in her gut. Narcisa Fernando’s death was merely lonely, though. The story of what had been done to her people a century before was pure evil. She cringed internally at the specific example of the abomination of things humans did to each other. When she looked over at Camden, he was watching her in that intense, studious way, as though trying to decipher her. Only unlike Haddie, who truly seemed to be able to see into her soul, Camden appeared frustrated that he could not.
She cleared her throat, gave her head a small shake, and glanced over at the back of the house. “The Internet made Hubert Bancroft sound like a hard-working hero. A total success story. But really . . . the man who built this house I’m living in, attempted to convert people he viewed as savages,” she mused aloud. “And he was the true savage. Wow.” She gave her head another disbelieving shake. History really did depend on who was telling the story.
Camden turned his head toward the house as well. “Later, I suppose the house served the same purpose. The attempted conversion of savages.”
“The girl’s school?” she asked. “That’s a harsh way to put it.” Scarlett frowned, tilting her head, picturing Kandi, remembering the good-hearted person Scarlett had known her to be. Full of life . . . vivacious. Yes, she’d made poor choices later but . . .
He paused a beat before removing his gaze from the house and meeting her eyes and offering a small humorless tilt of his lip. “My poor attempt at humor. It was harsh. I shouldn’t have said it.”
“No, I’m sorry. I just . . . got prickly because I had a friend who attended Lilith House for a short time.”
He cocked his head to the side. “A friend?”
Scarlett nodded. “Yeah. My friend, Kandace, was sent here not too long before the fire happened and the school closed.” Scarlett stared unseeing at the back of the massive structure, her mind’s eye full of Kandace’s laughing face. She felt her lips tip slightly and then just as quickly fall. “She got into some trouble and was sent here. She ended up running away though and there hasn’t been a sign of her since. It’s like she just disappeared into the ether.” She moved her eyes back to him and stilled at the look on his face. He looked almost . . . stunned. She frowned. “You okay?”
He drew back slightly, shaking his head. “Yeah. That’s . . . terrible. I’m sorry to hear it. I didn’t know you had a personal connection to the place.”
She shrugged. “Well, sort of, I guess. I spoke with her right before she left for Lilith House, but I never talked to her while she was here. Apparently, they had strict rules on cutting off all outside influences. But when I saw the property up for sale, it immediately caught my attention because of Kandace.”
He pulled his full lower lip between his teeth for a moment. “So,” he said haltingly, “what are your plans for it? It’s a pretty big place for just two people.”
As Scarlett watched him, noted the subtleties of his posture, the way he held his expression, she got the strange sense that this right here was the only reason he’d agreed to the lemonade and cookies. It was this question he’d wanted to ask. It was the only reason he’d stayed—he’d wanted to prod her for information. It made suspicion kick up inside her again, the feeling that this house meant something more to him than he was letting on. And a small piece of her felt—stupidly, she told herself—hurt. His agreeing to spend time with her was due to an agenda. What, she had no idea. And why do you care anyway?
She picked at a piece of chipped paint beside her thigh. Despite her mildly hurt feelings, there was no reason to keep her plans for Lilith House a secret. In fact, if her business was going to succeed, she needed the word to spread as far and wide as possible. She needed to make connections—however casual—with the townsfolk in Farrow. And one of its officials wasn’t a bad place to start. Her hesitation, though, was not only because she was suspicious of this handsome stranger with far too many secrets in his eyes, but because she’d only spoken of her dreams with her mother and Merrilee. She’d only said it out loud to the people she trusted deeply. Saying it