What are you doing! Chantal hollered, her body quivering. Eaves- dropping!

Lizzie held out the scarf. I was bringing this to you"

Chantal snatched the wrap. Get out of here. Get out! Get out!

And you do not have to ask twice, Lizzie thought as she wheeled away and gunned for the great outdoors.

As she cut through the tent and weeded around the tables and chairs, she took out her phone and texted Lane a cheerful, No- big- deal, Im- heading- home- after- a- long- day message.

God knew that man was going to have a lot on his hands as soon as Chantal found him.

The good news, at least for Lizzie?

No anniversary party to plan.

And Lane had been true to his word.

It was hard to stop a small smile from surfacing on her face. And when it refused to go away, she let the thing stay where it was.

L anes phone let out an electronic bing! just as Chantal marched by the parlor, screaming his name as she headed for the grand staircase. He did nothing to tip off his whereabouts, just let her go upstairs to cause whatever scene was going to roll out in front of the closed door of his empty bedroom.

Funny, just a few hours before, the fact that she was on the warpath would have been an issue hed have dealt with. Now? It was down oh, so low on his list of priorities.

I need to go see Edward, Lane said without bothering to check who had texted him.

Gin shook her head. I wouldnt. Hes not well, and the news you will share can only make things worse.

She had a point. Edward hated their father already. The idea the man had stolen funds?

Gin got to her feet and went over to the bar for a refresh. Is tomor- row still going forward?

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The brunch? He shrugged. I dont know how to stop it. Besides, its mostly been paid for already. The food, the liquor, the rentals.

He was ashamed of the other reason to keep the event on track: The idea that the world might know even a hint of the problems his family was potentially facing was unacceptable to him.

The sound of someone coming down the carpeted stairs at an abso- lute tear made his sister cock an eyebrow. Looks like youre about to have a marital moment.

Only if she finds me"

Chantal appeared in the parlors doorway, her normally pale and placid face ruddy as a tar layers at a BBQ.

How dare you, his wife demanded.

Guess youre packing your bags, darling, Gin said with a Christmas- morning smile. Shall I call for the butler? I think we can grant you that last courtesy. Consider it your going-away gift.

I am not leaving this house. Chantal ignored Gin. Do you understand me, Lane.

He circled the ice in his glass with his forefinger. Gin, will you give us a little privacy?

With an obliging nod, his sister headed for the archway, and as she went by Chantal, she paused and glanced back at him. Make sure the butler checks her suitcases for jewelry.

You are such a bitch, Chantal hissed.

Yes, I am. Gin shrugged as if the woman was barely worth the breath to speak. And I also have a right to the Bradford name and leg- acy. You do not. Bye, now.

As Gin threw out a toodle- oo wave, Lane stepped up and moved his body between the two of them so they could avoid an Alexis/Krystle lily pond moment. Then he went over and slid the panels shut, even though he didnt want to be alone with his wife.

Im not leaving. Chantal wheeled around on him. And this is not happening.

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do this the easy way or the hard way" its your choice. But know if you choose the latter, I will go after not only you, but your family. How do you suppose your Baptist parents would feel if they received a copy of your medical records on their front doorstep? I dont think theyre pro- choice, are they?

You cant do that!

Dont be stupid, Chantal. There are all kinds of people I can call on, people who owe my family debts that they are eager to pay off. He walked back to the bar and poured more Family Reserve into his glass.

Or how about this one. How about those medical records fall into the hands of the press, or maybe an online site? People would understand why Im divorcing you" and youd have a hell of a time finding another husband. Unlike up north, we Southern men have standards for our wives, and they do not include abortion.

There was a long stretch of silence. And then the smile that came back at him was inexplicable, so confident and calm, he wondered if shed gone daft in the last two years.

You have more to keep quiet than I do, she said softly.

Do I. He took a deep draw from the edge of his glass. How do you figure that. All I did was the right thing by a woman I supposedly got pregnant. Who knows if it was mine, anyway.

She pointed to the paperwork. You are going to make that go away.

You are going to allow me to stay here for however long I want. And you are going to escort me to the Derby festivities tomorrow.

In what parallel universe?

Her hand went to her lower belly. Im pregnant.

Lane barked out a laugh. You tried that once before, sweetheart.

And we all know how it ended.

Your sister was wrong.

About you stealing jewelry? Maybe. Well see about that.

No, about the fact that I dont have every right to be here. And so does my child. As a matter of fact, my child has as much right to the Bradford legacy as you and Gin do.

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Lane opened his mouth to say something" and then slowly closed it. What are you talking about.

Im afraid your father is no better a husband than you are.

