When she drew away, she sighed. “Too bad we have to get back to reality.”

  “I’m planning on cracking that curse today.”

  “If only . . .” She didn’t finish, because she couldn’t.

  He seemed to understand, and he guided her across the pool. After climbing out of the water first, he held out her towel so she could step into it immediately.

  After she wrapped up in the towel, he moved her hair to the side and kissed the side of her neck.

  She closed her eyes, soaking in the almost-perfect moment of the nearness of Grigg, the warmth of the morning sun drying her skin, and the peaceful stillness of the garden beyond.

  The double French doors opened at the back of the house, and a woman stepped out. By the silver-and-black hair and the woman’s stout frame, Amelia knew it was the housekeeper.

  Mrs. B spoke first. “Come quickly. Your grandmother’s in a state, and I can’t calm her down.”

  Amelia strode around the pool. “What’s happened? Is she sick?”

  “No,” Mrs. B said, reaching for Amelia’s hands and gripping them. “Your grandmother just had word that Poppy will be here this afternoon.”

  Amelia’s mouth nearly fell open. She hadn’t seen or spoken to her mother in over two years, since right before Amelia opened the firm in Denver. They’d had a major falling-out, and it had been the push that Amelia needed to completely set out on her own.

  She’d never told anyone but her grandmother the truth behind the estrangement. No matter how much time passed, the last person Amelia ever wanted to see was her mother.

  “I take it you’re not too happy to see your mom?” Grigg asked as they crossed the wide lawn, heading toward the Ambrose family cemetery.

  Amelia had spent some time with her distraught grandmother, then the matriarch had wanted to be alone. So Grigg had suggested they explore the estate while they waited for Poppy to show up.

  Grigg was actually quite intrigued to check out the cemetery and read the grave markers. Determine for himself the threads of the curse that wove through the family. And right now, Amelia was walking faster than necessary. Stomping, really.

  Grigg followed, waiting for Amelia to work through her churning emotions. She finally slowed and turned. The shade of the massive trees that towered over the garden path kept things cool, but a light sheen of perspiration dotted her forehead. Her blue eyes were stormy, and Grigg rested his hands on her shoulders. “Hey, what’s wrong? I know you said the two of you don’t have much contact, but you never told me why.”

  Amelia looked away and bit the edge of her lip. It was obvious that whatever she was going through with her mom was painful. Then she leaned forward and wrapped her arms about Grigg. He didn’t know what was going on, but he was more than fine to offer her comfort if that was all she wanted.

  He rubbed her back, and she nestled closer.

  Above, the leaves of the trees clattered in the breeze, and the humming of insects could be heard coming from the flowering bushes along the path. Otherwise, the silence dominated. From his viewpoint, he could see the gated cemetery and the gray headstones sprouting from the green grass.

  When Amelia finally pulled away, she clasped Grigg’s hand and walked toward the cemetery. “Come on, I want to show you something,” she said in a faint voice.

  He followed easily, linking their fingers. They entered the cemetery, and she continued to draw him by the hand until they stood by one of the newer headstones. The name on it read: Lyle Sorenson. The death date was just over eight years ago.

  “That’s my father,” she said.

  Grigg blinked, then looked down at her. “I thought he’d died when you were a little kid.”

  Amelia’s fingers tightened around his. “I did too.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When I was seven years old, my mom told me my father had died,” Amelia said. “They’d split a few months before, and she was already dating another man by then.”

  The sadness in her voice was way too fresh for something that had happened so long ago.

  “I remember my entire world shifted,” she said. “No longer was I waiting for my daddy to come visit like some of the other kids of divorced parents. But now, he’d never come.”

  Grigg exhaled, still not fully understanding. The date on the headstone before them belied what Amelia was telling him.

  “It was family custom to spend the week after your sixteenth birthday at the Ambrose Estate. Since my birthday is in May, I didn’t arrive until June, when summer break started.” She leaned her head against Grigg’s shoulder.

  “You always took school seriously, even at that age.”

