Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
ELLA
M y throat tightened as I read the journal passage. The handwriting on the page was not nearly as tight and neat as on the rest of the pages. There were two stains on the paper, and I could easily imagine tears falling from Margaret’s eyes as she wrote the entry:
Such a day. Such a day. I will not soon forget this terrible, wretched moment in time. And the looks of sympathy, the wishes for you, my dear, to rest in peace. I nearly pulled off my veil and ran screaming across the cemetery grounds because my soul will not rest in peace. It has been torn asunder, ripped from my heart and thrown carelessly out into the dreary, bleak landscape that is my new world. For I cannot imagine sunlight, fresh air or the beauty of a butterfly being anything but painful without you by my side. Chester, my love, my heart, my soul, there are no words to describe the pain. Just a month ago, the seamstress was putting the final touches on the most beautiful confection of a wedding dress, a gown you will never see, a gown your strong hands will never slip tenderly from my shoulders and hips. I curse the dress. I curse the beautiful butterflies. I curse any sliver of happiness that comes my way because I know it will never be enough to erase my torment. Mostly my dear, I curse that terrible fever, that ferocious, relentless, savage illness that cleaved you from my life for good and has left me a mere shell of my former self. As you lay struggling to take your last breaths, you begged me to move on with my life, to find another man worthy of my love, but it will never be. You were the only one for me, my love. There will never be anyone else.
I took a deep breath and blinked back the tears. I’d been so lost in the passage, I hadn’t heard Rhett walk into the room. I swiped clumsily at my tears.
He stepped forward with a look of concern. “Is everything all right?”
I smiled and sniffled. “Just little ole me and my volcano of emotions. Sorry if I alarmed you.” I took another deep breath. “I found the passage that confirms my first theory. Chester died before the wedding day. A terrible, ferocious, relentless, savage fever. Her words.” I glanced down at the stained page. “She was devastated. We always assume people with immeasurable wealth are perpetually happy but?—”
“That’s definitely not the case.” Rhett’s face dropped as he muttered the words. He raked his hair back and took a deep breath. “Lunch is ready. That’s what I came to tell you. If you can part with Margaret for a while.”
I looked longingly at the journal in my lap. “You’re right. I’ve spent the last few hours with this journal, and I already feel a connection to her.” I stood up and placed the journal on the chair. “Sorry Mags, but mac and cheese—you get it, right?”
I followed Rhett out of the room. He glanced over at me in the dimly lit corridor. “Do you think Mags ate boxed mac and cheese?”
“Probably not since I don’t think it was available yet, but then, if I had to wear a corset and tight bodice, I’d probably skip the mac and cheese, too.” I couldn’t hold back the smile when we reached the kitchen. Rhett had crumbled crispy toast on top of the bowls of noodles. I had no idea why, but it touched my heart that he’d taken me up on my suggestion. “You added the toast.”
“Yep, and I think I did an admirable job of it.” He motioned toward the table. “I’ve only got water and beer to drink.”
“Water’s fine.” I sat down. He brought over two glasses of water and sat. A silent, awkward moment followed, the kind that follows after you sit down to dinner with a first date. It was silly, because this was definitely not a date.
“The chimney expert is coming at three today,” he said. “I’m looking forward to some fires in this dust dungeon. Of course, it has also occurred to me that I need to start the fires.”
I covered my full mouth and snickered. I swallowed. “You just remembered that, did ya? The two things generally go hand in hand.”
He nodded. There was no smile, but a light crease formed on the side of his mouth. It made him even more attractive, and I was taking it as a win toward coaxing a smile. “My last house had an electric fireplace. One push of a button and a yellow, blue and entirely manufactured fire lit up the hearth. They don’t produce much heat either.”
“I always wondered about that.” I took another bite and nodded my approval. “Bravo on the topping.”
Rhett followed suit. “It really does add a layer of goodness to a food that my ten-year-old self already considered close to perfect, orange cheesy powder and all.”
