No Shadow (Prodigal Sons of Cane) (2 page)

“I know,” he
said. “I just wanted you to know. This other buyer has a lot of resources
himself, and he’s made it clear that he’ll top whatever the library offers.”

This news was
so upsetting she actually covered her mouth with her hand. Who would do such a
thing—snatch a manuscript away from a library where it obviously belonged? And
who would have the spare money at hand to pay for it?

“Who is it?”
she finally whispered.

Looking awkward
and embarrassed, Thomas handed her a business card.

She stared down
at it blankly until the name finally broke through her dazed consciousness.
Then things started to make sense.

The history of
Cane had always been dominated by two families. The Harrison family, whose heir
was now seated beside her. And the Cane family, after whom the town was named.

In the late
1700s, Joshua Cane had founded the town as a stop on a wagon trail through the
Appalachians. His family had lived in the town ever since. It really was
remarkable, in as transitory a culture as the modern United States, that a
family could have the kind of rooted history that the Canes had in Cane,
Virginia.

Another Joshua
Cane—who’d died only six years ago—had been able to trace his heritage back in
a direct line to the founder of the town. He’d gone off to live in New York for
several years in his twenties but had returned to marry his high school
sweetheart, Abigail. They’d had three sons before Abigail had divorced Joshua.

The three Cane
boys were all handsome, dark-haired, and talented—excelling at sports, at
academics, at anything they put their hands to. The Canes had been members of
one of the local churches growing up, the church Helen’s father still pastored.

She’d known the
boys growing up, although she’d never been in their social circle. The youngest
of the boys had been a grade above her in school. She’d had a hopeless crush on
him—on all three of them, really. Who wouldn’t? They were like princes:
handsome, charismatic heirs to the leading family in the town. They’d never
known she existed, of course.

Then, in her late
teens, one by one they had all gone. Not all at once but gradually over a few
years. No one exactly knew what happened. But they left their father, their
faith, and their hometown. As far as Helen knew, they hadn’t been back.

It was both a
tragedy and an endless source of speculation for the town. What had happened to
drive all three of the Cane boys away? No one knew.

The oldest of
the Cane sons was Andrew. Four years older than Helen, he’d always been a figure
of awe to her as a child. He’d gone to college and then gotten a Master’s degree
in International Business. He’d moved quickly to the top of his profession. Partnering
with his college roommate, he’d started his own web design company in D.C.,
which had boomed in the last five years. Helen knew the details of his
successful career, since they were often discussed around Cane. She hadn’t seen
him in years, though—not since she was a senior in high school and he made the
last trip home he’d ever made.

Andrew Cane had
money and power and talent, and his life had always been privileged. He’d long
ago forsaken his roots and apparently his faith.

She stared down
at the business card in her hand and knew the identity of the man who
threatened to snatch the precious manuscript away from her.

Andrew Cane
.

One of the
prodigal sons of Cane had come home.

***

“So we’re going to be able to
get the manuscript?”

Andrew Cane
nodded in response to his half-sister Melissa’s question and leaned back on the
window seat in the garret suite of his childhood home in Cane. “I think so. I
told Tom Harrison I’d top any offer he got on it. As far as I know, the library
is the only other potential buyer. I’m sure they want it but not as much as we
do.”

“I’m so glad.
Grandma will be so happy. It’s a perfect birthday present.” Melissa was propped
up on the sofa of the sitting room, hugging her knees to her chest. She looked
happy today—relaxed and already smiling despite the traveling they’d done over
the last two days—but Andrew scanned her face carefully for any signs of
anxiety or restlessness.

Noticing his
gaze, she gave him a stern frown. “Stop worrying. You’re like a mother hen. I’m
fine.”

He chuckled
softly. “A hen? Let’s find a more dignified and masculine way to refer to me, shall
we?”

When Andrew’s
mother had left Joshua Cane twenty-four years ago, he’d been only twelve. The
abandonment had hurt brutally, as had her quick remarriage to a dentist in
Boston. Melissa was the child of that second marriage. When their mother died,
Melissa had come to live with Andrew.

