“Mrs. Bennett? Please tell the court who you are and where you live.”
“I’m Rainey’s mother. My husband and I live in Grand Junction, Colorado.”
“Do you work?”
/> “I’m a housewife, the hardest work I know.”
Payne covered his face with his hand to hide his amusement.
“What does your husband do for a living?”
“He’s a dentist.”
“Do you have more than one child?”
“Yes. A son, Craig.”
“How old is he?”
“Twenty-five.”
“And your daughter?”
“Twenty-seven.”
Twenty-seven—Payne couldn’t believe it.
“You heard your daughter testify she saw a man in a photograph, the same man who ended up on the covers of eight romances. Will you please tell the court the circumstances of that day?”
“Yes. Rainey had come over to the house from her apartment to help me spring houseclean Craig’s bedroom. He’s a packrat. While we were cleaning under his bed and straightening his closet, we found boxes of his memorabilia. Frankly, everything was in a mess.
“We decided to separate his belongings into piles and put them in separate baskets that could be stacked. Rainey found the photographs he’d been collecting over the years of his river running experiences.”
The Colorado River—
Was that where Payne had seen her face?
“As she was placing them in one of the baskets she said, ‘Oh mom—you’ve got to see the incredible man in this photograph!’
“I looked where she was pointing and had to admit he really was something. But knowing my daughter, I realized she was struck by things beneath the surface too. That’s what makes her such a remarkable artist.
“She studied the picture a little longer, then put it away with all the other pictures. I never heard her mention him again. To my knowledge, she never went near Craig’s closet again. In truth, neither of us would want to!”
In spite of the seriousness of the situation, Payne chuckled at the remark. He glanced at Drew. The other’s man lips were twitching.
“Thank you, Mrs. Bennett. You may be seated. We have one more witness, Your Honor. Will Mr. Bennett please come to the stand?”
The blond Colorado River guide who’d shown Payne such a fantastic time two summers ago was the last person he expected to see in this courtroom. But there he was, bigger than life, reaching the witness stand in a few athletic strides.
When he turned around, Payne found himself looking at the male version of Ms. Rainey Bennett. Now he had his answer. Payne couldn’t imagine a better looking brother and sister.
Unfortunately Craig Bennett’s appealing white smile was missing. Dressed in a suit rather than cutoffs and T-shirt, he looked older, less approachable as he took the oath and sat down.
“Mr. Bennett? Please tell the court where you live, what you do for a living.”
“When I’m in Grand Junction I live with my parents. During the summers I live in Las Vegas or on the Colorado River where I work for Horsehead Whitewater Expeditions.”
“Tell the court the nature of your work.”