Heard it Through the Grapevine (11 page)

eleven

I’ve slept with a
lot of dogs in my life, but never one that actually barked.

Lainey shot straight up in bed at the sound of her sister’s voice. “Where have you been? You hung me out to dry at the bar with Bozo.”

You obviously handled yourself pretty well.

Lainey glanced at her wrist. Just as expected, a purplish bruise had formed on the inside where Porter’s fingers had pressed. “Yeah, I was freaking Rambo,” she deadpanned.

Ginger lifted her head from her curled-up position at the end of the bed and sniffed. Fred opened his eyes, looked up, then immediately went back to his loud snoring, snuggling closer to Ginger on the thick comforter.

Just like a man,
Tessa said.
Fun to look at but not too bright. Kinda like a lava lamp.

“Did you know someone shoved a threatening note under my door at the hotel last night?” Lainey asked, ignoring the quip.

Tessa’s smile faded.
Is that why you’re here?

Lainey propped the pillow behind her and leaned back. “Someone wants me out of town in a hurry.”

Welcome to my world. Every woman in Vineyard would have loved to ship my ass off to Timbuktu or some damn godforsaken place.

“No, seriously, Tessa, Colt thinks I’m getting too close for someone’s comfort.”

I wish I knew who that someone was.
Tessa crinkled her nose.
I can’t believe you slept with these mutts. They smell like old
lady Roberts every time she wore her fur coat.
She flashed the famous Tessa smile that Lainey knew always preceded a wise crack.
Remember how we called it her wet coyote mink?

Lainey smiled. She did remember that coat. “It rained pretty hard last night, and I felt sorry for them.” She reached down and rubbed Ginger’s head. “They’re sweet dogs.”

Colt always did have a soft spot for animals. It killed him when he had to leave A & M to come home and take care of his mother after his dad was killed.

Lainey turned away. That was the year her world had fallen apart.
She’d come home on spring break and discovered Tessa had stolen her journal. They’d never really gotten along, but when Tessa found out about her crush on Colt, her teasing turned relentless. Then Tessa got pregnant and the next thing Lainey knew, she and Colt were getting married. The day Tessa told her, eyes flashing victory, was the day Lainey left Vineyard and never looked back.

Suddenly, both dogs jumped up and ran to the door, their barks deafening. Instinctively, Lainey moved closer to Tessa, unable to stop the horrified gasp that escaped her lips.

“Wake up, sleepyhead. Breakfast is served in five minutes.”

Hearing Colt’s voice, way too cheery this early in the morning, Lainey let out the breath she’d been holding.

Not once in all the time I was married to that man did he ever fix me breakfast.

_____

Lainey stared down the driveway, waiting, wondering how Gracie
would react when she found out she had to spend the morning
with
an aunt she didn’t even know existed until her mother died. It
was not the ideal way to get acquainted. Lainey remembered
when she’d found out her own father had died. She’d known he’d
been sick and had spent a lot of time in hospitals, but she’d fallen apart the day he didn’t come home. She’d been angry for several weeks—at her mother, at God, at anybody who would listen.

“Go back and get him,” she’d shouted, blaming her mom for coming home without him. Granted, she’d been a little older than Gracie, but the loss nearly killed her. She hoped Gracie would have an easier time with her grief.

She moved closer to the window, feeling the chill of the March morning, her breath fogging the glass. The rain had clumped the leaves around the base of the big oak tree that shaded Colt’s porch almost like a blanket protecting it from the nip in the air. She pulled the oversized gray sweater tighter around her body. Colt’s sweater. Somewhere in the middle of the bacon, eggs, and biscuits and gravy, she’d mentioned she was cold. Within minutes, he had the big sweater draped over her shoulders, unaware his touch on
her neck had sent chill bumps up her arms. He’d assumed her
sudden shiver was from the low temperature, and he’d upped the thermostat.

She stepped back from the window and took a good look at Colt’s
house. Like him, it was warm and masculine, but definitely lacking a woman’s touch, although he did say his mother had selected the curtains. Dark green with burgundy trim, they kept the house cool and dark. Probably just the way he liked it.

