The Second Sister

Heartskeep rose defiantly against the sky. Leigh stared at the sprawling, once-elegant mansion and wondered what had become of the welcoming warmth the house had once projected. She suspected it had disappeared the same day as her mother.

Workmen were gutting the fire-damaged wing and all manner of trucks and equipment filled the turnaround out front. Leigh drove around to the back. She’d have to find R.J. As the supervisor, he needed to move repairs to the long, tree-shrouded driveway up on the list of priorities. The ruts had been bad enough before trucks had started lumbering over it. Now the ruts were beginning to resemble craters, making for a seriously bone-jarring ride.

R.J. was a couple years younger than Gavin, and was another of their neighbors’ foster sons. Leigh vaguely remembered him as a quiet loner in his teens. Tall and dark haired like Gavin, he was leaner, but just as good-looking. He’d been orphaned young and, after being abused by a series of foster parents, had become a serious disciplinary problem. Fortunately for him, like Gavin, he’d ended up under the caring supervision of George and Emily Walken. The couple had accepted and encouraged his need to work with his hands. Leigh was glad Eden had hired his fledging firm to take on the renovations, even if she’d done so for expediency and not out of any altruistic desire to help a neighbor.

Parking behind the house, Leigh stepped from the car and paused to stare up at the house. The sinister feel was even stronger back here. The bars Bram had installed over the windows didn’t improve things any. Leigh couldn’t wait for him to take them all down. Her sister owed her big-time for taking on this albatross.

Gavin had spent more than an hour going over the details and the money with them yesterday. He’d kept the discussion on a professional level the entire time, but Leigh had been aware of him every minute.

The myriad fictitious bills showed all sorts of major repairs that hadn’t been made—and most were desperately needed. Restoring the house inside and out was going to demand an enormous amount of time and money. Leigh didn’t mind spending either one, but she had a degree in telecommunications and one in computer science. Neither one would do her much good out here in horse country, but she’d called this morning and turned down the exciting new job she’d been offered in Boston because she realized the renovations were going to require a lot of time and thought. Leigh needed to be here—at least part of the time, so what was going to happen to their Boston apartment? She couldn’t see her sister moving back there without Bram any more than she could see Bram moving to an apartment in Boston.

Fretting, Leigh turned away from the house and headed for the peace of the garden maze. Gavin wasn’t due to meet her here for another twenty minutes or so and she wanted that time alone to think. Since yesterday, she’d been telling Hayley and the Walkens that she wasn’t the least bit concerned to find herself working so closely with Gavin. What had happened between them had been a long time ago and was unimportant now. She could deal with the situation like a mature adult.

An entire year, working closely with Gavin.

Why did he still have to look so incredibly good? Each time she met those penetrating eyes of his, her control slipped a notch and she had to struggle to surface from their compelling force. Flashbacks of that long-ago night kept her so on edge, it was hard to concentrate on anything else when she was around him. And what kept her awake late into the night was the certainty that Gavin hadn’t forgotten a thing any more than she had. She was almost certain she’d seen more than a flicker of masculine approval when he’d first looked at her in his office.

Right. Thinking that Gavin still had the hots for her was certainly dealing with the situation like a mature adult.

Leigh stumbled over a vine that had inched its way onto the path. Yanked from her troubled thoughts, she gazed around in dismay. The gardens were an even bigger mess than the house.

At one time, there had been three distinct mazes. Her grandfather had kept them trimmed to waist height to show off the ornamental trees and topiary animals sprinkled about. Dead ends had culminated in large circles with inviting benches, shade and ornamental trees, and a profusion of flowers. The water fountain and underground sprinkler system had been carefully planned before their grandfather’s death. Both had been installed the week her mother had disappeared.

The mazes had been a showplace, yet despite obnoxious bills to the contrary, no work had been done on them since the fountain was completed. The bushes that composed the walls now towered a good six feet or more. In several places, they’d overgrown the paths, uniting the mazes in a vast labyrinth. Most of the topiaries were unrecognizable, and the flowers were either gone or had been replaced by the roses Marcus had become so fond of tending.

