by Trisha Grace
“You didn’t even check who it was before opening the door,” he said as Kate closed the door.
Kate frowned. “We ordered takeout; of course it was the delivery man. Who else could it be? Not many people come to my house, just Lydia, Evelyn, and delivery people.”
As she gave him a run down of her list, Tyler realized that he didn’t know a vital information about her. “Boyfriend?”
“Probably, if I had one,” Kate answered nonchalantly.
He grinned. The little piece of information was delightful enough that he almost forgot the lecture he’d prepared about her door opening habit—almost. “You should always check who’s at the door before opening it.”
“Like the way you did when Mr. Sawyer was at the door,” Kate stated. “Just another observation.”
“You should do that, especially when you’re alone at home.”
“You forget that I could be a martial arts expert.” Kate smiled, then saw his seriousness. “All right, all right. Next time, I’ll make sure to check before opening the door.”
The answer wasn’t good enough for Tyler.
He glanced around the house again, observing while he chewed his food. “You don’t have motion sensors for your porch and a security alarm when you live alone. You’re not used to people taking care of you, but you don’t take very good care of yourself either.”
Kate followed his glance and looked around her house. “I always make sure that all my windows and doors are locked before going to bed or leaving the house. And unlike your house, I have neighbors who can probably hear me scream if anything happens.”
“Probably,” Tyler repeated. Probably wasn’t good enough.
Chapter Seven
The next morning, Kate woke up and checked her e-mail like she did every morning. She drummed her fingers against the table, her stomach growling while the laptop loaded.
She had only been living in the mansion for three days and her stomach was already spoilt by Marianne’s cooking.
She smiled and shook her head, clicking into her e-mail account. She was about to click on one of the daily devotionals she subscribed to when she saw the e-mail from Lydia.
She blinked and took a second look.
One characteristic that Lydia had inherited from their grandmother was the cold-shoulder treatment. Whenever they had a disagreement, Lydia would disappear for days, ignoring all of Kate’s texts, calls, or e-mails.
Kate skimmed through the e-mail and sighed.
Lydia had decided to go back to their parents’ house to take a look around and to search for the detective in charge of their parents’ case.
She wished Lydia had discussed it with her beforehand. She had done both of that; both were dead ends.
The detective had retired, and the police department refused to give her the address or even a phone number to contact the retired detective. As for the house, it had been stripped of everything except for the basic infrastructure of walls, doors, and windows.
She picked up her phone, intending to call Lydia. But after what had gone down last night, she was certain Lydia wouldn’t pick up her call. And even if Lydia did, she wouldn’t believe anything that Kate had to say.
So Kate placed her phone down and slumped back against the chair.
She ran through her grandmother’s ramblings and tried to sift for some clues that she might’ve missed. She sat there, picking at her own brain until Tyler’s voice jerked her back to earth.
“Pass me your house keys.”
“What?” She thought she’d heard him wrong. “My house keys or the keys to the mansion?”
“Your house keys,” Tyler repeated, slower this time around.
“Why?”
“I’m getting someone down to fix up a security system and some motion sensor lights for your porch and the back of your house.”
The pounding headache that she’d gotten from perusing through her memories was getting worse. That, combined with the lack of answers, was already sending her mood in a downward spiral.
“Ty, I’m grateful that you fixed up the security here, but my house’s fine. I’m the responsible one; I take care of myself just fine, so please don’t come in here and command me about this and that.” she said as she moved and stood by the door. Once she completed her sentence, she slammed the door in his face.
Tyler wasn’t sure what happened. He was merely trying to make sure that she would be safe in her own house. Annoyed by her senseless reaction and frustrated with being snubbed, he was going to march off when he saw Marianne standing nearby.
He tried to stalk past her, but he should’ve known better.
Marianne reached out and grabbed him by his arm. “Ty, as much as you need your space, Kate will need hers. I know you’re protective of the things you care about, but she’s not a thing. She has her own thinking, and you’ll need to learn to respect that and be patient.”
“I’m trying to keep her safe.”
“Not everything that you care about will disappear in an instant, Ty. She is safe. You have the security up and running, and I’m always around the house.”
“What about her house? There’s no security there, and she lives alone.”
Marianne shrugged. “She’s here now. If you feel so strongly about that, then you should discuss with her, not decide for her.”
He wasn’t sure which was more frustrating: Marianne eavesdropping or the fact that she was probably right. Still, Kate didn’t have to slam the door in his face.
Disgruntled, he went into the kitchen and was glad that there wasn’t anyone else around the table.
Since Mr. Sawyer arrived, he hadn’t joined them for any meals. Though he was probably staying over every night, Tyler hadn’t seen him around.
Ryan and Joseph had gone to work. They had either extended their shifts or were crashing at their respective houses.
Dan was wise enough to stay away from him. Joanne, however, wasn’t.
