The Second Sister

by Dani Sinclair

  “I’ve got one more thing to add to your report,” he told them. “Leigh and I were run off the road on our way here from town tonight.”

  Seeing he’d captured their attention, Gavin gave them what information he could on the make and model of the truck, and the precise location of the incident.

  “You two are having quite a night, aren’t you? Okay. We’ll put out a watch for the vehicle, but if the driver was some drunk, he’s probably home in bed by now, sleeping it off.”

  Gavin thought about telling them about his earlier scene with Ducort, but decided he’d do a little checking on his own, first.

  After the officers left, he turned to Leigh. “Going to say I told you so?”

  “You mean because the police aren’t going to do anything? Why bother? I’m surprised they actually responded. Between my mother’s disappearance and Marcus’s murder, the local arm of the law isn’t too happy with anyone here at Heartskeep.”

  Mrs. Norwhich shook her frizzy white head. “That’s a fine thing. Wasn’t your fault, what happened to the mister.”

  “Thanks, Mrs. Norwhich. I’m not sure Chief Crossley would agree with you.”

  “Man’s a windbag. All puff, no stuffin’. If you won’t be needing me anymore tonight, I’ll be getting back to town.”

  “I’m sorry you had such a scare.”

  “Why don’t you let me carry your belongings out to your car for you,” Gavin offered.

  “I’ll just let you do that,” she agreed readily.

  They watched the sturdy woman drive away a few minutes later.

  “She’s a little odd, but I think she means well,” Leigh said. “I hope we don’t lose her, too.”

  “I don’t think you will. She appears the self-reliant sort, despite being spooked. I suspect she’ll hang in for the long haul. Besides, we’re paying her for not working. She should look at this as a bonus vacation. The police were right about one thing, though, we need to get the security system up and running again.”

  “No argument here.”

  “I’d like to take a quick look around the house, Leigh.”

  She tensed. “What if someone is still inside? It’ll be dark soon and I think R.J. has the power turned off.”

  “We’ll make it quick. Like the cops said, it isn’t likely anyone hung around.”

  “At least we know it wasn’t Nolan—not if he’s the one who ran us off the road. He can’t be in two places at once.”

  “I never said Ducort was connected to either incident,” he corrected. “But I’d give a lot to know whether he has an airtight alibi for his time tonight. Either way, I’d really like to understand the layout of Heartskeep. I’ve never been inside the estate before.”

  “All right. I’ll give you the grand tour. There are eleven designated bedrooms, if you include my grandfather’s suite as one room.”

  “Eleven? Was Heartskeep used as an inn?”

  “No. My great, great grandfather, Woodrow Hart, had nine children and a staff of eight when he built the original Heartskeep.”

  “Wow. So this isn’t the original structure?”

  “More or less. I think part of the main house was destroyed and rebuilt at some point but I’m not sure when. Grandpa had all sorts of files on the history of Heartskeep and the Hart family, but we probably lost most of them in the fire,” Leigh said regretfully.

  The dining and living rooms were so impressive that Gavin forgot about the number of bedrooms. He stared at the massive stone fireplace that took up most of one wall and jutted several feet into the dining room. Built-in shelves stood on either side.

  “Quite a fireplace.”

  “You ought to see it lit.”

  He could imagine. Another curved fireplace of matching stone filled the far corner of the living room. That fireplace backed to the grand staircase.

  The sheer, towering height of the two rooms, open to enormous skylights overhead, made them unique. The vast living room was open on two sides, set off from the halls by marble pillars.

  “They hold up the balcony that surrounds both rooms,” Leigh told him.

  She seemed skittish around him. Not that he blamed her. She was as aware as he was that there was an attraction building between them. The truth was, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her since he’d seen her again at her father’s funeral. She’d looked exactly as he’d remembered.

