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Opening the oven door, she pulled out the tray, which he could see now contained garlic bread. The bell rang on the microwave signaling it had completed its flash-heating of food. Soon the three of them were seated at the table with piping hot garlic bread, salads and steaming plates of pasta.
Ari ate hungrily, shoveling food into his mouth as if he hadn’t eaten in days.
“Slow down, Ari,” Jace cautioned.
“This is really good,” he said, swallowing an amount that was too large for his mouth. “It’s nothing like yours.”
Kelly laughed. “I guess we both get insulted today.”
“Can I say that?” Ari looked at Jace.
“Say what?”
“Insulted? Is it a bad word?”
“It’s not a bad word, but you need to know when to use it,” Jace explained. “So for now, don’t say it.”
With a nod, he went back to his meal. Jace looked up at Kelly. Her gaze was soft as she stared at him. Jace had seen those eyes before. He glanced down at his food. What he had to tell her was hard enough. With her looking at him like that, it was too much.
“Dad, this isn’t a hotel, is it?” Ari’s mind jumped like lightning from subject to subject. “It doesn’t look like the other hotel.”
“This isn’t a hotel, Ari.”
“Our apartment at home wasn’t this old.”
“No. It wasn’t. This house is very old, constructed so long ago, even I wasn’t around when it was built.”
Ari continued eating. Kelly liked their banter, but she didn’t join in the conversation.
Ari finished eating and quickly stood up. “May I go?” he asked. “I want to play some more.”
Jace looked at Kelly. She nodded.
“Stay close to the house,” he said. “This is a big farm. I don’t want you getting lost.”
“I won’t,” he said and rushed out the door and down the back steps. Jace could see he was happy here. He was still in the explorer mode. Everything was new, different and exciting for him. He hadn’t had time to get homesick yet.
“I apologize,” Kelly said.
“For what?” Jace brought his attention back to her.
“For my thoughts. Obviously, you and Ari have a special relationship. And he’s not a kidnapped child.”
“Apology accepted.”
“Now, you wanted to talk about something,” she said. She crossed her arms on the end of the table and gave him her full attention. “Talk.”
“I want my home back.”
* * *
KELLY HAD DEALT with difficult clients before. She’d worked for a marketing firm in New York City and everyone at the firm thought they were more important than anyone else. Among other things, she’d learned to steel her features. She remained where she was, refusing to show how upset she was over Jace’s statement. His eyes were clear and there was no joke in his comment. He was serious.
“I’m afraid that is not an option,” she said calmly. “The house was sold and the deed duly recorded. You can check the county records if you wish. The courthouse is—” She didn’t get any further.
“I know where the courthouse is,” he snapped.
“Don’t speak to me like that, Jason.” She intentionally used his given name, hoping it brought her point home. “I bought this property free and clear. Your brother had run it into the ground, selling off anything and everything he could. He hadn’t paid the taxes in more years than your son is old. I came along and saved it. And I am spending everything I can beg, borrow or steal to make it a going operation. So don’t come in here and tell me you’re planning to force me out. It isn’t going to happen.” She took a breath. “I offered you one night’s lodging. Well, you’ve had it. You can pack your things and move on. You are no longer welcome here.”
Kelly stood up and took her coffee cup to the sink.
“Kelly. You misunderstood me.”
She turned around. Jace was now standing within feet of where she was.
“Your words seemed pretty clear to me.” Kelly understood that he was back-peddling. What did he expect her reaction to be? Should she just curl up and let him take away everything she’d done in the past two years? She was preparing to open the house to the public and take income from the tours. Sometime in the future, she’d bring back the horses and build a racetrack. Every penny she had was invested in this farm. She had to succeed. Failure was not an option. Not this time.
“I’d like to keep an eye on Ari. Would you mind if we took a walk outside?”
“Okay.”
Falling in step, they began to walk, going to the back porch and watching Ari as he played hide and seek with the open barn door.
