CHAPTER 17
I had Trey's breakfast on the table the following morning when he came down dressed for the office. He came over so that I could tie his tie. He looked gorgeous in his dark Armani suite.
Preston was in her high chair chewing on a now soggy piece of toast. Trey leaned down giving her a kiss on her forehead.
"Daddeee," she squealed happily. "Daddee dinky."
Trey frowned and then started to say something to her. I cut him off.
"Trey if you make a big deal about it she will find the word all that more fascinating to repeat. Trust me, please?"
He nodded taking a seat at the table.
"I do want you talking to Gina about it though," he said taking a sip of his coffee.
"I will call her today," I promised.
I sat down and started eating my breakfast. I was thinking about the news my father had delivered to us last night. Apparently one of the guard's found Matthew hanging when he conducted his bed checks for that area. Matthew had been put into solitary confinement for his own protection. He had apparently removed the roped cording that was used to cover the seams on the mattress of his cot. My father said that a heavier man could not have accomplished what Matthew had because the cording wouldn't have been strong enough to hold anyone weighing over 130 lbs. Matthew had weighed only 126 lbs.
"How are you feeling about the news?" Trey asked, interrupting my thoughts.
"I'm not sure," I replied, "I mean I don’t feel sorry that he's dead, but I guess I also resent the fact that justice was not served either. I know that my father wanted him to get the death penalty but I would have preferred that he rot in prison the rest of his life. I guess Matthew made his own decision as to what he wanted."
Jean came into the kitchen and took Preston from her high chair telling her it was time for her bath.
"I'm simply thankful that you don't have to go into court and face the sick bastard," Trey said once they were gone.
"Yeah - I was not looking forward to that although there will always be lingering questions about the role he played in Preston's abduction; his motive for murdering my mother and Maggie."
"Sweetie, even if the trial had fully played out there was no guarantee that you were going to get those questions answered. Sometimes you have to consider that sociopaths such as Matthew do things without a reason."
"Did I tell you that my father plans on going to his burial service?"
"Why?"
"I think he wants some answers from Ms. Deeny. He's not convinced that her only role was simply assisting Matthew in extortion."
"I'm sure she isn't going to implicate herself in anything that would serve to bring criminal charges against her."
"Probably not. My dad does have the uncanny ability to read people and their motivations though. Perhaps he wants the answers simply for his own peace of mind. He still needs closure, I think."
"Speaking of which," Trey said, "I need some closure on Amber's damn jacket. Where is it?"
"I'll get it," I said getting up and going outside to the back deck.
I brought it back to the kitchen and put it in a plastic grocery bag, setting the bag next to Trey's briefcase.
"Why the hell was it outside?" he asked finishing up his coffee.
"I was airing it out Trey. It smelled like sex - our sex."
He gave me a wicked smile from across the table.
"I'm sure she wouldn't have minded," he replied, "I figured she had her hand down her panties the whole time she was listening to us over the phone anyway."
"Trey!" I said, blushing, "That is exactly what Gina said."
"Oh God, Tylar - you shared that with Gina?"
(Oops! I was busted.)
"Well yeah - I mean it's not like I described it in detail or anything."
"Well then I guess I don't feel so bad about sharing it with Tristan," he said laughing.
He got up putting his suit jacket on. I went over to him, putting my arms around him.
"I don't want you to leave," I said frowning.
He tilted my chin up and lowered his warm, sensuous lips to mine.
"I don't want to leave you," he said kissing me. "I promise I'll be home early, okay?"
I nodded, kissing him back.
"Trey, can we talk about taking a vacation together soon when you get home tonight?"
"Sure baby," he said picking up his briefcase and the bag with Amber's jacket in it, "I was thinking the same thing."
I busied myself around the house helping Jean after Trey left for work. I cleaned out Preston's closet gathering some items to take to Goodwill. I started working on my closet as well.
After lunch, I bundled Preston up and we went out to visit the horses. Marcus was on the phone in the office ordering supplies. He looked up and smiled when he saw us out in the gangway. As soon as he got off the phone he came out to greet us.
"Well, there are two beautiful faces that I haven't seen in a while," he said.
"I've missed you, Tylar. I'm glad you're back. I hope things are working out with you and Trey."