  “Right,” Amelia said. “Gran gave me the Pendant of Protection, which I didn’t think too much about at the time. We all knew about the curse, of course, but Gran always called it poppycock, although I suspected she was just putting on a brave face so as to not worry the rest of us. I think my mom was more afraid of the curse than Gran.”

  Amelia went quiet for a moment, then said, “Like all teen girls, I wanted to get tan. So I spent most of the time by the pool during my birthday week at Ambrose. Not swimming, of course, I wasn’t much good at that.”

  She squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back.

  She took a deep breath, then continued. “So you can imagine my surprise when I fell asleep and then awakened to overhearing a phone conversation. My mom was talking to someone on her phone as she walked along a garden path on the other side of the swimming pool. Out of my sight, but I could still hear her voice.”

  Grigg didn’t comment, just listened.

  “So . . . she was talking to a doctor, it seemed. About my dad. Who had been dead for years.” The surprise he felt probably didn’t compare to the shock she’d had that sunny day. “It seemed that my dad hadn’t died when I was a little kid. He had recently died, which meant that for years he’d been alive and I had no idea.”

  Grigg rubbed at his face and blew out a breath.

  Amelia released his hand and moved away, folding her arms. “I was shocked to say the least, and then I confronted my mom. Do you know what she said?”

  “Tell me.” Grigg tried to keep his voice calm, even.

  She blinked rapidly. “Poppy told me he was dead to her, and that she didn’t want to deal with a whiney kid asking to see her dad all of the time.” She covered her mouth and closed her eyes.

  Grigg was at her side in an instant. He pulled her into his arms, and she sagged against him.

  “I spent so many nights crying over my dad when I first lost him,” she whispered. “Then the second time . . . I went numb.”

  Grigg made slow circles over her back as she clung to him. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s sit down. You can tell me what you remember about your dad.”

  Grigg sat on one of the benches with her, holding her hand, while she told him how her dad had been her favorite person in the entire world. How her mom had always been busy with her three older half sisters when Amelia was little, then how, when her dad had left, Poppy started dating again.

  From that point on, Poppy’s life had revolved around whichever new man she was dating. “Then she married again and had my twin half sisters, Kendra and Katelynn.” Amelia shrugged. “I’d learned to become pretty independent anyway, so I continued on with how I was already living.”

  Grigg smoothed a bit of her hair back and kissed her temple. “You’re the most independent woman I know,” he said. “And I know your childhood and teen years were really hard, but I’m glad I know you now.”

  Amelia leaned her head against Grigg’s shoulder. “Well, except for my crying jag just now, I’m usually more put together.”

  Grigg chuckled. “You don’t have to tell me that you’ve a spine of steel, Amelia Ambrose. Don’t forget I’m your business partner.”

  She wrapped both of her arms about him, and Grigg rested his chin on top of her head. He wanted to make this better for her, to ease her pain somehow.

  When her stomach grumbled, he said, “Hungry? We should go into town and get breakfast.”

  She lifted her head. “Mrs. B will be mortally offended if we don’t eat her breakfast.”

  “Oh, she’s made something?”

  A smile peeked through Amelia’s sorrow. “Wait until you see. I think you’ll be happy.”

  Sure enough, Mrs. B had set out a breakfast buffet, and Grigg was glad they hadn’t gone anywhere to breakfast. He ate two platefuls of food, even though Amelia told him that lunch would be just as good.

  “It’s not fair that men like you can eat to your heart’s content and not put on weight like women do,” she told him as she eyed all the food piled onto his plate.

  “I hope you’re not talking about yourself, Mills, because you’re perfect how you are.”

  “Ha.”

  Grigg paused before whatever he was going to eat next. “I’m serious, and even if you gained a hundred extra pounds, I still think you’d look sexy.”

  Amelia’s brows pulled together, and she didn’t look convinced.

  “You don’t think I’m serious?” Grigg challenged.

  She shook her head, and Grigg rose to his feet and moved over to where she was sitting. Then he bent over and whispered something in her ear that did make her blush.

  “All right, that’s enough,” she said with a laugh, pushing on his chest.

