The door at her back had been ajar. Hayley flung it wide open. Backlit against the large picture window, she took in the scene and her lips parted in shock.
“What are you doing in there?”
Gavin maintained his grip on Leigh’s upper arms to keep her turned away from her sister until she could regain her composure.
“Trying to keep your sister from falling all over everything,” he told Hayley, surprised when his voice came out sounding relaxed.
He felt Leigh inhale. She tugged free of his grip.
“I’m not the one who backed up without warning,” she retorted. Quickly, she twisted away, bending over to retrieve the fallen items. Her face was a becoming shade of pink, but Gavin had to hand it to her for such a clever, rapid comeback. With any luck, her sister would put the high color down to annoyance and embarrassment rather than a passionate embrace.
“But what are you doing in here?” Hayley asked as she bent to help.
“Looking for a way onto the balconies,” he inserted smoothly.
“In a linen closet?”
“Can you think of a better place to hide the entrance?” Leigh fired back, to his amusement.
“No. I must admit I never would have thought to look in here. Smart thinking, but can it wait? Mr. Franklin has to leave to get to his next appointment.”
“Go ahead, Leigh,” Gavin told her. “I’ll straighten up the mess.”
For the first time, she met his gaze directly. “I’ll be right back,” she said firmly.
“Take your time, I’m not going anywhere.”
“Then wait right here.”
Her hair was mussed and her eyes glittered brightly. Gavin had the strongest urge to smile.
“Permission to use the nearest bathroom?” he teased.
“Just stay off that balcony until I get back.”
Hayley followed the exchange with a puzzled expression.
Leigh stepped into the hall beside her. Maybe to someone who didn’t know them they were identical, but now that he knew them, Gavin would never mistake Hayley for Leigh. They shared the same heart-shaped face and creamy smooth skin. Their golden-brown hair was worn in the same style, but those were the exterior trappings. Their slight build gave the mistaken impression of fragility, but a smart man could read the inner core of strength under those womanly shapes. Hayley was assertive. Leigh’s approach was softer—until she got riled. Gavin wouldn’t mind provoking that part of her on occasion. He enjoyed watching the flash in her eyes when she was annoyed with him—like now.
He found himself watching the swing of her hips beneath the stretchy material of her pink shorts. She rounded the corner to start down the steps and caught him staring. The color in her cheeks deepened. Gavin winked at her. Hayley eyed them with a look of speculation.
Gavin made a mental note not to let Hayley catch him alone. He headed for the bathroom with the taste and scent of Leigh clinging to his still-hard body.
Chapter Six
“What’s going on?” Hayley demanded as Leigh closed the door behind the landscaper.
Leigh didn’t pretend to misunderstand, but she did try to stall the inevitable. “Gavin may have found a way onto the balcony.”
“Tell me you aren’t still hung up on him.”
“Don’t be silly.”
Hayley shut her eyes and opened them again. “I shouldn’t have dumped the estate on you.”
“Of course not, but what has that got to do with anything?”
“You were locking lips with him in a linen closet! Have you forgotten how badly he hurt you the last time?”
“Hold it right there. Gavin did nothing to hurt me.”
“Come on, Leigh. I was there. You had a crush on that guy the size of California, remember?”
“What I remember is that Gavin saved me from being raped, beat the heck out of Nolan for drugging me…”
“He did?”
“Yes, and he was willing to face murder charges rather than ruin my prissy reputation. He even pestered Emily for weeks until he was sure I wasn’t pregnant. She told me so. And now, in his capacity as our lawyer, he’s trying to do his best for both of us. I’m not seventeen anymore and I’m not naive, Hayley. And if I want to kiss Gavin that’s my business.”
About to respond, Hayley’s gaze flashed to something over her shoulder. Leigh twisted to find Gavin halfway down the stairs.
How much had he heard?
Though she felt her face flame, she refused to look away from his enigmatic expression. “Being the older twin gave Hayley a mother complex,” she told him.
“Darn right it did,” Hayley agreed.
