The Edge of Eternity

Chapter Four

One week later…

The drive from Seattle to Fernhaven took longer than Elizabeth expected, but the scenery along the way was magnificent. The weather had been warm and sunny when they’d left the city, but as they reached Mount Baker, the sun disappeared and a fine mist descended over the car. She could feel the outside temperature dropping and she reached in the backseat for her jacket.

“I can turn on the heater if you’re cold,” Paul offered.

“No, that’s okay. I just need something on my arms.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” She seemed to be saying that a lot lately, and Elizabeth wondered if anyone who knew her would ever be truly convinced that she was well now. Or at least on the road to recovery.

Ever since her breakdown she’d been treated with kid gloves by everyone around her. Her family, her friends, her business partner. But especially her husband. Sometimes the way Paul looked at her set Elizabeth’s teeth on edge. It was almost as if he was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

She understood their concern. In her darkest hour she’d taken an overdose of sleeping pills, but that had been over a year ago. And Elizabeth couldn’t honestly say that she’d meant to end her own life. She’d been in a bad place, that was for sure, but she was much stronger now. Even though there were still times when she worried about her mental stability, she suspected that the music, the slamming doors and the scattered toys in Damon’s room were all signs from her subconscious that she hadn’t fully accepted her son’s death yet.

Elizabeth also knew that she would never again try to take her own life. She wouldn’t do that to the people who loved her. Life was precious, even without Damon. It just wasn’t the same.

Rousing herself from her reverie, she realized that she and Paul had spoken very little during the trip. The two-hour car ride was a mirror of the way the past week had gone. They’d avoided each other as much as possible. Elizabeth made sure she stayed in the bedroom until she heard Paul leave for work in the mornings and then she usually turned in before he got home. Which wasn’t hard to do since he’d been putting in a lot of long days. She wanted to believe that he was at the office getting ready for this trip, but she still couldn’t get the image of Paul and Nina Wilson out of her head.

She told herself repeatedly that Paul’s relationship with the woman was none of her business. She’d asked him for a divorce. He could do what he wanted.

But the divorce wasn’t final. Far from it. They weren’t even separated yet, so technically their marriage license was still binding. To her, at least. No matter how many times she tried to justify Paul’s behavior, Elizabeth was still bothered by his seemingly callous disregard of the promises he’d made to her thirteen years ago.

Of course, it was entirely possibly that his relationship with Nina Wilson was a purely professional one. All Elizabeth had to do was ask him. She felt sure that no matter what he said, she’d be able to read the truth in his eyes. But she didn’t ask him for one simple reason—she didn’t want to know.

Forcing her thoughts away from Paul and Nina Wilson, Elizabeth returned to her reading. She’d brought along the Fernhaven brochure and some of the materials she’d printed from the Internet to study before she’d begun designing the uniforms.

The place had a fascinating, albeit tragic, history. The original hotel had been built in the thirties as a luxury retreat for the rich and famous. On the night of the grand-opening ball a fire broke out and spread through the floors, completely engulfing the main ballroom. Hundreds had perished. At the time it had been a calamity on par with the Titanic and later the Hindenburg, but with the war in Europe heating up and the attack on Pearl Harbor a few years later, the fire and its tragic consequences had been forgotten.

Over the years various parties had expressed interest in rebuilding the hotel, but it wasn’t until two years ago that Annika Wallenburg, a descendant of the original owner, had finally gotten the ball rolling.

Paul’s firm had been instrumental in bringing the investors together, but it had been a risky venture, to say the least. “Why were you so interested in the Fernhaven project?” Elizabeth asked suddenly.

He lifted a hand from the steering wheel to rub the back of his neck. “Why do you ask?”

“No reason, really. I’ve been reading about the fire,” she explained. “I already knew about it, but I’d forgotten some of the details. Weren’t the investors afraid the history of the place might be a little off-putting to prospective guests?”

He glanced at her with a slight smile. “You mean the ghosts?”

“Ghosts?” The back of her neck tingled as she turned to stare at him. “What are you talking about?”

“Fernhaven is supposed to be haunted. Surely you must have run across that little tidbit in all your reading.”

“No, I don’t think I did,” Elizabeth murmured. She gazed out the window for a moment.

