One More Dance Roxanne Rustand (best non fiction books of all time TXT) đ
- Author: Roxanne Rustand
Book online «One More Dance Roxanne Rustand (best non fiction books of all time TXT) đ». Author Roxanne Rustand
âYou know how he isâalways leaping to the defense of the downtrodden and misunderstood.â Sylvia snorted. âSo I simply reminded him of his current and future duty to this family. I also reminded him of his âlong-standingâ commitment tonight.â
âThe childrenâs hospital gala?â
âI told him that heâd promised to be my escort. He brought me home just a few minutes ago. Nice affair, actually. Big crowd, successful benefit.â She reined in a tired sigh. âSee and be seen, as they say.â
âIs it worth it, Syl?â Dexterâs voice held a note of reproach. âMaybe your kids donât care about all of this.â
âMy children are my life. And Iâm going to see that they take their rightful places in society.â
âWell...maybe they want something different for themselves. Maybe they donât care about all the status and money and power.â
âDonât care?â Sylvia lifted her chin. âTheyâre too young to understand their fatherâs legacy right now, but theyâll thank me in the future. You can bet on it.â
âYou should be thinking about who you want all this forâyou or them.â Dexter regarded her for a long moment, then his shoulders slumped and he turned to the door. âBecause I think youâre going to drive them away, and then youâll have nothing. Nothing at all.â
She clenched her fingers on the back of a chair until her arthritis ached and her knuckles were white, still staring at the door long after Dexter was gone. He had no clue. No clue at all about how hard things were right now.
Which meant, she supposed, that sheâd been a success. Smoke and mirrorsâher life now amounted to that and nothing more, because Ellsworth had died so young.
A stock market plunge had decimated their investments just before his death, but then heâd always been foolishâtoo focused on his constituents to pay proper attention to his familyâs financial security. One avaricious, sleazy little constituent in particular. She'd extracted quite a cozy nest egg for herself in exchange for her silence after the senator died in her arms on the dance floor of some tacky bar.
Heâd been careless about other matters as wellâlike maintaining adequate life insuranceâand he'd left his family in luxurious housing Sylvia could scarcely afford, with mounting debts beyond anything left in the bank.
So now she worked long hours on full commission in an upscale dress shop, on the pretext that she was simply bored and needed something beyond her volunteer activities to fill her time. She found creative ways to keep up a good frontâbuying designer garments and accessories that had been returned to the shop soiled or damaged, and then discounted. Or skillfully refurbishing the classic pieces she already owned.
But above all, she had a planâa perfect planâto ensure that the future would be far, far better.
And her children were the ones who could make that happen.
CHAPTER SIX
PRESENT DAY
Kate rubbed her arms, trying to stir some warmth into her cold flesh. Was it twenty degrees in here? Thirty?
At ten oâclock, the hallway lights had dimmed, leaving just the harsh glare of ceiling lights in the empty hospital waiting room and the glow of the red exit signs at either end of the hallway sheâd been pacing for the last two hours.
Bright light taunted her from behind the double doors marked Staff Only. More than once sheâd stopped at those doors to rest her forehead against the frosted windows, willing someone to come out.
Desperately needing to hear good news.
The last announcements hadnât been promising. Blood loss. Concern about reducing the pressure in Jaredâs brain before permanent damage occurred. From the nurseâs grim expression, things were going worse than expected, and there wasnât a single thing Kate could do to help except pray.
Sheâd certainly kept the line to God open the entire eveningâpraying Jared would survive, praying that he wouldnât have permanent damage. Praying that Casey, Julia, and Sylvia would arrive in time for goodbyes if he was beyond hope, though that thought renewed her silent tears every time.
I wish I could go back...do things right. Take back things Iâve said... Iâd be a better wife. A better mom.
The silence of the hospital mocked her as she hesitated at the doors once again, then resumed her pacing.
At the sudden ring of her cell phone she nearly jumped out of her skin, then fumbled to pull it from her jacket pocket. Her heart raced as she squinted at the name on the screen.
âTom?â
âHow are you holding up, Kate?â Jaredâs law partnerâs voice was warm and sympathetic, but she could hear a note of hesitance, too.
âAll right, I guess. Noââ She shoved a hand through her hair. âItâs awful, waiting to hear. Casey wonât arrive till sometime tomorrow, and Sylviaâs on her way.â
âBut no news is good news, right? He must be holding up in surgery or they wouldâve come out to tell you by now. Iâm just so sorry I canât be there with you.â
âI wouldnât expect you to be. H-howâs Neta?â
âSheâs doing okay.â The single word held a weary acceptance that spoke of all the trials theyâd been through with his wife Netaâs worsening cancer and coping with their three young children. âI hate to keep you on the phone, but thought you should know that a deputy came out to see me tonight. He left just a few minutes ago.â
âAbout the accident?â
âAnd about the deceased. We talked at the house, then drove to the office and looked over the planner that Jared keeps on his desk. We couldnât find anything about an appointment this afternoon. There werenât any messages on his office phone, either, and his cell was destroyed in the fire.â
Icy fingers clenched Kateâs stomach, sending a queasy feeling up her throat. âYou have no idea who that woman could have been?â
âNone.â After a long pause,
Comments (0)