“Is he all right over there?” Jace asked.
Kelly heard the fatherly concern in his voice. She thought of her own father. With all his faults, he loved his daughter.
“We’ve already renovated the barn.”
“We?”
“My cousin and her husband and I do most of the work. It’s hard and we’re slow, but it saves us a lot of labor costs.”
“You and two other people are working the Kendall?”
She spread her hands. “We’re all there is.” The barn had been in particularly bad condition when Kelly had taken over the property. An engineering study told her it was structurally sound. The house was livable, although it needed a lot of upgrading. Kelly moved in and asked her cousin and her husband to help her out with the renovations. Drew, her cousin’s husband, owned a construction company and she was indebted to him for life.
“Tell me how you came to buy the Kendall?” he asked.
“The cousin who helps me, Mira, and her husband, Drew, let me know about the property before the for sale sign went up. He knew I always loved it. I immediately called and arranged to tour the place.” She glanced at Jace. Jace had his gaze on his son. “It didn’t matter what state it was in. I was determined to make it mine.”
“Why?”
Kelly surveyed the area. The May weather had turned the grass emerald green. She remembered when it was high enough to hide her five-foot-five frame and coarse enough to leave cuts and bruises on her arms and legs. Now she could look clear across the vista.
“I grew up not far from here.”
“Short Hills, you said.”
“When I was still in school I used to get off the school bus and climb onto the fence just to watch the horses.”
Jace snapped his fingers. “The redhead,” he said. “I saw you there a few times. You were only a child.”
She was older than she looked, but she didn’t say that.
“You weren’t here often,” she said.
He frowned, but waited for her to continue.
“I know your dad sent you to boarding school. I thought it must be a wonderful place to go to school, but I didn’t see how you could bear to leave the Kendall.”
“It wasn’t my choice,” he admitted.
Kelly knew that. Gossip spread easily around Windsor Heights then and now. Some she’d met since buying the Kendall had told her stories of the Kendall family. It wasn’t always pleasant.
“You haven’t told me why you love it here,” Jace said.
Her throat closed and she had to swallow the emotion that rose in her. “I’ve always felt I was part of this land. And that this is where I was supposed to be. When I bought it, it needed a lot of work. And I mean a lot. But I loved doing it. I loved seeing it come back to the glory it once had. I want to make it into a showplace. And every floor I restore, every nail I use to repair something is part of me going into the history of this place.”
“But you’re not a Kendall.”
The words hurt for some reason. She would never be a Kendall. “That’s true, but...I belong here. I feel it. I suppose it was because I grew up so close to the place. The Kendall had survived war and depression, and I wanted to be a survivor, too, in my own way.” Things were often out of sorts in her own home. The Kendall was her anchor.
“Why haven’t you changed its name then? You’ve been here two years.”
She shook her head, still smiling. “It wouldn’t be the same. For over a century this has been the Kendall. Changing a name would change the nature of the place.”
“Do you know where my brother is?” He abruptly switched subjects.
“I haven’t seen him. In fact, I never saw him. The entire transaction was completed between the bank and the county. Your brother wasn’t ever required to be there.”
“Why didn’t he pay the taxes? Sheldon loved being the lord of the manor.”
“I don’t know. People in town said it was mismanagement. Given the state of the property when I showed up, it wouldn’t be hard to believe.”
“It wasn’t necessary to the sale,” Jace said, and Kelly heard the censure in his voice.
“It wasn’t my business,” she told him. “I didn’t force your brother to get into trouble with his finances and there was no reason why I should help him if that’s what you’re implying.”
“Ari, don’t do that,” Jace shouted. He was on his feet, ready to run and aid his son if necessary.
Kelly quickly followed Jace’s gaze to where the child stood. His foot was in midair as if he’d been paralyzed by the urgency in Jace’s voice. Ari had been about to climb a ladder propped up on the side of the barn. It wouldn’t take much for Ari to tumble over.
