The Perfect Bride (6 page)

The one that Courtney had fallen from...

No wonder Zack hadn’t wanted
to tell her about it.

“He must have really loved her,” Jillian managed to say.

Emma smiled sadly. “I’d say so. A few years after Kathleen died, someone in town asked him if he’d considered finding a new wife. He said, ‘A Sutton man loves forever.’ I guess that’s true. All the Sutton men going back to old Hugh were only married once and stayed married to their wives until one of them
passed away.”

A Sutton man loves forever.
Jillian wondered idly if that was really true for all Sutton men, including the one currently living there....

As soon as she realized where her thoughts were going, she put a quick end to them. Adam Sutton’s romantic loyalty hardly mattered, and certainly wasn’t something she had any reason to be interested in.

“Did you know her?” Jillian
asked, more curious than ever about the woman she knew only as the bride in the portrait at Sutton Hall, a woman capable of inspiring such devotion. “Kathleen Sutton?”

“Not personally. I saw her in town a few times. I remember she was very beautiful. And everyone seemed to think well of her. Practically the whole town mourned when she died.”

All of this was interesting, but it wasn’t
getting Jillian to what she really needed to know: what had happened to Courtney, and who might be responsible.

“What about the staff?” Jillian asked. “Meredith said she and her brother kept on all of the people who’d been working there when Jacob Sutton died. I guess it was just the four of them—Grace, Rosie, Ed and Ray?”

“That’s true. That was nice of them to do that. They didn’t have
to, and I’m sure they could have found younger people to handle the more strenuous jobs, especially Ed and Ray’s. But those four have been there so long, I’m not sure where any of them would have gone.”

Jillian could sense the woman being diplomatic, her words carefully couched, a wealth of unspoken thought behind them. “You don’t like them,” Jillian challenged to get her to cut to the chase.

Emma’s eyes widened in surprise, but Jillian didn’t miss how she didn’t exactly rush to deny it. “I wouldn’t say that,” she said slowly. “I can’t say I really know them. No one does. I mean, to live and work out there all these years, in such an isolated place. I suppose it takes an...unusual kind of person to do that. People thought Jacob was odd for becoming a recluse. But the truth is,
none of the rest of them is all that different. They all keep to themselves out there just as much.”

The woman’s comments only confirmed Jillian’s own impressions of the Sutton Hall staff. “What
can
you tell me about them?”

“Well, there’s Grace, of course. Before the new owners arrived, she was pretty much in charge of the place. Even when Jacob was alive, anyone who had any business
out there got the sense she was the real boss. He basically left her to run it as she saw fit.”

“I’m guessing she wasn’t too happy to have a couple of strangers inherit and take over Sutton Hall.”

“I can’t imagine she was, not that I’ve ever heard her say anything. Grace has never been overly chatty. Or maybe there’s nobody in town she figures is worth her time to talk to,” she added
under her breath.

“She doesn’t have any friends or family nearby?”

“Not that I know of. Grace isn’t originally from the area. I’m not sure where she’s from actually. She came to Sutton Hall with Kathleen when she married Jacob. I think she must have worked for Kathleen before. She was just a maid then. After Kathleen died and most of the staff left for whatever reason, Grace gradually
seemed to take charge, until she was running the place.”

Jillian tried to picture Grace as a fresh-faced young woman arriving at Sutton Hall as a mere maid. She couldn’t manage it. Every trace of that young woman seemed long gone, leaving a woman who gave every appearance of being as much an institution as the place itself. “And she’s been there all this time? Never married or had a family
of her own?”

“No. She’s been there for thirty years. I’ve never heard talk of her seeing anybody or anything. She just stayed out there.”

“What about Ed and Rosie?”

“They aren’t from around here, either. They showed up about twenty-five years ago when Jacob was looking for a new cook. Rosie interviewed for the job, and Ed managed to talk his way into getting hired as a caretaker,
which was sorely needed. From the sound of it, Ed was the only one keeping the place standing. He must have done a great job of it. After they took over, the younger Suttons hired some people to work on renovating and restoring the place, and it didn’t take them long, only a few months. From what I heard, there wasn’t that much work that needed doing, much less than anyone would have thought, which
has to be one reason the Suttons kept Ed on, as well as Rosie to cook.”

