Whispers (Argent Springs) (10 page)

There were several cars in front of the bed and
breakfast when she arrived, causing her to park farther down the street.
Another annoying pain shot through her ankle when she stepped out of her car
and into the fluttering snow.

When she entered the house, the sound of boisterous
feminine laughter came from the atrium. She hobbled her way back, trying to
ignore the pain radiating from her foot.

Erin peeked around the corner to see three older
women plus Aunt Annabelle sitting at a card table that had been set up in the
corner of the atrium. They all wore flamboyant dresses in jewel-tone shades
with gems sparkling at their necks and earlobes. One even had a feather plume
pinned in her hair.

It took an extreme amount of effort to not laugh
in appreciation.

A woman with spiky white hair and an emerald dress
stood and slapped her cards down on the table, causing Erin to startle. “Take
that.”

The other ladies all leaned forward and peered
through their glasses to see the winning hand of cards.

“
A royal flush
?” the woman in red exclaimed.
“I don’t believe it.”

“Did you cheat, Agnes?” Annabelle asked.

Agnes snorted. “Won it fair and square. Now give
me my loot.”

One by one, the women removed earrings, a necklace
or a ring and passed them to Agnes. Erin noticed a similar pile of booty in
front of Annabelle, too.

“Damn it, Agnes,” said another woman wearing a
gown of deep sapphire. “Do you always have to win?”

“You need to work on your poker face, Dottie, or
I’ll take you for everything you have.”

Dottie rolled her eyes and mumbled something under
her breath that Erin couldn’t quite understand. “Give me another shot of whiskey,”
she said in a louder voice.

“Of course, love. I wish I would have seized a
bottle of that Sinatra stuff my nephew had. You would have loved it.” Annabelle
pulled a bottle from the floor and removed the lid, pouring a good-sized shot
of Jack Daniels into Dottie’s glass. “Anyone else?”

Just as she asked the question, Annabelle caught
sight of Erin standing in the doorway, and a smile burst on her lips. She stood
and held out a hand toward her. “Erin, love. Come meet my friends.”

Erin walked into the room as three wrinkled faces
turned in her direction. “Hello,” she said to the group, wondering if this was
why she’d suggested that Erin take a lunch and stay out for longer.

Annabelle linked an arm through hers. “I’d like you
to meet, Agnes, Dottie and Sakima. Ladies, this is my great-niece, Erin
Silvestri.”

“About damn time you made it to town. Annabelle’s
been talking about you forever.” Agnes stuck out a hand, and Erin shook it. Her
grip was firm, her mouth a bit caustic, but she exhibited a genuineness that
Erin enjoyed.

“Nice to meet you, Agnes.”

Erin took turns shaking Dottie’s and Sakima’s hands
as well.

“It looks like you ladies are having a good time.”
Erin eyed the cards and whiskey with a raised brow.

“Just a little old-fashioned fun,” Annabelle
responded.

“You’re playing for jewelry?” It seemed like an
odd choice of winnings.

Agnes put a casual yet obvious hand over her
recently acquired loot as Dottie stepped between Erin and the table, blocking
Erin’s view.

“This is how the ladies played back then,” Sakima
said, her voice somehow sleeker, possibly more educated than the others. “Some
of their gents paid in jewelry, and every Monday night after a wild weekend,
the girls would shut down the house and have a little girl time. Depending on
how much silver the guys were bringing down from the mountain, the girls would
gamble with trinkets like thimbles or jewels.”

Erin tried to step around Dottie to get a better
look at the table, but Sakima and Annabelle had joined forces.

“We’re just indulging in our ancestors’
traditions. Nothing serious,” Dottie said.

“Whiskey and gemstones?” Erin asked, now curious at
what they were really hiding.

The four ladies glanced at each other with guilty
looks.

