Читать книгу Fool Me Once - Fern Michaels - Страница 8

He was her client.

A superrich paying client.

And, said client was ticked off, big-time.

A murderous glint in her eyes, Olivia Lowell took one step backward, then another. “I refuse to tolerate this type of behavior, Cecil. I will not be intimidated. I was told you were a gentleman. Ha!”

Alice, the West Highland terrier at Olivia’s feet, barked shrilly and showed her teeth. “She’s a killer, Cecil, so it might behoove you to rethink your actions. Now, what’s it going to be? Be aware that I am a woman whose biggest failing in life is my lack of patience.”

Cecil eyed the woman standing in front of him, then the yapper at her feet. And he did what any red-blooded Yorkshire terrier would do. He lay down, rolled over, and barked. Happily. Bounding back up on all fours, he raced across the studio, whirled, twirled, and did a hind-leg jig. His one and only trick. Alice ran after him and somehow managed to swat his rear end with one furry paw. They ended up tussling on the studio floor.

“Now look at you, Cecil! The executors of your owner’s estate are not going to like this. I need to take your picture, so let’s get with it. You’re big news, Cecil. You just inherited the Manning fortune. You’re going to live a life of luxury. Don’t you want to get your due? It isn’t every day a fortune lands in a dog’s lap. C’mon, let me take your picture. I promise it will be painless,” Olivia pleaded.

Cecil hopped onto a stool and did his jig again, to Alice’s dismay. Olivia resigned herself to the fact that she wasn’t going to get a portrait of the famous dog but would have to go with action shots, which probably wasn’t a bad thing at all. She’d tried to explain to the dog’s handler, a lawyer named Jeff Bannerman, that Cecil had a mind of his own, but he refused to listen. What Bannerman had said was something to the effect that you’re supposed to be the best of the best—now prove it.

Like that was going to happen! If Cecil had been an ordinary dog, maybe. She’d met Cecil two years before, when Lillian Manning had commissioned her to do a sitting portrait of the dog. The picture, while nice, reflected Cecil’s more or less placid puppyhood. Now the moneymen responsible for Mrs. Manning’s estate wanted a grown-up picture, and they were willing to pay ten thousand dollars for it. After all, it was going to be shown around the world, and it would aid her career, they said.

Olivia reached into her pocket and withdrew a whistle, the kind that emitted a loud, piercing sound that only dogs could hear. She blew it three times and shouted at the top of her lungs, “Cecil, get on that bench and pose! Now! Or…or you are going back home with that stiff who brought you here.”

Cecil stopped pawing through the wastebasket, turned to look at the object of his torment, then pranced over to the bench and hopped up. He posed, he preened, he looked haughty, he looked devilish, then he lay down. Alice barked her approval as Olivia’s Nikon clicked and clicked. Then, ham that he was, Cecil stood up on all fours and bowed. He actually bowed. Olivia burst out laughing—until Cecil showed his teeth, which meant the gig was over. He hopped down and chased Alice around the room until the female terrier collapsed. The Yorkie pounced on her and barked shrilly. Alice ignored him. With nothing else to entertain him, Cecil lifted his leg and defiantly peed on the legs of a tripod. Then he walked back to Alice. He lay down and was asleep within seconds.

Olivia smiled as she looked at the two sleeping dogs. She adored Cecil but felt sorry for him. He was now destined to live out his life in a fancy mansion with servants catering to his every whim. The servants wouldn’t love him or play with him the way Lillian Manning had. Poor, poor Cecil. Maybe the money people would allow Cecil to have play dates with Alice. How silly was that? How silly was leaving a hundred-and-fifty-million-dollar estate to a dog? Pretty damn silly, in her opinion.

Olivia Lowell, photographer to the canine world, looked at her watch. Lunchtime. Yogurt, a banana, and a cup of coffee, and she’d be ready to photograph a seven-year-old English whippet named Sasha for her owner’s Christmas card. Christmas was ten months away, but the owner said she didn’t want to have to wait till the last minute.

It was a lucrative living, and Olivia enjoyed every minute of it because she was a devout animal lover.

As Olivia spooned the yogurt into her mouth, she thought about her father. She missed him but understood his desire to retire to the islands and rent out his fishing boat to tourists. He was happier these days than she’d ever seen him. Of course, that might have something to do with his new love, Lea. Maybe she would call him later in the day to ask him how things were going.

