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.A baby grand piano sat in one corner of the room and there was an entire wall of mullioned windows that in the daytime presented yet another breathtaking lake view.Now the fire was reflected in the glass, the gold and red as rich as everything else about the estate.Poppy supposed a woman like herself, raised in a home much more humble, might feel intimidated.But the fact was, the Walkers were an arrogant lot, unimpressed by baubles and stacks of cash.They’d come to the untamed peaks with their oxen and their iron will, facing down any and all who got in the way of their holding a piece of the California mountains.Once they had it, they’d considered themselves wealthier than the whole world.“What have you heard from your family?” Ryan asked, as if he’d read her mind—or was trying to initiate that chat he’d claimed to want.But this was a safe topic.She glanced at Mason, who had gathered the cards and was separating them into piles with little-boy busyness.“My brother, Brett, has been out of town, it turns out.I’ve been ignoring my sisters’ calls and instead have been taking their scoldings via text message.”“Tell me about them.”“Why?”Ryan shrugged.“You know Linus.”“Not that much.” Other than he was charming, boyishly elegant and deeply concerned about his brother.Oh, and that he thought she should stay with Ryan for the rest of March.“You know Linus cooks.He can also do a decent soft shoe.”Poppy blinked, fascinated.Her own brother refused to sway on the dance floor even at weddings.“Can you?”“When you get me drunk enough.”She directed her glance to his wineglass sitting on the end table by his elbow.He’d refilled both of theirs not long before.“It would take a lot more than a couple of glasses of grape juice,” he said, and a smile played at the corners of his mouth.The sight of it made her belly tense and the bite mark on her thigh suddenly throbbed.Oxygen seemed bottled up in her chest as that dangerous longing surged through her again.Afraid he might see it on her face, she looked away.Mason had abandoned the Go Fish cards to curl up on his cushion and was quickly heading toward sleep.It was a good excuse to get up and carry him to bed.After that, she could hide out in her room.But the fire was beautiful and the wine had mellowed her and.and she didn’t want to leave Ryan’s company quite yet.Running her finger around the rim of her wineglass, she stared into the liquid.“My brother has a landscaping company.He used to be in the army—10th Mountain Division.He’s back now, at turns quiet and cranky.”“And your sisters?”“Mackenzie, she’s older than me, runs a housekeeping business.I saw one of her cards in your kitchen.”“I’m not sure who we usually use.I have an assistant who makes a call to a service when I plan to be up here.”Poppy grinned.“If you get the chance to meet my sister, she’ll likely talk you into using hers.”“And the other.Shay?”“Tutors when needed, does nanny work.She just got a new job as a.well, it sounds sort of like a governess, actually.One of your neighbors at the lake has a teenager.Shay is living at the estate and homeschooling the girl.”“I still don’t understand why they’re so against developing the cabins.”She shrugged, thinking of how to explain family history and family dynamics.“Our dad was a dreamer.An impractical one, and it caused a lot of contention between him and our mom, on and off throughout their marriage.He was so focused on keeping that last tract of land that he made bad financial decisions.When everything fell apart, he took a mining job in South America.”“Tough,” Ryan said.“And it got tougher.” She sipped at her wine.“My mom—and to be fair, she couldn’t be certain Dad would come back—had an affair that resulted in Shay.That relationship went poof and then our father returned.and he and Mom patched things up.He accepted my sister as his own and never treated her differently than the other three of us.”“Then he was a good man.”“Yes.” There was a sting of tears in Poppy’s eyes.“It’s one of the reasons I don’t want us Walkers to abandon the property that meant so much to him.”“But your siblings are adamant about not cooperating with you?”“They think I’m a dreamer, same as my dad.But all his ideas weren’t failures—and I want to prove to them this one isn’t.”“Do they really believe the land’s cursed?”She shrugged.“With bad memories for sure.After the fire there, dad’s stress over the situation caused the heart attack that killed him.But I think if we can make something of the cabins, then we can make some good memories, too.It would be dad’s true legacy.And my mother’s, too, when it comes to that.I’m so glad Mom gave him a second chance.”Which was why when Denny phoned today, she’d not instantly hung up.At some level, ever since she’d heard he’d been asking about her, she’d expected the call.In a small community like theirs, her number was easy to uncover.Her surprise had been from what he claimed to want—a chance to get to know his son.While part of her recoiled at the idea, given that he’d never expressed any interest before, her conscience couldn’t immediately put the kibosh on it.What if he’d changed? She would never take up with him again, that was over, but could she deny him a chance to be a father to Mason?Ryan had influenced her there.His love for his boy and his grief that Tate was gone made her not immediately refuse her ex.But she was being careful, and had told Denny she needed time to fully consider the situation.“I hope that’s what you’ll find, Poppy,” Ryan said in a quiet voice.“A man who’ll love you and have an open heart for your son.”Glancing over at him, her own heart stopped, then did another of those pancake flips in her chest, exposing once again its soft, vulnerable underbelly.Because, though Ryan was staring into the fire, his fingers were lightly sifting through her son’s hair.The gesture was tender and sweet and she knew he had no awareness of it whatsoever.A man who’ll love you and have an open heart for your son, Ryan had said.The words raked at her.Poppy knew for certain Ryan’s statement wouldn’t ever, couldn’t ever, refer to himself.Because when it came right down to it, she now knew him quite well, too.CHAPTER FOURTEENFROM YOU SEND ME, a screenplay by Linus Hamilton:EXT.BLUE ARROW LAKE—NIGHTLINUS and CHARLIE are snuggled side by side at the rear of a small powerboat.The lake gently rocks them as they gaze upward, enjoying the weekly fireworks display while surrounded by other boaters, some in kayaks, some on large, flat-bottomed party boats.The rockets are launched from a platform in the middle of the lake and the various hues of the subsequent explosions wash over the faces of CHARLIE and LINUS.Once the incendiaries flame out, ash and some still-glowing tiny embers rain into the water, landing with little hisses.LINUSThat was a good one.CHARLIE squeaks in mild alarm as ash falls around them again and LINUS tucks her closer, kisses her temple.Another boom sounds, and colors flower in the sky above.CHARLIEI’ve never been this close [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]