  He returned to his chair with a satisfied look.

  Amelia was far from immune to him, and he just hoped she wouldn’t kick him out of her life. Not for one moment.

  Grigg wasn’t sure what he had expected when he met Amelia’s mother, but it wasn’t the woman standing before them in the library. Poppy wore a dress that was tighter than Silvia’s had been at their dinner date and revealed more than Silvia’s dress had—but Silvia was in her twenties, and Poppy had to be at least sixty. Plus, it was only about two in the afternoon. He wondered why Poppy had dressed like she was going to a red-carpet event, then he guessed that she had yet to go to bed.

  It was clear that Poppy Ambrose had been doing everything possible to hide her age, including dyed hair, fake eyelashes, and whatever injections gave her outsized cheekbones and huge lips.

  “Nice to meet you, Grigg,” Poppy said, her smile huge—one that some men might consider dazzling.

  Not Grigg. Even if he hadn’t known about the way this woman had betrayed her daughter, he knew that he’d still be uncomfortable around her. Poppy extended a slender hand with long, manicured nails.

  Grigg stepped forward and shook the woman’s hand, then he moved back to Amelia’s side.

  Next Poppy turned to Amelia and held out her arms as if to hug her. But Amelia didn’t react. So there was no hug or kiss between the mother and daughter. Grigg didn’t blame her, not after hearing the story of her childhood and how her mother had told her significant lies.

  “Imagine my surprise when Granny told me that you were here, Millie, with a man.” Poppy’s blue eyes widened to a comical effect that was more garish than anything.

  “Don’t call me Millie,” Amelia said in a cool tone.

  Grigg cut her a glance. She was staring right at her mother, no real expression on her face. He’d never seen Amelia look so . . . empty.

  “Well, I’m your mother, and I can call you whatever I want,” Poppy said in a cheerful tone that wasn’t cheerful at all.

  “You might have given birth to me, but you have never been a true mother to me,” Amelia said, her tone still quiet, cold. “I’d appreciate it if you’d wrap up whatever business you came for, then leave. I’ve made plans to stay here a few days.”

  Poppy folded her tan-orange arms. “You don’t own this house, and you can’t tell me when I can or cannot stay here.”

  “But I can,” an elderly voice said from the doorway of the library. Mrs. Lillian Ambrose entered the room in all her state. Mrs. B followed close behind, but it appeared that Lillian didn’t need the extra help. Her sturdy cane was help enough. So Mrs. B murmured something about going to the kitchen and left the library.

  “Mother,” Poppy said in a sickly sweet tone. “You look beautiful.”

  The Ambrose matriarch was elegantly dressed in a white-chiffon pantsuit, but Grigg suspected Poppy’s compliment was far from sincere.

  Poppy reached her mother and kissed both of the woman’s cheeks. “You look younger every time I see you.”

  “Hogwash,” Lillian said, a glint of annoyance in her eyes. “What are you doing here, Poppy? I’ve nothing to say to you after the last time you came and demanded ridiculous things.”

  Grigg swallowed. He should probably go. He’d done what Amelia asked him to—come to the library with her to meet her mom—but now he was just in the way.

  He bent toward Amelia. “I’ll wait outside, or somewhere. This is family business.”

  But Amelia grasped his hand and squeezed hard. “Stay with me. Please.”

  Grigg was surprised, but he wasn’t about to ditch Amelia if she didn’t want him gone. So he remained and was gratified when she continued holding his hand.

  “I have a lawyer, Mother.” Poppy laughed. “You didn’t think I was that smart, did you? I’ll have you know that my lawyer says that your new will is, uh, how would you put it? Hogwash?”

  Lillian’s blue eyes blazed. “What did you do?”

  Poppy clasped her long fingers together. “Nothing yet. I came to mend things between us. Extend the olive branch. You know, be a loving mother and daughter, like other people are. I am your only living child, you know.”

  Lillian’s face drained of color.

  Grigg moved into action and reached the elderly woman’s side. He grasped her arm, prepared for her to faint. What Poppy had said had upset the woman enough to make her lose color completely.

