Page 94 of Purchase Power
Chapter 28
Returning to Gabriel Manor had never been on Lucy’s radar. Let alone with her sister, who practically fell to her knees in disbelief when Lucy told her what had happened.
Of course, she still didn’t mention the part about being in love with Noah. Nor did she talk about the lust that probably still boiled between them, not that Lucy would indulge now that he was no longer paying her.He said nothing about fucking me in exchange for a place to quarantine in comfort.Noah was too much of a gentleman for that. Lucy anticipated coy looks, loaded words, and a passing touch that was sure to leave her melting into a puddle of despair.
She did not see him, however. The driver who picked them up in Brooklyn and drove across state lines was the same one who fetched Lucy over a month ago. Lacey was glued to the window as they drove up into the hilltops surrounding a bustling city that was fabulous for the business-oriented, not so popular with the tourists. Gabriel Manor was emptier than usual. Noah had warned Lucy that most of the staff was sent home, and the only people living within the manor were himself, his sister, Candace, and the chef Bernard. Candace met them the moment they drove up to the familiar front steps and groomed topiaries. For a place that was supposed to be devoid of staff, the landscapers making the rounds induced enough of a racket that Lucy couldn’t hear Candace over the whirring of weed whackers and the grunt of chainsaws.
Lacey had to meet Candace from a distance, since the sisters and the bags they carried themselves were taken through the entrance closest to the guest suite and shut up within it upon entry. Lacey was agog to realize that, although she and Lucy were sharing a large bed, they had a whole outdoor space to themselves and a private yard with direct access. For the first time since Lucy first saw Gabriel Manor, she was allowed to come and go from the garden below her balcony as she pleased. There were no more secrets.
Fuck that. This was a whole house of secrets.
But she didn’t say that to Lacey, who popped popcorn and watched TV on the big screen while her sister worked diligently on the balcony or in the far corner of the room. The bathtub was big enough for them both, which delighted Lacey as she coaxed Lucy into a bubble bath and squealed that it was like when they were children. She gasped at the clothes still hanging up in the closet and tried most of them on while Lucy worked or went for walks around their yard. Occasionally, she put on a little black dress – zipper left open, since she was a bit wider in the shoulders than her sister – and sat on the balcony with a floppy hat and sunglasses, pretending to be a bigshot Kennedy sipping her gin and tonic. In reality, it was a fizzy drink in a can, but at least she enjoyed the daily view of the neighbor’s horses as they were taken for walks in the meadow beyond the small grove of trees.
And, occasionally, a couple of horses rode by below.
“Hi!” Lucy heard her sister on the balcony four days into their quarantine. Although she didn’t know who Lacey talked to, she had a good guess and kept to herself inside the suite. “Who are you, honey? That’s a beautiful horse! What? Oh my God! Your name is Stacey? I’m Lacey! What are the odds, huh? Our names rhyme!”
Sure enough, the delighted cries of a young woman making a new friend filtered into the room, where Lucy left the balcony doors open while she worked on her next piece forModern New York Woman.The thing about Stacey? She sounded much younger than she was. Based on what Lucy found online, Stacey should have been in her mid-twenties. Instead, she sounded like a young teen or a slightly mature little girl.Is she developmentally challenged?That hadn’t been in any of the articles Lucy saw, but she supposed that would have been scrubbed from the internet like so many other things.
“I don’t think we can get any closer right now!” Lacey called over the balcony’s edge. “Lucy and I are in quarantine right now! We can probably have lunch together soon, though! I love your T-shirt! I was a total fan of Strawberry Shortcake when I was a kid!”
When Lacey returned to the room, it was with confusion on her face.
“I know you said that Mr. Gabriel had a sister,” she said, that look of consternation mucking up her train of thought, “but you didn’t tell me she was, uh, special?”
Lucy tried to not let her bemusement show. “I didn’t know, either. Are you sure?”
“Did you hear the way she talked? I thought she had to be like, twelve, until she freely told me she was old enough to rent a car. She rode that horse well, too. She’s really pretty. Have you met her?”
“Not formally. She came by once while I was here, but Candace wouldn’t let us talk. I don’t think I was supposed to know much about her, but they don’t care now.”
If Lacey had any further questions, she didn’t ask.
Stacey Gabriel isn’t quite all there, is she?Lucy didn’t know if that made things with Noah better or worse. If he married his own stepsister to gain guardianship over her, that would have been one thing. Yet why didn’t he say so? Nothing made sense any longer. Lucy’s head hurt too much to think about, and thankfully, she had other things to take her mind off the matter.
Even if she was back in such familiar quarters.
Bernard hadn’t forgotten some of Lucy’s favorite side dishes, and seemed to appreciate the new challenge Lacey brought. Although they couldn’t personally see him to pay their compliments to the three meals delivered every day, Candace gave Lucy his number to text him directly. Turned out Bernard was one of those older guys who typed in all caps and often hit the wrong button. Lacey was absolutely befuddled that such people actually existed, but it allowed one moment of levity in Lucy’s daily life back here at Gabriel Manor.
Neither of them saw Noah. Sometimes, they received indirect messages from Candace through the door. They were nothing beyond requests for conduct or informing them that he may be out for a day. For the most part, however, Noah was working completely from home. The one glimpse Lucy caught of him was when she happened to be on the balcony getting some fresh air and saw him taking a stroll down below. They caught each other’s gazes at the same time, Lucy looking away first. She pulled herself away from the guardrail and didn’t respond to his inquiry toward her well-being. He didn’t ask to meet Lacey. Lucy didn’t offer.
That one glance, however, sank her heart and made her warm all over. She treated herself to a cold shower so she wouldn’t think about the heat between her legs and the nipples that refused to soften the more she thought about him.
I miss him…Rarely had she allowed herself to cry since breaking it off with Noah. What was the point? She had gotten what she wanted, hadn’t she? She got money. She got hot sex. She got a kiss out of a man who claimed to hate kissing women.Too intimate.Yet he had kissed her. There had been a glimpse of love in his eyes, and she had felt safe and happy in his arms for one whole night.
Had it really been a lie?
She could only cry in the shower, lest Lacey see and ask questions. While lukewarm water ran down her hair, Lucy sat on the floor of her shower and let the hot tears flow down her face.
I loved him… I still love him.She wiped her nose every time the steam couldn’t break through the snot filling her nostrils.I hate that I’m here. How am I supposed to write an article about the pandemic and Jane Eyre when all of this is happening in my chest?
She yearned for Noah’s body. She desired his aloof charms and dry sense of humor. She needed his presence.
It’s pointless, you stupid idiot. He’s already married to his own fucking stepsister.
Was it a coincidence that Noah had texted her while she was in the shower? Or had he sensed her emotions from that small, insignificant interaction they had outside?
“When you’re ready,”he had texted.“I want to have dinner with you. I want to tell you everything. It will be hard, but you must hear it. Your article had a lot of misconstrued information. I swear to you that I am not married, Lucy. I am certainly not married to my flesh-and-blood sister. Let me tell you the truth.”
