I’d allowed the snake into my nest, and I would pay for my foolishness. I saw the way Champion looked at Annalee. There would be trouble if I was not attentive to the situation.
But I had done the right thing. I had honored Chase!
After all, he was Chase’s blood and not to blame for his mother—the boy was truly a lost child, as Athena was locked away in an asylum. She deserved prison for what she’d done, but the judge said he was loath to hang a woman. I was sure if I had murdered our husband, I would have been hanged from the highest tree!
And Annalee? The child born not of my body but of my heart?
I studied her now as she laughed at something Dominick whispered to her. How happy she was. No, she was not my true daughter. But Flower’s unwanted offspring, a girl fathered by one of her white lovers, was truly mine. I sometimes imagined Annalee was my Minette come back to me in some magical way. Yes, I had to take her in. What would her future have been if I had not? Flower could not have cared for her, and I knew that the astonishingly beautiful little girl with the unusual eyes would have had a dismal future without my intervention. I was delighted to have a girl-child to dote upon.
Champion would do well to remember that she was his sister, at least formally. But he made no secret of his desire for her. He gazed at her like she was a honey cake and he a starving man. I knew that look.
I worried as I rubbed the ring on my finger. I’d long since given up the idea of removing it. I suspected I would never be free of the ring; it would always remind me that Fate was against me. Perhaps when I died the ring and my mother’s spell would no longer hold power over me.
The magic of it was a tangible thing. Yes, it was very real even now. I turned away from the sight of the three young heads together, whispering about their imagined futures. I knew tragedy lay ahead, but how it would manifest was beyond my ability to discern. I did not have my mother’s skills in this regard. I had only traces of her powers, enough power to know the truth but not enough to do anything about it.
And what had all her skill done for her? She was dead now. Although her body had never been found after the fire on the Ramparts, she was most certainly dead. Burned up in Coquette’s flames that had taken so many. No, Sulli hadn’t seen that in her looking glass. And she hadn’t perceived how her well-meaning spell, the one she had cast on the ring I wore, bound my soul to Ambrose, my dead lover. But it was Chase I loved. Chase who held my heart. It was Chase, my husband, whom I wanted above all else.
Hence my search for Chase here in the Mirror Room. I’d seen him here before.
“Chase…” I whispered in the stale room. He was my true soulmate, though the power of the ring kept him away from me. Always. If I was patient and the sun shone just right, I could steal a glimpse of him in the afterworld through the third reflection of the mirrors. And just that glimpse kept me going. Daily I waited until the sun hit the mirrors right, and when the sunlight hovered at the edge of the horizon, I closed my eyes and then opened them—and I would see him. He would see me too; he waited for me with his hand on the table behind me. It was a reflection only; if I turned quickly, he would disappear from my sight. For those few seconds, I could look upon him and weep. Regret burned white hot, and once more I felt the shame of what I’d done. I deserved to feel it.
And it would be that way again today.
I would seek him out, but he would always be separated from me. Those eyes would accuse me, and I would wallow in regret. Then I would collapse into the round couch and weep until Annalee or Ingrid came to retrieve me. Annalee rarely came into the Mirror Room anymore, and I could no longer compel her to do so.
When she was a child she would look with me, believing that I could see him, but she swore that she never saw anything herself. She didn’t understand the meaning of it all. And how could she? I had never told her the truth. Let her hear the talk about me from another source. Perhaps Dominick. So far, he had not whispered my secrets in her ear. Or had he? She’d become so cold lately, so angry toward me. So what if she thought me a pitiful old woman? But I suspected the ghost of Arthur’s wife had made herself known to my daughter. As a child she would cry in the night, afraid of the old demon that chased her in her dreams. I’d comfort her and lie to her, as a good mother did. “Quiet now, child. There’s nothing there. See?”
She surprised me today. Her slender frame hovered in the doorway. She wrapped her lace shawl tightly around her shoulders as if she felt a chill in the room that was not there.
