Family Man

him?” Katy demanded. “Justine's lawyers took care of Atwood. Eden, what's going on?”
    Eden closed her eyes in an expression of soul-wrenching agony. “He's blackmailing me.”
    “Oh, my God.” Katy was floored. She groped for the next question. “How? What could he possibly have on you that would make you vulnerable?”
    “It's not me. It's Mother. He knows something about her. Something that happened a long time ago. Something that would enrage Justine. I can't tell Mother. She doesn't know that I know. She would be devastated if she thought anyone in the family knew.”
    “And terrified that Justine might find out?”
    Eden nodded sadly. “Yes. You know how desperately Mother has tried to please Justine over the years.”
    “For the sake of her family,” Katy whispered, remembering the conversation she had had with Maureen in the gallery. “She tried to protect all of you from Justine.”
    “I realize that.” Eden's fingers tightened on her purse strap. “And now I have to protect her from Justine.”
    Katy was silent for a few minutes, thinking, “What does Nate have on her?”
    Eden hesitated and then gave a tiny shrug as if realizing that the damage was already done. “It all happened years ago. Back in New York. Before Mom and Dad were even married. There was a question of fraud.”
    “Fraud?”
    “Fraud or forgery or something,” Eden said impatiently. “I don't know the whole story. Nate hasn't told me everything. I don't think he knows either. But he has some old press clippings.” Eden's eyes blurred with crystals tears.
    “Go on,” Katy urged gently.
    “Long ago, when my mother was very young, she was convicted of selling forged art. Nate has threatened to send the clippings to Justine.”
    “Unless you continue to pay him off?”
    “Yes.” Eden opened her purse and withdrew a black linen handkerchief. She dabbed at her eyes with it and dropped it back into the bag. “I'm going mad, Katy. I can't get rid of him. No matter how much I give him, he won't go away.”
    “I've heard that blackmailers rarely do go away. And we both know Nate would have no compunction about bleeding someone dry.”
    “Oh, God, it's true.”
    Katy patted her on the shoulder. “It's all right, Eden. We'll find a way to deal with this. Tell me something. Where have you been getting the money to pay him off?”
    Eden's eyes shimmered. “I withdrew what was left in my own bank account months ago. I couldn't go to anyone. So I did what I had to do.”
    Katy stared at her. “Please don't tell me you're the one who's been skimming the restaurant accounts.”
    “How did you know about that?”
    “Never mind. Are you the one behind the embezzlement?”
    Eden sighed deeply. “I had no choice. I fully intend to repay the money as soon as I get rid of Nate.”
    “There are two major flaws in that plan,” Katy said. “The first is that you're never going to get rid of Nate by paying him off. The second is that you're working on borrowed time. Luke knows what's going on at the restaurants. He's tracking down the person responsible even as we speak.”
    “He knows?” Eden looked terror-stricken. “But he can't know. I've been very careful.”
    “You may have been careful, but Luke is clever. He'll find out you're the one behind the embezzlement. It's just a matter of time.”
    “He'll go straight to Justine. She'll be furious.” Eden's fingers were shaking. “There's no telling what she'll do. She'll turn on all of us. Mother and Dad, Darren, all of us. My God, what have I done?”
    Katy forced herself to think through the tangled web of impending disaster. “All right, we'll take this one step at a time.”
    “There is no first step,” Eden whispered. “We're standing on a precipice.”
    In spite of everything, Katy could not restrain a small smile. “We?”
    “You've got to help me, Katy. I'm at the end of my rope.”
    “All right. First we'll do the obvious. We'll go see Nate and tell him that if he doesn't get out of your life and stay out, there will be hell to pay.”
    Eden frowned. “But we don't have anything we can use to threaten him.”
    “Yes, we do.” Katy put down her empty latte cup and hitched the strap of her yellow purse higher on her shoulder. She thought of Luke closing in on the embezzler. “Let's go. We don't have a lot of time.”

    Katy knew she had gotten over any lingering feelings she'd had for Nate Atwood a long time ago. Nevertheless, she was tense at the