“If a hen is
how you act, then a hen is what I’ll call you.” Her broad smile—exactly like
their mother’s—disappeared abruptly at a loud sound from downstairs. Some of
the color drained from her face, and she flashed scared gray eyes over to her
brother.

“Jenson and
Trish are still unpacking our stuff. Sounds like they accidentally slammed a
door. No one else is here. Just you and me and Jenson and Trish.”

When Melissa
had come to live with him, Andrew had hired Jenson and Trish—a comfortable,
competent middle-aged couple—as domestic staff. The outside yard and
housekeeping services he’d used were no longer options with Melissa in the
house. While he had no trouble taking care of himself when he was on his own,
he was ill-equipped and too busy to tend to all of Melissa’s special needs. Jenson
and Trish had been with them for ten years. Both he and Melissa thought of them
as family.

Melissa nodded
at his reassurance and took a deep breath. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.”
Clearing his throat, Andrew made a point of returning to their previous topic.
“It’s not a done deal, but things are looking promising with the manuscript.”

“He was
agreeable and everything, when you asked him?” Melissa had recovered quickly,
and she was almost smiling again.

“Basically,
yes.” Thinking over the phone conversation he’d had with Thomas Harrison, Andrew
felt a flicker of hesitance. “I guess he’s been talking a lot to someone over
at the college library. He said he was meeting with her this afternoon. I thought
I’d stop by in a little while, just to make sure they don’t leave me out of the
equation.”

Melissa started
to frown in concern, so Andrew added quickly, “I know Tom can use some extra
money right now. His inheritance was more of a financial drain than a boon.
I’ll spend whatever I have to spend to get it. There won’t be a problem.”

“Money covers
everything, I guess.” Although the words were a challenge, Melissa’s expression
was fond.

“You know me
better than that. But this is a financial transaction. It’s a purchase. The highest
offer invariably wins, and I’ll make sure we make the highest offer.”

Andrew sat in
silence for a few moments, rehearsing what he knew about the situation. Then he
concluded, “Maybe I can talk to the librarian too—just to get a sense of their
position. Tom said her name was Helen something.” Wrinkling his brow, he
searched his memory until he found the last name. “Walton. Oh, I guess it’s
probably Pastor Jack’s daughter.”

“You know her?
The librarian? That might help.”

“Yeah. I
remember her vaguely from a long time ago. She grew up in Cane too. She was a
lot younger than me. Really shy. Liked to read.” Andrew was starting to get a
clearer image in his mind of the girl—pale skin, pale hair, glasses, always
hidden behind a book. “I should have known she’d end up as a librarian.”

“Hey,” Melissa
said, looking at him reproachfully. “What’s wrong with liking to read and being
bookish?”

“Nothing, of
course.” His sister read all the time. She’d read more widely than anyone he
knew, and she remembered nearly all of what she read. Had she been different,
she could have had a remarkable career. “Bookish is the only way to go, and I’d
never dare to say differently. Anyway, we should be all right with the
manuscript if the librarian is who I think she is. She was always too scared to
say anything, much less put up a fight.”

“Good. Grandma
wants this so much.”

When their
mother’s mother was a girl, she’d been courted by a member of the Harrison
family. Due to financial and family pressures, the couple had never been able
to marry. But their grandmother, over eighty now, still thought about her
former beau with deep fondness. He’d been in possession of the manuscript to
Shadow
Past
when he’d courted their grandmother, and they’d started to fall in
love as they discussed the story. When Andrew had learned that the manuscript
might be sold, he’d determined to buy it for his grandmother’s eighty-fifth
birthday. “We’ll get it for her. Don’t worry about that.”

Andrew looked
around the large, sunny room—the bedroom of the garret suite he’d had prepared
particularly for Melissa before they’d arrived in town. “So the rooms are all
right for you?” he asked, changing the subject so his sister wouldn’t worry any
more about the manuscript.

“It’s great.
Thanks for working so hard to fix it up for me.”

