Chapter 14

I’m on the property!I’m on the property!

For twenty-six years, I’d done nothing but admire the place from afar—until today. Today, I was finally on the property and I was going to be spending the day inside the house.

I’d never been as ecstatic for a job, and while I’d given Scott some hell for warning Landon about it, I knew my brother had probably been right. For at least this first day that I was going to be cleaning here, I was not going to be as efficient as usual.

Already, I had slowed down. From the moment I’d pulled up at the address, I’d felt this intense desire to soak in every minute of this day. Deliberately driving at a snail’s pace, my head was on a swivel as I crept from the ornate metal gates, down the winding drive, to the front of door of Styles Manor.

I hadn’t even stopped yet, and the place was already exceeding my expectations from this close up. The grass was even greener now that I was here, the hedges the most immaculately kept I’d ever seen. Right at the top of the drive was a loop around a little garden containing a gorgeous water feature and I couldn’t wait to get a closer look at that too.

Beyond the massive structure, the front garden led all the way to a tiny stretch of private beach with the glittering waters of the lake beyond. Excitement bubbled within in me, little sparks of joy shooting through my veins.

It had taken me all of my twenty-six years to get through those gates, but here I was. My car was loaded up with cleaning supplies, and since this was a new gig, I was on my own while Brittany flew solo on our regular Monday cleans.

My friend was a bit sour about it, but she hadn’t fought me to be the first to come. She knew this was the opportunity I’d been waiting a lifetime for, seeing the inside of the Manor. Besides, she also trusted me to do a good job, in which case, she’d get her turn to see it for herself sooner or later.

I kind of wished she was with me, though. It would’ve been nice to have someone to share this moment with, but instead, I took about a zillion mental pictures and thanked my lucky stars that my dreams were finally coming true.

I stopped under the porte cochere, the elaborate covered entrance meant for dropping off people. I pulled off my sunglasses and blinked up at the wide, double front doors, taking in the traditional brick and plaster of the exterior before I remembered I was here to do a job. Forcing myself to focus, I turned back to my beat-up old Mazda-rati—which was my fun nickname for it—and grabbed all my supplies.

The equipment weighed me down. The mop, bucket, vacuum, and caddy with liquids were a lot to handle by myself, but not even that bugged me today. I was in seventh heaven and it was like I could carry the whole world into that house without flinching.

As I made my way up the few stairs, the door suddenly opened and Landon appeared, his hair wet and slicked back and the scent of a masculine shower gel wafting to my nostrils. He grinned, and my heart nearly gave out.

“Can I help you with that?”

I shook my head, hoping he couldn’t hear how dry my mouth had gone. “No, thanks. I’m okay. This is part of my job. I’ve got it handled.”

“Right. Of course.” He nodded a few times slowly, then smiled and stepped aside. “Welcome to Styles Manor, Jewel. I hope it lives up to the hype.”

I chuckled when I recognized my own words coming out of his mouth and he winked at me. I stepped inside and the last bit of moisture that had remained in my mouth evaporated. The place was so much more spacious than I ever would’ve been able to imagine, and so graceful and elegant that it almost made me weep.

High ceilings and gorgeous chandeliers, polished, patterned tiles, and original wooden fixtures. Finally getting to see it for myself brought actual tears to my eyes, but I fought them back, swallowing hard as I took in the magnificence of the main room and the view beyond.

There weren’t that many photos online, only a few of the exterior, the gardens when they’d been used for special events, and the main sitting room. The rest of it was unlike anything I’d ever seen, and it was definitely making me far more emotional than I’d expected.

Clearing my throat, I made myself focus and turned back to Landon. Those eyes of his burned into mine like twin balls of green fire, his sharp features seeming nervous for some reason or another.

“Would you mind showing me to the primary suite?” I asked, doing my best not to sound all husky because of the way he was looking at me. “I always start there. It gives you someplace to retire to while I finish up the rest.”

He blinked. “My bedroom?”

“Yep.” I shouldered the mop bucket and nearly dropped everything, but then I grinned. “I hope you’re not hiding anything in there.”

“Nothing to hide,” he said, but faint red streaks appeared at the tops of his cheeks. “Follow me. Colten and I are each in a master suite, but if you ask me, he got the better one. I let him choose first.”

“In this house, I think they’re all the better one.” I couldn’t stop staring at every little thing as I traipsed after him, enthralled by the crown molding along the ceiling, the large windows, and the wide corridors.

“I bet the Styles’ kids had fun here,” I murmured once we got upstairs, feeling like I could practically still hear the echoes of their laughter in the air. “Imagine the races you could have and the games you could play right here when the weather is too bad outside.”

“That’s a good point,” he said. “I hadn’t thought of it before, but these are big enough to play baseball in.”

“Provided Mrs. Styles had insurance on all her windows.” I marveled every step of the way and then suddenly fell silent when we stopped in a large bedroom at the end of the hall.

