The Outsider Series: The Complete Omnibus Collection

Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Andy had ignored the dozen or so calls buzzing from his cell phone, which lay on the leather passenger seat beside him. The phone had lit up minutes after he’d driven away from the estate. He knew who was calling: his mother, or rather, Jules, ordered by his mother. But Andy was having none of it. He realized then that he needed to do his homework and keep his distance from Alexis or she’d cloud his good sense and have him taking her to his bed, testing how wild she could be. He needed to stay focused because his father and Senator Johnston were up to something, and whatever it was meant billions and a union that would create a powerful dynasty. It always came down to money, power, and politics, but what Andy couldn’t shake as of late was that the closeness he had once shared with his father had changed.

Clint, their family lawyer, met Andy at the Arlington office. Andy knew quite well he was walking a fine line, as Clint’s representation included the whole family, his mother and father. Would he betray a confidence? He didn’t think so, but he still needed to be cautious. Clint was brilliant, as were many of the lawyers on his staff. He had short, dark hair, a lean body, striking features, and he appeared born to wear the finest suits.

“So, what can I do for you?” Clint, dressed in dark slacks and a green sweater, sat in his dark leather chair.

“I wanted to touch base about Laura and the lawyer you assigned to help Diana with the upcoming hearing to get her child back.” Andy wondered, by the way Clint watched him for a second before tapping a few keys on his computer keyboard, if he suspected that wasn’t why he was really there, but he didn’t know how to jump into So what are my parents and the senator really up to?

Clint read something on the screen before replying, “Everything’s set. But you should know that it’s unlikely she’ll get her kid back before the holidays. Child Services takes every emergency situation seriously, and once they have your kid, you have to jump through a lot of hoops to get them back. Staying at her lawyer’s house, which, from what I understand, is barely big enough to house Diana and Jed, isn’t going to fly with any judge, let alone social services.”

Andy wondered if Diana knew that Clint had information on her household.

“You know, Andy, your cousin and his wife, what they are doing is admirable. But without this girl having steady employment and a decent roof over her head, which is going to take some time… I hate to tell you this, but I wouldn’t count on her getting him back until she has all these things in place. She’s got too many strikes against her. She’s only twenty, a relative minor, under the legal drinking age of this state. The court does take all that into consideration: age, wisdom, knowing the best for her child. She’s barely getting by, forced to live on the street because she couldn’t pay rent, couldn’t feed her child. Child poverty is taken seriously, as is the fact that, through careless actions, she was fired with cause by your mother.”

That last comment had Andy gripping the chair arms. “Where are you getting all this? First of all, what my mother did was unfair. That was not Laura’s fault, and my mother withheld her salary…”

Clint cut him off. “For damages, which I understand doesn’t begin to cover the cost. She’s darn lucky your mother hasn’t gone after her for the rest.”

“What the hell, Clint? I was there. Where are you getting this from, anyway? My mother?” Andy pulled back when he realized Clint knew something that he wasn’t telling. “You’ve talked to my mother, haven’t you?”

“Look, Andy, I’m the family lawyer. Your father and mother are the heads of the household. I have a responsibility to report to them.”

“What about lawyer-client confidentiality?” Andy didn’t like where the conversation was headed when Clint sighed.

“Andy, your mother is my client.” Clint tapped his fingers on the desk.

“Are you telling me you informed my mother of Laura’s situation?”

Clint stared for a minute and then nodded. “I had a duty, Andy. So is there anything else I can help with tonight?”

“Yeah, you can tell my mother she can…” He stopped and stood. He knew better. Clint may have been their family lawyer, but Andy now knew where his allegiance lay. “You know what? Never mind. Thanks for coming in, Clint.” He walked out the door and around the corner to the elevator and paused when he heard Clint speaking.

“He was just here. I told him.… Is there anything else you want me to do?”

Andy felt poleaxed; he knew Clint was on the phone. He didn’t know who he was talking to, but he had a pretty good idea. He didn’t linger when he heard the phone being hung up. What he did do was push open the door and take the stairs down to his truck, parked in the dark lot. He sat in his truck for a few minutes before starting it and pulling out. It was too late to go out to Diana and Jed’s. They’d all be asleep, so he went home, but instead of going in, he went to the stables and lit up the round ring. He led Sugar, his Quarter Horse, into the ring and slid off her harness. She was still green and bucked and fought him in the ring when he first started. She was a challenge at times, and tonight he needed that perspective.

After he had her settled in a stall, brushed down and watered, he lingered in the barn until he could see many of the guests leaving. Then he snuck in a side door and up the stairs to his room. All night, he tossed around what to say to Diana, to Laura, to Jed, whether he’d tell Diana about his visit to Clint. But the next morning, as he pulled in to Jed and Diana’s, he still didn’t have a clue what to say.

Diana waved from the stables. Laura was in the corral, wearing a ratty brown coat and wool cap; she had rubber boots on her feet as she strode through the mud, dumping the contents of the bucket she carried into a wooden trough. She stared at Andy, her lips forming a thin white line.

“Good morning, Laura.”

She turned her back. Andy couldn’t remember the last time someone had viewed him with such hatred, and that bothered him. Usually, he didn’t give a second thought to whether someone hated him. He knew that over the years he had made plenty of enemies, many of them women.

“What brings you out here this morning?” Jed strode out of the barn.

“Wanted to talk to your wife, if that’s all right?” Andy said as he watched Laura latch the corral gate and enter the barn.

Jed followed his gaze. “Give her some time. She has a right to be angry with a whole lot of people, but she’s confused on who’s done what, so she’s thrown you right into the mix. Diana’s talking to her.”

Andy stared at his cousin. “We may have a problem. I didn’t sleep much last night after tossing around what my lawyer said.”

“Oh, and what is that?” Jed stepped closer.

