The Gilded Curse: Will the young heiress be the next victim of her family's curse? (23 page)

“Where?”

“Outside. On the lawn.”

“And?”

“Well, at first he spooked me like he usually does. He has an unsettling habit of appearing unexpectedly.”

“And you thought he followed you, right?”

“I did suspect him of that. In fact, maybe he has been following me. But I think his motive is good.” She leaned forward, glancing each way. “I think he’s trying to protect me.”

Russell sat back in his chair, resting his hands on the edge of the table. “Could be, now that you mention it.”

“I believe that part of his gratitude to my grandfather is taking care of me, the granddaughter. He just acts odd, but I don’t think he can help it.”

Russell’s smile eased across his face. “I told you he’s harmless. I’m glad you’ve decided not to concern yourself with him anymore.”

“But that still doesn’t explain someone else at the cottage, or the telegram. You don’t think Abner sent the telegram, do you?”

“No. I doubt Abner has ever sent a telegram.”

“Someone wanted me here badly enough to send that telegram. But who? Why?”

Russell shook his head. “Got me. Maybe we’ll never know.”

He paused while the waiter refilled their water glasses and checked on them. When the server left, he continued.

“By the way, I put in the work order for your repairs. I expect they’ll start tomorrow or the next day.”

“Thank you. I almost wish I could do more, like put up new wallpaper. That old paper looks terrible.”

“Just say the word, and I’ll have it done.”

“No. I don’t suppose that’s a necessary repair. Perhaps the next owner will want to choose their own wallpaper.”

She had to keep the costs down, and new wallpaper would only add to it. But her heart wrenched at the prospect of turning the cottage over to someone else. Funny that she hadn’t felt that way before she came back to the island. But now that she’d seen the house, she almost felt sorry for it and wanted to return it to its former condition. Maybe what she really wanted was to return to a time when life was happier and less complicated, when the house was filled with family and activity.

But she couldn’t do that. She had no family to fill it with anymore. Her eyes grew moist, and she dabbed them with her napkin. At least the Maurice sisters had each other. Despite the fact that many of their
family members had died, they continued to come to their cottage and relive happier days from when they were there before. No, Lexie couldn’t see herself in that picture, a lonely woman rambling through a big old house by herself.

“What’s wrong?” Russell’s hand covered hers, surprising her with both the gesture and the heat that radiated up her arm and into her body. His eyes gazed into her own, conveying a sense of genuine care and concern. Maybe there was something else, too, something more. Had she imagined his feelings for her or hoped for them? The candlelit atmosphere must have deluded her into thinking these things. But, she didn’t move her hand, afraid to break the spell.

“I’m not sure, Russell. When I came here, I had one thing in mind—to check on the cottage and get it ready to sell. But now that I’m here, part of me wants to stay, or maybe I just want to go back to the way things used to be.”

“With Robert and the rest of your family here.”

Tears rolled down her face. “Yes.”

“Sometimes I’d like for things to be the way they were, too; when I was a kid and had no worries. But we have to grow up sometime, don’t we?” His smile warmed her inside out.

“Why is it when we’re children, we want to be grown-up?”

“Because we don’t know what grown-ups have to deal with. We just want all the power they have.” His hand continued to stroke hers as if it was a natural thing for him to do. “Lexie, what you said about part of you wanting to stay—do you have to get back to work right away?”

“No, I don’t have to. I left after Mother died, and the hospital doesn’t expect me back until I’ve handled all her affairs.”

“Then, you can stay a while longer?”

“I suppose so. Plus I really want to get some questions answered.”

Russell leaned back and laughed, releasing her hand. “That’s my girl!”

Lexie laughed, too, happy and content to share the moment with Russell.

When she saw Russell furrow his brow, she followed his gaze behind her to one of the waiters standing across the dining room in the doorway, trying to get his attention.

He pushed back, stood, and tossed his napkin on the table. “Please excuse me, Lexie. I need to see about this.” He came around the table, pausing beside her. “I’m sorry. I hate to leave you. I’ve really enjoyed our
time together this evening.”

“Me, too,” she said. He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it with a flair of melodrama.

She giggled and watched him walk to the doorway where he spoke with a man before they both hurried away. She scanned the dining room and noticed the other tables were now empty, and she was alone. Or was she? A tingle on the back of her neck signaled that she was being watched. She spun around in time to see the door to the kitchen swing shut. It must have been their waiter. When the door opened again, two servers came out carrying trays of silverware which they took to the empty tables and began to reset the place settings.

They acted like she was invisible as they passed by, so engrossed in their own conversation. She left her table and meandered through the room on her way out.

“So who you gonna ask to the Valentine’s dance?” One of the waiters walked around the tables, placing the spoons on the right of the plates.

“Probably Shirley. What about you?” The other waiter added forks to the opposite side of the plates.

“Well, if we still have it, Polly. But I’m not so sure there’ll be a dance, what with all the German subs out there.”

“Do you really believe there’s German subs that close to us? I think it’s just a rumor.”

“You know what Thompson said—we might close early this year because of them.”

“Well, I intend to keep on living until they tell us to leave. Life’s too short to live with fear. And God help me, I won’t.”

The words hit Lexie square between the eyes. Indeed. Life was too short—at least it was for Robert. But he hadn’t lived with fear. And neither would she. Would God help her too?

Chapter 26

“W
here is he?” Russell asked the server as they strode outside.

“Over there.” The man pointed to another fellow smoking a cigarette, just beyond the circle of light from the clubhouse. The red glow extended from his hand like a red flashlight.