"Thanks, Marcus. We're working on it."
"That's good. He was pretty nuts while you were gone. I can tell you that," he said shaking his head and chuckling.
"Really?"
"Oh yeah. One night I heard some commotion down here so I left my quarters and came down. Trey's drunk as a skunk over there whining to Derringer about how he screwed up and has probably lost you for good."
"You're kidding?" I asked as if I couldn't fathom Trey behaving like that.
"I am totally not kidding. He was really kind of humorous in a pathetic sort of way. I mean what? Did he think the horse was going to give him some sage advice? I wish he had come to me whining about it. Now I would have given him some advice; advice that would probably have gotten me fired."
I laughed at Marcus's seriousness. I always knew that he would be on 'Team Tylar,' I just didn't realize how passionate he was about it.
"We both have some work to do on our marriage," I said, "I've made my share of mistakes, too."
"Hey Tylar - I want to tell you something but I don't want you going back to Trey with it okay? I really do need my job."
(Oh God! What had he witnessed? I wasn't sure if I could handle finding out something about Trey and another woman.)
"Here's the thing Marcus, if this is something that Trey did and involves breaking any of our marriage vows then I certainly will address it with Trey. I am your employer for all intents and purposes anyway - so I will make no promise not to address it with Trey."
"No - no," he said quickly, "It's actually something he did that convinced me he didn't give a rat's you-know-what about that skank with the BMW."
He had nodded towards Preston who was still in my arms when he said that. I appreciated that Marcus was watching his language around her. I was now dying to know what he had seen or heard.
"Well tell me for heaven's sake!"
"Well, it was like a couple of weeks after you hightailed it out of here that Trey was out here in the barn saddling up Derringer to take him out. It was like a Saturday afternoon. Ms. BMW drives out here and your housekeeper must have told her that Trey was out here. So she trudges on out through the field in her tight little skirt and 4" heels carrying some legal file or something.
He stopped and started laughing at the memory.
"Come on Marcus, please?"
"Okay - I'm sorry. So anyway by the time she gets into the barn here those heels of hers are caked with mud. I mean they are caked with it. She's looking around for something to use to scrape the mud off of her little Prada heels so she goes over to those bales of straw there in the corner."
He nodded to where the bales of straw were stacked on top on one another. He was where Trey and I had sat the day before and talked. It was right across from Derringer's stall.
"So she raises one of her legs up to wipe the bottom of her shoe against the corner of the straw to get some of the caked mud off. She doesn't see that Trey is over there bent down cleaning Derringer's hoofs in his stall. She doesn't see that I am just inside the tack room. Both of us are within hearing distance of her."
(God I so wish he would get to the point of this story!)
"So she's wiping that shoe against the corner of the bale and she's bitching out loud to herself. Every other word is the "F" word; saying how she will never live out here in the boonies with all this 'f-ing' mud and 'f-ing horse-shite around. She's going on about how Trey better give you the house in the divorce cause she's a city mouse used to the finer things in life, yadda, yadda, yadda."
(Oh My God!)
"Oh My God," I said, "What happened then?"
"Well, Trey made his presence known pretty darn quick. He asked her if she had said something to you at Marley's service about that very same thing. She claimed she didn't. He called her a liar and told her that he had no interest in her outside of the office. Then she really got pizzed; she claimed she was better for him than you were. He laughed in her face then asked her why she had come out here to the ranch. She claimed it was to discuss a case. He told her from there on out she was to discuss her cases with one of the other partners; he was no longer a mentor. She then got even more uppity with him and he told her she was a conniving 'beotch' and to leave his home. She told him he would be sorry. He said he was already sorry that he had approved her partnership. Then she flounced out of here."
"Wow," I said. "I wonder why Trey didn't tell me this?"
"I don't know Tylar. Maybe he didn't want you to worry about her telling him he would be sorry. Do you think she will try to pull something at work?"
"I really don't know what she's capable of Marcus. I hope she was simply angry and making an empty threat. Hopefully she's moved on."
"Yeah - to someone else's husband. Chicks like that are pretty transparent."
Preston was starting to squirm in my arms.
"Well hey Marcus, thanks for sharing. I'm gonna take Preston over to pet the horses. Talk to you later."
"Take care," he called after me heading back into the office.
