“I ruined you,” she said with glee. “I ruined your precious business and now you have nothing.” She turned back to Riley. “I’ve ruined you, too and I’m glad. You know why? Because when you left me, you said Gracie was right. I’ve never forgiven you for that.”
Gracie turned to Riley. “You said that?”
He shrugged. “You were.”
“Wow.”
Pam screamed. “I never got a penny out of that divorce and I want my money now. Do you hear me?”
“Pam,” the mayor said. “Be quiet. You’re obviously not feeling well. I had no idea you were harboring all of this anger.”
“Anger?” Pam started screaming and crying and laughing. Gracie wondered if she
“I hate you both,” she said as she sank back on the bed. “Dammit, I worked so hard. I hate you all.”
“Pam!” Yardley sounded shocked. “I don’t know you anymore.”
“Oh, like you ever did,” Pam said, sounding defiant. “I only ever slept with you because you’re getting most of the estate when Riley fails. I was planning to take half of it and run as soon as we were married.” She looked at Riley. “He keeps a separate set of books in his office. He has a secret drawer in his desk. He’s been skimming money for years.”
“Pam, no!” Yardley protested.
She stood and jerked the sheet free, then wrapped it around herself. “I nearly got everything.” She glared at Gracie. “I suppose you’re feeling fine.”
“Sure. Why would you…” Gracie stared at her, remembering her sudden illness. “What did you do to me?”
“Mixed some very old mayonnaise in your stupid tuna salad. My God, how can you eat that? It smells like cat food. I wanted to get you out of the way and I did. I planned everything.” She kicked Yardley. “Until you messed it all up. I’ll never forgive you.”
Riley took Gracie’s arm. “This is our cue to leave.”
Yardley stared at Pam as if he’d never seen her. “But I loved you.”
“Oh, sure. That’s why you screwed all your assistants. You’re old and you can barely get it up and you’re lousy in bed.” She turned her attention to Riley. “You’re crap in the sack, too.”
With that she stomped into the bathroom, closed the door and clicked the lock.
Riley led Gracie out of the bedroom. She couldn’t believe all that she’d heard.
“It was them all the time,” she said, feeling as if she’d just watched a very intense live show. “The photographer, the cake mixes. Everything.”
“Looks that way.”
“She tried to poison me and it worked. I can’t believe that.”
“I’m sure the sheriff will want to talk to her about that.”
She glanced at him as he walked them out of the house. “You’re not really lousy in bed.”
He grinned. “Thanks.”
BACK AT HIS HOUSE, Riley fixed a pot of coffee and then spread the pictures out on the long kitchen counter. There was plenty of evidence-unfortunately it wasn’t the kind he could use.
“You’re going to call Mac, right?” Gracie asked as she took the mug he offered and sipped. “He can arrest Yardley today. And Pam, although I care less about her. We’ll ignore the sexual stuff, because sleeping with his assistants is gross but not illegal, but he’s been stealing money for years. Isn’t that great?”
“Uh-huh.”
He turned his back on the pictures and stared out the window at the large backyard.
Funny how he’d hated this house when he’d first arrived in Los Lobos. The big space had represented everything he’d hated about his uncle. But in the past few months, he’d grown to like the house. The room, the quiet. Just as he liked the bank. He enjoyed working with numbers, making things right for people. He enjoyed the challenges of playing the funding market, getting the best deal for his customers. He would miss it.
Gracie shook his arm. “Are you listening to me?”
“No.”
“I didn’t think so.”
He looked at her face, at the dark blue of her eyes, the easy smile, the way she lit up when they were together. He couldn’t think of a single thing he didn’t like about her. She was…perfect. Or at least perfect for him.
“I was saying that as soon as the mayor is charged, you have to go on the radio and talk to the town. You can tell everyone it will be a smooth transition and they’ll really like having you as mayor.”
“It won’t work,” he said.
“What?”
“Yardley’s accused me of some things. Now I’m going to accuse him of worse things. Who are the voters going to believe? Someone they’ve known for sixteen years, or me?”
“But the charges.”
“It’ll take a couple of days to get him formally charged by the D.A. It’s Sunday. Nothing’s going to happen until well into next week and the election’s Tuesday. Yardley can stall long enough to tell everyone the truth about my uncle’s will. Once they know why I’m running, do you think they’ll care about what he’s been doing? It’s all true, Gracie. I was only doing it for the money.”
“But…but…No! We have to come up with a way.” She set down her coffee and grabbed his arm. “You’ve worked so hard. I won’t let this happen to you. Can’t you want to stay and be mayor? You could say you’ve had a change of heart.”
He smiled at her. “I have, but who’s going to believe me?”
“I will. I’ll-” She opened her mouth, then closed it. Color flooded her face. “Marry me. That’s what the town wants. Their happy ending. So marry me. We’ll have Jill draw up some papers right now. I don’t want any of your money and I’ll say that in writing. We’ll get married today. We can fly to Vegas and be back tonight. Then we make a big announcement tomorrow. You’ll win for sure. Then we can split up later. It could work.”
She was so damned earnest, he thought. Bright and willing to do anything to help.
“It’s ninety-seven million dollars,” she said.
“I know the amount.”
“Then?”
He’d been feeling something for a long time. A vague feeling he couldn’t identify until just that second.
He tucked her hair behind her ears and kissed her.
“I love you, Gracie Landon,” he said quietly.
She stared at him. “W-what?”
He grinned. “I love you. You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever met. You lead with your heart and I admire that. I want to marry you, have babies with you and grow old with you.”
She opened her mouth to speak and he pressed his fingers against her lips.
“But I won’t agree to anything until after the election.”
“What?” The word came out as a yelp. “Are you crazy? Why are you waiting?”
“Because I don’t want you to ever wonder if I just did it for the money.”
She covered her face with her hands. “This is
“I have money.”
“It’s not about the money.” She grabbed him by his shoulders and tried to shake him. “It’s about your heritage and belonging and having roots.”
“I have money from the oil rigs.”
He loved her intensity and how much she wanted to convince him. Funny how she hadn’t figured out she was all he needed.
“It’s not about the money,” she repeated. “I have a good business. At least I had one. I can rebuild it. I’ll make
