Lady With A Past Read online

  Lady with a Past – Lilian Cheatham

  His face, his voice branded her soul

  It was the sort of mad unbelievable coincidence that one swore could never happen. Through her devotion to Maud, Josey had blundered into her worst enemy!

  Six years ago, Josey had pinned her last desperate hope for justice on brilliant trial lawyer T.J. Macallan, only to be dragged down for the sake of his guilty client. Now he didn’t even recognize the innocent he’d helped put behind bars.

  Much to his dear Aunt Maud’s delight, however, Thorne took note of Josey’s animosity. In fact, he found her resistance irresistible….

  CHAPTER ONE

  T. J. Macallan COUNSELLER-AT –LAW LAW listented as his fellow attorney presented his case.

  his hard, handsome face a mask behind which hard, remorseless brain probed for flaws. His lids drooped lazily over a pair of keen, grey eyes as he lounged carelessly in his chair, long, lean fingers playing idly with a pencil on the table. He did not need to prove himself—at barely thirty, he was already one of the most brilliant young lawyers in the State.

  . He did not usually bother with a case this small, but he had accepted it because of an appeal from an old friend, who knew Tony Leyden’s parents. His client was a young man who had had. the misfortune to fall in love with the wrong woman. A cold smile touched his lips. The mercenary little bitch was going to share the guilt with him, and he was going to enjoy cutting her down to size.

  Jocelyn watched him compulsively, noting the powerful shoulders, the lean, tapering thighs beneath the fine, wool suit. He was a man who would always stand out in a crowd. His looks were devastating, of course, but it was also a matter of sheer masculine grace and a self-assurance that came with power—raw, male power. She shivered in her cheap little dress. She was pinning all her hopes, her faith on him. Her ‘ lawyer, from the Public Defender’s office, hopelessly incompetent. She was already regretting his advice to forego a jury trial and throw herself on the mercy of the court.

  Then, Macallan started speaking and she listened in growing disbelief, stunned to realize that the greedy little opportunist he was portraying was herself. She dimly heard her lawyer’s objections, the judge’s overruling, but she heard every cruel distortion uttered in that cool, eloquent voice. She heard herself presented, as a tease and Tony as a lovesick innocent; her moral principles twisted to sound like some deviant sex game she had played for money. When he finished, Jocelyn met the judge’s eyes. and she began to dimly comprehend what Macallan had done to her.

  She was still dazed as she was being sentenced. She was given two years, the same as Tony. subject to parole after six months, and a stern, moralistic lecture by the judge on her past and future behaviour.

  Then, she understood why Macallan had crucified her in public.

  By making her equally responsible for the stolen money, he had.

  mitigated Tony’s offence and gained a minimum sentence for him. She lost control then, bursting into impassioned speech and hurling insults at that cold, cruel face.

  ‘You bastard!’ she screamed. ‘You lying, crooked, shyster bastard! I’ll get you if it’s the last thing I do! I’ll make you pay for this day before I die! If I have to kill you, I’ll make you pay!’

  The next thing she knew, she was being, dragged out of the courtroom, the judge pounding with his gavel. The last sight she had ‘

  T. J. Macallan maddened her. He was looking her with a cold, remote distaste, as-though she was a wild animal in a cage.

  ‘So it was all a trick! A hoax played on me by you and Annie! And you don’t regret a bit of it, do vou?’ Josey Smith eyed her friend with rueful severity.

  They had been friends for six years—Josey, at twenty-five, was forty years younger than Maud Lorrimer. But that had made no difference in the quality of their friendship which, so far as Josey was concerned, was deathless. They had met at a - low point in her life and Maud had, quite literally saved her life. If she lived to be a hundred, she couldn’t repay the debt but at the moment, she was tempted to murder her.

  Not at all,’ Maud replied to her question smugly. ‘It got you here, didn’t it?’

  Indeed, it had. All it had taken was Annie’s emergency call telling her that Miss Maud had been taken to the hospital with a heart attack.

