Now she was restless after being cooped up when the summer weather was currently so perfect.
Ethan had been off doing mysterious things the last several days so Allie decided to go exploring on her own. The doctor had given permission to drive herself anywhere she wanted.
A little sleuthing trip had been on her To Do list before the fire, and now she was more eager than ever to learn Ethan’s final secret.
When she pulled away from the house and drove down the street, she felt like a teenager cutting school. The freedom was euphoric. But, while sitting at the next red light, a sudden pang ran through her, like being stabbed in the gut. A realization that left her gulping air.
Ever since the fire, Sean hadn’t sent a single message to see if she had come through alive. Not a phone call, text message, or Get Well card. What a sniveling coward. Worse than that, it showed his true, despicable character.
Tears burned at the corner of her eye. “I almost married a man who never truly loved me.”
He’d run off when the fry shack caught on fire, scared at what he’d done, and with no thought other than for himself. The world revolved around Sean Carter. That was the plain and simple fact.
It would be easy to let that knowledge eat her up inside. Six weeks ago it would have wreaked havoc on her mental state. But as Allie sped through the green light she determined not to be Sean’s victim any longer.
He’d done her a favor by not showing up for the wedding.
She had dodged a bullet.
An AK47 bullet.
After eating breakfast, Allie slid into her car and drove around town, marveling at how great the real world was after dark curtains and throbbing burns, despite the lovely movies she’d watched.
The sun was a halo of burning beauty. Heartland Cove had never looked prettier. Fresh summer paint and swept streets always made things cheerful. Even it if was partly a show for the tourist.
As usual, Austen and Laura Secord Chocolates were a wonder cure.
In the past when she heard people from outside New Brunswick talk about how quaint and old-fashioned Heartland Cove was, it had usually made Allie bristle. Not anymore. She was lucky to live here. It was like stepping back into the past. Despite its quirks and blemishes and secretive billionaires, the town was enchanting and the people had hearts of gold.
The fry shack raising had been extraordinarily successful. After two solid days of thirty neighbors and friends working, the new portable shop was framed in, insulated and sheet rocked.
When Allie drove past she could see electricians and plumbers going in for the next stage of construction.
The previous night her father had said that the taping, texturing and painting was going to be done by their neighbor, Mr. Lane who had offered his services.
Today her parents were shopping for new appliances; fryers, sinks, stoves, and linoleum. Thankfully, the cash register had been saved and the heavy black thing was like a battle-scarred ship. Blackened by smoke, but with the contents intact.
Not having the fry shack open gave Allie these weeks to recover, but she was going stir-crazy despite helping Marla with the photo mounting. A bit tricky with her bum hand, but she was learning to maneuver despite it. Mostly, the only fingers bandaged up were her fourth and fifth fingers and today was the last day to wear any sort of bandage. The doctor wanted the hand to air heal now.
Allie was still wearing skirts so she didn’t have to slide jeans up over her burned leg, but the pain was mostly gone, despite the fact that her skin still had a dark pink hue.
After passing the Wesleyan church, Allie took a narrow road that led up into the hills. It was deeply forested and the trees were magnificent.
A flutter went off in her stomach. She was fairly certain this was the road Marla had said was the location where Ethan was working on his refurbishment of an old, abandoned house, but she sincerely hoped he wasn’t there right now. She didn’t want him to think she was spying on him.
But she was bored. And she was curious.
After only a quarter of a mile there was a big white sign off to the right.
* * *
Future Site of the Heartland Cove County Historical Preservation Society.
Chapter 20
Opening Next Summer!
“What new secret is this?” Allie said aloud. “I thought you were renovating a new residence for yourself, Ethan Smith.”
Up ahead through the pines and silver birch Allie spotted a structure, but not very clearly through the dense forest.
A quick peek and she’d head back home before Ethan ever saw her.
Slowly pulling off the asphalt road into a little alcove behind the construction site sign, Allie parked. Easing one leg out at a time, she stood and quietly shut the car door.
The air was perfectly still. Birds twittered above her and sunlight dappled the leaves, painting the forest floor. A leaf fluttered down, hitting her hair and then dropping to the dirt. The ground felt mossy and damp with so little daylight coming through.
While Allie walked forward, the building came into view. It was situated in a small clearing, tall trees strategically left for shade around the perimeter and rear gardens.
A partial lawn desperately needed cutting. The rear property was filled with lumber, stacks of sheet rock, sawhorses and power tools. The local hardware store was obviously getting a lot of business with this project and her parent’s rebuilding.
Ethan didn’t appear to be on the premises. She’d poke around for a few minutes and then leave before he returned.
Moving closer, Allie realized that the old house was almost completely gutted. The gabled roofline and gingerbread Victorian portico was intact, only needing a fresh coat of paint and some trim repair work, but the interior was a different story.
The structure was two-story with a circular dining room and a matching tower room above. The old home must have been large and magnificent when first built, owned by some rich founder more than a hundred years ago.
At the front entrance, Allie could see that there was a splendid staircase curving up to the second floor despite all the other walls having been torn down. So Ethan was going to keep the hardwood, spectacular stairs. Wise decision.
