tanned friend, Katherine. It would be right up Samuel’s alley to be screwing the best friend behind his mistress’ back.
Conscious of being alone and unarmed on Emmitt Hayes’ property, I don’t stick around too long. I key the ignition and add the file and the photo to the box of evidence I’ve gathered. I’ve got a shit ton of work to do.
7
CHAPTER SEVEN
Annalee
----
I ’ve put Emma Grace to bed in Mia’s room. She’s got some clothes at Patricia’s so it won’t be too much of an issue to get her ready for school in the morning. Luckily, I’d had the foresight to bring her backpack with me so she wouldn’t have to go to school sans homework in the morning.
I glance at the clock. It’s pushing ten and I’ve still had no word from Clayton. I’m worried. The only thing predictable about Emmitt Hayes when it comes to a Darcy is hatred. And that’s in public. For a Darcy to show up on his property, even in the company of his brother, is no guarantee. If Clayton comes in a bloodied mess, I’m going to have to raise fifteen kinds of hell.
I check on Patricia again. She’s on a regular schedule with feedings, meds, turning and repositioning her. Everything has been done. I’m doing it more for my own peace of mind and to distract me from other worries than because she actually needs it.
I hear the back door open and I go to the kitchen to see Clayton walking in. He’s carrying a heavy file box which he sets on the counter.
“You wanted my secrets,” he says. “There they are. That’s what I’ve been accumulating for the last year on Samuel. I’ve lied. Cheated. Bribed. I’ve had his apartment and office wired. That’s all the dirt I uncovered. And tonight, Emmitt Hayes handed over a folder that makes this look like child’s play.”
I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Half afraid, I pull the lid off the box and look inside. Photos of Samuel with women other than Erica are on top. There are copies of receipts and credit card statements attached to them. He’s been using his company credit card to pay for hotel suites for trysts with women that are younger than his own daughter. I feel a little sick just looking at it.
“Why?” I ask him. “I don’t understand. Why now?”
Clayton sits down at the kitchen island. There are dark circles under his eye. He looks tired and beaten down in a way I haven’t seen before. I realize in that moment just how heavy a burden he’s been carrying.
“In two months, Mama will receive the last payment from the trust her parents left. It was ten million dollars. There’s another trust that’ll mature in about five months and that has enough money to ensure that she has all the care she needs for the rest of her life… because we’re broke Annalee. All of us. Me, Quentin, Mia… we’ve sunk everything into Fire Creek, and he’s bleeding it dry.”
I didn’t know any of this. He never hinted at money problems. Every month, like clockwork, he’s put the same amount of money in the account I use for the household bills and he’s done it without complaint.
“Clayton, why didn’t you say something? I could have cut back… I could have gotten a job.”
That pissed him off. I can see it instantly. I can see that muscle ticking in his jaw where he’s clenched them so tight.
“That’s not what I promised you,” he says sharply. “I told you when you agreed to marry me that you’d never have to worry again, never have to scrimp and save and do without… not ever a-fucking-gain.”
I’m shaking my head at him. Yes, he promised me that. And when Emma Grace was born he said that it made him happy to know that I could stay home with her, that I could take care of our daughter and be the kind of mom I wanted to be. I never considered for a moment that he might be pushing himself too hard to make those things happen, that the cost to him might be greater than he’d ever realized.
I thought Clayton was being selfish and keeping his secrets.
Conscious of being alone and unarmed on Emmitt Hayes’ property, I don’t stick around too long. I key the ignition and add the file and the photo to the box of evidence I’ve gathered. I’ve got a shit ton of work to do.
7
CHAPTER SEVEN
Annalee
----
I ’ve put Emma Grace to bed in Mia’s room. She’s got some clothes at Patricia’s so it won’t be too much of an issue to get her ready for school in the morning. Luckily, I’d had the foresight to bring her backpack with me so she wouldn’t have to go to school sans homework in the morning.
I glance at the clock. It’s pushing ten and I’ve still had no word from Clayton. I’m worried. The only thing predictable about Emmitt Hayes when it comes to a Darcy is hatred. And that’s in public. For a Darcy to show up on his property, even in the company of his brother, is no guarantee. If Clayton comes in a bloodied mess, I’m going to have to raise fifteen kinds of hell.
I check on Patricia again. She’s on a regular schedule with feedings, meds, turning and repositioning her. Everything has been done. I’m doing it more for my own peace of mind and to distract me from other worries than because she actually needs it.
I hear the back door open and I go to the kitchen to see Clayton walking in. He’s carrying a heavy file box which he sets on the counter.
“You wanted my secrets,” he says. “There they are. That’s what I’ve been accumulating for the last year on Samuel. I’ve lied. Cheated. Bribed. I’ve had his apartment and office wired. That’s all the dirt I uncovered. And tonight, Emmitt Hayes handed over a folder that makes this look like child’s play.”
I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Half afraid, I pull the lid off the box and look inside. Photos of Samuel with women other than Erica are on top. There are copies of receipts and credit card statements attached to them. He’s been using his company credit card to pay for hotel suites for trysts with women that are younger than his own daughter. I feel a little sick just looking at it.
“Why?” I ask him. “I don’t understand. Why now?”
Clayton sits down at the kitchen island. There are dark circles under his eye. He looks tired and beaten down in a way I haven’t seen before. I realize in that moment just how heavy a burden he’s been carrying.
“In two months, Mama will receive the last payment from the trust her parents left. It was ten million dollars. There’s another trust that’ll mature in about five months and that has enough money to ensure that she has all the care she needs for the rest of her life… because we’re broke Annalee. All of us. Me, Quentin, Mia… we’ve sunk everything into Fire Creek, and he’s bleeding it dry.”
I didn’t know any of this. He never hinted at money problems. Every month, like clockwork, he’s put the same amount of money in the account I use for the household bills and he’s done it without complaint.
“Clayton, why didn’t you say something? I could have cut back… I could have gotten a job.”
That pissed him off. I can see it instantly. I can see that muscle ticking in his jaw where he’s clenched them so tight.
“That’s not what I promised you,” he says sharply. “I told you when you agreed to marry me that you’d never have to worry again, never have to scrimp and save and do without… not ever a-fucking-gain.”
I’m shaking my head at him. Yes, he promised me that. And when Emma Grace was born he said that it made him happy to know that I could stay home with her, that I could take care of our daughter and be the kind of mom I wanted to be. I never considered for a moment that he might be pushing himself too hard to make those things happen, that the cost to him might be greater than he’d ever realized.
I thought Clayton was being selfish and keeping his secrets.
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