"it gives me no pleasure to come to you with this," leonard continued. "i want you to find out whatever you can about this man who manipulated my daughter into marriage."

"i can do a background search for you."

"dig up everything there is," he said, his face growing red. "this man is a parasite. i can feel it."

"do you have his name?"

"oh, yes, and that's another thing. lori's taken his name. she's no longer lori bellamy but lori wyse. not even bellamy-wyse."

"wyse?" roy repeated slowly.

"yes, like wise guy." bellamy smirked as he said it.

"any relation to mary jo wyse?"

bellamy stared across the desk at him. "don't know who that is. why?"

roy picked up his pen and rolled it between his palms. "my son, mack, is dating mary jo wyse. she lives on the other side of his duplex. i seem to remember mack mentioning that her brother's moved into town."

"you've met this linc wyse?"

roy shook his head. "no, but i've met mary jo a number of times."

"well, lori married lincoln wyse. linc, for short." he seemed to wait for roy to respond.

"they might be related, which means it could be a conflict of interest for me to take this case."

"are you saying you can't be objective?"

"no, i'm saying i know a relative or someone who might be a relative. i'd want you to be aware of that up front. not telling you would be a breach of ethics."

"okay, i know it. now find the dirt on this man."

"dirt?"

"he's a money-grubbing thief, hoping to swindle my idiot daughter out of every penny she's due to inherit." he scowled. "fact is, i'm tempted to cut her out of my will. then we'll see how long this so-called marriage lasts. it would serve her right, too. when can you start?"

roy hesitated.

"will you take the case or not?" bellamy demanded.

"i'll be happy to investigate lincoln wyse," roy said after a moment, "but with your full understanding that this man could very well be related to the woman my son is dating."

"i already said i don't care." bellamy waved off his concern. "how soon could you get me the information?"

"how soon do you want it?" roy asked.

"yesterday. i want this man out of my daughter's life before she does something even more foolish and gets pregnant. i swear she's determined to age her mother and me before our time. if it isn't one thing with lori, it's another. the girl seems to do nothing but embarrass us. first it was duncan and now she marries a stranger."

"she does seem to have an impulsive nature," roy said carefully, still somewhat perturbed by the man's contempt for his daughter.

bellamy stood and again they exchanged handshakes. "i'll wait to hear from you, then."

"i'll be in touch in a few weeks."

the other man held his look. "don't spare the truth. i want it all, understand?"

"i'll make sure i do a thorough search," roy promised.

"good."

with that, bellamy was out the door, seemingly eager to escape. no sooner had he left the office than corrie got up from her desk.

"what did he want this time?" she asked, her eyes narrow with suspicion. she stood in his doorway, her arms folded.

okay, the guy was arrogant and demanding, but he wasn't the first client who'd behaved that way. roy didn't know why his wife found bellamy so objectionable. "he wants me to do a background check on someone."

corrie made a snorting sound.

"i realize you don't like him."

"i have a bad feeling about him," she said. "a bad vibe, as we used to say." she looked at him earnestly. "you've always been particular about the cases you accept. even when i don't like one of our clients, i've never expressed my opinion."

roy cocked his eyebrows.

"fine. maybe i have...occasionally. bellamy pays his bills on time, which is good, but if it were up to me-and i know it isn't-i'd steer clear of him."

"apparently his daughter eloped a few weeks ago and he's afraid the young man married lori for her money." roy stood and walked over to his wife's side. "lori married lincoln wyse. i think he might be mary jo's brother."

frowning, corrie met his eyes. "he is."

"i told bellamy that was possible and i said it might cause a conflict of interest, but he didn't care. he wants me for the job."

"i've met lori and linc," she said, her frown deepening. "they're a sweet couple. i refuse to believe linc married her because she's related to leonard bellamy."

"i'll find out soon enough," roy said.

corrie returned to the front office and roy sat down at his desk again. he was logging on to his computer to begin the search when corrie came back. "i still don't think you should take this case."

"really?" he said, leaning back in his chair. he linked his fingers behind his head and regarded his wife. "and why is that?"

corrie seemed flustered. "he...he wants you to dig up something damaging. if you don't, he'll believe you didn't do your job."

"what makes you say that?"

"isn't it obvious?" she snapped.

actually, it was. roy suspected bellamy was hoping roy would come up with a divorce or two or perhaps a bankruptcy, just to prove to his daughter how wrong she was.

