by Regina Duke
“Only another twenty minutes,” said Kevin. “I think you’ll enjoy the ranch.”
“Wonderful,” said Megan. “I do love the outdoors.”
Karla growled.
Megan added respectfully, “Especially when it allows me to run errands for Mistress Karla so she can remain safely out of the sunlight.”
Karla made an approving mew.
When they turned onto the blacktop road and drove under the arched sign for the Rocking Eagle Ranch, Karla surprised Kevin by leaning forward.
“One Called Megan,” she intoned, “I grow fond of you. Therefore I offer this warning. Beware the sorceress known as Krystal. She means well, but she often wreaks havoc.” She leaned back in her seat.
Megan’s brows went up. “Is this sorceress your enemy, Mistress Karla?”
“Only unintentionally. My true enemy dwells within the Chamber of Gold. He wagers for a living.”
Kevin translated, “Dad plays the stock market. The Chamber of Gold—”
Megan interrupted, “Forgive me, Lord Kevin, but Mistress Karla does speak clearly.”
Kevin wasn’t certain but he thought he heard a giggle of delight from the back seat. He smiled and kept driving.
Megan continued. “Mistress Karla, may I ask a question?”
“You may.”
“I notice that Lord Kevin has hazel eyes, but yours are a magnificent yellow. Are they your birth color, or did they change when you turned?”
Kevin tried to interpret Megan’s question for himself.
Karla made a contented sound. “My eyes changed when I turned,” she said with dignity.
Kevin nodded to himself. When Karla took on her vampire persona, she used her allowance to purchase yellow contact lenses. No matter what Krystal did, Karla was never without replacements. They would search her room endlessly, and more than once Karla emailed him that they’d held her under the shower and washed them out of her eyes. But every morning, she reemerged with a fresh set of yellow contacts.
Megan said, “Thank you, Mistress Karla. I must say, they are truly awe inspiring.”
Kevin checked his rear view mirror and his heart leaped.
Karla was smiling.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
BY THE TIME they pulled into the long circular driveway in front of the main house, Karla’s smile was gone.
Megan’s eyes widened with delight as she drank in her surroundings. “It’s three stories high! White clapboard, and a wrap around porch, and gingerbread! You have acorn finials! Oh, my God, I’m in heaven.”
Two workers in painters’ overalls were busy with maintenance, painting the newel posts on the porch.
A middle-aged woman used the handrail to descend the steps carefully. Megan’s first impression told her the woman was an invalid.
“Mom,” said Kevin fondly.
“Krystal,” hissed Karla.
Kevin put the SUV in park and turned off the engine. “I’ll give her a hand.” He slipped out of the car and went to his mother’s side.
“She will disrespect me,” said Karla. “Pay her no mind.”
Megan nodded, then got out of the car and went round to open Karla’s door.
Krystal’s features were drawn. Megan couldn’t tell if she was angry or in pain. Perhaps both.
“Karla! You had me worried sick! I had to call the authorities.”
Megan looked around. None were in evidence.
Karla whirled her cape over her head and hissed at her mother as she ran up the stairs into the house.
Kevin gave Krystal a gentle hug. “It’s good to see you, mom. You look better than I expected. Your new medication must be working.”
“I have good days and bad days,” said Krystal stiffly. She eyed Megan up and down. “This is your bride?”
Kevin nodded. “Mom, this is Megan. Megan, this is my mother, Krystal Fineman Wake.”
Megan held out a hand. “So nice to meet you, Mrs. Wake.”
“Please, call me Krystal.”
Megan smiled but doubted she could call this woman anything but Mrs. Wake. She noticed that although Mrs. Wake appeared fragile, her gray eyes were hard as steel.
An eight-year-old boy stumbled against the screen door as he emerged from the house. His gaze was fixed on his iPad. “Krystal! Krystal!”
Krystal cringed. “I’m right here, Keegan. No need to shout.”
He was thumping his finger against the screen of his device. “My battery needs charging. I can’t do nothing!”
