by Trisha Grace
No matter what Evelyn said, Kate was adamant about going through with her decision.
Putting aside her promise, she couldn’t allow Tyler to lose his house because of her, not when she knew what happened to him.
Even as she got into her car, Evelyn was still going on and on about how dangerous it could be and how it wasn’t her style to do something so ridiculous.
“Kate, I know you grew up taking care of people around you, but this isn’t your battle. Please, just think it through again.”
“I have. I need to do this,” Kate stated before pulling the door close. She smiled brightly at Evelyn through the windshield and waved, ignoring the scowl on her face.
When she got to the mansion, three other cars were parked outside.
She’d hoped Tyler wouldn’t be around. Though she’d told Evelyn that she wasn’t fighting a battle, she did have a strategy in mind: Head in, put her stuff down in the guest room, and return to the office—all before Tyler got there.
She took a glimpse of the cross pendant hanging from her rear-view mirror. “I declare that today will be a good day, Lord. I know You’re always with me and You’ll help me in whatever situation I face.”
Squaring her shoulders, she stepped out of her car and looked at the mansion, her home for the next year.
The beige exterior of the three-story mansion and the clear glass on the long windows stared back at her. Though the late Mr. Hayes had kept up with the maintenance, the walls were tinted with a hint of gray and dullness; probably due to the dust collected over the past few years.
The layer of dust cast a gloom over the mansion, making it seemed as if it, too, were in mourning.
She shook her head and headed toward the door.
Even before she was near the door, she could hear the lively racket within. With her luggage in hand, she cautiously pushed it open.
The moment she stepped in, all the clamor ceased. Everyone seemed to freeze in place, seemingly waiting for someone to react. That was until a shrill whistle woke everyone from their trance.
“You’re Kate Mitchell?”
She moved toward the crowd and cast a quick glance at the four men and the woman present.
“Yup,” she answered the man wearing a plain gray T-shirt that showed off his bulging muscles.
The same man let out a loud boisterous laugh. “Well, Anne, you should start worrying now.” He got to his feet and reached over with a boyish grin. “I’m Ryan Faris.” Tilting his head to the left, he said, “That’s Joseph Hansen and Dan Riley.” Each smiled and waved when his name was mentioned. “The one sitting next to Ty is Joanne Riley.”
“I’m Ty’s fiancée,” Joanne said while scrutinizing Kate from head to toe.
Kate shook Ryan’s hand and nodded politely as she looked at the polished blonde sitting next to Tyler. Thick mascara lined her eyes and her nails glimmered with neon-pink nail polish.
She couldn’t help conjuring up the image of a Barbie doll when looking at Joanne.
“You’re all here to help him move?” Kate took the chance to give everyone another glimpse. All the guys appeared to be tall, their lanky legs stretched out casually in front of them, and all of them seemed to be at ease.
All except Tyler.
His legs were stretched out like the rest, but his arms were folded, and he was staring into space as though he was afraid to look anywhere else.
A moment of silence descended as everyone turned to look at the single piece of luggage standing by the couch. “I want to say yes, but it’ll be pretty obvious that we’re lying. So, here’s the truth: We’re here to see who Ty is going to be living with for the next year.” Ryan beamed another of his boy-next-door grin and winked.
Despite his hulking figure, his gregarious nature removed the threat of how his arm could easily crush her if he so wanted.
“Is that all you have? Looks like both of you travel light,” Joseph Hansen commented.
Kate turned to look at Joseph. If she hadn’t known that Tyler was the only child, she would’ve thought they were brothers. They shared the same dark brown hair, except that his was cut much shorter, showing a clear, radiant face. He gave her a small pensive smile as though he, too, was contemplating her character.
“Actually, I still have a box of work stuff in my car. But other than that, this is all I brought.” Looking at Tyler, she said, “Your grandfather had a guest room prepared for me on those times I stayed over. Is it all right if I take the same room?”
“You can have the master bedroom,” Tyler answered.
“I’m more comfortable in the guest room. If there’s nothing else, I’ll go put my stuff in the room and head out to work.”
Tyler gave no reaction.
She sighed but managed to catch herself before she rolled her eyes.
Silence meant consent.
She reached for her luggage, but Joseph Hansen rose and strode over.
“Let me.” Taking the handle, he waited for Kate to take the lead.
“I’ll get your box. Is your car locked?” Ryan asked.
“I’ll get it myself.” Kate made her way toward the door, but Ryan easily caught up with her.
Once they were out of earshot, Ryan smiled warmly. “Don’t get offended by Ty’s attitude. He’s always been like that, even with us.”
Quietly, Kate considered Ryan while he pulled the box out of the back seat. “May I ask how you got to know Tyler?”
Ryan grinned mischievously. “Why?”
“You guys seem to be on the opposite ends of a spectrum; character wise, that is.”
“So you noticed, huh? I have no idea how we actually became good friends. He’s kind of a weirdo,” Ryan teased. “We went to the same school. He was really good in basketball, and I think we just hung around him because he was so good. Then we sort of became friends.”
