Kentucky Heat by Fern Michaels Page B

again or appears to be healthy. Throw those two ditties into your equation before you make any rash moves.”
    â€œYou’re copping an attitiude with me, Clem. Why is that?”
    â€œIt’s the nature of the beast. When I came into this, I admired you. Right now I don’t much like you. Don’t worry, that won’t color my defense. I guess I was hoping it wouldn’t get down and dirty. That’s always wishful thinking on my part when I get involved in a case.” She stood up and smoothed down the tight-fitting cranberry suit over her hips. “There’s no guarantee Val will be home to take my call.”
    â€œTry,” Nealy said, the single word edged with steel.
    Clem reached into the side pocket of her Chanel handbag to withdraw a small black Palm Pilot and her cell phone. She punched in the numbers and waited. “It’s her answering machine,” she said, covering the phone with her hand. “Do you want me to leave a message?” Nealy nodded. “Val, it’s Clem Fox. I need to talk with you. Give me a call,” she said, rattling off the hotel number as well as her room number. “I should be there in, say, an hour. We’re having some real bad weather. Kind of like what you are getting there in Texas. I’ll wait for your call.”
    â€œDo you want me to fix you a thermos with coffee, Clem? It really is bad out there.” Nealy stood up and tugged at her jeans, smoothing them down over her hips. For the first time she realized she and Clem were about the same height and weight. But that was where the resemblance ended. For one crazy moment, she tried to imagine what she would look like wearing Clem’s cranberry-silk suit and lizardskin shoes. The first word that came to her mind was ridiculous. But not as ridiculous, she thought, as what Clem would look like wearing her jeans and boots.
    Clem walked over to the coatrack. “No thanks. I don’t have that far to drive to my hotel.”
    â€œI’m sorry if I disappointed you. I can’t be anything but what I am. I wish I could be more refined, more feminine, more like you, but that’s not who I am. I feel, I hurt, and I bleed. My family is all I have. They belong to me. I appointed myself my brothers’ protector, and I’ll use any means available to me to see to it that no one takes away what belongs to them. They started this. For God’s sake, I didn’t even know we had a family until all those Colemans and Thorntons showed up at SunStar Farms.” She let her breath out in a swoosh. “If I could have just one wish, it would be that none of this had ever happened. But it did happen, and I have to deal with it.” She looked Clem straight in the eye. “If you want out, I’ll pay you off, and you’ll never hear from me again. It’s your call.” She inched her way around the attorney to reach for her yellow slicker on the coatrack. “It’s pretty nasty out there. You might want to consider spending the night. You can take the room at the top of the stairs on the right. Think about it before you head out into that mess. I’ll say good night. I want to go down to the barn.”
    â€œNealy . . .”
    Nealy shrugged into her slicker as she stared down at the attorney’s pricey shoes. “Yes?”
    â€œA few minutes ago when I said I didn’t like you, what I meant was I don’t like what you’re doing. When this first started you said it wasn’t right for family to sue family. I felt the same way. I never had a family, Nealy. I grew up in one foster home after another. All those people wanted was the money the state paid them for my keep. I was lucky if I had enough to eat most times. I was married for a short while to a real louse. He believed I should work and he should gamble. That ended real quick, so I never got to have a family of my own.” She set her cup down on the counter. “I