The jewelry must be costume, or else... “Are you
playing with real jewels?” She reached out and lifted the gaudy red necklace
that had rested near her aunt’s throat. It looked like real rubies, but then
again, fakes were so realistic these days. It would take a trained eye to tell
the difference.

“What does it matter? They’re ours,” Agnes said.

“We inherited them rightly, so we can do what we
want,” Dottie added.

Sakima gave her a warning look, but it was too
late. Erin couldn’t contain her laugh.

“Am I to understand that you ladies dress up like
former inhabitants of this town and pretend you’re the prostitutes that used to
live here? And you’re using their jewels as bets in your weekly game of poker?”
These women were headed one way down the crazy road.

“Not just former inhabitants, our great
grandmothers,” Sakima said in an almost-insulted tone. “Most of the jewelry is
just costume stuff anyway.”

“Your great-grandmothers were Rosa’s cohorts?”
Unbelievable.

Agnes wrapped an arm around Dottie’s shoulder.
“You bet your sweet ass they were.”

“That’s amazing that you’d all be friends now.”
Erin would be checking out Annabelle’s jewelry collection later on. Crazy?
Quite possibly, but that didn’t mean the jewelry wasn’t real. In fact, she
wasn’t so sure they manufactured that much costume jewelry over a hundred years
ago. The settings at least would be silver. These ladies could be sitting on a
gold mine and not even know it.

“Not that surprising.” Sakima sat, her expression
no longer guarded. “This is a small town, and we all have deep roots here.”

Annabelle beamed a smile at her friends. “For
whatever reason, these ladies and I felt compelled to return to our childhood
homes. And once here, none of us ever left. You might also be surprised to know
you’ve met their granddaughters. Livia belongs to Sakima.”

Now that Annabelle mentioned it, she could see a
definite resemblance.

“And Piper is Dottie’s granddaughter.” Annabelle
focused clear hazel eyes on Erin. “You’re not my granddaughter, but close
enough.”

Loving warmth filled Erin, and she could
understand why these women stayed. To have friends like this was a gift. Their
eccentricities made them all the more lovable.

“Now that we have that out of the way,” Annabelle said
as she slipped an arm through Erin’s and tugged her toward the doorway. “Could
you be a dear, love, and start dinner? Beef stroganoff. The recipe and most of the
fixings are on the counter. I’d like to say goodbye to my friends and clean
up.”

“Sure,” she said before looking over her shoulder
at Annabelle’s friends. “I enjoyed meeting all of you.”

Sakima nodded her head in what Erin was sure she
must have meant as a friendly gesture while the others waved goodbye.

Erin took a few steps toward the kitchen before
she turned around. She remembered she wanted to tell Annabelle that it had
started to snow.

“She said she’s smelled lavender a couple of
times.” Annabelle’s voice reached out into the hallway, stopping Erin in her
tracks.

“Lavender? No one has smelled that for years,”
Agnes said in lowered tones. “Do you think it’s a coincidence?”

“When is anything in life a coincidence, Agnes?”
Annabelle asked. “Besides, I’ve smelled it a couple of times myself recently.”

“Maybe Rosa wants Erin to stay,” Dottie said in a
lowered voice. She said it as though Rosa had actually made her wishes known in
the past. The agreeing voices in the room didn’t seem surprised by her
statement either.

A shiver raced over her. A ghost in the house? A
real ghost? Perhaps her Aunt Annabelle hadn’t been exactly truthful with her when
she’d downplayed not really knowing if Rosa was still around.

On the other hand, she had to admit that although
Rosa’s spirit might be in the house, she’d never felt threatened or scared.
Still, the thought of ethereal guests freaked her out.

She wanted to confront Annabelle and her friends
now and demand some answers, but she didn’t want them to know she’d been
eavesdropping. However, the first minute she could get Annabelle alone, she had
some explaining to do.

Erin had just popped dinner into the oven when the
front door slammed. A cold breeze whipped through the house as hurried
footsteps approached. She glanced up to find Rick bundled in a sleek black ski
jacket. “Where’s Annabelle?”

