Caught Between a Lie and True Love (Caught Between series Book 1) (9 page)

“Always thought retirement would be sweet, but a man has to have a purpose. A reason to get out of bed in the morning.”

Matilda thought of Harry, whose noble purpose had once been upholding the law.

Now it seemed all Harry was interested in was golf and his new motorhome. For heaven’s sake, he’d probably park the beast at the Walmart shopping center, then leave her there to cook and clean while he spent his days on the golf course.

She snorted,
as if
.

“Obviously you don’t agree,” Jeb said.

Which brought Matilda out of her dark thoughts because she’d found someone to talk to, even if it was for a single afternoon. “Oh, I agree all right. It’s why I refuse to sell my real estate office. What am I supposed to do with my retirement? Sit in a rocking chair? Watch the grass grow? Grow old?”

“Precisely.” His smile reached his kind eyes. “I’m looking for a place to settle down and if I find the right woman, I could settle down here.”

“That’s nice,” Matilda mumbled, distracted by the living room drapes in Brody's house. Had they shifted just the tiniest bit?

Delores came out of the front door just then, gave a quick look up and down the street, then met Matilda’s gaze across the street.

The guilty expression on her face alerted Matilda to something being rotten on the small island. She let go of the ladder and waved at her. “Yohoo, Delores. Can I have a word with you?”

As Delores started her way across the street, Harry came out of the house and paused in the middle of the front lawn. Matilda narrowed her eyes. The man was up to no good. “That’s good enough for today, Jeb.”

“Really, I’m in no rush.”

But she was.

In a rush to get rid of him before Delores arrived. In a rush to get rid of him so she could figure out what Harry was up to at Brody's house.

She squinted across the street. What kind of sign was Harry pounding into the front lawn?

“Really, I insist,” she said. “If you’re looking for something to do, maybe you could come back tomorrow. I’d pay you for your time, of course.”

He backed down the ladder, then stood on the sidewalk before her. “Would you like to have dinner with me sometime?”

She slashed a look across the street, then focused back in on his face and forced a stiff smile. “I’m not looking for a relationship right now.”

“It’s just dinner, Mattie.”

She stiffened. No one but Harry had ever called her anything but Matilda, not even her undearly departed husband.

He sighed and looked away, down the street. “Then perhaps I could bother you for a reference as a handyman.”

She willed the stiffness out of her body. He had, after all, just finished cleaning her gutters. “Of course. I’d be delighted.”

By then, Delores was walking up the front sidewalk into her yard, a curious light in her eyes. “Hello.”

Matilda reluctantly made introductions. “Jeb, this is my friend, Delores Peabody. Delores, this is Jeb Calhoun, Olivia’s son.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He held out his hand for Delores to shake and all the while, Matilda thought,
Go, go, be gone
. And as though he sensed her urgency, he turned to her and gave a half bow. “I’ll be over to finish cleaning the eaves troughs tomorrow, and mow your lawn. In the meantime, you can think about my other offer.”

As he left, Delores watched him go, curiosity shining in her eyes. “What other offer?”

“Nothing,” Matilda said because there was nothing to think about. She was not getting involved with another man ever again. She faced Delores. “Did you see Hope while you were at Brody's?”

“No, she was hiding in her room the entire time.”

She forced herself to be casual while she kept her gaze focused on Delores and off the house across the street. “What are you and Harry and Brody up to?”

Delores shifted, looked uncomfortable for a second, then with a sigh, gave up the information. “You’re going to find out soon enough, so I might as well tell you. The Judge has convinced Brody to run for Mayor.”

“Mayor?” Matilda squeaked, otherwise speechless. Harry was conniving behind her back.

“And before you say anything, I’m just over there because I’m spying on them for you.” The younger woman glanced at her watch. “I have to get going. I have things to do.”

While Delores headed down the sidewalk, Matilda stared across the street at the man she’d let into her bed every Tuesday and Thursday night.

He’d betrayed her, gone over to the enemy’s side as though he didn’t care about what she wanted.

If Brody ran for Mayor—and won—it would prove to the courts without a shadow of a doubt that he was responsible enough to raise Hope.

Damn Harry
.

