Нора Робертс - Black Rose

“It did. I cracked it.” He turned the Coke can in his hand. “There’s no beer in the fridge because I don’t drink anymore, and haven’t for fourteen years. I’m an alcoholic, and I destroyed my first marriage. All of which I’ve told your mother, in more detail than I’m willing to tell you. Because I thought she deserved to know before we took those initial steps into what I’m hoping is a relationship.”

“I apologize for embarrassing you.”

“You haven’t. Pissed me off some.”

“I’m not sorry about that. She’s my mother, and you weren’t there to see what she went through. What she’s still dealing with.”

“How do you mean, still?”

“She found out tonight he opened a credit card in her name—can’t prove it, not yet anyway, but it was him. Charged on it, so she’s got the hassle of closing it down, dealing with the legal end—and having to tell the rest of us about it.”

Mitch set the drink aside, pushed out of the chair to pace a circle around the room. And it was the temper pumping off him that calmed Harper.

“I thought about hunting him down, beating the crap out of him.”

“I’ll hold your coat, then you can hold mine.”

Another knot in Harper’s belly loosened. It was exactly the sentiment he could respect. “David talked me out of it. David and Stella, actually. Mama would hate it. It’s one of those things she’d find . . . unseemly—then there’d be the gossip that rolled out of it. So I came here to take a few punches at you instead. Work off some of the mad.”

“Mission accomplished?”

“Seems like it.”

“That’s something.” Mitch scooped both hands through his hair. “Is she okay? How’s she handling it?”

“Like she handles everything. Straightforward, takes the steps. She deals. But she’s churned up. More worried that he’ll take the same sort of shot at me, or my brothers. Embarrassed, too,” he added. “It’s the kind of thing that embarrasses her.”

Mitch’s expression went grim. “He’d know that, wouldn’t he? That’ll be the perk, even more than whatever he charged on the bogus account.”

“Yeah, you got that right. I want you to know, if you hurt her, any way, shape, or form, I’ll make you pay for it. Seems fair to tell you up-front.”

“Okay.” Mitch came back to the chair, sat. “Let me lay this out so we understand each other. I’m forty-eight. I make a good living. Nothing spectacular, but I do fine. I like my work, I’m good at my work, and lucky for me it pays the bills and gives me enough to be comfortable.”

As an afterthought, Mitch shoved the open bag of chips on the table in Harper’s direction. “My ex-wife and her husband are good people, and between us—without much help from me for the first six years, we raised a hell of a young man. I’m proud of that. I’ve had two serious relationships since my divorce, and a few that weren’t so serious. I care about your mother, I respect what she’s accomplished, and I have no intention of causing her any sort of harm or unhappiness. If I do, I have a feeling she’ll pay me back for it before you can get off the mark.”

He paused, took a drink. “Is there anything else you want to know?”

“Just one thing right now.” Harper picked up the bag, dug in. “Can I hang out and watch the rest of the game?”

WITH HER HANDSon her hips, Roz studied her newly arranged In the Garden potting soil preparation area. It had taken two full days, eking out time between other chores and working with the precise-minded Stella to set it up.

In Roz’s estimation it would have taken her half that time alone, but it wouldn’t have been nearly as practical a work space. There were tubs of soil she’d already mixed herself, the worktables, the bag storage, the scale, scoops, bag sealer, stools.

Everything was arranged in assembly-line efficiency.

The outlay had been relatively little, which had pleased Stella, who had a head for profit as well as precision. With the simple design of the bags, some clever marketing, and what she knew to be an excellent product, Roz felt confident they’d do very well. Very well indeed.

Her mood was very bright when she turned to greet Harper as he came through the door of the work shed.

“What do you think of our new enterprise?” She held out her arms. With a laugh, she picked up a five-pound bag she’d already filled and sealed and tossed it over to him.

“Good look,” he said, turning the bag over. “No frills. It says this is serious dirt. Looks like something you’d see in a high-end garden boutique.”

“Exactly, and we’ll keep the price down initially, to get it moving. I’m having the bags overfilled by a couple ounces to give me a safety zone. I thought we’d put Ruby on the job, for a start anyway. Maybe see if Steve wants to take some part-time work. It won’t be that labor intensive, or take that much time.”

“It’s smart business, Mama.” He laid the bag down. “You’ve got a knack for it.”

