White Wedding. Jean Barrett

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      Chapter Two

      “Gruesome things, aren’t they?” Hale fingered the cedar fronds of a unicorn as he contemplated the other topiary forms scattered around the snow-blanketed lawn. “Why would anyone want to force a plant into looking like something it’s not supposed to be?”

      Lane shivered in her green parka. The air was colder now that the sun was lower in the sky. Or maybe it was the mood of the garden that was still chilling her. She could swear there was a kind of stress that lingered here. She could actually feel it.

      “I guess some people find them whimsical,” she said with a little shrug.

      Hale grunted. He was silent for a moment, then turned his head to consider her, as though just realizing she had joined him. “You want me for something?”

      Lane regarded him in his immaculate chesterfield overcoat. He was an impressive figure, well built and with eye-catching features, but there was no animation in his expression. Maybe that was an asset to him, she thought, trying to like him. Allison had told her he was a lawyer.

      “It’s about Jack Donovan,” she said, beginning with the easier of the two subjects.

      Hale frowned. “What about him?”

      “I suppose Allison told you we were once married. To be honest about it, it was a shock having him turn up here as your best man.”

      “Sorry if that’s a problem.”

      “Nothing I can’t handle.” She hoped. “I guess I’m just surprised that you’re close friends.”

      “Friends?” There was a cynical note in his brief laugh. “I barely know the guy.”

      “Then why—”

      “Allison. She wanted Donovan as my best man, said she had her reasons, and I went along with her choice.”

      Somehow the revelation didn’t surprise Lane. Now that she thought about it, it made sense that Allison was responsible for Jack’s presence. Yes, well, her friend owed her an explanation.

      “Anything else?” Hale asked.

      Lane hesitated. Should she? No, she decided. The mission she had been entrusted with was a delicate one, much too tricky to approach when Hale was obviously in a difficult mood. Better, after all, to wait.

      She hated this situation and was beginning to wonder if her promise had been a mistake. She refused to hurt Allison or risk spoiling her wedding. But the problem was ultimately unavoidable. She’d been made to clearly see that several days ago. Somehow, for the sake of everyone involved, it had to be resolved.

      “No,” Lane answered reluctantly, “nothing else.”

      He nodded. “Then I’ll see you later.”

      Yes, she told him silently, watching him as he turned and walked off through the garden, unfortunately, you will have to see me later. And something tells me you won’t like it. Only I wonder what’s bothering you now?

      There was no mystery about what was troubling her. Jack was still strongly on her mind. She needed to do something about that. But this time Allison would be her target.

      Lane returned to the lodge and made her determined way up the massive staircase. The house was quiet, no one around. She assumed people were settling themselves in their rooms. And Jack? Well, he’d been placed in guest quarters semidetached from the main lodge. She wondered about that arrangement, too.

      Allison’s bedroom was the first on the left at the top of the stairs. The door was ajar when she reached it. She had lifted her hand to rap on the frame when a gruff male voice close on the other side forestalled her intention.

      “Where do you want these?”

      “I don’t care about the luggage!” It was Allison’s voice, and there was a frantic quality to it. “Just tell me what I want to know. Why are you here, Chris?”

      There was a sound of suitcases being bumped on the floor. “Why do you think? I’m working.”

      “But it was your brother who was hired to—”

      “Mike couldn’t make it. He got sick last night. Something he ate, I guess. Frankly, he needs the money, and Dorothy and Nils couldn’t manage the weekend on their own. There was no one else available, so I agreed to replace Mike. You didn’t think I was eager to see you get married.”

      “It doesn’t have to be this way, Chris,” Allison pleaded.

      “Let’s not start in on that again. We both know it does have to be this way. Look, don’t worry about it. I plan to make myself as scarce as possible. All I’m here for is to do Mike’s job.”

      “I hate it when you’re like this.”

      Lane, conscious that she was overhearing something intensely emotional, realized she had no business standing here listening to any of this startling conversation. She started to back away, but before she could manage a safe retreat, the door was flung open. The brawny Chris Beaver, his face stiff with pride, stormed past her without a glance and disappeared down the stairs.

      Lane was afraid to guess what that little scene meant. She turned her head and discovered Allison standing in the doorway. The anguished expression on her friend’s face said it all. Hale’s dark mood in the garden suddenly СКАЧАТЬ