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Greer
Wade quickly relocked Eugenia’s bedroom door while I stepped into my room, crossing to my desk and dropping the tin into the top drawer, quickly closing it. I took a deep, cleansing breath. I’d been afraid I wasn’t going to be able to close the stairs again, but I’d found an automated switch. Sterling had thought of everything. I’d scanned the room before I’d left, ensuring everything looked untouched. By the time I joined Wade back in the hallway, we heard Eugenia on the stairs and met her at the top.
“Oh, hello darling. How are you feeling today?” she said to me. Smothered in a cornflower-blue raincoat, holding a shopping bag from the only department store in town, her expression was cheerful. There was no reason to believe she knew what we’d been up to. “Who’s your friend?”
“Eugenia, this is Wade Cook. He’s a colleague of mine, visiting from Shreveport, Louisiana. I hope you don’t mind, but he’s staying here with me. Us. Not with me, in another bedroom.”
“I should hope he’s not with you, darling,” she said, smiling widely despite the awkward subject matter. “We wouldn’t want Jace Blackwell getting all up in arms again, would we?”
“No, we wouldn’t,” I said weakly, remembering the way Jace had met Wade for the first time.
“Well, I think that’s lovely,” she said. “Welcome, Wade.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” he said sheepishly, unable to hide his guilty conscience the way I could.
Eugenia stepped past us on the way to her room. She stopped at the doorway and pulled out a key ring like her locked door was the most natural thing in the world.
“I’ve been meaning to chat with you, darling,” she said, fumbling with the ring. “I have someone coming to fix the window, but it might be a week or two until they can come out. Jace helped me cover it the night…well, it’s covered anyway, so at least we can keep the heat on until it’s fixed.”
“Thank you, Eugenia, for taking care of that.”
“And one more thing,” she said, holding the key suspended at the lock. “I might as well tell you…I’ve decided to look for my own place. This house—it’s too big for an old lady like me after all.”
“But what about the museum?”
“That’s still the plan, darling. But I think it’s best if right now we focus on your recovery. And that means giving you your space. But of course, I’ll still come by to check on you. Don’t worry, I’ll be around.”
* * *
I foundWade in his bedroom, looking out the window.
“You get what you needed, darlin’?” he asked over his shoulder.
“Yeah. I think I did,” I said, sick with misery.
“Anything you want to tell me about?”
I approached him, looking deep into Wade’s soft brown eyes. Eyes that were similar to my own, but different. Soft. Kind. Eyes that saw the best in everyone.
“I don’t feel like I’ve thanked you enough for coming across the country to visit me,” I said, finally dropping my gaze. “I’ve been a horrible hostess—you must be so bored. Maybe we can do something later?”
Wade kept silent, forcing me to look back up at him.
“I appreciate that, darlin’,” he said once I met his gaze, “but I’m more interested in what you found in that room that’s turned you white as a ghost. I already know all the backstory. I came out here to help support you, and I can’t do that if you’re not going to trust me with the truth.”
I chewed my lip and looked down at my hands, contemplating what he’d just said. My right hand was absently tapping the knuckles on my left. I should talk to Wade. I should keep telling him everything and let him support me. I should call Oren. But the person I really wanted, the person I needed beside me, was Jace. Too bad he didn’t seem to need me at all.
“I will, Wade, I will. I found some letters—I just need some time to understand exactly what I saw. Maybe we could talk about it tonight?”
Wade hid his disappointment well.
“Sure. Just know that no one’s ever going to be able to help you unless you start letting them.”
I nodded.
“I’m gonna go take that walk now.”
“Thanks, Wade. For everything.”