The open balcony overlooked the downstairs. What a view the would be.
In her mind’s eye, Allie could picture the stately rooms re-formed. The parquet floors. The columns and front desk. Displays of Heartland’s history. Items salvaged from residents attics. Polished and preserved under glass walnut cases.
“It’s going to be beautiful,” she whispered to herself.
A noise caught her off guard, but it wasn’t the sound of a car. Maybe a mouse scurrying through on its way to its home in the field behind the property.
The sound came again. An odd crunching. This time infinitely louder than a mouse’s tiny rustlings.
She moved forward to look out the back windows which were still open to the outdoors. Her heart went into high gear, banging against her ribs so hard she couldn’t breathe. “Oh, Lord, oh Lord, oh, Lord,” she whispered hoarsely.
A gigantic moose had come from out of nowhere and was roaming the perimeter of the house. Stopping every few seconds to nibble the trim off the roofline.
She hadn’t seen a moose all summer. Dad had said it had been a quiet year for wandering, lost moose. When she was in high school, one had come right down Main Street, its fearsome horns and gigantic head swiveling about terrorizing everyone.
Shoppers had crouched in store doorways and cars turned down side streets to avoid it. Then the moose had walked across the river to the other side and disappeared into the forest.
Of course, her classmates had dared each other to go out and try to grab its attention to see what it would do. Just to tease the animal.
But they were stupid. Dad had put the fear of these mammoth-sized animals in Allie when she was just beginning to toddle around—warning her and her siblings every few months to stay far away from the creatures. If p
rovoked, a seven-foot tall male weighing more than a thousand pounds could charge a human and crush them in minutes.
This one was about twenty paces away, butting its head against the porch soffits. The horns were outrageously frightening. If the animal wanted to, it could walk right through the bare doorways and sweep her off her feet in seconds.
“I have to hide,” she hissed to herself, eyes darting about. Backing up slowly, Allie tried not to trip over building paraphernalia and rotted floorboards as she moved in the opposite direction of the animal as it circled the house.
A minute later, she realized that she was trapped. Too far from the staircase, and too far from the front door. The double entrance with its oversized opening for a pair of grand stained-glass doors was tall enough for the moose to walk right in and make itself at home. And it probably would.
Chapter 21
Frustration gurgled in her throat. She fumbled in her skirt pocket for her cell phone, but remembered that she’d left it in the car with her purse. Five minutes. That’s all she’d planned on being here.
But what she had forgotten was that her keys were in that left pocket and now they jangled loudly in the quiet house. The noise made tears burn her eyes. Could she outrun the monster?
She tried to remember everything she knew about moose, but her mind was blank. She’d lived in the city for far too long.
A hand suddenly pressed against the pocket where she gripped the keys to keep them from rattling. Allie let out a yelp— quickly cut short when a second hand came around her shoulder and covered her mouth.
Terror crawled up her throat, but Ethan’s voice came into her ear. “I got you, Allie. Stay still.”
She twisted in his arms with relief, trying not to gasp out loud when he uncovered her mouth.
He put a finger to his lips, motioning her to follow him down a short hallway. “There’s a window in this side room. We’ll crawl through and head back to your car.”
“Won’t he chase us?”
“He’s busy eating now, but coming closer to the front door. I really need to get the place enclosed and the new roof installed before it rains again.”
She gaped at him, smiling tremulously. “Obviously you believe you’re going to survive this moose encounter and live.”
He grinned, slipping his hand down her arm to help her onto the window sill and then jump to the ground below. “Of course I’m going to live. It’s the anticipation of kissing you again that I’m dying for.”
Despite her fear, it had not gone unnoticed to Allie that Ethan was wearing jeans slung low around his hips, but no shirt. His chest was more chiseled and muscled than Allie expected for a rich guy who ran around taking pictures. The guy must work out at a gym. Dang it, he looked good. She felt her temperature rise and her cheeks go hot.
“Are you okay?” Ethan said his lips against her hair.
He had her close up against him to reduce the noise they made as they moved through the house. Allie was sure he could feel her heart stuttering inside her chest.
But the adrenaline rush wasn’t just the moose. It was Ethan looking so fine, so perfect.
Did she ever get turned on like this with Sean? She must have, but Allie suddenly couldn’t remember. She couldn’t remember anything beyond the feel of Ethan’s warm skin against her arm, his hand in hers.
At the moment she’d follow him anywhere. With sudden clarity, Allie knew that she trusted Ethan implicitly. A very surprising thought.
He wouldn’t hurt her. She knew that deep down in the core of his character that he was a good person.
Quickly, he pushed himself through the window and then reached back and lifted her through. He held her close for a moment before they moved toward the road, assessing where the moose was located around the house.
“You can put me down, you know.”
He smiled. “What if I don’t want to?”
“I can run faster on my own two feet. So can you.”
“In those sandals?”
For answer, Allie slipped them off and dangled them from her fingers. “Just point me to the track and I’ll get there before you know it.”
Ethan swore softly. “Dumb animal is inside the house now. I hope he doesn’t smash all my tools.”