  “All these years Hayley and I thought the railings and the overhang were nothing more than architectural design,” Leigh said, “but according to Emily Walken, the balcony used to be completely open to the second floor. A person used to be able to leave their bedroom, walk over to the balcony, step down and watch whatever was happening below. Emily said Grandpa had the balcony walled off when we came here to live. He was afraid we’d fall or something.”

  Gavin stared up at the polished wood railings overhead. The area beyond them lay in deep shadow despite the setting sun overhead. Troubled, he let Leigh guide him down the hall. There were two bedrooms, two bathrooms, Dennison’s office and an inviting room that Leigh called the library, all on the undamaged side of the house.

  “Mostly we used the library as our living room,” Leigh confided.

  Gavin could understand why. The library and Dennison’s office were the only cozy rooms he’d seen.

  “Massive foyer,” he said, gazing around. A grand piano sat tucked partially under the staircase. “Not too many people keep a baby grand piano in their front hall.”

  Striding over, he ran his fingers across the yellowed ivory keys. The notes were startlingly loud, disturbing the ominous silence of the house.

  “Eden must have had it moved here. It used to sit in the living room.”

  “Do you play?”

  “Not really. Mom did. She used to play a lot. Hayley and Grandpa and I would sit and listen or sing along while she played.”

  He liked that image, but not the look of wistful sadness that crossed her features.

  “Seems like a lifetime ago,” Leigh added. “Hayley and I took lessons when we were kids, but we hated to practice. Eventually, we gave up. Now I wish we’d continued.”

  The ballroom, parlor and what had once been her father’s offices were roped off on the damaged side of the house. The odor of scorched wood still lingered heavily in the still air. The blackened walls made it easy to picture Hayley’s terror when she and Bram were trapped inside the office area while the arsonist calmly set fire to the place.

  “What’s beyond the ballroom?”

  “Another spare bedroom and the room Mrs. Norwhich is using. Mrs. Walsh and Kathy, the previous housekeeper and her daughter, used to live in those rooms.”

  Gavin nodded, familiar with the names from her grandfather’s will.

  “You sure this place wasn’t used as an inn?” he teased to ease the growing tension between them.

  “Not to my knowledge. We’d better hurry if you want to see upstairs. The light’s fading fast.”

  She was right, and this was not a house he wanted to be caught inside in the dark.

  Gavin followed her up the sweeping staircase and tried not to notice the slight sway of her hips or the graceful length of leg displayed below the hem of her dress. He told himself to stop fantasizing. Leigh was a client. She couldn’t be anything more, despite the attraction he was feeling.

  “Grandpa’s rooms were over the parlor and ballroom. They were pretty well destroyed in the fire. I always loved his suite as a kid,” she said over her shoulder. “Grandpa kept all sorts of treats for us in a small, golden treasure chest.” She stopped at the top of the stairs. “I guess it was destroyed along with everything else.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Me too. I’m thinking I may convert that area into a gym, or maybe a large playroom for children.”

  Unfortunately, it was all too easy to picture Leigh’s children filling that playroom. Gavin found the image of her holding a tiny infant unsettling. Maybe because she could so easily have had
his infant after their one night together.

  He’d sweated out those weeks after making love to her until Emily had assured him Leigh wasn’t pregnant. Oddly enough, his relief had been tempered by a strange sense of loss.

  He’d never taken sex lightly after that night, nor had he ever forgotten to use protection again. He wondered what Leigh would say if she understood how much that evening had changed his life.

  “A gym or a playroom would be good for resale value, don’t you think?” Leigh was saying. Her voice faltered as she stared up at him.

  Those innocent blue eyes stirred memories he was certain she’d prefer he didn’t have. Desire slammed into him, unbidden. She lowered her lashes. Her breathing quickened. The hand that gestured toward the opposite hall had a decided tremor. He resisted the impulse to stroke the soft skin of her lightly flushed cheek. Instead, he hooked his thumb over his belt and tried not to remember how soft she was all over.

  “I thought you were going to keep Heartskeep for Hayley’s children,” he managed to say calmly.