A tinkling rose up from his glass, and he looked down, noting from a vast distance that his hand was shaking and causing the ice to agitate.

Thats right, Chantal said in a slow, even voice. And I think were all aware of the delicate condition of your mother. How would she feel if she knew that her husband had not only been unfaithful, but that a child was going to be born? Do you think shed take more of those pills shes already so reliant on? She probably would. Yes, Im sure she would.

You bitch, he breathed.

In his mind, he saw himself locking his hands around the womans throat and squeezing, squeezing so hard that she started to struggle as her face turned purple and her mouth gaped.

On the other hand, Chantal murmured, wouldnt your mother enjoy knowing that she was going to be a grandmother for the second time? Wouldnt that be cause for celebration.

No one would believe its mine, he heard himself say.

Oh, but they will. Hes going to look just like you" and Ive been going up to Manhattan on a regular basis to work on our relationship.

Everyone here knows it.

You lie. Ive never seen you.

New York City is a big place. And Ive made sure that all are aware in this family are aware that Ive seen you and enjoyed your company.

Ive also talked about it to the girls at the club, their husbands at parties, my family" everybody has been so supportive of you and me.

As he remained silent, she smiled sweetly. So you can see how those divorce papers arent going to be required. And how you arent going to say a thing about what happened between us with our first baby. If you do, Im going to blow the lid wide open on your family and embarrass you in front of this community, your city, your state. Then well see how long it takes you to have to put on your funeral suit. Your { 217 }.

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mothers out of it, but shes not totally isolated" and her nurse reads her the paper every morning right beside her bed.

With a self- satisfied expression, Chantal turned away and shoved the panels open, clipping her way out into the marble foyer, once again the lady of leisure with the Mona Lisa smile.

Lanes entire body shook, his muscles screaming for action, for ven- geance, for blood"but the rage was not aimed at his wife any longer.

It was all directed toward his father.

Cuckold. He believed that was the old- fashioned word that was used to describe this kind of thing.

Hed been cuckolded by his own goddamn father.

When in the hell was this day going to be over, he thought.

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T W ENT Y- FIV E.

L izzie told herself she was not checking her phone. Not when she took the thing out of her purse and transferred it into her back pocket as soon as she walked through the front door of her farmhouse. Not as, a mere fifteen minutes later, she made sure that the ringer was on. And not even when, ten minutes after that, she unlocked the screen and made sure she hadnt missed any texts or calls.

Nothing.

Lane hadnt pinged her to make sure shed gotten home. Hadnt re- sponded to her text. But come on, like he didnt have a wet cat on his hands?

Jeez.

And yet she was antsy as she paced around. Her kitchen was spot- less, which was a shame because she could have used something to clean up. The same was true with her bedroom upstairs" heck, even her bed was made" and shed done her laundry the night before. The only thing that she found out of place was the towel shed used that morning to dry off with after her shower. Shed hung it loosely over the shower curtain, and since it was still inside the two- day rule for going into the hamper, { 219 }.

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all she could do was fold the thing the long way and thread it back through the rod that was on the wall.

Thanks to a mostly cloudless day, her house was warm up on the second floor and she went around and opened all the windows. A breeze that smelled like the meadow around the property blew in and cleaned out the stuffiness.

Would that it could pull the same trick with her head. Images from the day bombarded her: her and Lane laughing when shed just come in to work; her and Lane staring at her laptop; the two of them . . .

All up in her head, Lizzie returned to the kitchen and opened the door to the refrigerator. Nothing much there. Certainly nothing she had any interest in eating.

As the urge to check her phone again hit, she told herself to cut it out. Chantal could be a problem on a good day. Slapped with divorce papers with the scene witnessed by one of the help"

The sound of footsteps out on the front porch brought her head up.

Frowning, she shut the fridge and walked ahead to her living room.

She didnt bother to check to see who it was. There were two choices: her next- door neighbor on the left, who lived five miles down the road and had cows who frequently broke through his fence and wandered into Lizzies fields; or the next- door neighbor on the right, who was a mere mile and a quarter away, and whose dogs frequently wandered over to check out the free- range cows.

She started her greeting as she opened things up. Hi, there"

It was not her neighbors with apologies for bovines or canines.

Lane was standing on her porch, and his hair looked worse than it had in the morning, the dark waves sticking straight up off his head like hed been trying to pull the stuff out.

He was too tired to smile. I thought Id see if you made it home all right firsthand.

Oh, God, come here.

They met in the middle, body to body, and she held him hard. He smelled like fresh air, and over his shoulder, she saw that his Porsche had its top down.

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Are you all right? she said.