“Their marriage doesn’t seem all that happy.”

Emma shrugged. “I wouldn’t know much about that. Like I said, they tend to keep to themselves up there at the house. Neither of them became all that friendly with anyone in town, even after all these years.”

“What about Ray? Zack said his mother left them?”

“That’s right. Zack was just a boy then, maybe three or four. Carolyn took off one day. Ray said she left a note saying she wanted something else from her life and was leaving to find it, and that was that. I can’t say I was surprised. Just about everyone knew Carolyn didn’t like living out there. Not many could blame her for that. It’s so secluded out there, and I’m sure it had to be lonely, especially
during the winter whenever they got snowed in, with only Ray and Zack to talk to, and maybe Rosie. Can’t imagine her and Grace being all that close. Those two were complete opposites.”

“She didn’t try to take Zack?”

“Carolyn...wasn’t really the mothering type.” Emma lowered her voice. “Truth be told, the main reason she and Ray got married was because she was pregnant, and there was
talk about whether Ray was really Zack’s father.”

“Did they ever hear from her again?”

“Not that I ever heard. She never returned to the area, and word never got back about where she ended up.”

Jillian could understand why Zack was so jaded. Not only had the woman walked away from her commitment to her marriage, her duty as a mother apparently hadn’t meant much to her, either. It
wasn’t surprising he might have issues with women. Ray, too, for that matter.

“Ray never remarried?” she asked.

“No. I can’t think of him seeing anyone after Carolyn was gone. He just raised Zack and kept working up there, about near becoming as reclusive as the rest of them.”

“I get the feeling Zack thinks he’s quite the ladies’ man.”

Emma smiled wryly. “I think it’s the young
ladies in the area who give him that impression. I’m sure you’ve noticed he’s quite handsome. From what I can tell, he’s been able to have his pick of female company, and he’s taken full advantage of that. A real love-’em-and-leave-’em type. I guess he’s more like his mother than his father in that regard. And he’s always been talking about leaving the area, so I guess there’s that, too. He actually
did move to Boston last year, but he came back a few months ago.”

That seemed strange, since he didn’t seem all that enthused about working at Sutton Hall. “Why did he come back?”

“Nobody knows. As much as he likes to talk, he’s been real tight-lipped about that. Guess it didn’t work out for him in the city.”

This was exactly the kind of stuff Jillian had hoped to learn, inside
information on the people at Sutton Hall that might help her better understand who they were and what made them tick. It had also come a lot easier than she’d expected.

Jillian surveyed the librarian carefully, trying to get more of a sense of who she was exactly. Her tone wasn’t exactly gossipy, more matter-of-fact than anything, but she certainly wasn’t sparing many details. “I appreciate
the information, but I have to admit, I’m a little surprised you’re sharing so much about these people’s private lives with a complete stranger.”

Emma lowered her eyes briefly. “If you’re going to be married there, I suppose it’s only fair you know about the people up there.”

Jillian frowned, suspicion nudging at the back of her mind. Most people wouldn’t think it was necessary to learn
about the personal lives of the staff handling a wedding. Unless... “I saw your reaction when I told you I was getting married there. Be honest with me. Do you think there’s some reason I shouldn’t?”

“I wouldn’t say that....”

Jillian bit back her impatience, wishing the woman would just spit out what she
would
say. “Tell me, what do you think happened to the woman who died there?”

Emma hesitated, the pause so noticeable it was almost answer enough. “They said it was an accident,” she said carefully.

“But what do
you
think?” Jillian pressed.

Emma slowly licked her lips, not quite meeting Jillian’s eyes. “It’s just...my husband always said that to live out there, all isolated like that, it’s almost like the folks out there were hiding from the world. And you
have to wonder exactly why it is they’re hiding.... And the idea of that woman just
falling
from a balcony... It’s kind of hard to imagine.”

