Ain't She Sweet? (25 page)

“Which is how I know this.”

Gigi giggled.

Sugar Beth smiled at her. “We’re all works in progress, honey. And believe me when I tell you that I’ve had to work harder than most.”

“I think you’ve done a good job.”

Sugar Beth shouldn’t have felt so good about winning the approval of a thirteen-year-old, but she did.

As they neared the Galantine house, she ducked into the strip of woods at the side so she could watch Gigi climb the rail. Before she made it to the top, she started to goof around, leaning back and waving her arms and legs, deliberately trying to give Sugar Beth a heart attack and not doing a bad job of it. Sugar Beth forced herself to spoil the fun by turning away.

A branch cracked. Something moved in the woods in front of her, and Ryan stepped out of the trees.

He looked as shocked to see her as she was to see him and no happier about it. He was dressed in a navy sports coat, light blue dress shirt, and muted tie, an outfit she couldn’t imagine anyone, except maybe Colin, wearing for a walk in the woods. “Sugar Beth?

What—”

His head jerked as he caught sight of Gigi doing her acrobatics on the balcony post.

“Gigi!” He rushed toward the house. “Get down from there right now!”

Gigi grabbed the post. Even from across the yard, Sugar Beth could see that she looked stricken. In a rush of memory, Sugar Beth recalled too well what a father’s disapproval felt like. Gigi inched down the railing, moving as slowly as she dared, but not slowly enough for her father’s anger to cool because the moment her feet hit the ground, he grabbed her arm and gave her a little shake. Sugar Beth instinctively rushed forward, but by the time she’d reached them, he’d let her go.

“What are you doing outside? And where have you been? Your mother and I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“I took a walk,” Gigi said stubbornly. “You weren’t supposed to be back yet.”

“We left the reception early, and you were told not to leave the house.”

“I was suffocating,” she cried, with all the drama of a soap star.

Ryan turned back to Sugar Beth, his expression hard. “I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but I don’t ever want you around my daughter again.”

It shouldn’t have hurt so badly, but this was Ryan, and they’d watched
Scooby-Doo
together.

“Sugar Beth didn’t do anything!” Gigi exclaimed. “I ran into her while I was walking. It was an accident. We didn’t even talk. I don’t even know her.”

It had been a long time since anybody had tried to protect her, and Sugar Beth was touched. She gave Gigi a wry smile. “I’m afraid the jig’s up.”

“No, it’s not! It’s—”

“Ryan?” Winnie rushed around from the front of the house. Like her husband, she was dressed up, but her hair was windblown, her expression tense. “Ryan, what—” She froze.

Her gaze flew from her daughter to Sugar Beth, then to her husband.

“Get inside right now,” he snapped at Gigi.

In the kind of blatant miscalculation only a thirteen-year-old could make, she turned mulish. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Ryan’s face flushed with anger, and Sugar Beth took a quick step forward. “Gigi . . .”

“Get inside!” he roared. “Go to your room. And stay there, do you hear me?”

Gigi turned on her parents, her hands in fists, eyes flooding with tears. “I knew this would happen. You’re stealing my power! Just like Sugar Beth said you would!”

Oh, boy . . .
Sugar Beth winced.

Winnie looked ashen, Ryan furious, but Gigi wasn’t done. “I’m not going to let you! I’m not letting anybody steal my power.”

Ryan’s fist punched the air.
“Get inside right now.”

Gigi gave Sugar Beth a beseeching glance, but there wasn’t a thing Sugar Beth could do that wouldn’t make the situation worse.

Gigi stomped off toward the front door. A moment later, Sugar Beth heard it slam. She wished she could go to her room, too. She braced herself for Winnie’s attack, but Winnie focused only on Ryan, who was looking at Sugar Beth as if he hated her. “She’s only a kid,” he said. “How could you have done this? You know we don’t want you around her.”

Gigi was in too much trouble already for Sugar Beth to rat on her. “She’s my niece. I was curious.”

Winnie came out of her daze. “Don’t you
ever
come near her again. Do you hear me? I won’t have it.”

Sugar Beth ignored her to concentrate on Ryan. “Exactly what do you think I’m going to do to her?”

“We don’t care to find out,” he said pompously.

“You can’t protect her from life.”

