I step forward as he indicates to a woman in her forties, tanned with eyes like a hawk; her husband Peter stands and offers me his hand. He is wearing a blue and white striped polo shirt and white shorts; he is perhaps fifty with a protruding belly and graying dark hair. His handshake is damp but firm. “Nice to meet you.”
“June and Martin Cleaves.” Jack indicates with his chin. “Missy and Jim Durum.”
The men—both Jack’s age, lean and good-looking—shake my hand. June is a mousy woman, as in she resembles a mouse, and Missy is younger. She is an example of a plastic surgeon’s best friend with her false eyelashes, plumped up cheeks and lips. I blink at breasts big enough to use as a floating aid; she is friendly enough and stands to hug me and welcome me to Newport. I like her. With all her enhancements she seems to be the only real person in the group. They talk about sailing, fishing and the stock market. I’m sitting beside Missy and she leans toward me. I turn in my seat to look at her.
“It must be difficult stepping into Laura’s shoes. She was larger than life.” Missy frowns and her forehead doesn’t move. “I was there, you know, the night she went missing.”
My ears prick. I know nothing about that night and lean closer. “Really? How terrible. What exactly happened?”
“No one knows for sure—but I always wonder if Tom was somehow involved.” Missy gives me a knowing look.
I frown. “Tom?”
“Well…” Missy leans closer. “There was something going on. I’m not sure of the details but after Laura died, Tom was demoted. He used to live in the house. It screams coverup to me. Jack suddenly didn’t want his bodyguard, and good friend since college, living in the house. It’s as if they purposely distanced themselves from each other.”
I can’t believe what I’m hearing but I don’t want her to stop. “Did anything involving Tom happen the night Laura died?”
“Yeah, Laura, Jack and Tom were all acting real strange—you know, what’s the word—forced. As if they were trying to act happy.” Missy raises one perfectly manicured finger and points to the marina. “We were all into our third or fourth bottle of champagne before we even noticed Laura hadn’t returned to the party. She’d had an argument with Jack…well, let’s say a disagreement. It’s very hard to get Jack to argue about anything, he is the coolest man I know.”
Intrigued, I look at her. “Go on.”
“I gather she told Jack something about one of the staff and he didn’t believe her. Laura lost it and Jack told her to go outside and cool down. The next minute, Jack is pushing Tom into the galley to speak to him. I never found out what that was all about. Not long after, Tom went out on deck.” Missy leans closer. “Laura didn’t take orders from anyone but she told me she needed some fresh air and Jack was being a jerk.” She shrugs. “That was the last time I saw her alive. The thing is, Laura could swim like a fish. It’s unlikely if she fell overboard that she didn’t make it to shore.”
I meet her gaze. “They never found her, so that never happened. Do you have another theory?”
“Not really. I blame the champagne but another thing someone mentioned is that one of the life buoys was missing.” She gave me a long look. “I guess it could have been washed overboard in the storm. Maybe Laura grabbed it before she fell?”
The idea of being washed overboard horrifies me and I swallow hard. “That leaves a ton of unanswered questions, doesn’t it?”
“I’m not saying anything but I find it hard to believe Laura fell overboard.” Missy shook her head. “She was a fine sailor.”
My gaze moves around the table and cold chills raise the hairs on my arms. “Why would anyone want to hurt her? You were all close friends.”
“That—” Missy rolls her eyes “—is the question I’ve been asking myself for seven years.”
ELEVEN
Jack’s excitement is palpable as he takes my hand and leads me to the marina. His constant chatter in my ear about theLaurareminds me of a small child on Christmas morning. Obviously, sailing is a very big part of his life and yet he concealed it from me during our whirlwind courtship. I’m concerned why something so important to him failed to come out in any of our conversations. As we walk together, luxury surrounds me. I’ve never been this close to so many huge extravagant yachts. They glisten under the sunlight, each polished to a high shine. It seems everyone is trying to outdo each other by buying the biggest and best. Although I’m impressed by the beauty of each vessel, just the idea of even stepping on board makes me queasy. I have tried to control seasickness; I’ve taken medication but the second anything moves under my feet I’m gone, and the feeling lasts for days afterward.
