by Robin Deeter
Ellie’s eyes widened. “Yes, I did. It’s just that you’re … strange. Secretive. It makes it hard to get to know you when you don’t really talk about yourself.”
He smiled, his gaze softening. “Curious, then? Good. I’ll pick you up tonight. Dress for a picnic.”
“A picnic? It’s winter. Where the heck would we have a picnic?”
He took her face in his hand. “I know a very special place. You’ll see. Six-thirty?”
Ellie nodded. His touch did funny things to her. “That’ll be fine.”
“Good. Now, about young Toby.” He dropped his hand.
“Right. I’ll bring him out,” Ellie said.
*****
When Ellie answered Walt’s knock, she was surprised to see him wearing jeans and a denim coat over a white wool sweater. He looked casual yet handsome.
“Hello, Ellie.”
“Hello. You look nice.”
“Thanks. So do you. Shall we?”
Walt enjoyed the uncertainty and curiosity in Ellie’s beautiful blue eyes. He wanted to keep her guessing, just itching to know more about him. It had taken a while to wear her down and now that he had her attention, he planned to keep it.
Ellie liked it that Walt assisted her into the buggy even though she was perfectly capable of getting in herself. He didn’t treat her like a lawwoman, just a woman, which she appreciated in a man she was seeing socially.
“How’s Toby?” she asked.
Walt clicked to his horse, getting them underway. “He’s confused, but glad to be out of jail. He’ll be out of sorts for a while, but I’ll help him.”
“I think it’s very nice of you to want to help him, but why do you want to?”
He smiled wryly. “Let’s just say I have a fondness for helpin’ the underdog, those who can’t help themselves.”
“I see. What are you going to do with him?”
He gave her a questioning look. “Do with him? He’ll stay with me until he can make his own way in this world. He’ll also go to school. I want him to have an education.”
Ellie shook her head. “I can’t figure you out. Being kind is one thing, but taking a boy who’s a complete stranger into your home is another.”
Walt gave her an understanding smile. “Most people would say the same thing. It’s simple, really. He needs help and I can give it to him.”
Ellie took in their surrounds as they left town. Walt didn’t live right in town, but still close enough that he was able to have telephone service. They passed the driveway to his house.
“You missed the turn.”
“I didn’t. We’re goin’ around the front way.”
Ellie’s brow furrowed. “The front way?”
“Aye.”
“So that’s the back way?”
“It is.”
She shook her head and fell silent. Walt smiled as he regarded her pretty profile. Intense longing for her flowed through him as he watched her. He tore his eyes from her before she caught him staring at her. She was gorgeous, sweet, and feisty, and he intended to make her his, and very soon.
*****
The drive they turned down was much wider than what Walt had said was the back way to his house. As they drove, Ellie saw huge creatures rise up on either side of the drive.
When she gasped at seeing Pegasus looming near the road, Walt put a comforting hand on her arm.
“’Tis all right, lass. Nothing but topiary figures.”
Even though she now understood that they weren’t alive, the moonlight-gilded animals still appeared threatening. She’d never seen anything like them. They were beautiful and frightening at the same time.
“I think I like the back way better.”
Walt chuckled as they pulled up in front of the house. A porch ran the whole length of it, and light shone in the windows. It was a very nice house, but it seemed as though the impressive topiary and long drive should’ve led to a huge mansion instead of such a modest residence.
“It’s a pretty place,” she said. “Of course, so is the back of it. Why do you have two ways in and out of it?”
He helped her down from the buggy, standing closer than was necessary. “Because sometimes it’s quicker to go out the back and sometimes out the front. Come.”
He led her in the front, which opened into a foyer. Ellie stopped cold, closed her eyes, and shook her head. She reopened her eyes, but the foyer was still there.
“This looks just like the foyer and stairs at the back of the house.”
Walt’s eyes gleamed. “Does it?”
Ellie stepped through the doorway on the left into the parlor and stopped again. “This is the exact same parlor, too.”
“Is it?”
“I don’t understand. What kind of game are you playing? Did you drug me?” she asked.
“No, love, I didn’t. I take it ya don’t like games.”
“Yes, but not life-sized ones.”
“Well, that’s a shame. I have a fondness for carnival games. A friend of mine dared me to renovate my house like this, so I did. I won quite a tidy sum of money from him, too,” Walt said.
Ellie smiled. “You did this on a dare?”
“I take dares very seriously.”
“Is the whole house like this?”
“Aye. I call it Mirror House,” Walt replied. “Would ya like to see?”
Curiosity got the best of her again. “Yeah.”
“The dining room is the connector, so you can always find your way back and forth between the two halves.”
“I wasn’t past the dining room.”
“Right,” Walt said, leading her through it. “Here we are in the other parlor.”
Ellie stared around it, marveling that even the furnishings were exactly the same. It was bizarre, but it delighted her the same way a fun house did a child. From there, she crossed the duplicate foyer and stepped into the formal sitting room.
“I didn’t look. The other sitting room is like this?”
“Right.”
Her pretty laugh rang out and she came back to him. “May I see the upstairs, too?”
“If ye like.”
