Heir to Scandal (Secrets of Eden 3)

“Police have questioned the family that had owned the property for over thirty years, but they are not suspects at this time. Ken and Molly Eden reported Tommy missing the morning after he disappeared. What happened after Tommy left and how he ended up in that shallow grave is still a mystery.”

“You must’ve known the dead kid,” he pointed out. “You were going with one of the Eden boys back then, weren’t you?”

“I was. And I did know him, but I didn’t have much to do with him.” She didn’t elaborate. She wasn’t keen to invite this topic of conversation. The news crews were hot for people to interview who might’ve known Tommy or the Edens back then. Rose didn’t want any part of it.

Paul watched the television thoughtfully. “I’ve heard he was a pretty rotten sort. His own parents couldn’t handle him, so the state took him away.”

Rose nodded, pretending to listen, as she had every day since Tommy Wilder’s body was identified. Instead she cleared a few empty plates, scooped a few dollars’ tip into her apron pocket and went back into the kitchen to put the dirty dishes into the dish pile.

She hoped that by the time she returned, the segment would be over. And it was. It was fortunate since Paul was now gone and the flame-red hair of Tori Sullivan could be spotted at the far end of the counter. She was probably tired of the news, too.

“Hey, Rose,” she said in greeting.

Rose put on her best smile and headed in that direction. She poured a glass of water and set it down in front of her. She wasn’t unhappy to see Tori, but at the moment, she was trying to avoid anything to do with the Edens. Tori could be here to gossip, to get a piece of pie or to try and convince her not to be mad at Xander. She hoped it was the pie.

“What can I get you today? I just put out a beautiful lemon chiffon cake.”

Her blue eyes lit up, and then disappointment crossed her delicate features. “I’d love to, but I can’t.”

“Why not?” If anyone deserved cake, it was people with police officers traipsing through their yard.

“The wedding is coming up. I had my dress fitting last week and the seamstress threatened my life if I gained or lost any weight. Mostly gained,” she added with a smile. “That means no lemon chiffon cake for me.”

Rose nodded sympathetically. “Well, if you find you’ve somehow lost weight without intending to, you march right down here and get some cake to get you back where you need to be.”

Tori smiled widely. “I absolutely will.”

So she wasn’t here for dessert, Rose thought with a frown. “What about lunch, then?”

The woman eyed her, her pink lips twisting in thought. “I shouldn’t. I really didn’t come down here for food.”

Shoot. Why couldn’t it have been the pie?

“What can I do for you, then, Tori?” She wished she could say the restaurant was slammed and she didn’t have time to chat, but they were the only two people in there at the moment. It was that odd time that was too late for lunch, too early for dinner. Things would pick up in an hour or so, but until then she had nothing better to do, apparently, than talk to Tori.

“I wanted to talk to you without the boys or anyone else around.”

Rose leaned her elbows onto the counter. “About what?”

Tori tilted her head to the side like a confused puppy. “Come on, now, Rose. You can be honest with me. I mean, I know about Joey. This whole thing has to be hard on you.”

The sympathetic words brought an unexpected rush of tears to her eyes. “It’s okay. Really,” she argued, snatching a napkin out of the nearby dispenser to halt the flow. “I never really envisioned a life with Xander in it.”

“Liar,” Tori said. “You know you’ve spent the last decade fantasizing about him being back in your life.”

How did she know Rose so well? “And look what it got me, Tori. He’s a criminal.”

Tori nodded. “If Xander is a criminal, you know who else is? Wade. And I’m going to marry him anyway.”

Rose was taken aback. She’d assumed that Tori knew about what had happened, and yet she hadn’t ever considered that the wedding was happening despite that fact. “Did Wade tell you...?” Her voice trailed off.

“He told me some. The recent news has helped me piece together the rest of the story. But I believed it when Wade told me he’d do anything to protect his family and the people he loved, including me. Don’t focus on what they might have done. Think about why. About how important it must have been to protect someone they cared about. You’d do anything for Joey, wouldn’t you?”