  Lillian rested a trembling hand over Grigg’s supportive one. “You, Poppy Ambrose, are no longer welcome at Ambrose. Take your lies and your greed, and leave. I hope that I’ll go to my grave without having to ever see you again.”

  Surprisingly, it was Amelia who spoke next. “Gran, I think we all need to calm down.” She reached her grandmother too, and together, she and Grigg helped Lillian to a chair.

  Then Amelia turned to Poppy. “You’ve upset her. I think the best thing to do is leave right now. And should you ever speak to Gran again, choose your words more carefully. You know that Sofia has power of attorney, and you can be sure that she’ll hear of this.”

  Poppy’s face went almost as pale as her mother’s. Then Poppy turned and left the room, leaving no question by the rapid click of her heels that she was in a hurry.

  Grigg’s gaze connected with Amelia’s. “Should I bring your grandmother a drink?”

  Amelia nodded, but then Lillian spoke up.

  “I’m fine,” Lillian said. “At least I will be once Poppy is off my property. And I know that you both think I’m about to faint, but let me tell you, I would have taken her down if I weren’t such a lady.”

  Grigg had no words. He could only stare at the Ambrose matriarch.

  Then Amelia’s lips twitched. Next thing he knew was that she started laughing. Lillian joined in, and Grigg was pretty sure that both women had lost their minds.

  “I don’t understand,” Grigg said at last. “What just happened?”

  “Oh, my dear,” Lillian said, reaching for a tissue to wipe at her eyes, “every time Poppy and I are together, I evict her. But I’ve never seen her skedaddle so fast. It was rather entertaining.”

  Grigg caught Amelia’s eye for more understanding.

  “It’s true,” she said. “We Ambrose women are a bit hotheaded. It’s that one thing I’m all right having in common with my mom.”

  “So you’re . . . both okay?” Grigg asked.

  “Maybe I will have that drink.” Lillian patted Grigg’s hand. “But no water for me. I’ll take something a little stronger.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He headed out of the room and found his way to the immense kitchen. Thankfully, Mrs. B was there and was able to give him a glass of what Lillian wanted. He made his way back to the library, his mind spinning. This family of women was very complicated, and he was curious to know what the result of their verbal threats would be. Would Poppy truly sue her own mother?

  When Grigg entered the library, the atmosphere was much calmer, almost peaceful.

  “You’re a dear man,” Lillian said, accepting the glass gratefully. “Come and sit. I was just telling Amelia that Sofia found Margaret Ambrose’s journal. It will explain all about the curse and how it originated.” Her blue eyes twinkled. “It will also tell Amelia how to break it.”

  Grigg took a careful seat on the couch next to Amelia, not daring to ask questions. This moment seemed significant somehow, and he didn’t know what Amelia was thinking right now. She stayed quiet, her gaze on her grandmother.

  “Really, Amelia dear, you needn’t be so hesitant.” Lillian took a generous swallow of her drink. “Knowledge is power, you know. The more you know, the more power you’ll have over your own life. And I’m pretty sure this man here is a good one and you don’t want to lose him. Am I right?”

  Amelia exhaled. “Why did you marry, Gran, if you knew what the curse could do? I mean, you gave us these pendants on our sixteenth birthday to protect us. What about you?”

  Lillian took another sip of her drink, then she set her glass on the end table next to her chair. “I wanted you to have strength, both mentally and emotionally, against the curse. Or rumors of the curse. Whichever you believed in. I can’t say that I fully believe in its power, because it’s more likely the curse is only real when we give it power.”

  Amelia looked down at her clenched hands. “What about your losses, Gran?” she said in a soft voice. “Your husband and your two sons . . . ?”

  Grigg frowned. This was the first he’d heard of two boys dying. Was that what Poppy had meant about being Lillian’s only living child, and was that why she’d been so upset?

  “I understand how you can blame my boys’ deaths on a curse,” Lillian said. “But they were only horrible tragedies. Nothing more.”

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17