There had to be some way to stop him, some way to force him to see that she was right, some way to bring him around, back under control.

A tall, shapely woman with legs that went on forever stepped out of Olivia’s front door, and looked up and down the street. She wore dark sunglasses and shorts so short, they were totally indecent. She waved at Harry, then she skipped down the steps, out the front gate, and jogged down the sidewalk, body parts jiggling in
all of the right places
.

And while that sap, Harry Malone, gazed after her with a lustful expression on his face, Matilda felt a part of her shrivel up and die.

How had they gotten to this point? Why had the man had to be so stubborn?

Once the brunette was out of sight, he set the stake in his hand against the ground and gave it a push. Matilda strained to see what was written on the sign.

Vote For Brody Jackson
.

Sheer fury took over. She clenched her hands at her sides, ready to cross the street and give him what for, when her gaze drifted across the hedge to the Calhoun residence and past. There she saw Jeb working his way down the street, knocking on doors, introducing himself.

And that’s when it hit her.

She turned her back on the man who she could have loved if he hadn’t been such an idiot, and faced her salvation.

Jeb Calhoun for Mayor.

Matilda started after him.

Eat your heart out, Harry Malone
.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

By the time Paige ventured from her room, the house was quiet. Gram had dragged Starr out to the garden. Jeb hadn’t yet returned from his foray to “meet the neighbors”. And Lisa…

As far as she was concerned, Lisa could keep jogging right off the edge of the island.

Down in the kitchen, she set a pot of coffee to brew, then filled the sink with water so she could wash the breakfast dishes. It wasn’t like Gram to leave things in a mess, except during gardening season.

The jar full of money in the cupboard caught her attention. She shoved it behind the cereal boxes with hopes that Jeb wouldn’t discover it. If he was so broke that he didn’t even have five dollars for a cup of coffee, then he’d be desperate enough to steal from his own mother.

Behind her, the kitchen door swung open, and the woman who had tossed her away like an unwanted burger at a fast food restaurant staggered into the kitchen. The dark sunglasses remained on her face.

“Water,” she croaked as she shouldered Paige aside, thrust her head under the kitchen faucet, and turned on the cold water tap. The sigh of satisfaction she gave was almost as orgasmic as the tone she used. “God, that feels
sooooo
good.”

Paige barely managed a single step back before Lisa grabbed her by the shirt.

“Hand me a towel, will you, sugar?”

Pulling a tea towel out of the drawer, she set it in the woman’s outstretched hand. Gram wouldn’t like it, but then Gram didn’t like Lisa anyway.

As the other woman wrapped her hair in the towel and straightened, Paige noticed purple and yellow marks surrounding her eyes before the sunglasses shifted back to cover the bruises.

“That coffee smells good. Mind if I help myself?”

She refocused on the dishes and shrugged. “It’s a free country.”

For a few minutes, the only sound in the kitchen was the squeak of cupboard doors opening and closing, the tinkle of a spoon on china, coffee flowing into the cup.

Paige kept her head down, focused on the sink full of dishes, and prayed her mother would leave with her caffeine fix.

Except she didn’t.

No, she leaned one hip against the countertop and sipped at the steaming brew. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Lisa, Olivia’s ex-daughter-in-law. And you are?”

The daughter you abandoned
.

As she opened her mouth to give a scathing reply, she noticed that there was something so dejected, something so sad, about the other woman’s body posture that she almost felt sorry for her. Some of her harshness relented, and she asked, “What’s with the sunglasses?”

“I had a procedure.” Whatever she saw on Paige’s face made her scowl and with her middle finger, she pushed against the nose piece of her glasses. “So shoot me already. My line of work requires youth and constant physical maintenance. Nobody wants an old Karie-May consultant.”

Her voice broke on the last word and she turned her head to gaze out the window. But Paige saw her bottom lip tremble and she shored herself up against the pity that created havoc with her need for distance. It took all of her effort to keep her tone conversational. “There’s no need to lie to me. I know who you are and what you really do for a living.” She shrugged as though it didn’t matter. “So get out of the porn business and find another line of work.”

