the distance.
Then and only then, did she allow herself to quicken her step.
Adrenaline rushed through her, creating a tingling in her hands and feet. She was both hot and cold. It was the sort of feeling one got after having had a very close call.
The other shoe had finally dropped. Trask was back in Avalon.
4
An hour later, dressed in a black satin robe splashed with an intricate, flowing Deco design worked in gold, Alexa stretched out on one of her most prized possessions, a chaise longue . The wrought iron piece was a sleek, 1920s-era creation, cushioned in black leather and ornamented with legs and arms in the shape of palm trees.
The chaise longue had been a gift from her former employer, the person she had once considered her closest friend and mentor but who had ultimately betrayed her.
Alexa's jaw tightened as she reached for the phone. Thoughts of McClelland had hung heavy on her mind all day, thanks to Edward. She pictured Dancing Satyr again as she picked up the phone. She had not been wrong. It was definitely one of Mac's pieces.
How like McClelland to send a piece into the Paxton Forsyth Gallery, the very bastion of the twentieth-century arts and antiques establishment. It had been a test, no doubt. Mac had wanted to see if the bronze could get past Forsyth himself. Which, of course, it had.
"Hello?" Vivien Kenyon's warm voice came dearly over the line.
"It's me, Mom." Alexa took a sip of the wine.
" Alexa , dear. Is anything wrong?"
"No, of course not. Everything is fine here." Alexa settled deeper into the chaise. "I just called to see how things were going there."
" Maui is great, as always." There was a smile in Vivien's voice. "Lloyd is out on the golf course as we speak. He'll be back soon. You're sure everything is okay back there? I wasn't expecting you to call."
Alexa took a sip of sauvignon blanc and contemplated the Cubist-inspired geometric pattern of her black, brown, and yellow rug.
"I met the owner of the new Avalon Resort & Spa today," she said.
There was a short, brittle pause on the other end of the line. "You met young Trask ?"
"I wouldn't call him young. Not anymore. Maybe never."
"It's all relative, isn't it? But, yes, I suppose he would be twelve years older now, wouldn't he? That would make him, what? Thirty-four?"
"Thirty-five."
"Did he remember you?"
"No, thank goodness. And it was a very casual sort of meeting. I didn't even give him my name."
"I see." Vivien sighed. "Well, it's not as though we didn't know that he was coming back to Avalon for the opening of the resort."
"When are you going to admit that you scheduled your vacation so that you and Lloyd wouldn't be here while Trask was in town?"
Vivien hesitated. "I suppose it was rather obvious, wasn't it?"
"Uh-huh."
"Lloyd refuses to be concerned, but I felt that, at best, it would be awkward for both of them to come face-to-face at the reception."
"Ever the diplomat, hmm?"
"Ever the coward." Vivien chuckled. "Besides, Lloyd and I were long overdue for this vacation."
"You just got back from a cruise."
Vivien let that pass. "I'm sure that Trask has made his peace with his father's death."
Alexa thought about Trask standing on the wrong side of the guard rail, gazing down into the canyon below Avalon Point. "What makes you so certain of that?"
"Well, it's obvious, isn't it? He's been a wealthy, successful man for several years. He's got resources. If he'd intended to rake up the past, he would have done so long ago."
"Maybe."
"He didn't even bother to visit Avalon during the construction of the resort," Vivien reminded her. "He let his staff handle everything."
Alexa sipped wine. "True."
"I'm sure he's only there now to handle the formalities associated with the opening of the hotel. He won't stay more than a few days, at most."
"Probably not." There was a beat of silence. "Mom?" -
"Yes?"
"About what happened twelve years ago?"
"What about it?"
"What if Trask hasn't made peace with the past?
Then and only then, did she allow herself to quicken her step.
Adrenaline rushed through her, creating a tingling in her hands and feet. She was both hot and cold. It was the sort of feeling one got after having had a very close call.
The other shoe had finally dropped. Trask was back in Avalon.
4
An hour later, dressed in a black satin robe splashed with an intricate, flowing Deco design worked in gold, Alexa stretched out on one of her most prized possessions, a chaise longue . The wrought iron piece was a sleek, 1920s-era creation, cushioned in black leather and ornamented with legs and arms in the shape of palm trees.
The chaise longue had been a gift from her former employer, the person she had once considered her closest friend and mentor but who had ultimately betrayed her.
Alexa's jaw tightened as she reached for the phone. Thoughts of McClelland had hung heavy on her mind all day, thanks to Edward. She pictured Dancing Satyr again as she picked up the phone. She had not been wrong. It was definitely one of Mac's pieces.
How like McClelland to send a piece into the Paxton Forsyth Gallery, the very bastion of the twentieth-century arts and antiques establishment. It had been a test, no doubt. Mac had wanted to see if the bronze could get past Forsyth himself. Which, of course, it had.
"Hello?" Vivien Kenyon's warm voice came dearly over the line.
"It's me, Mom." Alexa took a sip of the wine.
" Alexa , dear. Is anything wrong?"
"No, of course not. Everything is fine here." Alexa settled deeper into the chaise. "I just called to see how things were going there."
" Maui is great, as always." There was a smile in Vivien's voice. "Lloyd is out on the golf course as we speak. He'll be back soon. You're sure everything is okay back there? I wasn't expecting you to call."
Alexa took a sip of sauvignon blanc and contemplated the Cubist-inspired geometric pattern of her black, brown, and yellow rug.
"I met the owner of the new Avalon Resort & Spa today," she said.
There was a short, brittle pause on the other end of the line. "You met young Trask ?"
"I wouldn't call him young. Not anymore. Maybe never."
"It's all relative, isn't it? But, yes, I suppose he would be twelve years older now, wouldn't he? That would make him, what? Thirty-four?"
"Thirty-five."
"Did he remember you?"
"No, thank goodness. And it was a very casual sort of meeting. I didn't even give him my name."
"I see." Vivien sighed. "Well, it's not as though we didn't know that he was coming back to Avalon for the opening of the resort."
"When are you going to admit that you scheduled your vacation so that you and Lloyd wouldn't be here while Trask was in town?"
Vivien hesitated. "I suppose it was rather obvious, wasn't it?"
"Uh-huh."
"Lloyd refuses to be concerned, but I felt that, at best, it would be awkward for both of them to come face-to-face at the reception."
"Ever the diplomat, hmm?"
"Ever the coward." Vivien chuckled. "Besides, Lloyd and I were long overdue for this vacation."
"You just got back from a cruise."
Vivien let that pass. "I'm sure that Trask has made his peace with his father's death."
Alexa thought about Trask standing on the wrong side of the guard rail, gazing down into the canyon below Avalon Point. "What makes you so certain of that?"
"Well, it's obvious, isn't it? He's been a wealthy, successful man for several years. He's got resources. If he'd intended to rake up the past, he would have done so long ago."
"Maybe."
"He didn't even bother to visit Avalon during the construction of the resort," Vivien reminded her. "He let his staff handle everything."
Alexa sipped wine. "True."
"I'm sure he's only there now to handle the formalities associated with the opening of the hotel. He won't stay more than a few days, at most."
"Probably not." There was a beat of silence. "Mom?" -
"Yes?"
"About what happened twelve years ago?"
"What about it?"
"What if Trask hasn't made peace with the past?
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