and Lucinda.”
“What I’ve seen is remarkable. People will want to spend hours looking at everything she has. I wouldn’t be surprised if they want to come back again and again.”
“Don’t think I haven’t thought about that. My biggest concern is security. She’s basically inviting people to come see what she has so they can come back and rob her.”
“She might. But she has a security system, right?”
“When she remembers to use it.”
Fear was a topic she had spent two years thinking about in great depth. Her inclination after Kevin died had been to hide away with Christopher where nothing bad could touch them, but she had decided she couldn’t deprive her son of all the good and bad that came from embracing life.
“Appropriate caution is necessary in life. Only foolish people go blithely forward without thinking about potential consequences. But over the past few years, I’ve learned that fear can be paralyzing.”
He studied her, his blue eyes searching. She suddenly wished she hadn’t said anything. “Because of your husband’s death?”
Of course he would know about Kevin. His sister was one of her closest friends. She would have been more surprised if he hadn’t known.
“Yes. After he was killed, it would have been too easy to hide away in my apartment, but I didn’t want that for Christopher and I knew Kevin wouldn’t have wanted it, either.”
“Totally understandable. And admirable.”
She swallowed, uneasy with the intensity of his expression. “Unless we want Winnie to send a search party after us, we should probably keep going.”
“You’re right. We have quite a few rooms to go, but the rest shouldn’t take as long.”
Six
Walking through these rarely used parts of the house always left Ethan feeling a little hollow. He wouldn’t call it melancholy, exactly, merely a certain sadness that the house wasn’t being used to its full potential.
He couldn’t have said what purpose the house would better serve. A reception hall, perhaps, or maybe even a cozy bed-and-breakfast.
This time, seeing it through Abby’s eyes seemed different. She had a genuine appreciation for every detail that he usually overlooked. She spent a great deal of time admiring the woodwork, especially the intricate carvings around the doors and windows. The tile work around the fireplace mantels in several of the bedrooms sent her into ecstasy. He thought she was going to cry when he took her to the bedroom on the third floor that contained a slipper tub right in the bedroom.
“This place is incredible,” she said after they had briefly toured all the rooms on the second and third floors. “I could spend a lifetime wandering through it, and I would still find new and wonderful things to discover.”
He had to smile at her enthusiasm. Abby Powell didn’t seem to hold anything back. Her eyes were a bright green, glowing with light and life, her smile radiant.
He could have spent the remainder of the evening enjoying her company.
He did not want to be so drawn to her. What was the point? He certainly couldn’t start anything with the woman. She was a sweet, vulnerable widow.
He remembered Brooke’s last words to him. Something is broken inside you. I hope you truly fall in love someday, but I’m not sure you’re capable of it.
Over the past year of self-reflection, he had come to admit the truth of her words. He had never loved a woman with the kind of fierce passion his grandparents had had for each other or that he had seen in other happy relationships. As Brooke had said, he wasn’t sure he could—which meant soft women like Abby Powell were off-limits.
He would have to do his best to ignore this growing attraction to his grandmother’s temporary nurse. He should probably try to avoid more situations where he was forced to spend extended time alone with her. That would be a good start.
He looked away from those bright green eyes to the period lighting that lined the hallway.
“Winifred has been a dedicated caretaker of the Lancaster family legacy, even though she married into it instead of being born into it.”
“I can totally understand why she loves it so much. If this were my house I don’t believe I would ever want to leave.”
Guilt pinched at him and he sighed. “I understand how much Winnie loves Holiday House. This place represents so much more than only somewhere to live. It’s history, it’s family, it’s our heritage. And in large part, I think it represents my grandfather, whom she loved with all her heart.”
“That’s sweet,” Abby said