The Golden Chance (28 page)

A long time later he stirred sleepily and adjusted Phila more closely against him. He thought she was asleep, but her voice came softly out of the darkness.

“Whose baby was it?”

“Huh?” It took Nick a few seconds to orient himself to reality. He had been drifting in the pleasant aftermath and had been intending to glide straight into sleep.

She rested her chin on her folded arms and peered down at him with her big, questioning, wary eyes. “Hilary's baby. Whose was it?”

“That's a hell of a thing to bring up now.”

“There was a baby. Everyone agrees on that. It wasn't yours, so whose was it?”

Nick rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling weary. “My father's I guess. She probably started to work seducing him as soon as she realized I meant to end the marriage.”

“Nah.” Phila dismissed that impatiently. “Not Reed's.”

Nick stopped rubbing his nose. “He was quick enough to marry her.”

Phila eyed him thoughtfully. “You've been thinking all along that Reed slept with Hilary?”

“There's not much point speculating about it one way or the other. It's history.”

“Wait a second. It's bad enough that Reed suspects you of walking out on your own kid, but I never realized you might have believed he was the one who got Hilary pregnant.”

Nick was suddenly very tense. “You don't think that's the most logical explanation under the circumstances?”

“Good heavens, no. Reed would never have slept with your wife. Not while she was still technically married to you, at any rate. Besides, Eleanor says Hilary claims she was raped.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Reed would never use force on a woman any more than you would.”

“No, but Hilary is quite capable of lying to Eleanor.”

“Possible, but I still don't see Reed as the guilty party, either way. He only stepped into the situation because he was convinced he had to make up for what you had done. Honestly, Nick, how could you have been so dumb as to think your father had slept with your wife?”

Nick got angry. “He married her, for God's sake. The day after the divorce was final. What was I supposed to think?”

“What a pair of idiots. So smart in some ways but brick-dumb in others.” Phila sat up, drew her legs up to her breasts and wrapped her arms around her knees. The puzzle was pulling at her again. “Let's think about this.”

“Why bother?”

“Because I believe it may be important.”

“It's old news, Phila.”

She shook her head thoughtfully. “I'm not so sure about that.”

“Damn it. It happened three years ago.”

“It's still affecting the families.”

“I'm not asking you to hang around until August so that you can play social worker. This is not a dysfunctional family situation that requires your professional counseling services. Just follow my lead, okay? Stick to the business side of things. I'll handle the details.”

Phila was silent, but Nick could almost hear the wheels spinning in her head. Her engine was revving up again, and he had to admit it was a relief. She had given him a real scare earlier in the evening when he'd walked in and found her looking as though she had given up on all of them, including him.

Nick gave her a few more minutes of silent contemplation, but when she failed to stretch out beside him he grew impatient. “All right, maybe it was some outsider who got Hilary pregnant. Some man with whom she was having an affair.”

“Not likely.”

“Why not? She sure as hell wasn't in love with me. She could easily have had an affair, gotten pregnant at an opportune time and decided to use the pregnancy to her own advantage.”

“I don't think that's the way it happened. Eleanor says she saw Hilary the morning after she found out she was pregnant. Hilary was very distraught. That's not the attitude of a mature, sophisticated woman who's simply having an affair and accidently gotten pregnant. A woman in that position would have taken care of the problem quietly.”

“For crying out loud, Phila. I've told you Hilary is more than capable of lying.”

“I believe you. But I don't think Eleanor was lying to me this morning. She genuinely believes Hilary was abused. She feels very protective toward her. I wonder why?”

“I've told you, Eleanor wants to keep Hilary in charge of things so that Darren's career can get launched. Naturally she feels protective toward her. Now stop looking for answers to old questions and go to sleep.”

“Stop telling me what to do. You know I'm not good at taking orders.”

“True. There are, fortunately, others things that you do very well, however, so I think I'll keep you around.”

She looked at him, her eyes very large in the shadows. The eyes of a clever little fox, Nick thought. Even in the darkness he could tell Phila's gaze was full of energy once more.

“Just so long as you understand that this time around our relationship is strictly business,” Phila declared.

He ran his thumb down the length of her graceful spine. “Lady, who are you trying to kid?”

The knocking on the front door of the cottage awoke Phila the next morning. She opened her eyes slowly, aware that something heavy was weighing her down. Instinctively she shoved at the offending bulk, trying to push it aside. It didn't budge. Her fingers touched bare skin, skin with rough hair on it—masculine skin. She was suddenly, frantically, wide awake and struggling wildly.

“
Phila
. Phila, wait a second. Hold on. It's just me. Take it easy, honey.”

“Get off of me,” she hissed in muffled tones, shoving at Nick's broad shoulders.

