by Tracy March
“Because we asked her not to until we worked out the details,” Merri said.
“You’re going to love Ellie,” Holly said to Lindsey. “She grew up with Carden and me. Her artwork is amazing. She used to have space in the artists’ gallery on Snowberry Street, near my office. I was so sad when she moved to Phoenix a couple years ago.”
“With a young man who didn’t deserve her.” Merri pursed her lips. “But sometimes we have to learn things the hard way.”
Merri was much older than Bryce’s mom, but his mom had said the same thing to him countless times over the years.
Milly nodded ruefully, the jewels in her hair combs glinting in the light. “We’re sorry Ellie’s heart got broken. Hopefully she’ll be happy being back with her friends and family here.” Merri smiled. “Ellie will make things even livelier at our place. She helped us during the summer before she moved, so she can pick up right where she left off.” Merri set her twinkling gaze on Bryce. “Sounds as if you’re making a big move yourself. Lindsey tells us you’re buying the abandoned lodge,” she said, seemingly without judgment.
Bryce nodded, and took another quick gulp of his drink. He’d almost gotten comfortable listening to Ellie’s story. “Yes, ma’am.”
All the women’s gazes settled on him as they waited for him to continue.
He cleared his throat. “My goal is to replicate the success I’ve had with the adventure lodge I own in Costa Rica. I’m excited for the sale to go through, and eager to get started on the renovations. But I’ve discovered something at the lodge that’s raised some questions. I’m really hoping to find some answers before inspections begin.” He wasn’t sure what, if anything, Lindsey had told the sisters about the suite and the picture of their grandfather, but he chose not to make assumptions. “First of all, ‘abandoned’ doesn’t begin to describe the lodge. The place is gutted, with a few random items like lampshades and broken mirrors left behind.”
Merri puckered her pink lips. “That’s a shame. There was a time when it was lovely.”
“I plan to make it that way again,” Bryce said earnestly. “The broker loaned me the keys recently, and Holly and I went on a walk-through. We were on the fourth-floor balcony of one of the wings when she noticed that the number of suites didn’t match up, which might not have been unusual, but that didn’t gel with the numbers on the spec sheets either. So we looked in the area where the door of the missing suite should’ve been. Someone had hidden it behind a sheet of paneling that matched what was already in the hallway.”
The sisters shared a look.
“It could’ve easily gone unnoticed by anyone who wasn’t paying close attention.” Holly said.
Bryce nodded. “We busted through the wall and found a suite, preserved as if the woman staying there had left that very morning, and might be returning anytime.”
“We think she might’ve lived there,” Holly said. “There were way too many clothes and toiletries for a temporary guest, and decorations stored away for several holidays. Even so, we found nothing that clearly identified her.”
But the picture I’m hiding would help…
“Holly mentioned that there was a rumor about a woman disappearing from the lodge just before it closed.” Bryce put his hand over his mouth and dragged it down his chin. “There are things in that suite that make me worry that the rumor might be true. I need to find out before everyone in town learns about it, and my project gets off to a negative start, possibly delayed by a police investigation, and maybe chucked altogether.” Holly cut him a look but he didn’t turn her way. He gazed ahead and took another healthy slug of his Bloody Mary, which was getting dangerously close to empty. “The lodge has always been a downer for this town and the people here. I’d hoped to make a fresh start with it, turn it around, create a place the community can be proud of.” He clenched his jaw. “This situation has the potential to make that nearly impossible.”
A breeze set the wind chimes trilling.
“How may we help?” Milly asked.
“This is a long shot.” Bryce tapped his fingers on the wooden tabletop. “But we found a framed five-by-seven photograph of your grandfather in the suite. We also found a silver ring with the initials VRS engraved on it.” He reached into his shirt pocket, pulled out the ring, and handed it to Merri. “Do you ladies have any idea who the woman was, what became of her, or how your grandfather’s picture might relate?”
