Butterfly Palace (8 page)

Lily turned at the rattle of the engine. Her eyes widened when she saw him. He beckoned her, and she glanced toward the house, then approached him. Was that fear in her eyes?

He opened the back door of the open-riding sedan. “Heading to town? I have an appointment at the tea shop in town, and you can come along.”

Her hands behind her back, she edged away. “I don’t think Miss Belle would approve. She saw me speaking to you the other morning and questioned me.”

His pulse kicked in his chest. “You said nothing, of course?”

She shook her head. “But you know how I dislike falsehood, Andy.”

“Drew.”

“Mr. Hawkes.” She tipped up her chin.

Her spunk was one of the many things he’d always loved about her. Gripping her arm, he guided her toward the door. “Belle is out with her aunt, as I’m sure you know well.”

“Someone may still tell her.”

As she stepped into the automobile, it was all he could do to resist leaning in closer to sniff the faint scent of honeysuckle. He sprang up beside her, and the springs in the cushion groaned as he settled beside her. “Are you off work today?”

She shook her head. “Merely on an errand for Miss Belle. She wanted me to pick up some books for her.”

The gas engine revved, and the automobile lurched forward. He plucked her hand from her lap. “Are you ever getting a day off?”

She pulled her hand away and edged toward the other side of the seat. “I don’t know. Mrs. O’Reilly hasn’t brought it up. She might be waiting until Miss Belle makes up her mind on whether I’m to be her lady’s maid. Right now I’m doing a bit of everything.”

The market wasn’t far, and there would be no time to tell her all that needed to be said. “Then you must. You can’t work every day.”

She turned her head to look out at the passing scenery. “I’m grateful for the position. I can do nothing to jeopardize it.”

With all his being, he wanted to tell her he’d take care of her. What did he have to offer though? The very danger he’d left to save her from. “You risk nothing by bringing up the terms of your employment.”

“I’ll ask Mrs. O’Reilly about it.” She still wasn’t looking at him. Edwards and Church Booksellers was just ahead. “Come to tea with me. For half an hour.”

She turned to look at him, her blue eyes darkening to indigo. “You left me and never came back. Why? Though I doubt I can believe any excuse you tell me.”

He winced. “I never lied to you, Lily.”

“Your love was a lie.”

“It wasn’t!” He reached for her hand again and she flinched, so he clenched his hands together in his lap. “I have always loved you. I’ve never stopped.”

Her lips parted in a faint gasp. Moisture made her eyes luminous. “You could not have loved me and put me through what you did. You’ve been gone for four years, Andy.
Four years!
Your professions of love are hollow. I could be in the grave like my mother, and you wouldn’t even have known.”

“I would have known. Grace wrote me every month. I got her letter about your mother the day after you arrived.”

Her eyes grew wider. “She’s known where you’ve been all this time? She’s never mentioned a word.”

“She’s my cousin. I swore her to secrecy.”

“But why?” The words were barely a whisper.

Tell her
. He gritted his teeth to keep back the truth. Truth, though admirable, could get her killed. “Men were after me. Men I feared might harm you.”
As they harmed our fathers
. It was as much as he could tell her.

The automobile stopped, and she thrust open the door on her side. “So you left me alone where anyone might have attacked me? That makes no sense, Andy. None at all. In fact, I think you’re still lying to me.” Gathering her skirt in one hand, she stepped down onto the sidewalk before he or the driver could assist her. “As far as I’m concerned, you are merely a guest at the Butterfly Palace. Anything that was once between us is gone. Belle can have you.”

Her back ramrod straight, she disappeared through the door
to the booksellers. He leaped down from the auto and spoke to the driver. “I’ll make my own way from here.”

He glanced at his watch. His appointment was in fifteen minutes. There was no time to chase down Lily and make her listen. He turned back and climbed into the vehicle.

SEVEN

L
ily retrieved the volume of Dickens for her mistress, then tucked the leather book into her reticule. Her nerves still hummed from being in Drew’s presence. Remembering his lies, she curled her fingers into the palms of her gloves. Did the man even know how to tell the truth?

The heat baked up from the bricks out on the sidewalk. She glanced down the street and saw the sign for the tea shop he’d mentioned. Who was he meeting? Though it was none of her business, she found herself moving in that direction. If he was up to no good, she owed it to her employers to find out. She had a bit of money in her purse, enough to purchase a cup of tea. It wasn’t like he had the right to throw her out.

As she neared the café, she saw Drew sitting at an outside table with Mr. Vesters. Neither man had seen her yet, but she kept her head high as she quietly asked to be seated at the table next to theirs. A tall planter obscured her table from view. They were intent in conversation, but their voices carried as she settled into her chair with her back to them. The scent of cinnamon from the rolls on a tray filled the air.

A chair scraped on the pavement, and Vesters’s voice rose. “So that’s your game? I should leave right now.”

“Look, I know what you’re doing, and I want in on it.” Drew’s voice was hard and insistent. “You’ll find me an asset to your operation. I have better contacts than you can imagine. I can double the money you’re making now.”

“How did you find out?” Mr. Vesters sounded a bit more relaxed but still wary.

“Does it matter? What matters is I can help you. I can expand your operation and your profits.”

“Maybe.”

Lily couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. The words used made her uneasy.
Operation
. And
in on it
. Was Vesters doing something . . . criminal? And did that mean Drew was just as crooked? She didn’t want to believe it, but the man behind her wasn’t the man who’d held her hand in the moonlight and promised eternal devotion. He wasn’t the man who’d lit her skin on fire with his touch.

She dared a glance over her shoulder, and her gaze collided with Drew’s. His eyes widened, and the color drained from his face. He quickly recovered his composure and leaned forward to speak to the other man. So quietly Lily couldn’t hear.