“Paid him a visit last night. He pretty much said she’s not going to get Gabriel back now, that staying out here, crammed in with you two, won’t help her case. She needs a job, a decent roof over her head.” Andy stopped for some reason, not wanting to continue.

Jed, knowing him better than anyone, said, “There’s more, isn’t there? You may as well say all of it.”

“My mother is up to something and may have her hand in this.” Andy could feel Jed’s gaze heating up, and his stance hardened. When he looked at Jed, he could see a telltale flush tingeing his cheeks. His cousin was furious, and when he was this mad, he became very quiet. “I don’t know for sure, but my lawyer brought up my mother firing Laura for cause, and he said Laura was fortunate my mother didn’t go after her for all the damages.”

“What the hell, Andy? What did Laura do?” Jed growled.

“Well, that’s the thing. It wasn’t her fault. It was an accident; she tripped and fell in the tree and knocked it over, breaking some crystal and spilling liquor on the carpet. I was the one who told her to get rid of the tree. I was angry at my mother for sticking it there in the first place.” Andy watched as Laura strode out of the barn, pausing to stare at him before she hurried into the house and shut the door.

“There’s one more thing. I didn’t want to mention it,” Andy said, and then he cleared his throat roughly when Jed’s eyes darkened.

“Oh, and what is that?”

“You’ve applied for funding to start therapeutic riding for disabled kids?” Andy hesitated.

“Don’t remember mentioning my business to you, Andy. So I guess you better tell me everything, because it sounds like someone’s messing around in my affairs.”

“My mother apparently has an agenda that focuses on me. Unless I make a plan to wed the senator’s daughter, your funding is going to come under scrutiny. When I said that I can help you get what you need, she laughed and said something about licensing problems, that hidden skeletons have a way of popping up. Jed, you don’t know my mother and her political connections.” Andy wondered if he had done the right thing in telling Jed.

“So let me get this straight. Your mother is blackmailing you to manage your personal affairs. She’s looking for your weakness, which, let’s say, is me. And let’s say that the reason for you to marry this powerful senator’s daughter is the heart of the matter. Have you figured out what your mother’s getting out of this?”

“Oh, yeah. Other than a powerful political ally, this is about good old-fashioned money and power,” Andy said.

Jed shook his head. “I’m the wrong man to mess with. You better go talk to Diana, but don’t mention the funding for the therapeutic riding. This is Diana’s dream, to help kids without a voice, and I’ll walk through hell to make sure her dream becomes a reality. Do you understand?”

Something passed between them, a trust that hadn’t been there before with Diana, and Andy understood Jed’s need to protect her. He inclined his head and walked into the barn. Diana was in a stall with Scarlett, her dark Quarter Horse, grooming her and talking in a soothing voice. He watched her for a minute before Scarlett snorted.

Diana glanced up and said, “It’s okay, girl,” then kept brushing. “What brings you out here this morning, Andy?”

“Diana, when you were a kid and Dad and I had you thrown out that horrible night…”

Her hand froze, and she shot him a quick glance, filled with so much pain and anger, before she glanced down. For a minute, he was positive her hand trembled.

“I’m sorry, Diana, for what I did. You never deserved to be treated that way. But I need to know this: When we tossed Faye, you, and your sister out that night and burned your house, how did you survive? I mean, look what you’ve done with yourself. You’re respectable. You didn’t become your mother.”

Diana sighed and rested her brush on Scarlett, looking away. “That was a really hard time, Andy. I suppose I still carry it with me. I was always respectable, you just didn’t see it, and neither did the townspeople. I was judged for my mother’s sins, if you recall. I was just a kid trying to hold together a whole family, and I prayed every night that everyone would see me for who I really was inside. I even prayed for you to really see me, to love me. I just wanted the one thing we all want: love. I was young and foolish, Andy. Oh, I look back now and see it had to happen to get me here. But the end doesn’t justify the means.” She unlatched the gate and slipped out, sliding the lock back in place.

Andy watched her now. Just being around her, he sensed that she oozed with passion, beauty that made him want to spend every moment with her. How he envied Jed. He looked away first to break the spell. She was his cousin’s wife, and he realized now that he’d always love her. What had then made sense didn’t now.

“Jed’s a lucky man, Diana.”

She tossed the brush into the box on the floor and wiped her hands. “And I’m a lucky woman to have found Jed.”

He cleared his throat before they went any further down that road, the one that was best left buried. “We may have a problem.” Andy quickly explained his visit to his lawyer and what Clint had said about Laura. He hesitated but then decided to share his worries of his mother’s involvement.

Diana listened and nodded, but she grew quiet when she was thinking, and she frowned. She reached out and touched Andy’s arm, patting it, and said, “I need to go get changed and take Laura to see her son. But thank you. I already suspected we’d have trouble convincing the court that Laura would be able to support her son, get them a home of their own. Your mother, though, that makes me nervous, Andy.” She started to walk away and then turned back. “Would you be willing to testify on Laura’s behalf of her mistreatment and vouch for her character?”

“Of course I will. And Diana, would you mind if I came along with you and Laura to see her son?” Andy thought Diana had the most brilliant blue eyes, and with her deep red hair pinned up in a haphazard bun and dirt streaking her cheek, he had to swallow to think clearly. “I’d like to be there to support Laura in some way. I can only imagine how tough it will be for her.”

“It’s going to be really emotional, Andy. Laura’s going to be a mess, and her son… I don’t know what to say about him. But maybe it might help, having you there.”

He gazed over her head when Laura stepped out of the house.

Diana touched his arm. “I’ll go get cleaned up.” She turned and jogged toward the house, calling out to Jed before hurrying inside.

Jed followed her in, leaving Laura outside. Andy took a deep breath before taking his first step over to Laura.