Chapter 3
CHAPTER 3
I t’d taken Blake and the others a couple of hours to get off the island and on the road. Everyone had to shower and pack an overnight bag in case they needed to stay.
Then they dropped Jack off with Hayden and Anna. Blake had nearly ditched Lukas to hang with them but wanted the drive more than he wanted to babysit. Anna would just want to talk about Debbie, and at this point, he was tired of talking about her. He pushed the thought of her out of his head.
“So what’s the deal with your sister?” Blake asked as they drove down forest-lined roads without a house in sight.
Tess reached over and gripped Lukas’ hand and Blake frowned. Maybe he shouldn’t have asked.
“She’s….fragile and kind of a recluse. And I don’t know how to protect her. She flat out refuses any help we offer. I have a few people in town that keep an eye on her for me, but she’s not super open with any of them either.”
“Fragile, how?”
“I don’t know how to explain it. When we were growing up, she was tough as nails, but then she married Emery and withdrew from the family. We still saw her on holidays and stuff, but she stopped calling me on a daily basis. I just thought it was because she was in love and distracted. She didn’t need me anymore. I was busy with my own family so I didn’t really notice it. Then Emery died and we all went to help out and it was like she was a stranger. She cried constantly and was scared of her own shadow.”
“Grief can do weird things to people.” Blake swallowed. He couldn’t imagine how difficult that must’ve been for her. Sure, he was upset the love of his life just married another man, but the death of a spouse so young had to be devastating.
“They can, but that’s just the beginning. The day after the funeral she was arrested for manslaughter. It was a car accident, and she’d run a stop sign. We hired the best attorneys and got her off on temporary insanity. Though to this day I don’t understand how she got that. She never told me what caused the insanity. Anyway, instead of jail she had to do a couple of months in a psych ward. She hasn’t been the same since.”
Blake sat back in his seat. That was horrible. He couldn’t believe Lukas hadn’t told him this before. Though he supposed he never talked much about his family either. His parents had died when he was a kid.
“How often do you see her?”
“A few times a year. But I talk to her weekly and threaten to visit if she doesn’t call. She’s gotten even stranger as the years have gone on.”
Tess snorted. “It’s true. She has crystals all over her house to ward off evil spirits and she believes the dreamcatcher above her head really does protect her dreams. She burns sage and grows a bunch of weird herbs in her greenhouse. She’s always telling me what the stars and tarot have predicted.”
Blake swallowed. Maybe he should’ve stayed with Anna and Hayden. Blake was fairly tolerant of people, but he couldn’t stand people who acted like all the psychic stuff was real. He was firmly grounded in science and things he could see. He had no patience for silliness like that.
“I keep telling Lukas we need to find a good guy to hook her up with but he won’t hear of it.”
Lukas gripped the steering wheel.
“Why not?” Blake asked. It made sense to him and Lukas wasn’t all that unreasonable. He’d never struck Blake as the overprotective big brother type.
“Because Emery destroyed her and I thought he was a good guy. In fact, I even encouraged the relationship when Paige had cold feet. When she asked me what I thought she should do, I told her to marry him. I never want to see her go through that again.”
Blake didn’t argue with Lukas, but he tended to think along the same lines as Tess. If he could, he’d be married right now even though it was risky to trust his heart.
“So why are we heading out there now?”
“Last night she called the sheriff about a break-in. Someone was standing over her. She lives so far out that if someone broke into her house, that meant they were looking specifically for her. I’m going to try to talk her into coming home. This is just one more reason she shouldn’t be living so far away. I don’t like her being alone. It’s not healthy for her. She doesn’t even drive anymore, so she never leaves the house. I worry about what it’s doing to her psyche.”
“Why doesn’t she get a roommate or something?”
Tess chuckled. “We’ve suggested it. But Paige always finds a way to make it sound like a bad idea.”
They drove down a long driveway and the house came into view. It was a monstrous log home but looked like it belonged in a fairy tale. There wasn’t a straight wall on the house. Everything curved and twisted, and it had a gnarly roof. And even though the house looked unusual, it was the size that got to him. No one should ever live alone in a house that spacious. They’d go mad. Maybe that was why she was weird.
“You know, I thought your house was big,” Blake commented as he climbed out the back door of Lukas’s Navigator. Lukas’s house was nothing compared to her home.
Lukas clapped him on the back. “The fudge fortune is good, but this house was paid for by Paige’s husband. He was an architect and came from old oil money.”
The house spread out in all directions, with not a single sharp edge. The porch was held up with what looked like trees surrounded by vines, and the front door was a double wood door carved with various animals. At first glance Blake spotted a fish, a fox, and a bear.