Walt was thrilled that she’d responded positively to the odd house. He laughed at the way she kept running back and forth across the hallway to see each “mirrored” room. The only two rooms he didn’t let her go in were his and Toby’s rooms, which she completely understood.
“So that’s the whole place,” he said as she rejoined him in the hallway.
“It’s wonderful! I’d love to live here! And can you imagine what fun it would be for kids?”
“Would ya, now?”
Ellie blushed. “Don’t be getting any wild ideas.”
Too late, Walt thought. “I’ll try. How about that picnic now?”
“I still don’t understand why we’re having a picnic outside in the middle of November.”
They exited out the back way and she tucked her hand in the crook of his arm as they walked along a brick pathway and around the side of the house. What looked like a large greenhouse stood a short distance away.
“We’re eating in a greenhouse?”
“Aye, but not just any greenhouse.”
Walt had her stand just inside the doorway of the dark interior. “Close yer eyes while I light some lanterns.”
Willing to play along, Ellie closed them. She felt giddy with anticipation. What would she see when she opened her eyes again? More funhouse games?
“All right. Open those lovely eyes of yers.”
She did and her jaw dropped open. The brick walkway ended and lush, green grass carpeted the floor of the whole interior. A vast array of flowers and tall green plants almost obliterated the glass walls. In the center sat a bright red checkered blanket and picnic basket. Eight lanterns provided plenty of light for them to see by.
Watching Ellie’s face light up filled Walt with happiness. “Do ya like it?”
“No. I love it. It’s warm in here,” she said.
“Let me ta
ke yer coat, Miss Ellie.”
She let him slide it down her arms and watched him hang it on a brass coatrack.
“We’ll take our shoes off so we don’t damage the grass.”
Ellie slipped off her boots and socks without a qualm. Once they were both barefoot, he motioned to the blanket. Her feet sank into the spongy grass.
“This has to be the softest grass in the world,” she said, laughing.
“Aye. Ma was a plant and nature lover. Da built her a greenhouse like this in the country outside New York City and we had many a party in it. So, when I moved here, I built one, too. Sort of in honor of her memory,” he said.
As they sat down, Ellie said, “I didn’t know that she’d passed.”
“Both my parents did. They were older when they had me. I was a complete surprise,” Walt said. “I miss them. They were great people.”
“I’m sure they were,” Ellie said.
“Well, enough of that. Let’s eat.”
Chapter Fifteen
During their meal, Ellie learned more about Walt. He told her how his family had come to the United States to meet with some of his father’s business partners. It was supposed to have been a month long stay, but Lawrence and Margaret Gaines had fallen in love with America and had decided to move there permanently.
As they ate pieces of black walnut cake, Ellie asked, “So you come from some pretty rich people, huh?”
“I do. All of my grandparents were wealthy and, since my parents were only children, they inherited all of the money. So I’m a very wealthy man,” Walt replied.
“It’s a shame that you don’t have any brothers or sisters.”
He nodded. “It was sometimes lonely growing up, which is why when I marry, I hope to have a whole passel of wee ones.”
“I can understand that,” Ellie said. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but your house doesn’t seem like the type that someone rich would live in.”
“I don’t like to throw my money around. Too many people come to ya with their hands out. I prefer to donate anonymously, which I do. Being wealthy lets me do what I love doin’. Helpin’ people who are truly innocent.”
Ellie said, “But you defend a lot of people. They can’t all be innocent.”
He cocked his head. “Can I tell ya somethin’ in confidence?”
The suddenly hard glint in his eyes set her stomach fluttering with fear and curiosity. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to know what he was going to say, but couldn’t stop herself from saying, “Yes.”
“I’m a prosecutor in disguise.”
Her eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
“Well, ya see, I used to be a prosecutor in New York, but when I moved here, there were no criminal prosecutor positions. So, I became a defense attorney, but not exactly.”
“I still don’t understand.”
“All right. Take that pickpocket. He was guilty as sin, so I perhaps didn’t try as hard to keep him out of jail as I did Toby. The lad is innocent. Do ya see now?”
Ellie gasped. “You deliberately throw cases? Isn’t that against the law?”
He grinned. “Not against the law, but it’s unethical in some people’s minds. Just not mine. Chance City is safer without that pickpocket, just as it is without other criminals on the loose.”
Conflicting emotions on the matter swirled in Ellie’s mind. “Does anyone else know about this?”
“No one.”
“Why did you tell me?”
Walt took a steadying breath. “Because I trust you. I have feelin’s for ya, Ellie. Ya know that’s why I kept askin’ ya out. But, if this is somethin’ ya can’t accept about me, then there’s no point pursuin’ anything. I’ll understand, but if ya decide ya don’t wanna see me, please keep this to yerself. If ya say we’re done, I won’t bother ya when I come to the sheriff’s office, either. So don’t worry about that.”
Their gazes met and Ellie couldn’t look away. There was something enigmatic, charismatic, and dangerous about Walt. Why hadn’t she seen that before? Or had she and that was the reason she’d refused his advances? She could no longer deny that he was very attractive.
