Aura winked at me. "What do you think?"
I needed to find the right words. Horrendous rolled in my mind, but I didn’t want to hurt the saleswoman’s feelings. So I managed, "It's lovely."
She laughed and shook her head. "But not your type. You can tell me the truth. I saw your face. Go and try on another."
At least she wasn't pressuring me. I let out a breath and tried to smile. "Okay."
The saleswoman undid the back and I slipped out of the dress. I draped it over the door and the saleswoman tugged the dress out. I picked up another one and tried to step into it.
If there was anything I learned from Aura these past few weeks it was to be bold, go after what I want, and not to wait shyly for an acquisition to come into my lap.
Part of this meant going after what I wanted, and marriage to Robert played in my mind. Aura called through the door as I wiggled myself into the next dress. "I'm not trying to be the tempest on your wedding day, Daphne. I want you to understand it's up to you to make yourself happy. No one else. The De Marcos have quite a few murders in their family. It probably fuels his horror writing."
Something light bubbled inside, but I couldn't quite describe it. I called out, "Aura, you don't have to mother me, but I do appreciate your good intentions. I'm coming out."
The moment the door opened, Aura's eyes widened. "You look amazing."
The saleswoman finished with the buttons on my back. Once she was done, I twirled and stared at myself in the mirrors all around me. The dress had a high waist that accentuated my figure before it dropped into a princess cut. My heart thundered and for a second I saw golden dragon’s eyes burn into me from the mirror. I locked my legs to keep myself still. "This is so beautiful."
Aura handed her credit card to the saleswoman who then dinged a bell. "There is no going back once you say yes."
My stomach flipped and I bit my lip. Then I swallowed and looked down. "Don't try to scare me anymore. I know what I want."
"I've said my piece, Daphne. I'll throw rose petals at your wedding or I'll drive the getaway car." Aura looked back over her shoulder. She was being great, a friend rather than my boss. “Whatever you choose, it will be for the best."
Aura turned as the saleswoman boxed my dress. I lowered my head. "Thank you for everything."
"I am sorry if I ever treated you unkind. I've been so rushed here and my focus has always been to get back home to Connecticut.”
I smiled.
“So let's get your hair and make-up done. You're about to be a bride."
Nerves chilled me as I waited in the small hallway. Robert was around the corner, with the official. In a few seconds I was getting married. My heart began to pump and pump fast. Soon I wasn't cold anymore. I stared at myself in the mirror.
I looked like someone else. Today I was beautiful, not that I was ugly or anything. I was normally just normal, but the person in the mirror today had perfect skin, perfect teeth, flawless makeup and a gorgeous dress.
Aura brought me a bouquet of white lilies and then ushered me forward. She scooted past me and took a seat. I closed my eyes as I stepped into the room.
This was it.
My vision settled on the face of a prince. Robert De Marco's blue eyes widened as he stared at me with pride. My heart fluttered. Once I joined him, he took my hands and slipped a golden ring on my finger. The ring warmed and attached itself to my essence. Molten gold rushed in my veins.
I used Robert’s strength to steady myself and repeated the official’s words. I felt an energy inside me that wanted to burst free as the man finally said, "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
We were married.
Then Robert's lips met mine and I forgot everything else.
7
Nothing prepared me for the Gilded Age elegance of Hallimore in Yellow Tail, Maine. We passed through a magnificent stone and iron gate that was so high a caravan of big rigs might drive through without clipping one of the iron rods forged into symbols with dragons. Dragons?
The mythical creature had always been my favorite since I remember picking up a book to read.
I sat forward in my seat, transfixed by the huge estate. The gray stone wall was almost like a castle, but the windows were too large. I blinked away the image of small dragons draped over the ledges. I looked from right to left and saw nothing but the vastness of Robert’s home.
My grandmother's entire town might fit inside these very walls.
I turned and faced Robert.
His elegant nose belonged to someone who might own something as beautiful as this place. How on earth had he decided to marry me? My heart constricted. I didn't belong here.. He put his hand on mine and said, "I wish we could have stayed in Italy."
