The Sugar Hill Collection

by M. L. Bullock

  “I renounce you, Ambrose! I don’t want you!” But I did! I did want him! Why was I doing this? Handsome squeezed my hand harder and faced me. The windows flew open, the wind blew through the Mirror Room, and the curtains fluttered wildly. Ambrose didn’t move. His hair whipped around his head like angry snakes.

  “Avery! Come to me now!”

  “No! I renounce you! I don’t want you!”

  Handsome turned me about by my shoulders. I was facing one of the large mirrors and could see Ambrose’s reflection behind me.

  I could see him for what he truly was. Not handsome, not seductive, but a corpse, a grasping corpse. He called me again, “Avery! Now! Drink!”

  “No!” I shouted as the wind whipped around the room. “I renounce you! I am not your soulmate!”

  As quick as lightning, Handsome slid the ring from my finger. He grasped it in his palm and smiled wistfully at me. “I have to undo what she did. She did it. My ancestor, she cast the spell, but I break it. I set you free, Avery. And Susanna,” he yelled, tears streaming down his face as the wind buffeted us both. “I set you free. I break the power of the ring by the power of the blood that runs through my veins, Sulli’s blood! You are free!”

  Ambrose growled even louder, and then suddenly the room began to explode. No, each mirror exploded. And as it did, Ambrose grew fainter, weaker. He cried pitifully…the demon was denied his prize and soon faded completely, taking with him the insatiable desire I had for him. I felt as if a fog had been lifted, not just from the room but from my mind. I was truly myself again.

  Once again, I was Avery Dufresne, and I was free from the power of the ring.

  I picked myself up off the ground and stepped around the glass shards, looking for some sign of the women or Ambrose. But I saw none.

  I was alone. Even Handsome was gone.

  “No! Handsome! Where are you?”

  I walked around the room; it slowly became lighter, and I noticed that the mirrors had been restored. There was no more broken glass, no more melted candles and no more devilish Ambrose.

  But I could see Susanna now, and on her arm was Handsome. They embraced, neither saying a thing, for they knew full well who they were. They were of the same blood, after all, as I was.

  And then I saw Chase standing by the table. He nodded once and was gone. He walked behind them in the mirror, and they welcomed him. They were together at last. And Susanna was free.

  We all were.

  Chapter Nineteen – Summer

  After the night I’d had, the last thing I was thinking about was sex. But I’d made a promise, and honestly, I wanted to get to know Jamie better. Now that I knew for a fact that Avery wasn’t into him at all, I felt better about pursuing him.

  I left Reed to pick up the pieces of Avery’s heart, and Jessica went to the hospital to wait for Lucas. I’d head over there in a little while, but I had to see Jamie. Although things appeared settled, at least for the moment, I couldn't deny the growing sense of wrongness I felt. Yes, the other shoe had dropped somewhere. But where?

  Come on, Summer. Stop looking at the negative.

  When I rounded the corner to Jamie’s apartment complex, cops were everywhere. I pulled into one of the few remaining parking spots and stepped out. I’d taken the trouble of changing my clothes before I left. I wore a light blue, clingy dress that showed off my curves. The hem was kind of short, mid-thigh, but I liked my legs. I wore a gold chain belt and Gucci shoes and left my hair down. I assumed he’d like it down, like a lot of Southern boys did.

  I was walking toward Jamie’s apartment when I spotted his car. The driver’s side door was open, and there were cops all over the place. I thought I saw someone in the car. He wasn’t moving, but I couldn’t see him clearly. The people beside me whispered something about a gunshot.

  Oh my God! Someone got shot in Jamie’s car! How horrible…Oh my God! That can’t be him! It can’t be!

  “Jamie?” I dropped my purse and kept running. “Jamie!” I screamed as I got closer to his car. He was wearing a white dress shirt, and there was blood all over it.

  “Miss! Miss! You can’t come in here. If this is your friend, you don’t want to see him like this, I swear. Please, Miss.”

  I sobbed once but gathered my wits. “I am Summer Dufresne, and that is my boyfriend. I demand you let me by.”

  One of the other cops, a cousin of mine, waved me over. His partner started to protest but quickly shut his mouth.