Lainey’s gaze took in the kitchen in one sweep. A little on the small size for her taste, it had proven adequate for the lumberjack breakfast he had whipped up. Scolding herself with every bite she’d
stuffed in her mouth, she’d cleaned her plate and even scarfed down
a cinnamon bun afterward. No doubt, she’d have to spend at least a
month or two of hard work in the gym to get rid of the extra pounds she had to be packing on.

Hell, the chicken-fried steak the other day probably added a whopping five pounds, and that didn’t include the mashed potatoes and gravy. Oh Lord, she’d forgotten about Ruby’s bread pudding. For sure, she needed to get some exercise. Thank God, she would be back in Savannah late Friday, and she could work off her overindulgences.

She pulled the chair away from the kitchen table and sat down with a fresh cup of coffee. Why did everyone else’s coffee taste better than hers? Maybe it was because she was always running late, grabbing the instant stuff on the way out the door. She took another sip, then spied a picture on the mantel of Gracie sitting on an absolutely gorgeous black horse. Moving closer, she was surprised to see Tessa standing next to her, also staring at the picture.

I bought her that mare two years ago when she showed an interest in rodeo competition.

Lainey reached up and examined the picture. “She’s the spitting image of you, Tessa. You must be proud.”

Tessa sighed.
She’s the only thing I ever got right in this world.

“Why’d you give her up, then? Why’d you let Colt have full custody if you loved her so much?” Lainey raised her hand. “Don’t answer that. It’s none of my business. I know you must have had your reasons.”

Long story. Someday, I may tell you, but for now, let’s just say I loved her enough to know Colt was the better parent
.

Lainey bit her lip to keep from saying she found that reason hard to swallow. Whatever Tessa wanted, she got. It didn’t matter who got trampled in the quest.

Where’s Colt?

“He had to run down to the station to sort out some new evidence from last night. Porter said he was home in bed with his wife when you were poisoned. He has to check that out, plus find out who left the note at the hotel.”

So, you’re going to hang out here all day?

“I’m taking care of Gracie until Colt gets back.”

She heard Tessa’s sharp intake of breath, saw the sudden sadness
sweep across her eyes.
Where is Gracie?

For the first time since she could remember, Lainey felt a genuine stab of empathy for her sister. “Colt’s mother is dropping her off. She was supposed to keep her today, but her knee’s acting up. The doctor’s going to squeeze her in for a cortisone injection.”

A car rounded the corner, making its way toward the house, and
Ginger sprang to life. She raced toward the end of the driveway with Fred at her heels.

“That must be them now.” Lainey opened the door and walked to the top step, hoping this wouldn’t turn out to be a disaster.

The Chevy sedan pulled to a stop. Gracie, looking so small in the big car, trained her eyes on Lainey. Surely, her grandmother had warned her that her dad had to work for a few hours.

“Hello, Mrs. Winslow,” Lainey said as soon as Colt’s mother stepped out of the car. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“Call me Delores, Elaina. I’m sorry I’m interrupting your day, but I really need to see Dr. McCullough.”

“Don’t give it another thought. I’m looking forward to getting to know my niece. Hopefully, you’ll feel like a new woman after the shots.”

She huffed. “Hope so. I must have twisted my knee somehow last night when Gracie and I went out to dinner. I was awake half the night trying to find a comfortable position. If nothing else, I’ll sleep all day.”

Lainey walked down the steps just as Delores opened Gracie’s door. “Hi. Remember me?”

The child nodded, then stared at Lainey’s chest. “Hey, that’s my dad’s sweater. Does he know you’re wearing it?”

Lainey tugged on the collar as a faint whiff of fabric softener reached her nose. “Yeah. I was cold this morning, and he let me borrow it.”

Gracie stepped out of the car and bent down to receive Ginger and Fred’s wet kisses while Delores opened the trunk and pulled out her small suitcase.

“Let me,” Lainey said, taking the suitcase from her. “You go on to the doctor. The sooner you get help for that knee, the better.” She held her hand out to the little girl. “Come on. Let’s go see what kind of trouble we can get into before your dad gets home.”

The child’s eyes lit up. “We can play on Daddy’s computer. I’ll show you the letter I got from the Mickey Mouse Club. It has my name on it, and all the Mouseketeers signed it.”

