and inviting. But now the house, too, felt different, just as the ranch had when she'd arrived. She didn't know how Cynthia could stay here. She knew if it were her, she'd want to get away, but maybe it was a comfort thing. Maybe Cynthia needed to be here at the home she'd shared for the last decade with her husband.
In the bathroom, she found the bottle of aspirin tucked away inside the medicine cabinet, next to a bottle of Ativan. She picked it up. It was a refill prescribed to Lou only two weeks earlier. He had two more refills available. What in the world? Her uncle was never one to take drugs, especially not something like Ativan. His headaches must've been horrendous. What was going on in her uncle's life that he was so stressed-out about? She picked up the bottle and read it again. It was prescribed to Uncle Lou by a Dr. Verconti. Huh. She'd thought he'd gone to the same family doctor as her parents had— Dr. Sherman. He must have switched docs for some reason. Goodness, what had been going on here? And how had she not sensed until the night before her uncle was murdered that something was deeply troubling him? The lawsuits? His memory loss? Where was the money for the breedings? And, what stallion was used to impregnate those mares? Why hadn't she seen that her uncle was in crisis? Had she been so wrapped up in her own problems that she hadn't been available to the one person who had always, always , made himself available to her?
Starting to tear up again, she reached for a tissue, wiped her face and tossed it away. She missed the wastebasket and bent down to pick it up. Her eyes widened.
"Oh, my God," she muttered. There in the trash was a pregnancy test, and Michaela knew from all those she'd taken in the past that this one read positive. Cynthia was pregnant ? But how? Uncle Lou...
From a conversation she'd overheard between her parents when Lou and Cynthia wed, she'd learned that Lou had had a vasectomy. Maybe he hadn't gone ahead with the procedure. Maybe she was jumping to conclusions. She heard the blood rushing through her ears. But, if it was Cynthia— and it had to have been done that morning, because that blue line would have gone away after several hours— and if Uncle Lou had had a vasectomy; that meant... Michaela shook her head. No. It couldn't be, but she knew she would have to find out. Had Cynthia been cheating on her uncle?
THIRTEEN
CYNTHIA WAS STILL ON THE PHONE WHEN Michaela came down the stairs. The revelation that Lou's wife was pregnant, and the strong possibility that the baby was not her uncle's, continued to stun her. Again she thought, maybe he hadn't gone through with the vasectomy. That in itself was bad enough. Here Cynthia would be without Lou to help raise a child, though the alternative was worse: the possibility that Cynthia had been cheating. Michaela's mind wandered even further as another thought struck her— could Cynthia have killed Lou? If she was in love with someone else, maybe that someone else could have done it. No. No way. She would not believe that. She would stick to the hope that Lou had not gone through with the operation. But Michaela knew that to put her mind completely at ease, she would have to check around, and she didn't really want to ask the two people most likely to know: her parents. What a mess.
She left a note for Cynthia saying that she'd call her later. She really didn't want to be there when Cyn got off the phone. This one had to simmer for a while.
She walked out to the barn and spotted Dwayne down the breezeway, putting Loco back in his stall. He waved her over. "How Cynthia seem to you?"
"She actually seemed grounded," Michaela replied. "More so than I would've expected." Or, maybe Cynthia was in as much shock as Michaela was— not only over the murder of Lou, but also about her pregnancy.
"That's her. Strong woman. She get through this. She know that be the way your uncle would want it. But, I think she put up a front right now. I
In the bathroom, she found the bottle of aspirin tucked away inside the medicine cabinet, next to a bottle of Ativan. She picked it up. It was a refill prescribed to Lou only two weeks earlier. He had two more refills available. What in the world? Her uncle was never one to take drugs, especially not something like Ativan. His headaches must've been horrendous. What was going on in her uncle's life that he was so stressed-out about? She picked up the bottle and read it again. It was prescribed to Uncle Lou by a Dr. Verconti. Huh. She'd thought he'd gone to the same family doctor as her parents had— Dr. Sherman. He must have switched docs for some reason. Goodness, what had been going on here? And how had she not sensed until the night before her uncle was murdered that something was deeply troubling him? The lawsuits? His memory loss? Where was the money for the breedings? And, what stallion was used to impregnate those mares? Why hadn't she seen that her uncle was in crisis? Had she been so wrapped up in her own problems that she hadn't been available to the one person who had always, always , made himself available to her?
Starting to tear up again, she reached for a tissue, wiped her face and tossed it away. She missed the wastebasket and bent down to pick it up. Her eyes widened.
"Oh, my God," she muttered. There in the trash was a pregnancy test, and Michaela knew from all those she'd taken in the past that this one read positive. Cynthia was pregnant ? But how? Uncle Lou...
From a conversation she'd overheard between her parents when Lou and Cynthia wed, she'd learned that Lou had had a vasectomy. Maybe he hadn't gone ahead with the procedure. Maybe she was jumping to conclusions. She heard the blood rushing through her ears. But, if it was Cynthia— and it had to have been done that morning, because that blue line would have gone away after several hours— and if Uncle Lou had had a vasectomy; that meant... Michaela shook her head. No. It couldn't be, but she knew she would have to find out. Had Cynthia been cheating on her uncle?
THIRTEEN
CYNTHIA WAS STILL ON THE PHONE WHEN Michaela came down the stairs. The revelation that Lou's wife was pregnant, and the strong possibility that the baby was not her uncle's, continued to stun her. Again she thought, maybe he hadn't gone through with the vasectomy. That in itself was bad enough. Here Cynthia would be without Lou to help raise a child, though the alternative was worse: the possibility that Cynthia had been cheating. Michaela's mind wandered even further as another thought struck her— could Cynthia have killed Lou? If she was in love with someone else, maybe that someone else could have done it. No. No way. She would not believe that. She would stick to the hope that Lou had not gone through with the operation. But Michaela knew that to put her mind completely at ease, she would have to check around, and she didn't really want to ask the two people most likely to know: her parents. What a mess.
She left a note for Cynthia saying that she'd call her later. She really didn't want to be there when Cyn got off the phone. This one had to simmer for a while.
She walked out to the barn and spotted Dwayne down the breezeway, putting Loco back in his stall. He waved her over. "How Cynthia seem to you?"
"She actually seemed grounded," Michaela replied. "More so than I would've expected." Or, maybe Cynthia was in as much shock as Michaela was— not only over the murder of Lou, but also about her pregnancy.
"That's her. Strong woman. She get through this. She know that be the way your uncle would want it. But, I think she put up a front right now. I
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