Let this take its proper course, and trust that the outcome is pre-determined and as it should be. But I do expect you to take care of your brother. In that, you shall not fail me.”
“I thought you said I don’t have to be a hero.”
“Don’t sass me. You know the difference.”
“Well, I will say that your faith has never failed to astound me.”
“And your self-determination has worked out so well?”
Edward toasted her. “Touché.”
“How did you find out?” Miss Aurora asked after a moment. “How did you know?”
“I have my ways, ma’am. I may be down, as they say, but I’m not out.” He frowned and looked around. “Wait a minute, where did that old clock go? The one that used to be on the icebox you had before this place was renovated?”
“The one that clicked?”
“Remember that sound?” They both laughed. “I hated it.”
“Me, too. But I’m getting it fixed right now. It broke a while ago, and I miss it. It’s funny how you can be lost without something you despise.”
He nursed his iced tea until it was gone. “That is not the case with my father.”
Miss Aurora smoothed the edges of her apron. “I don’t think there are many that miss him. Things happen for a reason.”
Edward got up and took his empty glass over to the sink. Putting it down, he looked out the window. The garages were across the way, and then to the left, extending out from the house, the business center was a wing bigger than most good-sized mansions.
“Edward, you let this go. What will be, will be.”
Probably good advice, but that wasn’t in his nature. Or at least, it had never been before.
And it looked like some parts of his old self weren’t dead yet.
THIRTY-ONE
As Sutton’s limousine came up to Easterly’s main gates and stopped, she frowned and leaned forward to address her driver.
“I guess we go right up?”
“Yes, ma’am, I think so. The way is open.”
Usually, for large affairs such as William Baldwine’s visitation, the Bradfords ran a system of buses up and down the hill with invitees leaving their cars off to be valet’d on the flats. But there were no uniformed parkers. No boxy, twelve-seater vehicles on the ascend or descend. Nobody else pulling in.
But at least the press was nowhere to be found. Undoubtedly, those vultures had been camping out from the moment the story had broken. Clearly, though, they had been shooed away in deference to a property owner’s right to use their own grass as a parking lot.
“I can’t believe no one is here,” she murmured.
Oh, wait, Samuel Theodore Lodge was behind her in his convertible.
She put her window down and leaned out. “Samuel T.?”
He waved. “Why, Miss Smythe. How do you do?”
Samuel T. was a fashion plate as always, a straw boater with a blue-and-maroon band on his head, aviators shading his eyes, the seersucker suit and bow tie making it look like he was going to the track or had already been.
“All the better for seeing you,” she replied. “Where is everyone? Is this the right time?”
“As far as I know.”
They stared at each other for a moment, asking and answering questions for themselves about the front-page story.
Then Samuel T. said, “Lead the way and I’ll follow.”
Sutton eased back into her Mercedes and nodded. “Let’s go up.”
The limousine started forward, and Sutton rubbed her palms together. They were a little sweaty, and she gave in to the impulse to take a compact out of her purse and check her lipstick. Her hair.
Stop it, she told herself.
As they came around the turn at the top, Easterly was revealed in all its majesty. Funny, even though she had just been to the estate for the Bradfords’ Derby Brunch, she was still impressed. No wonder they put the great white house on their bourbon bottles. It looked like the King of America, if there had been one, lived there.
“Would you like me to wait?” the driver asked.
“That would be lovely. Thank you—no, don’t get out. I’ll open my own door.”
As Don squirmed behind the wheel, she did the duty herself and smiled at Samuel T. and his vintage Jaguar. “Nice car you’ve got there, Solicitor.”
Samuel T. cut his engine and pulled his emergency brake. “I’m rather fond of her. Most consistent woman I’ve had in my life short of my dearest mother.”
“Well, you better put the top up.” She nodded to the thickening cloud cover overhead. “Storms are coming.”
“I thought they were kidding.”
Sutton shook her head. “I don’t