The thought of his stepmother made him frown. Jane was convinced she was in the town but that was hardly possible. If she had come back she was surely up to no good. She’d been a spiteful, spoiled woman only interested in her son, and if she’d contrived to rejoin the world he’d bet it was to take some kind of revenge.
Revenge on him or revenge on Jane? It would be typical of his stepmother to want to spoil things for the woman he cared about. The thought made his muscles tense with a sudden spasm of fear. Maybe he should pay more attention. Although he wasn’t convinced she was around, it wouldn’t do any harm to be watchful. Luckily they were going out of town for a few days.
He picked up his bag and returned to the living room. The apartment was tiny, hardly bigger than the housekeeper’s rooms at the mansion, yet he felt as if it were truly home. Jane was standing at the end of the kitchen counter, talking on the phone. She brushed strands of hair back from her cheek as she talked. She wore white pants and a cherry red top that emphasized her light tan and clung to her slim waist. Her slender feet were bare and she’d painted her nails to match her tank top. Her hair was caught up in a red bow, exposing her ears and the tender nape of her neck.
Pierce was suddenly overwhelmed by a strange sensation he’d never felt before. It wasn’t lust, he could recognize that, and heaven knew he lusted after Jane most of the time. She only had to dart him a glance or brush against him in passing and his hormones were on immediate alert. No, this was more than lust. This was yearning to hold her and keep her safe and do anything for her that she asked. This was wanting to stay with her forever.
Could this be love?
She looked at him as she talked and a smile curved her lips. His insides melted. He moved over to her and she gave him her free hand.
“Okay, Mom. I’ll be gone about five days,” she said. “You’re going to do what?” He heard her mother’s voice in the pause.
“With Jim? I see. Well have fun.” She hung up the phone. “My mother’s going away for a dirty weekend.”
“I like your mom.”
“Me too but I don’t feel as if I know her these days.”
“Like mother like daughter.” He pulled Jane closer. “I hope.”
Jane gave a small laugh. “I don’t know how I feel about that. It’s a funny feeling to think of your mother as a sexual being.”
“We’ll still be that way when we’re her age.” He kissed the side of her mouth.
“That would be something.”
He held her away from him and looked into her eyes. “Don’t you want that?”
“Do you?”
“More than anything in the world.”
He felt her relax against him and she buried her face in his shoulder. Her voice was muffled when she spoke. “Is this getting serious?”
“How serious do you want it to be? We live together.”
“Lots of couples live together.”
“So you told me. And it’s not serious?”
“Not always.”
“What would make it serious? A ring?”
“You don’t have to make any gestures.”
He tightened his arms around her. “I know. Supposing I want to?”
“What do you want to do?”
“You mean apart from ripping your clothes off and ravishing you on the cold kitchen floor?”
He felt her head move as she nodded.
“I want to stay with you, but I’m going to wait until we’ve seen the lawyers then you and I are going to sit down and have a serious talk about our future. Will you wait?”
“I’ll wait.”
“Now what about that inviting floor?”
“The bed’s more comfortable.”
“I’m all for comfort.”
For a long moment they stood and held each other. He kissed her once then again. She rose to him, her soft mouth opening under his. She tasted like mint and jasmine. They were lovely kisses. In his heart and mind he understood that their time together was special because, like it or not, he was on the threshold of a commitment that would change both their lives forever.
Without a word he led her to the bedroom, one arm around her waist and his head on her shoulder.
He moved with her farther into the room and laid her on the bed. Slowly, lovingly he undressed her. The drapes were still drawn, the only light coming through the open door from the reflected rays of sunshine in the other room. Part of him wanted to hold back, to save something of himself, but he found it impossible to do so with Jane. He was unrestrained, his mouth eager on hers, hungry on her body, his hands shaking as they touched her. Even his voice when he murmured her name sounded rough and urgent in his ears.
Deep inside he was a wary, prickly, guarded person despite the carefree manner he had forged over the years. And with her, he was cementing a connection, flesh to flesh and soul to soul. And even as he lost himself in the pleasure of it, Pierce was conscious of an almost wordless hope. This time it would be the real thing.
Annice called back on Jane’s cell phone when they had been on the road for an hour. Jane pulled over to take the call.
“I found it.”
“What?”
“The name of the psychic expert. We used her for some guy who said his dead grandfather was telling him to hang around laundromats and steal wet clothes.”
“Sounds more like mental illness to me.”
“It was but that’s not the point. The point is she’s written all kinds of books about psychic phenomena. For us it was overkill calling someone like that but the prosecution pulled out the big guns. The cops were fed up with the guy.”
“Did you win?”
“Yeah we did. But we weren’t all that happy. Guy’s not stealing laundry anymore.”
“So that’s good.”
“His grandfather graduated to the Internet. So far he’s only sending loving messages. As long as he doesn’t start telling him to chop up his neighbor. “
“How do you know what he’s doing now?”
“I see Pete Burrard from time to time.”
“I thought you were tight with Henry.”