I sat back and looked at him. “So, you were a boxed mac and cheese kid, too? Good to hear. For a moment, I wondered if you were from some really rich family like Margaret.”
“Oh?” he paused mid-bite. “What made you think that?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. There’s just something about you. Anyhow, I’m glad to know that you’re just one of us regular folk. Not that super rich people are all bad. My sister, Isla, is dating a wonderful man named Luke. He’s as rich as a bowl of whipped cream, and he adores my sister.”
Rhett nodded. “Luke Greyson?”
I looked up in surprise. “Yes, do you know him?”
He shrugged. “Might have met him. You’re right. He’s a great guy.”
“Wow, small world,” I said. I had no idea in what capacity they would have met but decided not to be nosy. Besides, I could just ask Luke.
“Are you getting any farther on your story, your first assignment?” Rhett asked.
“Not sure. I’m learning quite a lot about Margaret. For example, she used to have two gray wolfhounds, Troy and Harold. She loved them dearly, and since she was rich, each dog had their own four-poster canopy bed that was covered with downy quilts. Apparently, Troy suffered from hip troubles, and she wanted him to be comfortable. The kitchen staff prepared them meals with fresh rabbit, quail and chicken. At first, I thought, ‘Why, that’s so darn eccentric,’ only then I reminded myself that we had a big gray cat named Biscuit while we were growing up. Nonna found him down on the beach, wet and hungry and lost. We treated Biscuit like a king, and every Sunday Nonna would open a can of tuna, so he could eat dinner on his little stool near the kitchen table. We slept three to a bed in the cottage, and Biscuit would crawl in between Isla and me. We would each have a sliver of the mattress because Biscuit would stretch his paws straight out in front of him"—I stretched my arms out—"and steal as much room as possible. It wasn’t his own four-poster bed, but in his mind, he was a king.”
“Three to a bed. Sounds familiar. When I was eight, my Aunt Sherry moved in with us, and she had twins, Jason and Jeremy. They were six, and they were holy terrors. They had their own bed, but it never failed that one of them would have a bad dream and crawl into my twin bed. I’d spend the rest of the night dodging rogue punches and kicks. They were wild sleepers.” We took a few more bites. Boxed mac and cheese was notorious for getting cold fast, even under a layer of toast crumbs.
“You said it was Nonna’s cottage. Your grandmother? She raised you?”
“Yeah.” I took the deep breath that was always a necessity before talking about my mom.
“Didn’t mean to pry,” he said quickly.
“No, it’s fine. I don’t mind. Our mom died suddenly back when we were little girls. Dad traveled for business, and Nonna took us in. She was wonderful. She’s gone, too.”
“I’m sorry. How many sisters?”
“I have four sisters. My sister, Aria, owns Whisper Café. She mentioned you came in.” I rolled in my lips. “Not that we were talking about you,” I added lamely. “It’s just nobody has lived in this house for years, and you?—”
“Were the strange, grim sucker who bought the place.” He wasn’t angry, but I still shrank down some in my seat. I was never going to forgive myself for being so judgmental.
“I’m such a big mouth.” I shrank down even more. I peered up at him, and our gazes came together.
“You’re not a big mouth, Ella. You’re honest. I can’t tell you how refreshing that is.”
I didn’t know how to respond, so I took another bite of food. I was having lunch with the biggest puzzle of a man I’d ever met. And I knew so little about him.
“Where did you move from? And why Whisper Cove?” I asked.
“I lived in the city.” Vague answer but I sort of expected it. “And why Whisper Cove?”
I giggled. “Did you just pick up a dart and throw it at a map?”
“Something like that. I guess you could say this house found me, and the town came with it. It’s a beautiful town, by the way. Have you been here your whole life?” Rhett was expert at turning the conversation away from his life and back on to mine.
“Yes, my whole life. I know the gulls by name,” I joked. “Oh, just FYI, my sister Isla will be opening a bakery this spring. It was her recipe I used for the cookies. She bakes wonderful pastries and breads, too. Everyone is waiting anxiously for the door to open.”
