didn’t know it was a secret, Suzanne!” he protested.

  “Not a secret, but you should have known he’d tell Evangeline.”

  “What does it matter? I thought you and Evangeline were friends.”

  “We have never been friends, Millar. We are wives of business partners. There is a considerable difference.”

  My dad threw me a panicked look.

  “It doesn’t matter,” I said. “I’m not going to dump Connor and run back to Boston with Ricky. Having him here is mildly embarrassing, that’s all.”

  “I’m sure all they’re here for is to wish Lucy well,” Dad said. “After all, Evangeline’s known Lucy since she was a baby.”

  “You can be so naïve,” Mom said. “It’s a good thing you never became a trial lawyer. You’d believe everything the witnesses told you.”

  Dad wisely said nothing.

  “Mom’s right,” I said. “Evangeline still wants me to marry Ricky. Ricky came right out and admitted it.”

  “He did?” Mom said.

  “Yes, he did. I have to ask: are you on my side in this, Mom?”

  “Side in what?” Dad asked.

  Mom ignored him. “I hope there aren’t going to be any sides, dear. I admit, I was disappointed when you and Ricky broke off your engagement—”

  “We were never actually engaged. I ran out of the restaurant before he finished the proposal.”

  “Creating quite the scene, which my friends dined out on for months after, to my intense embarrassment.” She patted her hair. “However, that’s in the past. I will admit, now and publicly, that I was wrong. You’re clearly so delightfully happy here in Nags Head, and Connor is head over heels in love with you. And you with him.”

  “It doesn’t hurt that he’s a doctor,” Dad said.

  “And so dreadfully handsome,” Mom added.

  “Connor’s a dentist,” I said. “These days he’s only a part-time dentist, while he’s serving as mayor.”

  “He’s still Dr. McNeil,” Mom said. The sparkle in her eyes told me she was teasing. “You would not have been happy with Ricky, and I can see that now.”

  I decided not to tell my parents about the apparent bribe of a job at the Rockenheimer Library. My mom might say she’s come around to accepting my new life in the Outer Banks and my relationship with Connor, but she’s a social climber to the core. Having me in that prestigious position would be a notch in her belt.

  “Why are we talking about Lucy marrying Ricky anyway?” Dad said.

  Mom didn’t bother to answer him. She often didn’t. “As for why she’s here, you’re right, I fear. Evangeline has not come around to my way of thinking. She wants to see you and Ricky married.”

  “Lucy is getting married,” Dad said. “Isn’t that why we’re here? To celebrate that?”

  “Do try to keep up, dear,” Mom said. “Evangeline wants Lucy and Ricky married to each other.”

  “Oh.” Dad checked his watch. “What time are we leaving for dinner?”

  “Why does it matter to her?” I asked.

  “Because you’re a sensible young woman from a good family with a proper ladylike profession,” Mom said.

  “Ladylike?”

  “In her eyes, yes. You are, Lucy, in a word, respectable. Ricky has been, shall we say, up to some shenanigans with unsuitable—in Evangeline’s eyes—women over the past year.”

  “More than a year. Mom, I guessed at the time he was fooling around on me.”

  “What your mother’s trying to say,” Dad said, “is that the Lewiston family is facing financial ruin. Rich has made some bad—very bad—investments, and his gambling habit isn’t helping. We all know Evangeline’s trying to exert some control over their finances, but it is Rich’s family money he’s squandering, plus his income from the firm, and she doesn’t have the control she’d like. Evangeline needs an influx of cash to turn things around. And fast.”

  “But I don’t have any money,” I said. “Other than what I earn at the library.”

  “Evangeline doesn’t know that,” Mom said. “Your father and I don’t discuss our private financial arrangements with anyone. Even Rich and Evangeline. Particularly Rich and Evangeline. You’ll get your inheritance when your father and I are gone and not a minute before.”

  I’ve always known that. My parents ensured that I received an excellent education, finished college with no student loans hanging over my head, and had a good start in my career. They helped with my rent for the first year after I graduated from college, and since then I’ve managed for myself. I have three older brothers and they all have wives and children, so I’m not expecting to inherit a lot when my parents are gone.

  Which,
I hoped, would be many years from now.

  “What are you smiling at?” Mom asked.

  “Nothing. This dinner’s going to be mighty awkward. If Evangeline says anything, I’ll have to come flat out and tell her I’m not marrying her son.”

