Secrets (29 page)

He glanced around the room and each head nodded in agreement.

“I'll work with Pretid to manage any bad press, just so you know that I'm taking care of that end of the Carter mess.” Casey paused, sizing up the feel of the room. “Okay, we've discussed all business. I have one more thing to bring up.” He turned his smile to Michelle. “This next agenda item falls under the heading of good news.”

“Why are you so smiley?” Michelle asked. She poked him in his arm. “Spill.”

“Our resident banker, Conrad, and me, our lawyer, have this to present to you.” He stood and pulled Michelle to her feet. She looked up at him, her eyes perplexed. He handed her an envelope. “Open it.” He couldn't mask the happiness in voice.

Michelle's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. The papers in her hands slipped to the floor. “My deed to my house. How did you do that?” Her eyes scanned from Casey to Conrad and back to Casey. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly.

“So, I guess you two are together,” quipped Tizzy, a wide smile stretched across her face.

Casey absorbed her joy and peace, so grateful he could get her house back in her hands.

“Hey, do I get a kiss, too?” Conrad sulked. “I did a lot of the work. Turns out Carter's influence doesn't hold up for a judge who's not dirty. I found one of those. The whole mortgage grab and alleged problems with the title search stood on very shaky ground. Without the crooked banker and judge, the whole thing collapsed, as all illegal things should.”

“Thank you, Conrad. Thank you, Casey. Thank you everyone for helping me stand against William Carter. My life will never be the same.”

Tears drifted down her cheeks and Casey brushed them away. “Yeah, we make a good team, all of us. You deserve nothing less, sweetheart.”

“Aww … aren't they so cute,” Tizzy teased. She failed to duck in time to miss the pillow Casey threw at her face.

After the meeting ended and everyone went their separate ways, Casey still had four more people to talk to. Michelle offered to go with him. She sensed exhaustion was taking him over and she wanted to be there for him.

He called Jackson to ask if he and Michelle could stop by. Luckily, since it was Saturday, Ben and Sterling were at Jackson's house, too.

Walking into Jackson's house, Michelle expected to feel a heavy sense of sorrow. It was barely perceptible. Instead, serenity welcomed them in.

“Hi Casey, Michelle. Come on in. It's too chilly to sit in the yard.” Lacey motioned them to the couch in the living room. “Jackson will be right here. He's on the phone with his brother.”

Ben and Sterling walked in from the kitchen. “You caught us.” Sterling licked chocolate frosting off her fingers. “Delicious. Brownies with chocolate icing. Yum.”

Michelle listened as Casey chatted about the weather and wrestled with Tyler, Lacey's son, and Joshua, Ben and Sterling's son. The young boys, Tyler eight and Joshua a bit over one, giggled and tried to best Casey.

The homey setting and the truly loving people seemed to lighten Casey's heart. Michelle smiled to herself, gearing up for a serious talk.

When Jackson walked into the room, Lacey sent her son to play in his room with Joshua.

“Hey, everyone. Sorry about that phone call. Lots of business to take care of with Dad's estate. It's going to be a challenge because there is so much secrecy and protection.” He gave a lopsided smile. “It will all work out.”

“I'm truly sorry for your loss, Jackson.” Michelle's heart dipped.

“Thank you, Michelle.” He turned direct, dark brown eyes on her. “I'm sorry for the terrible things my father did to you. I wish I could erase it from ever happening.” Jackson turned to walk to a desk across the room and pulled out an envelope. He handed it to her. “You've shared your wishes with your friends and the Cats Alive board for a dream cat rescue facility. From what you've told me, it sounds wonderful. In that envelope is my father's contribution to your new facility.”

Michelle's hands trembled as she opened the envelope. The check written for $250,000 struck her heart so hard she stopped breathing. “Jackson, I can't take this.”

Jackson leaned in close to whisper. “Please. It's the least I can do to pay retribution for my father's terrible acts against you.”

“Thank you.” For as long as she'd known Jackson, she'd understood how sincere his wishes were to make things right after his father's destruction. “But what's important to me now is that you have support. Your father's death was shockingly brutal and unexpected. A terrible ordeal for you.”

