"It's true." The painful truth flooded her being and left her weak. "He had a gambling problem and was in over his head. He had lost all our savings. The bullet wasn't meant for Benjamin O'Keefe; it was meant for my dad."
"You don't know that."
"Yes." Indigo drank some more to quench her parched throat. "I found the diary, remember? He documented everything. People were looking for him. He was weak and selfish. I loved him, and ever since I was a little girl, I thought he walked on water."
She blinked away the tears. "The O'Keefes decided not to go ahead with the investigation. Did you know Mr. O'Keefe went to the dealership to try and get to the bottom of what was going on with dad? He did that because he was a good man, and there was an audit, one that showed large sums of money missing. Dad made cash deals with some shady people and was in over his head. I could not sit there and accept help from Brant, knowing what I do."
Taking a deep breath, Juliet reached across and squeezed her hand. "Honey, what are you going to do? You know I would let you come and stay with me, but the circumstances are not the best. I think Derek is cheating on me."
"Oh, Jules."
Her friend smiled bitterly. "He blames me that we're unable to have children."
"That's ridiculous, and he's an asshole," Indigo exclaimed angrily.
"An asshole that still holds my heart." She sighed. "We used to be badasses in high school."
"We had to be," Indigo reminded her. "I'm a size eighteen, and you were a toothpick. Still are. We made a very odd combination. People were picking on us, constantly."
"Those bony-assed white girls with their proper pores. With all the jocks panting after them."
"We sure showed them," Indigo murmured, mahogany eyes twinkling. For a minute, she allowed herself to reflect on the past, on one that was not so painful. And then reality hit. She was going to be losing her shop, a place she had worked so hard to build and maintain. And when her lease ran out in a month, she was going to be homeless. Depression settled on her like a very heavy cloak.
She had no idea where to turn. She had tried borrowing from the bank, but they had turned her down, the same bank she had been doing business with for the past five years. She could still hear the pompous voice of the manager in her head, explaining to her why she wasn't a sure bet.
"With the economy the way it is right now, we're calling in our short-term loans and limiting the businesses we lend to. I would really like to be able to help, Ms. Shepherd, as you've been a valuable client over the past five years, but our hands are tied."
Bitch, she thought bitterly.
"You know what? Enough of this gloom and doom. Let's go and raid the kitchen and try and think of something positive," Juliet announced.
"You cannot be serious." Angeline O'Keefe stared at her son as if he had lost his mind.
"It's the perfect solution, and it's killing two birds with one stone."
"Darling, you're not thinking. This woman is not even your type."
His response was a shrug as he wandered over to the window. The mild fall weather had been exchanged for the mean slap of winter. All around he could see evidence of the Christmas seasonin full blast. Lights hung from the various trees lining the quaint and colorful town square.
Their head office was located right in the middle of an iconic and historical township and had been in the same location for more than two hundred years. The building had changed, of course. Where once it had been a single-story concrete structure, it now stretched towards the winter-gray sky, forming a huge thirty-eight-floor formidable building of chrome and glass. It was his legacy, and he should rightfully be stepping into his father's very impressive shoes. But he lacked the direction and maturity.
It did not matter that he was thirty-two years old. The board, which comprised twelve very rigid and unbending old men, had decided that. And they had the authority.
He wasn't married, and in the past, his reputation had been anything but stellar.
For them to hand over the temporary reins to his mother meant that they thought very little of him, because women were not allowed to be board members. The only reason why Angeline O'Keefe had been chosen was because her name was O'Keefe, and that was another unbending rule. An O'Keefe had always been at the helm. His hands were bloody tied, and he hated it. He was operating at a limited capacity, unable to take the company even further.
He turned when he felt his mother's presence behind him and could not help but smile. Angeline Day-O'Keefe was in her early sixties but had the skin of a woman twenty years younger. She had passed on her stunning good looks to her son, looks that had graced the TV screen for over three decades, and then the stage. She had gracefully retired a few years before her husband's tragic death, which had left her reeling. Placing a hand on his arm, she tilted her head back to meet his eyes.
"I will talk to them again. This is downright ridiculous. They have no right-"
He shook his head, reaching out to touch her smooth cheek gently. "They have every right. I was a wastrel for years. All I wanted to do was party and spend as much of my generous allowance as possible."
His smile faded. Stepping back, he strode to his desk and picked up the weighty dossier, expression grim.
"You should have a read. After I left the hospital where her brother was admitted, half dead, I had Ingram do a full check on the family. Christ, Mother! Not only has she lost her parents, but her brother is a drug addict. Not to mention the fact that she will be losing that antique store of hers, and her lease will not be renewed. In a matter of four weeks, she will be homeless."
He paused, a frown touching his brow. "Ingram was more thorough than I requested."