Did he see that I didn’t fit in anything so grand? My skin crawled. I must be an imposter compared to his former wife. There was no way a palace with trimmed hedges on either end of the driveway was somewhere I'd be comfortable. I’d pruned the trees at Grandma's myself. He even had a dragon statue in the center of the lawn. "This is your home."
He turned off the car and shook his head. "It's never been that."
Robert De Marco was the prince in a storybook. People likely came here and took tours—or was that only an English thing in English movies? My thoughts were jumbled and I rubbed my head. "What is Hallimore to you then?"
"In some ways it's my prison. I write most of my novels here though, so it's also my lair."
“Hallimore serves a purpose.” He’d always had this life. I had virtual school and no friends. I sighed and brushed my hand up his arm. "I've never belonged to any place."
"Your family chose to hide by being plain. Mine could never make the commitment." He clenched his jaw. "If you want these old stones to be a home, then I don't know what to tell you. This is De Marco territory."
"Hidden away." I opened my mouth to say more when two children streaked past our car, giggling. A boy and a girl—the boy had Robert's profile—but then the children disappeared behind a hedge. I hugged my stomach and turned toward my new husband. I should have asked him about his family. My teeth chattered. "Who are they?"
He parked the car near the massive curved front door that might let in twelve-foot tall people without anyone ducking and turned off the ignition. "Those are my children."
I should have asked. I'm an idiot. "I didn't know you had any."
He reached across me and unlocked my door. I glanced into his blue eyes. "Didn't I mention them?"
Everything inside me quaked as I shook my head. "No."
He then opened his door and shrugged. "I don't know how I didn't. I wouldn't have kept them from you. I am sorry. Would it have changed your mind about marrying me?”
“No.” We hadn’t had a lot of time to talk really. Everything happened fast, though I wanted to know how long he was married before, how many other children he had, and any other secrets. “I knew you were married before.”
“Good. I’d like you to adopt them in case something happens to me.”
My knees buckled. “What might happen to you?”
“I hope to live a long life and be there for all of you.”
“I’m game to talk about this later.” My heart echoed that he wanted me as part of his family. Two had just run by, away from the house, but for all I knew there were more inside. I swallowed. Then I narrowed my gaze as Robert opened my door and offered his hand to help me out. "How many do you have?"
"Two. A boy and a girl. Harper and Helen."
I stood and then swatted away the wrinkles on my new knee-length skirt. I had thought this a perfect traveling outfit, but not if I had to traipse through hedges after children. "Where are they going?"
Robert opened the trunk to get our luggage. He wasn't running after the children but I braced myself in case we needed to get moving. "To the shoreline."
My eyes widened. Without supervision? "By themselves?"
He wheeled our luggage to the front door.
I followed him as he explained, "Samantha watches them. I'm sure she has them under control. They'll return for dinner."
Were they allowed in the water alone? I jumped ahead of him and opened the front door. It wasn't locked. "Who cooks dinner and who is Samantha?"
He brushed by me and went inside. "Samantha is Serena's sister. I hired her on to watch the children. Madison is the cook. Her husband Tom is the caretaker, and then there is Mrs. Adams."
Serena's sister worked for Robert? I tried to ground my heels into the wooden floor to stay calm. The trick didn't work. My mind was like the tilt-a-wheel at a circus. I focused on the blandest question I had. "Who is Mrs. Adams?"
He placed the bags in a row by the front door, standing tall. "She's the housekeeper, and despises how frivolous I can be. She knew your grandmother."
I walked in and stared at a magnificent red carpet leading up the middle of a dark wood stair case that reminded me of old movies. Once we passed the foyer, a huge living room was off to the side.
My grandmother had died saying the word flight. Such a strange final word. If Mrs. Adams knew her, perhaps she had context for what that meant, I’d clean the house for the week and give her the time off. I’d ask her when I met her. I turned and tucked my shirt in as an older woman approached.