“Atrium. What’s wrong?”

“A couple of kids are missing.” He turned and
headed toward the back of the house.

She followed, doing her best to hide her limp and
pretend her ankle wasn’t still throbbing. Concern for these two unknown
citizens of Argent Springs upped her heart rate, and she hoped they’d be okay. Rick
had warned her how dangerous the mountains could be after dark and most
certainly in a snow storm.

Annabelle was alone in the atrium, her friends
having left a good fifteen minutes before. She glanced up as she placed a deck of
cards into the drawer of an old chest near the doorway. “Rick,” she said with a
surprised voice.

“Gert’s girl is missing along with that Cannon
kid. Apparently, she snuck off with him this afternoon, and now no one can find
them. The storm that’s coming in is huge, and Gert is afraid they’ve gone up
one of the side roads into the hills, probably to get drunk or high.”

“Oh, dear. That girl is always giving her mamma
fits. Are you helping?”

“Yeah. A few of the townsfolk are putting together
some search parties. We’ll search the best we can and hopefully find them
before the weather knocks us down.”

“Is there anything I can do?” Erin asked. She
hadn’t forgiven Gert for what she’d done at the bar, but she didn’t want anyone
to get hurt, either. “An extra pair of eyes is good, right?”

Rick eyed her up and down. “Do you have a warm
coat?”

She nodded. “Annabelle told me to be prepared for
any weather.” A snarky little part of her wanted to tell him that was part of
the reason she’d had so much luggage when she’d arrived, but she stayed silent.

“Fine. Grab your coat.”

Erin turned to Annabelle. “I just put dinner in
the oven. The timer’s set.”

“I can take care of that. You two go find those
kids.” Annabelle shooed them out into the hallway.

“My coat’s upstairs. It will just take me a
second.” She headed for the staircase.

When she came down, she found Rick standing
exactly where he’d been when she’d headed up, an austere look on his face. “What’s
wrong with you?” he asked, his voice demanding.

His tone set her back. “Nothing.” She glanced at
her clothes and the hiking boots she still wore. She’d experienced plenty of
snow storms and cold temps in Utah and felt she was more than appropriately
dressed.

“You’re limping.”

Ah, hell. “I’m not.”

He raised his brows, challenging her denial.

“Fine. I twisted my ankle when I was out earlier
today. It’s nothing.”

“How far did you go up in the mountains?”

Somehow, he read her mind. “Not far.” If she told
him the truth, she’d never hear the end of it.

He stared at her for a moment as though he was
deciding if she was honest, and she kept her gaze trained on him, keeping her
eyes as wide and innocent as possible.

After a few seconds, he shook his head,
disappointment obvious in his features as he headed out the front door.

A frigid wind nipped at her as she stepped out
onto the porch. The fat flakes that had fluttered down earlier had been whipped
into a wicked frenzy by the cold front that had moved in. They drove at her,
hitting her with enough force to sting as they attacked her cheeks and hands.

A solid-looking dark blue pickup truck sat running
in front of Annabelle’s house with the headlight beams punching their way
through the heavy snow. Rick stood next to the passenger door, and she had the
distinct feeling he considered her a liability. He said nothing, just opened
the door as she approached and helped her inside. The heater cranked out a
lovely amount of warm air, and she was grateful to be inside out of the
weather.

Seconds later, Rick climbed onto the driver’s seat,
and the calmness of the interior immediately flipped to an intense awareness of
the man sitting next to her. His cologne teased her senses, trying to draw her
closer to him. She resisted.

He didn’t say anything as they drove the block and
a half and parked in front of an old red brick building that Annabelle had
pointed out as the town hall. Various other four-wheel drive vehicles had
parked on both sides of the corner lot.

He turned off the engine, and she opened her door.

“Wait,” he said with a stern voice, and she turned
in his direction, expecting him to say more.

