by Jillian Neal
Sienna shook her head against him, but he would never allow her to lose the place where she was so certain her grandmother would always be. Stubbornly refusing to elaborate on his plan, he held her tightly until she finally lifted her head and allowed him to wipe away a few of her tears.
“Nana believed…” Her chin trembled and she scrubbed her hands over her face to start again. “Gypsies believe… I believe that if you bring beauty to a place then you leave a part of your soul there. I don’t want you to leave any piece of your soul here, Ryan. Roby can’t have that. He doesn’t deserve that.”
“Hey.” Ryan cradled her chin in his hand and gazed into her tear-stained eyes. “When I was fifteen-years-old, I met this incredible girl that turned my whole world upside down. I stared into these mystical hazel eyes, and I fell so in love I could never ever let her go. Sweet, kind, sexy as hell, with a smart mouth and an even smarter head, and a body that drives me crazy. The most beautiful creature on this earth both inside and out. And flowing deep within this girl is Gypsy fire, and she lit my entire world. Made my whole life worth living. That girl with the wild eyes and Gypsy blood, she’s had all of my heart and my entire soul since the moment she first kissed me. No one else could ever have a part of it because it’s always belonged to her. Do you know what she used to tell me?”
Her smile was a half-haunted memory. She shook her head.
“She used to say that there was Gypsy magic on this shore, and that you could hear the old Gypsy songs when the tides came in, and when the children laughed, and played. I believe that, Sienna. I don’t know how, but we ended up back here, and then somehow I managed to make you mine again. If that’s not magic, I don’t know what is. I’m not going to let you lose this Inn, or this beach, or me. And I’m not going to lose my little girl. This is all going to work. We’re gonna make a little magic of our own, baby. Let’s not doubt Nana and every single Gypsy soul that conspired to bring us back here. They haven’t let us down yet.”
Twenty-Eight
By Tuesday night, Ryan had finished the tile work on the backsplash over the new kitchen cabinets. He was planning on picking up Sienna’s Viking range the next day after the trial. The vent work was already prepped. She could cook on it the next evening, if all went well.
Sienna, however, had been a disaster most of the day. John had arrived at lunchtime to prepare for the hearing the next morning. He’d gone over everything Sienna was to say and do, gathered all of Ryan’s receipts on the work he’d completed, and had every form of document he’d been able to locate on Nana’s care for the Inn. The tax documents and Nana’s will had been submitted to the Circuit court. He’d done everything he could to prove that Sienna should take rightful ownership of the Inn without further payment. It all depended on the judge and what Roby managed to pull out of his ass.
Ryan had spoken to a real-estate attorney in Wilmington and had an offer drawn up for the full price of the Inn. It was in his Suburban to be taken to the courthouse the next morning.
Catching her in another frantic pace down the hallway, Ryan wrapped her up in his arms. “Everything is going to be fine. I promise you.”
Sienna wished he would stop saying that. First of all, no matter how much he might want it to be true, it wasn’t. He was essentially lying to her. Well, maybe not exactly. Nana’s voice echoed in her head once again. There are such things as false truths, Sienna, and honest lies.
I know that, Nana. Sienna wondered if she was certifiably crazy since she’d taken to arguing with a dead woman in her head. But she did know that. She was well versed in Gypsy proverbs, but that wasn’t going to save her Inn.
After enduring a fitful night of no sleep where Sienna would break down in tears that were preceded by terrible nightmares, Ryan wasn’t surprised that he awoke alone again.
She’d begged to stay at the Inn despite the fumes of tile glue that permeated the air. She’d insisted that it was her last night in her home. Though he’d adamantly refused to believe that, he hadn’t argued when she’d wanted to sleep there as long as he got to sleep with her.
He ordered himself from the bed. He had to go back to his beach house to get his suit and prepare for the hearing. Locating Sienna took no time at all. She’d returned to her spot on the deck. Tears were leaking steadily down her face. It took all of his mighty resolve to keep from revealing his plan, but she would come unglued if she knew what he was up to.
