To Tell the Truth (16 page)

"Was where?" Andrea, asked blankly.

"At Tahoe. At Squaw Valley, to be more precise. He took his holiday there the same time as you. Isn't that a coincidence?"

"Yes, it is." Andrea passed Nancy the dice, hoping to distract her attention back to the game.

But Nancy clutched the dice in her hand, her expressive face reflecting the thought that had flashed across her mind, expectant and anxiously excited. "Did you see him?" she whispered.

For a minute Andrea wanted to pretend that she didn't know who Nancy meant, but she didn't think she would be believed.

"No, I didn't." She shook her head. "It's your turn."

Nancy rolled the dice around in her hands, a thoughtfulness invading her eyes. "Isn't it strange that you didn't see Tell? You didn't see him, did you?"

"Your brother is hardly someone I would forget had I ever met him before he came here," Andrea lied. Her heart seemed to stop and start a hundred times, especially when the light in Nancy's eyes became vaguely suspicious.

"Where were you staying?"

"I rented an apartment for a week." That was a half-truth anyway, but she needed something more to convince Nancy. "Considering all the people who were there at the time, it's really not surprising that I didn't meet him. Besides, I kept to myself—I didn't really go out and socialize."

"No, I suppose not." The agreement was made with reluctance. "Tell really enjoys playing backgammon. Like everything else, he's very good at it," Nancy commented.

The very fact that she didn't glance at Andrea seemed to say that she hadn't completely given up the notion that Andrea and Tell might have met. Outwardly, Andrea appeared composed and interested only in the game they were playing. Inside, she was quaking like an aspen leaf in a storm.

"It's getting to be a very popular game," was Andrea's smiling response. "And it's still your turn."

"It's no wonder you hardly ever win, Nan," her mother teased. "You start talking and your mind gets off on another track. You have to learn to concentrate on what you're doing."

There was a brief moment when Andrea thought Nancy wasn't going to let the subject drop and a cold chill of dread raced down her spine. But it wasn't brought up again. Still, there was a wary curiosity in Nancy's expression each time she glanced at Andrea, as if she guessed that Andrea had not told her the truth. Andrea realized there was a stubborn streak in Nancy just as there was in Tell. She doubted very much if she had heard the last of Nancy's questions.

With that fear haunting her, Andrea stayed close to John and Rosemary for the rest of the afternoon, not allowing Nancy any opportunity to maneuver her into a private talk in case Andrea made some slip that might give her away. It was hard to do because she liked Nancy very much. She just couldn't take the chance of arousing the girl's suspicions again, since Nancy was so clever.

At half past four, Adam Fitzgerald called at the house to see John on business. Andrea answered the doorbell, smiling a relieved welcome at the sight of his familiar face. He handed her a small paper sack as he walked in the door.

"What's this?" Andrea frowned curiously.

"I called in at the drugstore and Sam, the pharmacist, sent it with me. He said you'd asked to have it delivered," Adam replied.

In the confusion of the near discovery by Nancy, Andrea had forgotten that she had telephoned the pharmacy that morning to have her prescription for the sleeping tablets refilled. Pulling her mouth wryly at her forgetfulness, she took the package and set it on the foyer table for the time being.

"Of course it is for me," she admitted. "I guess I didn't expect you to be bringing it."

Adam tilted his head to the side. "You look pale. Aren't you feeling well?"

"I'm fine," Andrea said hurriedly. "I just haven't been getting much sleep lately, that's all."

"Are you still having that problem?" he said, frowning in concern.

She forced the tense muscles in her face into a smile. "It's more of an inconvenience than a problem," she shrugged.

"Does John know you take them?"

"Of course he does. I don't keep it a secret."

A sandy brow arched slightly at her defensive tone, but Adam let the subject drop as Andrea turned toward the living room. "Is John in there?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Would you have him meet me in the study?" he requested turning toward the corridor that led to the paneled room.

"Adam," Andrea spoke hesitantly, "if you don't have anything planned would you join us for dinner this evening?" The longer she could keep a barrier between herself and Nancy, the better her chances would be that Nancy might forget her suspicions and Andrea would be safe again.

"As a matter of fact, I'm at a loose end this evening." His cheeks dimpled in a regretful smile. "Carolyn is babysitting with her sister's children tonight."

"Good." Andrea breathed a silent sigh of relief. "I'll tell John you're in the study and have Mrs. Davison put an extra potato in the pot. After almost three days of being imprisoned in the house by the rain, a fresh face is what we all need at the dinner table tonight."

"There's supposed to be more of the same tomorrow," he grinned.

"Don't remind me," she laughingly said over her shoulder as she started into the living room.

With the message given to John, Andrea excused herself immediately to go to the kitchen to inform Mrs. Davison of the extra person for dinner.

"So Adam's invited himself to dinner, has he?" was the housekeeper's gruff response to Andrea's announcement. "I don't think that boy cares much for his own cooking. I'll be glad when he gets married and I won't have to keep juggling the portions."

"I invited him," Andrea explained. "I thought it would be a nice break from the routine. Can I help?"

"The way you've been mooning about the house since Mr. Tell left, you wouldn't be of much help to me in the kitchen," Mrs. Davison retorted. "You'd be in the middle of something and forget what you were doing."

The last of the housekeeper's words didn't penetrate. Andrea was frozen by the woman's initial statement. The thin-faced woman glanced at her briefly, her shrewd eyes taking in Andrea's pale face and shocked expression.

"Housekeepers inadvertently see and hear things they're probably not supposed to, Andrea,"
Mrs. Davison said quietly, maintaining the rhythmic stroke of the vegetable brush over a carrot.

"The night of the dinner party…you heard us talking in the dining room?" Andrea swallowed tightly, hoping the woman would deny it.

