The Secret Daughter

He set his tumbler aside. “Obviously Duke didn’t expect to die on this trip, Casey. Both his banker and I advised against buying the refinery from Roland Dewalt. Duke wanted it. Thank God, he didn’t second-mortgage the house to get it.”

“No,” Jackson snapped. “But he speculated on raw-sugar prices last season, banking prices would go up. They fell several cents a pound instead. We took a major loss. I had no idea until I saw the bank audit.”

“Even so,” Casey said stubbornly, “the last five years our yield has been up. Way up.”

Noelani’s head whipped back and forth as she tried to follow their talk. Among other things, Duke Fontaine had apparently been a worse businessman than he was a father. Well, to her, anyway.

Prescott held up a hand. “Duke always walked a financial tightrope. He gave you all free rein with spending. Angelique went overboard on clothes and cars for herself and you kids. She entertained lavishly—the Fontaines did everything first class. The upkeep alone on Bellefontaine is horrendous. Casey, you asked Duke to update the fleet of trucks and cane trailers. He bought everything new. You wanted the most expensive harvester. He bought it. Then you figure in college for three. To say nothing of the years he’s subsidized Anela Hana and her child.”

“Wait, a darned minute!” Noelani sprang up. “I went to Hawaii State on a full scholarship. My mother kept books for Bruce Shiller’s company for her money. We took nothing from Duke Fontaine.”

Prescott’s eyes darkened sympathetically. “Duke allowed you to think that. He insisted on providing for Anela and you. He said she was a proud woman, and you were filled with anger. Through Bruce Shiller, Duke arranged to pay your mother’s salary, including periodic raises. After she died, he continued the practice for you. He funded your scholarship, Noelani. Read the audit. It’s all there in black and white.”

Eyes suddenly awash in tears, she couldn’t have seen the figures if she’d looked right at them. Shaking her head vigorously in denial, Noelani ran headlong from the room. She’d phone Bruce. They were lying! They had to be. This was all a trick to make her feel bad so she’d say they didn’t owe her anything.

She’d seen a phone at the base of the stairs. She found it, figured out the time difference in her head, then dialed Hawaii. Bruce would still be in his office. “Hi, Midori, it’s Noelani. Let me speak to Bruce. It’s urgent.” She tapped a toe impatiently until he came on the line. “Bruce, the Fontaines are trying to imply Duke paid Mama’s salary. And mine. They claim he…he funded my scholarship.”

There was a silence.

“Bruce? Did you hear me?” Noelani’s hand tightened as the man at the other end sighed, then began talking fast.

“How could you?” she said in a hushed tone. “Guilt money, Bruce? You helped Duke Fontaine ease his guilty conscience. You let him trade money for Mama’s broken heart. How could you?”

Shiller talked faster. Noelani chewed her lower lip to keep the tears at bay. And she cast her eyes toward the high ceiling. “I know the cost of shipping sugar from the islands has risen twentyfold in as many years. I’ve seen other growers sell out.”

Noelani slumped against the wall. She was tempted to cut her losses and wash her hands of the Fontaines. But if she did, she could kiss her plan for Shiller’s goodbye. “You said yourself this inheritance is mine by right of birth. I’m not leaving Louisiana until I have what’s due me. I only wish you’d told me the truth before I had to hear it from Duke’s legitimate kids.” She couldn’t stay angry with Bruce, the man who’d been more of a father to her than her own. Her voice softened. “Bye, Bruce. I’ll keep you posted.”

She set the receiver down gently, dried her eyes and lifted her head in time to see Jackson Fontaine hovering half in, half out of his office.

“Are you okay?” He stepped out of the room and she steeled herself to meet him.

“Your figures are apparently correct. I swear I had no idea my mother or I took one cent from your father. I’m sorry for my outburst.”

Jackson rubbed his neck. “It’s okay.” His lips twitched. “Yours was nothing compared to the fit Casey threw when we first learned about you.”

“I imagine it was a shock. Only I didn’t ask to be born, remember?”

He spread a hand and invited her to enter the office ahead of him. “This is a situation none of us asked for. We’re all in the same boat. And there’s a lot at stake here, so we’re going to have to make the best of it.”

“You propose doing that how?”

