Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
ELLA
“ T his is not what I expected,” I said on a stunned breath as I stared down at the crumpled stack of papers on the desk in front of me. “Not at all.”
I’d walked in the misty cold straight to Grimstone with the sole purpose of retrieving my forgotten scarf. I’d also planned to thank Rhett for allowing me into his home and bid him a cold farewell. I was sure I’d be able to find more about the owners of the house and their respective misfortunes on the internet or in the library. Those owners came along later, and from what I’d seen in a quick title search on the county website, they’d been mostly men. But the second Rhett opened the door, my resolve to leave with a sharp goodbye disappeared, and all I could think was that I wanted to get to know the man better. I liked being with Rhett, even with that darn cloud of mystery always hanging over him. In fact, maybe that was why I liked being with him. I’d always liked the mysterious, hard-to-read hero in Nonna’s stories.
I picked up the papers, of various sizes and in different states of wrinkle. Each one had a short note and were all written by the same hand. The style seemed fast and angry but efficient, and each one started with the words “I hereby offer.” And all were signed with the same fast, angry and efficient signature. Because of the propensity for ink from a well to smear and the obvious haste with which each signature was written, it was hard to read the name, but Rhett had found an account ledger tucked in the library shelf that belonged to Magnum Grimstone, Margaret’s cousin and the heir to her fortune, including the house. He’d signed the bottom of each ledger page, and the signatures matched the IOUs sitting on the desk. The more I looked at the hastily scrawled signatures, the more I could make out the individual letters, particularly the capital M and G.
“I’m not very well versed in the world of gambling,” I started.
“They’re gambling debts. I’m sure of it, and from the size of the stack, I’d say Magnum had a gambling problem. Those fell out of one book, a Gentleman’s Equestrian Guide . That stack might only be the tip of the iceberg.”
I picked up the top paper. “He hardly needed the equestrian guide because according to this, he bet away his finest gelding who was of impeccable breeding stock. His words, not mine because I wouldn’t know impeccable breeding stock if it came up and bopped me on the nose.”
I picked up the next piece of paper. It was dated March 14, 1907. We’d confirmed that Magnum took possession of Grimstone Manor in January of 1901. Margaret died at the end of 1899, and her fortune was in probate for several years before all of it was handed over to Magnum. “Here he’s betting away a forty-three-piece silver serving set that he valued at a hundred seventy dollars.” I picked up the next paper. “Six months later he bet away the farm … literally. Apparently, it was a five-acre parcel inland used for raising cattle and pigs.” I glanced up and noticed that Rhett had an anxious expression on his face, like a kid waiting for a cookie. “There’s something very significant in this pile, isn’t there?” I asked.
Rhett smiled slyly. He was wearing a black sweater that looked nothing short of dashing on him, especially with his golden, tanned complexion. “The last one. I thought I’d let you thumb through the others first. It’s really something. Magnum had to be one of the unluckiest men to sit at a poker table.”
I gasped. “Or was he just unlucky after he became owner of Grimstone Manor?”
“Good question.”
I pulled out the last IOU and read it. “’I hereby offer the deed to Grimstone Manor.’ It’s dated November 9, 1911.”
“I checked the county site,” Rhett said. “The house ownership was transferred to a man named Wallace Brimfield in January 1912. There was no purchase price or details listed, so I can only assume?—”
“That Magnum lost the house at the gaming table. Crazy. I guess that’s what happens when you don’t have to work hard to earn something. When it’s just handed to you, it doesn’t mean as much.”
“That and a true gambling addiction is devastating. I knew a guy I went to high school with who lost everything—his business, his house and subsequently, his family. Even when we were teens, he was always betting on football and baseball games. The fact that he constantly lost never deterred him. It’s an addiction, a disease.”
I picked up the pile of paper. “Well, Magnum, as they say, easy come, easy go. You certainly didn’t do your cousin proud. I wonder what happened to Magnum after he signed away the house. There was still the fortune that came with it.”
“Yes, but if he was handing off silver, horses and houses, it makes you wonder if all his liquid assets had already been lost.” Rhett walked over to the hearth and dropped another log on the fire.
“I hadn’t thought of that, but you must be right. Usually it’s cash first.” I lifted the stack of papers. “Then gamblers start dropping IOUs in the pot. He apparently kept them for—sentimental reasons?” I suggested.
“Hard to know why he kept them. Maybe it was a way to keep reminding himself that he had a gambling problem.”
“Like when people put pictures of themselves dressed in a bathing suit on the fridge. Isla and I used to do that when we were teens. Didn’t work at all. Still dove in for the ice cream and leftover fried chicken. And it obviously didn’t work for Magnum. I’ll have to see if I can find his death certificate online. Then I’ll know if his cursed fate followed him even after he left the house.”
Rhett finished poking the fire. He nodded at the flames that had kicked up with loud crackles. “I think I missed my calling. I’m getting pretty good at this.”
“Do you mean your calling as a caveman? Or a guy who goes from house to house starting people’s fires?”
Rhett laughed. “Guess that’s not really a thing, is it? But chefs are a thing, and as you may recall, I’m very skilled with a box of mac and cheese. I wish I had something better to offer, but as you might have noticed my kitchen is not exactly a chef’s dream.”
“Not exactly. How’s it going with the contractors?” I put all of Magnum’s IOUs into a pile and stood up. As I did, I managed to knock the entire pile onto the floor. Magnum’s humiliating receipts flew in every direction. I stooped down to reach for the ones that managed to slip under the desk. Rhett came over to help. We were both crouched down picking up the flyaway papers. I finished collecting ones from under the desk. I straightened and turned … right into Rhett. We were pressed against each other, lightly, and with our hands clutching the paperwork and awkwardly wedged between us. As clumsy and unexpected as the moment was, neither of us seemed inclined to step back.
I noticed Rhett’s throat move as he swallowed and gazed down at me. The giddiness I’d been experiencing in short bouts had returned … big time.
“Ella.” His deep voice circled me along with the heady scent of his soap and the general manly warmth I’d noticed more than once when we’d crossed paths.
I was the first to step back, mostly because the flurry of feelings that had suddenly rushed me were making me dizzy. “Uh, I was thinking we could go to town to the café. My treat. I’ve got a special ‘in’ with the owner. Namely, she used to hover over me when I did my math homework, so she could point out all my mistakes.”
Rhett nodded. It seemed he was having a hard time getting his bearings, too. Or maybe that was wishful thinking on my part, but our accidental crash had certainly knocked me off balance. “Are you sure? I mean that sounds great, but I’ll pay.”
“Nonsense. You’ve helped me so much on my first assignment. I owe you. Please, let me buy you lunch.”
“Sounds good. I’ll pack a few more books while we let the fire die down. I don’t think the insurance company would believe me if I told them the house accidentally burned down.”