The Calamity Janes: Gina and Emma: To Catch a Thief. Sherryl Woods
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He might be attracted to her, but he wasn’t happy about it. In fact, Rafe didn’t strike her as the kind of man who would violate his own ethical standards on a regular basis. Kissing a suspect, no matter how unjustly accused, was bound to be a breach of those ethics. No wonder he was keeping his distance.
Right now, for example, he was sitting in the booth next to hers at the diner, sipping coffee and pretending to read the morning paper. She knew it was only pretense, because his gaze rarely shifted away from her long enough for more than a glimpse of the headlines. She sighed heavily.
“You might as well come over here and join me,” she said finally. Maybe they could discuss this like two reasonable people and find a way to peacefully coexist, since it was evident that nothing was going to make him go away.
He stared at her, clearly surprised by the invitation. “You sure about that?”
“Lately I don’t seem to be sure about much of anything, but you’re getting on my nerves over there, so, what the heck?”
A grin came and went so quickly she thought she’d imagined it. It was probably a good thing he didn’t smile too often. She had a hunch the effect could be devastating, even more devastating than the rare hint of vulnerability she’d seen on his face as he and Caitlyn had played with the toy trains. Wondering what that was about had kept her awake for several nights, despite repeated lectures to herself that Rafe’s past was none of her concern.
Carrying the paper and his cup of coffee, Rafe slid into the booth opposite her. Gina tried to pretend he was someone who’d come into her restaurant for a good meal, someone deserving of friendly conversation. She’d certainly been forced to be polite to a lot of arrogant, exasperating people over the years. What was one more?
“Still enjoying your visit to Winding River?” she asked politely, as if he were just another tourist instead of a man with an agenda.
“It’s been interesting,” he said.
“Finding much to do?”
He regarded her with amusement. “You know the answer to that, since I’ve pretty much been doing whatever you’re doing. Are you bored?”
“I’m never bored when I’m home, especially with so many of my friends around.”
“If you’re so fond of this place, why did you leave?”
“I wanted to be a chef, a really good one. Tony ran out of recipes.” It was a simplistic answer, but true enough.
“So you left here and went to New York?”
“Not right away. I trained all over at a series of culinary institutes here and in Europe,” she said.
“Must have been expensive.”
She had a hunch his interest in the cost had less to do with curiosity than with his desire to build a case that she’d needed Café Tuscany money to pay off old debts. She leaned forward and met his gaze evenly.
“I was very good. I received several scholarships,” she told him.
“Is that how you met Rinaldi, at one of those cooking schools?”
“Yes,” she said. “But before we go too far along that particular path, let’s agree here and now to save all those nasty deposition questions for New York.”
“It might not leave us much to talk about,” he said, that grin sneaking back.
“Consider it a challenge. You look like the kind of man who thrives on challenges.”
“I do,” he agreed. “Okay then, you pick a nice, neutral topic. What shall we talk about?”
“Let’s talk about you,” she suggested. “Why did you decide to become a lawyer?”
“To protect the little guy from swindlers and crooks,” he said readily.
Gina laughed. “Didn’t take long to get back to your low opinion of me, did it?”
“That’s your interpretation,” he said. “Guilty conscience?”
“Not me.” She regarded him intently. “Tell me something. Why did you take this case? Usually your firm is involved in much more lucrative, high-profile cases. You don’t actually work for the little guys. You work for corporate America. Yet here you are up to your neck in a case that involves peanuts. Even if you recover every missing dollar that Bobby allegedly stole, your cut won’t amount to much by your firm’s standards. And just think of all the billable hours you’re missing while you hang around out here keeping me under surveillance.”
He shrugged. “I was due for a vacation, anyway.”
“But you wouldn’t have chosen to take it here, would you?”
“No,” he admitted. “Probably not.”
“So why did you take a case that was going to cost so much for such little reward?”
“It was personal,” he said, his expression turning grim.
“Oh? In what way?”
“My mother was among those Rinaldi swindled out of their money.” There was a dangerous glint in his eyes. “I imagine you can see why I’d want him caught.”
Gina was taken aback by the admission. She hadn’t thought about Rafe having a mother—or any other family, for that matter—let alone a mother who’d backed Café Tuscany. “How much did she give Bobby?”
“I doubt she viewed it as a gift. She invested a hundred thousand.”
She stared at him, openmouthed with shock. “What? Where did she get that kind of cash? Forgive me if I’m wrong, but I got the impression the other day that your family didn’t have a lot of money. Or were you just trying to play on my sympathy at the toy store?”
“We didn’t. Not when I was a kid. My dad worked two jobs to keep food on the table. It was a constant source of friction between him and my mother. She was used to having the finer things in life, but she made the mistake of falling for a guy working construction on one of my grandfather’s skyscrapers. Needless to say, my grandparents disapproved. They cut her off without a dime.”
He regarded Gina with a bleak expression. “At first I don’t think it really mattered to her. They were doing okay and they were wildly in love. Then I came along, and the finances got a little tighter. When my sister was born, every dollar was stretched to the limit. My grandfather saw to it that my dad was never hired on the best-paying jobs.”
Gina was appalled. “What a mean-spirited thing to do.”
“You won’t get any argument from me about that. It was the worst kind of abuse of power. Eventually it took its toll on the marriage, probably just as my grandfather intended. The fights got louder and nastier. My mother found richer companions. Ultimately my father tired of being humiliated and divorced her. He’s living somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. We’re not in touch, though I did get a copy of the newspaper announcement when he remarried a few years ago.”
“I’m sorry,” Gina said quietly. “His leaving must have made things even more difficult.”
“It could have, but my mother is a survivor. She remarried a little more quickly, within months of the divorce, this time to someone my grandparents approved of. The money began to flow again, so my sister has had an easier time of it, despite the fact that the marriage only lasted a year. There was a hefty settlement.”
His expression turned wry. “Then came another marriage, another divorce, another settlement. Financially my mother has done well for herself, but she’s never found the kind of love she had with my father. While she’s looking for it, she gets mixed up with guys like Rinaldi.”
Gina was surprised by the depth of compassion she felt for him. His motives in going after Bobby and her made a lot more sense now. It also explained why he was distrustful, not just of her, but of