"I heard enough to guess that you hadn't met him for the first time in this house," she answered.

"I see." Andrea stared at her hands, twisting them nervously in front of her. "And what do you propose to do about it?"

"Me?" The housekeeper shrugged. "I don't plan to do anything about it, or the expensive ring upstairs in your drawer, I'm just wondering what you're going to do about it."

"You…You know about the ring too?" Andrea asked in a stricken voice.

"I found it by accident." The thin face was softened by a sympathetic smile. "Haven't you told Mr. Grant?"

"You must have realized that it wouldn't make any difference, Mrs. Davison." With a supreme effort to gain control, Andrea tossed her hair, lifting her chin proudly. "And I've already been enough of a burden to John without going to him with more of my sorrows."

The housekeeper sighed. "It's for you to decide. I won't be saying a word. I probably shouldn't have opened my mouth to begin with, but I watched you silently grieving for your parents and that no-good boy you were engaged to. The haunted look was just leaving your eyes when you went on that holiday last winter. I've grown fond of you, child." Her eyes anxiously searched Andrea's taut face. "It hurts me to see the pain back."

Andrea pressed her trembling lips together, touched by the concern and affection expressed by the usually restrained woman. "Thank you, Mrs. Davison, but everything will work out."

"There, I've gone and upset you?" The woman smiled in genuine regret. "Why don't you go upstairs and take a long, hot bath? I'll make sure no one disturbs you."

"I think I will.
"
Andrea knew she was in no condition to return to the living room. Her precarious composure would not stand up under Nancy's scrutiny or any probing examination of her holiday in Tahoe.

Chapter Nine

ADAM'S PRESENCE at the dinner table that evening was a godsend for Andrea. His easy, outgoing personality kept the conversation on impersonal topics. It had taken little argument to persuade him to stay for part of the evening. When he finally left, a peaceful quiet settled over the house and Andrea knew she didn't need to be afraid that Nancy might bring up the subject of her brother again, at least not that night.

By ten o'clock, everyone had retired to their respective bedrooms. As Andrea creamed the make-up from her face, the carefree mask she had worn that evening was slowly removed at the same time. Her large, hazel green eyes reflected the pain from within. Even the dark gold of her hair seemed less bright. Staring down at the birthstone ring, which was her wedding band, she touched the two stones that had been remounted the previous winter. Slowly, she removed the ring from her finger and laid it on the dressing table.

Walking to the dresser, she reached into the corner of one of the drawers and took out the small jeweler's box hiding in the back. Strangely, the silver gold band was warm as she slipped it on her finger. The rainbow colors of the diamond solitaire sparkled mockingly into her face.

"I'll only wear it again this once," Andrea whispered in a promise to herself. "Only for a little while." Folding her hands together, she carried the ring to her lips, closing the gold tips of her lashes against the acid dryness of her eyes, "I love you so, Tell," she murmured achingly.

Walking to the curved window on the mock tower side of her room, she stared into the black drizzle of the night. Her mind's eye saw a mountain of white snow and Tell leaning on his ski poles, his dark eyes crinkling at the corners to match the warm smile on the masculine mouth, raven black hair glistening with the brilliant blue hues of the Sierra sky.

For long moments, she allowed the image to dominate her mind before turning away from the window with a dejected sigh. The turned down covers on the brass bed weren't at all inviting to Andrea, but neither was the prospect of remaining awake with her thought.

With another sigh, she walked into the adjoining bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet. Then she remembered that her new supply of sleeping pills was still on the table in the foyer. Frowning that she hadn't remembered them before, she reached for the short terry robe on the door hook, pulled it on and tied the sash around her waist.

The upstairs was quiet and Andrea tiptoed along the corridor so as not to disturb Nancy and Rosemary Collins. She didn't want to run the risk of a late-night chitchat with Nancy. At the bottom of the stairs was the soft yellow glow from one of the suspended gold lamps always left on in the foyer. As her bare foot touched the rug covering the ground floor, the Irish setter came padding out of the living room, his feathery, red gold tail wagging slightly in greeting.

Andrea had been positive that John had gone to his room, but the presence of Shawn indicated otherwise. As she peered into the darkened room, there was no discernible shape that she could identify as John. Then the dog ambled down the hallway leading to the master suite. Andrea decided that he must have been wandering through the house and that she had been right in believing John was in bed.

Hurrying slightly, Andrea moved toward the foyer table and the small package from the pharmacy still sitting on its top. As her hand reached to pick up the packet containing the bottle of sleeping pills, she caught a glimpse of an unfamiliar object out of the corner of her eye. A sideways glance of investigation focused on a raincoat hanging on the coat tree, droplets of water still clinging to its waterproof exterior.

Pivoting sharply, she stared toward the living room and into Tell's impassive expression as he stood in the darkened doorway. Her heart stopped completely in an instant of disbelief.

"What are you doing here?" she breathed.

"I came back," Tell answered simply as if he had intended to all along.

As he stepped farther into the light of the foyer, the yellow glow marked the contrast of the white of his shirt and the teak brown of his tanned skin. A striped tie of gold and brown was draped around his neck, the top buttons of his shirt were undone. His black hair gleamed with dampness, accenting the raven sheen and shading his face.

"Why?" Andrea whispered, wondering if he enjoyed tormenting her.

Her hazel eyes grew large with pain and confusion. At least she understood why the dog had been in the living room. He had obviously heard the late-night arrival of Tell and had wandered around the house to investigate.

Tell shrugged, his unrevealing eyes never leaving her stricken face. "What are you doing downstairs?" A hint of impatience at her appearance underlined his question.

Breaking free of his compelling gaze, Andrea picked up the packet with the tablets from the small table, clutching it in her hands in front of her as if it were a shield.