Chapter 17

SEVENTEEN

Trying to juggle our schedule with Gideon's was a lesson in patience. Every window I'd found to get him to the work site—well, future worksite—was immediately shut and locked.

I checked my phone for a reply from him. I was sitting on the bench beside the water at the Barrows house. I wasn't sure I'd catch him in time to let him know the inspector was running late.

I only had Gideon for an hour between his current jobs. The phone rang in my hand. "Shit," I muttered before I answered. "Hey, Gideon."

"Did Bob kill our appointment again?"

Right down to it, then. "He did. But he is sending out his son Rob instead. You good with that?"

I could hear the road sounds in the background as Gideon sighed. "Yeah, that's fine. I can juggle some stuff. See you in ten."

"Oh, thank you!"

"You got it." The line went dead.

He really was Macy's soulmate. They definitely had a similar vibe when it came to wasting time.

I brushed sand off my butt. I'd dressed correctly for once. Since I didn't have any other client meetings today, and it was Friday, I'd gone with a sleeveless black shirt and jeans. And maybe the jeans made my butt look especially good. And the shirt was just this side of sheer, so I had to wear a cute bra.

Looking good was a bit of girl armor. Especially when I was still stinging from Nolan's jackass move after we'd hooked up.

There had been two of us in my bedroom. I'd been a willing participant. And if he hadn't gone all caveman on me, I would have been an active one, as well.

Instead, he'd gone directly back to his beastly and cantankerous self.

I'd thought a good orgasm would put him in a better mood.

Wrong.

Disgusted that I kept overthinking that night, I shook off my mood as I climbed up the makeshift path toward the balcony destruction. Nolan had built a ramp to the back door in lieu of the crumbled stairs.

When I got inside, TJ was doing whatever it was she did with her levels, measuring tape, and the other doodads in her tool belt that I didn't have a name for. My expertise for woodworking was of the "Here hold this," variety while she nailed stuff.

"Gideon is on his way, and we have a backup Bob," I called up to her.

"Always good to have a backup Bob," she said with an exaggerated leer from the second-floor landing.

I laughed. "What are you doing up there?"

She gripped the edge of the bookcase and started pulling. "There's a secret room."

My heart tripped. "No, there is not."

She waved me up the stairs. "There is."

I took the stairs two at a time. "I've always dreamed of a secret room. Is it Narnia?"

TJ laughed. "All I can see are cobwebs right now, but it's impressive." The bookcase scraped the rug as if it hadn't been opened for some time, but with effort, we managed to get it open enough for both of us to slip through. TJ clicked her flashlight. "Damn, it might just be a tunnel."

Gutted, I huffed out a whine. "Really?"

"It looks like the tunnel splits off though. Maybe we'll get lucky. You go down that way."

I peered around her down the not-so-clean hallway. "By myself?"

"Yes, you, baby."

"Fine." I rubbed my palms on my thighs then turned on the torch on my phone. I tried not to think about what could be crawling around my feet or hanging down from the low ceilings. Instead, I walked super fast until I came to a slim rectangle with sunlight coming through the cracks. Another door, maybe? I shoved my phone back in my pocket then felt around and shivered at the dust and cobwebs that settled around me.

Finally, I found a lever and the hinge swung the door forward.

I stumbled into the tower room, and I swallowed my tongue as Nolan twisted halfway at my entrance. It was similar to the day I'd seen him in the Airstream. Only this time, the sun was outlining every glorious inch of him. He was only wearing a pair of jeans and his boots. His legs were braced apart for balance and his shirt was tucked into his back pocket.

My gaze drifted down the tapered expanse of skin to the gap in his jeans. His scar traveled down his chest, but what was more startling was the swath of grafted skin that made a macabre web of scars that dipped into the waistband of his jeans.

He frowned down at me. "Where the hell did you come from?"

"Surprise." I didn't realize how tight my grip was on the frame of the bookcase until I let go and the blood flooded my fingers. "You have a hidden tunnel that starts on the second landing of the stairs."

It was hot as hell up here without central air or the ability to open the windows and sweat gleamed on every inch of him.

He grabbed his shirt from his back pocket and pulled it on then slid under the bar of the scaffolding he'd set up around the window for the inspection.