“Anything,” said Krystal. “You can’t do anything.”
“That’s what I said,” pouted Keegan. He glanced up at Kevin. “About time you got here. Everyone is crazy.”
Kevin ruffled Keegan’s dark hair. “I missed you, too.”
“Likely story.” The boy fastened his dark brown eyes on Megan. They lit up. “Is she a movie star? Are you going to marry a movie star?”
“No, she’s not a movie star, and yes, she is my bride.”
Keegan wasn’t sure how to take the mixed answer. “You’re pretty,” he said at last, “but I was hoping for someone famous.”
“Sorry to disappoint,” said Megan. She held out a hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Keegan snubbed her and headed inside, calling over his shoulder, “I have to recharge! I’ll be in my room, Krystal!”
“Kids,” said Kevin.
“He’s quite the electronic wizard,” said Krystal. “Although I was hoping a summer on the ranch would inspire him to spend some time outdoors.”
“Why does he call you Krystal?”
“It’s my name.” Krystal seemed surprised by the question.
“But you’re his mother.”
“Names are important.”
Megan could’ve sworn that Krystal’s nose tipped upward as she spoke those words.
Kevin said, “Mom, let me help you inside. Megan, you’ve met the siblings. Would you like a tour of the ranch?”
“Could I lie down for half an hour first?” said Megan. One hand rubbed her thigh.
“Of course.”
“How thoughtless of me,” said Krystal. “Kevin, she’s in the blue room. Something old, something new,” she recited.
Megan finished with a smile, “Something borrowed, something blue. Thank you. I look forward to seeing more of this spectacular home.”
A flush of pleasure colored Krystal’s cheeks. “You like the Victorian motif?”
“It’s glorious,” said Megan. “Just like the house I pinned on my bedroom wall as a child.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
KEVIN TOOK THE luggage inside and carried Megan’s upstairs for her. By the time they got to the blue room, she looked very tired.
“I’ll be all right,” she said. “I just need a short rest.”
“It has been a very long day. It’s almost three-thirty. Dinner is early here. Ranch time. Cookie serves around five, so you’ve got time to put your feet up.”
“Thanks.”
Kevin headed back downstairs for a private word with his mother. He found her in the formal sitting room at the front of the house. He glanced about the room and paid more attention to detail than he’d ever done before. Megan loved the Victorian decor. She would adore this room.
Krystal was seated in a wing chair by the front window. A tea tray perched on the little table by the chair.
Kevin pulled a footstool close and sat at his mother’s knee.
“Oh, darling, I love when you do that.” Krystal gave him a tiny smile. “Tea?”
“No, I’m fine.”
Krystal poured her own. “Tell me, Kev. What’s wrong with her?”
Kevin frowned. “Nothing. She’s perfect. I thought you’d like her!”
“Oh, don’t get me wrong. She was still in the car after Karla showed up at the airport. I’m certain she’ll do. I asked what’s wrong with her. Something with her thigh?”
“Oh, that.” Leave it to his mother to pick up on the smallest physical ailment. “She w
as in a car crash six months ago. She had a broken femur and months of infections. She just got out of the hospital a few days ago.”
Krystal eyed him sternly. “Is she strong enough to stand up to your father?”
Kevin shrugged. “I’m not putting her in the ring with him, you know. I think she’s pretty strong. And you should have seen her with Karla! It was incredible. She even got Karla to smile.”
Krystal’s eyes widened. “I don’t believe it. Karla didn’t say anything about a smile.”
It was Kevin’s turn to pin his mother with a glare. “Did you set that up? Did you send Karla to the airport?!”
Krystal’s brows rose and she schooled her expression. “No! She frightened me out of my wits by running off to meet you. I merely suggested that she might have an opportunity to earn back some privileges if she gave me a two-minute summary of the meeting. She only left a few seconds before you came in.” Her lips curled in a tiny smile. “She told me her first impression of Megan was quite a good one. She said she’ll do.”