  After that, had come a long, agonising wait while josey tried to get through to someone who could tell her something, then Maud, surprisingly, had been able to talk to her. She had reassured her chat she was much better, but Thorne was insisting that she quit work and retire to a nursing home. Maud’s work was her life—Josey knew that and thought Thorne should have known it. So she had promised as soon as she .could get her own affairs in orders, she would be on the first plane out of Atlanta for Hilton Head.

  All the way, she sizzled with fury at Thorne, -Maud’s nephew. How dare he threaten to put Maud her Maud, of all people, in a nursing home!

  Maud, the liveliest kid on the block, the life of every party, young at heart, in a horrible place like that. It had been so monstrous that she arrived fighting mad. It rather took the wind out of her sails therefore to find Maud at not at death’s door as she been led to believe, but out on the terrace, a martini at her elbow. If Josey had’nt been relieved, she would have been furious.

  They only kept me overnight for observation Maud breezily explained her hospital visit.

  “ And I suppose Thorne didn’t really suggested anything about a nursing home, did he? “ Josey asked sarcastically.

  Maud grinned, her eyes as bright as monkey’s. “Ask him yourself – he’ll be here for the week end.. Simmer Down, love, take a load of your feet and have a drink. If I had’nt speeded up the process, you’d still be in Atlanta, cataloguing John’s books for his lawyer. Lord, I’m going to miss old John!’ she added wistfully.

  Josey sighed, kicked off here shoes and sank into one of the comfortable redwood chairs that had been rolled forward to get the benefit of the pale November sunlight.

  So am I,” she said simply. “That’s why I got upgright when I thought you’d had heart attack. His was so sudden. He worked that last day, you know, dictating the final chapters. His publisher is looking for someone to finish it.”

  You could have done it.

  “No, I am not a historian. She smiled affectionately at Maud. “I may have bluffed John but I don’t’ think my claim would hold up with his publisher.

  She ran her hands through her hair, loosened the prim knot at the back. Unrestrained, tumbled to her shoulders, gleaming with copper highlights. Her face, untouched by make-up raised itself gratefully to the sun. Not for the first time, Maud marveled at Josey’s beauty. Every feature of her face was sheer perfection: her cheekbones, nose, the soft mouth,those tawny eyes beneath slanting brows, with their extraordinary range of color. Inside the dowdy clothes and flat sensible shoes was superb figure, its slender lines not immediately obvious to anyone but a connoisseur of women. Maud had wondered more than once at the traumatic experience that had turned this beautiful girl into a repressed woman. She made a sudden decision.

  “I am taking you shopping tomorrow and I choose the clothes,” she said abruptly.

  Josey looked amused. “You’ve made a rapid recovery, she said drily.

  Maud didn’t bother to answer that. “Well?. No outcries of horror? No adamant refusal to allow me spend a cent on you?’.

  No need. Josey said pacidly. “I have my own money now”. I can buy my own clothes this time.. Ah. Yes, the money John left you. Fifty thousands, wasn’t’ it?. I am glad you’re going to put to good use.

  Josey flushed slightly. I’m only keeping a thousand for myself. She replied defensively. “I kept up an annuity for old Maggie. She had worked for John for forty-
five years and she was destitute.

  That would have pleased John. Maud said slowly. Although he wanted you to have that money. He felt you deserved it. What did his cousins have to say about it.?

  “Quite a lot”. Josey grimaced. They accused me of being John’s mistress, among other things.

  John, of all people! Why, he was like a father to me! And they begrudged Maggie getting a cent after all those years of faithful service.’

  ‘Harpies!’ Maud said angrily. They got the house. What more did they want?’

  ‘All of it. But let’s not talk about them.’ josey shivered, remembering the two avid old women at John’s funeral, then later, picking their way though the house as they priced every piece of bric-a-brac in sight. ‘Do you really want me to work for you, Maud? Are you sure you aren’t inventing a job, just because I’m out of work?’

  ‘Of course not. I need you.’

  ‘And Thorne? What does he think about you hiring me?’

  ‘Thorne?’ Maud asked innocently. ‘Since when have I ever allowed Thorne to tell me how to run my business?’