He tried to get her to eat, but she refused. The only request she made was that he go back to his house to get ready. She wanted a little time alone to tell Nana and the Inn good-bye, she’d explained.
He had to give her room. He could never smother her. Though she’d more than proven her love and dedication to their relationship, she would never be free of her Gypsy blood or that propensity to fly. Ryan knew he must always remember that.
Squeezing her tightly to his chest, he whispered kisses in her hair. “You, my baby, are going to cook me something delicious on your new oven when we get back here tonight. I have no doubt. This is going to work.”
She managed a half nod, and hugged him tightly before making what appeared to be a death march back inside the Inn. Shaking his head, Ryan drove the Suburban back to the beach house.
Sienna forced herself to make detailed mental images of the Inn. She ran her hands along each of the old hand-written cookbooks in the kitchen. Ryan had installed a shelf for their care. Despite her pleas for him to stop working, the Inn looked amazing. He’d put so much thought and care in each thing he’d crafted for her. It wounded her that he was leaving a piece of himself here. That was one he couldn’t have back, couldn’t share with her, couldn’t give to Evie. Ted Roby didn’t deserve any of Ryan.
She travelled through each of the bedrooms, remembering playing in them as a little girl. Inhaling deeply she tried to memorize the scents, the infusions of her grandmother’s cooking, the patchouli oil, and the wildflowers she would pick and place all over the house.
Tears she was unable to halt were her constant companion. She would wipe them away as she made her good-byes.
The old phone in the kitchen gave its shrill ring. No one had called the Inn since she’d moved back in. It was probably the bank calling. She was late with her first payment, so she begrudgingly answered.
“This is Owen Sanders. I was looking for Ryan McNamara. I know he’s working out there. It’s important I speak to him.”
“Oh.” Sienna thought the Sanders used to own a few houses way up the beach. “I’m sorry. Ryan’s not here. Could I take a message?”
“Do you know how I might be able to reach him? I need to speak with him about the closing on his beach house. I’d like to move it up a week or so.”
“Wait! What?” Confusion spiraled through Sienna’s body.
“I’ll try his cell again. If you see him would you mention that I called, and that I have the paperwork for the McNamara’s old place? I’d be willing to pay a little more if he’ll move out sooner. I’d like to get it on the website as our showpiece for the summer renters.”
Goose bumps lifted the hair on Sienna’s arms. Panic sped her heart. No. No, he couldn’t. This was why he was so certain she wasn’t going to lose the Inn. He wasn’t going to let her lose it because he was going to sell his only home to buy the Inn for her.
“I have to go.” Sienna slammed down the phone. The ramifications made her woozy. Her heart slammed against her rib cage. She could not let him do this. If he didn’t have somewhere to live, somewhere that he could prove he owned, he would lose Evie! If Alexa found out, it would all be over. NO! She would not allow this. She had to do something.
Letting her propensity to fly be her guide, Sienna grabbed her purse, ran past the porch shouting out a plea for Nana to do something, and leapt in her van. It hadn’t been cranked it two weeks, so she wasted no time pumping the gas pedal and coaxing it to start. When the engine finally complied, she floored it and never let off the gas.
Twenty-Nine
&n
bsp; Ryan grimaced as he glanced at his watch. He shouldn’t have stopped at Mac and Molly’s for eggs. He’d been trying to give Sienna some time. He knew his shower wouldn’t take long but then Evie had called.
“Evie, baby, I’m sorry. Daddy has to go, but I’ll call you tonight and tell you a story, okay?”
“Okay, Daddy. Bye. I love you!”
“Love you too, baby girl.” He whisked through the kitchen and picked up his briefcase. John was already waiting on them at the courthouse. According to him, Roby was there, looking a little too smug.
Checking his rearview, Ryan pressed the accelerator. He leapt from the Suburban and raced back inside the Inn, not certain what state Sienna might’ve worked herself into in his absence.
“Baby, you ready?” He checked the back deck again, but this time she wasn’t there. Her ancient cell phone, one she generally forgot to carry with her, was on the kitchen counter. He’d planned to buy her a newer, nicer one once he got paid for the work on Sander’s rental properties the next week. The battery on the phone was dead once again. She hadn’t had the funds to replace it.