“We can protect her from you.”

Sugar Beth couldn’t bear his self-righteousness and her temper flared. “You’re too late. I already told her everything I know. How to smoke a joint. Steal money from her dad’s wallet. Get
laid
in the back of a Camaro.” It was a low blow, and Sugar Beth was ashamed of herself. Or at least she would be soon. “Go to hell, both of you.”

Winnie watched numbly as Sugar Beth strode away from them, moving with her familiar long-limbed grace. Panic welled inside her. What if Sugar Beth stole it all? Her husband and her daughter?

“If we hadn’t left the reception early—” Ryan broke off. “I’d bet this was Gigi’s doing.

She’s been curious about Sugar Beth for weeks.”

He was going to defend his old lover. Heartsick, Winnie turned away and headed back into the house.

Upstairs, they had the predictable scene with Gigi, who stood in the corner of her room, an ink-stained Laura Ashley pillow clutched to her chest, and proceeded to blame Winnie for everything. “I needed somebody I could really talk to. Sugar Beth listens to me.
She
understands me.”

“I’m your mother, Gigi. I understand you. And you can talk to me whenever you want.”

“No, I can’t! You just want me to do everything your way.”

Winnie found herself wondering who this demon child was living inside her precious daughter’s body. “That’s not true.”

“At least Dad
listens
sometimes!”

Ryan stepped in. “This isn’t about your mother. This is about you. And you gave away something precious today. You gave away our trust.”

Gigi tucked the pillow under her chin.

“Why don’t you think about that?” he said, curling his fingers around Winnie’s arm.

“And about how long it’s going to take you to get it back.”

He drew Winnie from the room and closed the door behind them. They heard the mattress squawk and Gigi’s sobs. She was Daddy’s little girl, and Ryan hesitated for a moment.

“Leave her,” Winnie said. “She needs time to think.”

They walked downstairs together and into the family room. Winnie felt sick to her stomach. Ryan tossed aside his sports coat and loosened his tie. “Sooner or later we’ll have our daughter back.” But he didn’t sound convinced.

Upstairs, rap began blaring from Gigi’s room. Winnie snatched up the sections of the Sunday paper he’d left everywhere. “When did I turn into the enemy? I have no idea. One morning I woke up, and there it was.”

“This isn’t about you. It’s about her.”

“It doesn’t feel that way.”

He unbuttoned his collar and slumped into the burgundy leather chair she’d bought at an estate auction. “I should have known she’d find a way to meet Sugar Beth. She gave me enough clues.”

“What do you mean?”

“She asked a lot of questions. I forbid Gigi to contact her, but she’s so damned hardheaded. I might as well have waved a green flag in front of her.”

“You didn’t say anything about this to me.”

“You’re not exactly rational where Sugar Beth is concerned.”

“And you are?”

He came out of the chair. “Don’t start this again.”

“Why not? Shoving it under the rug isn’t working.”

“You’re so completely out of line.”

“I don’t care. I’m sick of it.”

His lips thinned. “You know what I’m sick of? I’m sick of having to walk on eggs around you, afraid I’ll say the wrong thing and hurt your delicate feelings.”

“Then stop doing it.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. He reached for the remote. “You need to get hold of yourself.”

She knocked the remote from his hands and sent it skidding across the carpet. His eyes widened in shock. She turned on him. “You need to be honest! If you want Sugar Beth so badly, go get her!”

He looked stunned. “Is that what you think of me?”

“I’m tired of pretending.”

“I’ve been faithful to you for fourteen years.”

“Let me find a medal.”

“I married you, goddammit! I knew you’d gotten pregnant on purpose, but I never once threw it in your face.”

“You wouldn’t. You’re too decent for that. I was the liar.”

“You said it, not me.”

“Because you’ve never had the guts to.”

“You are
not
turning this back on me. It’s your guilt that’s making you overreact to everything. This is your problem, Winnie, not mine.”

Her fury turned to despair. She sank down on the edge of the couch. “I saw the way you looked at her last night.”

“You saw what your imagination created. You’re paranoid.”

An eerie sense of calm came over her. Her hands fell limply in her lap, and she pressed her fingers together. “I’m jealous. I’m so jealous I can’t see straight. But I’m not paranoid. After all these years, you still haven’t gotten over her.”

