AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I was surprised she was discussing this with me. She had ignored everything Curse Keeper–related before my dad’s death, but even now she rarely mentioned it. “Collin refuses to help me. He thinks the spirits and gods should be loose. I disagree.” I shook my head. “Besides, there’s nothing between me and David. He’s helping me research. I know he’s sleeping at my apartment, but he’s staying on the sofa.”
Her worry faded and she studied me with a knowing look. “Okay,” she smiled. “I’ll stop meddling.”
“Go have fun this weekend. I’ll stay here at the house while you’re gone and take care of the guests.” Since the researchers would be gone too, all the rooms in the residential house would be vacant. David and I would have almost forty-eight hours to perform a more thorough search for Daddy’s papers and the ring Myra had mentioned. Our searches so far had been done in snatches of time between our shifts and the other guests’ arrivals and departures.
“If you’re okay with this, I’ll leave straight after work today and come back on Sunday night with Steven. He still hasn’t gotten his extension granted, so next week might be his last one here.”
I kissed her on the cheek. “Go and relax. You work seven days a week. And after everything…You need a break, Myra. You deserve one.”
She started to leave, but I blurted out a question. “Did Daddy ever mention anything about something called the Ricardo Estate?”
Recognition flickered in her eyes. “I believe I remember him mentioning something about it years ago, but he was on a phone call. I only remember because he stopped talking when I entered his office. I worried that he might have found someone else, and Ricardo was her last name.” She shook her head, guilt flooding her face. “Later, I was ashamed for thinking such a thing. Your father was loyal to a fault. After I found out about the curse, I realized that it must have been related to that.”
My body stiffened. “Wait. Daddy was talking to someone else about the curse?”
“I don’t know for sure, Ellie. I’m only guessing.” She grimaced. “I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful.”
“You’ve been more helpful than you know.”
Myra went upstairs to pack, and I found David on the front screened-in porch with his laptop, sitting in the chair that had been Daddy’s favorite.
I stood in the doorway watching him, and my breath stuck in my chest. The morning sunlight bathed him in a warm glow. The wind blew his hair against his forehead, but his gaze was focused on his computer screen. He had on a short-sleeve, button-down shirt with a pair of jeans that I recognized. They fit his backside remarkably well.
Myra has assumed there was something between us—along with everyone else—and I kept dismissing the suggestion, but as I watched him now, I found myself wondering:What if?
He looked up at me and smiled. His eyes lit up and my heart fluttered, catching me by surprise. But how could I be with someone else if my soul belonged to Collin? Still, my stomach somersaulted as I started to consider what it would be like if David and I had more than a professional partnership.
His smile faded into something more serious, more meaningful, and a quiver of fear vibrated my insides. Could we really be together? Things had gone so badly with Collin. I had no problem admitting that I both wanted David around and needed him. What if we tried to have a relationship and it failed? Then I’d be completely alone. I wasn’t sure I could survive that.
“Myra—” My voice stuck in the back of my throat, so I looked away and tried again. “Myra is going home with Steven this weekend and the other researchers are going home tonight. I thought we—”I shook my head“—or I, if you don’t want to, can spend the weekend at the inn, looking for Daddy’s papers.” I dared to cast a glance at him.
He’d turned in his seat, setting his laptop down on the table next to him. “Of course I want to help you.”
I sat in the chair next to him, twisting my hands in my lap. “I just told Myra she works too hard, and so do you. You need to take a break.” I offered him a soft smile. “Maybe you want to go home for the weekend too.” I hesitated. “I never even asked if you had a girlfriend.”
“First of all, it’s the pot calling the kettle black for you to say I work too hard.” He picked up my hand and held it between his. “And how can I take a break when you’re completely defenseless?”
“I’m not your responsibility, David. You had a life—friends—before you showed up on Roanoke Island. I have no right to expect you to drop everything for me when I can’t even offer you anything in return.”
His smile was bittersweet. “Ellie, I told you the night I accepted this arrangement that I’d been searching for something, and I was sure this was it. Well, I’m even more certain of that now. Youhavegiven me something.” His hand squeezed mine. “You’ve given me a purpose. Don’t underestimate that.”
I looked down at my lap, overwhelmed.
He reached over and lifted my chin so that my eyes met his. “This is exactly where I want to be. With you.”
His touch sent shivers down my back, and my gaze lowered to his mouth.
“And for the record—”his lips twitched slightly “—I don’t have a girlfriend.”
I heard footsteps on the stairs, and someone called David’s name.
He grimaced and slowly lowered his hand from my face. “Duty calls.”
“I hope you have a good day.”
“I’m more looking forward to the evening.”
Butterflies danced in my insides.
