Читать книгу Pillow Chase - Jeanie London, Jeanie London - Страница 10

MIRANDA WOULD SAY one thing—Laura Granger had created a fantasy with her Wedding Wing. As she and Troy headed toward the elevator to take them down to the third floor, she couldn’t help but marvel at the grandeur of this new addition.

She would never have guessed the oddball girl who’d been a constant irritation during school would be responsible for breathing life back into this old hotel.

As Laura had always been the one lurking in the shadows, Miranda couldn’t help but think how life had reversed their positions. Laura stood in the spotlight of her grand opening, while Miranda had come on this vacation to escape.

Slipping her fingers through Troy’s, she took comfort in his touch and tried to shake this contemplative mood.

She was thinking again.

As always, Troy proved a great distraction. When the elevator deposited them on the third floor, he slipped his arm around her and pulled her close for a quick kiss before directing her to the room where the photojournalist had set up headquarters during the grand opening.

Miranda couldn’t imagine what the man had cooked up with her sister and Laura Granger. Tyler Tripp might be acclaimed for his work, but he was also thoroughly disreputable looking, exactly the sort of more-tattoos-than-college-credits type of man her sister typically got involved with. Given their shared interest in journalism, Miranda couldn’t believe Victoria had hooked up with ultraprofessional Adam Grant instead.

“All set?” Troy asked when they arrived at the room.

“Showtime.”

He knocked. Taking a deep breath, Miranda steeled herself as the door opened, but to her surprise, Tyler wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Only Victoria.

“Thanks for coming.” Her sister resembled their mother in appearance with her bright red hair and fair skin, but the similarities ended there. Victoria’s enthusiasm was all her own.

“Not a problem that I came, too, is it?” Troy asked.

Wrapping her arms around Troy’s neck, Victoria gave him a hug. “Of course not. You’re my favorite bro-in-law.”

He was Victoria’s only brother-in-law, as they all well knew, but Troy clearly appreciated the welcome. So did Miranda. She forced a smile.

Laura Granger waited inside, and she didn’t look nearly as enthusiastic to see them. They’d grown up disliking each other. Laura was everything Miranda wasn’t—tall and slim with white-blond hair, pale blue eyes and luminous skin. Given the way their families led separate lives, comparisons were inevitable. Given their differences, disliking those comparisons was also inevitable.

And people in their town were fascinated by a prominent family that had split down the middle. While Miranda had the benefit of hailing from the still respectable and affluent side of the family, Laura had suffered her family’s fall from grace with not much to define her but her stunning looks and ambitious academic marks. She’d been out of her league with the other students at prestigious Westfalls Academy.

Add Victoria to the mix now, with her glorious hair and come-hither smiles, and it might explain why Miranda suddenly felt like the runt of the litter.

“Nice to see you both.” With her smile firmly in place, Laura was in full hospitality management mode. “Thanks for meeting with us on your day off.”

“So what’s up?” Miranda directed her question to her sister, eager to get this ball rolling. The sooner they got to the point, the sooner she could deal with the fallout and get on with her day. And there would be fallout. After a lifetime of dealing with Victoria, she knew there was always fallout.

“I’m here to sell you on an idea, big sis.” She gestured them to the sofa while heading toward the desk and Laura. “Sit. Would you like anything to drink?”

Shaking her head, Miranda sat beside Troy, who nudged his knee against hers as if to say, “This should be interesting.”

No doubt. “Might I ask why you invited me to Tyler’s room when he doesn’t seem to be around? Is this about Hottest Honeymoons?”

“Not exactly,” Victoria said. “We wanted neutral turf. When you came to the Wedding Knight Suite, I thought you were going to have a heart attack.” She glanced back at Laura. “The rack. She thinks I’m a closet dominatrix.”

Laura only inclined her head, but her amused expression irked Miranda. Yes, the pornographic sex device that comprised a whole wall in Victoria’s suite had surprised her, but when had these two become such good friends that they discussed her?

