It Started at Christmas...

by Jo McNally

  Maybe Zach had misunderstood his uncle. If not, she’d chased Blake away over nothing. “Are you sure he didn’t say he wanted to protect the casino from them?”

  He gave her that exasperated look only a child can give an adult and get away with, as if she’d just said the stupidest thing. Then he shook his head.

  “No, Miss Amanda. He said he’s buying up everything for sale so Uncle Nathan and Grandfather can’t buy it. He said they can’t build anything without land. He said it was costing him a bunch of money, but it was worth it to keep Halcyon safe for his family. For you and me.”

  “Me and you?” The words were barely a whisper. Family. They were a family. Blake had been fighting to protect them, and she’d rewarded him by throwing accusations at him.

  “Yeah.” There was that condescending look again. “He said this is our home now—you, me and him. And he told me a man’s job is to keep his home safe for the people he loves.”

  Her racing heart skidded to a stop. Blake wasn’t buying land for the reason she’d accused him of. He was buying it to protect Gallant Lake. She’d been such a fool.

  For the people he loves...

  “Miss Amanda, are you okay?”

  She blinked back fresh tears and did her best to reassure Zach. “Yes, honey. I think I just might be. Come here and give me a hug, then go do your homework, okay?”

  He groaned, but did as she asked, running out of the room and leaping to slap his hand against the top of the doorway with boyish enthusiasm. She leaned back in the chair in stunned silence for a very long time, trying to absorb what Zach had just told her. She couldn’t stop thinking about what Blake had done, and how she’d repaid him by jumping to conclusions and refusing to trust him.

  Her heart beat out a steady tattoo of I told you so. I told you so. I told you so.

  He’d left her. She’d accused him of lying, and all along he’d been trying to build a safe home for them here. He’d never once given her a reason to doubt him, but she just couldn’t help herself. She dropped her head into her hands and wept at the damage her fear had created.

  The evening passed in a fog. If Zach noticed her distraction at dinner, he didn’t let on. He talked about school and his friends and wanting to learn how to play golf and wondering if his uncle would teach him. They watched a movie together after dinner, then she sent him up to bed. She found herself back in Blake’s office, pacing the floor, trying to figure out how she could fix this. She was drawn to the enormous desk again, as if it might hold a secret answer for her.

  She pulled out the lower right drawer, staring at the locked compartment. Elaborate brass filigree surrounded the tiny round hole for a key. The filigree looked familiar, and she knelt to get a closer look. As her fingers traced the unusual design of interlocking circles, she remembered where she’d seen that design before. She sat back on her heels.

  It was impossible. It had to be impossible. Talking to a ghost she laughingly chose to believe in was one thing, but to think everything was set in motion back in August when she bought an antique evening purse...it was impossible. She ran up the staircase to the yellow bedroom. The delicate beaded purse she’d bought in Gallant Lake in August was sitting in the closet, wrapped in tissue paper. She unsnapped it and reached inside, pulling out a tiny key with a filigree top that matched the design around the lock in the desk exactly.

  The key to Otis’s desk.

  In Madeleine’s purse.

  Back down in the office, she wasn’t at all surprised when the tiny key slid into the lock perfectly. There was a barely perceptible click when she turned it, and the front of the compartment fell forward.

  The grayed papers inside looked fragile, and she reached for them gingerly. It was a stack of letters, tied together with a pale blue ribbon. Each letter was tucked carefully into an envelope, addressed to Otis Pendleton in Manhattan. These were Madeleine’s letters to her husband, carefully protected all these years. Amanda removed them from the drawer and noticed a familiar scent. She lifted them to her face. Roses. Madeleine had sprinkled her letters with rosewater.

  She untied the ribbon and spread the letters across the desk. They spanned nearly three decades, from the beginning of the Pendletons’ marriage to the very end of it. It felt voyeuristic to read these intimate letters from a hundred years ago, but there was no way she could resist. “Here we go, Madeleine. Let’s see what you have to say.”