That wasn’t so hard.
Mentally patting herself on the back, she grabbed Gracie’s hand and guided her up the steps. “I can’t wait to see it.” At the top, they both turned to wave as Colt’s mother made a U-turn and headed back down the drive with a two-dog escort.

“Let’s go put your clothes away first, then we’ll take a look at your dad’s computer.”

Gracie stopped and looked up. “What was your name again?”

Lainey’s breath caught in her throat. She was beautiful. Tessa’s shining accomplishment. At the thought of her sister, Lainey whirled around to see if she was still there. She wasn’t. She turned her attention back to Gracie. “I’m Lainey. You don’t have to call me Aunt Lainey if you don’t want to.”

“We’ll see,” she said, sounding much wiser than her eight years. She was smart enough not to commit too early. She’d make a great businesswoman.

“Sounds like a plan. Now lead me to your room and we’ll get these clothes put away.”

Gracie raced ahead of her up the stairs. By the time Lainey made it to her room, she had already flopped down on the bed. Slightly out of breath from trying to keep up, Lainey flopped down beside her. “Wow. What a great room.”

“Mommy helped me decorate.”

It figured. Tessa always had a knack for this sort of thing. The
room was bright with pinks, greens, and purples everywhere.
Draped with hot pink toile, the canopied bed looked like every stuffed animal in the state of Texas was propped against the pillow shams.

“You did a fantastic job.” Lainey opened the suitcase and Gracie pulled out her dirty clothes and dumped them in the hamper. She added two more stuffed animals to the zoo across her pillows.

“Come on, Aunt Lainey, let’s go play on Daddy’s computer.” Gracie giggled. “I called you Aunt Lainey.” Grabbing Lainey’s hand, she raced back down the stairs to the study and pulled up an extra chair next to the computer.

The day flew by as Lainey and Gracie got to know each other and played on the computer. Colt had done a great job raising her. When he called to tell them he was on his way home, Lainey felt a twinge of disappointment. One look at the child’s face told her Gracie did, too.

It had been a fun morning. The only time Lainey left her chair was to phone her agent to tell him to move her interview to the following week. She hoped they’d understand when he told them her sister had died. It was already Wednesday and after spending time with Gracie, there was no way she’d let Jerry Moretti screw her niece out of her rightful inheritance. She’d make it a point to get involved with the negotiations along with Tessa’s lawyer.

“Please, please, please, Aunt Lainey, can we look at my Mickey Mouse letter one more time before Daddy gets home?” The longing in her eyes was too compelling to ignore.

“Okay, but we have to hurry. He was already leaving the station when I talked to him.” She pulled up Outlook Express again and clicked on the Gracie folder. Her squeal when she saw the letter was worth the risk of Colt catching them on his computer.

“Look at all the people who signed it. This one is my favorite Mouseketeer.” Gracie leaned across Lainey to touch the signature on the bottom, then lost her balance and fell forward, landing hard on the keyboard.

“Oh, no.” Her eyes quickly filled with tears as they stared at the blank screen. “I’ve ruined it.”

“No, no sweetheart. You just accidentally deleted it. We can get
it
back, I promise.” Lainey said a quick prayer to Saint Anthony, the
patron saint of lost things as she opened up Colt’s Delete file. All
her
efforts to get closer to this child would be wasted if she couldn’t get that letter back. Short of calling Mickey on the phone, she would find a way.

With a smile, she located it and moved it back to Gracie’s f
older. “There. It’s back where it belongs.” About to click on the folder
to show her, another deleted e-mail caught her eye. It was from Tessa ,dated approximately two weeks before her death and had the word “Gracie” in the subject line.

Curiosity overcame her better sense. “Gracie, can you get me a glass of water from the kitchen? I have a tickle in my throat.”

Gracie stood up and hugged her neck. “Sure, Aunt Lainey. I’ll be right back.”

The moment Lainey was positive Gracie was out of the room, she opened the e-mail, wishing she hadn’t. Tessa wanted Cole to agree to joint custody of Gracie. Obviously, he hadn’t been willing to do that. The last line, in all capital letters and underlined, caught her attention.