Cover-Up

His wife was seated at the other end of the table, her soft cap of gray curls dancing in the breeze that perpetually blew off the waters of Lake Michigan.

Charley sat on one side of the table, between Hannah and Courtney, while Emily and Sidney sat across from them.

Emily passed a basket of rolls to her grandmother. “I still can’t believe your retirement party is this week. Are you ready for your big kickoff night?”

“Probably more so than you. I hear the tribute committee has been pestering you with calls all morning.”

Emily sighed. “Now I know why they asked me to be the chairman of this tribute. Every time they need something done, they call their chairman and dump it all in my lap.”

Hannah looked around the table and grinned. “That’s because you have Sucker written on your forehead.”

Emily joined in the laughter at her expense and accepted a piece of salmon, then held the platter while her grandmother selected one for herself. “I didn’t have a clue what I was signing up for.”

“It’ll soon be over and you can get back to a normal life.” Frank took a taste of salmon. Pleased with his efforts, he tucked into his meal.

“I have a bit of news.” Charley paused to glance at her family. “You know the developer that bought that last big chunk of Prentice Osborn’s lakeside property?”

The others nodded.

“The rumors were all true. The town council approved his plan to build homes and condominiums around a world-class golf course, yacht club, restaurants and shops.” She paused a beat before saying softly, “My agency will be representing it.”

“Oh, Mom.” Hannah gave her mother a fierce hug, before Courtney pressed a kiss to her mother’s cheek.

Sidney and Emily were on their feet and racing around the table to do the same.

“Christopher would be so proud of you, Charley.” Frank lifted his glass in a salute and the others joined him.

Charley glanced at her daughters. “Actually this development has been a boon for all the Brennans. The architect’s interior designer has already given Courtney a list of some of the things he’ll be wanting for the models. And when he saw some of Sidney’s work, he decided to commission her to paint a mural on the walls of the foyer. There’s talk of having her do the ceiling of the dining room as well.”

At the news, Sidney beamed. “Mom, are you sure?”

Charley grinned at the sweet redhead who had always been the dreamy artist in the family. Since losing her young fiancé to illness two years earlier, she’d become even more introverted and reclusive. Though her family was concerned, they knew she had to work through the grief in her own time.

“I’m sure. And I’m sure whatever you paint will be the talk of the town.” She sipped her lemonade before adding, “On top of that, Hannah has been given the contract for all the landscaping.”

Her grandfather arched a brow at his granddaughter. “That ought to pay your greenhouse loan for a year or two.”

That had them all smiling. Hannah had gone deeply into debt to finance new greenhouses for her fledgling nursery and landscape business.

She ran her fingers through her short blond bob. “This is a dream job. When Mom told me, I didn’t believe her at first. But now that I’ve had a chance to look at the blueprints, I realize I’ll have to double or even triple my crew to handle it. Not that I’m complaining. By the time I’m through with this contract, there won’t be anyone in Devil’s Cove who hasn’t heard of Hannah’s Gardening and Landscape.”

Her grandfather looked at her with affection. “I always knew your knack for gardening would pay off one day. You inherited that from me.”

“Speaking of inheritance…” Emily took a final bite of salmon before pushing away from the table. “I have to get back to the clinic. I want to leave early this afternoon so I can see what the committee did with the decorations for tonight’s kickoff cocktail party.” She paused by her grandmother’s side and bent to press a kiss to her cheek before rounding the table to do the same to her mother. “I’m so proud of you, Mom.”

“Thanks, honey.”

“But I think you’re about to become awfully busy.”

“I don’t mind. I can’t wait.” Charlotte laid a hand on her daughter’s arm. “We’ll all see you at the party tonight. I know you and your committee will do a fine job.”

After kissing her grandfather and congratulating her sisters on their good news, Emily made her way inside. A glance at the clock told her she had less than five minutes before her first afternoon patient. She hurried toward the clinic at the rear of the house.

Chapter 2

“You just about finished, Doc?” The sixteen-year-old boy lying on the examining table had his teeth clenched so tightly he could hardly get the question out.

“Almost done, Cody.” Emily tied off the final stitch while her assistant, Melissa, mopped at the blood on the boy’s thigh. “Just another minute.”

