Ever After (19 page)

When the girls stood me in front of the bath, the running water roaring into the tub reminded me of the last pleasant memory I had of water. The waterfall before…

“Now let’s get these clothes off you and get you scrubbed clean. Cole, do you mind?” Kaitlyn clucked with distaste at him.

He ambled out of the room.

“You sure found yourself in a mess tonight. If you’d only listened. But why would I think you would. It’s not like you ever did before. Or we wouldn’t be here right now, would we?”

Funny. It didn’t seem like Shelby meant anything I’d done in the last week.

The girls helped strip off the soiled clothing.

“Come on, honey. Let’s get you cleaned up.” Kaitlyn threw my ruined clothes into a heap.

“I’m going to talk to Cole. Can you handle this?” Shelby nodded at me.

“Yeah. Get him calmed down and away from her.” Kaitlyn grabbed a washcloth and soap.

Shelby patted my back and left us. She pulled the door shut behind her. It popped back open enough for me to hear. “We need to talk.”

“One minute alone with her. I can make it all go away.” Cole’s voice sounded weird.

“We know that little trick. No. You’re not doing that again. If you do, I’ll tell her everything,” Shelby said. “She doesn’t need your interference. I don’t know how much more of your mind tricks she can handle. Let’s hope she comes out of the state she’s in right now.”

Bits and pieces of the conversation filtered through the crack in the door. Cole’s voice rose in anger, but Shelby’s rose to match it.

Kaitlyn loofahed my skin almost raw as their words got even more heated.

“…so don’t go off the deep end just yet. We’re not allowed to tell her anything that would quote un-quote piss you off. So, my best advice is you tell her everything and let her work with us.”

“Absolutely not.” Cole’s voice cracked.

“You’re going to get her killed. Tonight, you and your girlfriend could have done her in.”

From there, angry words and hushed tones made the conversation that much harder to keep up with.

“…and if she weren’t already dead, I’d kill her,” Cole fumed.

“You could always dig her up and desecrate her body.”

I imagined him in a rage slashing through the family gravesite, tearing what was left of Grace Rollins’s coffin from the ground and strewing her body all over the place.

“Now we’re in trouble.” Kaitlyn dipped the loofah in the water.

“What?”

“She’s officially pissing him off.”

“There’s no better person to do it.”

“Listen to me.” Kaitlyn forced me into eye contact.

“I’m listening.”

“I seriously need you to listen.” Kaitlyn turned my chin with her finger. “While she has him occupied. Do not, no matter what you do, tell him how you feel about him until I tell you it’s okay to. Don’t verbalize it. Don’t write it down. Don’t tell someone else to tell him.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. I’m not the best judge of character. I’ll think twice before I make any advances toward him ever again. He’s not all there. He told me to get the hell away from him before he killed me.”

“I don’t think he meant it the way you took it. He just means that you being around him could get you killed. There are rules to this game.” Kaitlyn squeezed the water out of the loofah again and sat it off to the side.

“I wasn’t aware I was in a game.”

“Honey, this was a game from the day you opened the invitation.” She squeezed shampoo into her hand.

My temples pounded. I hated games.

“Maybe if we can just get him on our side.” She massaged my hair.

“I don’t know if I like the idea of you all teaming up against me. Somehow I feel like I’d end up the odd man out.” I gently pushed her hand away and took over my cleansing.

The twins and Cole’s possible union gave me a new sense of determination as I stepped from the tub of pink tinged water. One more rinse in the shower freed me of any lingering particles.

Kaitlyn helped me as I sluggishly moved from the shower to dry off. She covered all the little scrapes with triple anti-biotic ointment and bandages.

I faked wellness to get her out of the room and groaned under the pain when she was gone.

God, how far had I fallen?

I eventually stepped from the bathroom.

Cole, Kaitlyn, and Shelby stopped mid-conversation to stare at me.

Cole’s gaze darted toward the door, then to the window, then back to the door as if he were looking for a way to escape.

“I’m fine. You can all leave now. Go find somewhere else to conspire.” In my closet, I pulled the door almost shut, glad to be out of their view.