  Amanda read for endless hours, eventually moving to an easy chair close to the fire with a glass of wine. The letters were sweetly written in the language of another time. The depth of love in Madeleine’s words made her heart ache.

  September 18, 1903

  My darling Otis,

  There are weeks when I curse this arrangement we have made ourselves prisoner to. I adore this insane pink palace you built for me, but to live here alone for days on end is torture of the highest degree. You, my dearest love, are in the noisy metropolis alone (how I pray that you are alone!). Yes, you will tell me ’tis foolish to fret like this, but as the nights grow longer and colder, I spend more time walking the halls of Halcyon with Doubt as my only companion. I worry that you’ll forget me, and that some other woman might just capture the heart and body I claim as mine...

  October 27, 1903

  Oh, Sweetest One,

  You were right to scold me so fiercely last weekend. That dark disease of jealousy drove me nearly mad. I would never betray you—I’d rather die. I know I will be true as surely as I know that I am breathing. So how could I believe that your love is somehow less than mine? How could I insult you in that manner? Oh, how I hated to hear those words from your lips, because their truth seared my heart. Thank you for tolerating my silly fears, and for reassuring me yet again that you love me, and only me...

  January 16, 1904

  ...I believe I had more pleasure from the giving of your Christmas gift than you had in receiving it, my love. The look in your eyes when I told you I was carrying your child is something I will treasure all my life. To think that the passion we share so wantonly in our bedroom has brought forth this blessing! Yes, I blush to think of it, but I am insanely proud of it, as well. It is intoxicating to think that your warm body against mine could produce life. I love you, dearest, and you will be a marvelous father...

  July 22, 1917

  Sweetest love,

  The simmering, sultry days of midsummer are upon us. I’ve found these early hours on the balcony to be my favorite time. I like to lean on the warm walls of Halcyon and think long and often useless thoughts. I sit here and pretend that Emily is alive. Our darling fifth and surely final child, taken from us so cruelly. She was so tiny at birth, but how she fought to stay with us. But even the magic of Halcyon could not keep her from God’s waiting embrace. I miss her so! Otis, Jr., Andrew, Michael and little Tabitha need us, so survive we must. Yes, I am stricken with grief, but I need to feel your sure hands on my body once again. Come home to me, darling. We can survive whatever life flings in our path, as long as we are together...

  June 7, 1929

  My darling, I cannot believe that we have now held four weddings here at Halcyon! And wasn’t Tabby the most beautiful bride last Sunday? You may have noticed your silly wife could not stop crying throughout the ceremony. I watched her come down those stairs in my own wedding dress, and was swept away to our wedding day so many years ago. You are still the one and only love of my life, Otis, and I am amazed every day at the joy you bring to me. This house is a testimony to that love, and I see you and feel you in every stone. We have built a magical place here, my darling, and we have been happier than surely any mortal deserves...

  September 21, 1929

  ...If only I were there to hold you today, my love. I know it had to be beyond painful to dismiss your own brother, but I say “good riddance” to him. He was a horrid business partner and a worse brother. The crash of the London ma
rkets proves you were right to be concerned over his rash investments. I am confident you can recover from whatever damage he has done to the firm with his foolhardy decisions...

  October 25, 1929

  ...I know that times are looking desperately dark and dire, my love. It has been many years since you chose to stay in the city to work over the weekend instead of coming home to my waiting arms. I understand, but it pains me nonetheless. I may just come to the city and fetch you myself! Regardless of how this all turns, we have each other, and we have Halcyon. And frankly, dearest one, even if we lose Halcyon, it will stand here for someone else. If you and I end our days in a shanty, I know that a new love story will eventually begin at this beloved castle. Some other fortunate couple will realize that after everything we mortals fill our lives with, the only thing that matters is love...

  When the sun rose over Gallant Lake, Amanda’s chair was surrounded with fragile letters scattered across the floor. She’d dozed a few times during the night, but most of it had been spent reading. She’d laughed and cried right along with Madeleine and Otis as they worked at building the kind of grand love affair that lasted far beyond their own lives. The letters contained the legacy of Halcyon. They were a lesson in love and trust. Madeleine was speaking to her, and she got the message loud and clear. Love was worth fighting for. Trust isn’t always easy, but it’s necessary, and it has to be mutual.