I decided that I wasn't going to say anything to Trey about what Marcus had told me. I did want to keep a watch on what Amber was up to. Perhaps I needed to give Leah a call and see if she wanted to meet for lunch soon.
True to his word Trey got home exceptionally early from the office. Jean had fed Preston and taken her upstairs to play in the nursery. Trey and I ate our dinner in front of the fireplace. It was cozy and romantic.
"Well Mrs. Sinclair," he said when we finished, "Are you going to fill me in on our vacation plans?"
I told Trey that Tristan had offered us the all inclusive cruise package since he and Gina couldn't use it before the end of the year. I asked him if he thought it would be a problem for him to get the time off between now and the end of the year.
He said that he and Tonya would check his calendar to see what could be rescheduled or offloaded. We targeted the week after Thanksgiving. I was thrilled that we were finally going to have a week together alone.
We discussed our Thanksgiving plans which would take us to Bristol this year. I felt better knowing that Gina would be coming with Tristan and Reese. We would get to see Tess and Nigel's baby. They had named their son Royce Nigel Sinclair. It sounded very British to me.
I brought the subject of Amber's jacket to Trey. I saw his expression darken at the mention of her name.
"Oh yes," he said in a very irritated tone, "She was right over in my office first thing this morning asking about it. She made sure that Tonya heard her mention it being left in my car. I do not understand why she is so conniving where I am concerned."
"Maybe she has some sort of fatal attraction, Trey."
"Oh come on, Tylar."
"I'm serious," I replied, "I think she somehow thinks you're interested in her."
I could tell that Trey was concerned about her prior to what I had just mentioned.
"What is it?"
He looked over at me trying to lose the concerned expression but he didn't quite make it.
"It's nothing," he replied with a shrug.
"Trey it has to be something. I can read you too, you know?"
"She made an off-handed comment today when she came to get the jacket. It was something to the effect that I might find it difficult for my partners to believe she hadn't been sexually harassed."
"Oh God, Trey; she threatened you."
"Yeah, pretty much."
"Well, what are you going to do about it?"
"I haven't decided yet, Tylar. The bottom line is that I should never have kissed her."
"She kissed you first. I am a witness to that."
"Yes and had I left it at that this wouldn't be an issue but I didn't, so it is. You were also a witness to that."
He was angry with himself now I could tell. He raked his hands through his hair in frustration.
"She doesn't have anything that she could take to court though. I mean she hasn't suffered any damages, right?"
"It wouldn't have to even go that far," he replied, "The fact that I am a senior partner and she is the only female partner on staff provides her with a 'hostile environment' argument with the other partners. They may choose to see me as a liability for the firm."
I could not believe what I was hearing. Trey was genuinely concerned about being removed from his firm.
"Wait a minute Trey; they can't kick you out of the firm can they? As a senior partner you hold part ownership right?"
"They can certainly buy my share from me and have me removed by a vote. Listen, I don't want you to worry about that okay? It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for me anyway."
I knew better. Practicing law in a prestigious firm was Trey's dream. I couldn't imagine him doing anything else.
"Well let's not worry about it now," I said, "I think she will probably move on to someone else."
"We can only hope," he replied, pulling me close.
Trey and I made love that night over and over again. We fell asleep curled around each other. Our sleep was interrupted around 2:30 in the morning when our landline in the bedroom rang. I was closest to the phone so I jumped up in the dark trying to grab it from my nightstand. My pulse was racing. Calls during the night could only mean bad news.
"Hello?" I said into the phone. My voice had a panicky edge to it. There was nothing on the other end.
"Hello?"
Just then I heard a female voice whisper huskily, "Sorry - wrong number." It was followed by a click.
"Who is it?" Trey asked from beside me.
"Wrong number," I replied replacing the phone on its charger on my nightstand.
I lay awake for awhile contemplating the call. It was no wrong number. It was Amber trying to make trouble. In the morning I checked the call i.d. log on the phone. The call had come in from a 'Blocked' number. I had figured as much.
I decided it was a pretty lame attempt to rattle me. I wondered what she would pull next. Perhaps she would call and have a pizza sent to our home that we didn’t order? Her actions were fairly sophomoric up to this point. I wasn't overly concerned.