“Believe me, I’ve noticed. Not to worry, though,” she said. “Pretty soon there won’t be anyone left for you to worry about anyway. You won’t need to do all that mulling and pondering you do out there.”
“Obviously you haven’t heard about Bo and the others.”
“Actually, I have. You’ll get them straightened out one by one.”
“You mean that you will. You’re sneakier than I am. My guess is they won’t even know what hit them.”
She grinned at him. “Is that a bad thing?”
“Not necessarily,” he said, gathering her close once again. “I certainly haven’t figured out what hit me, but you don’t hear me complaining.”
“What do you think? Is it working?” Helen whispered.
“I can’t see anything,” Delia protested. “Stop hogging the window.”
“Hey, they’re my mom and dad. I should get to look,” Abby grumbled from behind them. “Has he kissed her yet? I don’t want to miss that.”
Kevin stood back and watched the three of them jockeying for position at the attic window. It was the only one that had a decent view of the shady spot in the backyard where Bobby Ray and Marianne were engrossed in conversation.
“You all are pitiful,” he declared, drawing three guilty looks. “Why can’t you give them some privacy?”
“We are,” Aunt Delia insisted. “That’s why we’re up here instead of down there with them.”
“I thought you didn’t approve of this any more than I do?” he said.
“I didn’t.” She shrugged. “Could be I was wrong. Marianne seemed surprisingly pleased to find Bobby Ray here. Maybe the others are right and there is hope for the two of them.”
“I’m amazed Gracie isn’t up here with you since this is her pet project,” Kevin said.
Actually, Gracie was the reason he’d come up to the attic. He’d been relatively certain that she was the one scuffling around up here and he’d hoped to steal a few more minutes alone with her. Those kisses he’d managed before lunch hadn’t been nearly enough to tide him over until dinnertime. That neediness inside him was getting worse by the day.
“Over there,” Abby said, gesturing across the hall. “She’s going to make that her office. She’s in there measuring.”
Actually, she was in there daydreaming as near as Kevin could tell. She was seated by one of the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring out to sea.
He stood in the doorway and observed her for several minutes, undetected. The room was oddly shaped and small, but filled with glass on all three sides. It had a clear view of the river in any direction, which made it seem bigger than it was. The branches of a huge oak tree were close enough to touch. Gracie looked as serene as he’d ever seen her. He wondered how she’d feel if she knew this particular room’s history. It had been closed off for decades, though naturally he’d broken into it every chance he got as a child.
“Hiding out in your tree house?” he asked eventually.
She glanced up at him and smiled. “It does feel like that, doesn’t it?”
“I hear you’re going to turn this into your office. Won’t the climb to the third floor be a nuisance?”
“It’ll be worth it.”
“It’s awfully small.”
“I won’t need much more than a desk and a filing cabinet.”
“I’ll bet it’s a far cry from what you had at Worldwide.”
She regarded him with a quizzical expression. “Is there some reason you’re trying to discourage me from using this room?”
Kevin hesitated, uncertain whether to tell her the room’s sad history. Naturally, she caught on to the implication of his hesitation.
“Kevin, did something happen in this room?”
He nodded slowly, then settled on the floor behind her, drawing her back against his chest and wrapping his arms around her.
“Tell me,” she pleaded.
Kevin was reluctant to get into it and spoil the room for her, but now that her curiosity was aroused he doubted he could get out of it.
“According to family legend, Great-great Aunt Anne—that would be Delia’s aunt—spent all her time locked away in here around the turn of the century,” he began.
“Locked away?” Gracie asked, clearly horrified. “Who did that to her?”
“It wasn’t like that. She chose to be here. She was watching for her husband to come home from the sea. Even after she was told his ship had been lost, she stayed here. She wouldn’t eat or sleep. Nobody could get through to her. She just waited, wasting away until finally she died of a broken heart.”
Tears spilled down Gracie’s cheeks. “Oh, my, that is sad. How awful for her.”
“They say her ghost still lives here and that sometimes at night you can hear her crying.”
She turned to face him, eyes suddenly shining, the sad mood banished. “A ghost? I thought you said there wasn’t one?”
“Because I don’t believe it.”
“I want to stay here tonight and see for myself.”
He stared at her. “Gracie, I don’t think she appears on command, if she appears at all. Never once, in all the times I was over here, did I hear a thing.”
“You’re a man, for one thing,” she said dismissively, as if that were a logical explanation. “Oh, please. Stay here with me. We can have dinner right up here. There’s plenty left over from lunch. I think there might even be a bottle of wine in the refrigerator. Helen brought it so we could have a toast when we’re finally finished. Given how long the repairs are taking, I have plenty of time to replace it.”
Kevin tried one more time to dissuade her. “Do you really want to sit around on a bare floor and wait for a ghost to turn up?”
“Yes. Just think what it’ll do for business if I can claim a real, live ghost.” She winced. “Well, not live, actually, but you know what I mean.”
“Something tells me Great-great Aunt Anne wouldn’t be thrilled with all the attention. She shooed away everyone who tried to come up here while she was alive.”
Gracie’s chin jutted up. “Well, she’s just going to have to