Yes, it is,
Jillian thought, anger stirring in her gut.

“On the other hand, it was a windy night,” Emma conceded. “Being that high up, she could have gotten too close, maybe gotten disoriented. Maybe it
was
an accident. Without any proof otherwise,
the police couldn’t say it wasn’t. I really can’t, either.”

I can,
Jillian thought, more certain than ever.

Perhaps misreading Jillian’s expression, Emma leaned forward and met her eyes. “I’m not trying to scare you off, believe me. It would be good for the town if the Suttons were able to get this wedding business going. They’ve talked about hiring part-time workers as needed and people
around here could use those jobs, and it would generate a lot of revenue for local businesses. Which is just more reason why I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“But you think there’s enough of a chance of that happening that you wanted to warn me?”

“No...” Emma shook her head. “I’m probably just being foolish. Look, I hope your wedding goes perfectly and is everything you dream
of. But there’s always been something a little strange about that place and the folks up there. So it couldn’t hurt to be careful. Watch out for yourself. Just in case...”

* * *

I
T
WAS
GETTING
dark when Jillian finally left the library. She continued to turn Emma’s words over in her mind as she started the drive back to Sutton Hall.

Knowing that even one person thought there was
something suspicious about Courtney’s death, someone who didn’t have a personal stake in it, gave her fresh confidence that she wasn’t wrong. Something had happened to Courtney, something that may have been done to her by one of the people at Sutton Hall.

You have to wonder exactly why it is they’re hiding....

Emma’s words could have been nothing more than small-town suspicions of outsiders,
people who chose to live separate from the rest. And maybe that was part of it. Except Jillian had already been wondering what secrets the Sutton Hall staff were hiding even before she’d spoken to the woman.

And it wasn’t just the staff. It was the Suttons themselves. Emma knew even less about them, but they were mysteries just as much as the people who worked for them. Meredith Sutton, with
her nervousness and skittish eyes.

Adam Sutton, with his dark warnings and cool aloofness.

A mystery she had to solve, even as the thought of the man sent a little tremor through her.

She’d just turned onto the winding road leading up the mountain to Sutton Hall when the engine began to sputter. Frowning, she glanced down in confusion at the instrument panel. The light illuminating
it began to flicker, the gauges starting to waver, then dip ominously. She didn’t even have time to consider steering the car onto the side of the road before it came to a complete stop.

She sat there in confusion for a few moments, not understanding what had just happened. With numb fingers, she reached out, turned off the ignition, then tried to start it again.

The engine chugged,
groaned and refused to turn over.

A few more tries only yielded the same result. The car wasn’t going anywhere.

It had been running fine on the way into town, not to mention on the long drive from the airport yesterday. Suspicion sparked in the back of her mind. Was it possible someone had tampered with it? But for what reason?

Maybe to do exactly what had happened and strand her
alone in the middle of nowhere, she thought with a flicker of unease. She stared at the long, dark road before her, then back toward the stretch she’d just come down. She couldn’t see anything up ahead in either direction but trees and road. Darkness was falling quickly, long shadows already stretching across the pavement. It wouldn’t be long before it was completely black out here.

Suppressing
a shudder, she pulled out her cell phone and checked for a signal.

Nothing.

Of course.
She grimaced. She was out in the country, on a mountain of all things. Cell phone coverage was probably the last thing she should be counting on.

Grabbing her bag, she climbed out of the car. Raising the phone in front of her, she turned in a slow circle, trying to get even a hint of a signal.
After turning around several times and failing to summon a single bar, she had to concede it wasn’t going to happen.

Lowering the phone, Jillian glanced in either direction again, trying to gauge whether she was closer to town or Sutton Hall at this point. Either way, it seemed unlikely she could count on anyone happening by anytime soon. In the meantime, the road somehow seemed even darker
than it had been moments before, the pavement barely visible, the night closing in around her.

Naturally she’d left her flashlight back in her room, never thinking she’d need it.