Scaffolding I'd never climb on in a million years.

"What were you doing up there?"

He hopped down and the floor thundered under the solid weight of him.

"Okay, can we not do that before we're sure the floor can handle it?"

He ignored me. "Show me."

"Show you what?"

"The secret tunnel."

"Right." Good grief, he probably thought I was soft in the head. I tried to calm my heart rate as I slipped back through the secret doorway. I couldn't help but remember the last time he'd been this close to me. And the heat of him made my skin feel too tight. "Might be a tight fit."

He grunted behind me. "Made for some Victorian dude with a wasting disease."

I snorted and snaked my way around the bend and paused at the crack of sunlight showing. "TJ?"

"Through here," she called out.

"Where did you end up?" I asked.

"Wait until you see this." TJ's voice was excited.

Nolan gripped my hip, his thumb trailing over the bit of skin showing between my shirt and jeans. "Easy. There's a nail."

"Thanks." I tamped down the shiver and scooted forward to where the light poured into the tunnel. I gasped at the threshold.

I'd never seen this room. I wasn't sure it was even on the blueprints. Plenty of houses had done renovations without a permit, especially in the 1800s. The space was all bookshelves from floor to ceiling, and included books. Dust and spiderwebs hugged the corners, but the leather reading chair looked as if it had been stuck in time.

Suddenly, a dozen books fell forward and thudded to the floor.

"Oh, shit." TJ jumped, stumbling back toward the staircase.

More books slid off the shelves to clatter to the floor.

Nolan curled his arm around me and stuffed me behind him. He peered up at the bookcases. "Do you think they aren't level?" he asked TJ.

"Maybe. It was fine when I got in here, but could be. Pretty sure no one's been in this room in decades."

Without warning, a book flew towards us. That definitely wasn't from a crooked floor.

Nolan shoved me through the doorway into the hallway. Another thudded against the bookcase beside the doorway. "All right. Everyone out."

TJ gave another look over her shoulder and yelped when the sound of flipping pages ended with another sturdy whump at the railing on the stairs. She hustled after us into the hallway.

I crouched down and peered back into the room.

"Hellcat, get back."

Excitement flooded my system. "Do you think it's Harriette?"

"Of course it's not," TJ said quickly, but she wouldn't meet my gaze.

"I mean, that was some ghost shit, was it not?" I yelped as Nolan dragged me back into the tunnel and shut the doorway. "Hey!"

"I don't have the insurance set up for any stupid accidents yet."

I huffed out a breath. "You're no fun." I brushed my hands on the seat of my pants. "C'mon, let's go back."

"Absolutely not." He turned me toward where we'd come from.

TJ led the way with her flashlight as we followed the turn toward another shaft of sunlight. This time, we ended up back on the second landing of the stairs. She ducked under the short doorway, and I followed, and finally, so did Nolan.

He looked around, surprise lighting his usually stern features. "Well, shit. How did you find that?"

TJ grinned. "I was researching how to make a secret bookcase and they showed a bunch of examples from old Victorians." She found the acorn-shaped molding on the shelf and pulled. "Voilá."

"No way." I pushed her hand away so I could pull it down too. I could hear the latch release even though the doorway was still open. "That is so freaking cool."

"Where did yours go?" TJ leaned on the railing, the palm of her hand smoothing over the ornate banister.

"The tower room."

TJ's voice was nearly as excited as mine. "This house is even more amazing than I thought. But that secret room? I want to know more about that."

"Harriette's room?" I asked innocently.

"You don't know that," Nolan muttered.

"Don't I?"

Nolan rolled his eyes.

"Dahlia? TJ?" Gideon's voice came from the lower level.

"Up here," I called out.

Gideon came into the foyer. "What are you guys doing up there?"

"Secret rooms." I clasped my hands under my chin. "Can you believe it?"

Gideon grinned. "I can. Servants used to have secret passages so they didn't have to be seen by the rich people."

I wrinkled my nose. "Don't ruin it, John Gideon."

"What? I'm only speaking truth." He waved me down. "Get down here. We have to do a walkthrough before any of you should be in here."