Miranda refused to ask. What they did on their own time wasn’t her concern—unless their actions started the town talking again. Her mother didn’t need the stress right now. Not while dealing with Victoria’s unexpected engagement.

“We could have used Laura’s office,” Victoria explained. “But I wasn’t sure I could get you there. So we begged a favor from Tyler—” she swept an arm around to encompass the tastefully decorated guestroom “—and here we are.”

“There’s a method to our madness, too,” Laura added. “What we want to show you is on Tyler’s computer.”

“Really? Now I’m curious.”

“Me, too,” Troy said. “Why don’t you start the show?”

Laura sat down behind the desk and slanted the monitor toward them. She clicked the mouse to bring up an image of formally dressed guests in what could have been one of many grand opening functions that had taken place over the past two weeks.

“All right,” Victoria said. “But give me a chance to explain everything before you blast our idea out of the water, would you, big sis?”

Our idea?

The thought of Victoria and Laura Granger colluding over anything was enough to send a cold chill up Miranda’s spine. But she nodded, willing to agree to just about anything if her sister—who was dragging out the suspense as usual—would get a move on. “Why are you even making the effort if you’re so sure I’m going to disapprove?”

“You know me. Hope springs eternal.” Her sister gave a laugh, which transformed Laura’s hospitality-perfect veneer into a worried frown.

Curiouser and curiouser. There was a lot going on between these two if she read the signals right.

Cocking a hip against the desk, Victoria folded her arms. “When I was first assigned to cover the Naughty Nuptials, I put all the family history on the table to get any questions of bias out of the way. This got me and Laura talking about what really happened to cause the trouble between her mother and Grandfather all those years ago.”

That trouble, as Victoria called it, had caused their grandfather to disown his oldest daughter and had instigated a family rift that had lasted decades.

Leaning back against Troy, Miranda settled in for the long haul. Judging by her sister’s excitement, she intended to play this for all it was worth.

“Got it,” Miranda prompted. “So you two rehashed past history. I won’t ask why.”

“It’s irrelevant, anyway. What is relevant is that we decided we needed to find out what really happened. So we’ve been talking to Aunt Suzanne and Mother.”

Aunt Suzanne? When had Laura Granger’s mother become Aunt Suzanne?

“I’ll have you know that Mother was very forthcoming with me,” Victoria continued. “Aunt Suzanne, too. And in getting both sides of the story, Laura and I learned that there are some really big questions about our family history.”

“What sort of questions?” she asked.

“Like how come we were told our grandmother was English.”

From the corner of her eye, Miranda caught sight of Troy’s frown and supplied the reason. “Because she was English. Mother said she came to America from England after they married.”

“She told me the same thing.”

“So did my mom,” Laura added.

“And you’re saying she didn’t?” These two had to be off their rockers. She couldn’t vouch for Aunt Suzanne, but Miranda knew her mother would never mislead them about the parent she’d lost in a car accident while still a very young child.

“As far as they’re concerned, our grandmother did come from England,” Laura explained. “Tori and I haven’t told them what we’ve found out yet.”

“What’s that?” Troy threaded his fingers through Miranda’s, a silent show of support.

“Grandfather said he’d met our grandmother during the war and married her before they came back to the United States. Well, I’ve been doing some investigating and couldn’t find a thing about his marriage to Laura Russell. I got curious, so I looked into her immigration records. If she was a British citizen, she had to have papers to get into this country.”

Victoria met her gaze with an expression positively alive with excitement. “Laura Russell doesn’t seem to have existed until she appeared in the good old U.S. of A, fully grown and married to our grandfather.”

“I should add that Tori had to dig for this information.” Laura gave a tight laugh. “I’m still waiting for Interpol to show up in the lobby.”

“Pshaw.” Her sister waved a dismissive hand. “Have a little faith, please. We’re talking immigration here. I didn’t have to dig that deep. Besides, I happen to be good at what I do. No problems, trust me.”