  I

  ‘Ever since I’ve known you,’ Josey pointed out mildly. ‘In spite of his never having done a day’s , work himself, he seems to have a good bit to say about your affairs. I know he bought this land and had this house built for you, and he took out the lease on your apartment in Aflanta and you consult him every time you make a business move. The only thing I don’t understand is why?’

  Maud’s eyes twinkled behind discreetly lowered lids. ‘You see, my dear, he is a man.’

  This provoked the reaction she expected. ‘Maud Lorrimer, are you some kind of chauvinist? A man, indeed! That doesn’t automatically make him a god! And from what I’ve heard of your _ nephew, he’s something less than that. Information, incidentally, which you’ve given me yourself.’

  ‘I?’ Maud looked puzzled. ‘Just because I’ve mentioned that Thorne has an occasional problem with the women in his life…’

  ‘Occasional! He’s a womaniser and you know it!’

  ‘He did rather tend, in his younger days, to burn the candle at both ends …’

  ‘Hah!’

  ‘Josey, my dear, you must learn to curb your prejudice,’ Maud said reprovingly. ‘My nephew is a perfect gentleman and a reliable business man. He’ll be spending Christmas with us, and I do want you to become friends. How can you when you have such wicked thoughts about him?

  Besides, don’t you think it’s wrong to pass judgment on someone whom you’ve never met?

  How can you know the real Thorne when you’ve consistently refused to meet him?’

  Josey gasped. ‘Pardon me if I’m wrong, Maud, I distinctly remember you advising me because he wasn’t to be trusted.

  I “ ridiculous!. Maud rose. Now come along and let’s unpack your things.

  I want to see just what the damage is before I take you shopping tomorrow.

  And, Josey, dear those shoes will simply have to go.

  Josey trailed behind her bewilderedly. It must be jet lag, she decided although the brief ride from Atlanta to Savannah, then the thirty minute ride to this island off the coast of South Carolina would not account for Maud’s memory loss. Obviously, Thorne was now in favour, although Josey happened to remember he had once been a source of great worry to his aunt. So far as meeting him, Josey had cleared a wide swathe whenever that possibility came up. Maud’s to be

  warnings hadn’t been the cause: it had been Josey’s own antipathy towards his type of man.

  She supposed she did tend to be prejudiced against Thorne, to despise him without really knowing him, Josey admitted reluctantly.

  After this, she would try to give him the benefit of the doubt, but she did hope he would take his usual skiing vacation at Christmas time. Perhaps .he’d forget his promise-from what she knew of him, - it was possible.

  Anything could happen by then.

  - Josey did not intend to work for Maud: she had been tricked into it.

  For one thing, Maud had a tendency to take over one’s life if given the opportunity. She was a tireless matchmaker and always had some eligible man for Josey to meet. Some macho type, usually, with super good looks and an oversized ego. Like the mental picture Josey had of Thorne Lorrimer

  Given her own way, Josey would have stayed on in Atlanta and looked for work, if Maud hadn’t sent that cry for help. Which is exactly why she did it, of course.

  On the way upstairs, Josey got a quick look at’ the house. There was a superb view of the ocean from the terrace and the architecture was suited to a beach house, with plenty of skylights and windows. Dark, heart-of-pine floors contrasted with pure white walls and black-beamed ceilings. In the living room, a starkly modern fireplace with a copper hood was open to both it and the dining room. Maud’s decorator had done his work well, too, blending some of her treasured heirlooms with the best of modem furnishings. Upstairs, Annie had left the windows of Josey’s room open, and she saw with delight that they overlooked the ocean. A breeze was blowing in rustling the drapes and the ruffled bed coverlet. Josey took a deep breath. She could be happy here, she knew.

  She loved the beach. It was a hold over from her childhood when her parents had tfaken her on vacations to the Gulf coast. The sand was pure white and the sea blue—nothing like the rowdy Atlantic. They had always rented the same, cottage, with a swing and rocking chairs on the porch. At night, she and her father would walk to the pier for ice cream and she would watch the boys and girls dancing barefoot in the sand to the blare of the jukebox.

  She had loved those long, lovely days. In her mind, the sun was always shining and her parents were always smiling. It was her best memory of them.

