Page 38 of Purchase Power
An obituary was certainly relevant. For some reason, Ronald Gray was granted a very short one in the same local newspaper as before.
“Mr. Ronald Ernest Gray of Gabriel Manor passed away on the evening of July 27th, 2008. He is survived by his widow, Tonya Gray.”There was no mention of Noah. No suggestion that they had a relationship of any kind.
Lucy saved a couple of pictures to her hard drive and set aside her laptop. She attempted to pick up her book again, but her mind was so full of this crap about the Gabriel family that she found it impossible to readJane Eyreand not think of anything but the ghosts of this house.
Noah’s parents getting divorced didn’t necessarily mean anything. Having a stepfather raise him needn’t mean anything. Why should it? Parents divorced and stepparents arrived all the time with little long-lasting grief for the children. Yet why were the Gabrielssoprivate? Lucy understood wanting to keep a close eye on opinion pieces and tabloid fodder, if such a thing were relevant in this area, but she couldn’t even find PR fluff pieces about Noah’s company!
This Mr. Rochester certainly is fascinating, but for all the wrong reasons.It didn’t help that every time Lucy closed her eyes, she remembered the sounds she made when he used her.
Those were not the sounds of a woman acting her part. Nor were they sounds of pain or displeasure. Quite the opposite, weren’t they?
“Over here!” That voice, pealing through the trees beyond Lucy’s French doors, enticed her to look up from the hands folding in her lap. “Let’s go over here!”
Who the hell is that?Lucy dragged herself off the couch, desperate for anything to amuse her while her ideas percolated. She tentatively opened the French doors leading to the balcony, her only outdoor reprieve at Gabriel Manor, and stepped close to the railing. The late morning air whipped up her hair and brought an unsettling chill to her skin, but she ignored both as her fingers curled around the edge of the stone railing and she peered into the lawn below. The same place she had seen those two horses racing by the day before.
There were no horses now. Only a woman dressed in a brown hoodie and a pair of plain jeans. Her dark blond hair was pulled into a low ponytail that frolicked with her movements, her arms spinning like a windmill as she beckoned to a much older man Lucy did not recognize.
Now that she was out here on the balcony, she understood that loud voice more clearly.
“This way! Come on!” The young woman hopped between her feet. The older man, with his tweed suit and gray hair, motioned for her to slow down so he could catch up. She took him by the hand like a young girl would take her grandfather’s.
“You have to slow down, dear.” The man chuckled his way through his statements, as if so much energy only delighted him. “We’re on a languid stroll. Remember?Languid.That means we take our time and enjoy the nature around us.”
“Then we draw?”
“You show me this little meadow of yours in the woods, and we’ll draw until lunch.”
The woman jumped so high that Lucy feared she might plummet to the ground, nose wedged into the mud.
“Ms. Craig.”
Lucy turned around in haste. There, standing in the opened French doors, was Candace.
“Hi!” Lucy clasped her hand over her chest. When she looked over her shoulder again, the woman in the hoodie and the man in the tweed suit were gone into the woods. “Is it lunchtime already?”
Candace did not smile back at her. Not that she usually did, but if they encountered one another in the room, Candace was quick to put on her professional airs. Now, however, she was afflicted with a scolding countenance that may have been more suited for the woman outside.
“Mr. Gabriel asked me to check in on you,” she said. “He is very busy catching up with work right now, but extends his sympathies for any ill-will there may have been between you.”
“Huh?” Ill will? Was this woman serious? Had Lucy somehow conveyed that she was unhappy with the time she spent with Noah during his crazed need for her?I mean, it was pretty mutual, once we got going.Lucy should probably not blush right now. Bad form. “I hold no ill will toward Mr. Gabriel for…” She caught the glimpse Candace thrust over Lucy’s shoulder. “Who were those people?”
Candace, only slightly caught off guard, straightened herself and said, “Those people are none of your concern, Ms. Craig. You would know if they were.”
What does that cryptic shit mean?“Anyway, Mr. Gabriel is fine. Should I expect him?”
“He expresses a desire to see you this evening. Also, I told him about your request to leave the room, and he will look into getting you a trainer to relieve your excess energy.”
“Uh… huh. He does know that has nothing to do with going outside, right?”
“You can go outside, Ms. Craig. We’re outside right now.”
If Lucy rolled her eyes, would Candace notice? Would Candacecare?“You remind me a lot of Alice Fairfax, you know that?” Lucy said.
“Excuse me?”
“She’s a character from…”
“I know who that is.” Candace turned. “I will be bringing your lunch in about half an hour. I’m sorry that things are a bit delayed. You will soon discover that it only takes one thing for the whole machine to be set off course.” She stopped halfway through the room, making sure that Lucy was following her inside. “By the way… my unsolicited advice, Ms. Craig?”
Should she bother saying anything?
“Mind yourself. The Gabriels are extremely private people. You will get no information out of me, or anyone in this house. I doubt Mr. Gabriel himself will tell you a thing, and it is for the best. You do not need to be burdened with one family’s knowledge.”
“Whoa.” Lucy closed the French doors. “What does that…”
“I’ll see you in half an hour. Remember, Ms. Craig, you are only here for a month. Try to look on the bright side of your situation.”
“Which you know all about, I’m sure.”
Candace said nothing as she left the room. Lucy swore she heard the door lock.