His hazel eyes captivated her and she wanted to kiss him. She had the first time she’d gone to dinner with him, but he hadn’t then or the last couple of times they’d been together. His gaze grew heated and she knew that he could see her thoughts in her expression.
Her heart beat in triple-time as he hooked a hand around the back of her neck and leaned in to kiss her. Ellie found herself swept away by his hot, demanding kiss. Wrapping his free arm around her waist, he pulled her against his chest, and threaded his fingers through her hair.
Ellie held onto his sweater, bunching it in her fists, and responding in kind. Their tongues met and dueled as their breathing grew ragged. The way Walt’s chest rose and fell under her hands fascinated her and she traced the contours of his muscles through it. His growl of pleasure made her feel feminine and powerful and she wanted more.
When she abruptly pulled away from him, Walt felt off-kilter. She took off his glasses and set them off to the side. He was glad that he didn’t need them to see up close so that he didn’t miss the desire shimmering in her eyes. The next thing he knew, she pulled his sweater up.
“I want you, Walt. You’re weird, and quirky, and mysterious, and sort of dark, but you’re also handsome, fun, and wonderful. I shouldn’t want you like this, but I do,” she said.
Walt wasn’t going to argue with her. He’d wanted her for so long and if she was willing, so was he. It was wicked and wrong in some people’s minds, but not in his. What two mature adults did was no one else’s business.
He yanked the sweater the rest of the way off and took her in his arms again. She ran her hands over his toned, muscular chest, reveling in the way his chest hair felt against her palms. His lips reclaimed hers and he pressed her harder against his body, stirring her ardor even more.
She couldn’t stop touching him and he seemed to have the same problem. He pulled her blouse from her jeans and spread his hands over her back, skimming his fingers along her spine. She shivered against him as ripples of desire washed over her.
A noise from outside made her jerk and she pulled back from him.
Walt heard it, too. “It’s just an animal. Don’t worry about it.”
He reached for the buttons of her blouse, but her hand closed over his, stopping him. Looking in her eyes, he saw her uncertainty and his shoulders sagged.
“This isn’t gonna happen, is it? Ye’ve changed yer mind.”
“Not about you, just about this. And not exactly this.”
She would have run a hand over his chest, but he intercepted it. He kissed it before moving away from her.
“I don’t understand,” he said, putting his sweater back on.
Ellie almost groaned when he covered up his fine torso again. “It’s just that I don’t want Toby to walk in on us.”
Walt squashed his frustration. “He has strict instructions not to unless disaster strikes, but boys aren’t always reliable about following orders. Yer right. I’ll take ya home. Just give me a few minutes.”
Ellie couldn’t contain the giggle that bubbled up in her throat as she gathered their picnic things. His aroused condition was quite apparent.
“It’s not funny. You women have it easy regarding this. Ya can’t tell when yer excited and if ya are, ya can still move around just like normal.”
It was the first time she’d seen him cross about something and it both excited and amused her. She chuckled again and his expression darkened.
She pulled herself together. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
Letting out a long breath, Walt got to his feet and helped her. Once they had everything ready and they’d put their shoes and outerwear back on, Walt doused all of the lanterns. There was enough moonlight for them to see by as they walked along the path to the back of the house. They deposited their things in the kitchen, Walt telling her that he wou
ld take care of them later.
Walt was quiet for a little bit as he drove her home. Ellie knew that he was disappointed and so was she, but the thought of Toby interrupting them made it impossible for her to have made love with him in the greenhouse.
“Walt, I’m sorry, it’s just—”
“Don’t worry about it, Ellie. I understand.” He gave her a smile. “So do all of those things ya said about me mean that ya want to keep seein’ me?”
“Yes. I meant it when I said that I didn’t change my mind about you.”
Happiness spread through him. “I’m glad to hear it.”
Ellie snuggled up to him. “You know, there’s no one at my house to interrupt us.”
Walt groaned. “Ellie, don’t tempt me like that. It’s gettin’ late and I shouldn’t leave Toby to his own devices on his first night out of jail.”
She let out a sigh as she rested her head on his shoulder. “You’re right.”
To distract them from the desire that still thrummed through them, Ellie started talking about work. Grateful to her, Walt followed her example, eagerly picking up the conversation. When they arrived at her house, he walked her to the door, but only kissed her cheek. He knew that if he kissed those sweet lips of hers they would wind up in bed.
Ellie waited until he drove off to go inside. With deep regret, she went to bed, but her thoughts were filled with the handsome Irishman for quite some time.
*****
Brock and Daphne sat snuggled together on the sofa a few nights before Thanksgiving. Cy and Leigh had gone out to dinner and Johnny had moved back over to his bunkhouse. He’d taken Wheels’ advice and was moving around more. Daphne hadn’t been able to sway him from his decision and in the end she’d given in.
Brock kissed the side of her head and gave her a squeeze. “I know you’re cooking here for Thanksgiving, but what about coming over to our house in the evening? We’re not eating until later in the day.”
Facing him, she asked, “What about your parents and sisters? Won’t they object?”
“Don’t worry about that. If Cy is starting to get used to idea of me being around, then it’s time for my family to do the same with you. I want them to get to know the wonderful woman I’ve fallen in love with.”
