As the limo pulled away from the cemetery,
Laura sat back between Harry and Daniel. Harry reached out and
took her hand in his. "How are you doing?"
She sighed. "I still can't believe that he's really gone.
Or that he had so many friends. I thought we'd be about the only
people at the funeral." Instead, there had been a *huge*
group of mourners, many of whom had come up to Laura to express
their sympathy for her and their gratitude toward Mitchell.
"Your father was well known," Daniel pointed out. "And
liked. There aren't many people who can walk that narrow line
that he chose. But he did."
Laura smiled, remembering how she had spoken to wealthy, important
people on the one hand, and seconds later found herself confronted
by one of Harry and Daniel's "associates". "Did
Daddy really save your life, Mr. Chalmers - Daniel?" she
asked, remembering too late that he had asked that she call him
by his first name, claiming that her formality made him feel positively
"ancient".
"Yes, he did." He hoped she would leave it at that,
but he could see the curiosity in her eyes. "I'll tell you
about it later," he promised as the car turned into the drive.
"There will likely be some people here," he told her.
"I invited everyone to the wake -" He saw her lost expression.
"Are you up for this, my dear?"
Laura's grip on Harry's hand tightened. "I'll be fine,"
she assured him. Mary met them at the door, taking Laura's coat
and hat before bustling her upstairs to rest for a few minutes
before the guests began arriving.
Harry moved to the drawing room, pouring himself a glass of whiskey,
then one for Daniel. "Brave little soldier, isn't she?"
"She certainly inherited her father's courage," Daniel
agreed. "Harry, I spoke to Felicia at the service -"
Harry paused as he lifted his glass, then took a drink. "Really?
I saw her, but I was busy with Laura -"
"She told me that you didn't mention car trouble to her the
first night that Mitchell and Laura were here when you called
to cancel your date. And Terry let slip that you'd delivered the
car to his garage in working order, asking him to service it."
"I'm going to have to speak to Terry," Harry muttered.
"Look, Daniel, I just didn't feel like going out on the town
with Felicia that night. No reason to make a mountain out of it."
"And she tried to get your attention several times at the
service, but you ignored her."
Harry finished his whiskey. "Dammit, Daniel, Laura needed
me with her. And I wasn't about to let Felicia near Laura. Laura
didn't need that -*cat* around her. Not today. I'll soothe Felicia's
ruffled feelings after Laura leaves," he said.
"You'll have a chance this evening," Daniel told him.
"I invited her here for the wake."
"You *what*? Bloody hell, Daniel. Laura's not up to - "
"I think you're selling Laura *and* Felicia a bit short,
Harry." He finished his own drink. "I'm going upstairs
for a few minutes before people start arriving." He turned
and left the room, pausing once on the stairs to see Harry still
where he had left him, his expression troubled.
**********
Standing beside Harry, Laura smiled at Philip Bryce. "Thank
you, Mr. Bryce. For everything -"
"I only wish it could have been more, dear," Bryce said,
her hand in his. "Your father was a very unique person. I
think this gathering alone is ample evidence of that." He
smiled at Harry and Daniel. "I don't think I've ever seen
quite such a rogue's gallery - " He kissed her hand. "If
there's ever anything you need, Laura, don't hesitate to give
me a call."
"I won't, Mr. Bryce," Laura assured him. He and Daniel
moved away, leaving Laura alone with Harry for a moment. "He
seems a nice man."
"It's not everyone who would have trusted your father and
Daniel with over a million in diamonds," Harry agreed. He
saw Felicia enter the house and swore under his breath.
"What's wrong?" Laura asked, following the direction
of his gaze to see the tall, sophisticated blonde heading in their
direction. "Who's that?" she asked, as Harry turned
her quickly toward the other side of the room. "What-"
"No one important," Harry said, looking decidedly nervous,
Laura thought. "Why don't we go outside for a breath of air?
It's gotten a bit stuffy in here -"
Laura looked up at him, then glanced over her shoulder. "Too
late. Bimbo at six o'clock," she whispered, picking up a
glass of spring water that the barman had poured for her.
Harry straightened his shoulders, then retaining hold of Laura's
hand, turned with a smile. "Felicia. What a surprise."
FELICIA? Laura thought. So *this* was the woman that Harry had
rushed off to meet that first night - and that Mary so disapproved
of. The blonde wrapped her arm through Harry's, smiling at him.
"You were supposed to call me, Darling," she chastised
gently, pouting.
"I've been - busy, remember?" Harry said.