Tears pricked Olivia’s deep-green eyes when she thought of her father and how he’d raised her on his own. He’d sacrificed so much for her, even giving up his accounting practice and going to night school to learn photography so he could open a studio in their home to be with her during the day. A studio that he himself built on the side of the house, with its own entrance, bath, and minikitchen. The studio even had a plaque beside the door that said LOWELL AND LOWELL, and underneath their names, the word PHOTOGRAPHY.

Her father had never remarried, despite her urging as she grew older. Not that he didn’t, as he called it, “keep company” with various and sundry ladies. Some of those ladies were to Olivia’s liking and some weren’t, but she kept her own counsel where they were concerned. Until Lea came along five years ago. Lea was the mother she never had. They were friends, good friends. Maybe now that both her father and Lea were in a less stressful atmosphere and retired, they might think about getting married. At least she hoped so, for her father’s sake.

Three things happened simultaneously when Olivia tossed her empty yogurt container in the trash. Cecil and Alice raced into the kitchen; Sasha, the English whippet, arrived wearing a huge red and white Santa hat, granny glasses that were tied to her ears, and a Christmas neckerchief; and a distinguished-looking gentleman carrying a briefcase rang her front doorbell.

Olivia strode to the front door. She really needed to make some rules around here. The least Sasha’s owner could have done was take the dog to the studio door instead of the kitchen door. Now she had to contend with some door-to-door salesman, the barking, howling dogs, and her own frustrations. Her father would have had the situation under control in a heartbeat. All he ever had to do was look a dog in the eye, wag his finger, and he was rewarded with instant obedience. Her clients walked all over her.

“What?” she snapped irritably. “Whatever you’re selling, I’m not interested.” She was about to shut the door when the man held up a small white business card. She paused to read it. He was Prentice O’Brien from the law firm of O’Brien, O’Malley and O’Shaughnessy. A nice Irish firm, Olivia surmised. Or else it was some kind of song-and-dance act, and the man standing in front of her was a scam artist.

“What?” she said again, yelling to be heard over the din. “Is someone suing me?” Sasha’s body slammed against the locked storm door. Prentice O’ Brien stepped back, his face showing apprehension.

“No!” the lawyer bellowed in return. “Can we go somewhere to talk where it’s a little more quiet?”

Olivia brushed at her blond curls. “I’m afraid not,” she bellowed back as loudly as the lawyer had. “I’m running late, and, as you can see, I seem to have lost control here. Why don’t you call me later, around five.”

The lawyer frowned. “Ms. Lowell, this really is important, urgent even. We need to talk.”

Olivia turned around when she heard a sound reminiscent of a waterfall. Sasha was peeing on the hall carpet runner. Damn. She noted the look of disgust on the lawyer’s face.

“Some other time. This situation is really urgent. Good-bye, Mr.”—she looked down at the card in her hand—“Mr. O’Brien.” She shut the door in the man’s face and raced to the kitchen for a roll of paper towels.

Thirty minutes later she was still searching for Sasha’s glasses and Santa Claus hat. My father would have this under control, too. Damn.

At three o’clock Sasha and all her gear were gone. Cecil’s handler still hadn’t picked him up. Anna Logan, the owner of Logan’s Bakery, arrived with a basket of new kittens. She wanted pictures to put up on the bakery bulletin board in the hope that some of her customers would adopt them.

It was ten after five when Anna and the kittens pulled out of Olivia’s driveway. Cecil’s handler still hadn’t arrived to pick him up, which probably meant he’d forgotten about him. Just the way Alice’s owners had forgotten to pick her up three years ago. That had been Alice’s lucky day. Olivia loved Alice the way mothers love their children.

At five-thirty the doorbell and the phone pealed at the same time. Ignoring the doorbell, Olivia answered the phone while Alice and Cecil raced to the front door and barked. Cecil’s handler was on the phone, asking if Olivia could possibly keep Cecil overnight, and he would be picked up in the morning by “someone.”

“Well, sure, for fifty dollars an hour, Mr. Bannerman. I don’t operate a dog-sitting service. This is a photography studio.” She was told the fee would be no problem. After all, Cecil was the richest dog in the United States. She hung up the phone wondering what she was going to prepare for dinner as she made her way to the front door. She opened it. Prentice O’Brien.

“What is it, Mr. O’Brien? It’s the end of the day, I’m tired, and if no one is suing me, I can’t imagine what you want to talk to me about. Make it quick.”

“Can I at least come in, Ms. Lowell? It’s rather cold out here, and it is snowing.”