I sighed and started down the stairs. "All of you are spoilsports." I was sure that secret room had been Harriette's. There was no doubt in my mind. I just wasn't sure why she didn't want us in there. She'd been fine with TJ.

Nolan slid around me at the bottom of the stairs and my breath stalled as his hand brushed my ass. He met Gideon at the door and from what I could hear, Rob had arrived, as well. Since TJ was more in the know of those kinds of things, I waved on to go talk with all of them.

I'd had a feeling Harriette would show her face, but not so quickly.

Maybe that really had been her secret room. I'd found a diary in the Crescent Cove library, but I hadn't had time to sit in the archives to read it. Now I was definitely making time for it.

What if there were more in that room?

I sneaked a look over my shoulder. The four of them were outside, deep in conversation about the porch and all manner of structural things.

Maybe I could just go back in there and take a little looksee. I crept back up the stairs, wincing when one of the stairs squeaked. I paused, but when no one came looking for me, I quickly made my way back up to the second landing.

Dammit, where was the lever again?

There were all sorts of intricate carvings in the bookcase. My fingers brushed over something that looked like a pair of acorns and it moved. I heard the latch give and the bookcase opened. I patted my pocket to make sure my phone was in it and slipped inside.

It was a hell of a lot darker this time without the other side open to offer some light. With shaky fingers, I pulled out my phone and put on the torch. Something skittered and I swallowed down a shriek.

Nope, I wouldn't be thinking about that, thanks.

I followed the turn from before and filtered sunlight tinged in green urged me closer. I pushed open the bookcase that was still partially cracked opened to find the rounded room. It echoed the turret room that I'd found Nolan in before. One of my favorite aspects of the house.

But a secret library?

Could there be anything more amazing?

"Harriette?" I called out. "I don't mean any harm to your space. In fact, I'll do whatever I can to make sure no one touches it."

A book flew toward me, and I ducked.

Not good enough. Got it. "Okay, I'll make sure of it. Is that all right?"

Nothing came for my head, so I figured we were making headway. Slowly, crept down the spiral staircase. I expected more dust, but it seemed as if this space had been nearly airtight. Or did a ghost do the dusting? A few dust motes swirled on the air in the shafts of light from the above stained glass.

Once I stepped on to the floor, I stared up at the beautiful green and gold glass. Tiny red roses along with tight little rosebuds were interspersed with the intricate stained-glass work. It was a large circular piece with vines spiraling into the center where a baby bassinet was encased with thorns and heavier vines.

I almost didn't see the cradle until I spotted a tiny clear heart in the center of it.

Instantly, my heart stopped.

The artwork spoke of love and loss and so much grief.

I could feel it in the room. I had to hold onto one of the bookcases as I swayed with the overwhelming pain.

"Oh, Harriette. What happened?"

I crept closer to the bookcases near the leather chair. There were dates on the spines. Each book seemed to be in six month increments and there seemed to be nearly a dozen of them.

"Hellcat! Get the hell out of there!" Nolan stood at the top of the stairs, his fingers gripping the wrought iron railing.

I glanced up at him.

A book slid forward, and my attention shifted to the shelf. July 1876.

I refocused onto Nolan. His midnight eyes went from rage to worry. Quickly, he started down the stairs, but Harriette wasn't about that. Books flew at him like missiles, each one bigger than the last.

Nolan ducked down on the spiral staircase and covered his head.

"Harriette! Wait." My hair, which was up in a ponytail, fluttered around me.

"Dahlia!"

"Okay, okay." I snatched the July diary and ran up the stairs and ushered him back. "She really doesn't like you."

"Yeah, well, I'm not wild about her right now either," he said with a growl. "I can't believe I'm having this conversation."

Another book thudded against the railing beside us.

"Now do you believe me?"

"I..." At a loss, he just shook his head. "Get up there." He grabbed me by my wrist and yanked me forward, then he curled around me protectively as he ushered me back through the opening.

The doorway thudded closed this time, leaving us in the near dark.

"What the hell were you thinking?" He loomed over me, caging me into the wall of the tunnel with the leather-bound diary between us. There wasn't much space to speak of in there and now it felt even more claustrophobic.

"I just wanted to see a bit more."

"Who knows if that room is sound after all these years? You could have been hurt."