“I know you get seasick but have you tried to ride it out?” Jack squeezes my hand and looks genuinely concerned. “I’ve known people who start off seasick and end up fine sailors after a day or so. Sometimes it just takes a little time to adjust.”
I look at him and shake my head. “I know now that sailing is a big part of your life and I’d love to be with you enjoying theocean. I love the sea, truly I do, but it’s something to do with my inner ear. Anything that unbalances me, even driving fast around a few corners, makes me giddy and sick.” I shrug and meet his troubled gaze. “I discovered the problem when I went on a cruise. I couldn’t get off the ship and spent four long weeks spewing. They gave me seasick pills and they did nothing. The worst thing was it didn’t stop when I left the vessel. It took me a few days to come good.”
“That bad, huh?” Jack rubs his chin. “It must be terrible being like that.”
I stop walking and turn to face him. “I wish you’d have told me about all this before. Now you’ve married a woman who can’t join you in your favorite sport.” My heart aches as I look at him. “I guess as marriage is a contract, and I didn’t reveal all the details of my life to you either, that’s grounds to get an annulment, but I didn’t do it intentionally.”
“An annulment?” Jack dashes a hand through his hair and stares at me. “It might have helped if I’d told you about my yacht. The thing is, Willow, I was so head over heels in love with you, I didn’t want you to believe I was one of those pretentious rich guys. I know this life isn’t what you wanted. The one thing I do know about you is you’re not a fortune hunter. You enjoy the simple things in life and I appreciate that.” He rubs his hands up and down my arms. “I know you want me for myself and all this—” he waves his hand to indicate the marina “—means nothing to you. I know the house isn’t what you’d choose as our home. It’s way too big for us but, in my profession, clients expect to see wealth and prosperity.” His Adam’s apple moves up and down as he swallows hard. “Please don’t tell me you want to leave me because of a stupid yacht. I couldn’t stand it.”
Tears burn the backs of my eyes at Jack’s distraught expression. “I love you, Jack, but you’re right—all this means nothing to me. I’m used to working hard for everything I own.All around me I see waste and overindulgence, while people are sleeping in the streets and kids are going hungry.” I fight back tears. “I can’t be what you want me to be, Jack. Our honeymoon was wonderful; traveling was something I’ve always wanted to do. I figured you’d spent all your savings making it perfect. When you said you were in real estate, I thought as in a Realtor, not a real estate mogul.” I drag in a breath and try not to cry. “I can’t be Laura, Jack. She was refined and sophisticated. That’s not me and never will be.”
“I’ve never wanted a replacement for Laura.” Jack pulls me into his arms and rubs my back. “To be perfectly honest, I never believed I would find anyone to love again. Laura was the complete opposite to you. She came from wealth and it made her spiteful toward other people less fortunate than herself.” He steps away and lifts my chin to look deep into my eyes. “If helping the homeless is something that will make you happy, we can set up a charity. In fact, I could probably build apartment blocks to use as halfway houses until they can get a place of their own.” He smiles at me. “Sometimes being wealthy can be an advantage.”
I blink, hoping he’s not just saying things to make me feel better. “You’d do that?”
“I’ll get my legal team on it on Monday.” He takes my hand and we continue to walk along the sun-bleached dock. “Once it’s established, we can do many things to raise money. I’ll start with a sizeable donation and make plans for the halfway houses. You’ll need a working board to run all the nitty-gritty but you can be involved in all the decision-making.”
Knowing how donations for charities can be eaten up by the paid board members, I stop walking and look at him. “I’m happy to have paid legal counsel and an accountant but I want likeminded people who do this work for charity, not to line their own pockets.”