Russell marched over to the man. “John, I hear you saw something tonight.”

The man tossed his cigarette to the ground, then crushed it with his shoe. “Yes, sir. You told us to come find you if we seen anything.”

“That’s correct. So what did you see?”

“Looked like a small boat, maybe a raft.” John extended his arms out to demonstrate the length.

“Where was it? Could you see anyone on it?” Russell set his hands on his hips.

“Looked like it was floating over toward St. Simons. Far as I could tell, there was four, maybe five people in it.”

“Could you tell what they looked like? See any uniforms?”

“No, sir, it was pretty dark. If the moon hadn’t been so bright, I wouldn’t a seen ’em.”

“Thank you, John. As usual, don’t discuss this with anyone else. I’ll notify the Coast Guard.”

John nodded, turned, and walked away.

Russell spun on his heel and stalked back inside, hoping he wouldn’t run into Lexie. Much as he’d like to see her, he couldn’t waste any time making the call to the Coast Guard. He paused at the front desk and addressed the clerk.

“Please call Mr. Prentice and ask him to come to my office—right away. Thank you.”

Russell climbed the stairs to the fourth floor and turned to his right at the top, heading to his office. Bernon would have to be there when he made the call. While he waited for him, he gazed outside the windows of the room to the night sky. The full moon had risen and illuminated
the grounds below. He opened the door to the balcony and stepped outside, letting the brisk winter air cool him from his hike up the stairs.

Lexie’s face appeared before him, gazing at him in the candlelight at dinner. The atmosphere at the table hinged on being romantic, at least for him. Had she felt it too? There had been moments when he thought so, but he wasn’t sure. What he wouldn’t give to have her beside him right now, his arm around her in the moonlight. He heard Bernon enter the office and close the door behind him. Russell turned around to go back inside, shaking his head. What made him think someone like her would ever be attracted to someone like him?

“Russell, what’s going on? Did something happen?”

“John, one of our lookouts, saw a boat or a raft out in the water tonight. He said it was drifting toward St. Simons.”

“Ours or theirs?”

Russell shrugged and lifted his hands. “He couldn’t tell—it was too dark. But he did see several people in it.”

“We better call the Coast Guard, don’t you think?”

“Yes, I was about to.” He pointed to a chair and Bernon sat. Russell lifted the phone receiver and asked the operator to connect him as he sat down across from the club president.

When he finished speaking with the man in charge at the Coast Guard office, he hung up the phone.

“Seems like the Germans torpedoed a tanker this afternoon, about 15 miles off the coast. They got a mayday signal from the tanker.”

Bernon slammed his hand on the desk. “Blast it! Any survivors?”

“They picked up a few in a lifeboat but don’t know if there were any more. The raft could be another lifeboat, or it could be from the German submarine. They’re going to check it out and let us know.” Russell raked his hair with his fingers.

“Maybe someone at the lighthouse saw something.”

“They saw the explosion from the tanker.”

“Good Lord.” Bernon ran his finger inside his shirt collar as if it was too tight. “I can’t believe this is happening so close to home. Should we mention it to anyone?”

Russell shook his head. “They told me they still want us to keep it under wraps.”

Bernon stood to leave. “Well, I guess there’s nothing we can do until we hear from them tomorrow.”

“No, we just sit tight.”

Bernon waved. “Good night. See you in the morning.”

“Night, Bernon.”

As the door closed, Russell stood and stared out the window into the darkness. He had an urge to go up into the tower to look through the telescope, so he climbed up the wooden ladder into the glass turret. He could barely make out any lights across the sound to Brunswick. The moonlight shone a path across the water, revealing nothing amiss. As he looked toward the water, he thought he saw the flicker of light in the trees around Destiny. He aimed the telescope down at her house and focused the lens. He saw it again—a light inside the cottage, and it was moving from room to room.

Russell watched, straining to see more, but he was too far away. Something was going on in that house. He’d have to go check it out himself.

He climbed back down the ladder, hurried out of his office, and down the steps to the front door, hoping no one would approach him before he could leave the clubhouse. He passed the desk clerk who opened his mouth to speak, but Russell waved him off. Whatever it was could wait.

His foot ached as he ran down the front steps of the clubhouse. He blew out a breath and pushed ahead, wondering what he would do if he surprised the intruder. He should’ve grabbed a gun from the gun case in the event the other guy was armed. If he could just see who it was, if it was someone he knew, they could apprehend them later. If not, he didn’t know what he’d do.

He trotted down the dark road, illuminated only by moonlight where the trees allowed. Russell’s balance wasn’t the greatest with his bum foot, and the shadows hid any obstacles that might be in his path.
Lord, please don’t let me trip and fall down
. Before the accident, he’d been one of the fastest on the school track team. But that was a long time ago. Ten years ago, to be exact.

As the cottage came into view, he slowed, breathing hard. Boy, was he out of shape. He had to catch his breath lest his heavy panting alert the intruder to his presence. Stepping behind a shrub, he kept his eye on the upstairs windows. A golden glow drew his attention to the room at the front of the house—Lexie’s grandparents’ bedroom.

Russell stared at the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of the person in the room. A silhouette passed in front of the window, and Russell thought he recognized something familiar. The man wore a hat,
but so did most men. Russell’s stomach tightened. What if there was more than one person?

Russell’s heart pounded as he recovered from his jog and waited for another glance. The light moved away from the window and the house reclaimed its nocturnal disguise. Russell edged closer to the house, hoping to detect someone leaving the building. It was unlikely that an intruder would use the front door, so he crept around the rear, hiding in the shadows.