Gooseberry Christmas

by Kathi Daley

  Suddenly, my heart began to pound. Maybe I was finally going to get some answers. “Do you think she’d speak to us?”

  Adam nodded. “I’ll call her. If I can arrange it, we’ll go and talk to her this afternoon.”

  Camilla lived in a lovely home located around the bend from the bay on an inlet I’d yet to visit. She was a nice-looking woman around sixty years in age, who made a living as a novelist. When we arrived at her home, Camilla hugged Adam and then turned to me, cupping my chin in her hand. I swear she had tears in her eyes as she looked me up and down as if trying to assure herself that I actually was who I said I was.

  “Please come in,” she said, motioning for us to follow her into a sitting room with large windows that overlooked the water. “It seems that we may have some things to talk about.”

  “So, do you know who I am?” I asked. “Or perhaps I should say who I was.”

  She motioned for Adam and me to have a seat on the long sofa that paralleled a white brick fireplace. After we sat down, she settled onto a chair across from us. She took a minute to consider things before she spoke.

  “I suspect that I may know a few things you’ve yet to figure out, but I’m also quite certain that I don’t have all the answers you’re seeking.”

  “Anything you can tell us would be helpful,” I responded. “Did you know Marilee?”

  She nodded. “I can’t say that I knew her well, but I did have the opportunity to spend time with her that summer she spent here. We didn’t spend a lot of time together, but we did have a few heart-to-heart conversations, and she did share pieces of her story. I’m afraid, however, that she never did share enough of the story for me to really get a clear picture of what exactly was going on.”

  “If you’d be willing to share what you do know, I’d be very grateful,” I said.

  The woman rang a bell, and a maid came into the room. Camilla asked her to bring us some tea. After the maid left, Camilla turned back toward Adam and me and began to speak.

  “I first met Marilee when I went out to the house on Piney Point to pick up some paperwork your mother had left for me,” she addressed Adam. “For some reason, Marilee happened to answer the door, and when I told her why I was there, she asked me in. When I told her what I was after, she asked me to wait while she tracked down your father, who apparently knew where to find the items that had been left for me. While I was waiting, an adorable little girl wandered into the room.” She looked directly at me. “She told me her name was Ava, and she asked me if I had kids. I told her no, I didn’t have kids, which caused her sweet little smile to fade. I felt so bad that I’d caused her distress that I offered her a Lifesaver that I had in my pocket. When Kingston came into the room where I was waiting, the little girl let out a screech and took off running. I wondered about that since Kingston was a kind and gentle man, but in the end, I decided it was none of my business, so once he gave me the paperwork I was after, I left.”

  She paused when the maid came back into the room with the tea she must have already been brewing. After the maid left, Camilla continued.

  “I ran into Marilee later that same week. I was at the ferry terminal, waiting to catch a ride to Seattle, and she was waiting at the same terminal for the same ferry. During the trip across the sound, we got to talking. She didn’t tell me a lot during that trip, but we did make a connection, so when I returned from my trip, I went out to the house to see if she was back as well, and she was. I asked her if she wanted to join me for lunch in town, and she responded that she really needed to stay close to home, but suggested that we eat at the estate and maybe take a walk and chat when the meal was over. I agreed to her idea, and we began to establish a relationship of sorts.”

  “So did she tell you why she was here and who we were?” I asked, anxious for the story to continue.

  “She fed me bits and pieces throughout that summer as I continued to visit, and we continued to build a relationship. As I said, I do know a few things, but I don’t know everything.”

  “Okay,” I persuaded. “Just tell us what you do know.”

  She took a sip of her tea before continuing. “I guess Marilee was somehow connected to both you and your sister and to Adam’s father. I’m not sure how. She looked quite a bit like the little girls, so I suspected she was an aunt or cousin, something along those lines. As far as her connection to Adam’s father, I’m really not sure how they knew each other. She did mention having lived in London, so maybe she was somehow connected to his English family.”

  “Did she speak with an accent?” I asked.

  “No. She seemed to have been brought up in America, but as I said, it seemed like she had spent time in England, and I suspect she had a relationship with the family over there, although I have no idea what that link might have been. I did ask a few times, but she was very careful not to disclose too much information.”

  I glanced at Adam, suddenly wondering if the two of us were related. If Marilee had been connected to the side of his family who lived in England, might Avery and I be connected as well?

  “Do you know why we were here?” I asked, fighting the lump that was forming in my throat.

  “Sort of. For the longest time, Marilee didn’t tell me much at all, then Wilma showed up, and something changed. At first, she didn’t want to talk about it, but she eventually told me that the parents of the two children she was with were dead and that the person who’d killed them sought to do the children harm as well. She’d come to Piney Point to hide them, but someone had found out where they were hiding, so they needed to leave.”

  I gasped, completely unable to form words.

  “Do you know why this person was trying to harm these two little girls?” Adam asked.

  “Not really. Marilee said something about their ancestry and an inheritance of some sort. She never shared the specifics, just that the children were in danger and she needed to go. While she didn’t share all that much at the time, I found out later that Marilee took one of the children with her, and Wilma took the other. I guess they figured their odds of getting away were better if they split up.”