  “I am. I just thought I should keep all my options open. You never know what might happen.”

  Yeah. He might just give in to one of the crazy impulses pounding away inside him right now. Gavin was embarrassed to realize he was becoming aroused.

  “Why not save the estate for your own children?”

  He heard the delicate catch of her breath. Were her thoughts running parallel with his again?

  “I…it should go to my sister’s oldest child.”

  She wouldn’t look at him. A restlessness gripped him as he studied her profile. Leigh had changed very little in the past seven years. She was definitely a woman now, but there was still an aura of innocence about her.

  Leigh gestured toward the roped-off hall where fire damage had opened one wall to expose the gutted interior to view. The heat and intensity of the fire were almost secondary to the damage done by the smoke and the water used to put out the blaze.

  “The bedroom Jacob uses is on the other side of Grandpa’s suite. I don’t know if that room was damaged or not. We’ll have to go around the back way to see.”

  Gavin followed her pointing hand down the corridor. Like the rest of the house, the walls up here were covered by rich, dark wood paneling. Despite the large picture window at their back, there would be little outside light to brighten either hall. Once the sun set, these walls would resemble tunnels—dark and suffocating.

  His body tensed. He found himself moving closer to her side as if preparing to defend her from some unseen danger.

  Leigh looked up at him with a questioning expression. Her voice dropped to little more than a whisper.

  “You feel it too, don’t you?”

  “Feel what?” But he knew exactly what she meant.

  “There’s an evil feeling to this house now.”

  She was right. There was a brooding quality up here that hadn’t been as noticeable downstairs. Gavin recalled the prickly nervousness he’d experienced when he’d looked up at the balcony. The sensation was back. He didn’t like it one bit.

  “It didn’t used to be this way,” she added.

  Gavin shook his head. He was irritated by his own reaction. He wasn’t generally given to such a fanciful imagination.

  “How do you get onto the balconies?”

  “You don’t. I told you, Grandpa had that area walled up.”

  “He must have left some sort of access, if only to clean the dust.”

  Her thoughtful frown probably matched his own.

  “I hadn’t thought about that. There aren’t any doors to it that I know of.”

  “What about those?” He pointed at a set of doors on the other side of the staircase.

  “Linen closets.”

  Gavin walked around and opened the nearest one. The closet contained shelves on either side. The shelves were filled with an assortment of linens. “Big closet.”

  “It’s a big house. Gavin, we’re going to lose the light up here any minute now. I think the rest of your tour had better wait for tomorrow. At the risk of sounding like a coward, I’d like to leave now.”

  Anxiety threaded her voice. He didn’t blame her. There was a bad feeling to this house, imagined or not.

  “You’re right. We’ll come back tomorrow.”

  She turned quickly and started down the stairs. As he followed, he was almost positive he’d heard the sound of a door closing softly near the back of the long dark hall.

  Chapter Five

  Leigh awoke feeling tired and edgy. The dreams that had plagued her sleep were evaporating like so much mist, leaving behind only traces to cling to. Somehow, she was certain they were important traces. Her mother had been trying to warn her about something, but that something was gone no matter how hard she tried to remember.

  Naturally, Gavin had visited her sleeping mind, since he seemed to be there constantly when she was awake. In her dreams, Gavin made love to her again, but not like the flash-fire explosion they’d once shared. There had been a huge difference. Only, she couldn’t remember what that difference had been. Those particular wisps of memory were playing havoc with her emotions this morning.

  “Stop it!” she told herself sternly. “You are too old to start fantasizing over Gavin Jarret again!” But she couldn’t face her reflection in the bathroom mirror.

  The Walken house was so quiet she thought everyone had left for the day, but she found Hayley and Bram sitting at the kitchen table when she finally made it downstairs.

  “The Walkens had a meeting this morning.”

  “What about Nan?” Leigh asked, looking around for the friendly but authoritative cook-housekeeper.

