Ever After (27 page)

K
it arrived with Raine, who was carrying a big file box. The three Taggert men looked surprised when the tall, elegant man kissed Hallie on both cheeks. “You look well, my dear,” Kit said.

“I had an interesting morning,” she answered and ignored the little snort Jamie gave.

“So I heard.” Kit nodded for Raine to put the box on the coffee table. “Should we empty the cabinet before it's moved?”

Kane gave a snort identical to his son's. “I think we can manage it fully loaded.” He looked at Raine and the two big men easily moved the huge old dresser away from the wall, then stood back. “It's yours,” Kane said to Hallie, meaning that she could look first.

Leaning against the wall they'd exposed were two pieces of old paper, one about ten by twelve, the other half that size.
Whatever was on them was hidden from view. The fact that they'd been there, untouched, for over two hundred years didn't surprise Hallie. Her dream had been so vivid, so clear, that it was as though she'd lived it.

When she picked up the papers, an envelope fell forward. On the front, in beautiful copperplate writing, was the single word “Kit.” In one movement, she hid the envelope under her shirt, then got up and put the papers face down on a tea table.

As the men moved the dresser back in place, she caught Kit's eyes and he understood that she had something to show him. As he walked past Hallie, she surreptitiously slipped the envelope to him.

When they'd all gathered around the table, Hallie said, “Is everyone ready?”

“With breath held,” Kit said.

Hallie turned the large one over first. The ink drawing was exactly as she'd seen it in her dream. Two beautiful young women were stretched out together on the window seat, one with her head on the other's shoulder. Their pretty dresses draped about them, nearly encasing them.

The artist had caught what looked to be sadness in their eyes. But then that was understandable. On Juliana's wedding day, they'd known it was their last moment together in the same house. The next day, Juliana was to leave with her new husband. What they didn't know was that within a week, death would separate both of them from everything they loved.

Hallie looked at Kit in question and he nodded at her. Yes, these were the young women he had seen.

“And what is that one?” Kane asked.

Hallie flipped over the other paper—and gasped. It was a drawing of her father. He was wearing a high-collared shirt and his hair was longer than he used to wear it, and he was very young, but it was most certainly her dad.

“Whoever he is, he looks like you,” Jamie said. “You have the same eyes.”

She looked at the others standing around the table and each one nodded in agreement.

Hallie picked up the drawing. “I guess this is Leland Hartley, my ancestor.” She looked at Jamie, his father, and Raine, noting the resemblance among them. Her father had been the only blood relative on his side she'd ever seen, but here was evidence of someone else related to her.

When she looked at Jamie, he seemed to understand. This discovery needed privacy.

“Okay, that's enough,” Jamie said. “Everybody out.”

“I agree completely.” As Kit started for the door, he nodded at the big box by the couch. “I think you'll find the contents of that interesting.” He left with Raine.

Kane paused by his son. “Your mom will send dinner over later, so you two don't have to worry about that. Enjoy yourselves.” With a warm smile at both of them, he left the tea room.

Hallie looked at Jamie. “He doesn't think you and I are…uh, together, does he? I mean, he doesn't know that this morning we—” She couldn't say what was in her mind.

Jamie didn't want to lie, nor did he want to confess, so he said nothing.

But Hallie understood. Yes, he knew. Embarrassed, she stepped out the door. “I think I need to clean up the gym, so I'd better go.” But the sky suddenly opened and rain pelted down on her. She ran back in and shut the door behind her.

“You're wet,” Jamie said. “Stay here.” He went into the kitchen and returned with a stack of dry kitchen towels, put one over her hair, and began to rub.

“I need to go upstairs and change,” she said.

Suddenly, Jamie did
not
want her to leave the room, didn't
want either of them to leave it. He pulled the folded blanket off the window seat and wrapped it around her shoulders. Rain was coming down hard outside and they could hear it lashing against the windows. It was a fierce summer storm.

