Fallen Hearts (Casteel 3)

"Where's Logan?"

"I sent him back to Winnerow," I said. "He was calling there every five minutes."

"Right, Winnerow. Everything seems so vague in my mind right now. I feel like someone who has been struck in the head and left numb."

"In a way you were."

"Yes. Well, I'd better try to get myself together. I'll go up and shower and dress and then come down to eat. Let Rye know for me, will you?"

"I will, but I'm sure he has something ready. He's had something ready all day."

Tony nodded.

"I want to thank you for being such a strength and comfort to me, Heaven," he said. "You've proven yourself capable and quite dependable. It makes me happy to know that when the time comes, you will be able to move right into my position and run our financial empire."

"There's quite a while to go yet before I'll have to do any of that," I said. He didn't respond. He just looked at me and then came around his desk. Suddenly he embraced me and held me tightly to him.

"Thank God you're here," he whispered. "Thank God you returned." He kissed me on the forehead, held me a moment longer, and then left. For a moment I just stood in his office thinking how complicated men could be. Just when you thought they were insensitive and hard, coldly practical and ruthless, they revealed their deep, innermost feelings and brought you to tears. None of the men in my life were easy to understand, I thought, and wondered if that was how it was for every woman.

I left Tony's office to give the servants instructions and then went up to my suite to rest. Logan called that night, all excited about some of the things that had taken place while he had been away. He talked on and on about the project in Winnerow, finally remembering to ask about Tony. I told him I thought he was starting to get back to normal, even though I wasn't sure about it. Logan seized on my words to tell me he thought he might have to stay over until Saturday. He had talked the electricians i

nto doing some work Saturday morning and wanted to be around when they started, he explained.

"And since everything seems to be settling down there."

"Do what you have to do, Logan," I said. Like any other man, he heard only what he wanted to hear. I was short with him. But he chose to ignore it.

"I will and then I'll hurry home," he said.

The next morning Amy Luckett called to ask if she could come to visit with me. I welcomed the distraction and invited her to lunch. Tony did get up to go to work, but a few hours after he left, his office called to ask him some questions. I told his secretary I had assumed he was going there. I had no idea where he was. She promised to call the moment he arrived. I was worried about him, but after Amy arrived, I got so involved with her that I didn't think about the fact Tony's secretary hadn't called until after Amy left.

Amy had gained considerable weight since we were students together at the exclusive Winterhaven School for Girls. Now she was a round-faced woman with a small bosom and wide hips. She still had a soft, gentle smile with friendly brown almond eyes and she still kept her hair wrapped in a bun and pinned up tightly just behind the top of her head. She had clusters of peach-colored freckles under her eyes and just over her eyebrows. I remembered her as a short, chunky girl, timid, always a step back in the shadows of the others. But unlike the others, she didn't seem as taken with her wealth and position.

It was a clear, bright sunny day with a gentle cool breeze coming in from the ocean, so I had our lunch set up on the patio that overlooked the pool and the gazebo. Curtis fixed up some umbrellas and we sat munching on small sandwiches of ham and tuna that Rye had prepared. I listened to her describe her travels, the sights she had seen, the people she had met. Then she changed the subject.

"Some time ago I received a letter from Faith Morgantile," she said, "while I was touring in London. The letter was totally devoted to you."

"Really? Faith Morgantile? In school she treated me like a leper."

"Well, the truth was she was always jealous of you. She told me you had been married and had moved back to Farthinggale. You could just see the lines on the paper dripping with jealousy. If she could, she would have written it in blood."

We laughed.

"I try not to think of those girls very much now," I said. "I get so angry when I do. I'll never forget the things they did to me." I embraced myself as I recalled the embarrassment and pain. Young girls could be very cruel to one another, I thought, especially spoiled-rotten rich young girls.

"It was cruel, but they were jealous!" Amy repeated, her eyes wide. I knew that in the beginning she had to have been part of anything they did. If she hadn't been, they would have turned on her. They despised anyone who was in any way different. I was at a disadvantage immediately because I hadn't traveled as they did and Tony had bought me the wrong sort of wardrobe--rich, conservative clothing.

"I guess so. Although I don't know why they should have been so jealous. They were all rich and all came from good families."

"They couldn't help it," Amy said. "Especially when they saw you with Troy Tatterton and you told them he was too sophisticated to go out with any of them."

I pushed away the stab of pain at the mention of Troy and forced myself to be light and airy.

"I remember. And I remember it was shortly after that that they vandalized all my good clothes and tore all my sweaters. How arrogant they were when I told them I was going to Mrs. Mallory. They knew she wouldn't do anything to risk the loss of their tuition money."

"Yes, they knew," Amy said, biting into her third finger sandwich.

"And then, when I went to the dance and they pulled that horrible trick on me, spiking the tea and fruit punch with a laxative." I clutched my stomach, recalling the pain, the agony, and the embarrassment, knowing everyone at the dance was in on it.