Eden in Winter Read Online Free PDF

truth.’
    ‘And tamper with your life?’ Carla asked with quiet compassion. ‘It was clear that you loved your family, despite all you’d gone through. I couldn’t know how revealing the truth might change that. Once I realized that you knew nothing, it seemed best to keep Ben’s secret. At least for as long as I could.
    ‘But there’s something else I can say now. Whatever her reasons, the affair between Clarice and his brother caused Ben terrible anguish. That’s why I never considered his marriage sacred ground.’ She paused again. ‘At least that’s my excuse.’
    ‘No help for it now,’ Adam said wearily. ‘I came here to resolve the future.’ He paused, searching for the proper words. ‘There needs to be an end to all this sadness. If I can guarantee you three million dollars, would you take it? That would spare you a will contest, and help both of you quite a lot.’
    A moment’s surprise appeared in Carla’s eyes, and then she gazed down at the deck with veiled lids. ‘More than “a lot”,’ she finally answered. ‘My lawyer won’t like this, I’m sure. But if your mother can accept that, so will I. I don’t have the heart for any more of this.’ She gave him an ironic smile. ‘As if I’m being so beneficent. I grew up without a dime, made millions as an actress, and blew it all because of my own failings. Now I can give my son the security I lost. That’s what Clarice must have thought before you were born.’
    The comparison – and Carla’s honesty – gave Adam pause. ‘Maybe so,’ he replied. ‘But she was also in love with someone else.’
    ‘Then accepting this money is easier for me, isn’t it?’ Carla looked into his eyes. ‘You persuaded her, I know. But why?’
    Adam managed a shrug. ‘It’s simple, really. As I recalculate my genealogy, you’re carrying my cousin.’
    For another moment, Carla gazed at him, then patted her stomach. ‘Actually, I thought I felt him move this morning. A mother’s imagination, probably. But at least I’m not sick anymore.’
    Adam shoved his hands in his pockets, quiet for a time. ‘I’m not sure how to say this without sounding stupid. But you’re a far better person than I took you for.’
    Another smile surfaced in her eyes. ‘I suppose I could return your backhanded compliment. But you’re exactly who I took you for, though you did your damnedest to conceal that.’ Carla paused, then said in a reticent tone, ‘You’re leaving soon, I know. But once you’re back, you can come to see us if you’d like.’
    Adam searched her face, trying to read what he saw there. ‘Perhaps I will,’ he told her. ‘After all, every boy could use a man who cares for him. No matter who.’
    ‘Then we’ll look forward to it.’ She hesitated, then added, ‘Be safe, Adam. Despite everything, Ben worried for you. Now I do, too.’
    Adam fell silent, unsure of what else he wished to say. Then he felt the weight of what he could never tell her: that his father had killed the father of her child. ‘I’ll be fine,’ he promised. ‘Take care, Carla.’
    Turning from the doubt he saw in her eyes, he left without looking back, still followed by the shadow of Benjamin Blaine.
    *
    When Jack’s testimony was at last concluded, the four Blaines emerged from the courtroom with Avi Gold, each silent and preoccupied.
    Though the inquest was over, nothing was decided; the death of Benjamin Blaine, and the doubts of the authorities, could yet ensnare one or more of them. To Adam’s eye, only Teddy showed a modicum of relief. The merciful result, he supposed, of knowing far less than anyone else – not howBen had died, or who had killed him, or that Adam was his half-brother, half-cousin. Or how many lies had been told today in this courtroom, all of Adam’s invention. Teddy had believed Jack, and Adam envied his innocence.
    Shadowed by these thoughts, Adam saw her.
    Carla Pacelli paused in the corridor, her level gaze taking in each member