Lisa opened her mouth, and Paige waited for the lies to pour out. Instead, she hissed. “Another line of work. That’s ridiculous. My agent has a job for me. It’s a big part and I’m up against Meryl Street for the role.”

“Well, good luck with that.” Forcing herself to remain outwardly calm, Paige rinsed the dish in her hands, set it in the drain tray, and dried her hands on the tea towel. She headed for the back door, pausing to look back at the woman. “By the way, I’m Jeb’s daughter. You might remember me as the child you left behind.” She shrugged because she didn’t want to give the other woman the impression that she cared. “Or not.”

She pushed the screen door open and escaped before her mother could respond.

Outside Paige headed toward the garden, wishing she’d remembered to grab a cup of coffee. But no way was she going back inside while that woman was in there.

What she needed was some peace and quiet to regroup, and Gram’s garden had always been peaceful.

As she reached the corner garden, Starr grabbed a bean and gave it a yank. The plant came out with the bean and the teen held it out toward her great-grandma. “What do I do with it?”

Gram grabbed Starr by the wrist, pulled the plant from her hand, and tossed it into the far corner of the garden. “If you insist on helping, then do it without killing the plants.”

“I don’t insist on helping. You’re making me. There’s a humongous difference,” Starr muttered. She watched Gram for a moment, then mimicked her movements. Without raising her head, she asked, “Where have you been, Mom?”

She’d been hiding from them all, but no way would she ever admit that to her daughter. Ignoring the question, she bent at the waist and began to pick. “We need to discuss that jar of money, Gram.”

The old lady fixed her with a wary stare. “You’re not going to sell my house out from under me and stick me in a senior’s facility, are you?”

“What?” Paige realized the elderly woman was serious. “No, of course not.”

“Then what’s the problem? I told you I’d give it to you.” The old lady sat back on her haunches and glared. “Discussion over.”

Paige gritted her teeth. “I don’t want your money. All I’m saying is that it needs to be in a bank.”

Ignoring her, Gram turned to Starr. “How old are you?”

“Almost thirteen.”

“Ugly age.” The old lady stared at Starr who stared back with curiosity in her gaze. “What are you looking at, girl? It’s impolite to stare.”

“I never had a great-grandma before. How old are you?”

“Eighty-seven.”

Paige focused on keeping the conversation neutral. “Starr’s birthday is the same day as yours, Gram.”

“Don’t be thinking we’ll be celebrating together. You’ll be long gone by then anyway.” Gram eye-balled the teen. “Starr? What kind of name is that?”

The teen knocked back the bill of her baseball cap and eye-balled her great-grandma back. “Olivia? What kind of name is
that
?”

Gram stiffened and the crusty old face turned to stone. “It was my mother’s name.”

Pure teenage defiance rolled off Starr in waves. “It was my mother’s choice.”

Oh crap. It was almost better in the house with
that woman
than it was out here in the middle of whatever feud was going on between these two. So much for a peaceful moment in the garden. And they still had almost an entire week to get through before the ferry returned.

Paige sighed. “Okay, that’s enough, you two. Can’t you get along?”

Ignoring her, Gram contemplated her great-granddaughter as though she’d found her under a rock. “You don’t have any bad habits, do you, girl?”

Paige hastily shook her head. “No. Starr is very well behaved—”

Beside her, Starr burped and jammed an entire bean into her mouth. Around the bean, she said, “Bad habits? Like what? Talking with my mouth full? Never.”

Gram gave her the evil eye. “Do you steal? I don’t tolerate no hooligans.”

The teen chewed with an open mouth and kept her expression calmly neutral, her tone polite. “Only if I’m hungry.”

Paige gave up and sat back on the grass. She might as well let them fight it out. It would be okay, as long as it didn’t turn physical. Starr would be no match for Gram.

“Do you snore, girl?”

Starr looked disgusted. “Only men snore.”

“I snore.” With an evil grin stretching across her lips, Gram leaned right into her great-granddaughter’s face. “It’s hereditary.”

For one long moment, Starr stared at her, horrified. Then she turned to Paige. “She’s kidding, right?”

“Of course she’s kidding.” Paige fixed her attention on her grandma. It was like dealing with another teenager. “Gram, tell her you’re kidding.”