“Well, that’s good. But what kind of privileges are you restoring? I thought you grounded her for six months and took her phone away.”
“That was just during her…” Krystal paused to choose her words carefully. “Her hospitalization. Her therapist felt the outside world was a distraction. And when she came home, she seemed to have lost some of the old spark. She didn’t battle her father for phone privileges at all. That worried me more than anything. Just as well. He destroyed her phone with a hammer.”
“Did they medicate her?” Kevin’s brow darkened.
“Not to my knowledge. But it was a rigorous program.” She sipped tea and set it aside. “Frankly, Kevin, they told me they wouldn’t take her back. They said her steadfast delusion in the face of all their efforts was a disruption for the other patients. They told me if we had further concerns, we should choose a different facility.”
“They gave up,” said Kevin abruptly. “Those money-grubbing bastards.”
“On the bright side, your sister seemed pleased to be home again. She continues to wear her yellow contact lenses, but I’ve decided to choose my battles.”
“And dad?”
Krystal dismissed her husband with a wave of her hand. “I think he has become part of the problem. Ever since we came here, Karla has been… well, not participatory, but at least more willing to avoid conflict.”
“What exactly does that mean?”
Krystal shrugged. “She doesn’t run after the help screaming like a vampire anymore. I find that a refreshing step in the right direction.”
Kevin laughed out loud. “Who did she chase?”
“Mr. Garcia’s wife, Rosalinda.” She rolled her eyes. “You should have seen her face! Priceless. Karla tried the same trick on Cookie, but it backfired.”
“I can imagine.”
“Yes. Cookie picked up a cast iron pan and screamed right back at her. To hear Cookie tell it, Karla bowed down to her and christened her the Queen of the Clutch. No outbursts since that day, thank goodness.”
Kevin chuckled. “Well, you know how I feel.”
“Yes. You think it’s a phase. I hope you’re right. Your father is investigating prices on some very stern Swiss schools.”
“Oh, you’re not going to seriously consider sending her away, are you?”
“When your father gets a bee in his bonnet, retreat is the safest strategy. That’s why you’re getting married in Colorado instead of New York.”
“About that,” said Kevin. But he was cut short by a knock at the door of the parlor.
“Is this a private party?”
“Zach!” Kevin stood up and embraced the ranch foreman. “It’s great to see you. Hey, you’ve finally succeeded in tanning your tough old hide to match your chestnut gelding. And is that gray hair?”
“Smart aleck. You got a lot of nerve, noticing my gray, when you ain’t been around for years.”
Krystal smiled softly. “You tell him, Zachary. I had to organize a wedding to get him back here.”
Zach’s eyes softened when he looked at Krystal. “Well worth it, ma’am. And just in time.” He handed her a folded letter. “This came in the morning mail.”
Krystal opened it and scanned it quickly. Then she crumpled it in her fist and threw it. “Oh, that man! Will he never stop?!”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
MEGAN LET HERSELF doze on top of the quilt. She didn’t want to close her eyes because the room was filled with beautiful things and she was trying to catalogue them all in her memory. But her body demanded rest, so she dozed.
She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when there was a soft rapping at the door.
“Come in.”
Karla entered. She had washed the makeup off her face and hands but was still wearing the same clothes.
“Are you sleeping?” Her non-vampire voice was a pleasant contralto.
Megan’s brows met in a tiny frown. “I’m not sure.”
“I can come back.”
“No, no. Please. Come in.” She patted the bed for Karla to come sit.
Karla settled carefully next to her. “Thanks for not freaking out at the airport.”
Megan shook off the cobwebs of her nap. “No problem. You were amazing.”
“Really?” Karla brightened.
“Did you travel all the way from the ranch in costume?”
“Nah. I wore the cape as a sash and I didn’t put my face paint on until I got to the airport. I’d like to wear it all the time, but I break out.” She crossed her eyes then relaxed them.
Megan smiled. “So underneath the bleak vampire act, you are a comedian.”