Dressed in black slacks and a shirt, a woman with gray hair, an upturned nose, and icy blue eyes that might freeze the winter appeared across the hall near the stairwell. She dipped her head. "Welcome home, sir."
I didn't dare move, but I held tight to Robert's hand. "Thank you. Mrs. Adams, this is my new wife."
She turned and then bowed her head at me. "Welcome ma'am."
Mrs. Adams reminded me of a ghost in how she stared through me. It was her demeanor though she had more power in her gaze than most people, even Aura. I knew she wasn't one, but the temperature around us dropped. "Nice to meet you. Robert, where is our bedroom? I'd like to put my things down."
I recalled Aura's comment about how mysteriously Serena had died. This home was isolated. In body she might be gone, but all the people who had loved her were now in my life, including her children.
Mrs. Adams said, "I'll have your luggage taken care of at once."
Was it wrong that I only wanted Robert? I lowered my gaze and nodded. "Thank you."
An older man came in, picked up our bags, and left. No one introduced him. I assumed he was Tom, but the fluttering in my stomach wondered if he too was someone who might disapprove of me. Mrs. Adam's voice boomed. "Feel free to explore Hallimore, ma'am."
My throat clenched and I didn't want to look at anyone. I couldn’t let myself think that marrying Robert had been a mistake. I shivered but managed, "I've never been a ma'am before. Please, call me Daphne."
Mrs. Adam's pinched face could send children running out the door promising they’d eaten all their veggies. I squirmed. "Servants do not address their employers by their given names, ma'am."
I couldn’t catch my breath. "I didn't mean to offend you.” I tried again. “Robert told me you knew my grandmother."
"Who I know, or knew, doesn't matter. None of that matters when the night creatures attack."
Attack? I looked at Robert. Who would come here? Footsteps echoed in the distance. I peeked toward Mrs. Adams and realized she was gone. My heart galloped at full speed, and I tugged Robert's arm. I needed his strength right now. "Ms. Adams scares me."
He brushed my hair out of my face and behind my ear. His touch calmed me. "Why?"
I couldn't explain how I saw her as the villain in a movie plot. It's not like she was Voldemort. She was a trusted servant. I let his fingers soothe me. "Didn’t you hear her just now? What night creatures would dare attack this place? What was she talking about?"
"I swear I get half my ideas from her. Be strong, Daphne. She's not that bad once you get to know her. One day you might even like having the old dog around."
"Dog? That's not exactly polite."
He moved me closer and pointed to the stairs. "It seems I've lost my manners and you’ll have to teach me new ones. Later. I’ll be back."
Robert couldn't leave me in this mausoleum by myself. This wasn't part of my dream. "Where are you going?"
He took a few steps up the red paisley carpet and then turned around to answer me. "I need to write a few thoughts down. I'll come find you soon."
He was a writer. I had to give him space to be himself. This was part of what I knew about him, but did he have to leave me, right now?
Hallimore wasn't anything I could have ever imagined. Grandma’s simple farm with the framed lace doilies and crocheted blankets gave her home warmth whereas this huge house was cold. The art on the walls seemed original and not reproductions in the gilded frames. And the fantastical beasts that reflected history struck something inside me. My breath hitched. "What if your children come home to see you?"
He unzipped his bag and retrieved his laptop. "Then you'll keep them company until I arrive."
Right. I'd have to win over the children. It was the only thing I could do to keep myself sane in this house. I had always liked kids and wanted some of my own. I'd find a way to make this work. I dropped my hands to my sides, though I still kept them as fists. "I guess I will."
He smiled at me, and the moment I saw the dimples, something in my stomach untwisted. Here was the man I’d married. "If there is a problem, let me know. Perhaps Helen and Harper will help you discover the part of you that you deny."
What part of me did he think I denied? Maybe he was talking about maternal instincts. "I'm not denying anything of myself." I stood at the bottom of the stairs and looked up at him. My body felt warmer, finally. "Robert, come back to me soon."