Kate shook her head and chuckled at his story. As they reentered the house and headed up the stairs with Joseph, she could feel Tyler’s eyes on her. Still peeved with his words from the night before, she kept her eyes straight, refusing to turn back to him.
“Nice room,” Ryan said as he placed the box onto the dark brown desk.
“Yeah, it’s pretty decent,” Kate said as she scanned the familiar room. The white walls were matched with dark chocolate furniture, just as all the rooms were.
The large wardrobe took up the entire length of a wall while the queen-size bed and study desk leaned against another.
Kate loved the simplicity of the room. She never liked seeing clutter around so this simple bedroom was perfect for her. And one thing she did love about the house was the high ceiling that made the room feel so much more spacious.
Joseph twirled the luggage in his hand and asked, “Need any help unpacking?”
“No, I’m good.” Reaching into the box, she pulled out her laptop. “I’ll unpack tonight. I have to get to work.”
Joseph peered into the box filled with folders. “What do you do?”
“I own an interior design firm.” She strode out of the room with Joseph and Ryan following.
“Why are you still going to work? I heard you inherited quite a sum; I’m sure you can live off that,” Joseph said casually.
Kate paused and narrowed her eyes, studying Joseph, considering if his question was of curiosity or accusation. “I’m not here for the money, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Joseph raised both his hands in peace. “I was merely stating a fact. It isn’t my money so I don’t care who gets it.”
She turned and continued toward the stairs. “I’ve been very blessed to be able to do what I love,” Kate answered simply. “I get to turn houses into homes for my clients to live and create great memories in.”
“I think all of you should leave so that we can settle down and rest,” Tyler said as he emerged at the top of the stairs.
“I thought we only need to leave by eight? You haven’t even given us a tour,” Ryan complained.
Tyler on
ly glared at him.
“If you don’t want to, then Kate can give us a tour,” Joseph added.
“Get out of here.”
Kate pursed her lips to stop them from curling. Ryan wasn’t joking when he told her about Tyler’s attitude.
“It’s okay. They can stay if they want. I’m heading out to work anyway.” Kate took a step toward the stairs, but Tyler reached out, his hand firm on her arm.
“Stay,” he said softly, almost like a plea.
Both Joseph’s and Ryan’s eyes widened.
“You need something?” Kate stared warily at Tyler.
Last night, he had made it pretty clear that he wanted nothing to do with her. What could he want with her now?
“We should go,” Joseph said.
Giving Tyler a pat on his back, both Ryan and Joseph made their way down the stairs.
“Stay for a while,” Tyler continued. “The house—”
“Ty!”
Kate jumped at the sudden scream. Tyler’s fiancée didn’t seem pleased with his decision to kick them out.
“One minute.” He plodded down the stairs.
She couldn’t hear what was going on, but there was some commotion until a door slammed shut.
Ryan, Joseph, and Dan made their way back to their cars while Joanne continued screaming at the door.
“Forget it. You know how he’s like. He isn’t going to open the door,” Ryan said.
Joanne’s shoulders slumped.
Dan glanced over at his sister while he made his way toward his car. Ryan was right, it was a losing battle. Joanne could stand there and shout until her voice turned hoarse and Tyler still wouldn’t bother about her.
Whenever Tyler chose to shut the world out, nobody ever got in.
Dan couldn’t help rolling his eyes. He never understood his sister’s obsession with Tyler. Since young, she had been the apple of his parents’ eyes and had grown up pampered. Though everyone who saw how Tyler treated Joanne thought he was mean to her, Dan couldn’t blame him.
Joanne was one clingy person who thought the world revolved around her.
“And you should stop telling everyone that he’s your fiancé.” Dan shook his head at the ludicrous statement she had been making.
“He never denied it,” Joanne whined. “Silence means consent.”
Joseph and Ryan burst into laughter while Dan sighed heavily.
When Joseph finally managed to stop laughing, he said, “If you’re referring to anyone else, I can’t comment. But, Anne, we’re talking about Ty. He barely answers half our questions, much less your insanity.”
Ryan nodded. “Yeah. I don’t even want to ask how you decided that he wants to upgrade your one-sided relationship to the fiancé-fiancée level, but, Joanne, everyone here knows that the two of you aren’t even a couple.”
“Yes, we are. He’s been my boyfriend since we were young and he’s never—not once—denied it,” she screeched.
Dan took in a deep breath. “He just can’t be bothered with you.”
Dan had told her this countless times, but her skull was so thick that nothing ever got in.
All she had in her head were her stupid fantasies and make-believe world.
“Shut up. I won’t let any of you sow discord between Ty and me.”
“That’s the problem; there’s no Ty and you,” Ryan mumbled under his breath, but everyone heard him.
Dan felt Joanne staring at him, probably expecting him to put up some sort of defense for her. But it was difficult when he was on Ryan’s side. Voicing his opinion would only end up in an ugly shouting spectacle that he wasn’t interested in having.
Joanne didn’t have the ability to think logically, so any effort at reasoning would only be wasting his breath.