  “Tom, is it Jamie?” I couldn’t bear to look. Now that I was up here I couldn’t do it.

  He nodded. “Christ, yeah, it’s him. I don’t understand. Coroner says it looks like a suicide, but he’s got a bottle of wine and bouquet of flowers beside him. Sorry, Sis.” Tom always called me Sis. I don’t know why, but it comforted me. Unlike Mitchell, who said it awkwardly and not very often. He’d sure picked a fine time to leave Belle Fontaine.

  “Do you want to see him? They are about to move him.” I didn’t want to see him, but I made myself look. I had to. I wanted to remember Jamie, remember his death. Ambrose had made me a promise, and he’d kept it. He might not have me, and he may have lost the ring and its power over the Dufresne women, but he’d found a way.

  He did the deed. He stole my happiness.

  “Jamie,” I whispered as I took in the scene: his handsome face disfigured by the gunshot, the blood everywhere.

  Now I knew the truth. There would never be love for me. I would never have children or have a family beyond my Dufresne family.

  Well, if that was all I could have, then that would be enough. I would love them with everything I had. You won’t steal that from me, Ambrose. You, who were so bitter, won’t pass that on to me. I’ll beat you by being happy, by being whole. I don’t need a soulmate.

  The man I loved died tonight, I would grieve him, mourn him, dream of the life we might have had. But when that was over, I’d pick myself up and go on.

  I had to.

  I was Summer Dufresne, and I was the matrone.

  Epilogue – Avery

  A Month Later

  “It’s all nonsense anyway. I never agreed with the whole DNA thing. I hope you know that. Both of you.” Pepper wiped at her nose with an embroidered handkerchief and then shoved it in her jacket pocket. She was clearly upset by Handsome’s disappearance, but I sensed she was telling us the truth. I’d misjudged her when we first met. Completely. She’d proven to be one of the few Dufresnes who actually wanted me to know the truth about the ring and the spirit that came with it.

  She’d tried, in her own way, to show me what it was all about. As if she read my mind, she grabbed my hand and then Summer’s. “I hope you both know that I wish you well and support you in whatever you do.” Accompanying her words was a surge of warmth that testified to her honesty. Yes, Pepper had a rare gift. I guess what Handsome said was true, “Magic runs in our veins.”

  “Thank you,” Summer and I said simultaneously. Before Pepper departed the sunshine-filled conservatory and the next Dufresne came to greet us, Summer squeezed my hand and smiled. Yes, we were doing the right thing. This had been her idea, taking the reins of the family together, and I loved her for it. With Summer and I both serving as matrone, we would finally put the ghosts of Sugar Hill at peace. Surely this would do it. The ring was no longer in play, and we weren’t the pawns of a deceptive ghost. We’d set our family free!

  Now it was Danforth’s turn to address us. The room quieted as the old man spoke in his clear, booming voice. “I look forward to working with you ladies. I am sure together we will do great things that will take our family into the next decade stronger than ever.” He extended his hand to me, but I didn’t take it. I wanted to slap his smug face. Everyone here knew he’d been involved in Bray’s attempt to oust me. Summer spoke up, her sweet voice dropping an octave, letting Danforth know we knew all about it and she wasn’t joking around.

  “We’re making a few changes, cousin. We’ve expanded the board to include more seats,
and Avery and I have decided that board members will no longer have lifetime appointments. That’s not good for the family. We think it’s time for more…well…diversity, I guess you could say.”

  “Yes, that’s right. Hey, Lucas,” I called. Handsome’s son stepped forward and extended his hand to Danforth, whose mouth had fallen open. “I think you know our true cousin, Lucas.”

  “Nice to meet you formally,” Lucas said with a smile, clearly amused at Danforth’s shocked expression.

  Lucas went to stand by Reed, and Summer continued, “After all your years of service, Danforth, we think it’s time you had some rest. Maybe take that young wife of yours on a trip. Courtesy of Avery and me, of course. It’s our way of saying thank you.” Her white smile gleamed, and she handed Danforth a sealed envelope.

  “What?” He accepted the envelope and looked from me to her. “You can’t do that. It’s written into the trust—there will always be a board.”