When Hallie shivered, Jamie put his arm around her. “This looks like it may be coming down for a while. How about I build us a fire and we go through the box Uncle Kit brought over? And you can tell me about your dream that seems to have been real.”

Hallie put the towel around her neck. “I think that's a great idea. Do you know how to build a fire?”

Jamie couldn't help shaking his head in disbelief. “Of course. I've watched the butler do it many times.”

Her eyes widened.

“We don't have a butler and I'm from Colorado. I can build a fire on top of snow.”

“Really?” She sat down on one end of the couch, wrapped in the blanket.

“Watch and learn,” he said. It took him only minutes before the fireplace was going strong. The wind hit the old windows, making them rattle, but it was cozy and warm inside, and the light from the fire was cheerful.

Hallie leaned back against a pillow and stretched her legs out. For some odd reason, her clothes no longer felt wet. “This is nice.”

When Jamie sat down on the opposite end of the couch, she drew her knees up. Reaching out, he pulled her feet onto his lap and began to massage them.

“I don't think this is appropriate,” she said and started to draw back, but he held her feet to him.

“Let me get this straight,” Jamie said. “This morning you had me buck naked on a table with only a towel the size of a washcloth over my behind, and your hands were all over me.
Inside my thighs, well below my navel, everywhere. And that's not even counting when we were all over each other. But now I'm not allowed to touch your
feet
?”

Hallie couldn't help laughing. “I guess when you put it that way, I can't say no. And besides, it does feel good.” He was stroking her feet, his strong hands caressing them, and she closed her eyes.

“You're not used to people doing nice things for you, are you?” he asked.

“I guess not.”

“Your stepsister didn't do anything to thank you for all you did for her?”

It was Hallie's turn to give a snort. “No, that's not something Shelly does. Can you reach the box Kit brought?”

Once again, Jamie knew he'd been told to back off. “Sure,” he said. “You mind if I take off this sweatshirt? It's heating up in here.”

At her nod, he pulled the heavy garment over his head. Under it he had on a plain white, short-sleeved T-shirt, which allowed the scars on his arms to show. When he reached over to get the box, she could see the outline of more scars on his back.

“Do you cover up with long sleeves just for outsiders?” she asked.

“No!” He pulled the lid off. “I have to cover up around my family. If I don't, the aunts get teary and start asking if they can get me anything. The uncles pat my shoulder and say this country is lucky to have men like me.”

“And your cousins?”

“They're the worst. They say, ‘Jamie, why don't you sit there and watch us have fun?' Or ‘Our game of Ping-Pong won't be too loud for you, will it?' ”

Hallie was trying not to laugh. “Ping-Pong?”

“Well, maybe not that particular game, but I'm sure not invited to play rugby with them.”

“But somebody got you to go skiing.”

“That was Todd. Tough love that put me back in the hospital.”

“Sounds like your family was right to coddle you. But then the skiing is what got you
here
.” She wiggled her toes on his lap.

“Yeah, it did. So maybe I owe my brother. Just please don't tell him that.” Jamie leaned forward as though he meant to kiss her.

But Hallie pulled back. “So what's in the box?”

“Just papers. You know, you wouldn't be nearly so cold if you moved to my end of the couch. I'm a very warm person.”

“I'm not cold at all. I want to see what Uncle Kit brought us.”

“Speaking of him, what did you slip my uncle when you two thought no one was looking?”

“You saw that?!”

“Of course. So what was it?”

She told him of the envelope with Kit's name on it. “Do you think that tonight at dinner he'll tell us what was inside it?”

“If he does, it's only because he's mad about you.”

Hallie laughed. “I don't think so, but thanks for the compliment.”

As Jamie held the box up, they looked inside it. There was a thick envelope on top and under it were a lot of loose papers, most of them photocopies.

“Shall we divide things?” Hallie asked. “You take the envelope and I'll take the papers?”

“No. We can do it together. No more secrets.”

“I like that,” Hallie said. “So what's in the envelope?”

He unlooped the string from around the two dots. “I bet this is from Aunt Jilly.”

