Anne got in and tried to set Haley on the middle of the front seat, but Haley crawled back into her lap and started to suck her thumb.

We should have gone, Anne thought. To hell with Milo Bordain’s feelings. Haley’s feelings were all that mattered. And yet, she couldn’t quite bring herself to tell the woman to turn the golf cart around and go back.

They drove through the field bordered by white fences and shaded by big trees. Shaggy red cattle watched them pass with only mild interest.

The reservoir—a grand name for a man-made pond the purpose of which was firefighting—shone like a blue jewel under the clear sky. Milo had sent her minions out earlier to make a picnic spot ready complete with a table and a red-and-white-checked tablecloth. A large wicker picnic basket sat on one end of the table with baguettes sticking up out of it and red and green grapes spilling over the side.

“You went to a lot of trouble,” Anne said.

“Oh, no, not at all. Nothing is too much trouble to make a nice event. All it takes is organization.”

And cheap hired help, Anne thought. She pointed at the table and leaned down to Haley. “Look, Haley, isn’t this special?”

Haley was unimpressed. She nudged a toe against the dash of the fancy golf cart and whined around the thumb in her mouth. “Mommy Anne ...”

“You really shouldn’t let her call you that,” Bordain said, irritated.

“If it makes her feel more secure,” Anne said, “there’s no harm in it.”

“You’re not her mother.”

“I know that. Haley knows that.”

“You’re not going to be either.”

Anne bit her tongue again, remembering what Vince had said at breakfast. Milo Bordain believed her son was Haley’s father. No one had told her differently.

“Haley knows her mommy is an angel in heaven. Isn’t that right, Haley?”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Milo muttered half under her breath.

We should have gone home, Anne thought again. This was a mistake. Why subject Haley—and herself—to this unpleasant woman? Just to be polite? Just to keep the peace? Her tolerance for this kind of social posturing was almost nil, and yet here she was.

Now they were stuck out in a field with Milo Bordain, and Anne realized, well away from the ranch buildings. Well away from the deputy who had brought them out here. A vague sense of unease stirred inside.

We should have gone home ...

Chapter 100

100

Vince went back to the SO to speak to Dixon in his office about what Gina Kemmer had told him.

“She said Marissa was involved with Bruce Bordain for about a year. At some point she says Marissa did get pregnant, but then she turned around and admitted that Haley isn’t Marissa’s daughter—or Bruce Bordain’s for that matter.”

“But she was blackmailing him?”