“Shhh. You mustn’t tell the parents that it’s all an act. If they find out, they’ll never pay any attention to me at all. Krystal is already trying to ignore me. She thinks if she doesn’t react in any way, I’ll leave the Undead and rejoin the stupid boring Living.”
“My lips are sealed, Mistress Karla.”
“Cool. So, did you and Kevin do it yet?”
“Do it? Oh! No. I was raised to not do it until I was married, and—”
“Wow. So old Kev’s got a bride who can really wear white.”
Megan asked uncertainly, “Do you think I’m a dork?”
“No way. Lots of girls at my school take pledges not to do it before marriage. It’s the in thing.”
“Excellent. What are you wearing to the wedding?”
Karla rolled her eyes and stood up to go. “Here we go again. See ya.”
“Wait! What did I say?”
Karla paused, her hand on the door knob. “Mother has already told me I can’t attend as myself, so I will be in my room for the duration.”
“What? I don’t get it.”
Karla leaned against the door and crossed her arms. “Krystal said I can’t come as a vampire. So I’m not coming.”
“Oh, no!” Megan sat up. “No, please, I want you there. As yourself.”
Karla gave her a what-are-you-talking-about look. “As a vampire?”
“Yes! Can you just imagine the wedding pictures?! It will be awesome! And you are so talented with your makeup. I want you there, hissing at the photographer and crouching in the background. Everything!”
Karla’s eyes shot heavenward. “You do exist! You answered my prayers!” Even though she spoke with sarcasm, the joy in her heart was all too evident. “Thanks, Megan.” She rushed to the bed and bent to give Megan a hug. “I’ll cook up something super special!”
“I can’t wait.”
“I gotta go. I want to be at the dinner table in full regalia. I owe it to Queen Cookie of Culinaria.”
She flew out the door.
Megan chuckled to herself. Why did parents always overreact? She wondered if Karla’s school offered drama classes. The girl was a natural, and she was truly gifted as a makeup artist.
She tried to remember what her own life was like at fourteen. She cringed at the memory. Walking around with her eyes o
n the floor, shoulders hunched forward to hide her new bosoms. When she had to stand in front of her English class and recite a poem, she actually fainted! It took years to live that down. Her admiration for the dramatic Karla rose even higher. How creative to invent a different persona, one with power, a fearless vampire to deal with the life of a fourteen-year-old. Overall, she still had the same problems that Megan had at fourteen, but she was attacking them in a very different manner.
As she freshened up for dinner, she couldn’t help but smile at the thought of the wedding photos she and Karla would create.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
KEVIN RETRIEVED THE crumpled letter from the corner where Krystal had flung it.
“What’s going on, Zach? What’s this all about?”
Zach hooked his thumbs over his belt. “Your father wants me to make room in my schedule next week for a team of surveyors to come out and break up the property into parcels for sale.”
“He can’t do that! He doesn’t own this property.”
Krystal breathed through flared nostrils. Her words came with difficulty. “He’ll never stop! That’s why, that’s why—”
“She needs her medication.” Zach stepped to the door and called, “Cookie!” A moment later, he returned with an inhaler. “Here you go, ma’am.”
Krystal used the inhaler and sank back on her seat cushion, her eyes closed. After a few quiet moments, she spoke softly.
“That is why I called you when I did, Kevin. He has wagered with his Wall Street buddies that he will own this property the day after your birthday, and he has flaunted his disregard for my family history and any attachment I might have to all things Fineman.”
“It’s stupid to sell the ranch in parcels,” said Kevin. “It’s plain stupid to sell the ranch, period. I was hoping our lawyers would find a way out of this marriage requirement.”
“They said they stand very little chance in court because my parents set it up as an irrevocable trust. Besides, if a judgment came down in our favor, your father would use that in his own battle to defy the letter of the trust to take over everything I brought to the marriage and add cash to his foreign coffers. Off-shore bank accounts indeed.” She spat the phrase. Then she sat up and gathered herself together. “Have you warned your young bride about your father? He might try something before the wedding day.”