still blows me away at times how talented you are. You definitely got all the artistic talent in the family. I still draw like a third grader.”
“What brings you to my side of town?” Gracie asked.
“Oh, I just thought I would stop in and say hi.”
Gracie frowned. Eve was a very busy woman. She never just stopped in. If she went out of her way to drop by, she had a good reason to be there.
“Is everything okay with Sutton?”
“I talked to his nurse earlier and she said he’s having a rough day, but he’s stable.”
“So what is it?”
“What is what?” Eve asked, going for a nonchalant look and failing miserably. “Can’t I pay a visit to my baby sister?”
“Nope. You pretty much always have a reason. You might as well just tell me what it is.” Though she was pretty sure she already knew what was bothering her sister.
“I’m worried about you, Grace.”
“Worried about what?”
“You and Roman.”
“Roman and I are friends.”
“He almost ruined us.”
“It was a long time ago, and he had nothing to do with the recent accusations. That was all Brooks.”
“So what you’re saying is, you trust him?”
“I do,” she said.
Her sister eyed her cautiously. “Completely.”
“Yes,” Grace said, with not even a hint of reservation, and realized it was true. She really did trust him.
“Are you in love with him?”
Again there was no hesitation in her reply. “Yes, I’m in love with him.”
Eve’s troubled look didn’t bode well, so Grace tried to explain.
“I know it probably doesn’t make much sense to you. Hell, it doesn’t make much sense to me, either. All I know is that everything inside me is screaming that he and I are supposed to be together. And though he’s never come right out and said it, I think he feels the same way. We’re just so...good together. I don’t know how else to explain it. Even knowing that it could cause discord in the family, I still want him. And need him.”
“I want you to be happy, Grace. We all do. And though I do have my reservations about Roman, I trust you, and I think that over time, after he proves himself, we’ll learn to trust Roman, too. I just don’t want to see you get hurt again.”
“It’s a chance I’m willing to take.”
Eve took a deep breath and nodded, looking relieved. “Good. I guess I needed to hear that from you. I needed to see how sure you are. Because if you were still having reservations I had every intention of talking you out of seeing him, before you got in over your head.”
Honestly she was already in over her head that first day in Sutton’s office.
“There is something else I wanted to talk about,” Eve said. “Daddy and I spoke last night and he’s made the decision to change his will to include Carson.”
Carson may have been a Newport, but he was just as much a Winchester. He was their brother, which gave him just as much right to the Winchester fortune as her and her sisters. The actions of his parents were in no way his fault, and as such it would be wrong to hold that against him.
“It’s the right thing to do,” Grace said.
Eve smiled and nodded. “I figured you would say that. I had my reservations at first, but I think you’re right.”
“How does Nora feel?” she asked, though Gracie was sure she already knew. Nora cared deeply about people, and had never taken any interest in money or power.
“She feels the way you do. I guess I was the only holdout. But he is our brother. Our blood. My only concern was that Brooks would use him to get what he wants, but now that I’ve gotten to know Carson I don’t think that will happen. Graham said that Sutton’s willingness to help them find their father, and the kindness he showed Cynthia in her time of need, has Brooks rethinking his priorities, and letting go of the bitterness.”
“I know it’s our legacy, and we should honor that, but in the end, it’s only money.”
“Guess we’ll just have to hang in there and see what the future brings,” Eve said.
Though her future was still hazy, one thing Gracie knew for sure was that hers would be a happy one.
* * *
In the world of private investigation, after months of dead ends there was nothing more satisfying than solving a case. And thanks to Sutton and his burst of conscience, less than a week after their meeting with the Newport boys, Roman now knew the identity of Graham and Brooks’s father.
And the only thing more satisfying than solving the case was delivering the good news to the client.
Roman arranged a meeting for Wednesday morning, telling the brothers that he had information, and nothing more. This was news he wanted to deliver in person.
As he’d expected, the men showed up right on time. Roman’s secretary showed them into the conference room at exactly 10:00 a.m. They walked in together looking anxious, and not at all as though they wanted to kill each other this time. Roman suspected that learning the truth about their mother had reminded them of the common ground they shared, and they had begun to repair their relationship. According to Gracie, who had talked to her sister Eve, Brooks had been very humbled by the truth and had begun to reevaluate his priorities, and his opinion of the man who’d essentially saved his mother’s life.
Roman rose from his chair at the head of the table and shook both men’s hands before he said, “Have a seat, gentlemen. Can I interest either of you in a beverage? Coffee? Water?”
The brothers declined with a shake of their heads, and rather than sitting on opposite sides of the table, sat side by side.
“So, you said you have information,” Brooks said. “What do you know?”
Roman slid the file across his desk. “Your father’s name is Beau Preston. He owns a horse ranch in Texas called the Lookaway.”
“That was fast,” Brooks said, looking as if he thought it was too good to be true. He opened the file so he and his brother could both read it.
“Cool Springs, Texas, is not a big place,” Roman told them. “Once we knew where to look, and what to look for, the information was right there. It took some time, though, because the town doesn’t even have a website.”
“There isn’t much here,” Graham said.
“Unfortunately the town hasn’t yet progressed into the