“Mother, come away from the mirror. There’s no one there.” She sounded tired, like she was the parent and I the child. “Come downstairs and eat something. You look as thin as old Ingrid.”
Annalee’s windblown hair made her even lovelier. Yes, she was far prettier than I had ever been—even when I had been the Belle of the Quadroon Ball.
“Mother? Did you hear me?”
The sunlight vanished quickly, stealing any potential magic with it. The opportunity to see my beloved Chase passed with the moving of the clouds, and now I had to endure another day without looking at his handsome face. I tried not to feel aggravated with my beautiful child, but I did nonetheless. Before I knew what I was saying, the words came tumbling out of my mouth. “You shouldn’t be here!” At that, her face fell.
I quickly tried to make it up to her. “Annalee, what are you doing here? I thought you were in the garden with your brother—and Champion.” I could barely speak his name, I found, without spitting it out. She had just been in the garden, hadn’t she? Had I lost track of time again? How long had I been staring into the mirrors? I glanced out the window, but there was no one out there. What did I expect to see? Her ghost? I shivered at the thought. Had I imagined seeing the three of them walking together? How long had I been standing here?
“Please come eat supper. Olive cooked a ham, and it smells delicious.”
My stomach rumbled, reminding me that I’d not eaten today. Had I eaten yesterday? I could not recall.
“Is Champion staying for supper?”
“Yes, of course he is. I invited him.”
I frowned at her without meaning to. “I am not hungry.”
“Mother, you can’t continue being cruel to him. Your fasting does no one any good. Do you know how you hurt us with your prejudices? Champion is your son. Can’t you see how this hurts us all? How it hurts me that you refuse to show him even the smallest politeness?”
“He is a man now and has his own home. He doesn’t belong here, Annalee. Send him home. I gave him Thorn Hill.”
Annalee stamped her foot at me, betraying her immaturity. Her youth. Her stupidity. “What are you talking about, Mother? See! That is the madness I’m talking about. He is your son, my brother—what has he done to deserve this treatment? If you think he’s been inappropriate in any way…what you’re hinting at is perverse! I won’t listen to another word.”
I walked to the door, torn between shaking her shoulders and pulling her into my arms. I did neither. I stared down into her pretty face; Annalee was a full two inches shorter than I was. Her full lips pulled up in a pout, and she crossed her arms stubbornly. “You don’t know men like I do, my child. You would do well to listen to me.”
“Why? So I can become what you are?” Her arms waved furiously now. “A ghost!”
Without thinking, I slapped her face. The pain reminded me that I was still alive. Still here in this world. Annalee’s expression did not move me like it should have.
I heard footsteps running toward us. Two pairs of footsteps. Dominick bounded up the stairs and stood poised at the landing, and Champion was not far behind him.
“Mother? What have you done?” Dominick growled at me as he walked toward us. Always the protector. Always Annalee’s savior. He slung off his brown jacket and tossed it on the hallway table. His light brown hair was tousled from the wind outside too. Was a storm blowing up? He gave me a disapproving stare, but all I could do was gawk at him. In that moment, he appeared so much like Chase.
Such a handsome young man.
And then Champion entered the room. I said nothing to him.
Annalee shouted at me, “Madness, I tell you!” Then she tore down the hall and flew down the stairs with my son chasing after her.
But Champion remained.
He watched me, making no movement either away from or toward me, saying nothing. I stared at him, and he stared back. Those eyes were empty, black, endless. How was it he looked so much like Ambrose yet was Athena’s child? He had Ambrose’s dark hair, even his peaked hairline. He wore his sideburns in a similar fashion, and his eyebrows had that unmistakable neat arch to them. Today the young man wore a floral print jacket. It would have been quite ridiculous for anyone else, but he wore pomposity well.
Just like Ambrose. He was taller than Ambrose, or at least I thought he might be.