"As if you cared." I tipped my head to meet his gaze in the dim space. I wouldn't let him intimidate me.

However, my stupid body didn't know the difference between me being pissed off or being turned on.

When he didn't say anything, I shoved him. He was a damn immovable wall. "Oh, right. No insurance. Think I'm going to sue you?"

His chest eclipsed any light in the tunnel and his voice was dark and deep. "Wouldn't put it past you."

Shock rocked all the sexy vibes right out of me. "You don't know me at all."

"That's for fucking sure." He stepped back and pointed. "Out."

I ducked under his arm and hightailed it out of the tunnel for the second time today. Before we got to the stairwell access point, I turned back to him. "Nolan, we have to go back in there."

"No way."

"After Rob takes a look at it?" I placed a hand on his chest. "Please. I know I shouldn't ask, but you didn't feel what I felt in there. There was so much sadness."

"Why the hell would you want to go back in there?"

"I want to figure it out. I've always been drawn to this house. Maybe this is the reason."

"You're crazy."

"Maybe." My fingertips dug into the muscles under the cotton. "But you have to be intrigued too."

"No."

"You're not even going to think about it?"

"Nope. Obviously, there's some weird shit going on in that room. It's too dangerous."

"But—"

"It's my house, Hellcat. I said no."

I hugged the book to me. "Even if the inspector says it's fine?"

"No."

I whirled away from him and out onto the landing. "How can you not be the least bit interested?"

"Because I've had a concussion before and don't want another one by some flying book."

"Oh, stop. It wouldn't hurt that bad."

"You try getting hit by a leather-bound book." He lifted his shirtsleeve to show a bruise that was already blooming on his shoulder.

I hissed out a breath and gently probed it. "Okay, that's not great." My brain fuzzed a little at the cinnamon scent of him. It seemed stronger today for some reason. I frowned. "What is that smell?"

"If you backed up, you wouldn't have to smell it."

I wrinkled my nose at him. "It's not just your usual gum."

His eyebrow lifted. This close to him, I could practically count each fleck of gray in his dark blue eyes. His gaze dropped to my mouth for a second before returning to lock with mine.

"It's not as if I'm asking your childhood secrets, Nolan."

He dug into his pocket and came out with a box of Red Hots. "Happy?"

"You actually eat those? It's literally a box of fire."

"Want to taste it on my tongue, Hellcat?"

His ridiculous fringe of eyelashes—patently unfair for a man—drifted down as he focused all his attention on my mouth before he brushed me aside to go back down the stairs without another word.

Oh, lookie, we were back to barely speaking. Just great.

"Dahl? You okay?" TJ was at the bottom of the stairs.

Nolan brushed by TJ without touching her and strode out the front door.

I sighed. "Yeah, he just got mad at me for going back into that room."

She put her hands on her hips. "Girl, are you crazy?"

I started down the stairs, dabbing at my sweaty forehead with the back of my arm. I didn't want to think about the cobwebs and things that had to be in my hair. "Evidently."

"How's the inspection coming?"

"Rob said there's no structural damage on the front porch. The back is a total loss."

"Don't I know it."

"Good thing you were here. After taking a look back there, it could have been so much worse if he was out there alone."

I didn't want to think about that. How long would it have taken someone to come out here?

I shook it off. "Yeah, very good thing."

We made our way back outside to TJ's truck. She opened up the cooler in her backseat and grabbed a water for both of us. "Rob and Gideon said it's going to take a while to do a full sweep. It's a damn big house."

I took a grateful gulp. "Did you tell him about the tunnel?"

"I did. Rob said he'd have to check that on the next round." She nodded to the book I was holding. "What's that?"

"I managed to snag it from Harriette's room."

"You don't know it's?—"

"I know." Dammit. I wanted back in that room. "Anyway, are you sticking around?"

"I can't do much without his report. But I'm going to do some research on supplies I'll need. I want to match the wood up with the originals as best I can, and this place is mostly ash. Nice, solid wood, but it will take me some time to source. I gotta talk to a few of my people."

This was definitely not going to be a quick turnaround. "I suck at being patient."

"Actually, you're usually very good at it."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "This job feels different all around."