“I am getting off of you. I'm sorry. I must have moved in my sleep.” Nick rolled quickly to one side, disentangling his legs from hers. He had been lying half-sprawled over her, his heavy thigh anchoring her lower body, his arm across her breasts.

Phila sat up, breathing quickly, and pushed hair out of her eyes.

“Are you all right?” Nick said gently.

“There's someone at the door.”

“I'll get it.” Nick pushed aside the covers and stood up. He gazed down at her in concern. “Are you okay?”

She nodded rapidly, not meeting his eyes. “Yes. Yes, I'm fine. I just panicked for a minute, that's all. You know I can't stand having a man on top of me.”

“It was an accident, honey.”

“I know, I know. Go see who's at the door.” She waved him out of the room.

Nick stepped into a pair of jeans and went reluctantly out of the bedroom. Phila took several deep breaths and pulled herself together. It wasn't too bad this time, all things considered. The panic had been short-lived, and it was already fading.

Nick would never hurt her. He had just accidentally triggered some old reflexive fears.

She heard Reed Lightfoot's voice in the outer room. Phila got out of bed and pulled on her robe. When she opened the bedroom door she felt almost calm again.

“Well now, don't you look all bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning, Phila,” Reed said cheerfully as he spotted her in the hall. “I was just telling Nick, here, that I thought you might like to take another stab at a golf ball today. What do you say?”

Phila blinked, her gaze going to Nick, who was standing barefoot near the front door. He had a watchful expression on his face, and she knew he was plotting again.

Phila yawned. “I don't think I'm up to it today, Reed. Why don't you go with him, Nick?”

There was a moment of awkward silence as both men assimilated her words. Reed cleared his throat. “It's short notice. You've probably got a lot of things to do, Nick.”

“Yeah. And I don't have a set of clubs with me. Haven't played for quite a while,” Nick said.

Phila's eyes narrowed. “Don't be ridiculous. The notice isn't any shorter for you, Nick, than it would have been for me. You don't have anything in particular to do this morning, and you can always rent a set of clubs at the course. Gee whiz, being Lightfoots, you could probably get the pro to loan you his personal set, if necessary.”

“Course is probably crowded, anyway, this morning,” Reed offered weakly. “Might be better to try it another time.”

“Yeah.”

Phila frowned at the two men. “Go on, both of you. I'm not used to having so many males standing around in my living room at this hour of the morning. Makes me nervous.”

Reed inclined his head in an abrupt motion. “Suit yourself, Nick. Feel like a game?”

“You'd probably cream me.”

Reed began to smile evilly. “Goddamn right. Especially if you're out of practice.”

“I'm not that out of practice. Care to put a little money where your mouth is?”

Reed sighed. “Too much like taking candy from a baby.”

“We'll see. Let me get some shoes on. I'll be right with you.” Nick went down the hall to the bedroom with a long stride.

Reed looked at Phila. His brows rose. “Sure you don't want to come with us?”

“I'm sure. I want a real breakfast. Coffee and a Danish doesn't do it for me.”

“We could have a real meal at the clubhouse restaurant before we go out on the course.”

“Hah. I know you. You'd lure me out there with a promise of ham and eggs and then tell me we didn't have time to eat. Too many people waiting to tee off. You'd rush me out onto the course, and I'd have to walk eighteen holes with my stomach growling.”

Reed glanced idly around the room. “Why did you push Nick into going with me?”

“I think it's time the two of you got to know each other again. I think somewhere along the line you've both forgotten a few important things about yourselves.”

“Like what?”

“Figure it out. You're both reasonably smart. Not brilliant, mind you, but definitely above average for the male of the species. No telling what you might come up with if you try.” Phila adjusted the sash of her purple robe.

Nick came out of the bedroom, his windbreaker slung over his shoulder. He walked over to Phila and kissed her squarely on the mouth. “You remember our deal, okay?”

Phila slitted her eyes. “Go on, get out of here.”

“She always this grouchy in the morning?” Reed asked as he followed his son out the door.

“No. Sometimes she's worse. Don't worry, I'm working on the problem.” The door closed behind him.

Phila rolled her eyes and went toward the kitchen to start the coffee. When she had it going she trooped back into the bedroom with the intention of taking her morning shower.

She was halfway down the hall when she noticed the closet door standing ajar. She opened it and saw that Nick had gathered up the bedding she had given him for the sofa last night and shoved it inside. He must have done it in a hurry on his way to answer the door.

This was the second time he'd scrambled to disguise the fact that he'd been relegated to the sofa. Had to be pure masculine ego. She found it oddly touching to realize that his male pride wouldn't allow him to let anyone think he might have had to spend the night in the living room. He was so cool and confident; so sure of himself in so many other ways.

It occurred to Phila that being married to Hilary might have been a difficult cross for a man like Nick to bear.

She opened the closet and began refolding the blankets he had tossed inside along with his clothing.