When she finished, Emily straightened, slipping off her latex gloves, and turned to the boy’s mother, who was hovering in a far corner of the examining room, looking anywhere but at her son’s bloody calf. “Janet, I’ll give you a prescription for pain so Cody can sleep tonight.”

“I don’t need stuff for pain.” The boy swung his legs over the side of the table and turned pasty-white as the blood rushed from his head. He looked down at the crimson stains that smeared the front of his baseball uniform and swallowed hard.

“You may not think so now,” Emily steadied him with a hand to his shoulder, giving him a chance to clear his head without embarrassing him. “But when this wears off you might want to have something, just in case.”

When his color returned she crossed the room and wrote on a notepad, then tore off the page and handed it to his mother. “He’ll be fine, Janet. But he ought to skip practice until those stitches come out. I wouldn’t want to see him tear that wound open.”

“Thanks, Dr. Brennan.” Janet Adams gave a laugh as she shook her head from side to side. “Dr. Brennan. Seems like I’ve been saying that all my life. Except now it’s to you instead of your father.” She looked down at the prescription, avoiding Emily’s eyes. “I’m glad you’ve stayed on in Devil’s Cove. The town just wouldn’t feel the same without a Doctor Brennan in it.”

“That’s nice.” Emily felt a twinge of pain before she managed a smile. “Next time you dive for home plate, Cody, try to avoid the other guy’s spikes.”

“Okay, Doc.” The boy grinned self-consciously.

As he eased off the table and headed toward the door Emily stopped him. “By the way, Cody. Who won?”

“We did, Doc. By one run.”

She laughed. “I guess that’s worth a few stitches.”

“You bet.”

She was still laughing when the boy and his mother left.

She turned to her assistant. “Is that the last patient?”

Melissa shook her head. “Prentice Osborn is here with his brother, Will. I put them in the other room.”

The Osborn family was the most prominent in Devil’s Cove. Prentice, a former classmate of Emily’s, had more than doubled his family fortune in the past ten years. It was his grandfather who’d had the foresight to buy up the choice acreage dotted with farms. In recent years a bidding war by developers eager to build hotels and condos on the property had made Prentice more money than his grandfather could have ever dreamed possible.

Even if Prentice hadn’t turned a fortune, the townspeople would have admired him for his tireless care of his severely handicapped brother. Will Osborn, with his garbled speech and unsteady gait, was treated gently by all the citizens of Devil’s Cove. He was routinely handed his favorite sugar cookies at the bakery. Whenever he visited the diner he was given a grilled cheese sandwich and a chocolate malt, free of charge.

To thank them, Prentice was more than generous to the town that sheltered his brother. He gave freely of his time and money to various charities around town. A new wing at the University Hospital now bore the names of his deceased parents.

Emily smiled at the two men. “Hello, Prentice. Will. What brings you here?”

Prentice Osborn, tall, with sun-streaked golden hair, took charge. “Will’s been tugging on his ear. I think it’s another infection.”

Emily turned to the older brother, who was watching her with the wary eyes of a frightened child, so at odds with his almost graying hair and stooped shoulders. “Have you been swimming in the mill pond again, Will?”

The man shrugged and stared hard at the floor.

“It’s okay, Will.” Prentice spoke to his brother the way one would speak to a child. “You can tell Dr. Brennan the truth. Have you been swimming in the mill pond?”

His brother nodded shyly.

“Well, let’s have a look.”

Before Emily could step closer Will hunched his shoulders and cringed.

Prentice sent her a pleading look. “Will was poked and prodded by too many doctors when he was young. Do you think you could give him a sedative to take the edge off his nerves?”

Emily nodded her understanding and reached for a syringe. “This won’t hurt, Will.” She moved so quickly he didn’t even have time to react. To his brother she said, “Dilaudid. Just two milligrams. Enough to quiet him, but not so much he’ll have any reaction. Now, Will.” She indicated the examining table and the shy man sat on the edge and watched as she sorted through her instruments. When she bent close he breathed her in and, relaxed now and enjoying the faint scent of her perfume, grinned like an errant schoolboy.

It took only a moment’s examination to see the evidence. “I’ll bet this has been giving you some pain, Will.”