  “Do you know which child went with which adult?” I asked.

  “No. I really have no idea. I never heard from Marilee again. I asked Kingston about it, but he said that it was best if I just forgot everything I knew.” She looked at Adam. “I asked your mother about it when she came back from her trip abroad that year, but she simply told me that if I cared about the little girls at all, I should let it go and never mention it again. And I haven’t until today.”

  I looked at Adam. I was sure I had tears in my eyes, but I couldn’t help it. What could have been going on that would put the lives of a three-year-old and a one-year-old in danger? I knew what had eventually become of me, but I had to wonder about Avery. Had she gotten away? Had someone else raised her? And what had become of the two women who risked their lives to help us?

  “I know this is a lot to process,” Camilla said. “I’ve wondered about those two women and those two little girls for most of my life. I hoped they got away from whoever was after them. If either Kingston or Chelsea knew what happened after the women left with the children, they never shared that information with me. To be honest, I don’t think that they knew any more than I did. They may have known more about the reason the children were in danger, but I didn’t have the sense that they knew the fate of the children once they left here.”

  “Thank you for speaking to us about this,” Adam said.

  Camilla looked at me. “I understand the need to understand our past, but I would caution you to be careful. There were a lot of people involved in trying to protect those two little girls. Someone powerful was after them. Just because a quarter of a century has passed doesn’t mean the danger is any less real.”

  “Yes. That has occurred to me,” I said. “Thank you for sharing what you have.”

  Adam and I left shortly after finishing our tea. I really wasn’t sure what to do at this po
int. My sister and I had been separated when we’d left Piney Point. I had a general idea what had happened to me after that point, but there was a huge gap in my memory between being here and ending up in Georgia, and I had no idea what had become of Avery. Every fiber of my being demanded that I look for her, but by doing so, would I be putting whoever she became in danger, assuming she had lived and had gone on to grow up with a new identity?

  “So, what do you want to do now?” Adam asked.

  “My car and my dogs are at your house, so I need to go back to get them. Beyond that, I really have no idea. I think I need some time to process all of this.”

  “I understand.”

  I turned so that I was facing Adam. “Camilla said that it seemed as if Avery and I were connected in some way to your father’s family in England. Do you think any of them might have more of the story?”

  He frowned. “I don’t know. Maybe. I have spoken to several members of my family, and no one has admitted to knowing anything, but that doesn’t mean they don’t. If someone from the family was involved in whatever went down, it would most likely have been Aunt Scarlett or perhaps Olivia or Diana. My mother was closest to Olivia, but she and my father were also close in age to Diana. There was a gap between Diana and Evelyn, so Evelyn and David are quite a bit younger than their older siblings. If there was some sort of secret mission going on, I’m not sure that they would have been brought in on things.”

  “What about Wesley? He showed up unannounced after Thanksgiving. I was already here asking questions. Did he mention anything about it?”

  “No. Wesley is a decade younger than Archie and me. He’s a nice guy, but he’s also immature and irresponsible. He hasn’t finished college yet, and he was only here in the States to party. If the family was going to send someone to scope out the situation, they wouldn’t send Wesley.”

  “Who would they send?” I asked.

  He paused and then answered. “I guess maybe one of Olivia’s sons. They’re close in age to Archie and me, and they are both mature and settled. If the family wanted to scout things out but not be obvious about things, I suppose one of them would come for a visit. Although it’s entirely possible that Olivia might come herself if the situation warranted it.”

  “But you said that you spoke to her, and she claimed she didn’t know anything.”

  He nodded. “Yes, I did speak to Olivia, and she did claim not to know anything about anyone named Marilee or Wilma, or anything about Ava or Avery. Of course, she might have been lying.” He cleared his throat. “Based on what Camilla said, it actually seems that she must have been lying. If anyone in the family knew about the two little girls, it would have been Scarlett and Olivia.”

  I swallowed hard and then asked the question I really didn’t want to ask. “Do you think there is any possibility that we might be related to each other in some way?”

  His lips tightened. “I don’t know. Perhaps.”

  Chapter 15

  By the time Saturday rolled around, I was really excited about the Winter Ball despite the fact that Adam might be a cousin or some other distant relation. I supposed the idea was a bit farfetched. Camilla had said the woman with the two little girls seemed to be connected to the family in England. She never said related. And even if it did turn out that Adam and I were cousins, we’d have to be very distant cousins. Adam had never mentioned a first cousin, and I seemed to remember that both his uncles had died before they’d reproduced. Even if we were related, the closest Adam and I could be was a third or fourth cousin once or twice removed, which would mean there wouldn’t be any reason we couldn’t become romantic partners should the situation arise.

  Not that I was looking to become romantically involved with Adam, or anyone else for that matter. The last thing I needed was a knotty romance to further muddy my already complicated life.

  Still, the idea that I might, in some randomly distant way, be related to the Winchester family intrigued me. I was still working through all of that in my mind and wasn’t sure exactly what to do with it, but it was an idea that seemed worth reflecting upon.

