Framed!. Robin Caroll
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gonna break your heart. For a second time.”
He didn’t bother answering, just reached for the bell peppers.
And hoped his mother was dead wrong.
THREE
Sleep had remained as elusive to Ava as the mystery surrounding her brother’s death.
Now, determination to prove herself in the corporate world drove her to dress in a classy business suit and head downstairs.
Rhett’s barking beckoned Ava down the hall to her mother’s suites at eight. As per usual these days, the door was shut. Ava rapped softly. “Mother?”
“Go away and leave me alone.”
The temptation to flee nearly spun Ava in the opposite direction, but she couldn’t disregard her mother’s grief. Squaring her shoulders, Ava turned the knob and pushed open the door. The little dog met her, prancing and whining. “Have you let Rhett out this morning?”
“I told you to leave me alone.” Charla sat in her wheelchair facing the window, her back to the door.
Ava ignored her mother’s bitter tone and crossed to the patio door, then flung it open. Crisp, early February air swirled through the rooms. The little dog burst outside into the yard. She faced her mother and nearly gasped aloud. Never before had she seen her so…so unkempt. No makeup, her hair in total disarray, and in the same outfit she’d worn to the funeral. Had she slept in those clothes?
“Will you please leave now?”
Maybe she should. She certainly didn’t know what to say. Every instinct she had urged her to do as her mother requested, but her heart wouldn’t allow her to budge.
Ava cracked the patio door open wider, allowing the air admittance. Once the stuffiness had been banished down the corridor, Ava faced Charla, hands on her hips. “Mother, I know you’re grieving—I am, too. Please don’t shut me out. I miss Dylan terribly.” Tears clogged her throat.
“Don’t talk to me about missing him.” Charla’s voice raised an octave and quivered. “He always was too weak for this earth. Letting himself get distracted and led astray. Just too much like his father…”
Ava swallowed as disappointment crawled up her spine. “I know you’re crushed, but don’t push me away.” She softened her tone. “We’re it, Mother. All that’s left of the family. We should be pulling together, not mourning alone.”
Charla’s bright green eyes, identical to Ava’s, filled with moisture. For a moment, Ava detected a softness in her mother she’d never seen before. A vulnerability of sorts. A blink later, it was gone. “I’d like you to leave now.”
Ava teared up as well, despite trying not to break down. “Mother, please don’t do this. We need each other.” She all but begged.
Before Charla could speak, the little terrier bolted back into the room, so full of vigor his little body quivered.
Ava stared at her mother, her emotions knotting. She’d never been able to run to Charla for comfort, even as a child. Her father had been the one who held her when she had nightmares, kissed her bumps and bruises, put ointment on her scraped knees. Her mother had never shown any maternal instinct. Now that Ava thought about it, Charla hadn’t ever shown any affection for her daughter. Sure, she’d doted on Dylan, but never Ava.
Bitterness held Ava’s tongue. Charla called Rhett into her lap, gripped him tightly and glared. “Just leave me alone.”
She clenched and unclenched her hands at her sides, fighting for what composure she could retain. “What about the Renault Corporation, Mother? Are you going to ignore it as well? The company Dylan put so much time and energy into?”
“I can’t even face the office—reminders of my sweet boy are everywhere.” Charla narrowed her eyes.
That answered that. There was no reasoning with her, and Ava didn’t have the strength left to argue. Or to ask for control of the company…yet.
She shut the patio door and marched from the suites without another word. After turning the corner of the hall, Ava pressed her back against the wall. She closed her eyes and slid to the floor.
Daddy…Dylan…no one to turn to now. Dear Lord, please give me strength and peace.
The pent-up tears spewed from her eyes, making warm tracks down her cheeks. She didn’t care. Let them fall where they would, Ava couldn’t hold back the pain any longer. She’d never felt so alone in her life. At least after the car accident, Dylan had been there to hold her and soothe the loss of their father. Drawing her knees to her chest, she rested her forearms atop her knees, then laid her head on her arms, sobbing without control.
Max’s image flitted across her mind. She didn’t have to be alone if she didn’t want to be. He said he’d be there for her.
Ava shook her head and wiped her face against her sleeve. Now she was being downright silly. After the way she’d brushed Max off the last several years, it was a miracle he even spoke to her, much less be willing to help her in any way.
“Ms. Ava, are you okay?”
Ava pushed to her feet and swiped her sleeve over her eyes again. “I’m fine, Bea.” She smoothed her shirt. “Was there something you needed?”
The elderly lady cocked her head. “Just checking on Ms. Charla this morning.” Concern etched into the lines deep in her face.
The woman had been with the family since Ava was a toddler. If anyone knew Charla Renault at all, it was Bea. Or Bosworth, who had been with Charla even longer. Since childhood, really.
“Mother’s still not feeling well.”
“Oh.”
“Thank you, though.” Ava held her head high and strode to the office. Only when she was ensconced safely behind the massive oak doors did she collapse in the kid leather chair, her eyes again spilling with tears.
She glanced at the picture on the corner of the desk. Her father and Dylan had their arms over each other’s shoulders, their silly, smiling faces posing for Ava behind the lens. Tears flowed from her eyes. Why both of them?
Sniffing, Ava cleared her throat, but questions still niggled against her mind. What about the red hair found? What had Dylan been doing at the abandoned Renault Hall? He had to be meeting someone. That was the only logical explanation.
Meeting his own murderer.
Just the thought sent shivers down her back. She needed to do something. To talk to someone.
Max.
Amazing how her fingers pressed the numbers of his cell so quickly, as if they moved of their own accord. She gripped the phone tightly. What was she doing calling Max at this hour of the morning? She shouldn’t bother him. “Hello.” His voice was a nice mix of baritone with Southern drawl.
“Hi, Max.”
“Ava. How are you?”
“Holding on. I’m going to head into Renault Corporation and see where the business is. Try to make heads or tails of everything.”
“I’ll be more than happy to help you catch up, I mean, if you’d like input from someone with an MBA.”
“As opposed to someone who is just-a-nothing wedding planner?”
He hesitated. “I didn’t mean any offense, Ava. Just offering to help.”
“I know. It’s just that very reaction is what I ran into when I called the office. The office manager seemed shocked I even knew where the building was located.” She twisted the phone cord around her finger.
“I’m at your service, ma’am.”
She laughed, throaty and humorless. “Well, I’m smart enough to know I’m going to