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He gave her a long slow look. “Are you going to tell her?”
“I used her out there. Now I have to make up for it.”
“Do you want me to come with you?”
“No. I have to do this by myself.”
She searched the house and the motor home before she found Lucy sitting in the hollyhocks that grew behind the garage. Her knees were tucked against her chest, her shoulders bowed.
Nealy eased down next to her. “I’ve been looking for you.”
At first Lucy didn’t respond. When she finally glanced over at Nealy, her expression was wary. “Did they come here because of your husband?”
“Sort of.” She took a deep breath. “But not the husband I told you about.”
“What do you mean?”
Nealy watched a pair of bumblebees explore the skirt of a bright yellow hollyhock blossom. “My husband was President Case, Luce.”
“No!”
“I’m sorry.”
She jumped to her feet. “You’re lying. You’re just saying this. You’re Nell! You’re—” Her voice broke. “Just say you’re Nell.”
“I can’t. I’m Cornelia Case.”
Lucy’s eyes filled with tears. “You lied to us. You lied to all of us.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“Did you tell Mat?”
“He figured it out a couple of days ago.”
“And nobody told me.”
“We couldn’t.”
Lucy was smart, and she already understood exactly what this meant to her. A shudder passed through her. “You won’t marry him now, will you?”
Her insides cramped. “There was never a question of the two of us getting married.”
“Yes, there was!” Her lips trembled, and she looked as if her entire world had crumbled. “You like him! You liked him a lot! And you cared about me and Button!”
“I still care. This doesn’t cha
nge the way I feel about the two of you.”
“But this means you won’t ever marry Mat. Not after you were married to the President. And somebody like you wouldn’t ever adopt Button.”
“Lucy, let me explain . . .”
But Lucy didn’t want to hear any explanations. She was already running toward the house.
19
MAT FOUND NEALY in the hollyhocks a short time later. He sat beside her in the same place Lucy had been, except he was crushing part of a plant. He’d taken a quick shower and his damp hair had finger marks where he’d run his hand through it. Drawing up his knees, he propped his forearms on top and gazed over at her. “I’m guessing you’ve had better days.”