“This is it,” Landon said, his voice slightly hushed. “I’ll, uh, I’ll leave you to it.”

He took off quickly, and I realized he might’ve been embarrassed that I would be cleaning the room he was staying in. Truth be told, I was glad he had gone. It was something of a double whammy for me, knowing I was standing in what might’ve been Mr. and Mrs. Styles’ bedroom—and that Landon was now sleeping in it.

Deciding to focus on the former instead of the latter, I tried to imagine her here, Mrs. Styles as she watched her kids play outside or she lay on the giant bed reading a book. It worked to take my mind off imagining Landon in that enormous bed—perhaps even rolling around with me.

The room was quite possibly the largest bedroom I’d ever been in, with a massive picture window complete with a built-in daybed overlooking the gardens and the lake below. Two walk-in closets about twice the size of my bedroom flanked the door to the adjoining bathroom, with an antique dresser spanning one entire wall.

The four-poster bed with its nightstands dominated the center of the room, positioned to face the view, and I moaned softly when I envisioned waking up in it. But as I took it all in, I also got to work, cleaning the space as meticulously as I’d ever cleaned anything before.

In fact, I might’ve even cleaned it lovingly, polishing the surfaces, dusting the antiques, and scrubbing everything that needed scrubbing. When I got to the bathroom, I realized Landon’s hair must’ve been wet from a shower because that same scent I’d gotten from him earlier permeated the air in here as well and some droplets of water still clung to the glass walls.

I inhaled deeply, allowing myself precisely five seconds to consider the fact that I was standing in a room that he’d been naked in not so long ago. Then I kept going. Time flew by and I stopped to eat the lunch I’d brought along on a flowery patio overlooking the water.

The door behind me opened and Colten stepped out, his cheeks reddish and a sheepish grin tugging at his lips. “Was my bedroom okay? I tried tidying it up for you.”

“You’re the neatest boy I’ve ever met,” I said easily, waving for him to join me if he wanted to. “Don’t worry about tidying up, though. You’re on vacation. You should relax.”

He took a seat and I offered him half of my sandwich. “It’s turkey and lettuce.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

I nodded and set it down in front of him. “Go for it.”

“Thank you,” he said softly. “I could just go make my own. I think we’ve got turkey and lettuce downstairs.”

“Sure, but this saves you the trip.” I smiled. “Did you have fun yesterday?”

“So much,” he gushed, a smile lighting up his entire face as he nodded. “It was, like, the best day ever. Your brother and your friend are so cool. Hey, do you play chess?”

A bit taken aback by the very sudden change in subject, I nodded. “I used to play more often when my gran was still alive, but it’s been a while.”

Excitement splashed over his features as he jumped up. “Will you play me? Just one game. Hang on. Let me grab my board.”

He ran into the house before I could stop him and we played a match. When it was over, I chuckled and offered him my hand. “Well done, Colten. I guess I’ll have to get some more practice if I don’t want to be beaten by a ten-year-old again, but you’re very good. I didn’t mind losing to you.”

“I barely beat you, though,” he said, his voice soft and almost awed as he glanced up at me from the board. “You’re an excellent player.”

I smiled. “Thank you, but you’re better. I should get back to work, Colten. That was a great game, though. It was fun. Thank you for suggesting it.”

As I walked to the door, I gave him a final smile, but he surprised me by getting up and following after me. “Can I help you?”

I laughed. “Why would a kid your age, on vacation no less, offer to help me clean the kitchen?”

He shrugged. “My dad is making some calls for work and I have nothing else to do.”

“Oh, uh, sure.” I agreed, handing over a rag and a spray bottle when we reached the kitchen. “Would you mind wiping the surfaces for me and then giving them a spray with that? I’ll come clean them after I’d done with the floors in the scullery and the pantry.”

He nodded, doing what I’d said with an easy, almost practiced way about him. It made me wonder how often he offered to help the people who worked for them, but even though we had a chat while we cleaned, he didn’t offer much information about himself.

While he seemed generally optimistic, he was rather reserved, kind but not very easy to talk to, so I took the lead, sharing random things about myself in the hopes that he’d open up too. “I was born and raised right here in June Lake.”

“How was that?” he asked curiously. “It’s a very small town.”

I chuckled. “It is, but in the summer, we get to spend our days on the lake, and in the winter, we do the same on the mountains. I couldn’t have asked for much better than that. Everyone comes here to ski and snowboard once it’s too cold for swimming, and until we’ve got enough snow on the slopes, we have some amazing hikes. It’s the best of all worlds, really.”

“I’ve never skied or snowboarded,” he revealed shyly.

My mouth dropped open. “Okay, that’s it. You guys have to come back here in the winter!”

I said it completely without thinking, but as Colten started nodding slowly, I realized I might just see them again after this summer—and I hated the hope that flared to life inside me when I pictured a future in which they might just become a regular fixture.