The house was a work of art, and he was insanely curious what they’d done with the inside. It was not his style at all. As a scientist and city-dweller, he preferred clean lines and a more modern style, but this had its charms.
Dio and Tria scrambled out after them and raced into the backyard.
“Are they going to be okay?” Blake asked, not able to see around the house.
Lukas nodded. “Her property goes down to the water. I always let Dio run when she comes here. As long as Tria isn’t a wanderer, she’ll be fine.”
Lukas didn’t bother knocking, just pushed the door open. Blake and Tess followed. The house smelled strongly of essential oils—which Blake expected, those who believed in horoscopes and things tended to believe in fake medicine.
Blake wasn’t disappointed in the least by the interior. He stopped for a minute to determine the smell. It was lavender with lemon. He wasn’t an essential oil guy, but as a botanist, he could identify the smells. The floors were made of natural wood in various colors, and like the outside, the floor wasn’t straight lines. The wood ebbed and flowed like a wave.
An enormous spiral staircase with a treelike banister greeted them, and sculptures of trees and vines came out of the walls and sprawled along the ceilings. There was even a rock pond with koi in the hallway, surrounded by an indoor garden full of various herbs. Right off the bat, he could pick out fennel and chamomile as well as oregano, sage, and even dandelions.
Again, not his style, but he appreciated the artistry. On a shelf he spotted a diffuser in the shape of a large crystal.
They entered the kitchen, and it was more of the same. All curves and lines with funky natural art and crystals everywhere. Blake was drawn to the windows in the back that overlooked lake Michigan. The house sat up high on a bluff, and sunlight bounced off the lake.
Lukas frowned in the kitchen. “Blake, can you grab Tess something to drink? I want to find my sister.”
Blake opened the fridge and furrowed his brow. There wasn’t a single fresh item in there, which didn’t jive with the impression he’d gotten of this woman from her house. He expected all-natural organic everything.
But there were no fruits, vegetables, yogurt, or cheese. Nothing that could go bad. But lots of condiments lined the shelves.
“She’s got Gatorade, juice boxes, or soy milk.”
Tess made a face. “Soy milk? Yuck. Gatorade is fine.”
Tess sank onto one of the uncomfortable-looking bar stools and patted her belly. “I should’ve stayed home. I’m not up for these long drives right now.”
“I can imagine. Can I get you anything else?” He’d always imagined himself one day having a pregnant wife to take care of. He’d hoped that woman would be Debbie, but now he had to rethink that plan. He and Debbie always said they were going to have two kids and four dogs.
“I’m famished. I would love some ice cream if she’s got it.” Blake had never had siblings. He’d always imagined if he did, they would be the type of family that would feel right at home in any of their houses. The kind of homes where you could raid the ice cream without asking.
“I’m on it.”
Except he wasn’t. The freezer was completely empty save a few ice trays.
“No ice cream. Nothing frozen at all actually.”
Tess creased her eyebrows. “This isn’t like Paige. I mean, she was never a healthy eater, but she always had ice cream in her freezer. It’s her favorite snack.”
Blake stuck his head in the pantry. It was decently stocked. “Want some cookies? She’s got loads of those.”
“Sure.”
Blake grabbed a package of Oreos and Tess attacked them.
Lukas came back into the kitchen, shaking his head. A voice followed him, but it was hard to tell what she was saying.
A girl entered. She was probably in her mid-twenties but looked younger. That was most likely due to her slight frame, but also because she didn’t have on a stitch of makeup, and her curly brown hair was in tangles all over her head. She wore nothing but an oversized men’s shirt that fell off of one shoulder and hung just past her thighs. The soft leaf-green button-down was rolled up at the sleeves and unbuttoned just enough that her cleavage peaked out.
It was dead sexy, and Blake forced his eyes up. He could not think about Lukas’s sister that way. Though, this wasn’t much better. He could easily get lost in her stormy green eyes.
“I don’t need you always rescuing me.” She stared daggers at Lukas and didn’t even acknowledge Tess or Blake.
Lukas towered over her, his face going red. “You don’t? I think you do. You can’t live out here by yourself. It’s not healthy and what are you going to do if someone breaks in again.”
She propped a hand on her hip. “It was just a dumb kid. I’m fine. I consulted the cards after the sheriff left and pulled the high priestess. I’m fine.”
Blake pulled out a few cookies and resisted the urge to tell her that Tarot cards were fake. “What kid?” he asked, wanting to keep the conversation grounded.
Paige jerked her head around. “Who are you?”
Lukas nodded toward him. “Paige, meet Blake, one of my frat buddies.”
She gave him a stiff nod. “What’s your dog’s name?”
“Tria.”
