Heart's Delight Page 17
Margrett Dawson
Quinn followed her into her kitchen and helped set the pot going.
Mary sat down at the kitchen table. “Now, what are you here for? It’s not just my pretty face.”
Quinn gave a little bow. “Your face is always a delight, ma’am.”
Mary gave a crow of laughter. “How nice. You’ve made my day, even if I know it’s not true. What is it you want?”
Quinn pulled out a chair and sat. “Those photographs yesterday—”
“What about them?”
“I thought I saw a couple with Jim Burchitt, looking a fair bit younger.”
“You’re right. I’ve known Jim all my life. We’re of an age, so we often were at the same events. Church picnics and summer festivals and the like.”
Quinn nodded. “Was his wife in any of them?”
“My Lord, yes. She married Jim almost straight out of high school. She and I were great pals then.”
“So you must miss her a lot.”
“Indeed I do. Although she had a hard life.” She sighed and shook her head.
“There are no pictures of her at Jim’s house, so I don’t know what she looked like.”
“No, I’m not surprised Jim doesn’t display pictures. He’s pretty bitter about what happened.” Mary glanced up at the box of photographs on top of the cupboard. “Well, I won’t suggest getting all those down again, but she was a very pretty girl. Curly brown hair and dimples she had, until life with Jim wore her down.”
“She wasn’t happy with him?”
“He was an absolute tyrant and jealous like you wouldn’t believe. She wasn’t allowed to talk to any of her friends at the end.”
“At the end? You mean just before she died?”
“Died? She’s not dead. Whatever gave you that idea? She found the courage to leave him at last, thanks to another friend of ours.”
She got up to pour the coffee and passed a cup to Quinn. “It was Elaine’s grandfather, in fact, who helped her escape. Jim never forgave him, so that was why I wondered about you and Elaine staying there.”
Quinn put his mug down. “Mrs. Richardson,” he said. “I think you had better tell me the whole story.”
“And where you are, I want to be.” Elaine hummed the tune under her breath as she pulled into the driveway of Jim’s property. Star was out in the paddock with her new foal. There was no sign of the gelding.
Jim emerged from the house as she opened the driver’s door.
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“Your friend has taken off,” he announced abruptly, before she even reached the steps.
She adjusted her packages in her arms and paused. “Did he go for a ride?”
Jim sniffed. “That’s what he told me.”
She moved slowly up the steps. “That should be okay. The horse needs some exercise.”
“How much do you know about him?”
She stopped again on the porch. “As much as I need. He comes from an old family back in England.”
Jim shoved his hands in his pockets. “So he has an EU passport and a visa?”
Elaine suddenly felt cold. “I’m sure he does.” Did people even have passports in the late eighteen hundreds? “Why are you asking?”
Jim forced a laugh. “Don’t mind me. Just being overprotective of you, I guess. Want to make sure you’re in good company.” He gave her a smile.
Elaine frowned. “No need to worry. He’s good company. Excuse me, I have to put these things away.” She edged past her host and made her way to the bedroom.
The packages slid from her arms onto the bed. Maggie’s toys were in one bag along with the thong she’d bought and some more sexy underwear. Until now she’d favored hi-cut briefs, but these wisps of lace would barely cover her mound.
She busied herself tidying the room then went out to see Star and Diamond Stud.
The colt was steadier on his legs, following his mother like an attached shadow while she cropped the grass.
“Pretty pleased with yourself, aren’t you?” Elaine said.
The mare looked up and shook her head as if in answer, nuzzled her foal to check him out yet again, then resumed her placid browsing.
Elaine leaned on the fence and sighed with happiness. So she still didn’t have customers in sight, but they would come. The builders had said they would be finished in a month and the house would be habitable again in a week. She and Quinn together would make a great team.
In the midst of her daydream she suddenly remembered Jim’s questions. Although she’d brushed them off, the echo had lingered. What kind of credentials did Quinn have? Would he be able to take his place in this society or would he always have to hide from the authorities? She was pretty sure there was no immigration category for time travelers.
She propped her chin on her hands, still watching her new horse, and tried to think of a way out. Didn’t people manage to get false identities all the time? Something about taking the name of a dead child from a gravestone and getting a birth certificate. Who would know?
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In the middle of her musing, Quinn came into sight on the gelding. He trotted over to the stable and swung down from the saddle. Holding the horse by the reins, he took Elaine’s arm.
“Come inside with me,” he said.
She followed without a murmur as he led the gelding into the stable and began to remove the saddle. She fetched the brushes and worked with him, rubbing the animal down.
Quinn brushed with fierce concentration, a frown between his brows.
“Did you have a good ride?” she asked over the horse’s back after several minutes of silence.
He nodded without speaking, his lips in a hard line.
“Is there something the matter? Where did you go?”
He looked up at her at last and stopped the movement of his hands. “I went the same way as before.”
She smiled at him in encouragement. “Nice trail. Did you see Mrs. Richardson?”
He started to brush again. “I did.”
