by B. J Daniels
“He’s not usually so...rude.”
Nikki spun around to find Ledger standing right behind her. “You startled me.”
“Sorry.” Ledger glanced toward the rest of his family entering the house. Patricia was arguing with Kitten about something as they started up the porch steps. Nikki was reminded of earlier when the teen almost knocked her down the stairs.
Jim Waters and Blake Ryan both walked past without looking at her. Patricia stopped on the porch and called down, “I’ll get cook to put sandwiches out. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m starved.” Her gaze lit on Nikki. She turned quickly and went into the house.
“I heard that Patricia moved you out of the wing upstairs and put your belongings in the pool house,” Ledger said. “Why don’t I go with you to make sure everything is ready for you?”
“Thank you. That would be nice,” she said, happy to have some time alone with Ledger. She was reminded, though, of what Cull said about not using his brother. “But Cull might not approve. He’s worried that I’ll take advantage of you.”
Ledger chuckled. “Cull’s the oldest so he always thinks he has to protect us all. His heart is in the right place, though.”
“Why do you think he feels he needs to protect you from me?” she asked innocently enough as they walked down a path that led around the house.
“He thinks I’m a fool.”
“Because of the woman at the café,” she said as they left the house behind and walked through a stand of aspens. “I was sitting across the street this morning. I couldn’t help but notice.”
His smile was sad. “Abby.”
The darkness felt good. So did being around Ledger. There was a quiet confidence about him that was nice, especially after the intensity of his older brother. “You’re in love with her.”
“It’s that obvious, huh?” He laughed. “I guess Cull’s right. I’m pretty transparent. He thinks I should forget her.” He shrugged. “Can’t.”
“You’re worried about her.”
“With good reason. Her husband is...” He waved his hand through the air as if he couldn’t come up with a name that was appropriate in front of her.
“But she won’t leave him.”
“Nope,” he said with a shake of his head. She could hear the frustration in his words. “She says he needs her. I don’t get it.”
Nikki said nothing. There was nothing she could say. Women often stayed with controlling men for their own reasons. Who knew what Abby’s real reason was.
“What do you remember about the night of the kidnapping?”
He glanced over at her, clearly a little taken aback by the quick change of subject. But she also noticed that his guard had gone up.
“I told you, I was three.”
“Oh, I thought you might be able to help, especially given your father’s health. I want to find out the truth for him more than ever now.”
He nodded, looking guilty. “I think I remember...little things. Waking up to hear Patty screaming. The sound of people running down the hallway toward the nursery. My father on the phone to the sheriff. But I’ve heard my brothers say the same thing over the years, so maybe they are actually their memories and not even mine. There is one memory that I think is mine because when I think about that night I see myself standing at the end of the hall until someone noticed me.”
“Who noticed you?”
“Patty. She was our nanny then.”
“Did she say anything?”
“I’m sure I asked her what was going on.” He shrugged. “I have a faint memory of her saying something about making pancakes in the morning. See, I really have nothing that could help.”
Pancakes? That sounded like a very strange conversation, if that’s what it had been.
Ledger stopped in front of a small building. Next to it was a large swimming pool. The breeze ruffled the surface of the water, making it lap at the edges. He looked back at the house. Golden light spilled from most of the windows as if all the lights had been turned on.
“What if you find out who kidnapped Oakley and Jesse Rose only to discover that they’re dead?”
“I think not knowing is worse for your father. Maybe if the truth came out, it would let everyone heal.”
He shook his head. “Dad lives with hope. If you take that away...”
In the silence that fell between them, she heard voices coming from the back porch. Two figures were silhouetted there against the lights coming from the house. One was clearly Patricia. The other was a man, but she couldn’t be sure who.
She turned, trying to catch their words on the breeze. Behind her, she heard Ledger open the door to the pool house. A moment later, a bright light came on.
“There you go,” Ledger said in a voice loud enough that it would carry to the back of the house. “If you need anything, just holler.”
The voices silenced. She turned to look at Ledger, surprised to realize that he’d signaled Patricia and whoever she’d been in an intense conversation with that they weren’t alone. When Nikki looked back, the two figures had bled into the shadows and were gone.
Cull was so sure that she had Ledger wrapped around her little finger. That he would do anything she asked. That he would let her use him.
As Ledger met her gaze, she saw something in his eyes before they darted away that gave her a start. Ledger was just as protective of the McGraw secrets as his brother Cull.
They were definitely hiding something, but she couldn’t be sure it had anything to do with the kidnapping. What had the boys seen or heard that night that they were afraid she was going to uncover? Was there a secret they’d been keeping all these years? But if true, who were they protecting?
Glancing toward the stables, she thought she saw a figure standing just inside out of the light. Cull? Over her shoulder, she said to Ledger, “I know there is something you’re all keeping from me. What I don’t understand is why.”
There was no answer. When she looked back, she saw that he was headed for the house. He appeared to be in a hurry.
