The Keeping (21 page)

He dropped her
hand, his face suddenly becoming serious. “I hope so. I don’t like
interviews. I prefer my privacy, but with you, I think the easiest
way to regain my peaceful lifestyle is to give you what you
want.”

She stared at him
for a moment. Ryne was not a happy camper and she wasn’t sure why.
Her tactics hadn’t been that pushy, had they? He had no reason to
dislike her, but for that brief moment, she was sure he did. Waves
of something—anger? Hatred?—seemed to be rolling off him. Hoping to
get on a positive footing, Mel tried to smooth things over with a
smile and a conciliatory tone.

“I promise this
will be painless. Just a few questions, some background
information, and then I’ll leave you alone.”

Ryne grunted and
she wasn’t sure whether he was agreeing or scoffing. Before she
could decide, he turned and indicated she should follow him.

They walked down
the hallway and Mel noted her surroundings. Wooden wainscoting
covered the bottom of the walls while the upper half showed just a
few remnants of old flocked wallpaper. Both the wood and plaster
seemed to be in the process of being stripped down in preparation
for refinishing. Looking up, she noted the embossed tin ceiling.
Even with its layers of peeling and bubbling paint, she could make
out the fine workmanship. Decorative mouldings framed the ceilings
and surrounded the doorways and the windows. They, too, showed
signs of age, some broken and scarred; all in definite need of some
attention from sandpaper.

It was obvious
that this had been an elegant home in its day, but years of decay
and neglect had taken their toll. Ryne had a big project ahead of
him, if he intended to restore the home to its former glory. What
had he mentioned the other day? Renovating the kitchen? She
supposed he was doing the most crucial areas first, hence the new
roof and step. Probably the plumbing and electrical had been the
next on his list.

As if reading her
thoughts, he turned to the left and led her into a room, flipping
on the lights. New fixtures immediately sprang to life, filling the
area with brightness. Along one side of the room a large
entertainment centre, complete with a flat screen TV, was centred
on the wall directly across from an overstuffed leather sofa. Two
matching recliner chairs were on either side. Chocolate brown paint
covered the walls, accented by white window mouldings and an area
rug in varying shades of green. There were no blinds or curtains on
the window, but Mel supposed that being in the middle of nowhere,
there was no need to block the neighbours out. A fireplace, flanked
by bookshelves, occupied the fourth wall and from the look of the
partially burnt logs, they used it to help heat the room.

“This is nice.”
She commented as she looked around. It needed a few pictures on the
wall to give it a more homey feeling, but for three men on their
own it was eminently suitable.

“Thanks. It’s
where we relax.” He nodded towards the sofa. “Have a seat.”

Mel sat down on
the overstuffed piece of furniture and immediately felt herself
sinking down into its depths. It was soft and comfortable, but she
wasn’t quite sure how she was going to get back up again without
assistance. Adjusting herself as best as she could, she looked over
at Ryne. He hadn’t sat down yet and was pacing back and forth in
front of the windows.

“So...” She began
slowly. “What are these ‘terms’ you were thinking about.”

He stopped and
studied her for a long moment and she had to force herself not to
start twisting her fingers nervously. She’d almost decided he
wasn’t going to answer, when he finally spoke.

“I have complete
control over what you write and want to see a list of questions
ahead of time so that I can consider which ones I want to
answer.”

She straightened
and opened her mouth to protest. Who did he think he was? Before
she could speak though, he continued, still staring at her, no
doubt reading her reaction to his words.

“At any time, I
can veto the entire article if I choose and you will leave Stump
River immediately. You are not allowed to ask my partners questions
about me either. If you don’t like the terms, you can leave now
before we even start.”

Mel snapped her
mouth shut and thought the situation over. Really, she had no
choice. If he didn’t want to be interviewed, then there was nothing
she could do about it. Slowly she nodded, an idea already forming
in her head. He wanted control over the questions he answered and
his two friends, but she could still ask the other residents of
Stump River for information. He’d lived here for five months.
Surely in all that time, he’d let things slip to the local
merchants.