Something crackled in the pocket of the shirt he had been wearing when he arrived the previous evening. Phila glanced inside the pocket and saw the piece of paper that had been folded into fourths.

She almost talked herself out of looking at it, but some instinct made her go ahead and remove the sheet of paper from the pocket. She unfolded it carefully and saw that it was a fax copy of a newspaper article dated two and a half months earlier.

Phila's fingers were shaking as she refolded the piece of paper. Nick had been digging into her past. She wondered frantically what he had been looking for or, worse, what he suspected.

He could not know anything more than what the newspaper story had covered, she told herself. There was no reason for him to think there was anything more to the tale.

She sank down onto the plump arm of the sofa, trying to think logically. There was absolutely nothing to worry about. He had merely been curious about Elijah Spalding. It made sense. After all, he knew she had a definite fear of the man, and he had taken care to see that she learned how to protect herself in the event Spalding showed up in her life.

That's all it was, she decided. Nick had just been indulging his curiosity. He had told his father he intended to check into the matter, so he'd gotten a copy of a clipping that covered the story.

Phila told herself she had enough things to worry about without getting paranoid over this.

“Looks like you owe me a beer, Nick, not to mention ten bucks.” Reed Lightfoot was grinning broadly as he led the way off the eighteenth green toward the clubhouse. “Easiest goddamn money I've made in a long time. When was the last time you played?”

“Six months ago. I had a game with a client.”

“You beat him?”

“Yeah. But he wasn't as good as you are. Of course, you've been practicing a lot lately.”

Reed stopped smiling. “That's a fact.”

“Come on, I'll buy you the beer.”

“Don't forget the ten bucks.”

They found a couple of chairs out on the clubhouse terrace. Nick leaned back, one foot cocked across his knee, a cold bottle of beer in his hand.

Reed took a big swallow of his Rainier straight from the can. “Good thing Eleanor isn't here. Look at us. We look like a couple of blue-collar working stiffs after a long day behind the wheel of a heavy rig. She thinks beer-drinking is low class.”

“Eleanor always had a problem with class.”

“Nora used to say it was because Eleanor secretly thought she'd married down.” Reed was silent for a minute. “Nora used to be right a lot of the time.”

“Yeah.”

“That little gal of yours thinks she's right most of the time.”

“She thinks she's right all of the time.” Nick watched a foursome getting ready to go out on the course.

“Is she?”

“I don't know yet,” Nick said slowly. “But I'm beginning to think her instincts are pretty good about most things.”

“She's got goddamn screwy politics, but I guess that's only to be expected, given her upbringing,” Reed noted charitably.

“Yeah. Only to be expected.”

“She given up that wacko idea about us having some responsibility for Crissie Masters's death?”

“She's come to the conclusion it was a case of cosmic bad luck. I think that's how she described it.”

Reed considered that. “There may be a grain of truth in that. Things were chaotic during the time Crissie was around. A lot of tension. A lot of anger. Burke was the only one enjoying himself. He was like a kid with a firecracker.”

“Makes for an unstable situation.”

“That it does.” Reed swallowed some beer. “What are you going to do with Miss Philadelphia Fox?”

“I think I'll keep her around.”

“Until you get the shares back from her?”

Nick smiled slowly. “Even after I get the shares back from her.”

“Yeah, I was beginning to get that impression. When are you going to get those shares, Nick?”

“Soon.”

Reed turned his head to look at his son with a level gaze. “What are you going to do with them when you get hold of them?”

Nick settled deeper into the chair, his eyes on the foursome that was now making its way up the first fairway. “Do you think it's possible one or both of us may have made a mistake three years ago, Dad?”

Reed exhaled slowly. “No need to ask where that notion came from, is there? The little Mouth put that idea in your head.”

“Did she put it into yours?”

“Got to admit it, that little gal has a way of making you stop and think about a few things,” Reed finally said carefully. “Nora used to be able to do that, too.”

“Make you stop and think?”

“Uh huh.” Reed swallowed more beer. “Had a way of seeing things a lot more clearly than I did sometimes. She was better with people than I ever was.”

Nick decided that was as close as either of them was going to get for now. Maybe it was time to take another risk. “If you really want to know what I'm going to do with those shares of Phila's, I'll tell you.”

Reed studied him expressionlessly for a long moment. “I'm listening.”

“I'm going to have her back me at the August meeting.”

“Why?” Reed's voice turned harsh. “The shares belong to Darren, and you goddamn well know it.”

“I know it. But I can't be sure I can get Darren to back me. I need one of you besides Phila on my side, though.”

“One of us?”

“You, Darren and Vicky or Eleanor.”

“What the hell are you going for, Nick?”

“I'm going to try and pull Castleton & Lightfoot out of the water before it goes under.”