The Last Lie Told (Finley O’Sullivan, #1)(37)

She shook her head. “No. It wasn’t relevant. Our affair was over by then, and I didn’t want to rekindle the ugliness. I didn’t want to be involved in any of it.”

“Why do you suppose Sophia never mentioned the affair? Assuming she knew. It seems to me she would have wanted the police to investigate your possible involvement.”

“She knew. I don’t know why she chose not to say anything. Maybe she was afraid I would tell the police the things Lance had said about her. I can’t think of any other reason. I was just grateful she didn’t.”

Finley couldn’t deny the possibility. “How long had the affair been over when he was murdered?”

“About a month.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “You don’t understand. I had to hide from the world to break away from Lance,” she went on, pain in her voice. “He was obsessed with me.”

This was a total one-eighty from the stories Finley had heard so far. “Were his daughters aware of the relationship?”

She nodded, her lips pressed tightly together. “Those women are . . .” She shrugged. “They’re ruthless. Mean. Just mean. They do terrible things. Lance told me they could never have pets because Cecelia always hurt them. She was mean to Olivia. He really believed Cecelia was dangerous. But Sophia wouldn’t hear it. Cecelia was and probably still is her favorite, and she protected her from everything and everyone. Even her own father and sister.”

“Are you suggesting Lance Legard and his daughter Cecelia had issues?”

Cherry made a scoffing sound. “Lance had issues with Cecelia and Sophia. I’m telling you those two are nuts. Insane. Olivia seemed forgotten by all of them. She basically stayed out of the way. I felt a little sorry for her.”

“You’re only a few years older than his daughters.” Finley decided to push the envelope. The worst that could happen was Cherry would shut down. Why not go for it? “A few have said his relationship with at least one of his daughters was something besides fatherly. Did you ever feel that his relationship with you was motivated by how much you look like his daughters?”

She blinked once, twice. “I don’t know who told you such a thing.” She squared her shoulders, lifted her chin. “Personally, I never thought I looked at all like his daughters.”

But she did. Even with the blonde hair, particularly since Olivia had gone blonde. “Is that a no?” Finley pressed.

“I can’t imagine.” Cherry looked away, shook her head. “Don’t get me wrong. Lance had problems. He was obsessive and domineering. But he was no pedophile.”

Finley supposed that depended upon one’s definition. The man was having an affair with a woman barely older than his own daughters.

“What about Sophia?” Finley asked, switching gears. “Was there a confrontation with you or about you?”

“She couldn’t have cared less. As long as Lance kept her financially happy, he was free to do as he pleased. They didn’t even share the same bedroom. Lance mentioned more than once that she had her own playthings.”

“Do you have reason to believe Sophia had anything to do with her husband’s death?”

“I don’t know. She certainly had the most to gain. She and the twins. But I only knew what Lance told me about his wife and Cecelia. Mean. Ruthless. I kept my distance from his family.”

“What did you do to prompt him to let you go?”

“Elton had a huge fight with him and made a number of threats. It was terrifying. I couldn’t take it, so, like I said, I left. I went into hiding. The next thing I knew, Lance was dead.”

“You understand that what you’re telling me makes your husband a suspect.”

“My husband wasn’t in Nashville the day Lance was killed. Check for yourself. He couldn’t have hurt Lance.”

“What about you?”

“I was away.”

“Away?” Finley wasn’t letting her off so easily.

“I couldn’t be here with all that was going on. I’d just found out I was pregnant, and I wasn’t doing well.”

Now there was another news flash. “Pregnant?”

“Yes.” She closed her eyes for a moment as if she dreaded sharing this part. “I have a son. Brantley.”

Which begged the next question: “Are you willing to share the father’s name?”

“Elton is his father.”

So why had they only gotten together a few months ago? “Did you tell him you were pregnant when you found out?”

“I didn’t tell anyone for a very long time.” She drew in a deep breath. “I kept a low profile for years. The rumors and social media were too much. Then Brantley and I were in town shopping, and we ran into Elton. This was last fall. Elton recognized himself as a kid. He was angry with me at first, but eventually we worked through it all and fell in love again.” She smiled. “We became a family.”

The perfect Hallmark movie.

“I’m very sad,” Cherry went on, “that this nightmare has resurfaced. I will tell you what I thought then and I believe now: whatever happened to Lance, Cecelia or Sophia was involved. Whatever this Charles Holmes says about that family is probably true. You don’t know them. They’ll never let you see that side. I wouldn’t have known if Lance hadn’t told me.” She shrugged. “And, if I’m being brutally honest, maybe he deserved what he got.”