“Well, you could go back to Maui and leave the resolution in our hands.”

“Not on your life! Is it necessary for me to hire a separate lawyer?”

“God, no. In my experience, the more lawyers involved, the muddier a situation gets, to say nothing of tripling costs.”

“So there you have it. I suspect you have a plan up your sleeve.”

“Not up my sleeve, exactly. Would you be willing to sign an agreement to defer finalizing your portion of the property until Casey and I bring in this year’s crop? Or at least until we settle the outstanding insurance claims?”

“I don’t think I’m willing to sign anything. At least not tonight.”

“Mind telling me why not?”

“When it comes down to it, Jackson, I know cane as well as you and your sister do. We all have a vested interest in bringing your crop in at a high yield.”

“You say that now in the heat of the moment. Tomorrow you might feel differently.” Looking unhappy, he returned to the desk where Shel Prescott still sat, having obviously refreshed his drink. Noelani returned to her seat beside Aunt Esme, who still stroked a snoring Toodles.

Jackson spoke up. “In spite of our denials, accusations and disbelief, I believe we can agree this problem isn’t going away. I propose we sleep on it and meet again at breakfast, to see if anyone’s been struck by some great revelation during the night. Shel’s promised he’ll recheck the status of our insurance claims.”

Casey twisted her ponytail and lifted it off her neck. Sighing deeply, she deferred to her brother with a shrug.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Nick said. “Everyone’s pretty emotional tonight.”

Dropping her hair, Casey got to her feet. “It’ll have to be early, Jackson. If saving our butts depends on bringing in the cane, that’s all the more reason for me to be out in the fields rather than stuck in some meeting.”

“Betty’s due at six. Is six-thirty okay with you, Noelani?”

“Sure. I’ve got nowhere else to be.”

“Aunt Esme. You’re remarkably quiet this evening.”

“Bellefontaine has survived many ups and downs. It passed to my brother during one of its worst slumps. He built it into the voice of sugar in Louisiana—indeed, in the whole South. You’re all of his blood. If the three of you pull together, I have no doubt we’ll get through this.” She stood, managing to look regal even after a long day. Carrying the yawning schnauzer, she marched to the door. “Toodles and I will skip breakfast at that uncivilized hour. We’ll see everyone for cocktails before supper.”

Casey and Nick followed Esme out after all good-nights were said.

Jackson remained by the desk. It was clear to Noelani that he wanted some time alone with the lawyer.

“I napped before dinner, so I’m wide awake. The rain’s stopped. Is it all right if I change clothes and go for a walk?”

“Fine with me. There are night-lights in the upper and lower halls. Oh, and carriage lamps on the fence posts. The fence marks the perimeter of Bellefontaine.”

“Is there danger of falling in an abandoned well if I hike out to the cane? I love hearing the wind rustling through the stalks at night. It relaxes me.”

“Casey, too. Hmm. I guess you have that in common. But to answer your question—no wells. Feel free to wander. Except the rows aren’t lit.”

“I won’t go into the cane. I doubt your sister would approve of me touching her precious stalks.” She gathered her papers and left the two men.

“Noelani,” Jackson called before she disappeared. “Casey idolized Duke. He let her down. It’s him she’s furious with. Not you.”

“My mother gave him up, you know. She only spoke to me about him once. She swore she never had any idea he was married when she first got involved with him, and when she found out, she sent him away. To the best of my knowledge, she never asked him for anything. No money. No contact. Nothing. But she never stopped loving him. Which made no sense to me, and I’m pretty furious at him, too. I’ll see you at six-thirty tomorrow.”

Noelani returned to her room, where she tugged on jeans, a tank top and a lightweight white cotton sweater. Pinning her hair into a loose bun, she tiptoed softly down the hall so as not to wake Tanya, Megan or Aunt Esme. In the aftermath of the squall, the night air was heavy. Too muggy for jeans, but Noelani was no stranger to the biting bugs that came out at night around cane.

Bellefontaine in all its glory made her catch her breath, not for the first time. She was used to living in a two-bedroom, single-story duplex. The bedrooms had no glass at the windows, but screens to let in cool ocean breezes.

The minute she stepped outside, Noelani dragged in a huge lungful of the heavy, humid air.