Miles hesitated. “Do you really think that’s necessary?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Very well.” Miles turned the folder around and searched for an address. “Here it is. Montpelier, New York.”
“Montpelier?” Dread wrapped itself around Rourke’s gut and squeezed as a kernel of possibility exploded. How many demolition contractors were there in a town like Montpelier? He guessed no more than three.
“Yes, Montpelier,” Miles repeated. “It’s a small town west of Syracuse. Quaint. Backward. Less than a half dot on a map.” He rose from his seat and picked up the portfolio Rourke had tossed aside. “Just a minute and I’ll get you the woman’s name.” He rifled through the papers as Rourke’s gut churned with disbelief and panic. “Ah, here it is. Name’s Kathryn. Kathryn Redmond Maden.”
Kate. Rourke pushed back his chair and moved to the set of windows overlooking Chicago. She was out there, hundreds of miles away, just as she’d always been. But one freak accident was about to erase that distance and demolish the walls between them. He could change his mind and send someone else to visit her. He wouldn’t have to see her, wouldn’t have to remember the taste of her…
“Would you like me to see what I can find out about this Mrs. Maden?” Miles asked. “I could do a bit of poking. Perhaps it would make your visit easier if you knew more about her.”
Fourteen years ago I knew everything about her. “Thank you, Miles, but that won’t be necessary. Let me look over the file and I’ll get back to you.” Such a calm delivery—as though they weren’t speaking about her. Rourke waited for Miles to leave before phoning Diana. “Can you spare a few minutes? There’s something we need to discuss.”
“I’m on my way,” she said with the casual self-assuredness that had become her trademark in the business world.
He’d thought about dealing with this over the phone so his aunt couldn’t read his body language or the tiny nuances that might slip through when he referred to his old girlfriend. But if he did that, he wouldn’t be able to study her body language. Had she kept this from him for business reasons or had she connected the family ties and discovered who the widow was?
***
“Rourke?” Diana Flannigan moved toward him, a dynamo of power and authority covered in a designer suit and pearls. The woman had demolished her share of businessmen who’d been fooled by her tiny stature and casual elegance. She’d never married, never expressed maternal desire or interest in anyone not connected to RF Renovations. “Do you have word from Gamitrond?” Diana asked as she slid into one of the wingback chairs opposite his desk.
Always the businesswoman. “Actually, Gamitrond’s on hold right now.” He ignored the raised brow and plowed on. “Why didn’t you tell me we lost a man at the New York site?”
“You were in the middle of a major negotiation. Involving you would have proven too distracting.”
“Since when is a man’s death distracting?”
Her blue eyes flashed. “When you’re in charge of a multimillion-dollar corporation, you can’t concern yourself with every unfortunate incident that occurs. That’s why you have people to take care of those things for you.”
“Damn it, Diana, the man died.”
“Yes, he did.”
“He was from Montpelier.” There. He’d said it.
She met his gaze head on. Even smiled. “Ah, yes. Montpelier. I’m surprised you remember that place.”
How can I ever forget it? “I knew the man who died. Clay Maden. His family had a demolition business in town.”
“I see.”
“I’m going there to pay my respects to his widow.” Kate. Remember her? That got her attention. So, she did remember. He doubted she’d bring it up. Memories of her eighteen-year-old nephew crying until he puked were better left alone.
“Do you really think that’s necessary? Miles said there could be litigation. Aren’t we risking exposure?” She must have seen the determination on his face because she softened her approach. “Can’t you at least send a representative with a check instead of making a personal appearance? Money is all those kinds of people want anyway.”
Doubtful, but he wasn’t in the mood to debate the issue with his aunt who insisted everything started and ended with dollar signs. “I’m leaving as soon as Maxine can make arrangements.” Had her complexion shifted from pale to paste? The change was so minute he couldn’t tell but he’d swear it had.
“I see.”
“Just so you know, I’m making provisions to care for the child.”
This time her face downshifted to the color of soot. She coughed and sputtered. “What?”
“There’s a daughter.” She probably has mud-brown eyes and red hair, just like the rest of the Madens.
“Rourke—”
“It’s time to make things right.” He dreaded the thought of seeing Kate again, but maybe it was time to do that, too.
