Promise Not To Tell(98)

“Virginia. Oh, my dear girl. You do not know the half of it. You were the one who saved me. If it had not been for you, I do not think that I could have survived the loss of Kimberly and, later, Paul’s betrayal. You brought love and purpose back into my life. Those are gifts that I have never taken lightly. And for the record, you have never disappointed me. When we argued, it was because I was terrified that you would make a choice that would cause you pain. I was so afraid that I would fail to protect you, the way I failed to protect Kimberly.”

“You were right. My mother made her own choices. In the end, she and the other women who defied Quinton Zane were very brave and very daring. Their plan failed but their children were saved.”

“I told Anson that he made the right decision when he rescued the children from the barn that night. He made the choice that Kimberly and the other mothers would have wanted him to make.”

Virginia could no longer hold back the tears. She did not even try. Neither did Octavia.

When the storm passed, they stood close together, looking out into the mist-drenched garden.

“Cabot asked me to marry him,” Virginia said after a while.

Octavia smiled. “Took him long enough.”

“How can you say that? Cabot and I have only known each other for a short time.”

“You and Cabot share some history. And you two can envision a future together. That is a wonderful thing.”

“I was thinking we could have the wedding here in your garden.”

“An outdoor wedding in Seattle is always a bit risky. It might rain.”

“So what? If it rains, we’ll just move things inside. This sunroom would make a lovely venue for a wedding.”

“Yes, it would,” Octavia said.

Virginia smiled. “Cabot and I are going out to dinner tonight. Can you join us?”

“Love to, but I’m afraid I’ve got other plans.”

“One of your club meetings?”

“No, dear. Something a bit more interesting. Anson invited me to have dinner with him this evening.”

Virginia was speechless for a couple of seconds. This was probably what it felt like to be struck by lightning, she decided.

“What?” she finally managed. “You and Anson Salinas? Dinner?”

“Makes a nice change from bridge and the garden club, don’t you think?”

CHAPTER 73

“Anson has a date?” Max Cutler’s disbelief echoed through the phone. “Are you serious?”

“Let me take a wild guess here,” Jack Lancaster said. “Anson’s hot date is some fast-moving blonde half his age who discovered that he is part owner of a security business that just got a big infusion of cash.”

His voice was laced not so much with disbelief as it was with cool, detached cynicism. Jack always suspected the worst of people until proof to the contrary appeared. It was, Cabot thought, the predictable side effect of a career spent in academia studying criminal behavior.

“You can both relax,” Cabot said. “Anson’s date is my fiancée’s grandmother.”

“Grandmother?” Max repeated. “Just how old is she?”

“Early seventies, I think,” Cabot said. “Virginia told me that her grandmother married young – while she was still in college.”

“Anson just turned seventy-one,” Jack observed. “So at least he’s dating age-appropriately. But what do he and Virginia’s grandmother have in common?”

“You mean, aside from the fact that Octavia’s going to be my future grandmother-in-law?” Cabot asked.

“Aside from that,” Jack said.

“You could say that Octavia and Anson have some history,” Cabot said. “Octavia was the one who showed up to collect Virginia the day after Zane torched the compound.”

That was all he needed to say.

Jack exhaled slowly. “So she was one of the many people Anson had to face the morning after.”

“As long as I live,” Max said, “I’ll never be able to wrap my head around what it must have been like for Anson that day.”

“Octavia has made it clear that, given a gun and an opportunity to shoot Zane, she would pull the trigger in a heartbeat,” Cabot said.

“Sounds like she’ll make a fully accredited member of our little Zane Conspiracy Club,” Jack observed.

“Oh, yeah,” Cabot said. “She’s on board.”

“I can’t believe we’re discussing Anson’s love life,” Max said. “He’d be pissed off if he knew about this conversation.”

“Well, I, for one, don’t plan to say anything about it,” Cabot said.

“Neither do I,” Jack said.

“Agreed,” Max said. He paused. “Are you sure he can’t overhear you?”

Cabot looked through the door of his office and contemplated Anson’s empty desk. He smiled.

“Anson went home early to get ready for the date,” he said.

Max chuckled. “Good sign.”

Jack cleared his throat. “As interesting as this topic is, it’s not why I called. I’ve been going through my copy of the new files on Zane that you sent, Cabot. I still can’t say definitively that he’s alive, but I can tell you one thing.”