“I don't see how she could do this. If she's getting married in just a few days, wouldn't that be her major interest?”

“She's never liked the chaos of big family events. Raine's mother is here and she could organize a war. Aunt Jilly probably gave her a helpless look and Aunt Tildy took over. Then Aunt Jilly probably hid somewhere with a computer and did a lot of searching—and was happy doing it.” He pulled out the papers. “By the way, whoever gets Raine gets his mother.”

“After watching him move that heavy dresser, it might be worth it. I thought that T-shirt of his might rip apart. The Hulk come to life!” She gave a dramatic sigh.

“Did you?” Jamie said, then gave a stretch and lifted his arms above his head, making his biceps double in size.

Hallie pretended she didn't see him, but the room suddenly grew warmer. She tossed the towel from her neck and let the blanket slip down. Holding her hand out, he put a folded paper on it.

It was a genealogy chart like the one she'd seen on the plane coming over, but this one branched differently. Instead of just going down through her father to Hallie, this chart went to another side of the family.

Hallie sat up straighter. “Am I reading this right?” She bent forward to show Jamie. “This says I have a relative, a
living
one.” She pointed to the entry. “He's also named Leland and he's thirty years old.”

Jamie was staring at her. He couldn't grasp the concept of having no known relatives.

“
Is
he a cousin?”

He took the chart and looked at it. “You two share the Leland Hartley who married Juliana Bell, so yes, that makes you distant cousins.”

“Wow!” Hallie said as she fell back against the couch. “I wonder what he's like? Where he went to school, what he does for a living.” She gasped. “Maybe he's married and has
children
! I could be an aunt.”

He didn't have the heart to point out that the man's kids
would also be her cousins. But then in his family “aunt” and “uncle” were often courtesy titles.

Jamie picked up a paper from the pile on his lap. “Let's see. The Leland Hartley in this generation grew up in Boston and graduated from Harvard with a degree in business. Afterward, he worked on a farm for three years so he could—Hmmm, I can't seem to make this out.” He was teasing her.

Hallie took the paper out of his hand and read aloud. “He's a landscape architect. He travels all over the U.S. and designs parks. He's not married, no children.” She looked at Jamie. “He has a website for his business.”

Jamie was truly enjoying her wonder and excitement. “Too bad he's so ugly.”

“What?!”

He handed her a photo Jilly had run off from the website.

Leland Hartley was a very good-looking young man. And what's more, he looked like a younger version of her father. The hair and clothes were different, but the two men were nearly the same. She looked up at Jamie.

“He looks enough like you that he could be your older brother,” Jamie said.

For a moment there were tears glistening in Hallie's eyes. “I want to meet him. After your leg heals I'll go back to Boston and…” She didn't finish because she didn't want Jamie to think that his rehabilitation was hindering her.

“See this?” He held up a big cream-colored envelope. “Know what it is?”

“No. Should I?”

“It's an invitation to Aunt Jilly's wedding. There's a note from her and she suggested that you write a letter, include a copy of this chart, and invite your newly found cousin to the wedding.”

It took Hallie moments to realize what he was saying. “That's a wonderful idea! Oh, Jamie! You are great. Your whole family
is fabulous.” Bending across the papers spread out on him, she put her hands on each side of his face and kissed him hard, then got up.

“You can do better than that,” he said.

Hallie was standing in front of the fireplace and didn't seem to hear him. “Where will he stay? If he can come, that is. He might be on a job and can't make it. Or maybe he wouldn't be interested in meeting some distant cousin. Should I tell him about the ghosts? No! Definitely not. He'd
never
come if I told that. Maybe…” She looked at Jamie.

Jamie was smiling at her enthusiasm. “I know! I'll sic Mom on him. She'll call him and tell him about you and she'll get him to come. She's very persuasive.”

“She'd do that? For me, I mean?”

There was so much to answer in that question that he didn't know where to begin. Hallie had made Jamie laugh, and for that he knew his mother would do anything for her. “Yeah, she'll do it. But she'll want to hear every detail of the story, so be prepared.”