Getting Rich (A Chef Landry Mystery) (3 page)

She turned to look at me and I stopped short. This wasn’t Toni. But this woman—whoever she was—looked so much like her that the two could have been twins.

She smiled tentatively. “You must be Nicky.” She walked over with her hand extended. “Oh, what the hell. I feel like I already know you,” she said, taking her hand back. Grinning, she leaned forward, brushing her lips against my cheek.

From up close I could see the differences. She wasn’t quite as tall as Toni, and her features, although lovely, were not as refined. Her hair was slightly darker, her eyes brown instead of blue. “Oh my God, you look so much like—”

At that moment Toni stepped out from behind the coatrack, laughing. I must have looked stunned because she pointed at me and doubled over, laughing even harder.

“I wish you could see the look on your face. It’s priceless.” She came forward. “Nicky, meet my sister, Judy Donaldson. Judy, this is Nicky.”

I tried to regain my composure. “But you—” Toni had told me she was an only child, orphaned at the age of three when her parents passed away. She’d been raised by her maternal grandparents, later inheriting their fortune when they died in a car crash.

“I know. I always thought I was an only child,” she said, guessing the question going through my mind. “Imagine my surprise when Judy contacted me and announced that she and I were sisters—half sisters to be exact.”

“But she—”

“We share the same father, but different mothers. Judy is a year older, from a relationship my father had before he and my mother married.”

“But how—”

“We were raised by different grandparents. After our parents died, I went with my mother’s parents and she went with our father’s.”

“But why—” Clearly I wasn’t able to form a complete sentence.

This time, Judy explained. “From what I was told, Toni’s grandparents were dead set against Toni’s mother marrying my father. He came from a middle-class family. He already had one child—me—and only eked out a living as an artist. And they regarded him as a philanderer—not exactly the kind of match wealthy parents would want for their beloved daughter. So, when he and Toni’s mother died, Toni’s maternal grandparents took her in, and I went to live with Grandma and Grandpa Spencer. It wasn’t until Grandma died and I went through her papers that I found out about Antoinette.”

Toni grimaced and said lightly, “I hate that name. It makes me feel like I’m about to get my head chopped off.”

Judy chuckled. “Sorry, Toni.”

I was watching the interaction between these two. They obviously liked each other. Whenever they glanced at each other their eyes lit up. “Have you met Steven?”

“No, not yet,” she replied.

“I’ll introduce them soon,” Toni said. There was a hint of worry in her voice. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he thought I’d been seeing another man.”

Judy shook her head. “I wouldn’t blame him if he did. After all the sneaking around you’ve been doing since we met, anybody would imagine the same thing.” She said to me, “I told her she shouldn’t keep me a secret. But she wanted to make sure I really was who I said I was. All anybody has to do was look at me to know we’re related.” She chuckled. “But she insisted on DNA tests. Can you believe it?”

Actually, I did. Toni was a very rich woman. And she was also suspicious by nature—at times bordering on paranoid. During her entire ten-year marriage to Steven she had carefully kept her net worth a secret from him. According to her, that was the only way she could be sure he was with her for love and not her money. It would have been just like her to suspect Judy of being some sort of scam artist.

Noticing the blush creeping up Toni’s neck, I changed the subject. “Where did you grow up?”

“In Ottawa.” She shrugged. “I searched for Toni for three years before finding out that her grandparents changed her name from my father’s—Spencer—to their name—Gordon. Once I knew that, it took me no time to track her down.”

Charles had been listening to the story with as much fascination as I had. He suddenly remembered his manners and held out his hands. “Here. Let me take your coats.” He hung them and then guided us to a nearby table, asking, “Can I offer anybody a glass of wine?” He looked at Toni for approval.

She jumped up. “I’ll go get a bottle.”

Judy called after her. “Please don’t open a bottle on my account. I can’t stay very long.” She turned to me. “I have to go back to the hotel. I promised my husband I’d be back early. Poor guy, I keep leaving him alone all the time.”

