Free Bone Appétit by Carolyn Haines Page A

talking about.”
    And I did. The Wellingtons were perhaps the wealthiest family in the state. They had money, power, political influence—everything to convince a judge to see a custody battle their way. Of course I didn’t know Hedy or her background, and she’d voluntarily signed away her rights.
    “Marcus is the child’s father?” Tinkie asked.
    There were several generations of Wellingtons to pick from. The fertilizer of wealth had grown an extended family tree. I figured the father to be Marcus or maybe his father, Gilliard. There were uncles and cousins, too. The Wellingtons were known for the Midas touch and heroic sperm.
    “Yes, Marcus,” Hedy said. “I met him at the Gulf one summer. He was so charming. And he seemed so nice.”
    “And he was filthy rich,” I threw in. “Money is the most potent aphrodisiac, isn’t it?”
    “That’s not the way it was.” Hedy wasn’t combative; she was defeated. “He pursued me. I was working at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, planning a career in botany and marine science. I was a good student and graduated high school early. I was in my sophomore year of college and had a full scholarship to finish my degree. I had no intention of falling in love with anyone. I was only nineteen.”
    She was, for all practical purposes, a child at the time. I knew Marcus and I traveled in some circles where he was aregular. He was a handsome man with polished manners and an easy self-deprecation about his family status. While Marcus seemed pleasant enough on the surface, his family was known to be ruthless in the pursuit of what they wanted. There had been talk about Marcus, too. He was one of the most eligible bachelors in the Delta, and he’d broken the hearts of more than a dozen Delta belles. Hedy, a naïve young woman of nineteen, might easily have been swept off her feet by Marcus.
    “But you fell in love,” Tinkie said, “and you got pregnant.”
    “I never planned on having a child. My dream was to work to save marine life and vegetation, to make a difference for the planet. When I found out I was pregnant, I was upset, of course. My family . . . my mother was young when she had me. She raised me alone. I was determined to break the cur . . .” She took a breath and looked at the floor. “The curse of repetitive mistakes. Anyway, Marcus offered to marry me. He even took me to his home in Panther Holler to meet his family.”
    A red flush climbed her cheeks, and I could imagine how the Wellingtons had treated this pregnant girl who’d tagged onto the family fortune by “trapping” Marcus. “And did he follow through on the marriage?”
    She shook her head. “As I got bigger and bigger, he came up with one excuse after another. Finally, Marcus wouldn’t take my calls. I couldn’t go home. I just couldn’t. For the sake of my daughter, I—” She swallowed and regained her composure. “I was on my own. That’s the simplest way to put it.”
    My cold, cold heart was melting, even though I fought it. Hedy’s story certainly wasn’t original, but it was heart-wrenching. Young girl seduced by wealthy, experienced man, impregnated, and dumped. Where this got interesting was that Marcus had returned for the child.
    Her mouth worked as she struggled to contain her emotion. “Marcus showed up just after she was born. I was working at one of the casinos. Dealing blackjack was the only job I could get.” She looked at Tinkie and then me. “I was so stupid. I thought he wanted to do right by his daughter.”
    “And?”
    “He’d hired this fabulous nanny. She stayed with me a week, and I could see she was competent and attentive to Vivian’s needs. Then Marcus started working on me. He forced me to see how much better Vivian’s life would be with him and his family than what I could provide for her.” She wiped a tear from her cheek. “Marcus has had her ever since.”
    “Couldn’t you hire a lawyer?” Tinkie asked.
    “With what money? I did talk to ten