“My relationship with my father has always been difficult. When I became aware of who he really was and what he did, our relationship fell apart. I gave him every chance to make different choices and he made his choice. He continued in his illegal ways, rather than clean up his life and be a part of my family. His choices made me sad. Still do. But his death is just the final step in closing our relationship.” Jackson rubbed his head and breathed deeply.

“Are the funeral arrangements made?” Casey asked.

“Yes. A private family gathering. I don't want any of the thugs from his company showing up. He's being cremated, so I'll have to decide what to do with his ashes.”

Lacey put a hand to his shoulder. “But not today.”

Casey nodded. “There are no words to fit the occasion.” He drew in a deep breath. “But there are other things to discuss. Don't worry about cleaning up the Pretid study. I'll be able to distance the company and its device from Carter Enterprises. The device will have to start up another study, but it's a good product. There won't be any further problems.”

“Unless The Nexus Group gets its hand into things.” Jackson frowned.

“Well, there is that possibility. We know so little about them.” Casey rolled his shoulders, clearing his head, Michelle suspected.

“Ben, Lacey, and I dropped by the research facility early this morning. Doors wide open, everything cleaned out.” Sterling tapped her foot on the carpet. “They wasted no time to clean up and clear out.”

“The police didn't find anything. The whole place was wiped clean,” Ben added.

“So we just wait and watch?” Lacey asked, her expression troubled.

“We live our lives, waiting and watching, yes.” Casey's fingers tapped a slow beat on the couch. “Everything has changed, though. You four know about us, the were-lynxes. We all have had our rugs pulled out from under us in some way. It will take some time to adjust to the changes we've faced.”

“Right.” Michelle grabbed Casey's hand. “I wouldn't want to go back to not knowing the things I've learned. The bad was very hard, but it brought me into a new awareness and a better life.”

“I agree,” Lacey said, smiling. “What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.”

“What goes around comes around, and in our case, what has come around has brought new friends.” Sterling clapped her hand on her knee. “Casey, can you and Michelle stay for dinner?”

Michelle looked up into Casey's glistening eyes and saw an assurance she'd become accustomed to and a sense of adventure, side by side.

“Thanks, but I've got a little more business to attend to tonight.”

While the women said their goodbyes at the front door, Jackson walked Ben and Casey outside. From inside, Michelle overheard the conversation. It set her heart singing.

“Casey, just thanks. You're a good friend. Always have been. And thank you, Ben.”

Casey wouldn't say anything, but Michelle saw what he saw, the glisten of a tear on Jackson's cheek. He clapped him on the back. “You, too. You too, friend.”

Behind the wheel, heading toward Michelle's house, Casey kept quiet. She suspected thoughts churned inside his head, defying being put to rest. So much had happened and so much had been hard. She wondered if they could weather it.

When he pulled into her drive, he turned off the ignition and directed eyes full of questions at her. “Could we just talk here for a bit?”

“Of course. You don't want me to come inside?”

He dropped his head against the car seat and stared out the window. The evening was young, but the fall nighttime grew dark early as the season progressed. She tried to imagine all the sounds and scents Casey could pick up with his keen, lynx senses.

“Your world must be so amazing.” She didn't turn to look at him, but put her hand out to touch his arm.

“It is. Growing up, that was not emphasized at all. Only the danger of living in a world of humans and the need to avoid connections. That's why I've remained reserved with people. It was pounded into me as my duty to keep a distance.”

“It makes sense, but it would lead to loneliness, I imagine.”

“So lonely. That's what I've been my whole life. But the walls had begun to close in around me. It was so hard to carry deep aloneness around all the time.” He continued to stare out into the night, a darkness she knew didn't blind him as it did her. “I had relationships with people, but I saw them doing bad things, things that hurt animals. Needless destruction to the environment and a general lack of respect for animals and their habitats. I couldn't see my way to find true engagement with such a species.”