Toni came cha-cha-ing back from the kitchen carrying a tray. “Here’s to taking life with a grain of salt...plus a slice of lemon...and a shot of tequila. Margaritas for everyone.”

Judy’s eyes grew wide. “Oh my God, margaritas. Just give me a small one.”

While Toni poured, Charles cleared his throat. “I should let you ladies talk.” He looked at me. “If you don’t mind, I’ll take off now. Jenny’s still in the back waiting for me.”

“Of course, go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He returned to the kitchen, and a moment later I heard him and Jennifer leaving by the back door.

“I’m so happy to meet you at last,” Judy was saying. “Toni told me all about you, your lovely home and your boyfriend.”

I nodded. “He might be going out of town to work on his manuscript with his editor.”

“Do we have time to meet him before he leaves?”

“Maybe. Why don’t you and your husband come here for dinner? If you make it soon, before he leaves, you’ll both get to meet him.”

“Sounds good. It must be difficult for you to find time together. You work such long hours.”

“That’s one advantage of living next door to each other.”

Toni cut in. “And when she says next door, she means
right
next door. Nicky’s house is a semi-detached. Mitchell lives on the other side.”

I laughed. “It’s true. I can even hear his phone ringing from my place.”

Judy chuckled. “What a great arrangement. It’s even better than living together. He’s there when you need him but you can still have your own space. I was telling my husband that Mitchell’s an author. Richard is so impressed. He loves to read, especially mysteries. You’ll have to tell me the title of his book. I’ll make sure to buy it.”

I made a mental note to repeat this to him. He would be flattered.

Toni turned to me and changed the subject. “You should see my niece. She’s adorable—six years old and a real sweetheart. I just love her to pieces.”

Toni thrilling about her relationship with a child was something I never thought I’d see. “So you’re an aunt.”

She nodded, chuckling. “All the pleasures of being a parent and none of the hassles—I can do as much spoiling as I like, and just hand her back when she’s being naughty.”

Judy beamed with pleasure. “And she sure has been doing a lot of spoiling. Celia is crazy about her auntie. Toni must have bought out the entire toy department of The Bay. Our room is filled with dolls. There are so many, we can barely move around. I have no idea how we’ll get them all home.”

“Do you still live in Ottawa?”

“Yes, but hopefully not for long. I’m trying to convince Richard we should move here. He’s an accountant. I think he could find work very easily in this city, don’t you? After all, this is the financial capital of Canada. There couldn’t be a better place for him to carve a career. But it couldn’t be until the end of June. We don’t want to pull Celia out of school in the middle of the year.” She glanced at Toni and then lowered her eyes shyly. “My whole life I missed having siblings. Toni is the only family I have, and it’s important to me that Celia gets to know her.”

“Celia just went back to Ottawa. She’s staying with an aunt until Judy and Richard go back.” She reached over and placed her hand on Judy’s. “I’m sure he’ll agree to move here. And if he doesn’t, we’ll just have to put our heads together and come up with some way to convince him.”

Judy smiled, but her eyes held uncertainly.

“Tell him I have two very nice guest bedrooms and when you decide to take the leap, you can stay with me until you find a permanent home. There’s plenty of room.” Toni snapped her fingers. “I know. I’ll go shopping for a child’s bed tomorrow, so Celia will have a bedroom ready for her.”

Judy shook her head. “Please don’t go to any expense on our account.”

I was a bit surprised that Judy and her husband weren’t already staying with Toni, especially since they seemed to only be here for a short visit. On the other hand, although the condo was large, some people felt uncomfortable living in another person’s home.

“I have a guest room,” I said. “My house isn’t big or as luxurious as Toni’s apartment, but it has a small backyard, and I’m only a block away from Bells Trinity Park. If you decide to move here, you can stay with me until you find a place. Your daughter would be able to play outside.”