“All right. I’ll
make up a list of questions and have it to you by tomorrow. Would
one day be long enough for you to read them over and have some
answers ready?”

“It should be
sufficient. If not, I’ll let you know.” He seemed to relax a bit.
“Okay. With that business out of the way, can I give you the grand
tour?”

Pleased to feel
the tension between them leaving, even if she didn’t completely
understand why it existed in the first place, Mel agreed. When she
struggled to stand, Ryne laughed and grabbed her arm, pulling her
up to her feet. The heat from his hand burned through the thin
material of her light sweater and she was sure that if she looked,
there would be a mark on her skin from the contact. Sneaking a peak
at his face, she wondered if he had felt anything unusual, but Ryne
was already letting go and was heading towards the door. She
hurried after him.

“We put a new roof
on as soon as we got here and then had an electrician rewire the
place. The plumbing in the kitchen, my bathroom downstairs and one
of the upstairs baths has been redone, but not the laundry room.”
He called the information over his shoulder as he headed towards
the back of the house. “Right now I’m working on the kitchen.”

Mel found herself
in a large spacious room. The floors were old worn beige linoleum
and the walls were a hideous shade of pea green. She couldn’t help,
but wrinkle her nose at the decor.

Ryne laughed.
“Yeah. That’s how I feel too. I have all of the cupboards down and
new ones should be arriving later today or tomorrow. New appliances
are coming as well. After that I’ll tackle the walls.”

“What about the
floor?”

“I was going to go
with tile, but then someone told me it’s really cold and hard on
your feet, so instead I’m going with hardwood.”

Mel nodded in
approval. “It’ll match the rest of the house.” She wandered towards
the window and looked out back. The yard was massive, but obviously
overgrown. “A bit of a jungle out there, isn’t it?”

“The previous
owner, Edith Nelson, was an avid gardener in her day, but
apparently the last few years she didn’t feel up to taking care of
it anymore so it really got out of hand.” Ryne rubbed the back of
his neck. “I don’t know much about gardens and I have no idea when
I’ll find the time to do anything out there. For the time being, it
will just have to stay a jungle, I guess.”

“If I lived around
here, I’d love to try my hand at that. During one of her many
careers, my mother had a little garden centre and I worked there
while I was in high school. I don’t know that much about plants but
it was still fun. I haven’t had a chance to do anything like that
for quite a while. My garden in Chicago consists of some sickly
weeds growing between the cracks in the cement. Your yard would be
an interesting challenge.”

“And you like
challenges, do you?”

“I think you asked
me something like that before, and the answer is still yes.”

Ryne gave her a
half smile before leading her out of the kitchen to the next room.
A fireplace, an arm chair, and a sofa made up the sparse
furnishings. “This is technically considered the dining room, but
I’m using it as a living room right now, since the real one has
drafty windows and broken floorboards at the moment.”

Mel looked around
the room with a sense of familiarity. This was the room she’d woken
up in during her initial attempt to meet him. “Will you turn it
back into a dining room some day? It’s an awfully large space.”

“Well, I hope to
have a large...er...family and lots of relatives visiting
eventually.” Abruptly, Ryne moved towards the doorway and Mel had
to hurry after him.

By time they
stopped to discuss different features and his vision for the
renovations, it took almost an hour to go through the whole house.
If he ever got everything done, it would be an impressive home. She
just wondered if he would finish it while still young enough to
enjoy the fruits of his labours. Still, he had achieved an
impressive amount in the five months that he’d lived here. From the
sounds of it, only the wiring and plumbing had been hired out. He
and his two friends were planning on doing everything else by
themselves. Mel wondered if the other two men were around, since
she hadn’t seen nor heard them yet.

By now they were
back in the kitchen and Ryne had her sit at the table while he
rummaged in the fridge. “Lunch isn’t fancy. Soup, sandwiches and a
salad are the best I can do right now with the kitchen torn up like
this.”

“That’s fine. You
didn’t have to feed me, though. I could have eaten something at the
diner in town.”

