actions. He’s responsible.”
She shook her head. “Let’s agree to disagree.”
Terrell raised one side of his mouth. “In other words, shut up and leave you alone.”
Renee shrugged her shoulders and smiled. Terrell understood her. She considered him and his sister, Karen, to be her only friends. But even with them, she never really completely let down her guard to be herself. People never wanted to see the real Renee. They only wanted to see the preconceived image, and that image couldn’t be hurt.
“Hey,” Terrell said. “Dad’s cooking out in two weeks and Mom said to tell you to come over around six and bring Miss Gert.”
“Okay, but I’ll have to check with Aunt Gert. She’s usually busy on the weekends.”
He shook his head. “I thought people slowed down when they got older.”
“Try explaining that to Aunt Gert.”
Renee called Alex when she arrived home. She’d been so busy contacting the jewelry stores in Birmingham trying to locate the necklace that she hadn’t thought to ask Alex or Danielle if they had it.
Alex was the youngest of the three women Marc had married. Because of her wealth and past party-girl lifestyle, she hadn’t taken Alex seriously when they’d first met. That had changed. She’d learned over the last few weeks that Alex had a generous heart and a fine business mind.
Alex and Chris’s friend, Hunter Smith, had worked together to recover the millions Marc had embezzled from Alex’s family business.
“Renee, I’m so glad you called. I was going to call you and Danielle tonight,” Alex said.
“Well, you can tell us now. Hang on. I’m going to add Danielle.” Danielle owned half of a large shipping company that her brother and his best friend, Tristan Adams, started before her brother’s death in Iraq. She’d been married to Marc the longest and was a former model.
“Hello, everyone,” Danielle said.
“I’m so excited. I’ve got good news,” Alex said.
“Well, tell us,” Renee said, needing some good news today.
“Hunter and I are getting married.”
“That’s wonderful,” Danielle said.
“Congratulations. I’m so glad everything worked out,” Renee said.
She and Danielle could see that Hunter had deep feelings for Alex when they were all on the yacht. They’d encouraged Alex to take a chance and to not let what happened with Marc stop her from finding love with Hunter.
“Oh, thank you. Little Sweetie and I are so happy and I want both of you to come to my wedding,” Alex said.
Renee smiled. Little Sweetie was Alex’s pampered Chihuahua whom she’d brought with her to Marc’s funeral.
“When are you getting married?” Danielle asked.
“We’re having a small ceremony on the yacht in two weeks,” Alex said.
“Two weeks?” Renee asked, surprised.
“I know it’s short notice but there’s no reason to wait,” Alex said.
“I’ll be there,” Danielle said.
“So will I, Alex,” Renee added.
“Oh, good. Having the two of you there will mean a lot to me,” Alex said. “Oh, but, Renee, you called me. What did you want to talk to us about?”
“I wanted to know if Marc gave you diamond jewelry other than your wedding ring,” Renee asked and waited anxiously for their response.
“No,” Danielle said.
“Me, either. Why?” Alex asked.
“I’m trying to find a piece of jewelry and I wondered if Marc had given it to you, but I guess he didn’t,” Renee replied. It had been worth a try.
“I’m sorry,” Alex said. Renee could hear the sadness in her voice.
“Don’t worry about it, Alex. You’ve got a wedding to plan. What do you wear to a wedding on a yacht?” Renee asked. She didn’t want bad news to spoil Alex’s announcement. She would tell them about Aunt Gert’s necklace after the wedding.
They yielded to Danielle, who’d been a fashion model and agreed to wear a nice dress before they ended the call.
Later that evening she’d placed two chocolate cakes on wire racks to cool when her cell phone rang. She wiped her hands on the vintage apron and removed the phone from the pocket of her skirt. She looked at the number on the screen and steadied herself.
“Hi, Aunt Gert. How was your day?” Aunt Gert and five of her friends had hired a van and a driver to take them to the casinos in Mississippi. She’d told her great-aunt that Marc had a younger brother and she was meeting with him about Marc’s estate. It was mostly the truth and would explain the time she’d have to spend with Chris Foster.
“Never mind about that. Tell me, how did your meeting with Marc’s brother go today?” Aunt Gert asked, her voice brimming with curiosity.
So much for stalling, she thought. She’d been expecting the question all evening. Aunt Gert had to be the nosiest person in the world. The older she got the more personal and blunt her questions became. She’d tried to get her to tone down her questions, but Aunt Gert had said to her, “I’m too darn old to be beating around the bush. If I want to know something I’m just going to ask.”
“It went fine. Both of us want to settle Marc’s estate as quickly as possible.” Okay, Chris wanted to settle the estate quickly and she wanted the necklace.
“So are you okay financially? Marc didn’t leave you in debt like Mrs. Hutton’s husband left her?”
“Oh, no, ma’am. There are just a couple of loose ends to finalize.”
“What kind of loose ends, and did you find out why Marc never told you he had a brother?”
Leave it to her aunt to get straight to the point. She wished she could tell her the truth and remove the weight of Marc’s betrayal from her shoulders. But she couldn’t. She was too afraid she’d lose the one person who hadn’t let her down, who hadn’t left her. “I don’t think they were close. He’s Marc’s younger brother.”
“They must have been close at some point for Marc to make him the executor.”
“I guess so.” Renee sighed. “At this point, I just want this whole thing over with.”
“I know you do, sweet girl.” Her tone softened. “You know if you need me, I’ll come back.”
“No. Don’t cut your trip short. I have got everything under control.”
“You don’t have to do
