They sat in silence for a moment, enjoying their camaraderie.
“You came to see if your stepson and his wife are still here, didn’t you?”
“Yes.” Their air of merriment was gone.
“They are,” Elise said. “I couldn’t sleep so I came out before daylight and I peeked. They’re inside the house. I should call the sheriff.” But they both knew she wouldn’t. Olivia would be exposed and probably, so would Elise. It was too much to risk.
There was something in her tone that made Olivia take her hand and squeeze it. “What woke you?” she asked softly.
“I thought I heard a car door slam. I tried to go back to sleep but I envisioned men in white coats surrounding the place. The longer I lay there, the more vivid my images became.” She shrugged. “I gave up.”
“Last night my husband said he’d have someone look into what’s going on. And he’ll find out if Jeanne is in trouble.”
“Is she in hiding?”
“I don’t know. I wish...”
“That all this hadn’t happened?” Elise said. “Me too. I lie awake and wonder why I didn’t see it coming. I was always so in love with Kent. He’s so tall and handsome and I was the scrawny kid who lived next door. When I was about twelve, he was playing football with his friends, and as always, I was hiding in the bushes and watching. The ball hit me in the chest so hard I nearly passed out, but when Kent asked me if I was okay, I said I was fine. My whole chest turned black and blue, but that was okay because Kent had actually looked at me.”
“And you thought things would change after you married him.”
“I did. I believed that I’d become the center of his attention. We got married, just as our parents wanted us to, but I was still the kid hiding in the bushes.” She sighed. “Your kitchen is nice.”
Olivia looked at her.
“I saw it when I looked in the window. My mother chose my kitchen. It has black cabinets.”
“I prefer white,” Olivia said.
“Me too.”
“Did you see anything else in the house? Hear anything? But I think it’s too early for Hildy to be up.”
“Actually, I spied because I heard loud voices from inside. They were having a heated discussion about the papers on the table. It was checkbooks and bills, that sort of thing.”
Olivia groaned. “Oh no. They are having money problems. I was afraid of that. I told Hildy I’d take over balancing the checkbook, but she said no. That made me suspicious. She never stepped away from someone else doing her work.”
“I think they plan to stay in your house until you get back.”
“I’m sure they do. Hildy called me as soon as Kit and I got back to the US, and I stupidly told her he had to go to DC so I’d be returning alone. I even told them when I’d be arriving. But then Jeanne called Kit and I returned a day earlier.”
“So they know you’ll be here alone without your husband?”
Olivia nodded. “They’re probably practicing the tears they’re going shed. Kevin used them on me as a kid. I’ve told them a dozen times that I have no more money.”
“But your husband does.”
“Yes,” Olivia said. “But I don’t want to start off our married life with an ugly scene with my relatives. If the two of them would just stop spending so much there wouldn’t be any problems. An interior designer doesn’t need to be hired to put up the blasted Christmas tree! And a fourth fur coat isn’t really necessary. If—” She broke off at the unmistakable sound of a car door closing.
A look of such fear came onto Elise’s pretty face that Olivia’s heart seemed to lurch. “It could be someone else.”
“This early in the morning?”
“We’ll climb Pete’s Tower and see who it is. And if Young Pete is already there we’ll throw him over the side.”
The two of them took off running, going on the far side of Camden Hall to reach the tower that stood guard by the front gate.
Elise bounded up the stairs like a young colt, while Olivia followed.
At the top, Elise looked down the stairs. “You are never going to believe this!”
“What is it?” Olivia stepped onto the open platform. They could clearly see the cute little summerhouse. In front of it was a black town car, the kind that came with a driver. Ray was standing by the back door talking to a woman. Even from this distance they could see that she was very pretty, with lots of red-blonde hair, and she was round and curvy. Not at all fashionably thin.
At the back of the car, the driver was putting Ray’s big leather suitcase in the trunk and taking out a couple of bags that had an elegant brown on brown design.
“I’ll bet that’s Kathy,” Olivia said.
“If those are her cases, why’s the driver taking them out of the car?”
“Maybe she’s going to drive his car back to New York.”
“Then why doesn’t she drive him to the airport?” Elise asked.
Olivia shrugged and they watched Ray set his wife’s suitcases inside the house.
“She’s staying.” There was anger in Olivia’s voice. “He’s leaving that poor woman with us. How are we going to look at her without pity? She’s going to know something is up. We can’t hold in this huge secret.”
Elise narrowed her eyes. “He wants us to tell her. That SOB thinks he’s won us over, and now he’s giving us the job of telling her that her cheating husband wants to dump her.”
“There’s a gate on the other side of the pool. We can head him off on the street.” Olivia was the first one down the stairs and she almost outran Elise’s young legs.
The side gate was hidden by azalea bushes, but Olivia knew where it was. When the swimming pool had been put in years before, an exit had been cut into the wall.
Both women had to pull on the old door to get it open and when they heard the crunch of the car on the gravel drive, they became frantic. They burst through just as Ray’s car rounded the corner.
Elise leaped into the road in front of the vehicle, making the driver slam on the brakes.
The driver threw open the door. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? I almost hit you!”
When Olivia tapped on the back window, Ray lowered the glass.
“Olivia.” His voice happy. “I left you a note. I have to go to Australia. If I don’t, Bert will and we’ll lose the account. Listen, it was great meeting you two. You’ll have to come to dinner someday, but right now I have a plane to catch.”
Elise had come around the side and she shot her hand through the window to grab him by his necktie. Ray seemed quite amused by her action. “You left your wife with us!”
“I did. Kathy wanted to stay and I didn’t think you’d mind. You’ll be three ladies together and you can do lots of complaining about us men.”
Elise yanked on his tie. “You expect us to tell her, don’t you?”
“No.” His face was serious as he removed Elise’s hand. “I don’t want you to say anything. Just let her have a good time. Make her laugh. Take her out shopping.” He looked at Olivia. “Does this town have any stores? I know, take her to Richmond and you two can buy yourselves some things. My treat. Now I really do have to go.” He nodded to the driver.
“We can’t—” Elise began, but Ray was putting up the window and she jerked her arm back.
He waved to them, then he was gone.
As they went back through the gate, Elise looked at Olivia. “If I call my father, he’ll send men in white coats to get me. I’d almost rather do that than face Ray’s wife. What about you?”
“I could go listen to Kevin and Hildy cry poverty. Hey! I could write them a check. It would be days before they were told it was insufficient funds.”
“That might make them so angry that they’d have you jailed.”
“I know the sheriff. He’d protect me. I have to consider that. What’s your decision?”
“Well... I could use some new clothes. I only have what Jeanne and I bought.”
“I bet we could run up a whopper of a bill on Ray’s card.”
“But is it worth it? Kathy’s unhappiness versus Armani.” Elise’s hands were like a balance scale.
They sat back down on the bench.