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“Well, regardless of what happens, I think we should have dinner to celebrate,” Chris said and turned toward me. I could feel his soft, brown eyes on the side of my face.
I liked Chris. He was a genuine person, a savior of the needy, just like me. My dream growing up had been to work for a non-profit and make a real difference in the world, all right from my doorstep in Briar Vale. Now, I worked for the local council on fundraising efforts. I’d never dreamed of leaving the little, quaint town I’d grown up in, as most of my friends had. Over the years, many had moved, and some had returned. I’d never questioned my decision to stay. Sure, I was only twenty-three, but I was confident my desire to make my life in Briar Vale would never change. Chris was the same. He loved the town, the people, and all the little quirky traditions that were particular to Briar Vale. On paper, we were a perfectly suited couple. There was just one, glaring issue with that simple fact.
There was no chemistry between us, from my end anyway.
“Sure, I guess we should have a big dinner after the concert, which is definitely happening, by the way.”
Chris hesitated a moment before speaking. “I meant we should have dinner just the two of us, like a date.”
“A date? That sounds awfully official,” I teased, pressing the accelerator harder, and wishing the road would dissolve and we could have arrived already and I could escape having to respond.
“Yeah, it’s official. I want it to be official,” Chris chuckled. My throat went dry. I had to tell him I didn’t see him that way. It was the right thing to do, and yet, the words wouldn’t seem to come. I worked so closely with Chris, would it be awkward between us after?
“Oh, look! Ivy House!” As I spied the imposing gates of the manor house, my gleeful tone was a little jarring, but I couldn’t keep the relief from my voice. “Let’s ring the bell and see if anyone answers,” I said, pulling to a stop in front of the gates and scampering out of the car as if my life depended on it.
There was an ornate bell with a speaker below it, mounted on one of the huge plinths that sat on one side of the gates. I pressed it, my glove sliding off, so I ended up pressing it two or three times by accident. Oops.
I turned and found Chris watching me from inside my car. I waved at him through the glass, giving him a cheerful smile. He nodded, but his pensive look remained. It looked like the time for avoiding the incoming conversation between us was running out, and I was going to have to get it over with, and just hope he wouldn’t care that much.
I turned back to the buzzer and pressed again. There was no response. I frowned through the metal gate, up the winding drive, and past the towering green pines that lined the gravel road. No one was here? Damn it.
I crunched back to the car and leaned in. “There’s no answer. I’m just going to take a walk around the wall, and see if I can see any signs of life. I’ll just be a minute,” I added before Chris could undo his seatbelt.
Turning quickly, I started along the high wall that ringed the huge property. My winter boots crunched over iced ferns, and the smattering of snow that had fallen a few days ago had melted to icy slush. I hoped we’d see far more snow before too long. My breath puffed out, and I shoved my hands in my parka pockets. The temperature was dropping quickly.
Ahead, the wall abruptly ended, and excitement stirred in my belly, as I took in a low fence, leading into woods. Was this the back of the property? I hadn’t been paying attention when I’d powerwalked away from Chris.
There was some kind of wires coiled around a nearby tree, and a camera that looked like it hadn’t been set up yet. Could it be a crime to just pop over the fence and take a peek and see if anyone was home? Technically, yes, but this was Briar Vale. Very few folks in this part even locked their doors, never mind cared if a neighbor let themselves onto the property. I was over the fence before I could second-guess it. Stepping carefully, I made my way past the frost-covered pines and headed in the general direction of the house.
I’d only been walking five minutes when I heard the snap of a twig underfoot. Birds took flight from the trees around me, as I stilled, my heart suddenly pounding in my chest.
I wasn’t alone in the woods.
“Hello? I’m here to speak to the new owner of Ivy House,” I called out, and then cringed. Well done, Charlie, you just let the murderer know where you were.
“Don’t visitors usually use the front gate?” A deep voice called, and I relaxed a fraction.
“I did try, but no one answered,” I called back, spinning around, and trying to find the owner of the voice.
“What does that tell you?” the voice suddenly spoke from just behind me. I gasped, fright sending me spinning around too quickly, my heel slipping on a patch of ice. I slammed into a hard chest before I could help myself, and strong arms banded around my waist, holding me upright, just before I faceplanted spectacularly. I felt the stranger’s hot breath against the back of my neck, as I caught my balance and turned.
He looked different from yesterday. His stubble was longer, and without a hat, I could see his longish, waves of dark hair. His grey eyes stared into mine, framed by the same, sooty lashes that no man had any right to. His winged eyebrows drew together in a disbelieving frown as he peered down at me.
“Oh! It’s you.” It might have been the most inane thing I’d ever said, but words deserted me. His handsome face was too close and his hands were still gripping my hips. He was so tall, I suddenly wondered what it would be like to melt into his broad chest and close my eyes. His eyes moved across my face, searching and intense. The feeling sent a shiver of heat through my entire body. Somehow, standing here in the arms of this stranger was making me feel things that years of working long, late nights with Chris had never accomplished. That was the power of chemistry, and exactly the reason why I had to tell Chris it was never going to happen. I was only twenty-three, and I wasn’t done dreaming of the electricity that I’d only ever read about in books. This was it, strange and unreplicable, it was like a bolt out of the blue, and judging by the look in my handsome stranger’s eyes; I wasn’t the only one feeling it.
“Do you know who I am after all?” The man said quietly, his frown only intensifying.
“You – no, I don’t know,” I admitted, and stepped back a little, desperately trying to get some oxygen to flow to my overheated brain. “But you might be just the man I’m looking for.”
CHAPTER4
Lars
My first night in Ivy House had been full of ghosts. I’d slept little, and wandered the halls like a demented madman. The place was in good condition, my Uncle had certainly used his money to ensure that the priceless antiques had been well-cared for.
Ivy House was a local legend, and an important part of Briar Vale’s history, or so Phil had told me, as he’d left me at the door last night. The house was warm and dry, my uncle’s staff, a cook, and a butler were still in residence. He’d had it specified in his will that the two staff members who had been with him most his life were to remain, and their wages were paid out of his estate, as well as generous retirements.
While the house might be warm, the memories it gave me were anything but. To me, Ivy House had been the symbol of everything that had gone wrong in my mother’s life, starting with running away to marry my father, against her wealthy family’s wishes, down to having me, and then leaving me an orphan at ten years old, when both my parents had died in a car accident.
