Randall chuckled. “Lucy always did like clever men.”
Joe didn’t answer. When Lucy told him about “accidently” seeing her husband’s laptop with his online banking account left wide open, Joe knew Maxwell had meant for her to see it. Lucy said there was five million in the account and she took three and a half. Joe admired her restraint. She spoke of how unusual it had been for Randall to leave his laptop where she could see it. “He must have been under a lot of stress.” There was guilt in her voice, showing that she felt bad for what she’d done. The idea that half of what Randall Maxwell owned was hers didn’t seem to have entered her mind.
If Maxwell had purposefully left the account open, he’d done it for a reason. If Lucy were a different kind of woman Joe would have thought that Maxwell suspected her of seeing other men and that he wanted to know where she went when she had money. But as Joe heard more of Lucy’s story, he thought it was possible that Maxwell was giving his wife freedom.
Maybe Maxwell thought he’d failed with his son, so he no longer needed to use Lucy to hold Travis to him. If Joe knew anything in life it was the pleasure/pain you got from your family. He loved his son with all his heart, but there were times when the boy’s wife made Joe want to disown him.
“So how’s Travis?” Randall asked into the silence.
There was a soft undertone in his voice that told Joe a lot. Maxwell loved his son very much. “He’s a good kid,” Joe said. “You raised him right.”
It was Randall’s turn for a moment of silence. “Lucy can keep the money and I’ll give her a divorce—and I’ll be fair with her.”
Joe drew in his breath. “If by that you mean you’ll give her more millions, don’t! Save it for Travis—and your other kid that I’ve been seeing around town. Seems his mother is your former secretary. Must have been convenient for you.”
Randall laughed. “Layton, you ever want a job with me, you got it.”
“No thanks,” Joe said, but he was grinning as he hung up.
Fourteen
“So what questions do you have for me?” Penny asked Kim.
They were sitting at a rusty old table outside the back of the antiques store. There was a tall wooden fence on three sides, and leaning against it were dozens of old metal advertising signs. The Mobil Pegasus was directly behind Penny’s perfectly coiffed head.
The first thing Kim was aware of was that Mrs. Pendergast had put herself in the position of power. Her chair’s back was facing the fence, a solid barrier, while Kim’s back was to the door and windows of the store, a more vulnerable position. But more important than that, Penny’s words had cast Kim as the one who was to ask the questions and maybe she’d receive answers.
Kim wasn’t falling for it. First, she moved her chair so that she was no longer backed against the openness of the store, then she looked at Penny. “I want you to tell me everything.”
Penny gave a bit of a smile in acknowledgment of what Kim had done, and shrugged.
“Late night, champagne to celeb
rate a deal, handsome boss, fight with my boyfriend. It all went together to make it happen.”
“And afterward?” Kim asked.
Penny took her time in replying, and Kim doubted that she’d ever told the story before. Mrs. Pendergast didn’t seem to be the type to share intimate details of her life with anyone.
“That wasn’t so easy. I didn’t realize I was pregnant until I was four months along. By that time the boyfriend was gone and besides, Randall was . . .”
“Married.”
“Yes. Married to a woman who couldn’t care less about him or his business, his dreams, or about anything else to do with him.” There was a hint of bitterness in her voice.
“So that makes it all right to jump into bed with him?” Kim asked. She was on Lucy’s side.
“When you get older you’re going to learn that there are always two sides to everything. Lucy married Randall Maxwell because her family pressured her into it. They were an old family, great lineage, but not a cent to their names. Randall supported her parents until their deaths, and he still pays the bills of Lucy’s two lazy brothers.”
Kim looked down at the table for a moment. “Why did he keep Travis so isolated?”
“Randall had a hard childhood. He was very poor and he’s a bit dyslexic. He was bullied in school.”
“So he gave his son tutors and privacy?”
“That’s it,” Penny said.
Kim was silent as she waited for Penny to continue. It was obvious that the older woman didn’t want to go on—or maybe she did. Penny had been the one who set up the meeting, so maybe she was hoping Kim would help smooth the way between Travis and Russell.