  “I feel a headache coming on,” Dad said.

  “No, you do not,” Mom said. “It’s time we were going.”

  * * *

  Dinner began as a dreary affair. I don’t mean the food. The food is never dreary at Jake’s Seafood Bar. Nor is the atmosphere. It was a beautiful, clear warm night, and our group occupied a big table on the deck overlooking Roanoke Sound and the lights of the island beyond. In the distance, the fourth-order Fresnel lens of the reproduction Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse flashed its regular pattern and boats bobbed gently on the waves. I find the lights of a lighthouse, any lighthouse, comforting in their reliability and regularity. And tonight, even though I was sitting next to Connor with my hand held tightly in his under the table, I needed that comfort.

  Aunt Ellen, Uncle Amos, Josie, my parents, and Connor and I had joined Ricky and his mother for dinner. Jake was in the kitchen, cooking up marvelous things.

  I was confident in my love for Connor and confident in the strength of his love for me. But … Evangeline Lewiston was a force to be reckoned with, and always had been. My mom was a southern upstart, and Evangeline never let her forget it. Whereas Evangeline’s family had—according to her—come over on the Mayflower and immediately set about rising to their proper place at the pinnacle of society.

  I reminded myself that Evangeline was facing financial ruin, and in the circles in which she moved, financial ruin meant social ruin.

  Although you wouldn’t know it by looking at her. Small diamonds glistened in her ears, and a larger one hung from a gold chain around her neck. She wore a slim-fitting black knit dress under a gold lamé jacket with elbow-length sleeves that sparkled in the lights of the bar, and gold sandals, again with the dangerously high heels. A small clutch purse, also golden, rested on the table beside her. This morning her nail polish had been a deep red; this evening it was a light pink. She’d been to the spa.

  Ricky, on the other hand, had spent the day at the beach or lounging around the hotel pool. His nose was badly sunburned and his cheeks were pink, a sharp contract to the white skin where his sunglasses had been placed. He turned quickly and caught me looking at him. He winked, and I felt myself color as I dipped my head to read the menu.

  Not that I need to read the menu at Jakes. I know it, and love it, by heart.

  Drink orders were taken. Evangeline asked for a martini and Ricky for a double Scotch. Connor and Amos had beer, and Mom, Josie, and I ordered a glass of wine each. My dad asked for a club soda with a slice of lime. I glanced at my mom, and she avoided my eyes.

  “Is this your first visit to Nags Head, Mrs. Lewiston?” Josie asked Evangeline.

  “Please call me Evangeline, dear. After all, we’re almost like family.”

  Not if I can help it. I gave Connor’s hand a squeeze.

  “I’ve never been to your lovely town,” Evangeline said. “Such a delightful place, but we’re not exactly short of seafront pleasures in Massachusetts.”

  “How about you?” Josie asked Ricky.

  He grinned at her. He’d been looking at my cousin a lot. Then again, men tend to do that. Josie’s a beautiful woman and looked particularly so tonight, dressed in slim-fitting jeans and a frilly white off-the-shoulder blouse, with her long golden hair pulled back in a high ponytail and just a hint of pink on her lips. She and Jake had been married over the winter, and that newlywed glow still bounced off her.

  “I might be persuaded to come again, given the right reason,” Ricky said in a low, slow voice.

  “Josie’s married to the owner of this restaurant,” Evangeline snapped at her son.

  “Then I’m sure we’ll get a good meal.” He gave me a crooked grin. “In answer to your question, Josie—no, I’ve never been. My dad comes for the fishing most years, but fishing isn’t how I prefer to spend my time.”

  No one asked him how he preferred to spend his time.

  “Your dad fishes?” Amos said. “What’s he after?” My uncle’s a keen sport fisherman, and now that he was leaving more and more of his law practice to his partner, my friend Stephanie Stanton, he was looking forward to opportunities to get out on the open water.

  Ricky shrugged. “The biggest fish, of course. What else would Dad want? It’s a working vacation for him. He has clients with summer homes down here, and he takes them fishing once a year.”

  “You’re not interested in fishing, Evangeline?” Connor asked.

  My mom smothered a snort.

  Evangeline shuddered. “I tried it once when we were first married. Worst experience of my life. Not to mention the most boring. But that doesn’t matter. I have always maintained that it’s healthy for a long-term, stable marriage when a husband and wife have separate interests. As you’ll find out, Ricky and Lucy.”

