Truth and Justice - Fern Michaels Page 0,57

out of her sight for even one little minute. She regretted it almost immediately because all Andy did was talk about Bella. It was Bella this and Bella that, and how Bella wasn’t into makeup like Sara was or fancy clothes like Sara wore. She worked hard, was frugal, and she was an orphan, and on and on he blathered until she finally snapped at him, “Enough already, Andy! I had no idea my clothes and makeup offended you,” she screeched. Something she’d never ever done.

Because Andy was good-natured, he took Sara’s comment in stride and toned down his comments, but he did say, “I’m not letting this one get away. We’re meant for each other. I know it, I feel it in every bone of my body. Soon as you meet her, you’ll know what I’m talking about.” Then he added insult to injury, and said, for the umpteenth time, “Sara, my dearest darling sister, you need to find a boyfriend who will love you like I love Bella!” Right then she wanted to throw up and scream at him. I did find him, he’s standing in front of me! It’s you, you fool! Why can’t you see it?

And then the magic was gone. Just like that. That quick, the love was gone to allow hate to seep into her pores. They went to Oklahoma, where she pretended to be glad to see Sonia and Dan, who smiled at her but hugged and kissed Andy till he cried for mercy. Then they returned together to San Francisco, and Andy sought out the faceless Bella for a brief few hours. When Andy returned to her tiny apartment to gather up his things and head to the airport, she knew from the look on his face that he had cemented his relationship with Bella.

Andy had sex written all over his face. How she kept it together she didn’t know, even after all these years. She did, though, and somehow she even managed to smile and wave goodbye and not show how devastated she was when Andy didn’t kiss her goodbye. He did, however, stop in the doorway and blow her an air kiss that she did not return. She knew he didn’t even notice.

Sara tried every trick in her arsenal to find out Bella’s last name from Andy even though she already had the information. She wanted to see what he would say, but he was having none of it. He made it clear that Bella was off-limits, even to her. What she took that to mean was that Andy was saying “I’m not telling you because I don’t want you screwing it up for me.” The realization hurt so bad, Sara thought she was going to bleed.

Andy left, and Sara continued to do what Andy told her to do so many times—she found a boyfriend. After ten years of going from rich boyfriend to rich fiancé to an occasional rich husband and back again to rich boyfriend, she’d lost count of the number of boyfriends and fiancés—dozens. All of them meaningless. Two, she married early on and never bothered to divorce. Both as meaningless to her as her other relationships.

But all of them had money. Which she helped herself to, to line her nest egg. She always made sure to clean out their bank accounts before moving on. Always with a new name and identity.

Until Steven Conover. He was the nicest of all the men she’d filled her life with. She actually liked him. But he wasn’t Andy Nolan. And yet he was by far the richest. Which meant she was now rich. She knew to the penny what her portfolio was worth. High seven figures.

Sara let her mind go back further to Sonia’s and Dan’s deaths, which didn’t bother her in the least. She’d tried to whip up some tears for the benefit of the Olsens, but she simply could not squeeze them out of her dry eyes. She did her duty. She sat in the metal chair in the funeral home, shaking hands with the Nolans’ friends. Andy had been notified but didn’t arrive until after the funeral. He’d cried on her shoulder. Sobbed, actually. She had closed her eyes and let her dreams take hold as she stroked his head and wiped at his tears and kissed his cheek. He’d burrowed against her chest. It felt so good, she thought she was going to black out. Then he’d jumped up and run out of the house.

When he