Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

Those poor girls...

Panic rose in Brynn’s throat. She’d never told another living soul. Even her daddy had only talked about it under the influence of pain meds. Why had she said anything?

More than anything, she’d needed to keep her mouth shut.

But all that talk about having someone at your back had drawn her in.

She’d thought she’d had that with her Daddy, but he hadn’t been vulnerable, had he? He’d kept his secrets, and here she was—all alone—trying to make his sacrifice worthwhile.

She rubbed her hands over her face. This was all so complicated, with no way out.

Suddenly Colby sucked in air. Dropping her hands, she quickly looked around. It took a moment to realize what was wrong. Though the fire they were facing still blazed, everything else had turned off. The overhead light, the side table lamp, the Christmas lights Colby had plugged in.

All were dark.

“The power is out,” she breathed.

He didn’t seem to have the same sense of panic that had heightened in her veins. “Probably a tree came down on the lines. I’m surprised it hasn’t happened before now, actually.”

“We have to prepare.” She scrambled over to the fireplace, pulling back the screen to spread the forming coals and place a couple more pieces of split wood onto the flames.

“We will need to close off the extra rooms, pull the bedding down here, and make this room the warmest.”

She stood, counting the tasks off with her fingers. “Get the refrigerated stuff out into the ice. Set the water to drip so the pipes don’t freeze. Put down towels to keep the wind out from under the doors...”

“Question?”

She glanced over to see Colby with his hand raised. “Yes?”

“I thought you didn’t know how to build a fire?”

“I lied.” Maybe she shouldn’t have said it that way. “Actually, it’s the one thing I do know how to do. I just needed a chance to search the attic.”

The disappointment in his face struck her.

Should she tell him everything? Facing all of this alone was scary. It had been since the moment she’d known her father was dying. Was she making the right choice? It wasn’t the choice her father would have wanted, based on his own life.

The words from the ornament lady drifted back to her, Adventures are good for us. They take us in new directions. Down paths we might never have found.

“The rest I researched. We had a lot of bonfires in Oregon, but I’ve never had to deal with an ice storm, so I figured I should prepare for all contingencies. I researched what to do for an ice storm online.”

He took a slight step back. It shouldn’t have bothered her, but it did. “So you knew you were coming here in bad weather?”

She nodded. “I actually planned it that way. I could get here and search before anyone really learned I was here. Safer that way.”

He tilted his head to the side as if contemplating what she’d said. “I can’t blame you for that. It’s actually a very smart plan.”

“I just didn’t plan on you,” she said with a slight stretch of her lips.

He nodded, but didn’t say anything.

“What are you thinking?” she couldn’t help but ask. Somehow now that she’d told him everything, what he thought really mattered.

“I’m not sure yet.” He dug a hand through his auburn hair. “Do you know what your father was afraid of?”

“Not entirely.”

He cast a questioning glance her way, telling her that he didn’t quite believe what she was saying.

“All I know is that it had to do with girls going missing, and he thought I would be next.”

“Then I guess I still don’t understand why you would come back here.”

How could she make him understand a choice that most people wouldn’t make? “My father was a strong man. He had to be to be mother and father and keep this place going. But whatever he saw made him afraid, and that fear weakened him. He could never outrun it. If I find out who was doing this, I will make them pay for all he gave up. All he lost after already losing so much.”

Colby nodded, as if he were starting to understand. “I’m impressed. Most people would have stayed gone and never come home. I think I might be a little afraid of you.” He chuckled, finally looking at her fully. “Maybe I should be the one worried about being trapped in a house with you .”

“I would never hurt you, Colby.”

“So no more lies?”

Could she promise that? She only thought for a second before saying, “No more lies.”

“Then we’d better start looking.”

Wow, that wasn’t at all what she’d expected. Acceptance, maybe, but not help. “You’ll help me?”

“That seems like a safer alternative. What are we looking for?”

She shrugged. “I’d imagine a locked box or something that’s hidden. Otherwise, Maria would have found it by now.”

“You don’t think he’d give it to her?”

She shook her head. “He wouldn’t have put her in danger like that, especially knowing she was a single mom. That’s another reason why he hired the management company. It created a buffer between the two of them, so she could honestly say she didn’t know where he was if anyone asked.”

“Smart man.”

Brynn looked around at the decorations they’d hung up. “In so many ways he was. Smart. Sentimental. He cared for the land, and could see so many things others couldn’t. But he had his weaknesses, just like anyone else.”

She’d only caught him drinking twice when she was smaller, always late at night long after she’d gone to bed. Though he’d had quirks about being found or interacting with people when she was a teenager, it had been better...until he’d been diagnosed with cancer. By then, it had been too late for treatment. He’d simply waited too long to see a doctor.

“Let’s start back in the attic while its relatively warm,” Colby suggested. “Then we can close down the house was we go.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Brynn agreed.

A couple of hours later they both collapsed in front of the fireplace, tired and cold. Colby put a couple of pieces of the fresh load of wood they’d brought in onto the low fire to build it up.

Brynn sighed. “Well, we have nothing to show for that but some very dusty clothes and cold feet. I’d kind of hoped we’d find something more with a fresh set of eyes.”

“But look at it this way, we know where it’s not.”

Always the optimist.

“True.” Her brain tuned in to the whistling sound of the wind outside, distracting her from the sense of letdown. “I just wish I knew where else to look.”

“Let’s take the night off—after all, we aren’t going anywhere. We can come at it fresh in the morning.”

“I feel the need to be doing something.” Then she might be able to shake the jittery feeling inside.

“I know. But you’ve done enough today. What you need is to relax, especially since we will have to take turns keeping the fire going during the night.”

“You mean you aren’t going to take it on all by yourself?” she teased.

“Not now that I know you can.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. “Fine. I will contribute to keeping us warm.”

“Well, I’m happy to do my part. How about a hot bath?”

Brynn felt her muscles relax at just the thought of sliding into a tub of hot water. “That would be awesome, but I’d imagine the water in the hot water heater is already gone cold.”

“No problem. We can heat some over the fire.”

“Won’t that take forever?”

“I doubt it.” He pointed to a hook inside the fireplace. “Looks like the fireplace is already set up for cooking. I’d imagine, as old as the house is, there was a tendency to lose power like this. Maria probably has pots specifically for heating water. Let’s go check.”

Sure enough, there were a couple of large stock pots with handles perfect for hanging over the fire. Colby filled them up, then carried the heavy loads into the living room to heat. While they did their thing, he lit several candles in the bathroom. There wasn’t a way to heat the bathroom, but at least they’d be able to see something.

Shadows danced over the walls and fixtures as he poured enough hot water to mix with some cool in the deep claw-foot tub. She didn’t want to think about how romantic everything looked.

But she couldn’t stop herself.

“You go ahead and soak,” he said. “I’ll heat up some more for when you’re done.”

Brynn hesitated in the doorway, drawn between the heated bliss ahead of her and the man standing behind. Without letting herself think too much—her usual downfall—she glanced over her shoulder. “Or you could join me.”