The Detective’s Undoing Read online

  “Oh, my God,” she whispered. “That didn’t occur to you until just now, that you’re able to leave here, forever. I don’t know if that makes me feel better or worse.”

  She looked away from him, self-consciously tugging at her sweater, which revealed her still-hard nipples. “You were right.” Tipping back her head, she stared up into the sky. “I’ve held back from the people I care about most, and that’s unforgivable. I need to fix that.”

  Then with one last long inscrutable look into his eyes, she turned and started walking away.

  “Wait! Where are you going?”

  “To tell my sisters the truth,” she said over her shoulder. “I’m going to tell them everything.” Then she disappeared into the woods, heading toward the house.

  Well, he’d walked right into that one. She considered her sisters the most important people in her life. Not him. She wouldn’t think that way about him, not when he’d done his best to hold back from her, as well. But dammit, couldn’t he have also been included in that group?

  Cade sank back onto the ground, heedless of the cold, his heart racing, pulse drumming, as he realized the sorry truth. He hadn’t protected or withheld his heart at all.

  He’d fallen in love with her.

  Delia marched into the house, prepared to drop the weight of her past and Maddie’s future as the heir off her shoulders, so when she found herself alone, her shoulders sagged in disappointment.

  Where were they?

  Then she heard voices coming from their office. The wedding, she figured. With only days left, they’d be discussing flowers, food and fun, the three required F’s for a wedding.

  “We can give him the first room on the left,” came Maddie’s excited voice. “So he’s close to all the action. He’ll want that. Any eight-year-old would.”

  Jacob, Delia realized with surprise. They were talking about Jacob.

  “You can’t give a boy that option,” Zoe answered, disagreeing mildly. “Granted, he looks sweet enough, but he is a boy, and therefore trouble with a capital T. He’ll need far more supervision than that. Trust me on this, I know such things, being a fellow wild one. I think he should be near me—”

  Maddie laughed. “I see right through you, Zoe Martin. You want him for yourself. And you pretend to be so tough.”

  “I am tough.”

  “I can’t wait,” Maddie said dreamily. “A little boy. Can you imagine how different his life will be here? How much better off…”

  The voices didn’t fade as Delia moved closer to the office, but the meaning of the words escaped her as she realized it was no one’s fault but her own if they got hurt. She had to tell them the truth.

  But where to start?

  She knew how much Zoe had once wanted to be the heir. She knew exactly how badly she herself had wanted to be heir. But she had no idea about Maddie, who’d been strangely closed-mouthed about the whole thing.

  Well, she’d just start at the beginning and hope she could get it all out without hurting her sisters any more than she already had.

  “Jacob might not be coming,” Delia said quietly after opening the door and facing both her startled sisters. “I’ve lied to both of you.” She drew on her last reserves of strength, knowing she had Cade to thank for having any left at all. “The truth is, I was told months ago by the social worker on Jacob’s case I wasn’t worth enough to get Jacob—”

  “What?” Shock filled Maddie’s gaze. “You were told what? And by whom? How dare they! Your heart alone is worth its weight in gold—how could they not know that? I want a name, dammit, and I want a number, too! Just wait until I get hold of those people.”

  Maddie never swore. Delia stared at her. “His name is Scott Felton, and Maddie, murder is a capital offense.”

  Zoe gave a tight smile. “Only if you’re caught. What do they mean, you’re not worth enough, Delia?”

  “Exactly what it sounds like.” Weary, Delia sank into a chair. “Jacob comes with that large inheritance from his father, which can’t just go to anyone. It has to be managed. Edna is wealthy in her own right and can easily manage a sum like that.”

  “But you’re his sister,” Zoe pointed out. “That counts for more than wealth. Besides, you have this place.”

  “Which, until we actually make money, isn’t worth much. And actually, no, I don’t have it.”

  “Well, maybe not technically,” Zoe said, waving that off. “Not until Cade proves who’s really the heir, but what the heck does that matter? One of the three of us own it, and that’s good enough.”

  For the second time in as many hours, Delia came close to breaking. Their love never failed to blow her away. “It’s not good enough for the courts,” she said.

  “Well, it should be,” Maddie fumed. “But since it’s not, take it. Let’s put your name on the deed.” She looked at Zoe, who nodded without hesitation.

  “Absolutely,” Zoe agreed. “Let’s do it. Call Cade in here, he can—”

  “No.” Delia drew a deep ragged breath. “I can’t let you do that.”

  “Try and stop me,” Maddie said firmly, then softened. “Oh, honey, how could you not tell us?”

  “I’m sorry,” Delia whispered, closing her eyes in misery. “It seems so dumb now.”

  “Sure does,” Zoe said. “Now let’s get Cade.”

  “I…I was just with him.” Two avidly curious gazes ran over her, suddenly taking in the wild state of her hair, her damp clothing and the rosiness she still felt in her cheeks from Cade’s kisses deepening into a full-blown blush. “I mean, we were just talking…”

  Zoe crossed her arms, a wide grin on her face. “Uh-huh. Just talking. That’s why your hair is a mess—with a stick in it, I see. And you have mud all over your butt, Dee. And you call that talking, too?”

  Maddie’s eyebrows shot up as she looked Delia over. “You do have a sort of ravished look about you, honey. Did you—”

  “No,” Delia said quickly. “We didn’t. And we did talk. I’m not ever going to be heir—it’s just not possible. My father was really a man named Eddie Kitze, not Ethan Constance. Which means—” she took Maddie’s hand and managed to smile into her questioning eyes “—you must be the heir.”

  Maddie blinked slowly. “What?”

  “You’re the heir, Maddie. And I don’t think it could have happened to a more deserving woman.”

  Maddie continued to stand there, looking shell-shocked.

  Zoe hugged Maddie, her eyes glued to Delia over Maddie’s head.

  Maddie looked at Delia too. “I don’t want to be the heir. I want you to be the heir.”

  “Maddie—”

  “No, you listen to me, Delia.” Maddie’s eyes flashed with temper. “You’ve been keeping secrets, not out of meanness, but from some misguided notion you have to keep all your problems to yourself. As if you couldn’t trust us with your heart. Us! You lied, and while I know you didn’t mean to hurt us, you did.”

  Delia couldn’t have felt more like slime. “God, Maddie…”

  “I don’t want to be the heir,” she whispered, sinking into a chair next to Delia. “I want Delia to be the heir. I want Jacob here with us, where he belongs. I want…” She let out a little laugh. “I want everything.”

  Zoe dropped to her knees in front of her sisters, and the three of them held one another. “I want everything, too,” Zoe said. “And since we deserve it, dammit, let’s just get it, okay? We’ll put Delia’s name on the deed for now, we’ll take the judge by storm, and we’ll…”

  “You forgive me,” Delia said, overwhelmed with awe and love. She chuckled when Zoe smacked her lightly, then hugged her tight.

  “You idiot,” both Maddie and Zoe said at the same time, then they all laughed through their tears because nothing between them would ever change.

  They forgave her. Delia couldn’t get over it, steeped as she was in their love.

  Only months ago, her life would have been complete with just the knowledge that they would never turn