“Sienna?” He headed up the stairs. “Baby?” He told himself not to panic. She wouldn’t run away from him, though the hearing might’ve made her feel cornered. He shouldn’t have left her there.
“Sienna!” he shouted down the long hallway that contained all of the guestrooms. Checking each of them methodically, he found them hauntingly empty. Nausea washed over him. He rechecked the kitchen and her bedroom. The clothes she’d been planning on wearing to the trial were laid out on the bed, but she was nowhere to be found.
Dammit, where is she? This wasn’t the time to run away. If she didn’t show, Roby would win automatically. None of this made any sense. This wasn’t Sienna.
She is a gypsy! John’s derision rang in his ears.
The harrowing sense of loss that he’d just barely managed to push away after spending two weeks with her took over his mind with ease. The tally of all that had been taken from him, all that he’d endured, every snide nasty remark Alexa had backhanded him with, every time he’d handed Evie over to her mother, every collection agency call he’d withstood, his father’s trial, it all pressed in on him with crushing weight.
Where was she?
His cell vibrated in his pocket. Frantic, he answered without checking who was calling. “Sienna!” he pled.
“Dammit! Where are you two? The hearing starts in five minutes. Roby is salivating!”
“I… I can’t find Sienna.” His voice was distant and hollow. His bones felt like lead. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t think.
“What?” John spat. “Find her and get her here! Now!” The call ended, and Ryan paced the hallway once more. His fists clenched rhythmically. Down the hall and back again. A trip to nowhere. Where was she?
His temper finally shattered through his practiced resolve. The heel of his leather shoe met the half opened drawer on the old chifforobe. As if to rub vinegar in his gaping wounds, it sprang back open.
In a fit of unmitigated rage he flung the drawer onto the floor. Before he could spin and land his fist in the sheetrock he’d just repaired, he saw it. A neatly folded thick stack of paper half hung in the drawer opening. The drawer contained ancient spools of brightly colored threads. The paperwork must’ve been shoved behind the drawer. That’s why it wouldn’t close.
Ryan lifted the documents and began to read. His eyes goggled as he saw the names on the final page. With the evidence firmly in his hand, he sprinted to the Suburban and put it through his paces. Swerving and cursing the entire way, he drove the emergency brake to the floorboard and vaulted the railing on the County Clerk’s office. The courthouse was right across the street, but he had someone he needed to pick up first.
Steady tears streamed down Sienna’s face as she flew down the interstate. How could anyone love her that much? She didn’t know, but there was one thing that Ryan McNamara needed to survive and somehow she was going to get his precious little girl for him. Alexa sounded like some form of Satan’s spawn, but Sienna had to figure out some way to get her to sign those papers before she realized that he was selling his house. She had to talk to Alexa before Ryan tried to buy the Inn from Roby.
“Go faster!” She ordered her van, and it magically seemed to understand. With a quick lurch forward, Sienna flew past the South Carolina line.
“Look a little nervous there, Upton. You mother-fucking asshole, did you really think you’d get away with this?” Ryan grasped Upton’s scrawny body by the scruff of his neck and half-dragged and half-walked him to the courthouse.
“What the hell? I barely managed to talk the judge into delaying the trial. He gave me fifteen minutes, so I’m guessing he’s not feeling particularly generous at this point!” In his fury, John didn’t seem to notice the fact that Ryan was dragging Robert Upton.
“Well, then figure out how to submit this because Roby is a crook and he had help.” Ryan shoved Upton and the contract of sale on The Gypsy Inn, signed to Ruth Cooper from Ted Roby and made official by the Assistant to the County Clerk, Robert Upton, before his best friend.