“That’s really nice of you. It would still be months away, but I might take you up on that.” Judy took a sip of her drink. “I didn’t expect everyone to be so welcoming.”

“Why wouldn’t we be?” I asked. “Isn’t it the most natural thing in the world? After all, you and Toni are sisters.”

Toni smiled, embarrassed. “Let’s just say that I didn’t exactly greet her with open arms.”

Judy laughed. “I know I teased you about that, but the truth is, in your situation I would have done the same thing.” She looked at her watch, exclaiming, “Oh my goodness. Is it eleven-thirty already?” She hopped to her feet. “I have to get back. Richard will be worried. I’m surprised he hasn’t called me.”

Toni got up. “I’ll give you a lift to your hotel.”

“Don’t bother, I can grab a cab. It’ll be just as fast—faster. I noticed the taxi stand across the street. That way you and Nicky can gossip about me when I’m gone.” She laughed. “That’s what I would do if I were you.”

“Don’t forget to tell Richard about my offer,” Toni said, getting up and giving Judy a hug. “I mean it. You could stay as long as it takes to find the perfect place. Let me know what he says.”

Judy hurried to the coatrack. She slipped on her coat and took off, blowing us kisses. We watched her run across the street and hop into a cab. Toni and I returned to polishing off the rest of the pitcher of margaritas.

“She’s nice,” I said. “What’s her husband like?”

“I haven’t met him, but I suspect he might be a bit of a control freak. She’s always so worried about not getting back too late. Tonight was the perfect example. She was looking forward to meeting you for weeks, but from the moment she got here she was nervous about how late she would be getting back to the hotel.”

“Maybe it has nothing to do with her husband. If she’s a year older than you, that means she wasn’t very young when her daughter was born. A lot of mothers who have children later in life become overprotective. She probably hoped to give her daughter a call before she went to bed.”

Toni shot me a dirty look. “If
she
isn’t very young, what does that make
me?
”

“That makes you much more beautiful and younger looking than her.”

She searched my eyes. “Do you really think so?”

I nodded. “Much,” I said, and Toni’s irritation melted away. I looked at my now-empty glass. “How was your weekend with Steven?”

A few months ago, when Toni and her ex began showing signs of reconciling, nobody could have been more surprised than I was. In retrospect, I should have known she wasn’t over him. Any woman who does that much griping about an ex had to be still carrying a torch. Since their reconciliation, she seemed happier than I’d ever known her.

Toni hesitated. “Steven’s been acting a bit strange lately.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, in little ways—for one thing he seems quieter, almost secretive. And I have a feeling he won’t be very happy when he finds out I have a sister and a niece.”

“I don’t get it. Why would he be upset because you have a sister?”

She gave me a sardonic smile. “Because he won’t be the primary beneficiary to my estate anymore. I’ve decided to leave most of my money to my sister and my niece. Something tells me that when he finds out, he won’t be thrilled.”

“I thought he had no idea how much money you have.” When they’d divorced, he’d even given her a generous settlement—something he wouldn’t have done had he been aware of her true financial situation.

“Well...he didn’t. But then I goofed.” She traced a perfectly manicured finger down the stem of her glass and scowled. “I’d been living by myself since our divorce. So naturally I stopped storing all my papers in a safety deposit box. I started keeping them at home, in my desk drawer. Steven stayed over one night and the next morning, while I ran out for croissants, he went looking for an envelope. And—” she let out a long breath, “—came across my investment statement.”

I had a quick memory of how intimidating Steven could be. I’d once seen him cross examine a hostile witness in court, and had I been in the witness box, I’d probably have been reduced to a stuttering, blubbering fool. He had to be tough, after all he was a criminal defense attorney and his roster of clients counted some of the worst criminals in the country—embezzlers, robbers, murderers, even some members of organized crime. I imagined him in a heated argument with Toni. “Uh-oh. That couldn’t have been much fun.”