He nodded.

“It’ll be much improved by tomorrow.” She used a dropper to dispense liquid into the ear, then wrote on a notepad and tore it off, handing it to his brother. “He’ll need to take this antibiotic for a full ten days. I’ll want to see him then, to make certain the infection is completely cleared up.”

Prentice put an arm around his brother’s shoulders. “Come on, Will. Let’s go home and take Dr. Brennan’s medicine. Before you know it you’ll be feeling as good as new.” He helped his brother from the table. As he followed Will from the room he turned. “Would you like me to pick you up for tonight’s cocktail party, Emily?”

She shook her head. “Thanks, Prentice. But I’ll be heading up there early to see to some of the last-minute details.”

“Then I’ll see you there.”

When he and Will were gone, Emily looked up as Melissa poked her head in the examining room. “You’ve had three calls in the last hour from the tribute committee. They’re waiting for you at the Harbor House. They want you to check out the ballroom for tonight’s kickoff party.”

Emily sighed. “Why did I ever agree to chair this tribute to my grandmother?”

“Because you love her. We all do. And because nobody else in town was willing to see to all the little details the way you do.”

“Yeah.” Emily laughed. “Like they say, the devil is in the details.” She began unbuttoning her white lab coat. “I’ll run over to the Harbor House and see what they’ve done. But I have no intention of getting roped into making any changes in the decorations at this late date.”

“Right.” Melissa nodded her head. “And I believe that as much as I believe Cody Fletcher is going to skip baseball practice until his stitches come out.”

“Am I that transparent?” Emily sighed. “Don’t answer that, Mel.” She unlocked the door that separated the clinic from the main house. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

She pulled the door shut before making her way up the back staircase to the second floor. In her old bedroom she stopped to scratch behind the ears of a white kitten stretched out on her bed.

“You’re shedding, Angel. That’s why you’ve been banished from the clinic. Mel said she’s sick and tired of sweeping up after you. Besides, there are actually a few patients who are allergic to all that dander.”

The cat yawned and licked a paw with a bored expression.

Grinning, Emily stripped off the simple skirt and blouse she’d worn under her lab coat and slipped into a pair of faded jeans and a T-shirt. It was best to be prepared, she thought with a quick glance in the mirror, in case the committee needed her help with last-minute decorations. She might talk a good game to Melissa, but she knew she’d end up pitching in with the work.

“I’ll leave the door open,” she called to the cat. “Maybe you’ll take the hint and shed somewhere else.”

Once in the car Emily opened the window and let the breeze take the ends of her hair as she mulled the path her life had taken. It was hard to believe she’d been back in Devil’s Cove for six months now, first to take care of her father, and then to take over his practice. The days and weeks had a way of blurring together here. At University Hospital there had been staff meetings, luncheons, daily tours of patients’ rooms and in-depth discussions of various treatments. Not to mention late-night dinners with David where, more often than not, they ended up debating articles they’d read in medical journals, or the latest controversial drugs being tested by a colleague.

David was Dr. David Turnley, a specialist in pediatric surgery who had hoped to persuade Emily to be his partner, not only in his professional life but in his personal life as well. It caught her by surprise to admit that there’d been no time to miss him since she’d returned home.

Here the care was much more personal in nature. She wasn’t just part of a team. She was a hands-on small-town doctor who was expected to stitch wounds, deliver babies, treat infections and dispense advice on everything from obesity to high blood pressure to clinical depression.

It felt good, she realized as she eased her car to the curb. For however long she stayed, it felt good to be back.

She turned off the ignition and studied the sprawling old inn that had graced the town of Devil’s Cove for more than eighty years. Painted white, with a gleaming black roof and black shutters, it was both stylish and graceful. A wide pillared porch along the front was dotted with white wicker furniture and pots of colorful flowers and trailing ivy. On one side was a lovely formal garden that sported curving stone walkways leading to a gazebo in the middle, which was often used for wedding receptions.

Emily made her way up the steps and inside the foyer, where Beth Collins, a college student home for the summer, was busy taking a phone reservation. She waved as Emily passed, then returned her attention to the guest register.

