Marie Ferrarella - The Coltons - Nick, Clay & Jericho

“That’ll make it simpler,” Nick commented, flipping over a piece of paper he pilfered from the printer.

As the Senator read off the phone number, followed by the address where the foundation was located, Nick quickly wrote down everything. “Got it,” he told the Senator, then added, “I’ll call her later this afternoon if that’s all right with you.”

“Of course. No real hurry. Just keep me in the loop,” the Senator requested just before he terminated the call.

Slipping the cell phone back into his pocket, he looked up and realized that his wife had been standing in the doorway to his office, listening. He smiled at the woman who had won his heart so many years ago.

“I’ve got him looking in on Jewel.”

Meredith strode in on those long legs of hers that he had always admired. Her legs had been the first thing to catch his attention. The trim, but curvy figure—a figure she still maintained—had been a very close second. “I heard.”

Joe gave her a long, knowing look. “Now maybe you can stop worrying about her.”

“Maybe.”

He laughed then, seeing right through her. “Your problem, Meredith, is that your heart’s just too big,” he told her. “You can’t keep worrying about the immediate world.”

“Not the immediate world,” she protested, even though she had always been a soft touch. “Just the part that’s related to me.”

Coming up behind him, she lightly feathered her long fingers along his forearm. He wore his sleeves folded up, a symbol of his getting down to work. She’d always loved the way that looked. Loved the way he just got better looking with age, keeping his physique muscular and fit by working out and riding whenever he got the opportunity. There were telltale sprinkles of gray in his dark brown hair, but they only succeeded in making him look more distinguished.

He’d get the female vote without even trying, she thought.

Joe turned around to face her. “You know, things might be a little easier for you if you told Jewel that you’re her aunt.”

But Meredith shook her head, her short, golden-brown bob swaying from side to side. “That would mean that I’d have to tell her that Patsy was my sister. I’ve gotten Jewel to like and trust me. If she knew that I was the sister of the crazy birth mother who stabbed her father to death on the day she was born because he’d stolen Jewel and given her to a doctor who promised to place her in a good home, she might look at me differently. She certainly wouldn’t trust me anymore. I can’t risk that. She’s been through too much already. On top of not getting any closure from Patsy because Patsy was in a mental institution when she tracked her down, don’t forget Jewel also lost her fiancé and her unborn baby in that car crash they were all in. That’s more than any one person should have to put up with. I just barely got her out of that depression she’d spiraled down into.”

He tucked his arms around her waist. “I’d say finding out that she had such a terrific aunt might just begin to make up for the rest of it. At the very least, that should help her start to heal.”

She smiled up at him, stealing a moment as she wrapped her arms about his neck. “Think you’re smart, don’t you ‘Dr.’ Colton?” she teased.

There were times he wished he was just like everyone else, that he didn’t feel as if he had a mission to fulfill, a cause to champion in order to pay society back for all the good fortune he’d had during his lifetime. That if he wanted to take some time with his wife, a score of responsibilities wouldn’t get in his way.

Compromising, Joe stole a quick kiss. “Yes, I do. But only because I hung out with this really terrific, smart woman. Some of that had to rub off.”

She laughed softly. “That silver tongue of yours is definitely going to get you elected.” With a reluctant sigh, she disengaged her arms from around his neck. “I’d better leave you to your work.”

“Promise me you’ll stop worrying,” he said, running his forefinger down along the furrow that had formed just above her nose, smoothing it.

“I’ll try,” she told him, crossing her heart. Right after I call Clay and ask him to watch over Jewel, she added silently. That was what she should have done in the first place, Meredith decided.

Joe released her just as the phone on his desk began to ring. “That’s all I can ask,” he told her before turning his attention to the person on the other end of the line.

Instantly, he became Senator Colton again, getting back to the ground work for his campaign.

“I’ve got something,” Georgie announced, waving a piece of paper over her head as she walked quickly into her bedroom.

Nick was exactly where she’d left him, sitting at her computer. He tried not to type too forcefully on the keyboard because with each stroke, the card table would wobble precariously.

After a beat, he looked up from the screen on the monitor. “What?” he asked absently. Focusing, he realized that Georgie was holding one of the statements he’d printed out for her.

“I found a charge here that had to have been made in person. There’s no online site for it. Baker’s Jewels,” she told him. When he watched her blankly, obviously waiting for more, she explained, “It’s the name of a jewelry store in Esperanza.”

Her one piece of good jewelry, a bracelet her mother had given her on her sixteenth birthday had come from there. She’d left that in the safety deposit box, along with the deed to the ranch and several pieces of her mother’s jewelry that her mother’s lover—Georgie couldn’t bring herself to think of him as her father—had given her in what Georgie assumed was a moment of weakness. All the pieces of jewelry had been stolen from the safety deposit box. Something else she intended to get back along with her good name.

“I’m going there now. To the jewelry store,” she added in case Nick didn’t follow her. He had that faraway look in his eyes, as if pondering some deep problem. “You want to come along with me to make sure I don’t make a break for it?”

She made the suggestion glibly, as if she really didn’t want him along, but the truth of it was, she did. He’d awoken something within her last night, something she hadn’t even realized was there. She wanted to prolong that feeling for as long as she could. Having him around did that for her.

Nick weighed his options. If he opted to go with her, it would seem as if he didn’t trust her and she’d take offense. If he remained, there was a small chance she could bolt. He didn’t want to be standing there with egg on his face even though the Senator had said he didn’t believe she had a part in this.

Before he could say anything, his cell rang.

“Go ahead, answer it,” she urged, waving her hand at his pocket. “I’ve got to go round up Emmie anyway. I’ll get back to you,” she promised, already going out the doorway.

“Sheffield,” Nick said the moment he had the phone to his ear.

“Nick, someone tried to break in last night.”

He recognized the voice. Garrett Conrad, the Secret Service agent he’d left in charge while he was gone. Garrett was competent, but a little wet behind the ears.

“Garrett, I just talked to the Senator this morning. He didn’t say anything about it to me.”

“That’s because he doesn’t know yet,” Garrett answered. “I wanted to tell you first and ask what you wanted me to do about it.”

Damn, he was wasting his time here. He should have remained in Prosperino. “Give me the details,” Nick ordered.

Garrett recited the events as he’d committed them to memory. “Whoever it was by-passed the security system somehow. Several of the surveillance cameras had black paint sprayed on their lens. The window to the downstairs library was broken. We found a gun nearby. He must have dropped it—and the credit card.”