He turned to go, but then he came back down the stairs and pinned me between him and the wall. I didn't move. "Daphne, I didn't know you existed. I had assumed you’d died. I should have waited."
"You didn't know me. How could you wait?” He released me and disappeared up the steps, laptop tucked under his arm. I had no idea what he was talking about. Why would he think that I had died? A song from my dreams echoed in my thoughts, but I let it go.
Now what? A crystal chandelier hung from the fourteen-foot ceiling and illuminated an array of prisms along the wall. The lights danced in a pattern, but I stopped looking. I kept seeing an outline of gold on me in the reflection, which made no sense.
I discovered the living room which was big enough to host a fancy ball or a football game. I heard the crack of a fire, but the fireplace was empty. I walked down the long hall and poked my head into a room on the right. The paintings on the wall were of a gorgeous blonde woman in green. This must have been Serena. The sitting room with elegant traditional furniture seemed like a showplace rather than a lived-in room.
Curious, I wandered inside and paused by a painting of the blonde woman with two greyhounds at her feet.
Footsteps echoed to my right. My face heated as I felt guilty for intruding. Mrs. Adams ignored me and dusted an already cleaned desk. Her frostbite cold attitude made me pause, but for Robert’s sake, I’d not retreat. I crossed my arms and forced a pleasant tone as I asked, "What time do we expect Harper and Helen to return?"
Mrs. Adams dusted a painting of the same blonde woman in a different green outfit. "They will be along, Mrs. De Marco. Do you wish me to find them?"
Serena’s beauty was indisputable, as Aura had said. The confidence in her smile was the opposite of mine. We were nothing alike. If someone scared me, I usually left the room—only now I couldn’t leave. Robert was my fresh start. Besides, how could a dead woman be my enemy? I turned to the housekeeper. "Show me the ropes, Mrs. Adams."
"Of course. This way." She led me to the desk and scooted the chair out for me. I sat. "The previous Mrs. De Marco was angelic in all things. She often floated into this room in the afternoon to have her tea as she checked her emails and messages here.” She must be teasing, but what if she wasn’t? I don’t float. “Shall I prepare you some now while y
ou connect online?"
There was no computer on the desk, so I opened the drawer to my right where a silver laptop rested. I could check my emails and find out what was happening in the world and check in with Aura and my great aunt as I had promised.
I wondered what the lady of the house of Hallimore had done all day, with a full staff, children and a husband who secluded himself to write. My days in Ocala had been full with my nursing studies and taking care of Grandma. "And did she sit and read all day with the tea?"
"She often had friends over to entertain her in the afternoons. Soon enough it will be so cold outside that no one will be able to visit.” Then Mrs. Adams tapped the corner of the desk with the dusting cloth. “This is when we must be on guard for vampires."
A shiver raced down my spine. Was Mrs. Adams crazy with grief for her deceased employer? Had Serena died at night? It was obvious the housekeeper wanted to scare me. I held my breath for a second. "Vampires don't exist."
Ms. Adams walked away until she was nothing but a tall, thin silhouette whose shadow stayed on the wall. Then she was gone. I took out the laptop and realized all the stationary had Serena's name on it. The laptop even had her name engraved.
Life here hadn’t moved forward in the months since the previous Mrs. De Marco’s death. Serena felt very much present and alive.
8
My tea never came. The crystal clock chimed and I realized that I’d been in the sitting room for an hour.
I opened every drawer of the desk and found Serena's correspondence and bills. She clearly bought expensive jewels for the wife of a writer, and the house was huge. Most authors I’d read about were penniless, but then Robert De Marco was a name brand, and he said himself he had a penchant for making money. I massaged my temples.
I don't know if I'd be tempted to buy a $100,000 ring. Where could I wear anything like that? I should ask my husband about his expectations. I should ask him a lot of things. I decided to quickly search his name online, but then I saw a link to over 20000 new emails. I clicked the mail button and realized this was all Serena's. I closed the mail without reading anything.
Call of the Dragon: Flight of Dragons Page 5