Kaitlyn said, “Don’t you need help—”

“You all have to be exhausted, and I need to lie down myself, so there’s no need to keep you up.” I kept my thoughts off my planned late night excursion.

“I’ll be in the cottage if you need anything. Have someone call for me if it becomes absolutely necessary.” Cole’s voice was closer to the door.

“Absolutely necessary? Wow. I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you.” I laughed but wasn’t a bit amused. I pulled on a nightgown and hung the robe in the closet.

Cole’s voice sounded softer. “I’m not trying to evade you. At least not…never mind.”

I stepped out and passed Cole without a glance.

The bed was turned down for me. How sweet. He’d probably done that, too.

I turned to Cole wanting, needing to hurt him after his rejection. “Your services are no longer needed.”

Isn’t that what he wanted to be? Only my employee? I had no problem with that arrangement now. I’d never call on him again. Not unless it was absolutely necessary.

Cole’s jaw worked. He left the room.

Okay, returning the rejection didn’t fulfill me the way I thought it would.

“Please, if you can’t stay in bed, stay out of trouble tonight,” Kaitlyn said.

* * * *

Once in the library, the musk of leather and dusty volumes enveloped me. A masculine work desk centered in the middle of the window had a lone lamp that wouldn’t draw much attention.

I hoped no one could see from outside. I pulled the switch to ensure privacy.

From hundreds of multicolored book jackets, the volume that read Rollins 1864 stuck out. I pulled it from the shelf and glanced behind me.

No paranormal researchers/nosey detectives in sight nor were there any hot, mysterious guys who couldn’t seem to stomach being around me or stay away from me.

Rolling a large, buttoned-backed leather office chair up to the massive mahogany desk, I sighed and laid the book out in front of me.

The first page depicted the grounds with a railroad and a railcar pulling supplies to a foundation to the ridiculously huge house. Men in dusty work clothes unloaded the car as distinguished men in old suits admired the progress.

The next page was of a family. This picture had only one little girl. The next had two.

As I flipped through the pages of pictures and documents, a story folded out before me. The documents were interesting, but the fact that a lively smile had decorated the older girl’s face until the little girl appeared in the pictures was even more noteworthy.

A room decorated with music boxes, porcelain dolls, and a canopy bed filled the next page. The picture was yellowed, but something about the room beckoned me. It was exactly how I would have decorated my room as a young girl had money allowed. I was almost there, in the room, under the warmth of the warm blankets. The love of my parents was evident in each knickknack and laced item that filled the room.

“What are you doing out of bed?” Cole’s voice jarred me.

“None of your business.” My cheeks heated at being caught in the fantasy.

“Fair enough.” He swiped his hand through his hair. From over my shoulder, he took interest in my reading material. “What’s this?”

“I’m sure you know what it is. You know everything else about the place.”

“The Rollins’s Family History.” His voice was patronizing.

“Yep. Trying to figure out why a ghost would want me dead. And for that matter why you’d threaten to kill me, then act like you care so much about every minute scrape on my body.”

“I meant that you being around me would end up getting you killed. I was stressed.” He sounded so placid. As if this was okay. As if he could treat me however he wanted.

“Hmm.” Anger stewed in my veins.

“And you’d be of no use to Grace Rollins if you were dead. She gets her kicks from harassment. She rarely kills. Chase, beat, maim, possibly even torture small animals—yes, but kill, not lately.” Cole rounded the sofa nearest the door and flopped down.

So she had killed. That raised the stakes a little.

Cole propped his elbows on his knees and rested his chin on steepled fingers. The way he looked amazing even in a white T-shirt and plaid pajama pants distracted me until I got to the next picture.

A rose garden half built. The gorgeous older sister stood in front of it wearing a purple floor-length dress that dipped dangerously low in the front.

“Who is she really? And don’t say who. I want to know who is chasing me.” My tone hinged on sweet and slightly flirty.

“A girl who used to live here.” He sank back into the sofa. His long, lean legs were breathtaking. Cole stared at the bookshelf before him. He raked his left hand through his wet, freshly showered hair. The room smelled warm and spicy, like him.