The garret
suite had originally been an attic, but when he was a boy, Andrew’s father had
redone it as a bedroom, sitting room, and bathroom. Since it was on the highest
floor in the back of the house, street noise was minimal. Big windows looked
out to the backyard, and the old-fashioned furniture and hardwood floors gave
the suite a comfortable, lived-in feel. He’d made sure the bedding and curtains
were in the same colors as Melissa’s rooms at home, and he’d brought with them
as many of her things as possible—so she wouldn’t feel like she was in a
foreign setting.

“I’m sorry
we’re going to have to be here for so long,” he said.

Andrew took
business trips often, doing marketing and meeting with new clients, but he made
sure they rarely lasted more than two or three days. This trip was different,
though. He was going to have to be in Cane for at least two weeks, and if
things didn’t go quickly it might be closer to a month. That was too long for
Melissa to stay at home on her own. She was all right with Jenson and Trish for
a few days, but Andrew was her main source of security. She couldn’t be away
from him for too long.

Fortunately, as
the owner of his own company, he was able to do much of his work from his home
outside of D.C., and he just made sure he never left for long enough for
Melissa to have a breakdown. Being tied to her in this way limited Andrew’s
business activities, and it certainly put a crimp in his social life.

But she
depended on him, and he loved her. He wasn’t going to let her down.

“Stop worrying
about that,” Melissa said, breaking through his thoughts. “I think I’ll be fine
up here. It’s a really cozy room and it feels safe. Kind of familiar. Maybe
because this was your house growing up.”

Andrew glanced
out the window at the yard of the home he’d grown up in. He’d loved this old
house, the vast yard that led into sloping woods, the tree swing, the old shed
he and his brothers had used as a fort. It was so long since he’d been here,
and it brought back so many memories.

“Are you really
going to sell it?” Melissa asked, evidently reading his mind.

“I don’t know.”

Andrew knew he
should sell it. The house had stood unlived-in for six years, kept up only by
the local service he hired. When his father died, his two brothers had sold
their share of the house and grounds to him, so he owned it now free and clear.
He wasn’t sure why he was holding onto it. It was nothing but a drain on his
bank account.

Long ago he’d
resolved that he wouldn’t live in Cane again, but he hadn’t yet been able to
let the old house go.

When the Geneva
Bale manuscript that was so important to his grandmother had become available,
he’d taken that as a sign that it was time to do something. The house needed
some work—even if he was going to just sell it, and he had a few other loose
ends to tie up in Cane anyway.

So he’d packed
up himself and his sister, and they’d driven across Virginia to the mountains. Andrew
was determined to stay here—no matter how hard the memories were—until everything
that needed to be done was complete.

It was really
strange being back, though. Hard in a way he hadn’t anticipated. Most of the
time, he was satisfied with his stable, comfortable life at home. He channeled
most of his drive and energy into work. He was still close to Geoff, his middle
brother. Andrew had Melissa, and he had a wide circle of friends at home. He
used to date a lot, although recently he’d had trouble summoning much interest
for the variety of women who threw themselves at him as a well-to-do and
relatively attractive bachelor.

He was successful,
respected, and comfortable, but more and more he recognized something missing
from his life. Returning to Cane was making that gap more apparent. It dredged
up a lot of old feelings he’d rather not have to deal with.

He
would
deal
with them, though. He’d never been a coward, and he needed to finally get this
done.

Shaking off his
reflections, he gave his sister a sheepish look. “Sorry about that. My mind was
drifting.”

“You looked
sad.”

“I wasn’t.” He
smiled at her warmly, determined that she would never worry about him. “Oh, by
the way, this evening I’m having a couple of people over. A few of my friends
from high school still live in Cane, and it would be rude not to have dinner
with them at least once.”

Panic flared in
Melissa’s eyes, and he saw her shoulders tense. “Okay.”

“It will just
be a couple of hours,” Andrew said, in the low voice he always used to soothe
his sister’s anxiety. “I won’t let them stay too long, and I’ll make sure they
stay on the ground floor.”