“She said something big depended on her. That if she didn’t do it, the plans would fail. She would never tell me what plans she was talking about.”
It made no sense to Torie. Lisbeth was poking into her mom’s death, but even if it hadn’t been an accident, an eighteen-year-old murder couldn’t upset any kind of current plans she could think of.
Had Lisbeth stumbled into something unrelated to Torie’s mother’s death?
“Her reference to plans seems odd.”
“Especially here where nothing ever happens. But she wouldn’t budge when I asked her.”
“Did she ever mention a hiding place in the cottage where she lived with Lisbeth?”
Felicia glanced back at the hostess stand as a couple entered. “I’ll have to go in a minute. Bella never mentioned a hiding place, but I’ve lived in some of the cottages. In most of them there is a hidden safe in the back of the closet in the spare room. You might check there.”
“Thank you for your help, Felicia. I really appreciate it.”
Felicia rose and hesitated. “I hope you find out what happened. Lisbeth was so sweet. Everyone who met her loved her. She asked some questions about your mom. Was that her real reason for coming here? She talked Bella into letting her look around the abandoned apartment.”
Felicia hurried off with a pasted-on smile to greet the guests. Torie took another sip of coffee. What kind of plan could be happening here? A big drug run? It would be easy for boats to dock and transport them. Bella’s fiancé could be into something illegal.
Torie ordered an omelet and pulled out her phone to make notes of things to check. Talking to Jason Graham would be first on her list, and she wanted to check on the hidden safe. She’d either missed it or it hadn’t been installed. She had only done a cursory check of the closets, looking for a shoebox or something.
A male voice jerked her out of her thoughts. “Hello, Torie.”
She looked up and her heart dropped. “Matthew.”
“I was hoping I’d run into you again by yourself. I never did apologize for treating you so badly.”
“No, you didn’t, and it’s a little late now. I heard you married Mary.”
He twisted his wedding ring on his finger. “I did, but it was a mistake. I should never have let you get away.”
She shrugged. “Only because you think you’d be running Bergstrom Hospitality by now. You never loved me. And let’s face it, I never loved you. I’m worth more than my money, Matthew. And I’m glad I didn’t settle for something less.”
Leaving her omelet, she rose and walked away. It felt good to tell him the truth. Glancing at her phone, she saw there was still no message from Joe. She could either let this awkwardness stand or she could march over there after breakfast and demand he deal with the situation.
Empowered by telling Matthew the truth, she decided this was a good time to do it.
Chapter 25
Holding a grudge would get him nowhere.
Joe downed coffee and looked at the clock. Seven in the morning. Torie would still be in her room, but he didn’t know what to do with Hailey while he went over there and cleared the air with Torie.
Her lie had shaken his belief in her. If she’d hidden who she was from him, what else hadn’t she told him? He’d always prided himself on being a good judge of character, but this had blindsided him.
And where did that leave those deeper feelings he had swirling in his gut?
And she was a Bergstrom. A future with her seemed a ridiculous notion now. He’d worked his way through college. He and Julie had lived on a shoestring in the early days. Most of the baby things they had for Hailey had been secondhand. The idea of a romance between him and Torie washed away like seaweed on the tide.
The doorbell rang, and he checked his watch again to make sure he hadn’t looked at it wrong. Nope. Five minutes past seven. Who would be here this early? Maybe the police had caught the guy who took Hailey.
But as he neared the window, he recognized Torie’s elegant updo and the proud way she carried herself. Her manner and bearing all made way too much sense now.
He unlocked the door and opened it. “You’re out early.”
“I didn’t get much sleep.”
And the dark circles under her eyes spoke to the truth of her statement. Her braid looked a little messy, but she wore a power suit that proclaimed her true identity.
He stepped out of the way for her to enter, then shut the door behind her. “Coffee?”
“I’d like a whole pot.”
Her wan smile stopped the recriminations on his tongue. There would be time to talk about it after they’d both had some coffee and breakfast.
She followed him to the kitchen, and he poured her a large mug of java. She wrapped her fingers around it and took a sip. “Heavenly. Just what I needed. How’s Hailey?”
“Still sleeping, thank goodness. I took the day off. My boss wasn’t happy, but he understood after I explained what had happened on Saturday.”
“Was she upset last night? We didn’t really talk after Lisbeth’s service.”
“She prattled nonstop about the twins after she got home from Danielle’s, which was good. I don’t want her to be afraid and develop some kind of problem because of it.”
“Maybe she should talk to a counselor, just to be sure she’s okay after all this.”
“I’ll make an appointment with hers today. She hasn’t seen her in a while, not once she accepted what had happened to her mother, but she’s got a good one.”
Torie took another sip of her coffee. “That’s good.” She set her mug on the counter. “I wanted a chance to clear the air between us. We didn’t have time to talk about who I am. What are you thinking?”
“You should have told me the truth, Torie, right from the start.”
She gave an exasperated huff. “Listen to yourself, Joe. Would you have gone into an investigation not knowing if the person you were talking to was involved? You found Lisbeth! Of course I suspected you. I didn’t know you at all. Even criminals have cute kids, so Hailey’s presence didn’t clear you.”
Her eyes were as stormy as the Intracoastal Waterway in a hurricane, and he bristled. “One thing you should know about me is that I detest liars. Fabrication and evasion of truth have caused more heartache than just about anything in our world. I try to make sure I speak truth to the people I care about, and to find out everyone else on the island knew who you were before I did stings. More than stings. It is downright painful.”
Her eyes filled with tears and she stared down at her feet. “I’m sorry for that. It all spiraled down so fast. It was late when my aunt found out, and there was no time to talk to you. I meant to do it Saturday, but we nearly died and I was dealing with all of that. I couldn’t face one more traumatic event. I hope you can forgive me. I was wrong.”
Her humble apology extinguished the heat of his anger. And he was a sucker for tears. Julie hadn’t cried often, but when she did, it was buckshot to his gut. Torie didn’t seem the type to resort to tears to get out of trouble either.
Right after that kiss on the boat would have been the perfect time to tell him the truth. If she trusted him enough to kiss him, she should have been able to tell him the truth.