  Bram grinned knowingly. “You’re safe,” he told her. “You won’t be forced to eat breakfast this morning. Nan went shopping. Oh, and Gavin called for you a few minutes ago,” Bram added. “He wants you to meet him at Heartskeep around noon.”

  Hayley frowned. “Are you okay with this, Leigh? I feel sort of guilty dumping everything on you this way.”

  “As well you should,” Leigh told her pertly. “It’s fine. I wouldn’t have chosen to own the estate, but that’s okay. I want to talk with R.J. about tearing down the walls upstairs and restoring the house to its original condition. Emily said she had some old photographs around someplace that she could show me.”

  “I wonder if any of Grandpa’s files survived. You might ask R.J. Bram has to run into town for a few minutes this morning, so we could drop you off over there since you turned in the rental car you got at the airport. We’ll have to make a trip to our Boston apartment to pick up your car one of these days. We need to check on our mail anyhow. Bram’s going to finish removing the grates from the rest of the windows.”

  “And I need to know what you want done with the old stone lions,” Bram added. “I can remove the front gate—”

  “Don’t you dare! That thing is a masterpiece,” Leigh told him.

  “That’s what I said,” Hayley added smugly.

  Bram looked embarrassed.

  “What about putting the lions on either side of the front porch?” Leigh suggested.

  “Not a bad idea,” Bram said. “Since R.J. has to replace part of that area anyhow, I bet he could make a few changes to accommodate them.”

  “Like what?”

  Bram grabbed a napkin and began to sketch. “If the steps were wider and swept out like this…”

  “I like it!” Leigh told him when she saw what he was suggesting. “The lions would fit on either side on the ends.”

  “Too much like a library?” he asked.

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Me neither. Let’s go talk to R.J.,” Hayley enthused.

  “Why don’t you let Leigh have some breakfast first.”

  “Thanks, but I never eat breakfast,” she told him. “Let me grab my purse.”

  Even the sunny new day didn’t diminish the house’s brooding appearance, Leigh discovered. R.J. and his crew were sweating hea
vily as they ripped away at the fire damage. R.J. stopped to mop his face, coming over to talk with them when Bram called to him.

  R.J. studied Bram’s crude drawing and nodded. “We can do that. In fact, if you want to spend the extra money, we could replace this entire front porch with stone and bricks to give you a more uniform look.”

  Everyone looked at Leigh. “Sounds good to me.”

  “I’ll work you up a price then.”

  “Do you need anything in town?” Bram asked. R.J. and Leigh shook their heads.

  “Okay. Hayley and I will be back shortly.”

  “Let’s have a look at these walls you want removed,” R.J. said to Leigh.

  Despite the noise from his crew and the bright sunlight streaming in through the large window on the second floor, a sense of wrongness lingered upstairs. R.J. tapped the walls for several minutes.

  “Feels like wood panels over wallboard. Taking them down won’t be a problem, but you’ll probably have to replace all the carpeting underneath.”

  “I was going to do that anyway.”

  “Okay. I’ll need to inspect the balconies and the support structure, but I don’t see a problem.”

  “Thanks, R.J. Oh!” Leigh gaped as an enormous black dog came bounding up the main staircase. It gave a shake before trotting over to them as if it owned the place.

  “Lucky, sit!”

  The ferocious-looking animal immediately dropped to its haunches and looked at R.J. with such wistful canine adoration Leigh was tempted to laugh.

  “Sorry,” R.J. apologized. “He’s supposed to stay outside, but he only obeys when he’s in the mood. Good boy, Lucky.”

  The stubby little tail wagged wildly as the animal rose and leaned against R.J.’s legs.

  “I hope it’s okay to bring him along. He gets bored if I leave him at home, and when he’s bored, he has a tendency to eat things—like couches or other furniture.”

  “Ah. Well as long as he confines his taste to furniture and not people… What breed is he?”

  “Only his parents know for sure. The vet said he’s part standard poodle with some Great Dane, and a few other genes thrown into the mix. Whatever his heritage, he’s a character.”