"i told him i'd take the job," roy said, and he was a man of his word.

"then untell him."

"i can't do that." if he accepted a job, then he intended to follow through-and he'd conduct his investigation with integrity. at the same time, he'd never seen his wife this adamant about a case.

"i had a feeling you were going to say that," corrie said with a deep sigh of resignation. "i hope you don't regret this."

roy waited until she'd left the office and closed the door. when he was fairly sure she wasn't listening, he reached for his phone and dialed his son's cell.

"hi, dad." call display was a marvelous thing, roy mused.

"hi, mack."

"what can i do for you?" mack asked.

roy got right to the point. "what do you know about linc wyse?"

"linc wyse," mack repeated. "mary jo's brother?"

"yeah."

"salt of the earth. honest as the day is long. and other assorted cliches. he's a good guy."

"he's married to lori bellamy?"

"yeah."

"does he love her?"

"he married her, didn't he?"

roy smiled. "men marry for reasons other than love."

"not linc. he's not like that." mack spoke with certainty. "you didn't say why you're asking."

"you're right, i didn't." he rarely approached family with business matters but he felt mack's judgment about people was reliable. "thanks. you told me what i needed to know."

"that's all you wanted?"

"that's it," roy answered. "thanks for your help."

"no problem."

as roy disconnected, he grinned. he'd look into linc wyse's background, but he doubted he'd find anything that would satisfy leonard bellamy's hunger for negative information. roy acknowledged he'd derive some pleasure from that when he made his report.

fourteen

after three straight days of rain, the sun broke out shortly after noon on saturday.

mary jo was more than ready to leave the duplex for a while. noelle had been irritable all morning and a distraction would be good for both of them.

despite the overcast skies and drizzle earlier in the day, mack had been working outside, wearing rubber boots. he'd weeded the garden and was now erecting a fence around the backyard. he'd also promised to put up a swing for noelle, which he planned to do.

there was a chance of rain, so mack had suggested they drive down to the farmer's market and include a stop at the library. immediately after lunchtime, she bundled up noelle and they set off, again taking her car.

when they'd parked in the free lot next to the library, mary jo got noelle from the backseat while mack set up the stroller. the baby gurgled happily when mary jo fastened her inside. her little girl was growing so quickly. already noelle was sitting up on her own, and it wouldn't be long before she started crawling.

they returned their library books, then walked over to the market, chatting about joan and jacob and the letters.

"there's grace and olivia. at that booth with all the soap." mary jo caught their attention and waved.

the two women immediately came toward them. grace carried a small bag from the soap people and as they drew closer mary jo could smell the distinctive scent of lavender.

"don't tell me that's noelle," olivia said, leaning over to get a better look at the baby. "oh, my, she has two little teeth."

after the months of chemo, olivia's hair had grown back in short, bouncy curls all over her head. mary jo wasn't sure what the color or texture had been before but it was silver now, and mary jo thought it was beautiful. she hadn't met olivia until last december, when she was in the middle of her fight with cancer. she'd been so thin and pale. so fragile. she was a different woman now, still thin but healthy and vibrant.

"we're off to shop," grace told them after they'd visited for a few minutes.

"have fun, you two," mack said as he steered mary jo toward the market.

mary jo purchased two pounds of fresh clams and invited mack to share in her feast that night. he bought a crusty loaf of french bread from the local bakery and salad makings, plus a bottle of white wine to complement their meal. she told him that soon they'd have produce from their garden-lettuce and peppers and beans.

"our garden," mary jo said again. mack had done all the hard work, tilling the ground and preparing the soil. true, she'd done the planting, but they'd both contributed to the weeding and watering. from the beginning they'd agreed to share the bounty.

"well, sure, it's our garden," mack said, sounding surprised. "and i've enjoyed working in it as much as i'm going to enjoy eating all that good stuff."

a man who liked gardening. that seemed to her a very positive thing. it showed how nurturing and patient he was, how generous. she didn't want to fall in love with him and yet it was almost impossible not to....

out of the corner of her eye, mary jo noticed her brother and his wife. she was about to mention it when she saw linc place his arm around lori. marriage had changed her oldest brother. mary jo became aware of the subtleties it had brought into his life-or, perhaps, revealed in his personality-every time she saw him.