It was snowing. How had she missed that? Maybe she’d build a fire later, snuggle with the dogs, and think about Clarence De Witt’s marriage proposal. Then again, maybe she wouldn’t think about Clarence De Witt’s marriage proposal. She didn’t want to be Mrs. Clarence De Witt. She didn’t want to be Mrs. Anybody. She liked her life just the way it was, thank you very much. “All right. This better be good and quick. Come in. Just so you know, Mr. O’Brien, I hate lawyers.”

“Until you need us,” O’Brien quipped. “Nice house,” he said, looking around as Olivia led him to the great room that ran the entire length of the house.

“Thank you. My dad did all the work, even this addition and the entire studio. He can do anything,” she said proudly. “This used to just be a two-bedroom ranch house, but Dad added two bathrooms, a third bedroom, and this great room. He remodeled the kitchen, too. He built the playhouse in the back for me when I was little.”

“Your father sounds like an extraordinary man, Ms. Lowell.”

“Oh, he is. He raised me when my mother died. If she’d lived, I can’t imagine her doing a better job. Now, tell me why you’re here and what I can do for you.”

The attorney removed his overcoat and laid it on the side of the sofa. He looked puzzled. “Did I hear you right just now? Did you say your mother died?”

“Yes, the day I was born. Thirty-four years ago. That’s her picture on the mantel. It’s the only one we have. Her name was Allison. Why are you here, Mr. O’Brien? Does this visit have something to do with my dad?”

“Not directly.”

While O’Brien walked over to the fireplace and studied the picture on the mantel, she eyed the briefcase on the sturdy pine coffee table. It looked old and well used, with scuff marks and gouges in the cowhide. She wondered how many lawsuits it represented. She waited, her gaze taking in the familiar room, while the lawyer, who had returned to stand by the coffee table, riffled through his case for whatever it was he was going to show her.

She loved this room, she really did. One wall was her own personal rogue’s gallery, as her father called it. Every inch of space on the wall was covered with pictures of her from the day she was born. The massive stone fireplace, with a hearth so wide and deep she could have positioned a sofa on it, took up another wall. Her father had allowed her to carry the irregular fieldstones in from outside, making the building of it a joint effort. In the winter they made roaring fires, popped corn, and toasted marshmallows. They even grilled weenies on sticks on occasion. The green plants and fica trees were her contribution. She trimmed and watered them weekly. All were lush and green, thanks to the three skylights that graced the ceiling.

She’d had sleepovers in this very room when she was young. She wondered where all those old friends were these days.

Olivia was jolted from her thoughts when the lawyer cleared his throat. “What I have here in my hand is the last will and testament of your mother, whom you probably know as Allison Matthews Lowell, although she changed her name to Adrian Ames soon after divorcing your father. I can read it to you, or you can read it yourself.”

Olivia threw her hands in the air. “See? See? I knew this was a mistake. You have the wrong person. My mother died when I was born. I guess there’s some other Olivia Lowell out there. I’m sorry you wasted your time, Mr. O’ Brien.”

The attorney cleared his throat again. “I didn’t waste my time, Ms. Lowell. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but your mother did not die thirty-four years ago. She died two weeks ago and left her entire estate to you. And whoever that is in the picture on the mantel, it’s not Adrian Ames.”

Olivia’s heart thundered in her chest. She reached out to grasp the arm of the chair she was sitting on, only to see Cecil perched there. She picked him up and brought him close to her chest. She was so light-headed she couldn’t think. “No! No! Don’t tell me that. My father…my father…would never…he wouldn’t lie…This must be some kind of cruel joke, and I don’t appreciate it. No, you’re wrong.”

Prentice O’Brien inched the will in its sky-blue cover across the coffee table. It glared up at Olivia like an obscene blue eye. She made no move to reach for it. She struggled with her voice. “I think you should leave now, Mr. O’Brien.”

“Ms. Lowell, I’m sorry about this, but my firm represented your mother for many, many years. This is not a mistake. Once you know the story behind all this, I’m sure you’ll understand it is not some cruel hoax. I understand your being upset, so I’m going to leave. I suggest you contact your father and talk with him. After you’ve done that, please feel free to call me.”

Olivia watched in a daze as the attorney stood up and put on his overcoat. Faster than a lightning bolt, both dogs chased him to the door. Olivia heard the little pinging sound made by the alarm system when the door opened and closed.

She burst into tears.

If what the attorney said was true, her whole life was a lie. A big, fat lie!