  She would never betray Blake. How on earth had she ever thought he could betray her? She’d let her fears and doubts sabotage her chance at happiness, but she could choose to change that. Loving Blake opened up a future that included laughter and arguments and making up and working together to get through whatever challenges came their way. It was the life she wanted. More than anything. And she was willing to fight for it. She had to fight for it. She had to fight for them. She and Blake would bring love back to Halcyon.

  She pulled her phone from her pocket, desperate to hear Blake’s voice. To ask him to forgive her. To tell him she trusted him. The phone sat in her hand for a long time, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. A phone call wasn’t enough. She needed to see him. She needed to be looking straight into his dark brown eyes when she told him she was in love with him.

  An idea started to warm within her. She couldn’t stop smiling while she hustled Zach off to school. As soon as he stepped on the bus, she grabbed her phone again. Her first call went to Julie, then to Jamal.

  Amanda plowed ahead before she lost her nerve. “I know you work for Blake, but I need help with something, and Julie said you knew a friend of Blake’s who could help us. But I need you not to tell Blake about it. Can you do that?”

  Jamal was silent for a moment. “In all honesty, Amanda, that depends on what you’re talking about.”

  “I want to surprise him. A good surprise. I want to go to this Builders Ball thing, and I need your help to get there without Blake knowing. We had a fight, and I was wrong, and I need to go. I need to see him.”

  There was silence on the line, and she knew Jamal was struggling between his job duties and his desire to help. Finally he sighed. “It’s a very exclusive event, Amanda. You can’t just show up at the door. You need to show an invitation, and it’s tomorrow night.”

  Her heart started to fall. Julie said the tickets were in Blake’s name.

  “Look,” Jamal finally said, “my former boss, Andy McCormack, is Mr. Randall’s friend. I’m sure Andy’s going to the ball. He could get you a ticket. Let me give you his number. If Andy is cool with it, then I’m in.”

  Chapter Twenty

  By noon that same day, the plan was in place. Andy McCormack was skeptical when she called and introduced herself and her plan. He pointed out that surprises weren’t exactly Blake’s favorite thing, and this could backfire on all of them. But then he speculated that it might be time for Blake to break free of his No Surprises Lifestyle.

  “I’ve learned life can bring nice surprises in unexpected places,” Andy said as a woman giggled in the background. “Blake told me he was going to set up his home base in Gallant Lake. Blake doesn’t do home bases. He mentioned this pretty designer who’d turned his world upside down. I’d like him to find the kind of happiness I’ve found, and I have a hunch you might just be the girl to give it to him. So yes, Amanda, I’ll make sure there’s a seat for you at our table, which is also Blake’s table.”

  “Oh, Andy, I can’t thank you enough. What can you tell me about this party?”

  “The event started back at the turn of the last century, when New York City was building up to the sky. The builders, bankers and architects started a foundation to help the less fortunate, and the ball was their major fund-raiser. I’m sure it had a more dignified name originally, but for decades now it’s just been the Builders Ball. It’s become a massive charity event, raising millions of dollars in just one night. It’s very formal. Think black tie times ten. This will be my Caroline’s first Builders Ball, too, so you can keep each other company.” A woman spoke in the background and Andy laughed. “Caroline says she’s wearing a chocolate-colored gown, so you can’t wear brown if you’re sitting with us... Ow!” More voices in the background. “How the hell was I supposed to know you were kidding? Damn, woman...” More muffled conversation behind a covered phone. Then he was back, and laughing. “Okay, my bride-to-be wants me to tell you we’re reserving you a suite at the hotel where the ball is being held so you can get ready there. She can’t wait to meet you. She’s only talked to Blake once by phone, and she thought he was kind of an asshole. Your willingness to go through all this trouble to surprise him has her reconsidering her assessment. We’ll see you there.”

