no,” she murmured. “Not anymore.”
“That explains a lot,” he replied.
Stiffening, she felt herself close off even more. Though she shouldn’t be surprised that he just couldn’t leave it with the question. From the first words out of his mouth, she had expected his judgment.
“My brother and I would like to offer anyone on staff a job,” he said, surprising her. “No need for them to be worried about their incomes because the place has changed hands.” He stepped back to the landing, studying the first floor from his higher vantage point. “And we’re obviously going to need some help getting things in order.”
Yeah, no need for the staff to worry...only her family worried about living on the street... She ignored the implication that the property would need a lot of work to whip it into shape. She’d done the best she could. “That’s very generous of you,” she said, struggling not to choke on the words and the sentiment. “Currently we only have one employee. Jim handles the stables.”
Mason stared at her, wide-eyed. “And the rest?”
“Handled by me.”
“Cooking? Cleaning?”
EvaMarie simply stared, not liking where this was headed. Sure enough...
“Well, someone has definitely grown up, haven’t they? I can remember days of you being waited on and pampered...”
Unbidden, she flushed. “If that’s a backhanded compliment, thank you.” She turned away, breathing through her anger as she stepped over into an open area that branched off into hallways to the various rooms. “The rest of this floor is bedrooms and baths, except for this sitting area.”
“Your parents occupy the master suite?” he asked, his voice calm and collected.
Of course it was. After all, he wasn’t the one being typecast.
“No. The stairs are too much for my father anymore. There’s a set of rooms behind the kitchen. They sleep there.” They were originally staff quarters, but she left that unspoken.
“I’ll see the master suite, then.”
She gave a slow nod, then turned to the short hallway on the left.
“Your father’s illness?” he asked, for the first time using a gentle tone she didn’t trust at all.
“Multiple sclerosis, though he prefers not to speak of it,” she said, keeping her explanation as matter-of-fact as possible. No point in exhibiting the grief and frustration that came with becoming a caretaker for an ill parent. “We’ve managed as well as we could, but the last two years he’s steadily lost his mobility and physical stability.”
Her mother had declined also, though hers was from losing the stimulation, social gaiety and status that she had fed off for most of her life.
The grandeur of the master suite swept over EvaMarie, just as it always did when she entered. It was actually two large rooms, joined into one. Both were lined and lightened by hand-carved, floor-to-ceiling white wooden panels strategically accented in silver-leafing, the same accent that was used throughout the house.
With thick crown molding and a crystal chandelier in each area, the space left an indelible impression. Even empty as it was now.
She stepped fully inside as Mason strolled the cavernous space, his boots announcing his progress on the wood flooring. “There are his-and-hers dressing areas and bathrooms on each end of the suite,” she explained. “Though the baths haven’t been updated in some time.”
“I’m sure we will take care of that,” he said, pausing to turn full circle in the middle of the sleeping area. One wall was dominated by an elaborate fireplace that EvaMarie could remember enjoying from her parents’ bed as she and her mother savored hot chocolate on snowy days.
She thought of the ivory marble bathtub in her mother’s bathroom, deep enough that EvaMarie had been able to swim in it when she was little. It didn’t have jets in it like the latest and greatest, but it was a gorgeous piece that would probably be scrapped, if the latest and greatest was what Mason was looking to put in.
Unable to handle any more of memory lane, she turned back toward the door to the hallway.
“And your room?” Mason asked from far too close behind her.
“Still on... On the other side of the floor.” She held her breath, waiting on him to insist on seeing her room. Between them was Chris’s room—please, no more. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold herself together.
In an attempt to distract them both, she went on. “The third floor has been empty for years. There’re two baths up there. A couple of the bigger rooms have fireplaces. Oh, and the library, of course.”
His pause was significant enough to catch her eye.
Did he remember the one time that she’d snuck him in to show him her favorite place in the house? Long ago, she could have spent entire days in the library, only emerging when her mother made her come to the table. Maybe Mason did remember, because he turned away, back to the stairs.
“Another day, perhaps,” she murmured.
As they hurried down the stairs, he didn’t look back until he reached the side entrance, his hand wrapped around the Swarovski crystal handle.
“If there are any problems, I’ll have my lawyer contact you.”
She let her head incline just a touch, feeling a deep crack in her tightly held veneer. “I’m sure.”
“It was good to see you again.” His sly grin told her why it had been—because it had served his purpose.
She wished she could say the same.
“The signing date is set. The property is almost ours.” Mason grinned at his brother, then turned back to the lawyer. “You’ve been great. We really appreciate it.”
James Covey grinned back, looking almost as young as them, though Mason knew he was a contemporary of their father. “It’s been my pleasure. I’m thrilled to be able to help y’all like this.”
His smile dimmed a little, and Mason knew what he was thinking...what they were all thinking. That they wished their father hadn’t had to die for this to happen. Kane’s hand landed with heavy pressure on Mason’s shoulder, and they shared a look.
It wasn’t all a bed of roses, but they would honor their father’s memory by establishing the best stables money could buy and talent could attain, using everything he’d ever taught them.
It was what he would have wanted.
“So are we going to be running into the Hyatts every time we turn around in this town?” Kane asked as they exited the lawyer’s stylish brownstone in the upscale part of downtown that had been renovated several years back. Slowly they made their way down the steps.
Kane