She came around the animal and stood beside him, placing her fingers over his. The movement of his hands ceased again and he stood unmoving.
“Something’s happened,” she said. “Tell me.”
He turned to her. “Yesterday I picked up the photos Mrs. Richardson had spilled on the floor.”
“Right.”
“There were two of a group of young people. There was writing on the back, but I couldn’t make it out.”
She squeezed his hand in sympathy, remembering the misspelled note he’d left.
“But I thought I recognized a couple of the faces.”
He paused again.
“Go on.”
He took a deep breath and the words came out in a rush. “So I went back to see Mary Richardson to ask her. I was right. She’s known Jim Burchitt for many years.”
“I still don’t know where you’re going with this.”
Quinn kicked at a patch of straw, his eyes downcast. “I felt bad about wanting to know more about Jim, because I know you like him and he’s been kind to you. But there was something that niggled at me, so I asked.”
“Asked what?”
“When his wife and son died.”
“And?”
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“They aren’t dead. His wife left him and his son took off as soon as he could after that.”
Elaine frowned as she took it in. “He lied. But why?”
“Mary said that he was a tyrant. His wife had a miserable life until she got up the courage to leave.”
“Good for her.”
“Your grandfather helped her to escape.”
Elaine stared at him round-eyed, one hand to her mouth. After a long moment Quinn moved aside and picked up a back hoof, waiting for her to speak.
At last he heard her draw in a shaky breath. “Why would he lie about it?”
Quinn cleaned the
gelding’s hoof with deft motions. “There could be many reasons.
Shame, pride, denial.”
He dropped the hoof and moved to take the other, resting it on his knee.
“Do you think I’ve found my enemy?”
“It’s possible.”
She turned away and paced the narrow stall. “I have to keep Star and the foal here for a while. Do you think they’re in danger?”
Quinn finished with the hoof and prodded the horse to make it move aside. “I suspect they will be safe for a while. If he did have something to do with the fire, he may have changed tactics.”
“What do you mean?”
Quinn looked at her over the horse’s rump. “What does it mean when someone has a record?”
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Chapter Eleven
Elaine stared at him in horror. For a moment her vision played tricks. Quinn grew smaller, out of focus, and she closed her eyes. He had spoken quietly, but the word
“record” echoed in her ears in a sibilant whisper as if he’d shouted it at the top of his lungs.
She opened her eyes and he morphed back to his true size with every detail crystal clear. She could see the sun streaks in his dark hair and the faint line of stubble around his mouth. She shivered.
He frowned. “Elaine, are you unwell?” He came around the horse to stand beside her, but a pace away, as if unsure of his welcome.
She reached out to touch him, her hand finding the warmth of his arm. Touching him was automatic, an instinctive need for contact. As if reassured by her gesture, he moved closer and cradled her head on his shoulder. She put her hand against his neck, comforted by the warmth and hardness of his body, the substantial presence of him beside her.
“My love, what is it? What have I said?”
She found her voice at last. “Who said anything about a record?”
He led her to a couple of hay bales against the wall. “Sit here. Do you want water?
You’re pale.”
“No, I’m fine.” She pulled him down next to her and his arms went around her.
“Tell me.”
“I was talking to Jim,” he began, “just before I went riding. I said he must miss his wife, because of course I thought she was dead, and said I planned to marry you.” He smoothed her hair and kissed her forehead. “But we can talk about that later.”
Still in a daze, Elaine listened to his deep voice. Marrying Quinn would be a pivotal point in her life, yet she could hardly take it in, her mind was so full of what Jim might have told him.
“He said that at least his wife didn’t have a record. I wondered what he meant.”
What to tell him? Would he care what had happened years ago? She drew a deep breath. She had to tell him. Honesty between them was the only way.
She pulled away a little and his arms dropped from her. She pushed back her hair and sat squarely, feet together, braced for her story.
“Having a record means that you were accused or, convicted, of something. So the police have a file on you.”
“So who has a record?”
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“I do.”
She raised her head to look him squarely in the eyes. “My husband, Jordan, had one too. It all happened before I moved back here.”
“Tell me the whole thing.”
She nodded. “When I was twenty I was living back East. I’d never had a parking ticket, never did drugs. I was the model nice girl. I was enrolled in a business administration program and my life was all mapped out. Then I met Jordan at a party and he swept me off my feet. I was crazy about him and I went along with whatever he wanted, did whatever he asked. Unfortunately, what he asked was against the law. He wanted me to drive a car and pick him up at a specific time. I said yes. I didn’t know it was a getaway car.”
He frowned and she explained. “When people commit a robbery they need a quick way to disappear. Often there’s a car waiting for them.”
She saw the questions trembling on his lips and touched her fingers to his mouth.