“Hopefully he’ll get bored and leave soon.”
“Not too soon because this is our chance to run.”
“Where we going? Do you even have a car here?”
“My work truck is on the opposite side of the house. Your car is a lot closer. That’s my suggestion unless you want to climb a tree.”
“Very funny.” Course, that explained why Allie hadn’t seen his vehicle. She jerked the keys from her pocket and took off at a sprint, the hem of her dress flying around her knees, cool grass under her toes.
Ethan kept pace, arms pumping, throwing more grins her direction as they ran.
She widened her eyes. “This isn’t a joke!” she shrieked. “We’re escaping a freaking moose!”
“But you have to admit it is sort of funny,” he yelled back.
Two seconds later they approached her Pontiac running at top speed. Allie pressed the button on her keys. Jerking open the passenger door, she tossed the keys to Ethan. “You drive, I’m too nervous. I’ve never had to outgun a moose in a car.”
“It’s easy. Watch.”
The engine roared and Ethan peeled down the narrow asphalt. “We’re going to turn this into a better road, too,” he told her. “For all those thousands of patrons we’ll be having next summer. Maybe even paint white strips.”
Allie shook her head and laughed. “You don’t seem too upset about a moose in your house.”
“At least it’s a gutted house right now. He can’t do too much damage. Except for that new power saw I just bought.”
A minute later, Ethan reached the main road and then pulled off into a stand of trees. “I think we lost him,” he said glancing furtively behind them.
Allie laughed. “I think you’re laughing at me.”
“Nope.” Ethan’s face was serious. He glanced down at the floor of the car and Allie was glad it was clean and not embarrassingly cluttered. “But you do have the prettiest toes.”
She glanced down at her pink painted toenails with little stars and laughed at his serious expression. “Oh, honestly! Hey, I have to do something while I’m watching Pride and Prejudice so I’m partially productive during my recuperation. And why aren’t you clothed?” she blurted out. “I don’t normally see construction guys half-dressed. And you’re missing your tool belt, aren’t you?”
“I was up in the attic laying insulation and doing my best not to fall through the ceiling until the heat got to me. I came down the back stairs and took my shirt off to soak it in cold water with every intention of putting it back. Poor man’s air conditioning. Then I heard footsteps. I hoped it wasn’t one of the inspectors, but instead there you were. As if I’d conjured you up from my dreams. But when I saw that moose right behind you I figured my life was worth a shirt. At least temporarily.”
Allie felt her lips quirk as she tried not to smile broadly at him. “I can’t believe you lay your own insulation.”
“Don’t you know it builds character?”
“Oh, is that where you found yours? Up in attics?”
Ethan shifted, reaching out to brush a hand against her cheek. “You okay, Miss Allie Strickland?”
Allie’s nerves were on fire. The look he was giving her was making her head whirl and her heart stammer. She was cold and hot all at once.
When she leaned forward to turn the AC up a notch, Ethan’s arms slid around her shoulders and he brought her close once more. “I just want to feel your heartbeat go crazy again,” he said softly.
Ethan’s day-old stubble brushed against her face and Allie’s pulse went into high gear.
His voice was rough and yet tender. “You feel absolutely fantastic, Allie. Now put your arms around me.”
“Is that an order?”
“Times ten, you gorgeous girl.”
Without speaking, Allie’s hands moved up his bare chest and she tried not to gasp. His skin was warm and he smelled spicy, like autumn pumpkins. Then her arms went around the back of his neck and her cheek was pressed against his.
Ethan bent over her, pulling her even closer, and his lips were suddenly on hers, soft, gentle, making her breath catch.
“The gear shift,” Allie murmured, not wanting to break away.
“Damn the gear shift, I’ve want to kiss you again for a long time.”
“It’s digging into my hip.”
His hand went down her side and Ethan squeezed the curve of her waist. Allie felt as if she was on fire. The feel of his bare skin was scrambling her brain, sending shock waves through her entire body and soul.
Their kiss deepened and Ethan lips tasted perfect.
“I’m losing my mind,” she whispered. “I think I’m going to laugh and cry and start hyperventilating all at the same time.”
“Then it’s time to stop, my love.”
They broke apart and Allie gazed up into his eyes, her arms still locked around his neck. He wasn’t laughing at her. He was dead serious.
“This is too fast,” she whispered, not wanting this feeling to end, but knowing she had to sit up, go home, and figure out her head.
Amusement played over his face. “It’s been almost two months, Miss Strickland. Have we given our chaperone the slip?”
“You know what I mean. I can’t get into a serious relationship without knowing—without, I don’t know—” she broke off, unable to put into words what she was feeling.
Ethan’s biceps flexed as he helped her sit up again in her seat, brushing the hair out of her eyes with the back of his hand. “I know exactly what you mean. What’s happening between us is too big. It’s not a fling. I’m serious about you. About doing this right.”
Allie bit at her lips, reaching down to clasp his hand. “That’s it exactly. I have to know it’s not me rebounding or just being lonely. My ego being starved after—after. Well, you know. I don’t even want to say his name.”
The Neighbor's Secret (A Secret Billionaire Romance #1) Page 17
