He cleared his throat. “Um, I’m Drew. This is Blake, who is soon to be my brother-in-law.”
She switched her green-eyed gaze to Drew and surveyed him from head to foot. “You have your dad’s build.”
Bear gave an exasperated snort. “I’ll leave you to it. I hear sushi calling my name.” He headed for the food table with Drew’s half brothers trailing him.
Drew crossed his arms over his chest and glanced at Abby, who moved closer to him. “Bear said if any of the campaign records still existed, you’d know where they were.”
“I had them all backed up on an external hard drive. I still have some USB flash drives as well. I believe they should be in my office in a box of things I cleared out after your father’s death. What possible use could they be to you now?”
He told her what Warren had said before he plummeted off the balcony. “So we’re digging into anything to do with his campaign first. It makes sense a rival would be more likely to want him dead than someone in his family.”
She lifted a thinning eyebrow. “You can have the files in my possession in case they’re useful. I was going to throw them out anyway since I’m downsizing. Follow me to my house when this is over, and you can take them.”
Blake glanced at the faces around the yard. The afternoon was still young, and they might come away with gold.
Chapter 30
Paradise’s feet hurt, and she’d eaten too much. The potato salad had been the best she’d ever tasted, and the beignets were divine. Would anyone notice if she kicked off her shoes and walked down the path to the water? Blake was deep in conversation with Victoria and Percy. Their faces glowed with animation, and she could see their liking for that man of hers on their faces.
She waited until she left the green carpet of grass behind for the oyster path, then kicked off her shoes. The cool crushed shells underfoot felt soothing against the soles of her feet. The scent of the water drew her on past banks of azaleas, and she followed the sound of the gentle surf until the trees and flowers petered out at a stone wall with an opening to the water. She stepped through onto the beach and dug her toes into the warm, sugar-like sand.
She wasn’t alone.
A woman sat on the stone wall, gazing out to where blue sky met blue waves. Her gauzy white dress fluttered in the breeze, and she pushed her long blonde hair out of her face. She appeared to be in her late twenties or early thirties.
A bird chattered angrily from somewhere, and she straightened, then caught sight of Paradise. “Well, hello.” She patted the space beside her. “Most comfortable seat in the house.”
“My feet could use a rest.” Paradise had left the chairs scattered around the party for the elderly. Victoria was age eighty, and many of her friends were of the same generation, though Paradise hoped she looked as fit and beautiful as Drew’s grandmother when she was that age.
The woman lifted her legs straight out to show pink-tipped bare toes. “Me too. I never feel like I fit into these things. I’m Gray’s wife, Unity.”
“What a lovely name.”
“I try to live up to it, but it’s hard in this family. Don’t let their welcome fool you. There’s a lot of darkness behind those smiling eyes.”
Paradise blinked at Unity’s candor. “I-I’m surprised. They’ve welcomed Drew with open arms.”
“You ever hear the saying ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer’? That’s their motto. Drew seems like a nice guy, and I’d hate for him to open his heart to them only to see it trampled. Like mine.”
“You don’t have a good relationship with them?”
Unity stared at the blue water a long moment. “I probably shouldn’t have said anything.” She corralled her hair and tucked it behind her ears. “I’m divorcing Gray. He doesn’t know yet. There are more secrets in this family than a scientist with unfiled patents. Layers and layers of secrets. Be careful when you go looking for one that you don’t find something that knocks you on your heels.”
“I’m sorry.” Unity’s despondency was so poignant that an unexpected moisture of film blurred Paradise’s vision. There wasn’tmuch she could say or do that would help, except one thing. “I’ll pray for clarity for you.”
Unity straightened. “That’s kind of you when we’re strangers.”
“Do you have children?”
“I wish we did. Maybe it would have cracked open that shell Gray has around him. He’s so closed off and remote. Being raised in that household would warp anyone though.”
“Even Parker? He seems different.”
“He’s worse than Gray. My husband doesn’t pretend to be something he’s not. Parker sucks you in with smiles and warmth that’s a veneer for someone who only cares about himself and what is best for him. He’d make a perfect politician. I’m not sure why he didn’t choose that career.”
Paradise shuddered with a chill, and it wasn’t from the wind. “Thank you for telling me. Drew wants to find out who killed our parents, and that’s our only goal.”
But Drew would be hurt by this news. The initial welcome had warmed a place inside that longed for more family. It grieved her that he wouldn’t find it here.