Bryce thought he would feel relieved after he got the questions out, but the knot in his chest twisted tighter as the silence stretched. Milly and Merri shared one of their looks, as Holly and Lindsey sat wide-eyed and waiting.
Merri studied the ring for a moment, then passed it to Milly, who did the same.
“This must remain confidential.” Merri squeezed his hand with surprising strength. “Between us and no one else.” She glanced at Lindsey. “Except Carden, of course, because he’s one of us.”
Merri set her gaze on Bryce. “Keeping this quiet means as much to Milly and me as it does to you.” She gave each of them a pointed look. “Agreed?”
Bryce’s hopes peaked. Maybe he was about to get some answers. “You have my word.”
“Mine too,” Holly said.
Lindsey nodded. “Of course.”
“VRS is our niece.” There was no warmth in Milly’s tone. “Our younger sister’s daughter, Victoria Renee Simmonds.”
Bryce’s heart ricocheted off his ribs. Milly had referred to the woman in present tense. Holly put her hand on his thigh and squeezed it.
“She lived at the lodge all the years that it was open,” Merri said, “In that suite on the fourth floor. During that time, she pretended to be in love with Adam Evanston, the lodge’s former owner.”
“Pretended?” Lindsey asked.
Merri nodded. “Victoria has never loved anyone except herself. But she did love the games.”
“What games?” Bryce willed himself to remain patient.
“Swindling and revenge.” Milly’s tone remained flat. “What she did to Adam Evanston and the lodge was her vilest scheme, but it wasn’t the one that got her. Victoria had the demise of the lodge thoroughly mapped out before the plans were even approved. The contractors who lost money, the people who were left without pay, the bank whose loan was never repaid. All of it was premeditated.”
Just as Bryce had thought.
“Why?” Holly asked, looking stricken. Bryce covered her hand, which remained on his thigh, and laced his fingers between hers.
“Because she was greedy and bitter,” Milly said. “But she was also a convincing actress. It didn’t take much for a career swindler to convince a businessman with questionable ethics that they could both walk away richer after ruining the lodge. Victoria and Adam were a perfect match, in the worst kind of way.”
Lindsey furrowed her brow. “What was she bitter about?”
“The fact that my grandfather did so much for the people of Thistle Bend.” Merri raised her chin proudly. “He brought the railroad here, Thistle Bend became a supply center for the surrounding area, and the town and its people thrived. He built the school, the library, and several other buildings that remain in use today. Many organizations and causes still benefit from his living trust.”
“He also took care of Merri and me financially,” Milly said. “But our sister married an unethical man who worked for the competing railroad company. He fought Granddaddy for every expansion and undermined his efforts to partner with the other railroad so they wouldn’t have to compete. Ultimately, he lost his job, and he and our sister ended up nearly broke, raising a teenage daughter. Victoria was always bitter that Granddaddy hadn’t left her family the money she wrongly thought they deserved.”
“That’s probably why she kept his picture in her suite,” Merri said. “As fuel for her bitterness, and motivation for revenge.”
Holly took the last swallow of her Bloody Mary. “So she took it out on the townspeople of Thistle Bend?”
Milly bo
wed her head. “I’m embarrassed to admit it, but yes. In cahoots with Adam Evanston, she intentionally wreaked havoc on the fine people of this town.”
Bryce’s heart thudded. He had his answers, but the story was certainly no fairy tale. It struck him that Milly and Merri were in a position similar to his. None of them wanted to be associated with their relatives who had blazed a trail of wretchedness that the town of Thistle Bend and its people hadn’t deserved.
“We didn’t really know Victoria,” Merri said. “After our sister married her husband, there was little contact between our families. In fact, we had no idea Victoria was here during those years. We learned later that she spent most of her time in that suite or traveling. When she did go into town, people probably took her for a tourist, or an aloof part-time resident. The only time we ever heard from her was at the end, when she called us, begging for a favor. That’s when we learned what had happened—after all the damage was done.”
“What was the favor?” Bryce asked.