“You could have,
but this is more private. We can talk without half of the town
knowing our conversation.”

Mel laughed
softly. “It is a rather small place. I suppose not much happens, so
a visitor in town is big news.”

Ryne agreed as he
stood at the stove reheating some soup. “Uh-huh. If you sneeze in
Ruth’s diner, the nurse at the clinic is waiting with a thermometer
by the time you step outside.”

“I’m surprised you
moved here, since you like your privacy so much. It’s obvious that
people take note of what everyone else does.”

“They do.” He
acknowledged. “But only what happens in town. They leave you pretty
much alone at home and for the most part, if you don’t want to
talk, they respect that. People are friendly and concerned, but not
maliciously nosey.”

Mel wondered if
Ryne thought she was maliciously nosey, but decided not to pursue
the point. Right now they were getting along quite well and she
didn’t want to ruin it. For whatever reason, his earlier mood had
passed and he wasn’t being sarcastic either. It would be nice to
relax and just have a normal conversation.

That was exactly
what they did. Movies, books, and decorating ideas flowed around
the table as they ate the simple meal. Mel felt relaxed and
answered his casual questions about her schooling and her
upbringing. Thankfully, he didn’t mention the interview she wanted
and she didn’t either. The story that Aldrich had told her to use
wasn’t firmly embedded in her brain yet, and she wanted to go over
it a few times before trying it out on Ryne. Somehow she suspected
that he’d easily sense deception on her part.

She was just
raising her cup of coffee to her lips when a loud crashing sound
filled the room. Her hand jerked and the hot liquid spilled onto
her clothes. With a yelp, she stood up and pulled the material away
from her skin. Ryne was immediately at her side, yanking at the
sweater and pulling it over her head.

“What the hell do
you think you’re doing?” She sputtered, ineffectually trying to
pull the top back down. It was no use. Ryne had it over her head
before she could even finish the question. Good heavens, but the
man was fast! Mel crossed her arms protectively across her
chest.

“I’m keeping you
from getting seriously scalded. You can’t leave that hot material
on your skin.” He was working at the button on her jeans and she
batted at his hand while stepping away from him.

“It wasn’t that
hot. There’s only a spot or two on my pants and if you touch me
again, I’ll kick you in the balls.” She glared at him, embarrassed
and angry at his presumptuous behaviour.

“Relax. I have no
designs on your body...at the moment.” He paused and leered at her
ample cleavage.

Mel shifted her
arms in a vain attempt to cover more of herself, but knew it was
useless. There was just too much of her to hide. At least she was
wearing a decent bra. Glancing around, she spotted a tea towel and
snatched it up, wrapping it around herself.

Ryne had now moved
to the sink and was soaking a cloth. Once it was wet, he approached
her and flicked up the towel, pressing the wet cloth to the hot
pink skin of her stomach. The cloth was ice cold! Giving a startled
cry, Mel tired to step back, but Ryne simply grabbed her and held
her in place. Once again she found herself sputtering wordlessly
not sure if she should be protesting him touching her or the
coldness of the cloth.

Pre-empting any
comment from her, he spoke sternly. “Be still. It’s important to
cool a burn immediately. Now hold this cloth while I stick your
sweater in water so it doesn’t stain.” He grabbed her hand and
pressed it to her stomach so she could keep the cloth in place.

“Oh.” It was a
small comment, but the only one that came to mind. The cool rag did
feel good and Mel let herself relax a bit. Apparently Ryne had
nothing else in mind, but tending her burn. She watched him fill a
large bowl with water and plunge her top into it. “How do you know
how to do that? Treat a stain, I mean?”

He glanced over
his shoulder at her. “I’m twenty-seven and I’ve been doing my own
laundry for quite a while now.”

Mel nodded. “What
was that noise?”

He nodded his head
towards the window and Mel looked out to see rain pouring down. She
hadn’t realized how dark it had become. “We’re having a spring
storm, it looks like. The wind has really picked up. I wouldn’t be
surprised if one of the older trees in forest fell and that’s what
the sound was.”