No reason Paul’s revelation should upset her, she told herself firmly. It was just a legend. Fernhaven wasn’t really haunted because ghosts didn’t exit. There was a perfectly logical explanation for everything that had happened to her in the past eighteen months. Grief could do strange things to a person’s mind…

“To answer your question,” Paul said, “the fire was seventy years ago, so no, the history of Fernhaven wasn’t a particular concern to the investors. But even if it had been, Annika Wallenburg was determined to rebuild the hotel. She would have continued the project with or without outside backing, even if it meant she had to use every cent of her personal fortune.”

“Why did it mean so much to her?” Elizabeth asked curiously. “She’s a young woman, isn’t she? She wasn’t even around when the original Fernhaven was built.”

“No, but her grandmother, Ingrid, was. Ingrid’s engagement to her childhood sweetheart was to be announced on the night of the grand-opening ball. He’d just arrived from Stockholm, where he’d been attending university. They hadn’t seen each other in nearly a year. And then the fire broke out. Somehow Ingrid managed to escape, but her fiancé was killed.”

“How sad.” Elizabeth felt a strange, tragic kinship with the woman, even though she’d never even met her.

“Ingrid later married and had children, but according to Annika, her grandmother never got over her first love. Annika’s parents were killed when she was just a child, and her grandmother took her in and raised her. Annika is very devoted to her grandmother and determined to carry out her last wish.”

“Which is?”

“That she be allowed to live out the rest of her days at Fernhaven.”

“Wow,” Elizabeth said. “Building a hotel is quite a tribute, especially considering the financial risks involved.”

“Money really wasn’t a concern. Annika is a very wealthy woman. Not only is she heiress to the Wallenburg fortune, but she’ll also inherit a great deal of money from her grandmother’s family. As I said, she would have used her own fortune to rebuild Fernhaven if necessary. However, the business prospectus she put together was a sound one. The location in the Cascades is excellent for skiing in the winter and hiking in the summer, and with the popularity of luxury spas and retreats, Fernhaven’s natural hot springs and mineral baths are an extremely marketable attraction. And the scenery is breathtaking. I don’t believe there’s anything quite like it anywhere in the world.”

“You’re proud of it,” Elizabeth said softly.

He gave her a surprised look. “I guess I am. But now it’s on to the next project.”

“And Boyd Carter.”

His smiled disappeared. “Yes. Boyd Carter could still be a problem, but that’s not for you to worry about. Just relax and enjoy the weekend.”

Elizabeth started to remind him that she had accompanied him on this trip as a favor, not for pleasure. But what was the point in arguing over such a minor point? Besides, he was right. The scenery was gorgeous, and surprisingly she really was enjoying herself.

As they turned off the main road onto the curving drive, Elizabeth found herself holding her breath in anticipation. And then, as they rounded a turn, Fernhaven materialized like magic before them. Rising out of the mist, the hotel appeared to float like the spirits who supposedly dwelled within the resurrected walls.

The sloping lawn—what she could see of it through the haze—was emerald-green and adorned with topiaries, statues and fountains surrounded by lush dripping ferns. The building itself was multistoried and of a light gray color that blended with the mist. The spired roof and arched windows created a dreamy, fairy-tale feel, but the ornate carvings beneath the ledge were almost gothic. It was a beautiful hotel, mystical and serene, but the shadowy forest lurking in the background gave it an air of foreboding.

Paul slowed the car and Elizabeth stared through the windshield at the hotel.

“Quite a place, isn’t it?” he said proudly.

“It’s beautiful,” Elizabeth breathed. “Magnificent. But…”

“But what?” Paul asked with an edge in his voice.

Elizabeth caressed her arms with her hands. “I don’t know. I feel a strange sense of déjà vu. Like I’ve been here before, but I know I haven’t. I guess it must be the pictures I’ve been studying.”

“Actually,” Paul said, “you have been here before. You don’t remember?”

She turned sharply. “When?” Ever since the accident she’d experienced gaps in her memory. Doctors had told her the condition wasn’t unusual after a severe head trauma, but the lapses always took her by surprise.

“We were here a few weeks before the accident,” Paul said quietly. “Damon was on a camping trip with Nicholas Braiden and his dad. You and I drove up for the ground-breaking ceremony. You and Frankie had already been given the contract to design the uniforms and you wanted to get a feel for the place.”

“It’s so strange that I can’t remember—” And then it came back to her. They’d driven up on a Friday night and stayed in a nearby bed-and-breakfast. Elizabeth had been both nervous and excited at the prospect of spending a weekend alone with her husband. They’d had dinner at a quiet out-of-the-way restaurant and then gone straight back to the room. After they’d made love, they’d even talked about having another baby.