The front door opened and Bram strolled inside.
“I’m warning you,” Hayley continued, pointing a finger at Gavin. “You’ll answer to me if you hurt my sister.”
“Hayley, shut up. I am perfectly capable of running my own life.”
Bram studied the scene and looked at Gavin. “What’s going on?” he asked as Gavin descended the rest of the way.
“Nothing,” Leigh said sharply.
“I can handle this,” Hayley told him at the same time.
“If you want any privacy around here, I’d skip the linen closet, if I were you,” Gavin advised deadpan.
Bram relaxed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Even Hayley seemed to relax, and Bram’s cell phone rang before anyone could say anything further.
“Hello?” As he listened, pain creased his features and he swore softly. “Okay, slow down. No, you did the right thing. There’s nothing else you can do. Look, I’ll leave right now. Are you okay? You’re sure? Yeah, okay. Call the others. I’m on my way.”
Hayley reached for his arm. “Is it your dad?”
“Yeah. My brother found him on the floor this morning. He’s in a coma. I have to leave.”
“Is there time to stop by the Walken estate so I can get a few things?”
“Hayley, you don’t need—”
“Yes,” she said firmly, gazing up at him. “I do.”
Bram pulled her into his arms. Closing his eyes, he held her close for a minute. The simple action seemed intensely private. Leigh took an involuntary step toward Gavin, relieved when his hand came to rest on her shoulder. She was pretty sure the couple had forgotten anyone else was standing there.
“This isn’t how I wanted you to meet my family,” Bram said with his eyes closed against the top of Hayley’s head.
She pulled back and scolded him with a dry expression. “Don’t even go there. You think my way was better? Being chased by a killer, watching you nearly get shot, oh, and by the way, meet my sister?”
Bram managed a wry twist of his lips and kissed her forehead. “I could be there several days.”
“It will take me two minutes to pack a bag.”
His eyes lightened. “You can have five.”
Hayley broke free of his arms and turned. “Leigh?”
“Go,” she said. “I’ll be fine. I’m sorry about your dad, Bram. I hope he’ll be okay.”
“So do I.”
Minutes later, Leigh stood on the porch and watched them leave, with a host of mixed emotions. Bram’s family lived in Murrett Township, a tiny place up in the hills about an hour’s drive north of Stony Ridge. If Marcus hadn’t hired Bram to construct the fence and the gate out in front of Heartskeep, it was highly unlikely that Hayley and Bram would have ever met.
“Is Bram the reason Hayley didn’t want the estate?” Gavin asked.
“Partly. She’s wildly in love with him and Bram’s got a fierce pride. But I think the truth is, Heartskeep isn’t our home anymore. The heart of Heartskeep died with Grandpa. And that wasn’t a pun.”
“I know,” he agreed softly. “Leigh—”
A woman’s shrill scream pierced the air, audible even over the din coming from the workmen. Gavin bounded off the porch. He was sprinting around the side of the house before Leigh’s stunned brain had finished assimilating the unexpected sound.
As
she raced after him, Leigh wondered, what now? She jerked to a stop abreast of the side door and stared at quite a scene. Eden was shrieking and clawing at Gavin in an effort to take back a large kitchen knife. Lucky stood several feet away, baring his teeth and growling low in his throat.
“Eden, stop!” Leigh yelled. “He’s going to attack!”
Eden swung toward her, her features puckered in fury. Then she saw the dog and froze.
“Lucky. Come here, boy. It’s okay. Come here, fella,” Leigh coaxed.
The animal never took his eyes from the pair.
Footsteps pounded up beside her. “Lucky!” R.J. called. “Come here!”
Others ran up behind him. They also came to a halt as they saw what was happening.
“Lucky!”
The dog stopped growling at the sound of R.J.’s voice, but he still didn’t take his eyes off Eden and Gavin.
“Good boy, Lucky. Come on, boy,” R.J. encouraged more softly.
With obvious reluctance, the massive dog turned to look back over his shoulder.