"Is that because of a certain gruff client?"

I sighed. "Maybe a little."

"There's a whole lot of tension there between you two." She waggled her eyebrows. "The naked kind." She took a sip of her water.

"Been there."

She spluttered and wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand. "Excuse me?"

"I didn't mean to."

"Didn't...girl. That's not like oops I bought a purse that's out of my budget."

"Yeah, well. It was a mistake." I rolled my shoulder at the memory of him pressing down on me. I clenched my thighs together against the instant reaction.

She glanced over to where the men were talking. "It's always the hot ones who suck in the sack. Dangerous looking and yum with the scars." She returned her attention to me. "Or, not?"

"I wouldn't know. Well, I know a little." I huffed out a breath. "Not the point."

"Oh, it's very much the point, and I need all the details."

I laughed. "I'm too sober for those kinds of details."

Her eyebrow spiked and her wide mouth spread into a sly smile. "So, not bad in the sack?"

"Don't you have to be somewhere? Another job? The Jeffersons, maybe?" I resisted the urge to put the dripping bottle against my forehead or between my boobs for that matter. Anything to bring my core temperature down a tick.

She glanced at her watch. "Not for another half hour."

"Not exactly the place for this."

TJ sighed. "You're the worst. Fine. I'll go get some lunch before I head back to the Jeffersons. I should only need a few more days at that house. It'll be ready for your touches since Shelby is currently out of commission."

I sighed. Shelby had cancelled our Friday morning meeting since she couldn't keep anything down. Not exactly how she'd wanted to share her pregnancy news, but we were all happy for her.

"I still need to figure out what to do with Gizmo. I've been avoiding Deb since I'm well past my week."

Actually, more like almost two. I was so screwed.

"Sorry, Dahl."

"Yeah. I'll figure it out."

"If anyone can, it's you." She hopped up into her truck. "What are you up to for the rest of the day?"

"I'll cover the studio."

"Okay, cool. I don't think we have any other appointments so you can close it up at four. Yay Friday!"

"Yay." But my voice was way less excited.

She rolled her window down. "Beer at Lonegan's tonight? I need those details."

"Deal."

"Chin up, Dahl. It'll work out."

"I hope so."

"See you in a few hours." TJ waved as she backed down the drive.

I headed back up to the mansion and caught Gideon as he was coming out. "This is going to take a helluva lot longer than I had earmarked for today."

Another bit of great news. "Okay, do you want me to reschedule?"

"I'm going to juggle some things since Rob said he can stay today. He's definitely trying to prove himself."

Bob, our usual inspector, was his father. "Is that a good thing?"

"He's definitely got the knowledge. I think we'll do okay. I just gotta call Mace and let her know I'll be held up. You don't need to stick around. I'll have a full report for you by the end of the day."

"You're a lifesaver, Gideon."

He smiled. "It's a great house. I'm sorry to say it won't be a quick project, but I think we can have most of it finished before winter."

I winced. "Did you tell Nolan that?"

He patted my arm. "Not yet."

"Great." That meant it was probably up to me to give him the bad news.

"We'll do what we can, but this one needs to be done right. This house has amazing bones. It's just going to take my A-team and a few outsourced artisans."

"Nolan mentioned he has a masonry friend. Archer was his name, but I'm not sure if it's his first or last."

"That'll help. Hugely." Gideon pulled out his phone and made a note. "I'll ask him about that. They're not easy to come by these days and the one I use is booked solid through the summer."

I only hoped that would help with the timeframe. Nolan was not going to be happy with four or five months to do the work. Not that I was shocked about that.

"Okay, I'll wait to hear from you. I'll be at the studio."

"Sounds good." He lifted his phone to his ear as he walked away. "Hey, Mace. How are you feeling?"

Was it a baby epidemic? Or was Macy just not feeling great?

I made a mental note to try and stop by Brewed Awakening sometime this weekend. Macy was notoriously shit about answering her texts and phone calls. I glanced back at the mansion. I could already picture how amazing it was going to be.

A shadowy form drifted through one of the windows. "We'll put your house back together, Harriette. I promise."

I got in my car and blasted the air conditioner. Right now, I had a fluffy feline very much of this earthly plane to worry about.