Milly shook her head, a little-old-lady scowl on her face. “She wanted us to bail her out of jail in Denver. Evidently she’d squandered all the money she and Adam had swindled, and she was desperate for help.”
“Wait.” Lindsey lifted her hand, palm out. “What was she doing in jail in Denver?”
Merri smoothed her hair back toward her bun although there wasn’t a strand out of place. “That’s where she’d disappeared to, so to speak. Before she set her sights on Adam, she’d assumed a pseudonym and swindled a significant amount of money from a man in Denver. He finally caught up with her and pressed charges.”
“Where is she now?” Holly asked.
Milly stared at the table, looking even older. “She’s in the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility.”
The ladies’ distress tugged at Bryce’s heart. He could relate.
“That’s why she never went back for her things,” Holly said. “But why didn’t Evanston get rid of them? Why leave everything there and hide the suite?”
The ladies looked at each other quizzically.
“Maybe because he hoped someone would find the suite someday and figure out that he wasn’t the only one responsible for all the meanness.” Merri scowled. “Not that such a revelation would make him any less culpable, but he wasn’t known to be a straight thinker.”
“Or maybe Adam really loved Victoria, and he couldn’t bear to get rid of her things,” Milly said. “If that was the case, it’s a shame that he could find love in his heart for a woman like her, and not for the dear people of Thistle Bend.”
Bryce considered both options, unsure whether he believed either or both of them, yet certain that neither would change anything.
“It’s difficult to make sense of any of it,” Merri said. “But like all of you, we had no idea there was a hidden suite with Victoria’s belongings inside.”
Bryce set his gaze on Merri. “Holly and I searched the suite pretty thoroughly. The ring and the photograph of your grandfather are the only items we found that could connect her to you.” He wasn’t being completely honest, and a pang of guilt shot through him. There was also the picture of his father and Victoria, but that would remain Bryce’s secret. “I have the photograph of your grandfather at my cabin, and you have the ring. There’s no reason any of this should go beyond those of us here.”
Merri clutched his hand again, and set her twinkling blue-eyed gaze on his as if she could see through him, just as Dean had mentioned.
“Thank you,” she said. “I’m certain you understand why we’d like to keep this quiet.”
Chapter 18
Holly held Bryce’s hand tightly as they walked back to her house. Their meeting with the Montgomery sisters—and the Bloody Mary—had her light-headed and relieved after finding out the identity of the woman in the suite.
The sun had given way to gathering clouds, the temperature cooler than it had been in the garden at the Princess. Shifting wind whipped her hair across her face, and she swept it away, trying without success to anchor it behind her ear.
“At least we had good weather this morning,” she said.
Bryce had the bag containing the wine bottles tucked under his arm, the glass clinking with each of his steps. He seemed more relaxed now that most of their questions about the suite had been answered, yet she sensed lingering tension. Holly felt it too because she had questions she’d been resisting asking Bryce, and it was time to get some answers for herself.
“Those little ladies are something.” He shook his head, a thoughtful look on his scruffy face. “I wasn’t sure what to make of Dean’s comments about them, but I think he was darn close to the mark.”
Holly had been so focused on the two of them reconciling that she couldn’t clearly recall their conversation. “Remind me what he said.”
“ ‘Watch out for those two little ladies. They’re sweet enough, but I swear they can see right through you. Like they know what you’re thinking before you even know yourself.’ ”
Holly nodded. “I can totally see that. But it’s not creepy. It’s as if they’re fairy godmothers—like I mentioned before.”
“I kept thinking pixies or sprites, but that’s exactly what they’re like—little fairy godmothers.”
“They sure worked their magic with Carden and Lindsey,” Holly said.
“And they resolved lots of my issues with the lodge today.”
Big, fat raindrops began to fall as they reached the curb in front of Holly’s house. They hurried onto the porch and she led Bryce to the swing. “Sit tight. I’ll get some glasses and a corkscrew and we can watch the storm blow in.”