“Nothing better than a good bakery. Then I guess between your two sisters, I won’t have to worry too much about getting this kitchen into working order.”
“I can wash these dishes,” I said. “Since you were nice enough to make me lunch.”
“No, I’ve got it. Besides, I have this private deal with the sink. I talk to it nicely and turn the spigot just right, and it rewards me with a trickle of water. It would take a great deal of training to pass those skills on.”
“You really do have your work cut out for you with this house.” My gaze swept around the room. “Still, I think it’ll be worth it. This old house needs to be needed again. I almost feel guilty that we’ve given the place such a bad rap with this whole curse nonsense.”
“Do you think it’s nonsense? I thought your first assignment was all about the curse.” He stood up and picked up the bowls.
“It was. I mean it is, but after reading some of Margaret’s entries, I emailed my boss to see if I could write a series about Margaret Grimstone. She was very active in women’s charities and pursuing things that were for the good of all. She was the main patron of a school for little girls. Girls from farming communities who wouldn’t have had a chance at education if not for her school. I found one article about Margaret Grimstone’s death, and it briefly mentioned that she died from injuries sustained in a fall. The rest of the article was about her father’s accomplishments. But it seems Margaret had plenty of her own, but since she was a woman?—”
“She wasn’t considered important enough,” Rhett finished for me. “That’s a shame.”
“That’s what I think. That’s why I sent my editor the idea for the Margaret Grimstone series instead of focusing on the silly curse.”
Rhett pulled his mouth in.
“What? Do you think it was a bad idea?” I asked. “Oh no, you’re right. How pushy of me. This is my first assignment. I’ve only just signed with the publication. I don’t even know the editor yet, and here I am pushing my ideas on her. Do you think I’ve made a terrible misstep? I have, haven’t I? I’ve never had a job like this before, a real job tied to a career. Well, that sounds bad, doesn’t it? Lazy Ella has never had a real job before. The truth is my sisters have been mostly supporting me. It was at their insistence. They wanted me to pursue my writing dream.”
“That’s nice of them. You’re all really close, aren’t you?”
“Very. We finish each other’s thoughts, laugh at the same things, and sometimes, if one of us is in trouble or distress, the others can sense it even before they hear about it. It’s all due to Nonna’s magical upbringing.”
“You’re all lucky to have each other. It’s hard to find people who will always have your back, people you can trust with your heart and soul.”
Rhett looked lost in thought, like he had when I first saw him standing on the edge of the cliff. His expression looked pained.
“You’ve never found someone like that?” I asked quietly.
My question pulled him from his thoughts. He shook his head. “Thought I had once but I was wrong. Guess I’m not always a good judge of character.”
“It’s not that. It’s just that some people are really good at hiding their true character.”
We stood together in the vast, dilapidated kitchen. The sink dripped water onto the dishes Rhett had just set down.
“Unfortunately, once you meet someone like that,” Rhett said, “it’s hard to ever trust anyone again.”
I smiled at him. “That trust will come back. You just have to find the right person.”
He stared at me long and then it happened. He smiled. It wasn’t big and splashy, one that was heading toward laughter. It was faint, reserved, but it was there. It wasn’t my imagination this time.
“You might be one of the most interesting people I’ve met in a long time, Ella. And if this house is cursed, I have that curse to thank for bringing you to my front door.”
I couldn’t help but blush at his nice words. I pointed my thumb back over my shoulder. “Uh, I’ll get back to the journal for another hour, then I’ll get out of the way so the chimney guys can do their thing. Thanks for lunch.” I spun around and scurried down the hallway. My heart rate zipped along at twice its usual speed, and my knees didn’t seem to be as solid as they were a few seconds ago. I had no idea what was happening, but it certainly wasn’t anything I’d ever felt before. I was breathing hard, and my face felt flushed by the time I reached the library.
I picked up the journal and plopped down into the chair. My fingers were trembling slightly as they rubbed over the name on the cover.
“Well, Mags, we’ve got to talk. The weirdest thing just happened.”