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“And I’m sure that’s the only reason,” said Hester. “After all, Fernleigh did say that Dave has been keeping tabs on Jayme and telling him what a remarkable talent she is. Now that certainly has got nothing to do with me. That’s all Jayme. She really is a marvel.”

“Thanks, Gran,” said Jayme.

“No, but it’s true, hon,” said Hester, patting her granddaughter’s hand affectionately. “And I also know that you didn’t get it from me.”

“What about your parents, Jayme?” asked Odelia. “What do they have to say about all this?”

“My parents died when I was three,” said Jayme.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“I’ve raised Jayme as my own,” Hester explained. “Which is why this has affected me so much.” She gave Odelia an imploring look. “Would you please help us?”

“Of course,” said Odelia, as she leaned back. “Though talking to Veronica might not be the best approach. If she really is as suspicious as you say she is…” She thought for a moment. “Who manages the Baxter Foundation? Dave himself or a board of trustees?”

“Everything goes through a banker,” said Hester. “A guy named Waldo McLoughlin. Fernleigh gave us his name and phone number, in case we wanted to get in touch. Here you go.” She slid a piece of paper across the desk and Odelia picked it up and studied it.

“I think maybe the best thing would be for us to pay a visit to Mr. McLoughlin,” she said. She gave Jayme a reassuring smile. “I’m sure this will all work out just fine, Jayme. We’ll have a chat with this man, and if you want I’ll have a chat with Dave himself, and explain to him what’s going on.”

“And tell him to keep that wife of his on a tighter leash!” said Hester.

Clearly she wasn’t Veronica’s biggest fan.

Chapter 3

“You want me to do what?!”

Scarlett stared at her friend, then at the crudely drawn sketch Vesta had made and placed before her on the table. The two friends were seated in a new street caf? called Sunny Beach, which was rumored to serve up coffee that was even tastier and trendier than anything Starbucks could come up with. And since Scarlett was a big fan of her daily cappuccinos, she simply had to try it. And she had to admit, it wasn’t bad. Not bad at all.

Dressed to impress as usual, she’d already attracted plenty of attention from passersby, something she lived for, especially when that attention was equally divided between admiring looks from the male contingent, and jealous looks from their wives.

“I want you to create the next bestselling cartoon with me,” Vesta repeated her proposal, and then pointed to the sketch. “Look, this is Harriet, the star of the cartoon, and this is Brutus, her sidekick. And then of course there’s Max and Dooley, but they’re just the extras. You know, like that spider and that dog in Garfield. Why, you don’t like it?”

“I don’t know.” She studied the blob that was supposed to be Harriet. It didn’t look like a cat. In fact it didn’t look much like anything. “What makes you think I can draw?”

“Oh, don’t be so modest, Scarlett. Remember when we took that art class a couple of years ago? And how Mr. Cooper kept telling you how talented you were?”

“That’s because Mr. Cooper liked taking a closer look at my assets, Vesta.”

“You think?”

“Absolutely. I don’t have an ounce of artistic talent. Not a scintilla.”

“But…”

“Look, the only reason I took that art class was because they were rumored to hire the best male models—and they did! I should know, because I dated a fair few of them.”

“Well, of course. It was the only reason I took that class.”

Scarlett grinned.“I know it was.”

“But at least I thought you could draw.”

“No, hon, I’m sorry to disappoint you.”

In fact Vesta looked so disappointed Scarlett tried to think of a way to cheer her up.“Hey, we can always hire an artist. There must be plenty of young artists who’ll get into bed with us—pun intended.”

“Yeah, but I don’t wanna,” said Vesta, getting that mulish look on her face that was so typical of her. “I thought about asking Dave James, and I’m sure he’ll jump at the chance, but then we’d have to split the profits, and before you know it, Dave will claim that he came up with the idea and try to kick us to the curb.” She waved her hands in a distracted manner. “Nah, I just don’t want to have to deal with all of that stuff. Besides, you know what artists are like. Prima donnas, every last one of them. No, it’s gotta be you and me.”

“Well…” said Scarlett, thinking about Vesta’s latest brainwave as she studied the blob that was supposed to be Harriet. “We could always try a photo comic. I mean, you’ve got the perfect models with Harriet and Brutus and the others. All you gotta do is work out the scenarios and have them act it out.”

“What’s a photo comic?” asked Vesta.