The Best Man to Trust - By Kerry Connor Page 0,36

him hard. A mixture of awe and pride and pleasure like nothing he’d ever felt before filled him in the face of her approval.

They reached the main staircase in the front hall. As they descended the stairs, Tom glanced up at the portrait hanging on the wall above the landing halfway down. He’d noticed it before but hadn’t paid much attention to it. It depicted a couple, a bride and groom on their wedding day from the looks of it. The image seemed to loom over him and Meredith, oppressive and unsettling. Given everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours, it was an eerie reminder of exactly what had brought them all here—and of Scott and Rachel’s wedding that wouldn’t take place.

Meredith must have noticed his attention. “That’s the previous owner of Sutton Hall, Jacob Sutton, and his wife, Kathleen, on their wedding day,” she explained.

“Is that where you got the idea to hold weddings here?” he asked, coming to a stop on the landing.

“Actually, yes.”

Tom took in the smiling faces of the bride and groom, the joy seeming to radiate from them and out of the portrait. It was impossible not to think of Scott and Rachel. Even when they finally did manage to get married, they likely wouldn’t be able to take as much joy in it as this couple had. The moment would inevitably be colored by what had happened here.

“They look happy,” he observed.

“From what I was told, they were. For a few years at least.”

Tom didn’t miss the note of sadness that had entered her voice. “What happened to them?”

“She was killed in a car accident about five years into their marriage. He never got over it. He lived the rest of his life here alone.”

Tom studied the face of the fresh-faced groom in the portrait. He really did look happy, his hand clasping his bride’s, his smile broad and beaming. Tom tried to imagine him as an older man, tragic and alone in this massive mansion. He couldn’t do it, or maybe he just didn’t want to. “That’s really sad,” he murmured, the words feeling inadequate to convey how true it was.

“Yes, it is,” Meredith said softly. “When we first came here and I heard their story, I actually thought it was incredibly romantic, the idea of a love that didn’t die even though one of the people in it had. But now I think about him in this huge house, shut away from everyone and everything, and it just seems like a waste. I doubt Kathleen would have wanted him to live like that. Not if she truly loved him.”

“It’s almost like he was hiding from the world,” Tom said.

It was only an idle observation. He wasn’t entirely sure why he’d said it at all. But it seemed to strike a chord in her. He glanced over in time to see her wince, her expression tightening as she slowly lowered her eyes.

And he understood, a burst of sorrow shafting through him.

Is that what you’re doing here, Meredith Sutton? he wondered, his gut clenching. Hiding?

He couldn’t really blame her. After what she’d been through, withdrawing from the world probably would have seemed like a relief. Maybe she’d needed that, needed the time and space to recover. Maybe she hadn’t even known that was what she was doing, though, from her reaction, she seemed to be considering the possibility now.

Seeing the sadness on her face, he wished he hadn’t said it. “Or maybe he just didn’t feel the need to leave,” Tom said, striving to lighten the tone. “This place is pretty amazing. Who would want to leave if they didn’t have to?”

She forced an unconvincing smile. “I’m sure you’ve seen some amazing places with your job.”

“That’s true. But this place is certainly something special.”

“That it is.”

“What about you?” he asked, still hoping to distract her, if only for a moment. “Did you ever want to travel?”

“Always,” she admitted. “But after Brad and I got married, it never seemed to happen. My brother, Adam, used to travel a lot for work and he’d send me postcards and souvenirs from the places he visited. It was nice to get a little taste of those places.”

“But still not the same as seeing them yourself.”

“No,” she conceded.

“Maybe someday you will.”

“Maybe,” she said, her tone noncommittal. She gave herself a little shake. “We should go. We’ve been away from the others for a while. I want to check on everyone.”

His pulse instantly kicked into a higher gear