I didn’t flinch from his gaze, but I shivered. The shiver didn’t go unnoticed. It seemed to please him, and with a small smile he stepped back and made a mock bowing gesture with his long fingers before disappearing down the stairs.
Like the ghost that I was, I retreated to the Mirror Room.
PART ONE
Chapter One – Avery Dufresne
I am an intelligent woman—I majored in journalism and then went to law school. But all that “school learning,” as Handsome put it, had not prepared me for the tangled mess that was my family tree.
Even six months after my move to Sugar Hill, I struggled to understand the finer workings of those esteemed branches. The only thing I knew for certain about my lineage was that I was Vertie’s grandchild. There were too many cousins to count, and although the term “cousin” was used frequently in family conversations, not everyone called that was an actual cousin. The term appeared to have a much broader meaning to many in the Dufresne clan.
The bottom line was I was the matrone, the family matriarch—at the ripe old age of twenty-five—and it was my job to protect all the Dufresnes from whatever unhappiness the world tried to push on them. It was a huge responsibility.
For example, this week I’d signed the check for Dolly Jane’s last surgery. It was amazing to think I’d helped this ten-year-old sweetheart get on her way to walking soon. I had also refused to bail cousin Donald Dufresne out of jail again. As far as I was concerned, he could rot there. He was an unapologetic abuser, and I hoped and prayed that sometime during his incarceration someone showed him just how unpleasant it was to get the crap beaten out of you. But it wouldn’t help change his disposition. I’d met him only once, after the first time I bailed him out—the guy was an ass.
Reed agreed with me on that point, but that didn’t stop other family members from calling me on it. Including Danforth, who seemed to have a bug up his butt about something. He didn’t like me, that much I knew, but he was a board member and I needed to make that relationship work if I could. Dufresne board members held their positions for life, as did I. I imagined it would be better to work together than against one another.
Now the Dufresne family was abuzz over the return of Bray Dufresne. This particular cousin was apparently a family favorite, well-liked and esteemed highly by such folks as Pepper and Danforth.
I was surprised to see that even the normally stoic Summer appeared excited about Bray’s return.
“And with a wife!” someone had mentioned. The only person who didn’t appear happy about Bray’s homecoming was Reed. But as usual, he was close-lipped and kept his own mind on things.
The only other opinion that mattered to me was Mitchell’s, and he was currently on a cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico. Just thinking of the big man playing shuffleboard and looking like a tourist was enough to make me smile. I never in a million years thought I’d convince him to take a vacation, but he’d eventually agreed. He deserved the time away after caring for Miss Anne for so long. And especially after all the headaches I’d caused him by appointing him to an unexpected, unwanted board position. But Mitchell hadn’t let me down. He was an excellent, thoughtful member of the team and had great insight.
Maybe a family party was what we needed? My relatives did enjoy coming to the “Big House,” as they referred to it, for the quarterly events; everyone seemed to be in a good mood while they were there. I felt good about my decision to have Bray’s welcome home party at Sugar Hill, and I was curious to learn more about him.
From what I gathered, he was related to Asner somehow and had left Belle Fontaine to strike out on his own. And strike he did. Two years after he left, Bray was independently wealthy and the owner of a software company that had just made the cover of Take Off, a magazine featuring breakout entrepreneurs.
I stepped outside dressed for a warm summer day in my pink sleeveless dress and white sandals, happy to see the massive white tent on the well-manicured Great Lawn. Summer had made all the arrangements, as always, and she was as efficient as ever. And in true Dufresne fashion, she did not skimp on the details. A wonderful vinyl sign was positioned along the walkway that led to the tent. It was lavender with white lettering and read: “Welcome home, Bray!” Apparently lavender and white were the colors for this event. I’d walked through the kitchen earlier and had seen the staff hustling a huge lavender cake as big as a wedding cake into the walk-in refrigerator.
“Robin, where did that come from?” I had asked with a smile, resisting the temptation to poke my finger in it and sample the icing.
