Page 102 of To Believe In You
Okay, the plan would need more work. And, unfortunately, a conversation with Matt.
She sighed. Outside the windows, Main Street resembled an idyllic painting. An antique truck was parked along the curb. A pair of old farmers greeted each other near the door of the café across the street. Some tourists strolled by, in the area for the small shops, apple orchards, and fall color.
When she’d moved to Lakeshore, even the doorbell cameras had seemed like overkill. Now, even after the home security company finished installing gadgets at her house, she wasn’t sure she’d feel safe.
Shane hadn’t been home or at the office when police tried to find him. The promise to keep looking didn’t comfort. If he’d been the intruder, had he gotten what he wanted? If someone else had broken in, what was to stop another random act in the future? The cameras and sensors would only alert authorities to the problem—not protect her from an intruder or recover property they got away with.
Whoever was behind it, the theft had robbed her of her favorite reminder of Grandma and slashed the already-tattered remnants of her feelings of safety.
At the thought of safety, she recalled Matt’s message.
I still care.
Warmth flushed her skin at the memory of his earnest tone, but if he cared the way she wanted him to, he would’ve been able to envision a future for them. He would’ve worked to make that future their reality.
She was on her own.
Her phone sounded, pulling her out of her reverie.
Dad was calling. Maybe he’d finally heard from Shane. She picked up, but instead of offering information, he greeted her with a question. “When were you planning to tell us you lost my mother’s jewelry?”
Lina straightened her fingers to study the remaining ring. “It was stolen, not lost.”
“Gone, either way, isn’t it? I imagine odds of recovery aren’t good. Melt it down, sell it off, and who’s the wiser?”
She massaged her forehead. The police had listed each stolen piece in a database searchable by law enforcement and jewelers, but Dad was correct about the low odds of recovery. Insurance would cover replacing the items, including the rings, but they wouldn’t be the same ones that had graced Grandma’s hands for decades. “How did you hear about it?”
“It’s in the paper.”
“Which paper?” She’d known news of the theft had spread locally. In hopes of someone recognizing the pieces, she’d granted permission for news outlets to share the photos she had of the jewelry from their insurance appraisal. An isolated incident involving a private, unsecured collection wouldn’t have interested a national station or major paper.
“The Lakeshore Happenings.” He named the local paper with mocking emphasis. “Think as little of me as you’d like, but I’m still your father, and I’m still concerned with how you’re managing.”
He might be concerned, but only because he wanted The Captain’s Vista. How did scouring the papers help with that goal? “Reading the paper on the chance they’d include something about me isn’t logical.”
“You work for celebrities. You’ve done numerous interviews for that charity of yours. Imagine my surprise to see pictures of your grandmother’s jewelry. Why weren’t the pieces in a safe?”
Perhaps they should’ve been. She did have one, but she hadn’t expected anyone to break in. “I wear the rings, and I had the necklace, bracelet, and hair clip out of the safety deposit box because of the wedding.”
Dadtsked. “Well, I’m glad this happened with something insignificant so you could learn from it.”
Insignificant? The man was heartless. “Learn what?”
“You aren’t a bad person, Lina, but you are naïve and unprepared for the challenges of managing wealth. You can correct your grandmother’s mistake. Let me manage everything. I’ll even train you, and when you come back into it someday, you’ll have a better idea of how to safeguard the family legacy.”
Wow. He’d escalated a long way from wanting her to part with The Captain’s Vista. Grandma had left her millions. Was he only leveraging the situation to convince her of her unworthiness, or had he orchestrated it? Her face flashed hot, then cold. She never would’ve suspected him of such devastating manipulation, but he’d sent Shane here. Could she put anything past him?
“Do you know where Shane is?”
If the question seemed off-topic, he didn’t show his surprise. “I do not, and the police have asked me as well. I haven’t seen him since he left for Wisconsin, but he was due back weeks ago. I’ll remind you, he’s a businessman, not a common thief.”
Shane had already stolen from her once. And Dad? At best, he hadn’t believed her about Shane’s true nature. At worst, Dad had arranged Shane’s trip, the scene at the wedding, and the theft as a means to his own ends. “And what are you doing, calling on such an awful day to manipulate me into thinking even less of myself than I already do?”
“If Shaneisa gambler anddidspend such a chunk of your money without your permission—without your knowledge, even—then the jewelry’s disappearance isn’t the first indication that you’re not fit to manage the family’s wealth.”
A towering sense of failure overshadowed her anger. She should’ve seen through Shane sooner. Perhaps she also should have predicted or prevented the theft. What calamity might befall her next?
She felt as blind to danger now as she’d been as a child, on vacation with Grandma and Grandpa when a cave tour guide had extinguished the lights for a few seconds.