“Got to keep my options open you know. Variety is the spice of life.”
Jane sighed. Having one man in her life took all her energy. No way she could handle two at the same time. “So what’s the name? Of the psychic?”
“Just a minute. Name is Selma Thaddeus. Lives in Concord, in New Hampshire. Say, you’re going to Boston right?”
“Right.”
“You’ll pass right by her door. Here’s her phone number.”
Jane closed the phone and reached for the road atlas.
“What did she say?
“There’s a woman who might help us in Concord. It’s not much of a detour. We could swing by there now or on our way back.”
Pierce frowned, thinking. “How much time do we have?”
“We should be fine even if we have to stay overnight. Although we were a bit late setting out.” She met Pierce’s eyes. “It was worth it.”
Something had happened in the last few hours. She had sensed a change in Pierce, a shift in his lovemaking. It had still been burning and intense but she had felt a tenderness that had been missing before. His hands on her had been as warm and caressing as ever but it was as if a barrier had fallen. He allowed himself to be open and vulnerable. Until it had happened she hadn’t even realized that he’d been holding back but now she knew the difference. She smiled at him in their shared knowledge of the transformation in their relationship and he smiled back.
“I think we should know what we’re dealing with,” she said. “Let’s try to find out if your stepmother could really be back in the world and if she poses a threat.”
He nodded, lost in thought. “Maybe that would be best. Let me have the map. I think I’m up to navigating now.”
Jane started the engine and glanced over her shoulder. She’d sounded confident in her desire to find out what was before them but her insides cramped wit
h apprehension.
Chapter Fifteen
“Maybe this was a mistake. I like the coast road better than the interstate but I hadn’t reckoned on all this traffic. Other times of the year we’d be in Concord in an hour and a half.” Jane shifted into neutral and eased into the line of summer traffic. “Today it’s anybody’s guess.”
Pierce placed his hand on the nape of her neck and rubbed gently. “Some things you can’t control,” he said. “It’s not your fault. See how tense you are? You need a relaxing massage.”
“Mmm. Sounds good.” Jane arched back against his hand.
A convertible full of teenagers slid alongside. Two youngsters in shorts and tank tops were sprawled on the back seat, soda cans in hand. The boy waved a bare foot at them, wiggling his toes.
“Did you phone the number Annice gave you?” Pierce leaned forward and waved back, eliciting a cheer from the adolescents.
Jane nodded and rolled another three feet forward. “I couldn’t give a definite arrival time but she said there’s no problem if I call when we approach Concord. She’ll be home all evening.” Pierce’s hand still lay lightly on her shoulder. It felt solid and reassuring.
“So what are we going to tell her exactly?”
“I think we should pose the question as a hypothetical story. Just tell her we’re researching psychic phenomena.”
“If she’s truly psychic she’ll know there’s more to it.”
A space opened up as a car left the line and Jane took advantage of the gap.
“I’m not sure she has any abilities like that. From what Annice said she’s more of a researcher.”
“Let’s hope so.”
Jane shot him a glance. “Are you okay with consulting her?”
“I guess so.”
She saw the set of his mouth as he stared ahead. “What’s the problem?”
“I’d just like us to get on with our life and forget everything about my stepmother.”
“But we can’t do that if she keeps appearing.”
“We’re not even sure it’s her. And the only way to be sure is to let her get close.”
Jane shivered despite the summer heat. “You think that could be dangerous?”
“She murdered once. Are you prepared for her to do it again?”
Jane put a hand over his. “I think that’s why we have to know what’s possible.”
“Anything is possible.” He pushed his hair back and rubbed his hand over his face. “We could lose it all.”
The traffic light ahead changed to green and the cars began to move again. Jane had to watch the road so she couldn’t look at Pierce, but she felt the tension in his body.
“We won’t lose it,” she said firmly. “We’ll go home after we talk to this woman and you see the lawyers in Boston. We’ll know as much as we can about how to send your stepmother back where she came from if she is here.” She made her voice positive and cheerful as if she were encouraging her fifth graders to run another lap of the playing field. But a cold knot of fear sat just above her breastbone, threatening to spread and take over her mind unless she fought it with all she had.
“What happened to the railway?” Pierce said suddenly.
It took a moment to switch to a new line of thought. “The trains? They’re still there but not much used nowadays. People prefer to drive.”
“There was a great service when I was around.”
“America started a love affair with the automobile. We built roads instead of track and rolling stock. This is the result.” She gestured to a monstrous semi trailer that quivered and shuddered in the adjoining lane.
Pierce laughed. “Ironic that your car can drive a hundred miles an hour but it won’t get to Boston any faster than my roadster would have done decades ago.”
“I know. Progress.”
The road opened up a couple of miles farther on as some traffic peeled off toward Old Orchard Beach and then Kennebunkport. Jane pressed on the gas pedal and they covered the next few miles in good time.
Jane followed Route Nine and then Four, passing over the I-95. Traffic below them was bumper to bumper. “Not such a mistake after all, to take the other road,” she said.