Felicia looked at Laura. "Aren't you going to introduce me
to your little friend, Harry?" she asked.
Laura found herself wishing - not for the first time in her life
- that she was five foot seven with legs that wouldn't quit. She
felt so awkward and gawky next to this woman's polished, practiced
air. Harry put his arm around Laura's shoulders. "This is
Laura Holt. Laura, Felicia."
"I was sorry to hear about your father's death, Lisa. He
was a nice man."
"Laura," Harry corrected.
"It's Laura," Laura herself said at the same time.
"Forgive me." She turned back to Harry, ignoring Laura
as if she weren't there. "I hoped we might spend a little
time together this evening, Michael," she told him.
"I have to stay here," Harry was saying, only to fall
silent as Daniel appeared. "Laura -"
"I'm sure Laura won't begrudge you a few minutes with Felicia,
right, my dear?" he asked Laura. "I'll stay with Laura,
Harry. You go on." He took Laura's arm and turned her toward
the sofa.
Laura sat down reluctantly, watching Felicia's bright red fingernail
trace Harry's lapel as she spoke to him quietly. "So that's
Felicia," she sighed. She knew there was no way that she
could EVER compete with someone like that. Harry smiled at something
the woman said, and Laura's expression fell. Felicia seemed the
perfect woman for Harry, Laura thought. Sophisticated, witty,
probably in the same line of work- "Why doesn't Mary like
her?"
Daniel laughed softly. "Because in Mary's eyes, she's yet
to find any woman who's good enough for Harry. She's a bit on
the possessive side, when it comes to the boy."
"He's hardly a boy, Daniel," Laura pointed out, watching
as Harry laughed.
"That's true. He's not. And I think that's something that
*you* would do well to remember, my dear." He glanced up,
then rose to his feet. "There's someone else that I think
would like to meet you. Another old friend of your father."
Laura remained at Daniel's side for the remainder of the evening,
catching a glimpse every now and then of Harry with Felicia still
clinging to his arm. Occasionally he would smile in Laura's direction,
but for the most part he seemed to have forgotten all about her.
Felicia was the last guest to leave, and Laura heard her telling
Harry, "But it's still early, Michael, darling. You know
things don't usually start happening until after ten -"
Harry glanced up to see Laura. "I'd like to, Felicia, but
-"
She followed his gaze, frowning. "Surely Daniel can babysit
the child. You wouldn't mind looking after Lisa while I drag Michael
away, would you, Daniel?"
Daniel saw Laura's eyes narrow, and quickly placed a protective
arm around her shoulders. "Not at all. You two go ahead and
enjoy yourselves."
Harry looked back at Laura. "Are you okay?"
"Why shouldn't I be?" Laura asked. "Don't worry
about me. I'll be fine," she assured him, pulling away from
Daniel before turning back toward the window, missing Harry's
slight movement toward her and Daniel's
quick move to stop him.
Blue eyes battled with dark ones, then fell. Daniel was right.
Harry knew that, but it still seemed wrong to do this to Laura.
Especially tonight. "We can go tomorrow night," he told
Felicia. " Really think I should stay here this evening."
Felicia sighed, obviously displeased with his decision. "I'll
pick you up at nine tomorrow evening, then," she told him.
"Walk to me to my car?"
"I'll be right back," Harry told Daniel and Laura.
Daniel watched Laura. From her place at the window, she had a
clear view of Felicia's small car, and easily saw the two people
beside it, arms around one another, lips together. "I know
what you're trying to do, Daniel," Laura said, not turning
from the scene outside.
"Oh? And just what is that?"
"Trying to make me realize that Harry's too old for me- or
that I'm still too young for him. I saw you talking to Felicia
at Daddy's funeral today. You tried to set this up then, didn't
you?"
"You're very observant," Daniel commented. "I suppose
I have no choice but to plead guilty, as charged and throw myself
on the mercy of the court."
"You think that the only reason I don't want to go home is
because of Harry, don't you?"
"That would be my first impression, yes. You expect me to
believe otherwise? That if Harry decided to take an extended trip
to the Continent tomorrow, you'd be willing to stay here?"
"I'd do almost *any*thing not to have to go back and live
with my mother," Laura told him. "You don't know her.
She's never been happy with anything I've done, never supported
my plans. She was always telling me to be more like my sister."
"And what is your sister like?"
