From the Shadows (Buckhorn, Montana #2) - B.J. Daniels Page 0,46

glass was dusty, and the room needed to be cleaned, but she’d forgotten how wonderful the views were from here. She opened one of the small windows to let in some fresh air. A gust of warm breeze rushed in. She breathed in the sweet scent of a Montana spring morning.

Every breath was a reminder of what she’d done and what she was about to do. Her grandmother had wanted this place to stay in the family as it had for almost a century and a half, but she also knew how impossible that was for her granddaughter. As much as Casey loved the Crenshaw, it wasn’t something she wanted to take on. Especially after Megan’s murder.

She walked around the tower, admiring the different views and feeling her grandmother in the room. Anna had always had afternoon tea up here. “Everyone should get to spend time on the top of the world, don’t you think, Casey?”

She’d chuckled. “I doubt this is the top of the world.”

“It is for us, and that’s all that matters.”

Soon Anna’s top of the world would be nothing more than rubble to be hauled away. If she sold to Devlin. Who knew what Finn would do with it? Could she sell to him with the contingency that he must destroy it?

Either way, her grandmother’s Old Girl would be gone.

“I’m sorry, Gram.” Tears burned her eyes as she turned away from the view and saw other footprints in the dust on the floor. She wasn’t the only one who’d been up here recently. Finn. She could see where he’d walked around. She could imagine him standing at the windows, looking at the varying views.

The footprints ended at the large, overstuffed chair—her grandmother’s. The knitted throw still hung over one arm, and a book lay open facedown on the small table next to it, along with a cup that Casey knew had held tea.

The scene looked as if her grandmother had been interrupted and had stepped away to tend to hotel business but would return any moment. The feeling was so strong that Casey thought she could hear her grandmother’s tread on the stairs.

She turned, half expecting to see her, and felt the loss with an intensity that brought more tears to her eyes as Finn filled the doorway.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said.

Turning her back, she moved swiftly to her grandmother’s chair as she tried to hold back the tears. She picked up the book and, placing the bookmark between the last pages that had been read, closed it. There was a dark stain at the bottom of the cup from the tea that had never been finished. She snatched up the throw and held it to her chest and was rewarded with the scent of Anna’s rose perfume.

“The view from up here is incredible,” Finn said behind her. She heard him move to the windows to the west. “You can see snowcapped mountains miles from every window. I understand why it was your grandmother’s favorite room.” She knew he was giving her time to pull herself together. She took a breath, dashed her tears with her sleeve and turned to look at him.

He still had his back to her. “She mentioned it numerous times in her journal. She wrote about how she used to read books to you up here when you were little, how you had tea parties and invited your dolls.” Casey felt her heart bump in her chest. “You must have such wonderful memories.”

He turned to look at her and must have seen how close she was to breaking down. He switched to business as if knowing that would help her. “I have made all the arrangements for a contract to be drawn up the moment you accept my offer for the hotel and land.” She nodded, afraid her voice would crack if she tried to speak. “I also made a few calls on that other matter we discussed. If there’s a connection between that car accident and someone on the staff from that summer, my PI will find it.”

She stepped to the window next to him and tried to concentrate on the view to the north. From here, a person could see the entire town of Buckhorn nestled between the pine-covered mountains. A dark two-lane strip of pavement cut right through the middle and kept going.

“You can change your mind.”

She glanced at him, gave a shake of her head, knowing he meant selling the hotel. But it was the