John made quick work of the documents while Upton shivered in his boots. “Look there, Nana knew she was supposed to have the deed.” Ryan pulled out a yellowed piece of notebook paper from the stack, a note from Nana to Sienna explaining that she was worried about Upton and the deed. “Roby went into this seven years ago intending to lay claim to the Inn when Ruth died. A new deed was issued when Ruth bought it from him free and clear, but Upton very conveniently never filed it. If no one legally owned the Inn, Roby could come in pay off the taxes and sell the land to investors. He was perfectly happy for Ruth to pay him year after year, but he had to figure out something else when she demanded that he give her the deed. She probably saved up for years to pay him off and trusted that the deed would be filed appropriately. He never knew about Sienna. When she showed up and took possession, he panicked. Greedy bastard wanted the land, especially with investors chomping at the bit to buy, and he couldn’t risk Sienna finding this!”
“You were there the other night!” John jerked Upton’s head up to meet his eyes. “You were looking for this, weren’t you? You have some kinda deal with Roby? Gonna split the profits that came from the highest bidder on property you’d already sold.”
In his terrorizing fear, Upton managed a frantic nod.
Mac Montgomery’s tall body rose from a chair nearby. Obscured in a cowboy hat, Ryan hadn’t noticed him in his fervor to get to Upton and Roby. “I knew you were up to something, Upton. Once a rat, always a rat. This is low, even for you. You had to find those papers because it’d look mighty bad for your campaign, trying to swindle an old lady and her granddaughter out of their home, now wouldn’t it? Gypsies can hold a grudge, Upton. Don’t mess with us. Gypsy blood runs deep, and we never forget,” he growled.
Thanking God or Nana, or whomever had arranged it, for making it all the way to Emory Hospital in downtown Atlanta without getting a speeding ticket, Sienna leapt out of her van and raced to the elevators.
Short of breath, she all but collided with the admissions desk. “I’m sorry. Uh, I need to know where Mrs. Baldwin’s room is.” She didn’t know Alexa’s mother’s first name, but an idea sprang to mind. She had to try. “Uh, her daughter, Alexa, asked me to come. Mrs. Baldwin’s had a stroke. It’s looking bad. I need to be with Alexa now.”
That’s my girl! Nana cheered her on.
“Of course, ma’am.” The kind woman smiled and typed quickly on her keyboard. “She’s been moved out of Intensive Care so her family can be with her. Her family is probably in the waiting room on the third floor. You’re welcome to visit them there.”
“Thank you so much!” Sienna leapt on an opening elevator, having no idea what she was about to say or how Alexa would react.
With a deep breath, she stepped off of the elevator.
The judge narrowed his eyes at Roby. “So, let me get this straight. You and t
he bane of the entire Circuit Court here attempted to swindle Ruth Cooper, a dear woman that once brought my little girl soup that lowered her fever and might’ve saved her life, out of her house seven years ago. After spending years, making her give you her hard earned profits on a piece of property you’d abandoned, then you tried to take it away from her granddaughter. You ransacked the place. Breaking and entering twice….”
“I was only there once, your honor, sir!” Upton squealed like a stuck pig. “And it was an honest mistake, my forgetting to file that deed and all. Anybody can make a mistake, your honor.”
“If it was an honest mistake, Upton, why were you at The Gypsy Inn looking for this late Friday night, which you just admitted to?”
“So, it was you that tore the place up while we were in Atlanta?” Ryan leveled his cold glare on Ted Roby. Mildly more intelligent than his partner in crime, Roby turned his head and refused to answer.
“Don’t worry, Mr. McNamara. He’ll be talking loud and clear when he’s put on the stands here in a few weeks. Ted Roby, you are under arrest for breaking and entering, vandalism, embezzlement by swindling, and just generally being an ass. Anything you say will be held against you here in my courtroom. Lock him up.” Judge Anderson ordered the cops standing by.
“And you, Upton, are under arrest for public corruption, breaking and entering without permission or knowledge of the legal homeowner, and aiding and abetting that yahoo.” Anderson gestured towards Roby, who was being led out of the courtroom in cuffs. “Maybe you could print all of that up on your campaign flyers and wave ‘um around town. Get him out of here!”
“Sienna!” Evie’s sweet voice met her as she turned the corner. She raced into Sienna’s arms.
“Hi, Evie, uh, is your mommy here?” She tried to clear the terror from her shaking voice as she stood from Evie’s exuberant hug.