Instead, he jumped out of the cab. Wind whipped at
the hood of his coat as he walked around the front of his truck. He finished
opening her door and held out a hand to her. She took it, and he helped her
down from the truck.

“I wouldn’t want you to slip in the snow and hurt
yourself again.” His voice was gruff, but it warmed her all the same. Most of
the guys she’d dated back home wouldn’t have given her injury a second thought.

She followed him up the front steps and into the
first floor of the city building. The scent of aged wood masked by wax and
polish struck her, and she was reminded of how long this little town had been
in existence. Lights and voices came from a room at the back, and they stepped
inside to find a handful of people surrounding a thirty-something man suited up
in a padded red coat and a black beanie. To the side of the crowd, a hulking
man hugged a teary-eyed Gert, making her seem almost human.

Rick crowded in with the rest of them, and she
stood closely behind.

“Kellan?” said the leader of the group. “You and
Terry head up Spring Canyon.”

A cute guy with short brown hair nodded. “Will
do.”

“Donovan, will your Ford make it up to the old
mine?” the leader continued.

“Damn straight,” said an older guy with a graying
bushy moustache. “I have chains if I need ‘em.”

“Okay, good. Take Ben with you.”

“Me and my partner will take the road heading up
to the old miner’s camp,” Rick added.

The group of people nodded at Rick before their
gazes traveled to her.

“Annabelle’s niece,” she heard the cute guy say in
lowered tones to one of the other men.

Several people nodded to her as though being
related to Annabelle automatically gained her admittance into the local’s club.
She’d experienced the opposite side of the fence with Penny and Gert and
definitely preferred this treatment.

“Come on.” Rick tugged on her elbow, directing her
to follow him.

Outside, they did a repeat of him helping her into
his truck before he reclaimed the driver’s seat, bringing along his tempting
scent. She softly inhaled, letting the sensation of being near a man settle
through her. As ornery as he could be with her, he carried a certain level of
self-assuredness that she couldn’t ignore no matter how hard she tried.

Maybe if she could manage to stay off his bad
side, they could learn to be friends. If she was smart, that’s exactly what she
would do. They both loved Aunt Annabelle, and by the time Erin left, she wanted
to be certain she’d be welcome to come back anytime she wanted. Having Rick on
her side would definitely help with that.

They were silent as he drove through town, heading
for the mountains beyond Annabelle’s home. Rick’s headlights fought to cut
through the thick snow as his windshield wipers swished back and forth trying
to keep their view clear. The truck slid on the snow, and he stopped long
enough to throw it into four-wheel drive.

Rick followed the road, crossing a bridge and
continuing on until they reached a grove of trees that delineated the town from
the mountains. Erin strained to see where the white ribbon of road would lead
them into the pines. The engine on his truck bore down as he started up the
incline.

“Will we get stuck?” Her car never would have made
it up the first stretch in this kind of weather.

“We should be all right.” He kept his gaze focused
on the white out conditions ahead of them.

“Do you really think they’d be dumb enough to stay
out in this? I mean they live here, right? They should know what happens when a
storm comes in.”

He snorted, giving her a quick glance. “They’re
kids. Teenagers. I don’t know about you, but when I was their age, I was
invincible, doing all kinds of stupid shit.”

She remained silent. She’d been studying
pre-calculus honors and advanced-placement psychology, working for perfect
scores in all her classes in an effort to please her parents. At least, she’d
been smart enough to stop all that nonsense once she reached the age of
twenty-two. Still, four years later, she was barely getting up enough courage
to step out of her comfort zone.

“Well?” he asked after a few minutes.

She startled out of her memories. “What?”

“You won’t tell me what rebellious things you did
as a teenager?”

She shrugged, growing more uncomfortable. She’d
taken enough ribbing in college from her roommates when she passed on attending
the wild frat parties. “I stayed out of trouble.”

He glanced at her again and then quickly shifted
back to the road when his truck slid a bit. “No drinking? No skipping school?”