"A carbon copy of my mother," Laura told him, finally
looking away from the window as the sound of Felicia's car faded
into the distance and the front door opened. Harry returned, putting
his handkerchief back into his pocket. Laura grinned and reached
up to rub his chin. "You missed a spot," she told him,
showing him the bright red lipstick. Shaking her head, she pulling
the handkerchief from his hand and removed the tell-tale signs
of his farewell moment with Felicia. "Thank you for staying,"
she said, folding the handkerchief neatly before handing it back
to him.
"I still haven't recovered fully from our little 'adventure',"
Harry told her. "Why don't you and I go for a walk?"
he suggested, seeing Daniel's disapproving frown. "Go and
get a jacket it's gotten a bit on the chilly side out there."
Laura smiled, glancing at Daniel before leaving the room. "You're
not making this any easier, you know, Harry. You should have gone
with Felicia."
Harry put his hands into his pockets. "I'll go tomorrow night.
I just felt that Laura might need me here this evening - might
need to talk -"
"Talk about what? Really, Harry -"
She returned, pulling on the jacket. "I'm ready," she
told Harry, sensing the undercurrents in the room. "Are you
arguing?"
Harry put an arm around her. "Of course not, Laura. Right,
Daniel?"
"We were just having a discussion," Daniel confirmed.
Laura's look of patent disbelief changed as Harry turned her toward
the door. "We won't be out long, Daniel," he called,
closing the door behind them. "Where shall we go?" he
asked, looking down at her.
"The stables?" she suggested.
"Excellent choice."
As they walked, Laura asked, "You and Daniel *were* arguing,
weren't you?"
"A minor disagreement," Harry said, shaking his head.
"Nothing you need to worry about."
"And was this 'minor disagreement' about me, by any chance?"
"We're back to endless questions again, I see," Harry
mused.
"And you didn't answer. I know that Daniel's worried about
convincing me to go back to Los Angeles, but I'm not going to
go."
"He's agreed to wait until Sunday - let you stay for your
birthday, at least."
"He has? That's something, anyway." She hugged his arm.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"Getting him to agree to that. Now, I just have to convince
him of my reasons for wanting to stay."
"Your mother?" During their marathon poker game, Harry
had gotten her to talk about her mother and sister, about how
her mother had always tried to make her into the perfect little
girl- and how Laura was an endless disappointment. "Maybe
if you went back, you'd be able to find some common ground."
"Not with *my* mother," Laura said. "The only person
who ever *really* understood me was Daddy. And he's gone-"
Harry heard the catch in her voice and pulled her into the protective
circle of his arms. "Oh, Laura. I envy you that feeling about
your father. I think, that, if the - if my own father were to
suddenly walk into my life right now, I'd probably turn my back
on him and walk away."
"Without finding out why he left?" Laura asked. "Giving
him a chance to explain?"
"What kind of explanation could he possibly have for leaving
me to grow up the way I did?"
"Maybe he wasn't in a position to be there for you. Or maybe
he doesn't even know you exist. There could be any number of reasons,
Harry."
"If you say so," he said doubtfully.
"At least you've got Daniel. He thinks of you like a son
- "
Harry grinned. "You think so?" Laura nodded, leaning
against the fence to look up at him in the moonlight. He rested
his arms on the top rail. "I suppose, if I really thought
about it, I'd have to say that Daniel's probably the closest thing
I've ever had to a family."
"You've missed that, haven't you?"
"You can't miss what you've never had," Harry reminded
her. "But I owe Daniel a lot. Quite probably my life. If
he hadn't dragged me out of the streets, I'd have probably ended
up like Flynn or Eddie, or John - "
Laura shivered, drawing the jacket closer. "I don't think
so."
"Why not?" Harry asked, looking down at her.
She placed a hand on his chest. "Because you're soft hearted.
I can't picture you as a cold blooded killer."
Harry took her hand in his. "Let's go visit your equine friend,
eh? And this time, we'll find that carrot *before* you need it."
Laura's laughter drifted across the cool air.
**********
Daniel heard that laughter and sighed as he turned from the window.
Mary was standing the doorway, a frown on her round face. "Stop
frowning, Mary,"Daniel admonished gently.
"I still say that girl needs her mother right now - even
if she doesn't see it."
Daniel watched as she picked up a tray of glasses and left the
room. Mary was right, he decided, pulling a slip of paper from
his pocket. Glancing toward the stable once more, he left the
drawing room and went to the study, where he picked up the telephone.
Dialing a number, he sat down to wait until the connection was
made and the person he was calling answered.
"Mrs. Holt? Abigail Holt?" he asked. "You don't
know me, but I think we need to talk . . . "
To Be Continued------