  She thanked him again and ended the call. Julie had already offered to stay at the house with Zach. It was Friday. The ball was tomorrow. She couldn’t just show up in an off-the-rack dress and costume jewelry, or she’d embarrass him. She needed a fairy godmother. Or three. She picked up the phone again.

  “Mel? I need a fashion miracle, and I need it in twenty-four hours. We’ll need Bree’s help, too. And Nora. Are you up for a challenge? Good. Here’s what’s happening...”

  * * *

  Blake looked out over the New York skyline from the penthouse suite of his hotel. The sun was settling low in the afternoon sky. He was going to make his appearance at the gala, shake all the right hands, meet Andy’s fiancée, and bolt right after the meal. He was driving home to Halcyon tonight.

  He couldn’t wait any longer. Amanda was convinced that he’d lied to her about the casino. As angry as he’d been, he understood why her trust was so fragile. Raped at sixteen. Betrayed by a lying, cheating boss. Attacked on the streets of New York. She had a right to be nervous and skeptical. But he wasn’t used to having someone doubt him the way she did, and he’d handled it badly.

  She didn’t trust him because she didn’t know how much he loved her. And she didn’t know how much he loved her because he hadn’t told her.

  He was in love with the woman, and that’s all there was to it. She was the center of his universe. Everything else revolved around that golden-haired woman and his nephew. All that love circling between the three of them and they’d never once discussed it. But tonight he was driving to Halcyon, dropping to his knees and begging her to love him back.

  He sipped whiskey from the glass he was holding. If only he knew what the hell she was up to right now. Jamal and Julie had been oddly unavailable since yesterday. Blake called the resort for Jamal three times today to find out if he had any news on some minor vandalism that had been happening around the resort, and Julie kept saying he “just stepped out.” Then Jamal would call right back on his cell phone. It was weird. Blake didn’t like weird. Blake liked predictable.

  He pulled out his phone and called Julie. She’d been his eyes and ears this past week, letting him know that Amanda was okay. She sounded breathless and surprised by his call.

  “Blake!
Shouldn’t you be at your party?”

  “I’m heading out shortly.” He heard a video game battle going on in the background, and Zach was laughing. “Are you at Halcyon?”

  “Oh...yes... I...uh...just stopped by for dinner.”

  “Is Amanda right there?” The thought of her standing close enough to Julie to take the phone made his heart pound. Maybe he should skip the damned gala and drive home now. Maybe he should talk to her and tell her how he felt.

  “Amanda? Oh...uh...no. She’s upstairs. She’s...um...taking a shower.”

  “At dinnertime?”

  “Yes. She was...working outside this afternoon. She got...um...sweaty.”

  “What are you having for dinner?”

  “Oh, we had pizza at the café...” Before he could question why they had pizza when she’d just said she was at the house for dinner, Julie rushed to correct herself, laughing nervously. “I mean, we had pizza for lunch! We were at the café for lunch. Not dinner. I think Amanda’s making...meat loaf...or something. I’m not really sure, but I know it’ll be great.”

  “Okay.” Blake frowned. Things were definitely weird at Gallant Lake. “Is Jamal still down at the office? I was going to give him a call.”

  “No!” Julie’s voice was unusually loud. “I mean...he was going home early tonight. I think he’s taking Annie out to dinner for some special occasion or something, so he didn’t want to be bothered with calls.”

  That didn’t sound like anything Jamal would ever say. He was always on call. But maybe it was his anniversary or something. Blake rubbed the back of his neck and tried to dismiss his annoyance as he ended the confusing conversation. Julie sounded oddly relieved.

  What the hell was going on?

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Amanda took a deep, shaky breath. What on earth was she doing here in Manhattan? Blake hated surprises, and she was about to show up uninvited. As his date. She shuddered. What if he was with someone else? It was a ridiculous thought, but still. What would she do if she walked in and he was there with someone else? She’d die on the spot, that’s what she’d do. But she wasn’t going to worry about it. She just had to focus on getting ready and finding enough courage to go up to the ballroom.