  In terms of the other mystery I’d been working on, we still hadn’t found Bradford’s killer, but it seemed that Deputy Todd had stopped harassing Jackson, so the urgency we felt in the beginning seemed to be over. As I prepared to meet the others for the trip to Piney Point, I thought about the circumstances that had brought me to Gooseberry Bay and the effect my trip west had had on my life in general.

  I’d been to a lot of parties when I’d lived in New York, and a few when I’d lived in Georgia as well, but I had never been to the sort of party that would involve me dressing up like a princess. When Josie, Jemma, and I had gone shopping in Seattle, I’d found the perfect dress. Wanting to do that dress justice, I’d spent hours bathing, styling my hair, putting on my makeup, and turning myself into the Cinderella image I’d been carrying around in my mind ever since I was a little girl who dreamed of Prince Charming and happily ever after.

  There would be ten of us in the limo. Hope had invited her friend, Sam, who I’d yet to meet as her plus one, and Jemma had managed to talk Jackson into going as her date. Tegan and Booker were planning to attend together, and Josie had invited a waiter from work named Brad, which left Parker and me as the odd women out. Not that I really minded. I wasn’t the sort of woman who felt it was necessary to have a date on my arm every time I attended a social event. In fact, while I wasn’t against the concept of dating, I often found that I had the most fun when I was free to mingle and didn’t need to take the needs of anyone else into consideration.

  Coop was the only friend not attending, and I did feel bad about that, but he really seemed to prefer staying home with the animals. It was obvious he wasn’t the sort to enjoy either dressing up or dancing, so maybe a night with Kai and Kallie, and Stefan and Damon really was the sort of evening he’d prefer. I wasn’t entirely sure what Coop’s story was, but I was sure he had one. Of course, I supposed we all had a story, but I had the feeling that Coop’s was dark and painful and something he’d just as soon forget.

  After a bit of discussion, all the girls decided to meet at the Rosewood Inn to get dressed. Hope had her own suite of rooms and was happy to play hostess. We figured that once we were dressed in our gowns and high heels, we wouldn’t want to walk down the icy dirt trail to the parking area on the peninsula, so meeting at the inn, which had a huge drive where the limo driver would have room to turn around, made all kinds of sense.

  I’d taken the dogs over to Coop’s earlier in the evening, and Josie had taken Stefan and Damon as well. He was planning to keep them overnight, and then he’d bring them with him when we all met for a very late brunch in the morning. Booker agreed to drive us to Hope’s place and then bring us back to the peninsula at the end of the evening. It really was going to be a night to remember, I decided, as I gently applied mascara.

  “It’s nice that you managed to convince Jackson to come along,” I said to Jemma as I slipped on my skin-tight dress.

  “It was really Booker who did the convincing. He felt obligated to bring Tegan, but he really isn’t much of a dancer, so he convinced Jackson to come as my guest, so the two of them could hang out together at the bar.”

  I laughed. “I guess that makes sense. Will there actually be any men there who like to dance?”

  Jemma nodded. “Adam and Archie have a lot of rich upper-class friends who are excellent dancers. I think you’ll find that there will be plenty of men to dance with.” She looked me up and down. “You look great, by the way. Not at all like the Ainsley I know, who’s usually covered in dog hair.”

  I laughed. “Trust me, I don’t dress up often.” I looked down at myself. “In fact, I’ve never been anywhere where a gown like this was expected. I feel a bit like a princess.”

  “And thus the magic of the evening.”

  The limo ride to the Winter Ball was fun and lively. It seemed everyone got along, and the two men I hadn’t previously met ap
peared to be very nice. As the lane leading up to the house came into view, the night seemed to have gotten brighter. White lights were strung in all the trees lining the drive, providing the feel of a journey through time and space into another dimension.

  I’d noticed the giant trees that were all lit up at the entrance to the house when I’d been here before, but it had been daytime, so not nearly as magical. The limo pulled up to the front steps, where men in tuxedos waited to help us out and provide us with directions to the ballroom, which was just down the hallway.

  “Wow,” I said to Jemma as we walked into the ballroom.

  “Someone really went all out with the decorations,” she agreed.

  “Let’s find a table,” Booker suggested. “I know some of us will want to dance, and some of us won’t, so we’ll need a place we can all meet up.”

  “Let’s see if there are any tables left near the Christmas tree,” Josie suggested.

  We’d just started in that direction when Adam walked up and greeted us.

  “The place is really magical,” I said as he kissed first me and then the other women in the group on the cheek.

  “It did turn out rather well this year.”

  “We were going to try to snag a table near the tree,” Hope said.

  He held out an arm to her. “I have one reserved that I think you’ll all enjoy.”

  Adam led us to the perfect table. It was near enough to the dance floor to feel part of everything that was going on, yet still close enough to the bar so the men could wander back and forth without having to navigate the crowds that would gather in the center of the room. It wasn’t all that close to the large tree we’d initially been heading toward, but there were smaller trees, equally as decorated, in the area.

  “This is perfect,” Hope said, kissing Adam on the cheek.

  “I remember from last year that you like to be near both the bar and the door leading out to the garden. The garden is, of course, under a layer of snow this year, but I had the grounds crew dig out the patio. There are several portable fireplaces set around as well if you feel the need for fresh air.”