When Emily reached the ballroom she could hear the squeals of laughter even before she opened the double doors. She stepped inside to see half a dozen women huddled together while one harried-looking woman in bright pink sneakers stood in the middle of the room holding tightly to at least a hundred streamers attached to balloons.

“If someone doesn’t help me soon,” Marge Dawson pleaded, “I swear I’ll float all the way to the ceiling.”

“So will I,” another woman shouted. “And I won’t even need a balloon.”

There was a louder burst of giggles from the cluster of women.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Emily glanced around. “It looks like our tribute committee has been dipping into the punch.”

“Emily.” One woman separated herself from the others and rushed forward. “Wait ’til you hear.” She paused, her hand on her heart. “You’ll never guess who checked into the Harbor House today.”

“From the looks of all of you, Libby, I’d have to say Brad Pitt.”

“Even better.” Libby Conway tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear. Her freckles seemed even more pronounced than ever now that her face was flushed.

The others nodded and gathered around, ignoring the pleadings of their friend with the balloons.

“Jason Cooper.” The name was spoken on a sigh. “Can you believe Jason Cooper is here in Devil’s Cove?”

Emily’s smile faded just a notch.

Seeing it, one of the women asked, “Didn’t you know he was coming, Emily? I mean, you are chairing this event.”

Emily didn’t quite trust her voice, so she merely shook her head.

“Did he even acknowledge the invitation?” another asked.

“No.” Emily was glad to note that her voice sounded as steady as ever. She hoped whatever turmoil was going on inside wasn’t visible to these women.

“Well, how can you expect someone as famous as Jason Cooper to answer every invitation he gets?” Libby giggled. “Have you read his latest book?”

“Hasn’t the whole world?” one of the women remarked.

There was a rush of nervous laughter.

“It was creepy,” one of them said. “The town in his book resembled Devil’s Cove. All those gory murders. I couldn’t put it down.”

“Me either.” A slender brunette shivered, then added, “I wonder why he didn’t tell anyone he was coming.”

“Too busy. He probably has a secretary to handle such things.”

At Libby’s words, the others nodded their agreement.

“Yeah. And an agent, and a public relations firm and a business manager and…”

“And dozens of gorgeous models and actresses falling all over him.”

“Can you blame them?” A perky blonde lowered her voice to a whisper. “Did you see that article about him in Celebrity?”

A woman whose dark hair was streaked with gray nodded. “You mean the one showing him on the deck of that mansion he bought in Malibu? They said he never grants interviews. He jogs before the sun comes up. He works all night, sleeps all day, and keeps his private life extremely private. He looked like the dark, brooding hero of every one of his books. I thought I’d die.”

The others sighed their agreement.

“Guess where he went as soon as he checked in?” Libby lowered her voice, even though everyone in the room knew the answer to that except Emily.

Emily shrugged. “I can’t imagine.”

“To the Daisy Diner. You know who works there, don’t you?”

Emily didn’t need to respond. In a town as small as Devil’s Cove, everyone knew where everyone worked. And it was no secret that Carrie Lester, an old classmate, had been working there for years.

Emily kept her tone steady. “That’s really nice. Jason and Carrie’s brother, Cory, were best friends.”

Libby gave a short laugh. “Maybe Cory wasn’t his only best friend. You know…” She looked around at the others for confirmation. “…I’ve always thought Carrie’s little girl had eyes like a certain bestselling author and playboy who was once known as the bad boy of Devil’s Cove.”

“I think we’d better get those balloons up and head home.” Emily’s throat felt so tight, she could hardly get the words out.

“Okay.” Libby shrugged. “Emily’s right. We’d better move it if we want to look glamorous for the cocktail party tonight. And now that we’ve got Jason Cooper in our midst, we have to look our best. Connie, help Marge get those balloons in place.”

When the others walked away, Emily let out a long, slow breath.

Jason Cooper. Here in Devil’s Cove.

She hadn’t seen him since she was eighteen. He’d left town the day after graduation, without a word to anyone. Like Libby, there were many who thought it was because Carrie Lester was carrying his baby. Emily had never believed that. Not then. Not now. Still, it hurt to know that in all the time they’d been apart, he’d never made a single attempt to contact her. And now, after all this time, it was Carrie he went to see.