  “And there is,” Reed interjected. “But there’s nothing that says we can’t make these changes. I’ve sent you a copy of all the paperwork, Danforth. I think you’ll find that everything is in order. If you have any questions, have your attorney give me a call—when you get back to Belle Fontaine.”

  “You can believe he will.” He stomped away with the envelope in his hand as the Dufresne family quietly whispered to one another. Can they really do that? What’s going on here? I noted Pepper’s smile. Good. At least we’d have her solidly on our side.

  “Avery, do you have something to say?” Summer asked. We’d agreed earlier that I would be the one to do this. I was happy to make it official.

  “For far too long, this family has been divided by things that most of us don’t even understand. We’ve been divided by long-held prejudices and old beliefs that we don’t have the courage to admit to, but all that has changed now. There will be no more wars about bloodlines and DNA. No more struggling to see who comes out on top.”

  I took Summer’s hand and continued, “Summer and I represent change. We are both descendants of Chase Dufresne, as are all of you. Today, we embrace the past. We don’t hide from it. And although we cannot change what has happened, we can change our futures. Get ready, Dufresne family. Change is here, and it’s a good thing.”

  The gathering clapped, and a few wiped away tears. “And today, I formally name Summer Dufresne as co-matrone. Together we will lead our family to greater achievements and greater unity.”

  A wild round of applause filled the room, and Reed hugged me. He whispered in my ear, “Should we make any other announcements?” I was ready, but I caught Summer out of the corner of my eye. She’d barely begun to grieve for Jamie. Who knew she’d loved him so deeply and so much? I sure didn’t, but it was real. Summer wasn’t the kind of person to fake that stuff.

  “No. Let this be a day for Summer and for the family. We’ll tell them later.”

  “I love you, Avery Dufresne.”

  “I love you too, Reed.”

  Text copyright © 2017 Monica L. Bullock

  All Rights Reserved

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to my favorite teacher, Mrs. Terry. Some of us were listening.

  A longdrawn carol, mournful, holy,

  She chanted loudly, chanted lowly,

  Till her eyes were darken’d wholly,

  And her smooth face sharpen’d slowly,

  Turn’d to tower’d Camelot:

  For ere she reach’d upon the tide

  The first house by the water-side,

  Singing in her song she died,

  The Lady of Shalott.

  The Lady of Shalott

  Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1832

  Prologue – Annalee Dufresne

  Sugar Hill 1839

  The flimsy wooden boat creaked in the water. Leaning back to hide in the bottom, I arranged my wet hair and drenched gown around me. I’d clumsily fallen into the pond while trying to escape Mineola’s watchful eye, but I managed to climb aboard. Knowing I was unseen felt tremendously freeing. Finally to find solace—to avoid their sympathetic looks, their whispers.

  Yes, even after all this time they still whispered and clucked their tongues. How long had it been since I’d stumbled into Champion’s web? A year? No, two years.

  The boat spun about like a leaf on the swirling water. If I drowned, so be it, but I would not be so lucky. Fortune would not smile on me so, and besides, I had a purpose still. Champion would suffer, but when my task was complete…perhaps then. Feasting my eyes on the sparkling skies above me, I pretended I sailed among them. I no longer walked the earthly realm but roamed the celestial expansion above. Flying from star to star, I would traverse the heavens until one night, like one of those flickering lights, I would finally vanish and be no more.

  No more Annalee.

  I sighed with happiness. As if expressing its approval of my wish, a star sailed across the sky, sacrificing itself in a shimmering display. With a bright flash, it vanished on the dark horizon. A childhood song entered my mind, and I couldn’t help but whisper it.

  Rock-a-bye baby

  On the treetop,

  When the wind blows,

  The cradle will rock.

  When the bough breaks,

  The cradle will fall,

  And down will come baby

  Cradle and all.

  Mother taught Dominick and me this song while we were still in the nursery. Back when we still thought of her as a lost princess, beautiful and distant and always awaiting her prince. A dead prince who would never come to rescue her. And now I knew that she wasn’t really my mother and that I would never know my true mother or father. Even Dominick felt lost to me now.