She blinked at the burning in her eyes as she drew off her gloves. The smile she slanted up toward the waitress was an effort. “Just tea, please. With sugar.”

“Lily?”

She looked up at Drew’s voice. He was alone. She’d been so lost in thought she hadn’t seen Vesters leave. “I’ve concluded my duties and thought I’d have some tea.” Her voice sounded high and strained. He said nothing as he stared at her. She’d never been able to mask her feelings. “What are you involved in, Drew? If you don’t explain to my satisfaction, I will go to Mr. Marshall and tell him what I overheard.”

Drew pulled out a chair beside her and sat. “What did you hear, Lily? We said nothing of consequence.”

“It sounded as though you were forcing Mr. Vesters to allow you to join some nefarious scheme he’s involved in.”

He looked away, out toward the lorry clattering down the street, then back at her. “I can explain.”

“So you keep saying. Yet no explanation has been forthcoming.” Lily waited until the waitress set down her tea and left. “You can begin anytime.”

“It’s complicated, Lily. I don’t want to be overheard.” He rose and tossed some money onto the table, then held out his hand. “Come along to a more private place.”

Eyeing his open palm, she considered his request. Tea could wait. She put her hand in his, and the touch of his skin against her palm tightened her chest. He still had the power to affect her like no other man. Gathering up her gloves, she went with him.

He led her down the street toward a small park. Children played on the other side of the grassy lawn, but no one was close enough to hear them as they settled on a bench under a tree. The branches screened them from any passersby. The sweet scent of flowers perfumed the air.

She arranged her skirts and listened to the birds chirp overhead. The scent of fresh-cut grass mingled with the roses rambling up a fence nearby. “Well?”

He sank beside her, close enough that his shoulder brushed hers. “I’m with the Secret Service.”

“What? Why, when? You never told me.” She studied his serious expression. His statement seemed ridiculous.

“You remember when I stalked off after the fire?”

She nodded, her throat tight. It was an image she still carried with her. “I never saw you again. Not until last week.”

“I crawled into a barn to sleep. I didn’t want to see you or anyone else. A man found me there. He told me our fathers had been killed because they’d discovered a counterfeiting ring.”

The bench was hard under her thighs but not as hard as the lump in her throat. “The fire was deliberately set? I always wondered how it raged out of control so fast.” She couldn’t bear to think about the horrific night, so she concentrated on the birds chirping and the scent of freshly mown grass.

He nodded. “I agreed to become a Secret Service agent to bring the killer to justice. I had to do something about the guilt eating me alive.”

Though she flinched from it, she thought back to that night. “There was a stack of money on the desk. Was it counterfeit?”

His eyes widened. “You never mentioned that.”

“You disappeared. I couldn’t tell you anything. Go on with the story.”

“My superior told me there was a counterfeiting ring operating in the house next to yours. The Ballards.”

She gasped. “That’s ridiculous. Mr. Ballard was the nicest man. We were all crazy about him.”

Drew’s dark brown eyes were steady and resolute. “I believe that
nice
man killed our fathers.”

Something squeezed in her chest, and she shook her head. “Where’s the proof of that?”

“I saw stacks of money in his barn. That’s where I was holed up when my boss offered me a job. I asked my boss to arrest them and he refused. The Secret Service wanted to get the entire gang. I was told to leave town, and they would send in another operative.”

She struggled to reconcile what she knew with what he was saying. “Why didn’t you tell me? I would have gone with you if you’d asked.” Her heart had never recovered from his betrayal. She’d
never been able to fully trust another man after he left without a word.

“I’m in a dangerous line of work. I couldn’t keep you safe.” His gaze dropped away. “And I didn’t deserve you. Not after my actions killed our fathers.” His lips flattened, and he looked off toward the children. “Ballard killed my father. I’ll have revenge if it’s the last thing I do.”

Lammes Candies was filled with deliciously sweet smells when Belle opened the door and motioned her aunt inside. “Aunt Camille, you must taste their gem. It’s icy and fruity, much better than ice cream.” They passed a display of newspapers. The headlines held the lurid details of the last murder.

Men and women glanced their way from the long bar on the right. Candies of every type filled the glass display cases on the left. The women stepped to the wooden bar beside two policemen, and Belle ordered strawberry gems for both of them. Her aunt signed the tab to have the bill sent up to the house.

Belle took the frosty treats and carried them to the café tables out on the sidewalk. “I thought Uncle Everett would be here already.” She pulled out her chair and settled onto it, then took a tiny taste of her gem.

Her aunt sat across the table from her. “You know how men are, darling. He likely got caught up in politics. Election Day will be here before we know it.” Her eyes widened at the first taste of her gem. “It’s delicious, Belle. I’ll order some to be sent to the house for dessert tomorrow.”

Belle’s good humor evaporated. She’d had plans for Friday. “What’s tomorrow?”

“Have you forgotten the fund-raising dinner already? We have fifty of Everett’s best supporters descending on us. That reminds me—I ordered you a new dress. It’s a daring shade of orange. We will stop and pick it up on the way home.”

Belle had grown tired of all the new fripperies she was expected to wear. Ribbons, gloves, slippers. Dozens of dresses of every color packed her wardrobe. Many she hadn’t yet worn. The thought of so many parties this year had seemed pleasant at first. Now she wished for something of more substance to do. She had no more purpose than the grass waving in the breeze.

“There’s Uncle Everett.” She waved at him. Many heads turned to watch him pass, including those of every woman in the area.

He lifted his hand in greeting and quickened his pace. The sidewalk was crowded, and he paused to allow two women to pass. The bushes lining the walk on the other side of the street by the park parted, and something glinted in the sun.

Belle squinted, then gasped. She leaped to her feet as the barrel took aim at her uncle. Time slowed as she instantly realized the shooter intended to kill her uncle.