Trusting Victoria was enough to strike terror in the bravest of souls, and Miranda was surprised Laura recognized it. “Exactly what did you learn? Our grandmother must have existed or the three of us wouldn’t be here right now. Will you please tell us before you wind up in prison?”

“Oh, our grandmother existed, all right,” Victoria said. “Only she wasn’t English. She was a French citizen. Her name was Laure Roussell not Laura Russell.”

Miranda wasn’t at all sure what to make of this revelation, except that she could tell by her sister’s expression that she was serious. “Victoria, that’s crazy.”

“I have documentation to prove it.”

“Can you possibly be mistaken?”

“Not a chance. Grandfather’s name is on the marriage certificate.”

“And you don’t think Mother knows?”

She shook her head and Laura agreed. “My mom, either. She named me after our grandmother. I’m Laura. No question there.”

Troy looked as puzzled as Miranda felt. “If your information is accurate, then the question here would be why. Why would your grandmother hide her French ancestry? And why wouldn’t the senator tell his daughters?”

“That’s the mystery,” Laura said. “And since we’re pretty sure our moms don’t know, we didn’t want to start asking questions. Not until we have some idea of what this is about.”

Miranda tried to digest this information. Their grandfather had been an Army commander during World War II, had even been decorated after being captured by the enemy and leading many of his men in a daring escape.

She knew he rarely, if ever, discussed the war, and any media inquiries were always met with a stony “No comment.” His handlers had spun his silence to make him look like a humble man who’d done his job and didn’t feel comfortable with accolades.

“If Grandfather kept our grandmother’s heritage a secret, then it must be a secret that needs to be kept,” Miranda said. “Victoria, you know as well as I do that Grandfather would never sidestep this kind of information without good reason.”

“I agree,” Troy said. “The senator wouldn’t risk the publicity if word ever leaked out. If you were able to uncover the information, no doubt other reporters could, too.”

“Laura and I discussed that,” Victoria said. “We believe everything looks nice and neat on the surface so no one will have any reason to dig into our grandmother’s past. She died a long time ago. Before Grandfather became a senator.”

“Let’s hope it stays that way.” Miranda meant it. “What if all this investigating raises unnecessary interest? You’re a reporter. You know better than anyone how this could blow up in our faces. With Father up for reelection, the media would have a field day with this. And if Mother doesn’t know…”

“It’s a chance we’ll have to take.” Victoria’s frown made the hair on the back of Miranda’s neck prickle.

Laura nodded. “If we want to fix things.”

“What do you want to fix?” Troy eyed them curiously as he slipped his arm around her.

“Our family,” Victoria said. “We need to find out what happened so we can figure out how to solve the problem and bring our families back together again.”

Why was Miranda even surprised? This was her sister they were talking about here, with Laura Granger tossed into the mix. A crazy combination no matter how she came at it. “What do you mean fix our family? What makes you think anyone wants to be fixed? I mean, if you two want to play nice, then have at it—”

“Not us, big sis.”

Miranda barely got a chance to brace herself before Laura said, “Our mothers.”

“They haven’t talked for decades and seem content with the arrangement.” She tried to sound reasonable, but didn’t quite manage. These two had lost their minds. “What on earth makes you think that’s likely to change?”

“Take a look at this.” With a few maneuvers of the mouse and some blips and beeps, Laura enlarged the pImages** on the computer monitor to reveal two familiar faces.

Miranda had honestly never realized how much her mother and Laura’s looked alike. Her brief interactions with Aunt Suzanne, mostly at Westfalls Academy where the woman had once worked, had left Miranda with the memory of long dark hair and a wardrobe that favored comfort over style.

But while the woman wore long skirts and a minimum of makeup, a closer examination revealed Laura’s mother to be as striking as Miranda’s own.

The hair was different. The features were different, yet so much about the fine-boned face was the same…the soft full mouth…the deep blue eyes…the aching look that made her face seem raw.