When Diana left, Rourke retrieved the key from his middle desk drawer and fit it in the credenza behind him. He opened the drawer and shuffled through several folders, searching for the most current, which he removed and laid on the desk in front of him. The file tab was marked with his own bold handwriting—Kate E. Redmond. He refused to think of Kate by her married name. There were eight such files, all reports dating back as many years. He drew in a deep breath and buzzed Maxine. “Hold all my calls for the next twenty minutes.”
“Yes, Mr. Flannigan. Even your niece’s?”
“Especially my niece’s.”
“Very good, sir.”
Click.
Rourke ran his fingers along the tab, tracing the name on it twice before he slowly opened the folder and began to read.
The Way They Were is available at major retailers... Kindle
Copyright 2015 by Mary Campisi
A Family Affair: The Secret is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and situations are all products of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to real persons, locales, or events, are purely coincidental. This e-book is copyright protected. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
ISBN: 9781942158127
About the Author
Mary Campisi writes emotion-packed books about second chances. Whether contemporary romances, women's fiction, or Regency historicals, her books all center on belief in the beauty of that second chance. Her small town romances center around family life, friendship, and forgiveness as they explore the issues of today’s contemporary women.
Mary should have known she'd become a writer when at age thirteen she began changing the ending to all the books she read. It took several years and a number of jobs, including registered nurse, receptionist in a swanky hair salon, accounts payable clerk, and practice manager in an OB/GYN office, for her to rediscover writing. Enter a mouse-less computer, a floppy disk, and a dream large enough to fill a zip drive. The rest of the story lives on in every book she writes.
When she's not working on her craft or following the lives of five young adult children, Mary's digging in the dirt with her flowers and herbs, cooking, reading, walking her rescue lab mix, Cooper, or, on the perfect day, riding off into the sunset with her very own hero/husband on his Harley Ultra Limited.
If you would like to be notified when Mary has a new release, please sign up at http://www.marycampisi.com/book/book-release-mailing-list/
Mary has published with Kensington, Carina Press, and The Wild Rose Press and she is currently working on the next book in her very popular Truth in Lies series, the A Family Affair books. This family saga is filled with heartache, betrayal, forgiveness and redemption in a small town setting.
website: marycampisi.com
e-mail: mary@marycampisi.com
blog: marycampisi.com/blog/
twitter: https://www.twitter.com/#!/MaryCampisi
facebook: facebook.com/marycampisibooks
Other Books
by Mary Campisi:
Contemporary Romance:
Truth in Lies Series
Book One: A Family Affair – Kindle
Book Two: A Family Affair: Spring – Kindle
Book Three: A Family Affair: Summer – Kindle
Book Four: A Family Affair: Fall – Kindle
Book Five: A Family Affair: Christmas – Kindle
Book Six: A Family Affair: Winter – Kindle
Book Seven: A Family Affair: The Promise – Kindle
Book Eight: A Family Affair: The Secret – Kindle
Book Nine: A Family Affair: The Wish
Book Ten: A Family Affair: The Gift
Book Eleven: A Family Affair: The Weddings
Book Twelve: A Family Affair: The Return
That Second Chance Series
Book One: Pulling Home – Kindle
Book Two: The Way They Were – Kindle
Book Three: Simple Riches – Kindle
Book Four: Paradise Found – Kindle
Book Six: The Butterfly Garden – Kindle
That Second Chance Boxed Set 1 (Books 1-3) – Kindle
That Second Chance Boxed Set 2 (Books 4-6) – Kindle
The Betrayed Trilogy
Book One: Pieces of You – Kindle
Book Two: Secrets of You – Kindle
Book Three: What’s Left of Her: a novella – Kindle
The Betrayed Trilogy Boxed Set – Kindle
The Sweetest Deal – Kindle
Regency Historical:
An Unlikely Husband Series
Book One - The Seduction of Sophie Seacrest– Kindle
Book Two - A Taste of Seduction – Kindle
Book Three - A Touch of Seduction, a novella – Kindle
Book Four - A Scent of Seduction – Kindle
The Model Wife Series
Book One: The Redemption of Madeline Munrove – Kindle
Young Adult:
Pretending Normal – Kindle