She had sent him quite a few texts and was calling him all morning. Just as that thought came up, his phone buzzed and vibrated away on the table. Rolling his eyes, he picked it up. “Joanne, stop calling.”
“Ty,” Joanne’s sweetened voice coaxed. “I just—”
“Stop calling,” he repeated curtly and hung up the phone.
Kate pulled off her spectacles and placed them down on the table, pinching the bridge of her nose, ignoring the knock on the door.
She understood Tyler’s intentions, but she wasn’t in the mood to get pushed around.
Lord, what should I do?
“Kate, it’s me.”
Her brows furrowed when she heard Marianne’s voice. Opening the door, she asked, “Is something wrong?”
Not waiting for an invitation, Marianne stepped in. “Nothing. I just wanted to tell you that breakfast’s ready.”
“Oh, I think I’ll skip breakfast today.”
She was sure that Tyler was already in the kitchen, and it was better to stay away from him after what had happened.
Marianne frowned in disapproval. “You should never skip breakfast. Come, chat with the old lady for a while.” Marianne sat on the edge of Kate’s bed, gesturing for Kate to join her.
“Am I in trouble? If it’s about Ty, I’m—”
“It is about Ty, but not about what happened,” Marianne said, cutting her off. “I thought I’ll give you a little insight or understanding about that eccentric boy.”
She gave Marianne a small smile. “He’s not eccentric; he just isn’t extremely sociable.”
Marianne grinned. “You’re being kind. Anyway, I suppose you know what happened to him when he was young?”
“Yes,” Kate answered. “Mr. Hayes told me.”
“I’m not using that as an excuse, but since then, he’s developed this strong protectiveness over things he cares about. It is as though he feels that anything he treasures can be stolen from him at any moment.”
She could understand that.
She un
derstood how it was like to have her world completely changed in one instance.
Shaking her head slowly, Marianne continued. “He had this storybook; it was the last book his mother read to him before … before they passed away. The Little Prince. He treasured the book so much. Once, Joanne was browsing through the books he had on the shelf, and of all the books, she had to pull out that particular one. When Ty saw her flipping through the book, he snapped and barked at her. He warned her never to touch his things without permission, then chased everyone out of the house.”
“He can be rather mean at times,” Kate said.
“Yes,” Marianne agreed. “He is older now and won’t throw a fit when people intrude on his privacy, but he can still be harsh. The same thing happened when Joanne touched his rings. The boys learned long ago to keep their hands off his things, but Joanne always thought she was special; that girl never learned.” Marianne sighed. “He yanked the chain from her hand and told her not to touch it. But he didn’t have a problem when you touched it.”
“That’s because I was the one who passed it to him. Joanne had introduced herself as his fiancée so I thought he could give the ring to her.”
Marianne pursed her lips and nodded. “Maybe. Point is, he cares about you enough to let you into his comfort zone.”
“So his sense of protectiveness now stretches to include me.”
“Smart girl,” Marianne said with a pat on her leg. “I know he can be pushy, but tell him, let him know. He’s not used to protecting people.”
Kate wasn’t trying to be a feminist; she simply didn’t like to be ordered around. She had always been the one in charge, been the one taking care of others. She didn’t appreciate being spoken to like a child.
But Tyler wasn’t trying to push her around, he was simply trying to help her.
Marianne didn’t wait for her reply. She stood and walked out of the room.
Kate switched off her laptop and followed Marianne into the kitchen. Her stomach growled again as the mouth-watering aroma of Marianne’s breakfast hit her. She couldn’t believe she almost skipped breakfast.
For a moment, she seriously considered how Tyler would react if she tried poaching Marianne over after the one-year stay in the mansion.
She settled on a seat across the table from Tyler and smiled at him, but his eyes were on his iPad.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to blow up at you.”
Tyler remained silent.
If enduring a grumpy housemate was the price to pay for Marianne’s breakfast, she would gladly pay it.
After a few moments, Tyler said, “I shouldn’t have made the decision for you. I thought …”
“You thought it was for my own good.” She paused and gave him a small smile. “I understand your concerns, and you know what? You’re right. I should have a security system installed. Since that’s your area of expertise, I suppose you can advise me on what to install.”
Tyler smiled and set his iPad aside.
She was glad they were back on good terms; she never liked getting into fights.
Tyler started explaining all the security installations she should get, giving her a run down of what the system would do.
She agreed to everything Tyler suggested, everything except the motion-sensor that would trigger video recording. “That feels a little extreme.”
“The recording is only activated if the password isn’t keyed in. That way, you’ll be informed of a break-in and be able to log in to your account through any computer to see who’s in your house. It’ll be more convenient for you, especially since you won’t be home for a year.”
She doubted anyone would break into her house. Her neighborhood had always been safe, but Tyler had a point. “Okay. But can we do it tomorrow instead? I’ve got some work to complete today. Should I pay you now or tomorrow?”
Tyler scowled at her. “I’m not charging you,” he said, seemingly exasperated that she’d even asked him about it.
