Laura only inclined her head, but her amused expression irked Miranda. Yes, the pornographic sex device that comprised a whole wall in Victoria’s suite had surprised her, but when had these two become such good friends that they discussed her?
Miranda refused to ask. What they did on their own time wasn’t her concern—unless their actions started the town talking again. Her mother didn’t need the stress right now. Not while dealing with Victoria’s unexpected engagement.
“We could have used Laura’s office,” Victoria explained. “But I wasn’t sure I could get you there. So we begged a favor from Tyler—” she swept an arm around to encompass the tastefully decorated guestroom “—and here we are.”
“There’s a method to our madness, too,” Laura added. “What we want to show you is on Tyler’s computer.”
“Really? Now I’m curious.”
“Me, too,” Troy said. “Why don’t you start the show?”
Laura sat down behind the desk and slanted the monitor toward them. She clicked the mouse to bring up an image of formally dressed guests in what could have been one of many grand opening functions that had taken place over the past two weeks.
“All right,” Victoria said. “But give me a chance to explain everything before you blast our idea out of the water, would you, big sis?”
Our idea?
The thought of Victoria and Laura Granger colluding over anything was enough to send a cold chill up Miranda’s spine. But she nodded, willing to agree to just about anything if her sister—who was dragging out the suspense as usual—would get a move on. “Why are you even making the effort if you’re so sure I’m going to disapprove?”
“You know me. Hope springs eternal.” Her sister gave a laugh, which transformed Laura’s hospitality-perfect veneer into a worried frown.
Curiouser and curiouser. There was a lot going on between these two if she read the signals right.
Cocking a hip against the desk, Victoria folded her arms. “When I was first assigned to cover the Naughty Nuptials, I put all the family history on the table to get any questions of bias out of the way. This got me and Laura talking about what really happened to cause the trouble between her mother and Grandfather all those years ago.”
That trouble, as Victoria called it, had caused their grandfather to disown his oldest daughter and had instigated a family rift that had lasted decades.
Leaning back against Troy, Miranda settled in for the long haul. Judging by her sister’s excitement, she intended to play this for all it was worth.
“Got it,” Miranda prompted. “So you two rehashed past history. I won’t ask why.”
“It’s irrelevant, anyway. What is relevant is that we decided we needed to find out what really happened. So we’ve been talking to Aunt Suzanne and Mother.”
Aunt Suzanne? When had Laura Granger’s mother become Aunt Suzanne?
“I’ll have you know that Mother was very forthcoming with me,” Victoria continued. “Aunt Suzanne, too. And in getting both sides of the story, Laura and I learned that there are some really big questions about our family history.”
“What sort of questions?” she asked.
“Like how come we were told our grandmother was English.”
From the corner of her eye, Miranda caught sight of Troy’s frown and supplied the reason. “Because she was English. Mother said she came to America from England after they married.”
“She told me the same thing.”
“So did my mom,” Laura added.
“And you’re saying she didn’t?” These two had to be off their rockers. She couldn’t vouch for Aunt Suzanne, but Miranda knew her mother would never mislead them about the parent she’d lost in a car accident while still a very young child.
“As far as they’re concerned, our grandmother did come from England,” Laura explained. “Tori and I haven’t told them what we’ve found out yet.”
“What’s that?” Troy threaded his fingers through Miranda’s, a silent show of support.
“Grandfather said he’d met our grandmother during the war and married her before they came back to the United States. Well, I’ve been doing some investigating and couldn’t find a thing about his marriage to Laura Russell. I got curious, so I looked into her immigration records. If she was a British citizen, she had to have papers to get into this country.”
Victoria met her gaze with an expression positively alive with excitement. “Laura Russell doesn’t seem to have existed until she appeared in the good old U.S. of A, fully grown and married to our grandfather.”
“I should add that Tori had to dig for this information.” Laura gave a tight laugh. “I’m still waiting for Interpol to show up in the lobby.”
“Pshaw.” Her sister waved a dismissive hand. “Have a little faith, please. We’re talking immigration here. I didn’t have to dig that deep. Besides, I happen to be good at what I do. No problems, trust me.”
Trusting Victoria was enough to strike terror in the bravest of souls, and Miranda was surprised Laura recognized it. “Exactly what did you learn? Our grandmother must have existed or the three of us wouldn’t be here right now. Will you please tell us before you wind up in prison?”
“Oh, our grandmother existed, all right,” Victoria said. “Only she wasn’t English. She was a French citizen. Her name was Laure Roussell not Laura Russell.”
Miranda wasn’t at all sure what to make of this revelation, except that she could tell by her sister’s expression that she was serious. “Victoria, that’s crazy.”
“I have documentation to prove it.”
“Can you possibly be mistaken?”
“Not a chance. Grandfather’s name is on the marriage certificate.”
“And you don’t think Mother knows?”
She shook her head and Laura agreed. “My mom, either. She named me after our grandmother. I’m Laura. No question there.”
Troy looked as puzzled as Miranda felt. “If your information is accurate, then the question here would be why. Why would your grandmother hide her French ancestry? And why wouldn’t the senator tell his daughters?”
“That’s the mystery,” Laura said. “And since we’re pretty sure our moms don’t know, we didn’t want to start asking questions. Not until we have some idea of what this is about.”
Miranda tried to digest this information. Their grandfather had been an Army commander during World War II, had even been decorated after being captured by the enemy and leading many of his men in a daring escape.
She knew he rarely, if ever, discussed the war, and any media inquiries were always met with a stony “No comment.” His handlers had spun his silence to make him look like a humble man who’d done his job and didn’t feel comfortable with accolades.
“If Grandfather kept our grandmother’s heritage a secret, then it must be a secret that needs to be kept,” Miranda said. “Victoria, you know as well as I do that Grandfather would never sidestep this kind of information without good reason.”
“I agree,” Troy said. “The senator wouldn’t risk the publicity if word ever leaked out. If you were able to uncover the information, no doubt other reporters could, too.”
“Laura and I discussed that,” Victoria said. “We believe everything looks nice and neat on the surface so no one will have any reason to dig into our grandmother’s past. She died a long time ago. Before