“Ladd’s Bakery. They really are the best bakery in the county. Oh, and I put your breakfast on the sideboard, Miss Avery. No licking the cake.” Robin knew I had a weakness for sweets.
I gave her my heartfelt thanks and left the bustling kitchen. I stole a few sugared grapes to satisfy my sudden craving but didn’t stop to eat a whole bunch of food. I was always nervous before these family events, and we’d be eating a ton later. Summer would make sure of that, and I’d paid for at least a hundred pounds of shrimp.
“Hey, Avery! Bray is pulling in now. He’s a bit early, but I think almost everything is in place except the band. And, you know, the guests. Where the heck are they?” Summer jogged toward me with a walkie-talkie in one hand and a clipboard in the other. She didn’t even stop for a breath. “And this party company…I’m not sure they know what the heck they’re doing either. I’ve never used them before. Who knew the barmaids would show up wearing short shorts and bikini tops? I made them put clothes on. That’s ridiculous!”
I could tell that last part really bothered her. I couldn’t make the guests appear or control what the barmaids wore, but I could help out with the meet and greet. “I’ll welcome Bray to Sugar Hill,” I said. “You go make sure everything is up to snuff. And I agree, we don’t want or need any half-naked girls walking around.” My exploration of the tent would have to wait, but I could see the familiar glass chandeliers hanging above a dance floor. We were only an hour from the party kickoff, but I knew I had no reason to worry. Summer’s shindigs were always perfect, just like her long hair and tidy manicures.
“That would be fantastic. And if you see Reed’s behind anywhere, will you please ask him to come find me? The seafood guy isn’t answering my calls, and I don’t think we have enough. Thanks, Avery.”
“You got it.” I turned back to the house, went through the back door and sailed to the front. One of the staff had opened the front door already, so I stood by the big chair with a friendly smile. I missed Reed and wondered when he would show up. He’d been absent this morning, and I expected him to be here already. It wasn’t like him to run late like this.
As I watched the car pull up, I hid my grin with clamped lips. I didn’t know who I expected to see step out of the back of the black stretch limo, but it wasn’t this guy. Was this really the elegant Bray Dufresne? He couldn’t have been taller than 5-foot-6, and like many short men, he walked around with a chip on his shoulder. Handsome didn’t even have time to open the door of the limo before Bray leaped out, swearing at the old man and shooing him away. Bray stepped in front of him and opened the opposite do
or like he was about to present us all with the Queen of England.
A tall, thin young woman stepped out and cast an unimpressed eye on Sugar Hill. She had pale skin, probably the palest I’d ever seen, and light blue eyes. Except for her height and an excess of pearl jewelry, there really wasn’t anything memorable about her. After climbing the steps like an awkward gazelle, she cast her gaze at me.
I didn’t see anything friendly in her expression. Or his. He kept his eyes on her and held her hand like she was a child as they climbed the brick steps side by side. Up until now, all the Dufresne men I’d met were attractive and well-dressed. Young and old, they looked just like they stepped off the cover of a magazine. Bray was the exception. He had thinning hair that was a touch too long in the back, squinted eyes and a worn suit that looked as if he’d purchased it off the sale rack. I scolded myself for being judgmental and put on my best smile. I caught a whiff of Reed’s cologne and resisted the urge to reach out and touch him.
“Glad you could make it,” I whispered to him through my smile.
“I’m not,” he whispered back.
Bray stretched out his sweaty hand to my handsome cousin. “Reed. Looking well, cousin. But then you’ve been living high on the hog for quite some time, I hear. Let me introduce you to my wife, Dorothea.” Bray’s voice was deep and loud, another mismatch.
“I have met her before, Bray. As you well know. Good to see you again, Dorothea.”
“Reed,” she purred, toying with the red bow at the neck of her silk shirt, “good to see you.”
The Sugar Hill Collection Page 37