The Parks Empire: Secrets, Lies and Loves: Romancing the Enemy

Sara enjoyed the coolness of the stone through her slacks as she joined the child. By midafternoon the temperature had climbed into the upper seventies and the shade of the alcove was nice after her day of exploration.

“I’ve been on the scenic tour of the city,” she told Stacy. “I saw Fisherman’s Wharf and the Golden Gate Bridge and had lunch at Cliff House. My table was by the window so I could see the ocean.”

“Did you see any ships?”

“Yes. A huge one. It looked like an oceangoing barge.”

She was rocked by a sudden image of herself at four. She was standing by a window and looking out at the sea, wondering where her daddy could be and why he’d gone off on a boat and when he was going to come back.

With grave certainty, she knew she’d been looking out the window of her bedroom in the mansion—

“Do you have a headache?” Stacy asked.

Sara dropped her hand—she’d been unconsciously rubbing her temple—into her lap. “No, just thinking.” She smiled to show she was all right.

“My mommy used to have headaches. She’d tell Daddy to leave her alone, she had a headache—whenever he was mad at her.”

Sara was startled by the grown-up words coming from the child’s mouth. Surely Stacy had been too young to remember what sounded like frequent quarrels between her parents.

But maybe not. Vague recollections were coming back to her from her youth now that she had returned.

A premonition that she and Tyler should leave the past behind and get on with their lives pierced her heart like a hot spear. Surely there had been enough unhappiness back then to last all of them a lifetime.

Looking at young Stacy, Sara wondered if bringing the ancient case up, assuming they found their missing uncle and solved the murder, was worth it in light of the pain it might cause innocents like this child.

“Daddy!” Stacy yelled, jumping up and running to the end of the sidewalk.

Cade Parks pulled into the garage on his side of the house, then joined his daughter, coming through the gate and scooping her into his arms. “What are you doing sitting out front? You know you’re not supposed to do that.”

“Tai said I could wait for you. You’re late,” Stacy said, turning the reprimand on him.

Sara couldn’t help but grin. She wouldn’t say the daughter was smarter than her dad, but she certainly had learned the rudiments of outfoxing the main male in her life. Sara pitied the men in Stacy’s social circle when the little scamp grew up.

“Huh,” her dad said, then added, “Sorry I’m late. Grandpa called at the last minute. You know how hard it is to get off the line when he wants information.”

Grandpa. That would be Walter Parks. Well, Stacy did have another grandfather, but according to Tyler, the families didn’t mingle much, except for delivering the girl for an occasional visit.

Stacy giggled, then held her face up. To Sara’s amusement, the big city lawyer solemnly rubbed noses with his daughter, then settled on the steps with her in his lap.

“Nice out today,” he said.

“Yes.”

“Did you go sightseeing?”

“Actually, I did.”

Tai came out the front door. “I’m off to the library. See you Monday, pie face,” she said to Stacy, leaning down to plant a kiss on the child’s forehead.

“The office will be closed Monday since the fourth is on Sunday this year,” Cade reminded the sitter, “so you don’t have to pick her up until Tuesday.”

“Ah, that’ll give me more time to study.” Looking pleased, the medical student rushed off with a backpack of books swinging from her shoulders, her long straight hair bouncing against it with each hurried stride.

“I don’t know what I would do without her,” Cade murmured as Stacy followed Tai, then swung on the gate after waving to her sitter. “She’s totally dependable.”

“When I was little, I tried to eat a whole pie by myself,” Stacy called to Sara from the gate. “Tai took my picture. It’s so funny.”

Sara observed the warmth in Cade’s smile as he nodded in agreement with Stacy’s story. She could remember her father coming home and sweeping her and baby sister Kathleen into his arms for a big kiss, then bending their mother over his arm for a dramatic Hollywood embrace. They’d all laughed at how funny he was.

“What?” Cade asked, bending his head so he could look into her eyes.

“I beg your pardon?”

“You looked so sad there for a minute.”

Sara realized she needed to be more careful about concealing her feelings. “Not at all. I was just thinking about how good you are with Stacy and how I wish other fathers were as involved with their families.”

He was silent for several seconds. “I want to be different from my father. It has always been obvious to us kids that his business came first.”

“I remember your twin sister, Emily. Are there others in your family?”

Tyler had already told her about the Parks family, but Sara thought it better to feign ignorance.

“Two. Jessica is an artist. Her paintings are becoming known and beginning to sell. And there’s another boy, Rowan. He’s the wild one in the family. He drives the old man crazy with some of his stunts.”

“Such as?” Sara asked, unable to suppress her interest.

“Tearing around on a motorcycle. Having his picture plastered all over the newspaper in a compromising position with a politician’s wife. Just the everyday rebellions of a middle child who got little attention.”

“You’re the ‘good’ son,” she concluded. “The oldest, who is expected to step into the father’s shoes when the family patriarch decides it’s time.”

Cade hesitated, then chuckled. “Except I went into law instead of the diamond business.”

“Why?”

“I like the purity of it, the fairness—”

“Not always,” she interrupted, thinking of her quest. “There have been innocents on death row.”

“Well, I’m speaking of the idealism of the law, not the reality of its execution by mankind.”

She found herself laughing with him, his deeper tones like the mellow notes of a bassoon underplaying her higher fluting ones.

“Stace and I are grilling hamburgers tonight. Want to join us?”

She hesitated. “I imposed on you night before last.”

“It’s no imposition. We like the company. Besides, knowing you will make Stace feel more confident when she starts school at Lakeside.”