  Josey took Maud’s advice about her clothes. It wasn’t hard to do—Maud had an instinct about what was right for her. And Josey was ready to break jut, experiment a little. Once, she had delighted in pretty clothes, make-up, even parties … Then she had been savagely blighted and it had taken a long time to heal herself. Five long years as John’s secretary, hiding from the world. But now she was ready to live again—very cautiously, one step at a time.

  But living again didn’t mean putting up with Maud’s matchmaking schemes. So far, Maud hadn’t advanced any, but she did encourage Josey to get out, enjoy herself. Right now, Maud had no work for her, which was plausible, since Maud was a best-selling writer of historical romances, and the early pages of her book were mapped out in private.

  However, just to be on the safe side, Josey accepted an invitation for dinner from a young;, man she had met on the plane. Brian Marsden was a dentist who lived in Savannah but told her he was often at Hilton Head, because his parents lived there. He was pleasantly nonthreatening, and although Josey did not consciously use the word ‘manageable, it was in the back of her mind when she had agreed to have dinner with him.

  Her date was like Brian himself—pleasant but unexciting. Maud might scoff but it was all Josey wanted in her contact with men. During dinner, he told Josey something about the island’she was on. It was situated in an area teeming with history, halfway between Charleston, Savannah and Beaufort. They were all old cities, with beautifully restored areas, and active preservation societies. The island had been the hangout of pirates.

  They had cruised among these waters, wintered on these islands and perhaps buried their treasure in these sands. Captain Kidd, Blackbeard, Anne Bonney—the old names evoked the magic of childhood.

  Josey’s first intimation that things had changed came the next morning, as she returned from an early tennis lesson at Maud’s club. She strode down the driveway briskly, then stopped at the sight of Theodore, washing a silver-grey Mercedes.

  Theodore, like Annie, had worked for Maud for years, and like Annie, his job couldn’t be defined, except that it included a little of everything.

  A little chauffeuring, a little gardening, and turning his hand to anything else the occasion demanded. He kept Maud’s car in tiptop condition but this wasn’t
hers.

  Josey stared, stricken by a sudden premonition.

  Theodore shook his head disapprovingly when he saw her. ‘You better hurry on in, Miss Josey, They’re looking for you. Mr Thorne got back about an hour ago.’

  ‘And has already put you to work, I see!’ Josey snapped.

  Theodore looked at her reproachfully. ‘What gave you the idea I mind doing a little favour for Mr Thorne? He’s always polite and thanks me and tips when I do something extra—like this.’

  And why not? He can afford it, Josey told herself uncharitably as she mounted the steps. The first person she ran into was Annie. The small, apple-cheeked woman was carrying an armful of linen, her grey hair standing on end with excitement.

  ‘Where have you been?’ she asked Josey. ‘Miss Maud’s in a taking. She’s been asking for you.’ .. ‘Why?’

  ‘Wants you to meet Mr Thorne, I should think.’ Annie whisked up the steps.

  Josey groaned to herself but was prepared when Maud finally caught up with her. She didn’t ask where she’d been—her racket and abbreviated tennis costume spoke for themselves. ‘I want you to meet Thorne.’

  ‘You weren’t expecting him this soon, were you?’, ‘He ‘phoned me last night and mentioned he” would be coming in today,’

  Maud replied. ‘Now, brush your hair.’ It was in a braid for coolness and Josey gave it a casual swipe. ‘He’s in the library,’ Maud went on, leading the way. ‘He brought one of his secretaries with him—a nice woman, a Miss Pettigru—and he says he has to finish some work before he can socialise. So we won’t stay but a minute, dear.’

  ‘Work?’ Josey asked curiously.

  ‘I may have to give up the library to him this month, if he stays on.’ Maud was looking pleased.

  At the door, she turned back and looked again at Josey, at the sunburned nose and freckles, the baby fine curls that had escaped the braid. She untied a sweater Josey had knotted around her waist and flicked it on to a chair.

  ‘You’ll do,’ she said smilingly. ‘Now come on in and meet Thorne.’