She cried harder. She had a mother. Had had a mother. A mother she never knew. A real, live, flesh-and-blood mother like all her friends had, like Sara Kelly’s mother. Olivia bolted from the chair and raced to the powder room off the great room. The dogs huddled and whimpered at the strange sounds emanating from behind the closed door.

Ten minutes later Olivia literally crawled out of the powder room on her hands and knees, her face splotchy and red. She crawled across the slick hardwood floors she’d helped her father install. Tongue-and-groove. She’d thought that phrase so funny as a child. Her father had allowed her to hand him the pieces of wood and showed her how to lay them down. She’d been so proud that he allowed her to help. “It’s just you and me, kid,” he always said after they finished a project. Just you and me, kid. Yeah, right. I think you left someone out, Daddy.

It wasn’t until she was back in her favorite chair that she saw that the will was still on the coffee table. Well, she certainly wasn’t going to touch that. No way was she ever going to touch that. Absolutely, she was never, ever going to touch that.

Alice pawed her mistress’s leg for attention. When there was no response, the dog ran to the kitchen for her food bowl, carried it back, and dropped it at Olivia’s feet. Cecil barked. Olivia looked at her watch. It was time for Alice’s supper. Cecil, too, since she was dog-sitting. She felt a hundred years old when she heaved herself to her feet and made her way to the kitchen.

Olivia reached into the cabinet for the dog food. Her father had allowed her to screw the knobs into the cabinets. Just you and me, kid. A duo instead of a trio. She started to cry again, the tears rolling down her cheeks like a waterfall. She sniffed as she scooped out the food into two bowls and watched as both dogs gobbled it down. She let them outside. It was snowing harder. It always snowed in February. Her father was probably basking on the deck of his boat, sharing a glass of wine with Lea at this hour. It was probably warm and balmy, and they were probably both wearing shorts and T-shirts.

She needed to call her father. What should she say? How should she say it? Just you and me, kid. Now it was her father and Lea. And, she wasn’t a kid anymore.

Nothing was what it seemed. Not even the picture of “her mother” on the mantel.

Alice scratched against the door as Cecil tried to nip her ear. Olivia opened the door, towel-dried the dogs, handed each of them a treat. She should think about her own dinner. She reached for a box of Cheerios and carried it back to the great room. She set the box down and made a fire.

Olivia was a little girl again as she hugged her knees to her chest and watched the flames dance behind the ornate grate. She picked at the dry cereal, sharing it with the two dogs sitting next to her. She had to think, but her brain suddenly wasn’t working.

Just you and me, kid.

Liar! Liar!

Both dogs crawled into Olivia’s lap and snuggled with her. How warm and comforting they felt. Suddenly, a red-hot streak of rage, hot as the fire she was looking at, ripped through her. What kind of mother would…would…ignore her daughter for thirty-four years? Who was this woman who had left her entire estate to a daughter she’d ignored all her life?

Well, the only person who could answer those questions, other than possibly the attorney, was her father. And only he could tell her who was in the picture on the mantel.

Olivia got to her feet and rummaged between the sofa cushions for the portable phone. For some reason she always stuck it between the cushion and the arm. Most times the battery was dead, and she had to recharge it or use her cell phone. She took a mighty, deep breath and dialed her father’s cell phone. She wasn’t surprised when Lea answered, sounding happy and relaxed. Well, why the hell shouldn’t she sound happy and relaxed, with her father and all that warm sunshine?

“Lea, it’s Ollie,” she said, using her father’s favorite nickname for her. “Is he there?”

“Honey, you sound…funny. Are you all right? Do you have a cold or something? If you do, you need to start taking care of it. I saw on the news that it’s very cold and snowing in Winchester.”

“Or something,” Olivia responded. “Is Dad there?”

“He was until about ten minutes ago. He’s down on the pier watching some fisherman haul in a huge marlin. Can I have him return your call, or would you like me to go get him? I don’t think he’ll be too long. Let’s face it, how long can you stare at a dead fish?”

Olivia knew she was supposed to laugh at Lea’s little joke. She didn’t. She wondered if she would ever laugh again about anything. “No, that’s okay. Tell him to call me when he gets in. It’s important, Lea.”

“Is there anything I can do, honey?”

“No. But thanks for asking.” Olivia clicked the OFF button and replaced the phone in its stand instead of letting it slide down between the cushions. She walked back to the fire, carrying an armful of pillows. She was so cold she ached. The dogs curled up next to her, and she fed them the crunchy cereal, one morsel at a time.

Just you and me, kid.