Seeing her suitcase waiting for her just inside, she pushed open the door to the pool house. The place was beautifully furnished. As it hadn’t been used since the kidnapping, she had to assume that Marianne was the one who’d decorated not only the pool house but the main house, as well.
She would be quite comfortable here instead of Cull’s former room on the haunted wing, she thought, even though this small building might have even more persistent ghosts. Why, though, did Patricia want her out of the house so badly?
Before she walked through the door, she glanced again toward the house.
Her pulse jumped, her heart taking off like the wild stallion Boone had brought home earlier. Someone was standing at a second-story window. Her chest constricted as she realized that the window was at the end of the south wing. Someone had been watching her and Ledger from the nursery.
A shock wave moved through her as she saw the figure was a woman dressed in all white. Even her hair appeared to be white. For just a heartbeat, she thought it was Marianne.
The breeze billowed the curtains. Nikki blinked and the figure was gone as if she’d only imagined it—unlike the chill that moved through her, turning her blood to ice.
Chapter Ten
PATRICIA CALLED FROM the back porch saying cook had set out the sandwiches as Nikki started to close the pool house door. She felt her stomach growl. They’d missed lunch and now it was way past dinner.
“I can bring you a sandwich if you’d rather not go back to the house tonight.”
She saw Cull come out of the darkness on the path from the barn. “I’m not that hun—” Her stomach growled again. By then, he’d reached her. He grinned, clearly having heard her stomach, and turned toward the house. “I’ll be right back.
”
“Thank you, but I hate to have you go if you aren’t hungry.”
Cull stopped to look back at her. “If you want to eat by the pool, I’ll bring back enough for both of us. Then we can talk.”
She nodded, although she wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that. Had Travers called and told him to send her packing? Or was Cull willing to help her with the book?
Nikki had yet to step inside the pool house, where she would be staying. She did so now, then picked up her suitcase and carried it into the bedroom.
It had been a long day. All she could think about was climbing into the bed and sleeping. But even as she thought it, she wondered how much sleep she would be able to get. So much had happened today and her list of suspects just seemed to continue to grow.
Not to mention the fact that she was starving.
Hearing a tap at the open door a few minutes later, she looked up to find Cull standing there. He had a tray with sandwiches, glasses of milk and cake. Chocolate cake. Her stomach growled loudly.
“Let’s get you fed,” he said, motioning toward the pool rather than coming inside. She’d been surprised that the McGraws had a pool since it was so seasonal in Montana. She said as much as she joined him at the outdoor table.
“My mother loved to swim. Now Kitten enjoys it. I take a dip occasionally.” He handed her a plate with several sandwich options.
“But no one uses the pool house?”
“My mother used to come down here and read when she needed a break from all of us,” Cull said. “It was her...sanctuary.” He seemed to remember that the kidnappers had possibly met here that night before the twins were whisked off, never to be seen again. His expression soured.
Nikki wanted to ask him questions about his mother but right now seemed the wrong time. She took a bite of one of the quartered sandwiches. Chicken salad. It tasted wonderful.
“How is your father?” she asked after she’d swallowed.
He didn’t seem surprised that she would know he’d call the hospital after they got back. “Resting comfortably, the doctor said.”
Nikki took another bite and noticed that Cull hadn’t touched his yet. He was watching her.
“What?” she asked as she finished and picked up another.
“You. I’m used to women who don’t eat carbs. Hell, don’t eat anything, from what I can tell.” For a moment, she wanted to defend her eating habits and her rounded though slim figure. He didn’t give her a chance. “I like women who have curves.”
Cull seemed to realize what he’d said. “I mean—” He laughed softly and picked up a sandwich. “I should just shut up and eat, huh.”
They ate in a companionable silence for a while. He’d turned on the pool lights. The water shimmered invitingly.
“You’re welcome to go in,” he said, clearly having noticed the longing in her expression.
“I didn’t bring a suit.”
“I wouldn’t let that stop you.”
She laughed at that. “I’ve already caused a stir around here. I can well imagine what your stepmother would say.”
“Yes, Patty.” He shook his head. “Life is strange, isn’t it?”
“Do you remember her when she was your nanny?”
He nodded thoughtfully. “Quiet, shy, mousy, I think is how the press described her. I’ve often wondered about the change in her.” He eyed her closely. “I’m sure you do, too.”
She met his gaze for a moment before she lowered hers and hesitated as she looked at the chocolate cake.
Cull picked up a piece and put it in front of her. “Enjoy—you deserve it after the day you’ve had.”
“I could say the same to you.”
He nodded and looked toward the pool. “I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time earlier.”
“Speaking of earlier, I heard Patty talking to someone behind the house. It sounded rather heated.”
“I think it was Blake. He’s been with Dad from as far back as I can remember. They were probably arguing over Dad’s health. Blake thinks Patty could be more...agreeable.”