“That’s bullshit. For God’s sake, I married
you.
”

“You wouldn’t have if I hadn’t gotten pregnant.”

He hesitated for a moment too long. “Of course I would have.”

The pain cut deep.

“I would have,” he said, as if repeating the words would make them true.

She drew a deep, unsteady breath. “I don’t know who I am anymore. Maybe I never did.

All I know is that I’ve worn myself out trying to be worthy of you.”

“That’s garbage.”

“I don’t think so.” She stood up, gazed around at the antiques she’d collected. She loved this room, this house. She loved being surrounded by objects that spoke of the past. “I’m going to move into the apartment over the shop for a while.” Her voice came from far away. She hadn’t planned this, hadn’t even thought of it until that very moment. But the idea beckoned like a shady grove.

His voice hit a low, dangerous note she’d never heard. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“We need some time.”

“You need counseling, not time.”

“I know you’re angry.”

“Anger doesn’t begin to describe what I’m feeling right now. What do you expect me to tell Gigi? That her mother has up and left her?”

“I don’t know what you’re going to tell her.”

“Just dump the whole thing on me, is that right?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, that’s right. For once, I’m dumping everything on you.” She rose from the couch, walked to the door.

“Don’t you leave this house, Winnie! I mean it. If you leave, you’re not going to like the consequences.”

She pretended she didn’t hear him.

“. . . she had ample time to observe her sister’s lover.”

GEORGETTE HEYER,
Devil’s Cub

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Colin answered the door. Ryan stood on the other side, which wouldn’t have been unusual except it was ten o’clock on Monday morning, and he looked like hell. “You look like hell.”

“Thanks.”

Colin hadn’t spoken with Ryan since Saturday night. The lapse had been deliberate, since he’d had a fairly good idea of what direction their next conversation would take. Ryan was Colin’s best friend. Their old relationship of teacher and student had happened so long ago that neither of them thought much about it anymore. They played in a basketball league together, occasionally jogged on weekends, and Ryan helped him coach the boys’

soccer team.

“Has the plant burned down?” Colin said. “I can think of no other reason you’d abandon your customary workaholic habits.”

“The plant’s fine. We need to talk.”

Colin wished he could avoid this particular tête-à-tête. Sugar Beth had appeared on schedule this morning, predictably ignoring the fact that he’d fired her, and then she’d made herself scarce while he’d holed up in his office, staring at his computer screen. He couldn’t stop thinking about her. Making love with her yesterday had been better than anything he could have imagined, which, considering what he’d been reading lately, was fairly astonishing. She’d been bawdy, spontaneous, thrilling, and unpredictable.

Afterward, she’d shown no interest in engaging in a postcoital examination of their relationship, which should have relieved him. Instead, he’d experienced this unhealthy compulsion to make her spill her secrets. Although he knew who she’d been, he didn’t entirely understand who she’d become, and the mystery enticed him. Maybe this was why so many men had fallen under her spell. She issued a subtle, irresistible challenge that lured them to their deaths.

But the image of Sugar Beth as a cold-blooded man-killer wouldn’t take hold.

Ryan gazed down at Gordon. “Where did the dog come from?”

“Just showed up one day.” He gave in to the inevitable. “Would you like some coffee?”

“Why not? I might as well make the hole in my stomach even bigger.”

“You should switch to a low-acid organic coffee.”

“And give up all that stomach pain? No, thanks.”

Gordon followed them into the kitchen, then waddled over to the sunroom and lay on the rug. Ryan pulled out one of the counter stools, only to push it back and begin to pace.

“Look, Colin, you deserved some payback, no question about it, but this situation with Sugar Beth is out of hand. Now other people are being hurt, and you have to get rid of her.”

The faint sound of water running overhead pressed home the need to get rid of Ryan, and Colin only filled the mug halfway before passing it over. “Winnie’s upset, is she?”

“Winnie’s way past upset. Sugar Beth’s been seeing Gigi.”

News, indeed. Still, nothing Sugar Beth did could surprise him.

“Yesterday while we were at the concert, Gigi sneaked out of the house to meet her.

Sugar Beth probably encouraged it. I don’t know how it happened. Gigi won’t talk about it.”