  Dominick gave up on keeping me imprisoned at Sugar Hill. I suspected he grew tired of hearing me cry and returned to the arms of his left-hand wife, Livy, hoping to lose himself once again. He was increasingly unhappy with his placee, but I felt no sympathy for him in that regard. And I offered him no ear or comforting shoulder. On top of his unhappiness lay a thick layer of shame for having made the arrangement, but in the end, his burning for the young woman outweighed his conscience. I had no doubt our mother would have been sorely disappointed in him, yet Dominick returned to Livy again and again. And as it always had been since the beginning of time, a lover’s call trumped a sister’s tears. And so whenever Livy summoned him to her side, my brother returned to her like an obedient dog.

  He’d been gone a week this time, but despite his weakness for Livy, I felt no ill will toward him. He had been my rescuer—he freed me from the grasp of my betrayer, Champion, Dominick’s half-brother—the son of his father and his right-hand wife, Athena. The three of us grew up together. We’d been like three peas in a pod, despite Mother’s protests. And now, when it was too late, I knew how right she’d been. Champion had never loved me the way a man should love his sister.

  Yes, Mother tried to warn me, but I had mocked her, ignored her advice and continued about my merry way—to my own destruction. At first, Dominick threatened to kill Champion. He’d loaded his revolvers and called for his closest and most discreet friend, Emilio Sota, and prepared to ride to Thorn Hill when I stopped him. As a good brother would, he was ready to defend my honor, and I loved him for that. But in this scenario, even I knew it would not end well for him. I had spent many hours watching my brothers shoot pistols and bows and toss Champion’s silver knives, and Champion was clearly superior at these gentlemanly pursuits. But Dominick would not relent, and he had every intention of challenging his brother to a duel.

  “And what good would it do, Dominick? Would you kill yourself for me? We know that Champion is a trickster and has no honor, Dom. He will not play by the rules, even in the presence of honorable men. Please don’t go to Thorn Hill. Let it be. There will be a time for vengeance, a time for justice. Oh, there will be. Listen to me, brother.” At first, he wouldn’t change his mind. He had that stubborn tilt to his jaw, the slanted look in his eyes that told me he wa
s going to follow his own mind about things. But Mineola, our mother’s mysterious companion, spoke to him on the matter.

  “I see Death for you if you go to Thorn Hill. Death for him if you don’t. You choose.”

  In the end, Dominick heeded her advice or mine, and we left Champion to his own devices. He slandered my name around Belle Fontaine, and according to Livy, he mentioned that he intended to turn me out of Sugar Hill and claim it too. But we heard nothing else beyond Livy’s whispered gossip. Although we had succeeded in saving my brother, I often woke to see Champion’s face looming over me. The nightmares were constant and persistent until Minnie interceded with her twisted rope “dream catchers,” as she called them. She arranged the hanging items around my bed, and I dreamt no more.

  But that didn’t stop me from remembering. Months after Champion’s cruel assault, I could still feel his hard hands on my arms, his demanding fingers tearing at my clothes, forcing my legs apart. For weeks I couldn’t sleep, eat or talk. Champion had spoken horrible things to me, whispering profanities in my ear, his alcohol-soaked breath a further offense. And when he had finished with me, he left me to bleed and weep on the floor of the front parlor of Thorn Hill under my mother’s portrait. Champion fled before Dominick arrived, and lucky for him. And now he was gone again, my brother, no longer worried that I would be further assaulted by Champion. I supposed in his mind the worst had been done.

  One day, I dressed, braided my hair and decided to live life again. Whatever that meant. I craved to run with the wind and spend all my time on the back of my horse, Lorrie, exploring the long twisted riverbanks near the plantation. Shunning Olive, I traveled without a companion and did whatever I pleased, although I never ventured far from Sugar Hill.

  Mother didn’t admonish me to take Olive with me or to be careful, nor did she comfort me or fuss over me. I received more attention from Mineola than from her. I did not care. What else was there to say? Besides, she was gone now. Everything we had to say to one another had already been said. You couldn’t speak to the dead, could you? Oh, Mother. Why did you leave me, Mother? Why did you wither away like a dried husk of corn? You willed yourself to die and left me alone to fight Champion and the ghosts of Sugar Hill by myself. I hate you for that!