For The Defense. M.J. Rodgers

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СКАЧАТЬ that Jared would get hold of Amy’s locket and arrange for a team of investigators to scour the garage that had once belonged to Bruce Weaton. If any evidence remained, he’d find a way to let Jack know.

      Step one was in motion.

      Now on to step two. Jack was going to have to dig up everything he could on Bruce. He knew where to start looking, but he had no idea what he’d find. Not even his fictional character had sunk to the depths Bruce had.

      What kind of a man would pursue a woman whose child he’d killed?

      “YOU STILL HAVEN’T TOLD ME how dinner with Arnie went last Saturday,” Diana’s mother said as she ran some hot water over a sponge in the kitchen sink.

      Diana stacked the dishwasher with their dinner plates. “That’s because my mother always told me if I couldn’t say something nice about someone that I should hesitate to say anything at all.”

      Margaret Gilman switched off the faucet as she turned toward her daughter. “That bad?”

      “Oh, yeah.”

      “I’m so sorry. When Ray said Arnie was going to start dating again now that his divorce was final, I guess I hoped that maybe the two of you—”

      “Your heart was in the right place,” Diana spoke up quickly. “Unfortunately, he refused to keep his hands where they belonged.”

      Margaret gave the counter an overzealous wipe with the sponge. “If Arnie made improper advances to you, Ray should be told—”

      “—all his efforts to teach his stepson courtesy toward a woman failed? He must know. Why rub his nose in it? Arnie was seventeen when his mother married Ray. No doubt the damage had already been done.”

      “You’re right,” Margaret said. “But don’t be surprised if I develop a sudden klutzy streak at the wedding and dump a glassful of ice water onto Arnie’s lap.”

      Diana chuckled at the image, although she knew her gentle mother could never bring herself to carry out the threat. “Speaking of the wedding, have you decided where you’re going on your honeymoon?”

      Margaret squeezed out the sponge and set it at the edge of the sink. “Ray suggested we fly to Hawaii, but I don’t know.”

      Diana started the dishwasher. The explosion of water and whirling pump had her gesturing for her mom to precede her out onto the porch. She closed the door behind them to shut out the noise.

      Margaret eased her trim form onto one of the porch’s white wicker chairs and patted the one beside her.

      Diana sat, trying to emulate her mother’s physical grace, all the while knowing she’d fall short. She’d inherited her dad’s big bones and the kind of temperament that would dump a glass of ice water on a goon with grabby paws.

      She often wished she were more like her mother. Margaret Gilman’s smile lit every line in her face with the joy of life. That smile was like a secret fountain of youth. Men were drawn to the wearer in hopes of being able to share in its secret. No wonder she was still turning heads at fifty-five.

      Ray was a lucky guy. One of the nice things about him was that he knew it.

      “You don’t want to go to Hawaii?” Diana asked.

      “I’d love to go, but Hawaii is the kind of place you fly to when the weather where you are is cold and icy,” Margaret explained. “We wait all year for summer.”

      Diana inhaled the sweet fragrance as she looked around at the lovely garden her mother’s time and talent had created over the years. Red, white and pink roses, all in full and glorious bloom, nodded in the muted evening sunlight. Yes, this was a lovely time of year.

      “I was thinking maybe we could drive into British Columbia, find a cute little bed-and-breakfast and spend a few weeks there,” Margaret said.

      “Some place comfortable and pretty like home, but away from the duties of home,” Diana added.

      Margaret gave her a smile. “Sometimes I forget what a smart daughter I raised.”

      Diana smiled back. “Glad I’m around to remind you.”

      Mel opened the door then, bringing with her the intrusive bumps and grinds of the dishwasher. “I’ve signed off the Internet, Mom. Be ready to go apartment hunting in about ten minutes. That okay for you?”

      Diana nodded in her daughter’s direction, and Mel retreated into the kitchen.

      “I feel like I’m kicking you out of your home,” Margaret said, distress in her tone.

      “Don’t, Mom. It’s time we got our own place. I’ll have the last of my student loans paid off in a couple of months. I don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t taken us in after Tony took off. Without you there would have been no law school, no—”

      “Dear, you’ve thanked me a million times,” Margaret interrupted. “And not a one of them has been necessary. I’ve loved having you and Mel here.”

      Diana felt the same tug in her chest that she had first experienced when she finally realized what an incredible mom she had. How blind she’d been as a child—totally idolizing her father and all but ignoring her mother’s crucial role in their lives. Kids were so damn dumb. Well, except for Mel, of course.

      Thoughts of her daughter brought Diana to her feet. Time she got back to the business of finding them a place to live. One day she’d get a place out in the country like this. But for now, a city apartment would have to suffice.

      “Have you told Mel that your aunt Shirley is going to be living with you?” Margaret called out before Diana had reached the door.

      “Not yet,” Diana admitted.

      “Coward.”

      Diana laughed as she turned around to face her mom. “We won’t be late. I can’t be. I have an early-morning meeting with a judge on a plea-bargain, and then I have to see the investigator I’ve hired on Connie Pearce’s case.”

      “The movie star turned private investigator?”

      “I see Mel told you.”

      “Some actors don’t look nearly as good in person as they do on the screen,” Margaret said. “What do you think about Jack Knight?”

      “I think an engaged lady like yourself shouldn’t be asking about handsome men when you have a first-class fiancé to ogle.”

      Margaret grinned. “Ah, so you do think he’s handsome.”

      Diana rested her free hand on her hip in feigned irritation. “Ever since you’ve gotten engaged you’ve developed this annoying tendency to try to fix me up.”

      Her mother’s face was full of mischief. “Is that what I’ve been doing?”

      “First with your insurance salesman. Then with Ray’s stepson. Now with this private investigator. What gets into brides-to-be? Can’t you stand seeing us happy single folk content with unwedded bliss?”

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