“I’ll tell you what all that means later. For now, you need to know that we were caught and I was indicted along with Jordan and his associates. I’d never been in trouble before, so I got a suspended sentence and they believed me when I said I had no idea what Jordan was planning. At least there was no proof that I knew. They just thought I was stupid, and they were right. Jordan claimed he hadn’t understood what was planned either but they found incriminating evidence and he served six months. A couple of years later he was killed in a car crash, and I moved here to live with my grandfather. I’d spent a lot of time here when I was growing up, had always been around horses and loved to ride, so it seemed a perfect way to start over. As long as I keep out of trouble, there will never be another problem.”
“So who else knows about this?”
“That’s what I don’t understand,” she said slowly. “I’ve spent the last few years trying to put the whole mess behind me. I’ve never mentioned it to anyone. I suppose my grandfather might have told a couple of his friends.” She looked up at Quinn.
“Didn’t Mary say they were all good friends at one time?”
“It doesn’t matter too much how he knew. The point is that he’s willing to use it to turn me against you.”
She took his hand. “I think Jim is more devious than we ever suspected. He tried to convince me that I didn’t know anything about you and then reminded me the stable burnt down just after you arrived.”
“You mean, he said I set the fire?”
“Pretty well. Of course I said it was ridiculous. He asked me a couple of times how much I knew about you.” She smiled at him. “I don’t know much, but I wasn’t about to tell him that.”
“Let’s think about this.” Quinn’s brow creased in a frown. “He tried to put doubts in your mind about me and he told me you had a record. Presumably so I would 119
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distance myself. Maybe he hoped I would leave. Is he just a malicious old man, stirring up trouble, or is there something more?”
“Don’t forget he lied about his wife being dead.”
“Right. Add the fact that your grandfather helped her get away. Revenge is a powerful motive.”
They sat in silence for a moment, each turning over the information and its implications.
Finally Elaine spoke. “He burned down my stable.”
“It’s very likely. Or someone working with him.”
She looked up. “He said he had a niece. I wonder who that is. How could we find out?”
“Only one way. We have to ask.” He stood and drew her to her feet keeping his hands on her arms.
“Ask him?” She shook her head. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. He could be dangerous. Who knows how his mind works? He could do harm to Star or Diamond.”
“True. I meant we should ask Mary. I’ll ride over tomorrow morning.”
Elaine turned away and moved to the stall where the gelding stood patiently.
“Okay. Then what do we do about the horses?” She stroked the animal’s nose. “You said they would be safe for a few days, and I agreed, but I think I’ve changed my mind.”
Quinn took a step toward her. “It’s my experience that people who want to harm you will take any means. Good sense doesn’t have much to do with it. And if they don’t succeed and are frustrated, they can be quite irrational.”
“Sounds as if you have experience.”
“I do.” His lips closed in a hard line. Elaine waited for a long moment and understood he would say no more. She sighed. “You go to see Mary tomorrow. I’ll stay with Star and Diamond. Do we sleep in the stable again tonight?”
“Best to be sure.” He grinned. “I thought my bed in the straw was a thing of the past.”
“Soon it will be.” She squared her shoulders. “Are we ready to act the innocents for a few more hours?”
He kissed the tip of her nos
e. “No problem.”
Elaine and Quinn stayed close to the stable until suppertime and caught an occasional glimpse of their host as he moved around the property. Despite the warm, sunny afternoon Elaine felt cold every time she thought of Jim inviting her to stay, offering help. She had no proof of his involvement in her problems, but her gut told her his apparent hospitality must have been a sham to keep her under his eye. He’d burned 120
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her stable and tried to ruin her business. Did he intend to take away her mare and the valuable foal?
She was leaning on the fence, watching Diamond as he staggered around while her mind refused to let go of the problem that was worrying her. Who was Jim’s niece? Did this mystery woman have a reason to connive in arson?
The colt pranced a daring few paces from its mother, then scurried back to her sheltering flank. Elaine smiled. It wouldn’t be long before his legs grew stronger and he would be running alone in the field with all the energy of a young animal.
Soon the mare and foal would be back in their own paddock. She would do a blitz on advertising, now that the developer was out of the picture.
Suddenly she knew who her enemy was!
The small reprieve from the turmoil of her thoughts had been enough to free her subconscious mind to make associations with memories.
Who had told her that the bank manager had been in cahoots with the developer?
Jane.
She heard Jane’s words echoing in her mind. “I guess you’re over Jordan,” she’d said. Then, later, “Still on my own”. She remembered how, years ago, Jane had fixed her eyes on Jordan and hung on his every word. At the time she’d thought it was just because he was charming and good-looking. A cool guy from the big city. As his fiancée she’d basked in the reflected aura of admiration.
“Enjoy your new catch.” In her head, the words echoed with bitterness. She’d been so full of her own delight in Quinn that she hadn’t even paid attention Jane’s tone or the sour expression on her face.
Would someone be jealous enough to want to destroy everything that had been built up over the years?
Maybe. Especially if there was a second person filled with malice to help and encourage.
She turned away from the fence rail and hurried to Quinn’s side. He was sitting near the door of the stable, plaiting straw into a long strand. He looked up and rose to his feet as she ran to him.