Page 30 of A Flower for Angus

Working on a fishing ship in Ireland, he’d met his Dublin lassie and fell in love. She’d been a flower too, and they each knew they had found their fated love match. Their courtship had been intense and hidden from her family, her daddy being a man of the cloth with considerable influence and money.

His Aven had sworn undying fealty until her daddy found them together. Faster than you could whistle the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond, she’d pronounced him the evil seducer and Angus had seen the wisdom of leaving Dublin in his rear view. He’d set out for America to quench the painful heartbreak of undying love gone wrong.

Once he’d finally sown all his wild oats, he’d returned to Heaven’s Gate, and to his family, much wiser to the ways of the lassies.

His father had put him straight to work at Neamh under Whipcord’s tutelage where he’d remained ever since. He’d learned there was more than one kind of love as his dedication to the lord of Heaven’s Gate and his loyalty to his native soil seeped deep into his heart and blood. His brother’s had pursued their own lives’ when he’d returned to the destiny he’d been born for.

No other lass had inspired his tadger to break free of his zip like Aven had until he’d met his Rosie. When it had arisen to salute the bonnie Rose McClanahan, he’d wooed and wed her within two weeks.

As he let himself in the kitchen door of Neamh, he knew Poppy was a woman he could fall deeply in love with, but how would they make it work when her family was in America? Would she even want to try?

***

WHEN ANGUS JOINED POPPYin Darro’s study, she squeezed his hand when he took the chair beside her in front of the desk. Darro was seated at his huge desk with Lucerne on a chair beside him. Vince Gallo was on his left. Gallo was drumming his fingers where his arm rested casually on the wooden surface as he leaned up against the solid wood.

Now that she had made tea for all of them and calmed down some, Poppy tried to see things from Gallo’s perspective. She was failing miserably, but she could concede that he had a job to do just like everyone else, and maybe he did help a lot of people who deserved his help. Adrian Condoloro wasn’t one of them, so she was still bristling. He had come to warn her though, and she tried to give him credit for that.

Her mind raced, trying to figure out why Adrian would actually want her out of the way? She’d been afraid of the lengths he might go to force her back into court, but she hadn’t expected this. It’s not like her estate would go to him. He was only related to her by marriage, wouldn’t it go to her daughter?

“Ye all right, lass? Ye’re lookin a little peeley walley,” Angus whispered in her ear.

A smile lit up her pale face, but she nodded weakly at him. She was anything but all right; she needed answers. Angus’s soft Scottish burr soothed her though. Explaining the basics to Darro while Angus had been gone had left her drained. “I’ve been better.” Angus squeezed her hand in support.

Darro shot a keen stare at Gallo. “Now that we are all here, can ye shed some light on why Poppy’s stepson would want her dead? We’ve all heard her explanation of the will and it sounds rock solid. Since she has a blood child who would inherit her estate, how would he benefit?”

“He might be able to,” Vince replied slowly, his brows furrowing. “I’ve picked up some things along the way when doing investigations for lawyers when stepchildren have come up. Legally, stepchildren have no inheritance rights. However, if the stepparent were to make conditions in the will that would include them, then they could inherit.”

“My will doesn’t have any provisions for Adrian,” Poppy protested. “The man has enough money as it is, why would I want to leave him anything?”

Angus was quick to point out. “Aye, but what about his father’s will? Did ye see the full copy of it? Mayhap there is a loophole yer stepson is trying to use, or plans to use if ye aren’t around.”

“Exactly my thoughts, Angus,” Darro agreed, steepling his fingers together. “Poppy, I’d say the first thing ye need to do is order a full copy of the will and any added addendums that yer husband’s lawyer may have included.”

Poppy nodded. “I can get that from Mack, but I’ve never actually read a copy of the will. Mack has been keeping Adrian at bay for the last year in court. If not for him, I don’t know where I’d be,” she confessed. “I haven’t had any contact with him since I left Toronto over two weeks ago.”

“Did ye pick up a new phone in town?” Darro asked.

Poppy flushed. “No, sir. I had no intention of calling anyone so they could track where I was calling from,” she confessed. “The cheap cell I bought with cash here was just to get a job with. I told my daughter before I left that I’d get in touch when I felt it was safe to call.”

“I can understand yer caution under the circumstances. Do ye have yer lawyer’s number? If so, ye can use my office phone to call until ye can get back into town and get yer own. If the man is meaning ye harm, it won’t take long at all to get something in place. Mr. Gallo has explained yer stepson’s mob connections, which means they could have contact resources right here in Scotland or at least in the UK.”

Poppy hadn’t thought of that and her face turned even paler. “I had no idea,” she whispered.

Vince grimaced. “Trust me, Mrs. Condoloro, I didn’t either. Not until I did some research of my own into Adrian’s background. Given his attitude when you left, I wanted to know more about him and how to protect myself. I’m sorry for your situation and if there’s anything I can do to help, I’d be happy to oblige.”

“Are you trying to make me believe you aren’t in his pocket,” she asked scornfully. “I’d prefer to see you arrested and put into a Scottish dungeon where no one could get you out.”

Angus grinned. “We don’t do that anymore, lass, sorry to say.”

Vince flushed and glared at her. “I’m not in his or anyone’s pocket,” he replied with enough zest that his declaration had a ring of truth to it. He ran his hand through his untidy hair. “Look, I did the job I was paid to do, but that’s it. I won’t apologize for the way I make a living, and I didn’t have to come here to warn you either. So, if you all are finished with me, I’ll just make my way over to the Netherlands or somewhere to take in some skiing for a while. Good luck, and I hope you find a way to solve your problems. And for what it’s worth, I apologize for misjudging you, but no one’s perfect.” He stood up to go.

“I’d like ye to stay, Vince,” Darro said quietly, standing up himself. “Ye seem like a good man and we could use someone who knows his way around these kinds of things. I’d pay whatever yer going rate is to keep an eye on the area, check new rentals, observe the arriving flights connected to the UK and other such activities ye do that might give us a heads up if trouble is arriving.”

Vince looked surprised. “Well...I don’t have a client at the moment, but I need a place to stay that’s off the grid. Here wouldn’t work because I’d be exposed if Adrian does come looking for Mrs. Condoloro.”

“What about with my father?” Lucerne asked thoughtfully. “I’m sure he would be on board with the plan once he knows what’s going on.”

“You might be better off hiring a local detective.” Vince frowned. “He knows the area better than I would.”

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