  Ricky waved to the waiter to bring him another double Scotch.

  “Shopping in Paris is one of Evangeline’s interests,” my mom said.

  “As you well know, dear,” Evangeline replied through gritted teeth, “I go to Paris for the art.”

  I took a deep breath and opened my mouth to remind Evangeline that I was engaged to Connor, not to Ricky, but Josie beat me to it. “Jake and I not only have the same interests, we work together sometimes. He helps out in the bakery, and I come here a lot to give him a hand with dinner prep. We believe closeness makes a good marriage. It will be up to Connor and Lucy to find what works best for them.”

  “Hear, hear.” Uncle Amos raised his glass. “To Connor and Lucy.”

  “I’ll drink to that,” Ricky said.

  His mother glowered at him, but she lifted her glass along with the others.

  Connor and I smiled at each other. I felt tears behind my eyes.

  “Compliments of the chef.” The waiter placed a platter overflowing with crispy brown hush puppies in the center of the table.

  “Thank him for us,” I said. Jake knows hush puppies are my favorite, and no one makes them as good as he does.

  My mom leaned over and whispered something into my dad’s ear. He nodded, and then he got to his feet. “As the father of the bride-to-be, I’d like to welcome Connor to our family.” Dad lifted his glass of soda to Connor.

  “They’re not married yet, Millar,” Evangeline growled.

  “What was that, dear?” Mom said. “I missed it.”

  “Nothing.”

  Connor was next to stand up. “My thanks to you and Suzanne for creating this marvelous woman who has been kind enough, or foolish enough, to want to spend the rest of her life with me.”

  “I’ll drink to that,” Ricky said again, and again he did so. Evangeline looked as though she was considering knocking the glass out of his hand.

  “Speaking of dinner prep,” Josie said. “I was in the kitchen before y’all arrived, and bluefish is the special tonight. Bought straight off one of those fishing boats you want to go out on, Dad.”

  “Sounds delightful,” Mom said. “I think I’ll have that. We’ve kept the staff waiting long enough; I’m ready to order. Josie, I’m going to have the bluefish. What would you recommend for a starter?”

  The menu was discussed at great length, and finally the waiter went around the table taking our orders.

  He left, and a man approached our table. “I thought I recognized you, Mrs. Lewiston. And Ricky. What brings you folks here?”

  Ricky leapt to his feet and took the man’s extended hand. Evangeline’s face twisted, and she might have been considering spitting on the floor. Connor didn’t look entirely pleased either, but he pasted on his politician’s smile and stood up. “Gordon.”

  “Mayor McNeil.” Gordon pumped Connor’s hand enthusiastically.

  He was a big man, tall and round bellied with pale skin, greasy gray hair, a bushy gray moust
ache that could use a trim, jowls that bounced when he spoke, and small but intense dark eyes behind thick glasses.

  “My mother and I are visiting friends,” Ricky said. “Everyone, this is Gordon Frankland. Mr. Frankland’s an important client of my father and me.”

  Connor stared at Ricky in surprise. “You’re his lawyers?”

  Ricky nodded.

  “I recognize the name.” Dad stood and extended his hand. “Although we’ve never met. Millar Richardson.”

  “Pleased to meet you at last, Millar,” Gordon said.

  Evangeline picked up her napkin. She twisted it in her freshly manicured fingers. Her face was stiff, her lips tight with what might have been suppressed rage. My mom gave her a worried glance.

  “Your dad not here?” Gordon said to Ricky.

  “He couldn’t get away,” Ricky said. “You know what the law’s like. I should be back in the office too, but I wanted to escort my mother.”

  “I know what the business of the law’s like. I also know when a well-compensated lawyer’s falling down on the job. I planned to give you a call later in the week, Millar, after you’ve had time to consider my latest offer. I’m glad I had the opportunity to put a face to the name first.”

  “Call me about what?” Dad asked. “What offer?”

  “You’ll find out. Once you’re back in the office after enjoying your little vacation.”

  “I don’t think this is the time or the place,” Uncle Amos said.

  “We’re here to celebrate an engagement,” Josie said.

  “Yes, I heard the good news. Congratulations, Mr. Mayor.” Gordon leered at me. “Shall I assume this radiant beauty is the lucky lady?”

  He meant the comment as a compliment, but my skin crawled. There was something very creepy about Mr. Gordon Frankland. He winked at me.