Mary Baxter - Sultry

“Like marrying Peter and making a home for him,” Cooper said into the reigning silence, his tone grim.

Lindsay’s chin jutted. She was determined not to waver from her game plan. She refused to be lured into another blazing gunfight about Peter. Besides, when Cooper got on his high horse, like now, there was no reasoning with him.

“And acting as my hostess,” he went on. “Something that is damn important to me. Which reminds me, now that I’m feeling like my old self again, I want to have a dinner party. Not a large one, but a party, nonetheless.” His eyebrows shot up. “Need I say more?”

No, but she was about to. “Why haven’t you remarried, Daddy?”

Lindsay knew she’d shocked him again, but that was okay. That question was one she had wanted to ask for a long time but hadn’t had the courage to. Now it just slipped out, and somehow it seemed to fit the natural order of things. Cooper loved to entertain, and he loved women. In her mind, the two were closely linked.

“I intend never to remarry,” he said coldly.

“Do you think that’s what Mother would’ve wanted?” Lindsay asked, fishing for something that even she couldn’t identify. She blamed Tim. He had scraped the scab on an old wound that had never healed. Now it was festering again.

Cooper’s features turned more frigid than his voice. “I’d rather leave your mother out of this conversation, if you don’t mind.”

“But I do mind,” she said, her eyes wide and questioning. “You never want to talk about Mother, what happened to her—or to me, for that matter.”

“You’re right, I don’t. End of discussion.” He got up and strode back into the house.

Lindsay withdrew her gaze from his rigid back and stared into the distance. But nothing was visible. Her eyes were too full of tears.

Tim rubbed the back of his neck. He felt awful, like he’d been drinking for days and was being punished with a humdinger of a headache. He wouldn’t have minded the pain, if only he could say he’d reaped the benefits. Unfortunately, he hadn’t had a stinking drop of alcohol.

Eve. She was to blame. She had caused this roar inside his head, and judging from the way she was glaring at him through her dove-gray eyes, she was just getting started.

“I’m waiting for an explanation, Tim. And not very patiently, either.”

“What if I’m not prepared to give you one?”

She set her teeth, making her face appear more pointed than it normally did. She was an attractive woman, though not beautiful in the true sense of the word—not like Lindsay was beautiful. Maybe “pleasing to the eye” was a better way to describe his wife.

“Well, I’m not prepared to accept that.” Her tone was filled with sarcasm, something that was rare for Eve.

Under most circumstances, she was the quiet and dutiful wife he’d married while in medical school. He’d always considered them to have an okay marriage, because she was content to be his wife and nothing more. She had been a career woman once, but when they’d married, she had given it up.

Tall and willowy, she had shoulder-length dark hair that helped hide the fact that her neck was too long and scrawny. Her strong suit was the fact that she loved to entertain and did it well. She had been the perfect wife for him, and he hated like hell for anything to mess with that.

Now, thanks to his fuck-up, their marriage and everything else he held dear was in jeopardy.

Tim felt that roar in his head shift to his stomach, causing it to rebel. For a minute he thought he might actually have to head for the toilet. He took several deep breaths in succession, and it settled.

“You’re not leaving this room until you tell me what is going on.” Eve paused and seemed to fight back tears. “I’ve never been so humiliated in my entire life.”

He had just come in from the office, later than usual, and he was tired. This had been one day when he’d been forced to work far more hours than he liked. He’d had visions of coming home to a hot shower, followed by a hot dinner—not to a wife with an ax to grind.

“I’ll have some money in the account tomorrow,” Tim said, though he didn’t know where the hell he was going to get it.

“Why wasn’t there some in there today?” Eve snapped. “I couldn’t believe it when the teller told me our account was overdrawn.”

Tim turned his head and rubbed his neck harder.

“Look at me. This is serious, and I have a right to know what’s going on.”

“It’s just a temporary setback,” Tim said lamely.

She laughed without humor. “A setback? It that what you call this? That’s good, Tim. That’s real good.”

“I’ll take care of it first thing in the morning,” he said tersely. “Now, can we please drop the subject?”

Eve walked to the window in the huge living room, decorated to perfection by one of Garnet’s leading interior designers. Tim was proud of this house and the status it represented. The thought of losing it made his stomach do another unwanted tap dance.

She swung back around, her eyes troubled. “No. I’m afraid it’s not that simple.”

“Dammit, Eve, I’m tired.”

“And I’m still humiliated.”

“You’ll get over it.” He was getting mad himself, and it showed. He would hate to have to get ugly and put her in her place, but he just might have to.

“Don’t you talk to me like that,” Eve retorted. “Like I’m some imbecile.”

Tim’s eyes widened in surprise at the venom he heard in her voice. “Now, see here, Eve, I—”

“What have you done with all our money, Tim? Why is it that a doctor of your caliber and success has a zero bank balance?”

“I’ve run into a little bad luck in the stock market.”

She frowned. “But I thought all our investments were protected.”

“They are, at least—” He broke off, exasperation getting the better of him. “Look, you don’t need to worry your pretty head about all this any longer. You just do your thing, and leave the business end to me.”

“I know you, Tim, and right now you’re walking on eggshells. So just how broke are we?”

His mouth tightened. “I told you, it’s nothing I can’t take care of. I’m just in a bind right now.”

“What about your mother’s trust?”

“What about it?” he snapped.

“Get some of it and put it in the account.”

He didn’t say anything, which was the wrong move. His silence obviously spoke louder than words.

“Oh, my God!” she cried, though her voice was low. “You’ve depleted that, too, haven’t you.”

“No, I haven’t,” he lied.

“I don’t believe you, Tim.”

“That’s too bad,” he lashed back. “I’m in charge of this household and the money.” His tone dripped with ice. “Now, I suggest you see to dinner.”

Eve’s eyes brimmed with unshed tears, but she held her ground. “I’ll leave it be for now. But I’m warning you, you’d best make things right at the bank. I refuse to be without money, even if it means borrowing from your sister or your daddy.”

“That’s not going to happen,” he snapped again, feeling as though the floor under him had shifted. He was losing ground fast.

“Then take care of the problem,” Eve said in an unsteady tone. “I’ve never been without funds, and I don’t intend to start now.”

With that, she turned and walked out of the room, leaving a trail of perfume behind that added to his queasiness. He fell into the nearest chair and stared into space.

What a mess he’d gotten himself into. His gaze fell on the telephone on the nearby table. He headed toward it, but his steps faltered. He had an alternative, but it wasn’t one he was overjoyed about.