And her own mother…Miranda barely recognized her anguish. She’d watched her mother conduct press conferences filled with rabid reporters and not flinch, but here her expression openly wore the weight of too many years.

“Guess what they were looking at,” Laura said.

“Each other.” Victoria’s voice was soft, affected in a way Miranda had never heard her before. “Tyler caught them on film. Can anything be worth this sort of heartache?”

Miranda didn’t know what to say. Seeing this only drove home how right she’d been to worry about her mother.

When Miranda had married, Troy had been stationed in Virginia, close enough for her to return home for frequent visits. But not long into their marriage, he’d received orders to the naval base in San Diego. She simply couldn’t make it home as often, and her mother had lost an important part of her support system.

Miranda knew because she’d felt the loss, too.

Victoria was more concerned with her own life than she’d ever been with their family. And given their prominence around town, her mother simply didn’t have many friends she could trust or confide in. Certainly not many who understood the stresses of her position in a political family.

But even more concerning was what could happen if the reason for their grandfather’s secrecy turned out to be some scandal. Miranda disliked airing personal business in front of Laura Granger, but as Victoria had chosen to collude with the woman…

“Mother doesn’t need this sort of stress right now. Neither does Father. His opponents will be looking for anything they can find to crucify him with. Even some old mystery. If Mother wanted to talk to Aunt Suzanne, don’t you think she’d pick up the phone and call her?”

Laura shook her head, her hospitality-perfect expression fading behind a thoughtful look. “I don’t. I think our moms are behaving exactly like they’ve been expected to behave.”

“As who’s expecting them to behave?” Troy didn’t give Miranda a chance to ask as he leaned in close.

“The senator,” Laura said. “When he and my mom had it out all those years ago, he told her to choose between her family and my father. She made her choice, and he disowned her. They were very young and the situation was cut-and-dried. He expected my mom to stay away and Miranda and Tori’s mom not have any contact. That’s exactly what they’ve been doing.”

Victoria finally lifted her gaze from the monitor where their mother’s face stared back with that haunted expression. “I’m not convinced that’s what they want. Look at Mother, Miranda. If this is really what she wanted, would she hurt like this after so many years?”

“You’re not a mind-reader, Victoria. You can’t know that’s what’s happening here.”

“No, I can’t,” she agreed. “But I don’t need to be inside her head to know she’s lonely and sad. Isn’t it worth at least a shot? With you living across the country, and me moving to Las Vegas, wouldn’t you feel better knowing she has someone she cares about in her life again?”

Miranda wasn’t sure what surprised her more—her sister’s conviction or her insight into their mother’s situation. She’d honestly thought Victoria didn’t pay attention to what went on in their family. But looking at her sister now…well, she could see that Victoria cared.

Unfortunately caring didn’t mean her sister would act in a fashion that wouldn’t stir up talk about the family, and getting a Ford and a Granger together would stir up talk. “Do you think Grandfather will just smile and wish them well?”

“I don’t know what Grandfather will do. But I’m willing to bet if this family bands together, Mother and Aunt Suzanne won’t have to spend the rest of their lives pretending they don’t want to see each other to please a selfish old man.”

Her vehemence left Miranda momentarily speechless, giving Laura a chance to stand and circle the desk. “I don’t want to see your family in an awkward position. But I think Tori’s right about this. If we pull together, we can change things. We’ve all been acting how we were expected to act. You and I are living proof.”

Troy squeezed her hand and she knew he was gauging her reaction, but she wouldn’t give any of them a reaction.

Trying to bridge the rift between their families could only stir up trouble, and that’s not what she wanted for her mother right now. This craziness would only wind up ticking off their grandfather once and for all, getting Victoria disowned, and then her mother would have to contend with splitting her loyalties between her father and daughter. And Miranda would be clear across the country and not much help.

“What are you talking about, Laura?” she asked. “We’re proof of what?”

