Chapter Eight
Charlotte had lied to her parents.
She’d lied to Maeve.
In all her life, she had never lied before. Sometimes, she hadn’t spoken the whole truth, but she never lied.
Her mother had been so happy at the thought of her hanging out with a friend, she hadn’t even questioned who her friend was.
Maeve was a little more suspicious, as she said it was a girl from the beauty school, although she never hung out with anyone from the local college.
Thankfully, Maeve had been distracted by her sister, which helped.
Her dad wasn’t hard to deal with, as going to his clubhouse where the guys were, while he was busy, meant he was more interested in getting her out of the club than actually listening to what she had to say.
She had learned that skill when she was younger, and it also helped that he often gave her money to go shopping.
She saved up quite a bit, seeing as most of the time he gave her the money as a parting gift without really asking about it.
This is how she was able to be driving with Savage. They were not going by bike, but by car, which she was happy about. Also, this drive was nearly three hours away, in a different small town called Saint Ridge Point, which is a place she had never heard of.
Savage’s friend Paulie lived on the outskirts, in a really nice neighborhood.
The moment they pulled up to the drive, the door opened, and an older woman with thinning grey hair immediately went to Savage as he climbed out of the car.
She noticed Savage also wore his leather cut.
Behind the woman was the guy she assumed was Paulie.
All she knew was his name, Paulie Valentine, forty years old, a tech genius who lived with his mother. This is not what she imagined. He was over six feet tall, muscular, appeared to be a gentle giant, and he had a nice smile.
Savage introduced her to Ms. Valentine, which she refused to be called and demanded Charlotte call her Shirley. She was pulled into a hug, and it would seem this was as close as Savage would get to any kind of family. Shirley and Paulie both hugged Charlotte.
Once inside their home, she smelled turkey, and it made her mouth water.
“Now, you and I will head into the kitchen and leave the boys to talk.”
It was strange to think of Savage being a boy, but Charlotte didn’t argue. She did, however, look back at Savage, and he held a hand up as if to apologize, but there was no way out of this.
“Right, I’ve got a turkey just finishing off in the oven. I opted for cheese potatoes today. They’re my favorite. I know Savage loves my green bean casserole, and I’m going to teach you how to make it. The key to a man is through his stomach.” Shirley gave her a wink.
“Where’s Mr. Valentine?”
“Oh, he’s dead,” Shirley said. “And good riddance too. That man could not hold his drink, and was a giant pain in the ass. I had no choice but to kick him to the curb when he nearly cost me my son.” Shirley let out a little huff.
Charlotte was not expecting the overload of information.
Shirley turned back to her, from the fridge, with her hands filled with bacon and green beans. She also spotted fresh mushrooms.
“It all happened twenty-five years ago. My Paulie was just fifteen, it was his birthday, and his father, the rotten bastard, decided to spend it in the blasted pub.” She shook her head, putting the ingredients down on the counter.
“Anyway, Paulie was out in the yard, playing with the present, or something. I don’t remember the particulars.
Anyway, his father saw red, tore his belt off right in the street, and started to whip the boy.
” She put a hand to her face. “Anyway, Paulie was taken from me, and I had to fight to get him back. Kicked Mr. Valentine out of my house, and he got too fucking drunk for his liking and ended up on the train tracks.” She let out a little tut.
“Paulie came back to me, but he always remembered Savage. Well, he wasn’t called Savage back then, but that is a story for you to tell.
Poor boy, with my husband gone, and I didn’t have a way of supporting myself and my son.
I had to get a job, and they wouldn’t let me adopt the boy, although I tried.
I kept trying until he turned up here on his sixteenth birthday.
” She shook her head. “I don’t get the system.
So much red tape, and I bet those parents raised the red flags and got children just like that.
” She snapped her fingers. “What is the world coming to? Anyway, look at me, giving you a history of how I know Savage. Let me show you the key to a good man’s stomach.
My husband didn’t start off bad, temptation made him a nightmare.
Drinking, gambling, and whoring is what turned my husband into the monster he became.
Now, you’ve got to start with strips of bacon. ”
Charlotte was amazed she was able to keep up.
“You’ve got to get it nice and crispy. No one wants floppy bacon. They want it crispy.”
She watched as she sauteed the bacon, then scooped it out, leaving behind a whole lot of grease, to which she added the onion and the diced mushrooms.
“I know a can of mushroom soup would do the trick, but this is not the time for convenience food. That is when life is busy. When you want to slow it down, you take your time. Speaking of which, honey, you’ve got to learn to slow down in life.
If that is one thing I can tell you as an older woman, I will share it.
Slow down. Trust me, life has a way of catching up and wanting to mess with you.
” She let out a whistle. “It does not feel fifty years ago, when I was a young thing having boys whistle at me.”
Charlotte smiled.
“You look like a nice girl. You are, aren’t you?” Shirley asked.
“Uh, I think so.”
“Yeah, you are. I can tell. You’re a good girl, and you make Savage smile, and that is all that is important. It’s nice to see young love.”
“I don’t know if we’re in love. It’s still really early.” So early, they were keeping everything a secret. Not that she minded, she liked no one knowing their business.
“It can’t be that early. Savage brought you home for Thanksgiving, that means something.” Shirley winked at her.
****
“Andy Bernadette is broke. Honestly, the man doesn’t have two pennies to rub together. He can’t be buying a house,” Paulie said.
Savage’s eyes were working faster than they usually would, as Paulie had three computers on and nearly twenty different documents on each.
“But his grandmother, however, that old bat is completely loaded, and it would seem there is some confusion about who will get that money when she dies.”
“Confusion?” he asked.