Holly went into the house, and returned with the items, finding Bryce settled on the swing, the bottle of Pinot Noir at his side. She joined him and handed him the corkscrew. “Since opening wine is one of your many talents. Not my favorite one, mind you.” She winked. “But an admirable and useful one just the same.”
He grinned, and got busy opening the wine.
The rain had begun to pour, and lightning flickered in the distance. “I don’t want to be caught in a storm up on the trails, but I love watching them from this swing.”
Bryce uncorked the bottle and filled her glass as she held it. He filled his own, put the bottle aside on the floor, and set the swing in motion. “To Milly and Merri.” He raised his glass.
Holly touched her glass to his, and sipped her wine. “My heart goes out to them. They’re such sweet ladies—a little quirky, but always proper and polite. Sounds as if their sister and her husband were the complete opposite. Awful and rotten. But their niece? What a horror.”
Bryce sat silently as the swing swayed. After a moment, he put his arm around her, pulled her close, and kissed the top of her head. “It had to be hard for you to hear that story, finding out that all the bad things that happened with the lodge had been planned.”
She shook her head. “It revealed that there are two people to blame instead of one. Other than that, nothing has changed. From now on, we can look forward instead of behind us.” She was so eager to get on with everything. To represent Bryce at closing. To see if their romance was real.
The rain fell harder, hissing as it hit the ground, splattering on the street, and forming large puddles.
“Were you really thinking about chucking the lodge deal if things got complicated—like a police investigation, a postponement of closing, and people gossiping about it all?” She looked up at him and caught his gaze.
“As much as I’m dedicated to the project, I have to be wise about it. I have a plan, a time line, and a budget.” He took a long slug of his wine. “I’m ready to face what comes my way when the lodge belongs to me. But I have Los Halcón to think about, too. I couldn’t just stay here in limbo waiting for the situation to be resolved.”
Holly’s stomach sank, even though what he’d said made sound business sense. “How will you manage both projects now that it looks like everything’s going to work out?” She braced hersel
f for his answer, knowing how unlikely it was that he would say he was moving to Thistle Bend full time.
“I hate to be vague,” he said, “but that’s another instance of wait and see. I’ll need to be back and forth between here and Costa Rica, for sure. Mostly here while the lodge is under renovation, and for a while when it reopens. But there are some issues in Costa Rica that will eventually require my attention, too.”
Lightning flashed, not close but getting closer, and thunder rumbled in the distance.
Holly swallowed hard, her heart lurching from one beat to the next. None of that sounded like “I’m moving to Thistle Bend,” and she hadn’t really expected it to, regardless of her wishes. What struck her more at the moment was the tone of his reference to issues in Costa Rica. For some reason she got the feeling they might be personal.
“Is there someone there?” she asked. “Like me?” He’d told her in light conversation at the lodge that he didn’t have a girlfriend right now. But guys had different ways of defining “girlfriend.” He might still have unfinished business between him and someone there.
Bryce shifted his body so she could see his face, and she did the same. He smoothed his fingers through a lock of her hair and held on to the ends for a moment. “There’s no one anywhere like you.” He leaned in and kissed her tenderly.
She closed her eyes, her pulse fluttering in her ears.
“But there was a girl that I met about a year and a half ago, named Whitney,” he said, resting his hand on her thigh. “She was a guest at the resort.”
Holly could relate to that—Max had been a guest at the ski resort here, too.
“Whitney is in the tech industry and her job allowed her to work remotely one week of every six. After we met, she started spending those weeks at Los Halcón, and staying in my villa with me. This went on for more than a year.”
Holly suffered a prick of envy over a girl she didn’t even know.
“From the beginning, I knew she wasn’t my type—and not just in looks. She preferred lounging by the pool to white-water rafting.” He frowned and scrubbed his hand through his hair, leaving it disheveled and even more sexy. “You’d think I would’ve caught a clue, but somehow her lack of enthusiasm for active outdoor activities didn’t sway me. I figured opposites attract and all that.”