“I like to think so. We still mad at each other?”

“No, but we might be after I finish telling you I went into Memphis to see Mitch Carnegie.”

Her face went blank; her voice turned cool. “Why would you do that, Harper?”

“One, I was pissed off. Two, David and Stella talked me out of hunting up Clerk and beating his face in. Third, I wanted to hear for myself what Mitch had to say about what’s going on between you.”

“I understand one perfectly. I appreciate two, on several levels. But I fail to comprehend why you would assume to interrogate a man I’m seeing. It’s unpardonably rude and interfering. I don’t run around snooping on the women you choose to see.”

“It wasn’t snooping, and I’ve never chosen to see a woman who stole from me or set out to interfere with my life or smear my reputation.”

“You’re young yet.” Ice dripped from the words. “Do you think I’m the only woman foolish enough to get tangled up with an asshole?”

“No, I don’t. But I don’t much care about other women. You’re my only mother.”

“That doesn’t give you the right to—”

“I love you.”

“Don’t use that weapon on me.”

“I can’t help it. It’s all I’ve got.”

She pressed her fingers to the center of her forehead, rubbed hard. “It would help if you added a little trust and respect to that love, Harper.”

“I’ve got all the trust and respect in the world for you, Mama. It’s the men I’m not so sure about. But if it helps any, I worked up plenty of trust and respect for Mitch last night. He might almost be worthy enough to court my mama.”

“He’s not courting me, for God’s sake. Where do you get this sort of . . . We went to a college basketball game, we had dinner.”

“I think he’s stuck on you.”

She stared, and this time lifted both hands to the sides of her head. “My head is reeling.”

He walked to her, slid his arms around her, and drew her in. “I couldn’t stand to see you get hurt again.”

“Bryce only hurt my pride.”

“That’s a mortal wound for us Harpers. And he did more than that. I don’t think Mitch will do the same, at least not deliberately.”

“So, you approve.”

He grinned when she tipped her head up to look at him. “That’s a trick question, and my mama didn’t raise any fools. I say yes, and you’ll rip my butt reminding me you don’t need my approval. So I’m just going to say I like him. I like him a lot.”

“You’re a slippery one, Harper Ashby. Tell you what.” She patted his back, eased away. “You can give me a hand in here for a while. I want to do up twenty bags of each weight category.”

“I thought you wanted Ruby to do that.”

“Changed my mind. Doing some uncomplicated and monotonous work ought to give you some time to reflect on the error of your ways.”

“Talk about slippery.”

“The day you can outwit me, my baby, is the day I see about moving myself into a home. Let’s get started.”

AFTER WORK SHEwent straight home, and directly upstairs to clean up. Wary now, she checked the mail on her desk, looked through the bills. She couldn’t say she was relieved when she found nothing. It was like waiting for the other shoe to drop.

There had been a similar sort of harassment right after the divorce, then a nice period of peace. When, she assumed, he’d had some other woman on the string and was too involved to waste his time poking sticks at an ex-wife.

She’d handled it then; she’d handle it now.

As she was dressing the phone rang. When it hit the third ring, she assumed David was otherwise occupied and answered herself.

“Good evening. Is Rosalind Harper available?”

“This is she.”

“Ms. Harper, this is Derek from the Carrington Gallery in New York. We’re just following up to let you know the Vergano will be shipped to you tomorrow.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Derek, is it? I didn’t order anything from your gallery.”

“The Cristina Vergano, Ms. Harper. Your representative spoke with me personally only last week.”

“I don’t have a representative.”

“Ms. Harper, I’m very confused. The charge has already been cleared to your account. Your representative indicated that you were very taken with the painting, and wished to have it shipped as soon as the showing was over. We’ve had considerable interest in this work, but as it was already sold—”

She rubbed hard at the back of her neck where the tension had settled. “It looks like we both have a problem, Derek. Let me give you some of the bad news.” She explained briefly, caught herself pacing as she spoke, and as a fresh headache brewed. She noted down the credit card company and number.

“This is very upsetting.”

“Yes,” she agreed, “it certainly is. I’m sorry you and your gallery have been inconvenienced by this. Would you mind, just for curiosity’s sake, telling me the name of the painting?”

“Vergano’s a very powerful and dynamic artist. This oil on linen, custom framed by the artist, is from her Bitches collection. It’s calledThe Amazing Bitch .”