“Yep, total confusion. You see, Mrs. Martha Bernadette has a final attachment in her will, where she can specify who she wants her estate to go to,” Paulie said.
“This is the most confusing part, and wills are all about terminology, but this woman is not blindsided by her grandson. She even has a clause that states any event of her death would need to be investigated, and any potential foul play would also need to be resolved, to release her estate.”
“She believes there is a chance that someone might want to kill her?” Savage asked.
“I’m assuming so, yes, unless she has spent all her life being suspicious, and that is what she is trying to take care of now. I don’t know,” Paulie said. “I don’t know the particulars. I told you this. I can paint a picture, but I don’t know the person.” He let out a shrug.
“How do you know this woman is an old bat?” Savage asked.
“Details between lawyers. Documents and emails she doesn’t get to see, but the lawyers don’t like her. I’m assuming she is making their jobs difficult.” Paulie clicked and highlighted where the “old bat” comment appeared. “I guess she’s not very nice.”
“She is a woman who is used to getting what she wants.”
“Well, this might be an interesting detail, as I like to keep an eye on you and your boys, but Martha has a great deal of family. Most of which have gone away to earn their own fortune rather than relying on the good graces of their grandmother. To me, that’s the way to go.
Earn your own money, then you don’t have to fold to others and all that.
However, in the last year, another name has been added to the mix.
A Maeve Summer, and seeing as I know one of your boys is now married to an Eden Summer, this is the same woman that is engaged to marry Doc,” Paulie said.
“Why Maeve?” Savage asked. He knew Maeve was a good woman.
“It would seem Maeve has become her regular makeup artist, or beauty expert. We’re talking at minimum once a week, and Maeve also does the personal visits.
However, I also delved into Maeve, and other than documenting the appointment and the whole transaction for taxation purposes, there is nothing else.
” He shrugged. “My guess, Maeve doesn’t even know that the old bat actually likes her, and based on a few texts I got from the old bat, she actually likes Maeve and even considers her a friend. She also mentions your girl.”
“Charlotte?”
“Yep, a text a few weeks ago.” Paulie typed on his computer and a screen popped up that he highlighted and read, “Maeve is as delightful as ever, and she brought a new girl with her. She looked nervous, but had a nice smile. I like her, and Maeve said she’s a good woman.”
Savage nodded, and he knew Charlotte and Maeve were actually good friends, even though they were soon-to-become stepmother and stepdaughter.
“I’m going to keep looking, but if something happens to the old bat, I would look into the grandson. Also, you might want to tell Maeve to watch her back. If someone finds out she is high on the list to inherit the estate, then something might happen to Maeve.”
“Have there been any hospital visits or alerts that Martha’s described?”
“None as yet, but I can keep looking.”
“Please do so,” Savage said.
“You’ve got a hunch?” Paulie asked.
“All the fucking time.” He ran a hand down his face. “It’s interesting that she’s decided to make it a weekly visit with Maeve, and I know it lasts for several hours. Who is she texting?”
“It’s her niece,” Paulie said, then clicked his fingers, looking like he finally remembered something.
“They communicate every single day, but this is where things get a little complicated. The niece, Betty Jackson, has not been seen or heard from in over a year. The texts started happening then, and nothing else. Also, Andy had a giant debt. We’re talking close to a quarter of a mill, and overnight, the funds were transferred.
At first, I didn’t think anything about it.
Rich grandma bailing out her grandson, but the texts and stuff, I can’t get a location on it at the moment, but that was because I didn’t think much of it. ”
“Get the location. Also, give me Martha’s schedule where Andy is not present. Find me a timeline so I can go and talk to her,” Savage said. Something in his gut told him something wasn’t right.
Paulie typed away, and seconds later Savage’s cell phone pinged.
“I guess you’re going to be a busy man after this Thanksgiving,” Paulie said, and the computer screens went blank. “Do you know what you’re doing with her?” Paulie nodded his head up to the ceiling.
Savage looked to his friend.
“You see, I know you, Savage, and I know you don’t just fall for anyone. You have never brought a girl home. I certainly have never been introduced to one.”
“She’s special.”
“So, when you turn up dead, I should just put on your tombstone that you had it coming?” Paulie asked. “She’s Doc’s daughter.”
“I know.”
“And she’s nearly nineteen.”
“I fucking know,” Savage said. If it had been anyone else, he would have shut him the fuck up now.
“Wow,” Paulie said.
“You think I don’t know her age, or what it fucking means?” He ran a hand down his face.
“Nothing has happened, then?” Paulie asked.
“No, nothing. I just ... I can’t get her out of my head. I can’t stop thinking about her.”
“You know, they call that love, and I’m not just saying that for the sake of saying it. It’s what people call it. They call it love.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
Paulie lifted his head. “Bacon is cooking. Come on, Mom is going to show her how to make your favorite green bean casserole.”
The only person he liked cooking it for him was Shirley.
She used all the right ingredients, and he hated the recipes that used canned soup.
He could always taste the difference, and one year, even Shirley attempted to fool him.
She did two kinds of casseroles, one homemade, the other using the canned soup.
He knew which one was which. The taste of actual green bean casserole was just the best.
Stepping into the kitchen, he watched as Shirley and Charlotte worked together.
“Son, I know for a fact you’re not staring at me, and not getting this man a glass of eggnog,” Shirley said.
Savage laughed, as did Charlotte. They were putting the topping on the casserole, and he watched Charlotte as she slid it into the oven.
“Now, you do that, and anything you want from that man will be yours,” Shirley said.
He winked over to Charlotte, she smiled, and he saw the blush staining her cheeks.
He really couldn’t get enough of this woman. She completed him in ways he wasn’t even prepared for.