No Risk Refused

“You’re not.” He glanced over her head at the cake.

“Don’t even think about it. That’s the groom’s cake for the wedding on Saturday. The whole affair is dicey enough without the cake disappearing. Sit. I’ll pour you some iced tea, and I have fresh scones.”

Grinning at Vi, he sank into the chair she’d pointed at. “The MOB ran me off the road just before I got to the twin pines.”

Vi ran a quick look over him. “You look okay. The car?”

“Not a scratch. I talked to your gardener, and he said he’d tow it out and have the young guy working for him drive it up here.”

“Wes is a good man.” She poured two glasses of iced tea, piled scones on a plate, then carried everything to the table and sat down.

“When I spoke with Sheriff Skinner, he suggested I tell your gardener about the discovery of the earring. The news is bound to leak out—it may have already.” He told Vi about the stranger who’d visited the library. “On the days he’s up here working, Wes can be on the lookout for trespassers.”

Vi nodded. “Are you expecting trouble?”

“After two hundred years, part of Eleanor’s dowry has shown up. A lot of people are going to assume that the rest of it is around somewhere. I told A.D. and my mom I’d make sure you and Adair would be safe here.” Cam took a sip of the tea and reached for a scone. When the dog moved to his side and plopped her head on his knees, Cam broke off a piece and passed it on.

“I can put her out on her leash,” Vi said.

“She’s fine,” Cam said. “How long have you had her?”

“Six months. I went to the animal shelter to find a good watchdog, and the moment I saw Alba I had to bring her home. She’s deaf. But even though she may not hear in the same way you and I do, she senses things.”

“What made you want a watchdog?” Cam asked.

“A feeling more than anything. I started waking up in the middle of the night. I never really heard anything, but now Alba wakes me up with her barking. I still never hear anything else—even after I settle her down. But I feel safer.”

“What about Adair? Has she ever heard anything?”

“No.”

“No signs of intruders or a break-in?” Cam asked.

“No. And I’ve looked. Nothing is missing.” Vi tapped the side of her head. “You’re going to tell me it’s all up here.”

“Not at all.” He also didn’t intend to tell her how easy it might be for a professional to get past their security system. But usually a break-in was a onetime thing. This had been going on for some six months—long before the earring had been discovered.

Cam slipped another bite of scone to the dog and turned to his original purpose for seeking out Vi. “Adair’s worried about this wedding on Saturday, and you said earlier it was dicey enough.”

By the time he was biting into his third scone, not counting the one he’d shared with Alba, he had Vi’s version of the story. “So in a nutshell, what you’ve got is a bride who wants a guarantee for a happy-ever-after because she didn’t get that the first time around. You’ve got an MOB pressuring you and Adair to make sure everything runs smoothly on Saturday. A business deal hangs in the balance, and the bride-to-be might be still in love with her first husband.”

Vi nodded.

“How does Adair feel about all of this?” Cam asked.

Vi sighed. “She’s torn. She wants our wedding business to succeed more than anything since that horrible fiasco in Chicago.”

Cam frowned. “What fiasco?”

“She was working with a young man who charmed her into believing that the two of them could make an unbeatable team both inside and outside of the office.” Vi used her fingers to put “unbeatable team” in quotes. “Then he passed her projects on to upper management as his own. Long story short, he’s still working there and she isn’t. And he dumped her on the day she got her pink slip.”

“Bastard.” The anger Cam felt didn’t surprise him. What did was the bitter coppery taste in his mouth. Jealousy?

“Adair has always succeeded at everything she’s set her mind to. She believes that if she pulls this wedding off on Saturday, the future of Castle MacPherson as a wedding destination spot will be assured. If not…”

It was Cam’s turn to frown. “If not, she’ll find another way to accomplish her goal.”

Vi smiled at him. “Of course she will. You know that and I know that. But she has to rediscover that about herself.”

Cam didn’t like the fact that he might play a role in ruining the wedding. If Banes turned out to be Scalzo… For now he decided to put it out of his mind and pursue another question that was lingering there. “Adair was showing me where Alba discovered the earring, and we came across a metal box with a little padlock. She wouldn’t let me see the contents.”

Vi laughed. “Of course she wouldn’t. She and her sisters used to write down their secret dreams and aspirations and put them in that box from the time they were little kids. When they were teens they came up with the idea of burying it behind some loose stones in the arch as a way to make them all come true.”

Interesting, Cam thought. But it wasn’t a childhood dream that had made Adair blush and become so territorial about the box.

And solving the mystery of what was inside the metal box was not why he was here at the castle either. “Do me a favor, Vi?”

“I have no idea what’s in that box.”

He smiled. “I want to know where your bedroom is with regard to the rest of the house.”

At the question in her eyes, he continued, “I’m wondering if there might be a reason why you and Alba are having your sleep disturbed and Adair isn’t.”

“I’ll do better than tell you,” Vi said. “Let me show you.”

7

“THANK YOU SO much. My fiancée will have to approve, of course, but I’m enchanted with this place.”

Smiling, Adair shook the hand Nathan offered. She liked him. He wasn’t a handsome man, but he had intelligent eyes and a blustery, enthusiastic energy that she found engaging. She guessed he was in his mid-forties. His waistline had begun to spread a bit and gray had begun to dull both his mustache and beard as well as his nearly shoulder-length red hair. This was his first marriage and he wanted to do it up right.

“I’ll look forward to hearing from you,” she said.

He patted the professional-looking camera that hung at his side. “You will. These pictures are going to sell the place to my sweetheart.”

Adair certainly hoped so. The man had taken enough of them. She watched him walk to his car, and when he reached it and turned back to her she gave him a final wave.

She’d shown him the gardens, the ballroom, and at his request she’d even taken him into the parlor to view Eleanor Campbell MacPherson’s portrait. Nathan had mentioned he remembered reading about Eleanor’s missing jewels in the Times a while back.

Even though they were not offering the use of the main parlor in any of the wedding packages, Adair supposed she might as well put it on the regular tour from now on. If the word got out that one of Eleanor’s earrings had shown up, she figured more than one potential client was going to ask to see the portrait.

She thought the appointment had gone well, considering that more than once she’d felt her mind wandering. Back to that metal box and the fantasies she and her sisters had buried in it all those years ago.

And back to Cam Sutherland and that kiss they’d exchanged.

As the last little whirlwind of dust settled from Nathan MacDonald’s parting car, Adair turned and walked back to her office. She was going to have to figure out what to do about Cam. And herself.

Closing the door behind her, she strode to her desk, sank into her chair and stared at the small metal box. She was responsible for this. It had been her idea to write out the fantasies and bury them in the stones. And she wasn’t going to blame the champagne. Earlier that day when she’d met Cam’s eyes beneath the stone arch, her heart had raced, her breath had stopped and her whole world had tilted.

So for the first time in her life, she’d done something rash. And now it was coming back to haunt her.

Big time.

She could be the poster girl for the “Be careful what you wish for” warning. What was worse is that she wanted that wish to come true.

She pressed her fingers against her lips and found them warm. Now that she’d seen him again, lain beneath him and kissed him until her brains had practically leaked out of her ears, she didn’t want the fantasy anymore. She wanted the reality.

The problem was she did not have time to indulge in the reality of having an erotic adventure with Cam Sutherland right now. There were so many things she had to check on to ensure the success of Rexie Maitland’s wedding. Pulling a pad of paper closer, she began to jot down notes. Aunt Vi was handling the cakes and overseeing the catering service. The firm she’d hired would arrive early Saturday morning to set up the tables in the ballroom. Cocktails and champagne would be served on the terrace overlooking the lake.