“Hey, Joe, you’re working the nightshift, right? Since you’re dropping Ryan off, can you take Anne along? I have some work I need to rush.” Dan didn’t want to dump his idiotic sister on Joseph and Ryan, but he didn’t want to have Joanne in his car where she would probably start throwing her tantrums, accusing him of never being on her side.
After all these years, he was tired of having to entertain her whims.
At least Joseph would have Ryan in his car, and that would be enough to keep Joanne’s mouth shut.
Ryan was the one person in the group who had never allowed her to get away with anything. He loved teasing people, especially Joanne. He didn’t have a problem putting Joanne down and laughing at her stupidity. She used to try fighting Ryan with outbursts of tantrums, but it never worked on him, and she finally learned to shut her mouth around him.
Joseph scowled at Dan. “Yeah, I’m sure you do.”
Ryan turned to Joseph. “Guess we’re in for hell of a miserable ride home.”
Joanne plodded toward Joseph’s car and got into the back seat without another word. Joseph directed another glare at Dan and mouthed the words ‘you owe me’ before getting into his car.
Chapter Four
Once Kate heard the door shut, she moved toward the railing and saw Tyler coming up the stairs with his luggage in tow.
“Everything all right?”
He nodded without looking up at her.
What is wrong with this guy? She was leaving when he told her to stay. Now, he was refusing to look at her. “Okay, I guess I should go, too.” She figured it was better to stay away from him until his resentment of her faded.
“Where are you rushing to?” he asked as he continued up the stairs.
Away from you. She wasn’t interested in getting insulted by him again.
“Work. I—”
“Why did you choose to forfeit the house?” he asked as he walked past her, still not looking at her.
She drew in a slow, deep breath. This was why he’d asked her to stay—to pick a fight with her.
Help me to … to … help him. She wanted to roll her eyes when she heard those words play in her head. Why? Why did she make that promise?
Keeping her anger under control wouldn’t help Tyler get his house back, but it would keep him alive—for now.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Hayes. I have no wish to start my day fighting with you.” She turned and took a step away from him.
“I didn’t mean …”
She paused and turned back to him.
“I wasn’t trying to insinuate anything. I just want to know.”
She stared right at him, seeing dark-gray ripples amid the dull amber in his eyes. In that split second, she realized he had been concealing his turmoil as aloofness.
This was only his second time in the mansion after twenty long years. The memories, even if he could remember any happy ones, were probably giving him nothing but misery.
The knowledge that he would never see those in his memories again and never be able to enjoy another smile with them must be painful.
The nostalgia could bring about such ache that, sometimes, it would seem better to forget about everything.
It was a feeling she could empathize with.
Tyler waited, his eyes unblinking, seemingly giving her time to consider how she wanted to react.
She sighed softly and gave him a small smile. There wasn’t a need for her to add to his agony.
He nodded and turned away from her, heading toward the master bedroom.
“Tyler,” she said when she saw him reaching for the knob. Her fingers moved to the silver locket on the chain she wore around her neck.
Tyler didn’t respond; he didn’t even look over at her. His hand hovered over the door knob as if a force field was keeping him from touching it.
She waited and noticed the scars on his right arm. It looked like teeth marks, huge teeth marks.
Her head tilted to the side as she observed the scars, but abruptly, he dropped his hand and turned to face her.
She took her mind off the scars and continued. “Your grandfather never made any changes to the room. The housekeepers have been keeping it clean, that’s all.”
He gave h
er a wry smile. “Just like the living room.”
She pursed her lips and nodded. “The photos, the furniture, it’s all the same.”
Silence seemed to be his favorite style of response. He stared back at her, seemingly studying her. Or maybe he was just glaring at her.
Again, she couldn’t help feeling that she was annoying him with her presence.
She twirled the locket around her finger and looked away, trying to come up with an excuse to leave when he suddenly asked, “What was he like?”
“What?”
“What was he like to you?”
The late Mr. Hayes was like a grandfather to her. Whenever she got stuck with problems from work, she could always ask him for some insights. Whenever she wanted to complain about some ridiculous clients, he would be there to listen.
But she couldn’t possibly say that to the grandson he had abandoned.
“He was a nice person,” she said and glanced toward the study room.
The door was close, but she imagined herself walking in and seeing the grin that the late Mr. Hayes always had for her.
She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath when she felt the burning in her eyes. “He loved telling me stories about you.” She smiled, thinking of those times when the late Mr. Hayes pulled out the photo albums. “I think I can tell you the story behind every photo in this house.”
Opening her eyes, she waited for Tyler’s response. But he remained frozen like a statue, staring out of the long window at the end of the hallway.
The late Mr. Hayes used to do that all the time.
Sometimes, she would come up the stairs and find him sipping his coffee and staring out at the woods.
On those times, she’d join him by his side and watch the trees along with him. She never asked what he was staring at. All she knew was that his heart was aching, and she hoped that being beside him could bring him some comfort.
She sighed when Tyler turned his gaze to her.
