Rachel wondered why Lucas wouldn’t stay for the wedding. If there was one thing she knew about him, it was that he cherished his little sister. He had as a young man, and she sensed that he still did.
He’d made it sound as though he was staying away to spare Emily the embarrassment of having him there. Was his motive for missing his sister’s wedding really so noble?
“What the hell...?”
The outraged bellow practically echoed through the small café, causing several startled diners to jump and look quickly around.
Rachel turned. Her uncle stood close by, his eyes glittering, his usually florid face even redder than usual.
“Get away from that table, Rachel,” he snarled, staring at Lucas. “Are you too young to remember the man who caused your brother’s death?”
Emily inhaled sharply. “Have you forgotten what I told you about slandering my brother? Unless you want to be slapped with a lawsuit, I’d advise you to be quiet.”
Both Wade and Lucas looked at Emily with such affectionate approval that Rachel was almost envious for a moment.
Ignoring Emily’s threat, Jennings pointedly turned his back on the table. “Let’s get out of here, Rachel. We’ll eat someplace where the air isn’t as polluted.”
Rachel winced. Her uncle was embarrassing her with his boorish behavior.
“There’s a table all the way across the room, Sam,” she pointed out quietly. “We can take that one. There’s no need to carry on this way.”
“I’m not staying. Being in the same room with a murderer, and watching our so-called police chief fawning over him, takes away my appetite.”
“That does it.” Emily started to rise.
Wade restrained his fiancée with a hand on her arm. “Maybe you’d better leave, Jennings. You’re getting real close to disturbing the peace in here.”
“Yeah, threaten me and let McBride sit there smirking,” Jennings sneered. “We got ourselves one hell of a police chief here, neighbors.”
He turned disdainfully on one heel. “Come along, Rachel,” he said as though she were a child.
S
he lifted her chin, finding his tone offensive. She had no intention of meekly following her uncle’s orders. “You go on,” she said coolly. “I’ve decided there are other things I need to do this afternoon.”
Sam muttered something ugly beneath his breath and stalked toward the exit. Many of the diners were watching Rachel openly, waiting to see what she would do. Lucas’s dark blue eyes, trained on her face, were completely unreadable to her.
She sighed. “I’m sorry,” she said to all three of them. “My uncle was out of line. He shouldn’t have behaved that way. I hope we haven’t ruined your lunch.”
“You’re still welcome to join us, Rachel,” Emily said, after tossing a scornful look at Sam’s departing back.
“Thank you, but I’ve decided I’m not hungry. I think I’ll go check on my grandmother.”
She risked another quick glance at Lucas. He met her eyes steadily, still giving no outward clue to his feelings—but somehow she sensed he wasn’t quite as calm as he appeared. Her uncle’s words must have infuriated Lucas, and probably embarrassed him. But no one would know by looking at him. Lucas had made masking his feelings an art form.
“I’m sorry,” she repeated, looking only at him this time. And then she turned and walked away with as much dignity as she could muster.
5
“ALL IN ALL,” Wade said later that afternoon, “there just wasn’t enough evidence to convict you.”
Lucas tossed a thick file folder onto Wade’s desk. “That’s because I didn’t kill Roger Jennings. As far as I know, Roger fell from those bluffs without any help from anyone.”
Wade settled back into his chair and assumed what seemed to be a characteristic pose for him—elbows on the arms of his chair, fingers steepled in front of him. “He was on McBride land. You and he had a public history of animosity. Several people around town heard you threaten each other.”
“Roger and I made no secret of our mutual dislike. He was a jerk—and he believed all the garbage his family ever told him about the McBrides.”
“He must have really hated it that you were in love with his sister.”