They passed through North Berwick and then reached Dover, following on to Concord. Jane glanced at her watch. “Four o’clock. We didn’t stop for lunch. I bet you’re hungry.”
“Just a ghost of my former self.”
She laughed. “That’s not really funny. Want a hamburger to keep you going?”
“Sounds good.”
She steered the car into a fast-food drive-through and they ordered drinks and burgers. A small patch of grass offered a couple of picnic tables in the shade. When their order came Jane parked and they took one of the tables.
“There’s a nice old hotel in Concord where I stayed once. I think it dates from the eighteen hundreds.”
Pierce groaned. “More old stuff.”
“It’s beautiful.” Jane smacked him lightly on the arm. “It’s modernized of course, but I like the old stuff.”
“I know. That’s why you like me, right?” He took her hand and looked into her eyes.
“Right.”
His tone was light but she saw seriousness in his eyes and vulnerability in his face, which stabbed her heart. She could sense his anxiety about the interview with the lawyers and she knew he was worried about the possibility of his stepmother having rejoined the world. Jane was his link to both the past and the future. Their relationship made it all possible.
She squeezed his hand, let it go and gathered up the debris of their lunch. “First let’s worry about finding a room,” she said.
The historic inn in Concord was situated on a quiet, tree-lined street. They pulled in front of the three story building. It was a beautiful Victorian brick structure and a shiny plaque near the main entrance indicated it was built in 1849.
“Older than me,” Pierce said as he looked up at the façade.
“But inside it’s modern.”
“Just like me.” He grinned at her and took her hand. “Lead on.”
The entrance was furnished like a large sitting room in a family home, with comfortable chairs, small tables and deep pile rugs in restful greens and blues. Jane located the reception desk tucked discreetly into a corner. The young man greeted her with a smile.
“Welcome. I’ll check your name for your reservation.”
“I didn’t make one.”
The clerk frowned. “Oh dear. At this time of year—” He turned the pages of the register and shook his head. “I’m really sorry.” The phone rang on the desk. “Excuse me a moment.” Jane sighed and hitched her purse onto her shoulder. They would have to scour the motels on the outskirts of the city.
“They don’t have a room,” she said to Pierce. “I should have thought of calling for a reservation.”
The clerk put down the phone. “You’re in luck,” he said. “That was a cancellation. Would you like to take it? It’s our best room, a queen mini suite with hot tub and balcony.”
“We’ll take it.” Jane unzipped her purse to find her credit card.
The room was on the top floor and had views over the old part of the city. A tree sheltered the balcony with its spreading branches, where a small table and chairs stood invitingly. In the bedroom area, the wooden headboard gleamed with a silky patina that coordinated perfectly with the white handwoven cover. In the sitting area a TV was housed in an antique cupboard in front of the faded chintz sofa with large, round arms.
Jane looked around with a sigh of contentment. “Isn’t this lovely?” she said. “There’s a hot tub.” The bathroom was a masterpiece of modernity inserted into a beautifully paneled room. The promised hot tub stood in front of the large window next to the gleaming shower. She peeped through the curtains. “No one to overlook us,” she exclaimed and drew back the drapes.
“Do you like it?” She turned back to Pierce who still stood on the threshold. He nodded slowly. “Very nice. It gives
me ideas about what can be done with the mansion if I inherit it.”
“Of course you’ll inherit it.” She moved toward him and slid her arms ‘round his waist. “This is an omen, getting this room. It means everything is going to go perfectly with the lawyers.”
“Is that right?” Pierce’s voice was subdued but he drew her head to his shoulder and stroked her hair.
“Let me call this psychic person and make an appointment.”
She released him with a kiss and took her cell phone from her purse.
Selma Thaddeus answered on the second ring. Selma’s voice was deep and smooth. It was impossible to tell how old she might be.
“I’m sorry, my dear,” she said when Jane asked for an appointment, “I know I said I would be home this evening but I forgot about a speaking engagement tonight at the university. I am free tomorrow morning at nine. Could you make that?”
“We have to be in Boston tomorrow. We were really hoping to see you tonight.”
“I see. Can you tell me once again exactly what you want to know?”
“A friend of ours has been experiencing some strange happenings and thinks it might be something to do with ghosts. We wanted to ask you about other manifestations you’ve studied to see if this could be real or imaginary.”
“A friend of yours, eh?” Jane could hear the chuckle in the velvety voice. “Well, I can certainly tell you if the experiences he’s having are anything like others I’ve documented.”
“That’s exactly what we want.”
Selma paused as if weighing what Jane had just told her. “I usually go to bed quite late and I should be home by ten tonight. I’d be happy to meet you then. Will that suit you?”
“Thank you. We’ll be there.”
Jane tucked the phone away and pushed back her hair, then felt Pierce’s arms wind ‘round her. She leaned back against him and let out a long breath. “Selma Thaddeus can’t see us until later tonight. We have to go over about ten.
He rubbed his cheek against her hair. “So we have the rest of the afternoon and this evening to ourselves.”
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