off. She stopped at the porch steps and held out her hands for the grocery bag. “Thank you. I’ll take that now.”
“I’ll carry it in for you.” He went up the steps. “Maybe you’d be kind enough to give Duke a drink before we finish our walk,” he suggested, aiming the words more at Mandy than her mother.
“I’ll do it.” Mandy leaped to her feet. “Hurry and open the door, Mommy. I have to get Duke a pan of water.”
Rachel sent him a glance that mingled reproach with giving in. “All right. Let me get my keys.”
He had his hand on the knob while she was fumbling in her bag for the keys. It turned under the pressure of his fingers, and the stained-glass paneled door swung open.
“Looks as if you forgot to lock it,” he commented, pushing the door the rest of the way.
Rachel stood where she was, blue eyes darkening. “I’m sure I locked the door before we left. How can it be open?”
CHAPTER FOUR
COLIN GRASPED THE doorknob, holding the door ajar while he studied Rachel’s face. She obviously believed what she was saying, but was that realistic? Wasn’t it far more likely that she’d just forgotten to lock the door?
“Maybe the lock didn’t catch when you went out,” he said, trying for diplomacy.
Rachel’s expression said she knew exactly what he was thinking. “I did not forget to lock the door, and I double-checked it when I left. You learn that much, living in the city.”
Before he could answer, Mandy wedged herself between them, reaching for the door. “Let me go in, please, Mommy. I want to get a drink for Duke.”
Rachel grasped her daughter’s shoulders in a quick, protective movement. Obviously his idea was backfiring.
“I’ll bet there’s an outside faucet somewhere near the flower beds,” he suggested. “Why don’t you use that one? You don’t want Duke’s muddy paws in your house.”
Duke’s paws weren’t really muddy, but maybe that would distract the child from getting in before he’d had a chance to check the house.
“That’s a good idea,” Rachel said, seconding him before Mandy could object. “Remember the faucet and bucket where Benj washed the brushes? You can use that one.”
“I remember.” Mandy darted off the porch with Duke lumbering after her. Poor old boy was getting more exercise than he’d expected, but at least it got Mandy out of the way.
“I suppose Benj might have come over.” Rachel reached for the door, obviously intending to see for herself.
Colin grasped her hand to forestall her and felt an almost visceral jolt at the brief contact. Rachel’s gaze met his, her blue eyes seeming to widen before she dropped her gaze.
“Let me,” he said. Before she could argue the point, he pushed open the door and stepped inside the entrance hall. He stood for a moment, listening, effectively blocking the door so that Rachel couldn’t rush in behind him.
Nothing. The staircase, with its mahogany railing, wound upward in silence; the rooms to either side of the hallway stood empty and still. The house seemed to be holding its breath, waiting.
He shook off the fancy. “Doesn’t look like anything’s disturbed.” He moved to the console table, letting Rachel come in behind him. “Except this.” He gestured to the table, where a paper-wrapped sheaf of pink roses lay next to a basket of fruit, their fragrance perfuming the air.
Rachel stared at the roses as if they hid a snake. “Someone’s been in here.”
She still seemed upset out of proportion to the cause, and he reminded himself to proceed cautiously. The little he knew of her life in recent years didn’t encourage him to think it had been free of trouble. Experience had probably convinced her that surprises were usually unpleasant.
“Maybe one of the other doors was unlocked,” he suggested. “Anyway, people bearing fruit and flowers rarely have malicious intent, ain’t so?”
His use of the familiar Pennsylvania Dutch tag was intended to break the tension, and it seemed to. Rachel’s lips softened a bit, even if she didn’t manage a smile.
“I guess you’re right. Denke, Colin. I’m being silly. I—”
The sound of a footstep in the kitchen cut off whatever she’d been going to say. With a quick, instinctive movement he closed the space between them.
And then felt foolish when the swinging door to the back of the house opened to reveal Jeannette Walker, holding a milk-glass vase in one hand.
“Rachel, there you are. Hello, Colin.” Jeannette came toward them quickly, apparently oblivious of having caused any alarm. “I stopped by to say welcome.” She gestured with the vase. “Just looking for something to put the roses in. A bed-and-breakfast doesn’t look welcoming without flowers, I find.”
“They’re beautiful, Ms. Walker.” Rachel recovered her powers of speech. “It’s so kind of you to bring them.”
“Not at all. I know Amanda let the flower beds go terribly in recent years.” Jeannette was at her most gracious—the successful innkeeper welcoming a newcomer who would be no competition at all.
While the women fussed over the arrangement of roses in the vase Colin scrutinized Jeannette, wondering what her agenda was. Prior experience of Jeannette Walker told him she always had an agenda. Whether it was a question of the right Christmas decorations for the village stores or the advisability of allowing a billboard at the edge of town, Jeannette rammed her wishes through with such subtlety that few people even realized they’d been manipulated.
The iron fist in the velvet glove—that was Jeannette. She wore her usual uniform of tailored slacks and sweater set with pearls—apparently what she considered proper attire for her position, winter or summer. She was only in her mid-forties, probably, but her tightly permed curls and carefully outlined lips made her look older.
Jeannette turned toward him as if she’d read his thoughts. “Colin, I’m surprised you’re not working today. But then, I suppose the real estate business is rather slow at the moment.”
He just smiled, inured to Jeannette’s petty barbs. “Or I might be so busy that I needed a day off. Hard to tell, isn’t it?”
Jeannette gave a slight sniff, dismissing him, and turned to Rachel. “Now, I want you to feel free to call on me anytime for advice. It’s so complicated to set up a B and B—all those tax rules and safety regulations, the advertising, the record-keeping. And there’s the difficulty of maintaining a web presence, because of course that’s how everyone shops these days, even for vacations. And setting up online reservations can be such a nightmare. Believe me, I know how overwhelming it can be for someone with little experience.”
If Rachel hadn’t been overwhelmed before, she looked it now after Jeannette’s recital of the tasks ahead of her.
“Just ask me for advice anytime,” Jeannette reiterated on her way to the door. “I’m here to help.”
Rachel