Heat prickled my skin from my toes to the roots of my hair. That heat he knew how to fire up with just his presence churned deep in my stomach.

Cole regarded me, an impish grin lifting the corners of his mouth.

“What?” I put my hands flat on the book.

“Love the night gown.” He chuckled, not as uptight as usual.

Okay, so it resembled a white sack. “Yeah, I wasn’t expecting a late night rendezvous in the library.”

“I didn’t—” he started.

“I know you didn’t come to the library to throw me down on the sofa.” I poked my nose back into the book and pretended to be interested in a page I’d already studied. I flipped to the next page.

“Actually, I was going to say, I wouldn’t disrespect you like that. You deserve better than a sofa.” His voice was smooth velvet.

I choked on a cough. I diverted my eyes and cleared my throat. Scanning the pages as a distraction, I accidentally fell on the face of an interesting bit of information.

“Do you know anything about this?” I planted my finger on a yellowing certificate.

Cole approached the desk. He already looked gaunt, but his face blanched in the desk lamp light. “A death certificate.”

“Two death certificates.” I flipped to the next page. “For two women. With the same last names. Maybe they were the girls in this picture album.”

“Y-yeah. So?” He was unsettled by the page. “People die all the time.”

“But not on the same day, at the same time. Unless, it was unnatural causes? Or a freak accident.”

“Grace and Annabeth Rollins. Same day, same time. All the locals know the story. There was a struggle. They slipped and fell from a fourth floor window. Don’t you think you need to be resting? You took quite a fall yourself today.” Cole turned back to me and scanned the room with darting eyes, his nostrils flared.

“Because of one of these women. I want to know which one and why. She says I have something of hers. She also says she wants to hold ‘him’ again. Do you have any idea what or who she’s talking about? Seems to me that you have a jealous, other-worldly admirer who thinks you have feelings for me.”

He stared through me.

I masked a shiver.

“Quit worrying over things that don’t concern you.” Cole glared. “And to find out why she’s after you, you’ll have to ask her, and if you haven’t already noticed, she’s not much for conversation. Not a smart idea. Could we please go to bed now?”

His misspoken words gave me new determination. “Is that an invitation?”

Cole’s eyes tapered to dangerous slits. “You know what I meant.”

“I wasn’t keeping you from your bed.” Or was I? I sure hoped my sleepless nights weren’t one-sided.

“I can’t sleep knowing you might be wandering around this big house. There are too many places you could get lost. If I can’t find you before Grace does, I don’t even want to think about what could happen. Do I have to sleep at the foot of your bed to keep you there?” Cole came around the desk, slapped the book shut, and took it from me.

I gawked at him as he strode to the bookshelf and slid it back where it belonged. Precisely where it belonged.

“Someone has to protect you from yourself. Stand up,” he said. Cole rounded the desk and took my arm. Gently but firmly he urged me up.

I was sore. I couldn’t argue.

He led me to the door of the library.

I resisted for a second, so he stopped and turned to see why.

“What now?”

“I swear sometimes you act more like a big brother than an employee.” I leaned away from him.

A devilish grin pulled up the corner of one side of his mouth. He leaned forward and planted a friendly, sloppy kiss on my cheek. He sorrowfully searched over the cuts on my cheeks, and then his vision went back into focus. “Good, then we’re on the right track.”

Ten steps down the hall, I was able to breathe. Closeness with him, no matter the intent or setting, sucked the air right out of me.

The cold marble was ice on my bare feet, but the warmth of Cole’s fingers on my arm warmed my whole body.

He pulled me up the stairs.

Oh, how I wished the moment would end differently.

“If I had the skeleton key to all these rooms, I’d lock you in here myself.” He placed me in my room, both hands on my shoulders from behind.

“Wait a minute. How did you know I was in the library?” I asked him in a half-turn.

He stopped me and moved in close, his body barely touching my back. Cole lowered his lips to my ear. “I know where you are at all times.”

The door clicked shut behind me.

* * * *

“Well, it’s pretty apparent the little anti-lust stones aren’t working.” Shelby made a face at the spoonful of Cream of Wheat the next morning at breakfast.

“What are you talking about?” I mixed butter into my bowl.