Paige’s lips’ twitched. “Lukas beat you, huh? How?”
He and his nine frat buddies all got Dobermans when they hit their first million and named them in order. Hayden snagged Una, and Lukas scored Dio. But it should’ve been Blake.
“The drug I created got me seventy-five percent of the way there, and Lukas jumped in there days before I could make up the difference.”
Paige narrowed her eyes. “Drug?”
“Yeah, I’m a pharmaceutical research scientist.”
“You know, natural remedies are way better than those chemicals you’re shoving down people’s throats. Also, naturopaths that use muscle testing to diagnose are far better than all those invasive tests.”
Blake opened his mouth to argue, but Lukas jumped in first. Which was probably a good thing. Judging by the smell of her house she probably thought essential oils and herbal medicines cured everything. As much as Blake knew the power of a good plant, he couldn’t stand people who dismissed modern medicine like it was evil. Maybe his mom would still be alive today if she’d trusted her doctors instead of the herbalist next door. The industry wasn’t perfect, but at least people didn’t lose children like they used to and life expectancy was significantly better than it was a hundred years ago. Plus, with all of the allergies he had, he’d never be able to do his job without allergy medicine.
“Stop trying to change the subject. It’s time to come home.”
Paige clenched her tiny fists. “I’m sorry you drove all the way out here for nothing. That can’t have been a comfortable ride.” It wasn’t a bad ride, but it had been long and Tess looked like she was about ready to pop.
Tess waved a hand. “It’s nothing. What if that kid had a gun?”
Paige climbed onto the stool next to Tess. She clenched and unclenched her fists. “It was nothing. Probably just a teenager who was dared to break into the weird house. I’ll be fine, and I’ll remember to set my alarm from now on.”
No one said anything for a long moment. Blake guessed Lukas was trying to come up with a better argument.
“Where’s your ice cream?” Tess asked. “You always have ice cream.”
Paige avoided her eyes. “I haven’t been to the store in a while.”
Blake snorted. “What like months? There is no fresh food in here at all, and your freezer is empty.”
Paige dropped her head. “Amazon Fresh doesn’t deliver out here, but Amazon Pantry does.”
“I thought you caught a ride to the store with your neighbor,” Lukas said. Blake wondered why she didn’t just drive herself. Though he supposed if he ran a stop sign and killed someone he might not want to drive either.
“She moved, and I don’t like the new one.” Paige dropped her eyes and wouldn’t look at any of them. Blake almost felt sorry for her because he knew how stubborn Lukas could be. Paige wasn’t getting away with anything.
“That’s it. You’re coming home with me. Go pack a bag,” Lukas pointed to the stairs.
The fury in her eyes flared. “I’m not going anywhere. You can’t make me.” She sounded like a petulant teenager. “Besides, Phil and Ida will be here next week. I’m fine.”
Lukas pinched the bridge of his nose. “Phil and Ida travel too much. You need a better solution. You can’t stay here by yourself. Can you get a roommate or something? Preferably someone who can bench press three hundred pounds.”
“I can do that,” Blake joked through a mouthful of Oreo.
Everyone turned to look at him.
“What? I can.”
Tess squeezed his bicep. “I knew those things had to be good for something.”
“No one’s moving all the way out here to be my roommate, and I’m not moving back. There’s too many people there.”
Lukas scoffed. “Mackinac hardly has that many people.”
“In the winter maybe, but it’s the first of June. In two weeks it will be packed. You know I don’t people very well.” She clenched her tiny fists and looked down.
Lukas rolled his eyes and then pointed at Blake. “You know, in college Blake was a bouncer. He drives pretty good too.”
“Wait a minute,” Blake said. “What are you implying?” He wasn’t sure how he suddenly got involved or why Lukas even thought she needed a bodyguard. It was one break-in and as long as she set her alarm, she’d be fine.
“You’ve got nothing going on this summer. You were just going to stay in the carriage house anyway. Why don’t you stay here? Take care of Paige and make sure she stays safe and eats real food. Then after the tourist season is over, you can go home, and Paige can come stay on the island.”
“You want me to stay with your sister?” Blake glanced over at her, but she sat quietly. “Do you really think that would be a good idea?”
If he had a sister who looked like Paige, and Lukas was single, he wouldn’t trust him alone in the house with her. And Lukas was a better man than him.
Tess snorted. “She could do worse.”
“You know I’m right here. I can take care of myself,” Paige said, but Lukas ignored her.
“I’m not worried about that. I trust you. And I’ll feel better if you’re here on the off chance that someone breaks in again.”
Blake swallowed.
This wasn’t what he had planned.
But he couldn’t think of a single reason to say no.