Still, Leigh could almost sense her mother’s presence here among her gardens, as she’d called the mazes. Leigh half expected to round a curve and see Amy Thomas in her wide-brimmed sun hat, tending some flowers. She’d be distraught if she could see their present condition. Hiring a landscaper had just moved to the top of Leigh’s to-do list.

A squirrel suddenly skittered in front of her, racing away as if in mortal danger. Leigh realized she’d wandered down a dead-end trail by mistake. She turned to go back, when she heard the distinct crunch of footsteps approaching. A large shape abruptly blocked her path.

“Hello, Leigh.”

For a minute, she couldn’t place the vaguely familiar face. Then he smiled without humor.

“Nolan?”

Nolan Ducort III was the last person she had expected to see here, of all places. His blond good looks were dissipating right along with his hairline. His once-firm jaw had softened and rounded thanks to the thirty pounds or more he’d put on since she’d last seen him. Only his eyes were the same. Cold, and unnaturally blue thanks to contact lenses, they stared at her in a way that made her shiver despite the mid-June heat wave.

“Cat got your tongue?”

“You startled me,” she said warily. She was suddenly conscious of how quiet the maze had become. “I’m…surprised to see you here.”

He swaggered closer. Leigh took an involuntary step back. Instantly, she knew she’d made a mistake. His eyes glittered in triumph at the small show of weakness, and she found herself inside one of the dead-end circles.

“We have some unfinished business, you and I.”

Her stomach twisted in sudden fear. Surely Nolan didn’t mean to attack her. Not now. Not here in her own backyard.

She drew in a steadying breath, tossed her head and raised her chin as she’d seen Hayley do many times before when confronting an annoying person. Hayley was much better at handling the male of the species, but Leigh had learned a thing or two since her last meeting with Nolan.

Imitating her sister’s best haughty glare, she forced herself to look him up and down coldly, taking extra seconds to stare at the paunch that had started to bulge above his belt buckle. Color swarmed up his neck.

Satisfied that the pounds he’d gained would slow him down once she got past him, Leigh managed a sneer. “Get lost, Nolan. Unless you’d like to start doing your business from the inside of a jail cell.”

A flicker of surprise came and went. His features hardened. She had to work to keep her own expression from revealing her core of fear.

“We both know you aren’t going to go to the cops or you’d have done it by now.”

He was right, of course. They both knew what he’d tried to do that night, and they both knew there was no way to prove a thing.

“So, what were you doing at Saratoga the other day?”

The question came out of nowhere and made absolutely no sense.

“Saratoga?” There was a disturbing intensity behind his cold, penetrating stare. “I haven’t been to Saratoga in years.”

“Going to try and pretend it was Hayley?”

Leigh had no idea what he was talking about. She didn’t care. All she wanted was for him to move away from the opening so she could escape.

“Go away, Nolan.”

He tilted his head. A quiver skittered straight down her spine at the fury in his steely blue eyes. Despite her intention not to show any fear, Leigh looked away.

“Now you’ve made me curious, Leigh,” he said with chilling softness. “I wonder exactly what it is you’re trying to hide?”

What was he talking about? She started to protest and stopped. Arguing was pointless. It didn’t matter what he was talking about. Escape was all that mattered.

“Get lost, Nolan. I mean it. You don’t have any business here.”

“Now, that’s where you’re wrong,” he said, sounding pleased. “We’re doing business together right this very minute.”

His evil smile sent her pulse racing.

“Didn’t you know? I have an interest in R.J.’s construction company.”

While his voice leered, his expression did not. Cold and calculating, he seemed intent on deliberately baiting her.

“I’ve got an interest in any number of local businesses,” he continued when she remained silent. “In fact, it looks to me like you could use the services of my landscape company.” He waved a flaccid hand toward the overgrown hedges.

“Not even if they are the only ones in town. I’m not afraid of you,” she lied boldly. “I know exactly what you did.”

His eyes gleamed, murderous shards of blue. Her fingernails bit into the palms of her hands.

“Why don’t you call the cops then?” he demanded. “Let’s see which one of us they believe.”

“I know all about your family’s political pull, Nolan. I don’t care if your father and Chief Crossley are old friends. And I don’t care how many other politicians he’s bought. Do you really believe you’re invincible? Even you must realize you can’t buy your way out of everything.”

Fury brought him a step closer. She held her ground by sheer force of will.