“That’s the boy. Come here, Lucky.”
For a long, silent moment, no one moved. Then Lucky trotted over to R.J. Leigh released the breath she’d been holding.
“Does that horrible beast belong to you?” Eden demanded.
Lucky swung his head back and barked sharply. Eden stopped moving again.
“Yes, ma’am, he does,” R.J. said quietly. He took a firm hold of the dog’s collar, stroking the silky head.
“Get him out of here! Do you hear me?”
“Half the town can hear you, Eden,” Leigh said as the dog began to growl again. “You’re upsetting him. Calm down.”
“He was digging in the garden!”
“And you were chasing him with a knife,” Gavin announced tightly.
Leigh gasped. She sensed R.J. stiffening at her side. Lucky bristled, growling low in his throat.
“I saw him run in there,” Eden said, her voice ragged with emotion. “I knew what he was going to do.”
“Make sure he isn’t hurt, R.J.,” Gavin said. “I think I got to the knife before she got to him, but I’m not sure.”
“He was digging in the garden!” Eden screamed again.
Lucky suddenly lunged in her direction. Fortunately, R.J. had a firm grasp on his collar. Still, it took most of his strength to hold the dog back.
“Don’t say another word,” Gavin warned Eden. “Not another sound if you don’t want that dog to maul you.”
“Let’s get Lucky in the house, R.J.,” Leigh said.
Maneuvering one hundred-plus pounds of dog that didn’t want to be maneuvered was no simple task. Leigh was reminded of the handlers who put racehorses into a starting gate. There were definite similarities. She opened the door and R.J. managed to get the animal into the kitchen. R.J.’s crew was already heading back around the house.
“What did you think you were doing?” Leigh demanded of the woman as she shut the door behind the animal.
“He was digging in the rose garden,” Eden wailed.
“So what? Most of the roses were destroyed anyhow.”
“But that’s…where Marcus died!”
Shocked, Leigh gaped at her. Eden was actually trembling. Her face had gone pasty white except for two spots of bright color high on her cheeks. It had never occurred to Leigh that Eden might actually have loved Marcus. She and Hayley had often speculated on Eden’s relationship with Marcus, but the pair of them were so emotionally cold that it had seemed professionally platonic.
When Marcus had filed for divorce from their mother and had married Eden more than two years after Amy Thomas had disappeared, Leigh had been shocked and angry at first. But she’d concluded that Marcus had married Eden for the sake of convenience. He no longer had to wait for her to drive to work every day, plus he had someone to run the house for him.
Leigh had never considered the reason Eden had married Marcus. Love had simply never entered the equation in her mind. Obviously, it should have done. Leigh had never seen Eden so distraught.
“I won’t have that horrible beast digging up the garden. I won’t have it, I tell you!”
“All right, Eden,” Leigh said gently.
“Take it easy,” Gavin told her.
Eden pulled free of the restraining hand he’d laid on her arm and fled to her car. Leigh exchanged a troubled look with Gavin before calling to Eden to wait. The woman was far too upset to be driving a car. But Eden had already climbed behind the wheel and started the engine.
“Let her go,” Gavin advised.
They watched as she peeled down the driveway. Leigh shoved a hand through her hair. “I didn’t even know she was on the grounds.”
“Neither did I,” he said thoughtfully.
“We should see if she hurt Lucky.”
“He isn’t hurt,” R.J. told them when they went inside. He was obviously still shaken by the situation. “I’ve never seen Lucky act like that before. I’m really sorry. I’ll keep him home from now on.”
“Don’t you dare,” Leigh said, stroking the animal’s fur.
“I might growl myself if some woman chased me with a knife,” Gavin pointed out.
“Gavin’s right. Lucky was just warning Eden that he was prepared to defend himself. She was the one acting like a wild animal. Lucky’s a gentleman. Aren’t you, boy?”
The dog gave her face a swipe with his tongue. R.J. wasn’t appeased. “I’ll cover any damage he may have caused out there.”