She shrugged it off. She’d worked hard to put Jason Cooper out of her mind. And she’d succeeded. Now he was nothing more than a bittersweet memory of earlier, innocent times.

“What about that banner?” Emily started toward the stage. There was no way she was going to stand idly by and pick at old wounds. “Can somebody give me a hand putting this up?”

She caught hold of a ladder and began to climb. This was what she needed. Nothing like good hard physical work to keep the mind from going into overdrive.

“Jason.” Carrie Lester sloshed coffee over the rim of the cup she was carrying. She hissed a breath and folded a paper napkin in the saucer before handing it to Teddy Morton, one of her regulars. Then she rounded the counter and paused to study the darkly handsome man who stood framed in the doorway. “You look…” She shook her head. “…different…successful.”

“Is that the best you can do?” He arched a brow before striding toward the sister of his best friend and kissing her cheek. “You look as pretty as ever.”

“Yeah. Right.” She touched a hand to her cheek. “Men get better as they get older. Women just get older.”

He tugged on a lock of hair the color of platinum. “What’re you now? Twenty-seven? Twenty-eight? How can you call that old?”

“I’ve got a ten-year-old kid. There are days when that makes me feel really ancient.” She indicated an empty booth. “You want to sit and I’ll get you some coffee?”

“I’d rather sit at the counter. That way you can talk to me while you work.” He settled himself on a stool and waited while she poured him a cup of black coffee.

“What time did you get in, Jason?”

“An hour ago.” He sipped. Paused.

Carrie leaned her elbows on the counter and lowered her voice, knowing the regulars were watching and listening. After all, it wasn’t every day the Daisy Diner entertained a celebrity. “I couldn’t believe it when Mrs. B. announced that she was retiring.” She gave a self-conscious laugh. “I know you’re not going to believe this, after all the trouble I gave her when we were in school, but I was hoping she’d be around to teach Jenny.”

“Yeah. I know what you mean. She was the toughest old bird I’ve ever met. But she was the only adult in this town who ever cared about me.”

“Yeah. She really liked you, Jason.”

He managed a smile. “By the way, how’s your mom, Carrie?”

“Fine. Still working for the Osborns. She gives me a hand with Jenny on the weekends if I have to pull a double shift.” She walked away to wait on a customer. Minutes later she returned to continue the conversation as though there had been no interruption. “She keeps talking about retiring, but she just can’t do it yet.” She picked up the coffeepot and topped off his cup, then moved along the counter, filling others.

After ringing up several payments she returned. “You want something to eat?”

He shook his head. “I ate at the Harbor House. They make the best grilled salmon in the world.”

Carrie grinned. “You ought to try my grilled cheese. With bread-and-butter pickles. And for dessert, a hot fudge sundae with a sprinkling of peanuts.”

He grinned. “Nothing ever changes around Devil’s Cove.”

Carrie’s look grew thoughtful. She leaned closer. “I wish I’d had the courage to leave like you did, Jason.”

“You still can, Carrie.”

“No, I can’t. It’s too late for me.”

“It’s never too late.”

She huffed out a breath. “Now you sound like Mrs. B.”

“Do I?” He frowned. “I don’t know why that should surprise me. She colored every decision I’ve ever made. Even years after I left here, I could hear her voice in my head.”

“Is that why you came for the tribute?”

Before he could answer she excused herself to wait on another customer. Jason sat staring into his coffee and thinking about the question. He’d told himself a hundred times that he was coming here because of his old teacher who had made such a difference in his life. He owed it to her to be here. Hell, he owed her everything. She’d been his refuge from a nightmare life with a father who was a drunk and a bully, and a mother who was terrified to leave him. To spare his mother, Jason had often taken the beatings meant for her. And he had the scars to prove it.

His old teacher had been able to see through the wall of anger he’d built around himself. Anger that masked a bright mind and an iron will. Despite his bad-boy image, Mrs. Brennan had loaned him books, got him summer jobs and encouraged him when no one else did. When the opportunity to escape had been dropped into his lap, he’d gone to her for advice. She’d given it in a few terse words. “Take the gift you’re being offered. And hone your skills, boy.”