“Today?” There was fear in Cay’s voice.
Alex stroked her hair as he held her close. “Aye, today. Your brothers have three hired guards surrounding her now.”
“She knows you’re here?”
“No. She knows nothing. Since she’s so good at slipping away from people, your brothers thought it would be better not to warn her. They just hired men to follow her and watch everything she did, but not to let her see them. Your brothers want me to ‘surprise’ her.” Alex’s tone told what he thought of that.
Cay’s face lit up as she remembered something. “The doctor died. Didn’t you tell me that the doctor died of a heart attack?”
“Aye,” Alex said. “I like to think the man had enough of a conscience that the guilt over what he’d done to me killed him. Nate says he doesn’t think Lilith meant for me to be accused of her murder. He thinks she meant for the doctor to declare her death a suicide.”
Cay was aghast. “And that would have been better? All your life you would have been haunted by that. A woman killed herself rather than spend the night with you.”
Alex put his hand under her chin and lifted her face. The kiss he gave her told how grateful he was for her understanding.
She put her leg back over him—and he pushed it off. She sighed. “So you’re going to go see her today and ask her why she did such a rotten, horrible, devious thing to you and almost got you hanged?”
Alex chuckled. “I’m glad you’re on my side. But, aye, that’s just what I’m going to do.”
“If her plan was to fake her suicide, please be sure to ask her why she didn’t come to your rescue when she heard or read that you were about to be hanged for murdering her.”
“That question is at the top of my list.”
“Then what? You’ll . . .” She hesitated. “After you settle this, you can go back to Virginia with us.”
“No,” he said softly, “I can’t. I have to clear my name.”
“That’s easy. Just get someone to verify that she’s alive, have a lawyer present the paper to a judge in Charleston, and you’re free. My family will help you. My father knows lots of people, so you should have your sentence removed in no time at all. You . . .” She could tell by the way Alex was saying nothing that there was more. “All right, tell me all of it, even the part you’re hiding.” Her voice was heavy, dreading what she was going to hear.
“I can get the charges dropped, true, but I need for my name to be cleared.”
“You keep saying that, but exactly what do you mean?”
“I hope you never know what it’s like to go from thinking that you have many friends to finding out you have none. Before the day of my wedding, I would have sworn that I had some truly good friends. George told you how he and I used to go out drinking. I . . .” He paused for a moment. “The truth is, I thought I’d done some good things. I can’t tell you the number of betting debts that I forgave. If a man couldn’t afford what he’d lost, if he had a wife and children to support, I often said that I didn’t get his bet in time to post it and gave him his money back. There were many times when men slapped me on the back and told me I was a truly good person. It’s the way I conducted my life. And as for the women, I received many offers, but I never took up any of them. I didn’t want a husband chasing me with a gun, or have a father or brother angry at me for what I’d done to an innocent girl.”
Cay kissed his chest through his clean white shirt.
“I did what I could to earn friendship and respect,” Alex said. “But after Lilith was found dead in my bed, not one person, not one! stood up for me.”
“Except Uncle T.C.”
“Aye, except for him.”
Cay was trying to put together what he’d told her, and when she understood, she wanted to cry. “You want to go back to Charleston with . . . with her and show all those people that she’s still alive. A piece of paper and a quiet settlement aren’t enough for you.”
He gave her shoulder a hug. “You understand.”
“No. I just know you well enough to know that’s what you want to do.” She lifted up to put her head on her hand and looked at him. “I don’t want you to go.”
&nb
sp; “I have to.”
“No, you don’t, and I’m asking you not to. At least don’t go alone. Adam will go with you.”
“Nate is going with me.”
“Nate?” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Why is he talking to you so much? Nate doesn’t make friends easily.”