“Why not? It’s my house.”
She saw him drawing in a deep breath, but he didn’t reply her.
She thought he was going to leave it as that—he wasn’t letting her pay—period.
“You’re doing me a favor by staying here; I’m the reason your house will be empty a lot. Let me return the favor.”
She thought to argue, but from the mere number of words he’d spoken, she knew he was trying hard to be patient. “Okay.”
Tim Russell was sitting in his office when he heard the quick raps on the door. He glanced toward the door just as his staff pushed the door ajar and popped his head in.
“Tim, Mr. Hayes is here.”
“Here?”
“Yeah, he’s in our department.”
“What?” Tim got up from his seat and went over to the door. His staff stepped aside for him to take a look. Tim’s eyes widened and he turned to his staff. “What’s he doing here?”
“I don’t know,” his staff mumbled and hastily returned to his desk as Mr. Hayes neared.
Tim took a glance around and saw the question on everyone’s face; the same question he had just asked his staff.
Though Mr. Hayes was the one who improved upon his parents’ equipment and knew how to install each and every one on his own, he’d never ventured to the installation department. Not even when there was a major project in progress.
Barely anyone in the office ever spoke much to him. There were plenty of gossips about him, but no one ever had a real conversation with Mr. Hayes.
The company had many events for the staff, but he never attended any of them except for the annual company dinner. And even for that, he never stayed long. He would sit, not talking to anyone, for about an hour or so before disappearing.
All the staff knew him as a man with less than a few words.
“Mr. Hayes, is something wrong? What can I do for you?” He spoke hurriedly, wondering what he’d done to bring their elusive boss down to his department.
“Do you have a spare team for an installation tomorrow?” Mr. Hayes asked, strolling into his office. He settled casually onto the available chair and waited for Tim to return to his.
Tim sighed quietly, glad that Mr. Hayes hadn’t come down to fire him. “How many men do you need? What scale of installation would it be?” He figured it must be an extremely big and important project for Mr. Hayes to see to it himself.
In all the years he’d worked here, Tim had never seen Mr. Hayes personally handling a project. The sales department would liaise with his installation department. Mr. Hayes was never involved.
“A two-story house.”
Tim’s face blanked. His boss came all the way down to arrange an installation for a two-story house? “You bought a new house?”
He regretted his question the moment it was out of his mouth.
“Do you have a team to spare?” Mr. Hayes asked, ignoring his question.
“Yes, of course. I just need to know the system to install, the address, and the time for the installation.”
After giving Tim the details he needed, Mr. Hayes informed Tim to get all the equipment ready by the end of the day so that he could inspect it personally.
Inspect it personally?
It wasn’t a huge project, but it was definitely an important one. And he was betting that it had something to do with a woman. “Not a problem. I’ll have it ready and personally see to the installation myself.”
He’d already made up his mind about going down to the installation site the moment Mr. Hayes had asked. It obviously mattered enough for the boss to take care of it himself, so he had to make sure that his men would be on their best performance.
Besides, he wanted to prove himself right.
Mr. Hayes nodded and left.
Tim leaned back on his chair and thought about the gossips that his wife had told him. He’d heard quite a few rumors on how some of the female staff had shamelessly tried to throw themselves at Mr. Hayes, but he never gave any of them a second look.
/> The more Tim thought about it, the more interested he was in seeing with his own eyes the woman who had moved the ice mountain.
Chapter Eight
Tyler and Kate were already waiting in her house when the team arrived to install the system. Kate welcomed his team of staff and asked them if they wanted tea or coffee.
He didn’t like how she was troubling herself to serve his staff, but she’d always seemed concerned about doing what was right. He guessed playing a good host was important to her.
While she prepared tea and coffee, the men got to work. He strolled around the house, watching them.
“Ty,” Kate called to him, gesturing for him to join her on the couch while she set the cups of freshly brewed coffee and tea on the coffee table.
“Stop staring at the guys work; you’re making them nervous,” she said softly, handing him a cup of coffee.
He took another glance at the men. “I’m making sure they’re installing it right,” he said and sat beside her.
“They’ve done this more than once, right? I’m sure they’ll install it right. Besides, there’s something I need to discuss with you.”
“What is it?”
She switched on the laptop on the coffee table and said, “I need to head down to the bed and breakfast I’m working on. It’s located at a small town in North Dakota. One of the conditions of the will states that you’ll have to come along.” She double-clicked on the calendar application. “I know it’s troublesome, but I really have to make the trip.”
“Okay.”
Turning the laptop toward him, she asked, “When are you free?”
“Anytime.”
A corner of Kate’s lips turned up. She leaned back against the couch and looked at him. “What exactly do you do at work? You seem pretty free.”
“I design and improve the system, and I make sure that everything is running smoothly in the company.”
“You designed the system? I thought your parents came up with it.”
Nodding, he continued. “They did, but I improved and changed some of the things. Technology changes; our security system can do much more now.”