“That kept you pretty isolated. Your rules and your conflicted emotions.” She stared at his silhouette, loving the shape of his broad nose and cleft in his chin, the dark color of his skin. She didn't know what this was all leading up to, but it was starting to ignite quivers of fear.

He got out of the car and walked around to open her door. He led her to stand in the moonlit night under the stars. Gusts of chilled autumn air lifted her hair and dropped it over her eyes. Gently, Casey brushed the locks aside. He stared down at her with his golden eyes she never tired of, and touched her cheek. “I love you, Michelle. I don't want us to move too fast. I don't want us to miss any steps in forging our relationship. But I mean for it to last a good long lifetime. Would you go steady with me?”

Michelle tried to suppress the laughter bubbling in her throat. She blinked once. Twice. “What does that mean, go steady with you?”

His fingers in her hair, pulling locks of it up close to breathe it in. “I didn't think I'd get a yes if I asked you to marry me. It's too soon. I opted for going steady. Too silly?”

“No. It sounds perfect. I would love to go steady with you for as long as that's what we want.” She lifted her chin to meet his mouth. His lips came to hers soft and full of promise.

• • •

“Hurry up, bring in those extra chairs. The reception is starting in twenty minutes.” Sterling buzzed around the reception hall, making sure everything was in its place and perfect.

“You've done a great job here,” said Michelle. “Everything looks lovely.”

“It has to. Jackson and Lacey deserve perfect and lovely for their very late wedding reception. I wanted it to be so great it would erase any sadness or regrets that may linger after Jackson's father's death.”

“I know it's been two weeks and the reception was already in the works, but you've accomplished what you set out to do, Sterling.”

“I had lots of help from these two.” Sterling draped her arms around Michelle's parents and beamed. “Two of our favorite friends from way back to Lacey's newspaper reporting days.”

“We're happy to be a part of her reception,” Norm said, his wife nodding. “She's family.”

“Hi, Michelle.” Booker walked up to her, hand in hand with a young woman. “I'd like to introduce you to my wife, Shaun.”

Michelle reached out a hand and Shaun grabbed it in her own and gave a warm handshake. “It's nice to meet you.”

“I'm happy to meet you, too, Michelle. I've been nagging at Booker to introduce us since he told me about you and Casey.” The woman's brown eyes glittered to match her pleasant smile.

Michelle nodded. “It's a good day. There's been so much going on I haven't had a chance to get to know you yet, but I look forward to it.”

“Me, too.” Shaun bubbled with excitement and it dawned on Michelle that the woman could become a good friend.

The couple turned and walked to a table, looking for their nametags.

Michelle smiled to herself. The reception was certainly turning out wonderful.

She turned her attention to her surroundings. The room twinkled with thousands of tiny white lights, draped with swags of ethereal pink fabric around the hall. Centerpieces of silver candelabras draped with pink and white rosebuds and dangling pearl beads decorated the tables. The cake, itself a dazzling centerpiece on the cake table, was six tiers of delicious-looking pink and white frosting covering chocolate and white cake, topped with a bouquet of roses and baby's breath that matched the bouquet Lacey carried on her wedding day at the Justice of the Peace four months ago.

As people began filtering into the hall, Sterling and Michelle directed them to their seats while the orchestra played up on a platform near the dance floor. When it came time to dance after dinner a band would replace the orchestra.

Michelle surveyed the room and the people and took in the wonderful sense of love and celebration that floated around her.

Some minutes later, the emcee announced the couple and toasted to their happiness, then the festivities took off.

The meal was catered by an upscale dining restaurant and everyone seemed to enjoy the delicious flavors of stuffed baby artichokes with shrimp for appetizers, a butter lettuce salad with cranberries and Roquefort cheese, and an entrée of herb roasted organic chicken on top of a red bliss potato cake with lemon, blanched garlic, and wilted pea greens.

After the cake was served and guests were settling in their seats to let their meal rest before dancing, Casey shot a strange look at Michelle. He marched to the emcee and took his microphone, then he talked to the band. He walked back to Michelle as the music dropped to a very quiet background sound.