“My education was important to me.”

“You’re telling me that the girl who almost gets
lost in the dark her second night here followed all the rules in school? I have
a hard time believing that.”

She’d tell him that she was working on getting in
touch with the wilder side of herself, but he’d only laugh. “Not everyone
breaks the rules. I had no need to rebel.” Which might be the biggest lie she’d
ever told.

“Never snuck out at night? Never broke curfew?”

“This is a pointless conversation.”

“Sounds like you’ve had a pretty boring life to
me.”

She shifted in her seat and stared at his profile.
Lights from the dash highlighted the slight stubble on his chin and the curve
of his sensuous lips. It’s too bad that everything that came out of his mouth
set her on edge. “Why do you have to be so mean?”

He shifted a sideways glance at her. “What are you
talking about?”

“You’re rude. And snide. I’ve never done anything
to you, and you’ve been trying to make me hate you from the moment you first
laid eyes on me.” There. She’d spoken her mind, and her heart fluttered, no
longer weighed down by unspoken resentment. Another plus for her.

“Not true.”

Two words and he had irritated her again. “It’s
absolutely true. The second you realized who I was after I arrived, you left.
No welcome. No introduction.” She took a breath before continuing. “And then
when I wasn’t home the exact second you thought I should be, you come out, saying
more rude things, and then stomp back home.”

“I didn’t stomp.”

She blew out a cleansing breath as she settled
against her seat, focusing on the snow-covered pines and bushes filling the
space around them. “I don’t know what you want from me.”

The interior of the truck grew silent except the
constant swishing of windshield wipers and the whir of the heater fan. “It’s
not what I want from you. It’s what
you
want from
me
.”

She snorted. “I don’t want a damn thing from you
except a little civility.”

“Don’t pretend you’re not in on it. I know exactly
what Annabelle’s doing, and it won’t work.”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about.” And
the remainder of her patience was threadbare.

“Annabelle thinks it’s her job to find me a wife
and make me forget Melinda.”

Erin considered that for a moment, not entirely
surprised by his revelation. “And you think she intends for
me
to be
that person?” That part did surprise her.

He snorted. “It won’t do you any good to deny it.”

“Wow. That’s…” Her words wouldn’t form.

“Don’t take it personally. Trust me, if I was
looking, I’d definitely be looking at you.”

A shiver raked across her skin, and it wasn’t from
the chill in the air.

“But I’m not interested,” he continued.

“Because of this Melinda.”

He stiffened. “Because I’m not looking for a
relationship. I don’t need a reason why.”

A cynical laugh escaped her lips.

“I’m not seeing the humor here.”

Obviously. “Perhaps you should check your facts
before you start drawing conclusions. First, I’m recently divorced.” If two
years counted as recently. “You think
you
don’t want a relationship? Try
being in my shoes. I’ve been there, done that, and don’t need another man
telling me every choice or decision I make is wrong.”

She folded her arms across her chest. “Another
relationship is the
last thing
I want right now.”

He pulled into a turnout and stopped, his
headlights illuminating a small wooden building plastered with snow. The wipers
continued to swish, marking the awkwardness between them. He watched her for a
moment as though processing their conversation. Then he opened his door. “Be
right back.”

Cold rushed inside the truck as he jumped out and
pulled his hood over his head. He headed into the relentless storm, his head
turned away from the wind. She could barely make out his form as he jerked on
the door to the wooden building. When it didn’t open, he moved around to the
side of the building and disappeared from view.

A few minutes later, he was back. He lifted a radio
mike that was anchored to the underside of his dashboard.

“Allen, this is Rick.” He waited for a person on
the other end to respond before he continued. “I’ve reached the mining camp. No
sign of them in the parking lot. The little building is locked up tight.”

“Gotcha, Rick. Still no sign of them anywhere else,
either. Donovan hasn’t called in yet, though.”

“I’ll check in when we get back down the
mountain.”