Nikki wondered if Cull really expected her to believe that’s what they were arguing about. She hadn’t been able to make out much of the argument but it hadn’t been about Travers’s health. And she suspected Cull knew that, since the barn was closer to the house—and the argument.
“I really doubt that was what they were arguing about and you know it,” she said, calling him on it. “Why lie about it? What is it you’re all trying so hard to keep from me?”
He looked up at her in surprise, his gaze suddenly calculating. “You don’t miss much.”
“It’s my job,” she said defensively.
“For the book.”
There was that suspicion again. She felt her heart quicken—from his look, from his words. “I know it’s hard. A stranger coming in who might uncover your most intimate secrets. It’s hard for me, too. I often get emotionally involved with the family. I’m human. But I’m not here to hurt any of you. I just want—”
“The truth.” He nodded as if he still had his doubts about her real reasons as he rose from his chair. “You look as if you are going to fall asleep right out here by the pool.” He removed the other piece of chocolate cake from the tray and picked up the dirty dishes. “I’ll take these up to the house. The cake...well, you might wake up in the middle of the night and need something.”
It was such a sweet gesture, bringing down the sandwiches, eating with her out here by the pool, leaving the cake and taking the dirty dishes. She couldn’t help but be touched. “Thank you.”
“I’m sure I’ll see you in the morning. Breakfast is at seven but if that is too early for you, Frieda will see that you get whatever you need.” He seemed to hesitate for a moment as if there was more he wanted to say. But then he smiled almost sadly and said, “Good night, Nikki. Sleep well.”
* * *
“SO THAT’S WHAT’S going on,” Patricia said the moment Cull pushed open the door to the kitchen and put down the tray. “Conspiring with the enemy.”
He shook his head. It was late and he was too exhausted from the day he’d had to argue with her. “Let’s not get into it.” He started to turn away, but she grabbed his arm.
“Your father is lying in a hospital bed and it is all that woman’s fault!”
He turned to face her. “No, it’s not. If anyone is to blame, it’s you. You harp and harp at him until I’m amazed he doesn’t just tell you to shut the hell up.”
Her eyes widened in shock. “How dare you—”
“Oh, I dare,” he said, taking a step toward her. “I have been wanting to tell you how I feel for a very long time. My father took you in, married you and has helped raise your daughter and neither of you have ever said thank-you. You both just demand and demand. Nothing is ever enough.”
She was shaking her head furiously. “You can’t blame me for his heart attack. It’s this stupid kidnapping. He just won’t leave it alone.”
Cull took a step back giving her an incredulous look. “Stupid kidnapping? Patty, his children were taken. For all he knows they’re dead. Are you that self-centered that you can’t understand that?”
She looked chastised for a moment, but quickly recovered. “Well, it’s been twenty-five years. How long do you expect me to put up with this?”
“He is never going to forget. If you can’t accept that, then there’s the door. No one is forcing you and Kitten to stay here.”
“You’d love to see that, wouldn’t you?”
He said nothing, his earlier anger receding, leaving him feeling sorry for his harsh words, no matter how heartfelt. “Can’t you just be happy?” He opened his arms to encompass not just the kitchen but the entire ranch. “Look where you live, look how you live. Can’t you just embrace that?
”
She sniffed and looked as if she might cry.
“And leave Nikki alone. Let her do what she came here to do.”
“She’s not going to find out anything more than the FBI and the sheriff did all those years ago.” Something in her voice gave away her hope that that was the case. He’d often wondered if Patty had something to hide about the night of the kidnapping. If so, was she worried that Nikki would be able to uncover it? That could explain why she’d been so upset about the crime writer’s appearance here.
“Only time will tell, I guess. I figure she’ll be gone soon enough.” He started to turn away again but this time it was her words that stopped him.
“Are you sure that’s what you want?” There was accusation as well as mocking in her tone.
He stopped at the door, but didn’t turn. “It’s what we all want.” And he was betting that each of them had their own reasons for wanting Nikki gone.
* * *
AFTER CULL LEFT, Nikki went inside the pool house, locking the doors before heading to the bedroom. She was so tired that she quickly brushed her teeth, stumbled into her pajamas and fell onto the bed.
She’d been so sure she wouldn’t be able to sleep with everything that was going on. Everything including Cull. She thought of his intense blue eyes. He saw too much. But that meant he always had—even as a child. There was no doubt in her mind that he knew more about the kidnapping than he’d told anyone.
He was her last thought before she dropped into the deep, dark hole of sleep. That was why it took more than a few minutes for her to drag her way up and out of the dream.
She sat up in bed, rubbing her hands over her face as she tried to let go of what had started as a nice dream and had turned into a nightmare. Even as she thought it, she could feel the dream slipping away, leaving only that heavy, suffocating feeling of doom.
Nikki tried to hang on to the thread of her nightmare. Something to do with Cull and the horses in the barn and her father. She shook her head. Clearly not one of those dreams that made a lot of sense. She’d never even known her father. But he was in the dream. He was in the stables. And something horrible was happening.