“Please. There is nothing he could hurt in that overgrown jungle. Trust me. He can dig all the holes he wants right now. I just hired someone to fix the landscaping.”
R.J. ran a distracted hand through his hair. “It’s strange. I’ve never known him to dig in the dirt. I’ve got several acres out where I live, and he’s never put so much as a hole anywhere. I don’t understand what got into him.”
“Maybe he was chasing gophers,” Gavin suggested.
“R.J., it doesn’t matter, it’s fine. Honest. Eden was…” Leigh looked to Gavin for help.
“Overreacting,” he supplied.
“I was going to say deranged, but overreacting works, too. Please don’t punish Lucky because of her. I don’t even know what she was doing here today. I thought she already took her belongings from the house.”
“We need to change the locks,” Gavin said. “We don’t know who has keys to this place and I don’t think we want people coming and going at will until the estate is inventoried.”
“But her belongings—”
“We’ll see she gets them back, but we should be monitoring what goes in and out of the house from now on. Know any local locksmiths, R.J.?”
“Actually, I do. Want me to give her a call?”
“A woman, huh? Interesting choice of profession. Leigh?”
“I…okay. If you think it’s necessary.”
“I do. We can’t bring the security people out here to reinstall the alarm system until R.J. gets the outer walls, doors and windows completed.”
“Give me another couple of days,” he told them. “I’m having some delivery problems. In the meantime, I’ll secure the site so no one can get inside the house once we’re finished for the night.”
“Do it,” Gavin told him. “Once he’s back, I’m going to ask Bram to get started on a gate for that back entrance, if that’s okay with you, Leigh.”
“All right. R.J.? You’ll keep bringing Lucky, won’t you?”
He nodded, though he still looked concerned. “I’ll try to keep a closer watch on him.”
“It’s okay. Really. I don’t even care if he eats a sofa. He’s a good boy, aren’t you, Lucky?”
The dog woofed agreement.
“I’ll call about the locks, then get back to work,” R.J. said, reaching for his cell phone. “Come on, Lucky. Let’s see if you can stay out of trouble for the rest of the afternoon.”
“I still want to finish having a look around upstairs,” Gavin told Leigh
as the dog trotted after R.J.
“You want to check out the balcony?”
“Later. Now that I know where the entrance is, that can wait. I want to check out the rest of the room. Where are you going?” he asked when she started toward the front of the house. “Aren’t the back stairs closer?”
Leigh hesitated.
“Something wrong with the back stairs?”
She shrugged, but if she’d hoped to convey nonchalance, she failed.
“We seldom used them, so I don’t think about them.”
Gavin knew a half truth when he heard one. “Why didn’t you use them?”
“We just don’t.”
He waited.
“If you must know, they come out close to Marcus’s room.”
Something cold began to crawl through his mind. Gavin stopped her when she started walking toward the back staircase.
“Leigh, did Marcus ever—”
“No,” she said quickly. “He never laid a hand on either of us, but I was always afraid of him anyhow. I guess that sounds silly, especially now that he’s dead.”
“No. Not silly at all.”
She looked away. The vulnerability he’d glimpsed in her expression was haunting. How could a father not love someone as lovable as Leigh?
She hurried up the back steps, not quite running, but not walking at her usual pace, either. Gavin followed more slowly as he thought about all the ways a parent could abuse a child.
Leigh paused on the landing to wait for him. The staircase had been narrow and steep and dark, but the landing, and especially the hall, was disturbingly dark in both directions. He could understand why a pair of little girls wouldn’t want to use these stairs. Not for the first time, he became conscious of the brooding quality that hung over the house. The lingering scent of wood smoke only added unnecessary atmosphere to the mix.
Heartskeep was no place he would want to call home.
“I was just thinking,” Leigh said. “It must have been Eden on the balcony watching me earlier.”
Gavin nodded. “I wonder if she was here last night.”
“We didn’t see her car.”
“We weren’t looking for it. She could have put it in the garage.”
The Second Sister Page 10