“I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching lately.” Laura sounded thoughtful. “When I think about our years at Westfalls, I realize I didn’t dislike you because of who you were. I honestly never made an effort to know you. But I hated being compared to you and always coming out on the short end.”

As much as Miranda hated to admit it, she could relate. Their families were as different as caviar and peanut butter, and being from the caviar side might have afforded her the benefits of wealth and privilege, but along with those benefits came some responsibilities. Public visibility and living up to the standards that generations before her had established were only two of them. Another was pleasing her grandfather.

She sensed Troy drinking this all in. Aside from an overview of family history, she’d never explained the details of her relationship with Laura Granger. As far as she was concerned, Laura was past history, but he couldn’t miss there was more water under this bridge than he knew.

“What is it you want from Miranda?” he asked.

“This is the first time we’re all together since Westfalls Academy,” Victoria said earnestly. “The first time Mother and Aunt Suzanne have been in the same room in years. Come the end of the week, Naughty Nuptials will be over. We’ll all go back to living our separate lives. We won’t get this chance again, and if there’s any way we can solve this problem, I think we should try. Since Miranda’s a part of the family, she should be involved.”

“What about talking to the senator?” he said. “Because Miranda’s right, you don’t want to raise any red flags with your investigation. Who knows what might crop up.”

Victoria gave a huff of exasperation. “I agree with you, bro-in-law, but do you honestly think he’ll tell us what we want to know when he hasn’t even told his daughters?”

In a normal family, Troy’s suggestion would have been a good one. In the Knight family, simple communication would have done the trick. But Miranda didn’t come from a normal family. Her grandfather was a very strong-willed, very stern man. In fact, she had a really hard time imagining any of them—for all their bravado—confronting him about secrets from his past.

Miranda met Troy’s gaze and squeezed his hand to let him know how much she appreciated his efforts to run interference with these two schemers.

“Why don’t we just talk to our respective mothers and encourage them to get together,” she suggested. “If they want to, they will. If not, no harm no foul. They’ll think we’ve all lost our minds, but no one will wind up in an awkward position. You’re right in one regard, Laura. I don’t really know you, but I assume you don’t want this town to start gossiping about your parents again.”

“Of course not,” she said. “But I do think we need to put the past behind us if we can.”

“You’re looking for a miracle.”

A slow, easy smile spread across her face. “It so happens that we specialize in miracles at Falling Inn Bed.”

“Forgive me, Laura, but you specialize in sex,” Miranda said, squelching her impatience. “You might pretty it up like you did in my suite, but I saw the dungeon Victoria’s staying in.”

Her sister laughed. “It was the rack. I told you.”

Miranda only stared at the two of them, uncomfortable with being the object of their amusement.

“Ladies, would you mind explaining how you plan to avoid raising red flags?” Troy asked.

Victoria launched into a breathless account of how they would delve into their grandparents’ lives, and if anyone got interested—which she was sure they wouldn’t—then they’d just pretend to be tracing their genealogy.

As Miranda listened to her sister and Laura, she agreed their plan might yield the answers they were looking for without inviting any interest from the press. But she wasn’t willing to take that chance. Not when they had no idea what they might find.

Before she had a chance to make her argument, though, Troy said, “I can help out with the records. It’s going to be tough to find out about the senator’s orders during his military career, but I’ve got some access. I should be able to get basic information.”

For a space of a heartbeat, Miranda could only stare up at her husband.

He was offering to help?

She recognized his determination to assist in this plan, despite her attempts to convince these two otherwise.

“This is a family situation, Miranda,” he said. “And I’m family. I don’t mind helping if it will get us some answers without cluing anyone in to what we’re doing.”

She still couldn’t manage anything more than a stare, so he leaned close and whispered for her alone, “Damage control.”

“I knew there was a reason you were my favorite bro-in-law.” Victoria launched forward to kiss his cheek. “You’re hired. So what about you, big sis? Are you on board, too?”

All gazes turned to her, and it was then that she finally realized what was happening.

She was getting dragged into this madness whether she wanted to or not.