Page 37 of Moonshine and Magnolias
“I’ll be sure to relay your interest.” She wobbled back to the table. Coming out had been a mistake. There were so many things she could be doing instead of being assessed by strangers and found wanting. She grabbed the strap of her purse and tromped into the night.
Chapter 08
Rob turned off his flashlight and froze in the antique chair when a slammed door from the lobby echoed down the hallway to the office. Hal did the same, standing balanced on a short filing cabinet next to the fireplace, holding a clear but dusty bottle of whiskey in one hand and a brick in the other. Not moving. Barely breathing. Rob’s accelerated heart rate didn’t count.
This is when those nights of studying household movement paid off. Eulalee was upstairs. If Wendy or Brandi came home, they wouldn’t come into the office at this hour. Rob and his brother needed to be patient and wait it out, not scramble and try to hide. That would make noise.
And they would get caught.
After an agonizing five minutes, the door slammed a second time. Hal turned on his light and pointed it at his face so Rob could see his nod to their exit, then turned it off. Rob carefully rose from the chair and crept around the desk, avoiding the creaks he had noted on the floor. Finally he reached the threshold. He took a deep breath, inhaling a baby-powder scent and a trace of cinnamon. Inch by inch, he cracked the door open until he could poke his head into the hallway. Nothing stirred. He closed the door.
“It’s clear.” His whispered voice was harsh in the silence of the room.
His brother replaced the brick in the wall and climbed down from the cabinet with the alcohol still clutched in his hand, aided only by the light sifting through the cherry patterned curtains. “We’re taking this. Payment for the treasure that Uncle Louis lost.”
Hal would steal a crouton if it wasn’t speared by a fork. “No,” Rob said. “We don’t know who put it there. Someone might come looking for it.”
“Are you kidding? This thing’s got to be worth a fortune.” Hal blew on the bottle, sending a cloud of dust drifting to the floor. “It’s been in that cubby for years. Completely abandoned. No one knows or remembers it’s there.”
“It’s the time in the barrel, not time in the bottle, that determines the worth. Doesn’t matter anyway. Put it back.” Rob worked his way through the boxes to the storage closet. “I’ll get some paper towels to clean up the mess you made.”
“You’re getting soft. When I figure out the Claytons know nothing about this hiding space, I’m coming back for the whiskey.” Hal climbed back on the filing cabinet and wiggled the brick out of the wall. “What did you find in the desk?”
Rob kept his flashlight well below window-level and swept up the dust from the bottle. “One drawer had a false bottom, but it only contained some old letters wrapped in leather. Based on what I saw of Caroline Clayton’s handwriting in her journals, I think they were hers.”
“Letters she wrote but never sent?”
“Looks like.”
“Where did you stash them?”
He gave a casual shrug to hide the discord in his body. “Back in the drawer. I’ll find a way to lead Wendy to the idea that the desk might have some secrets. Let her discover them herself.” He took some papers out of the trash bin and dumped the dust in it, then replaced the papers and shoved the wadded up towel in his pocket.
“And then let the history expert give his opinion on them. Smooth.” Hal joined him at the desk and swept his light across the room. “Are we done here, do you think?”
“Yeah. Let’s head back upstairs.”
This time Hal did the hallway check, and soon they were padding their way up the grand staircase to their room. Once they got there, Rob washed the grime off his hands and changed into a t-shirt. He’d been avoiding Wendy since she had inadvertently told him tonight the Hall would be mostly deserted. He wanted to see her. Needed to see her. To assure himself he was doing the right thing.
“There’s an alien invasion in the orchard,” Hal said from the window.
“Somehow, I don’t think so.” Rob joined his brother. The tree tops were shrouded in darkness, but an unnatural glow lit up the underside. “What do you think it is?”
“I don’t care.” Hal looked at his dust-covered clothes. “I’m going to shower.”
“Okay.” Rob stayed at the window as his brother crossed the room. “I might go check it out.”
“I never knew you were into anal probes.” Hal’s muffled voice came from behind the closed bathroom door.
The light didn’t shift at the orchard while Rob made up his mind. If Wendy was down there, Rob wanted to see her free from the confines of Fountenoy Hall. If it was Brandi or that other guy, he’d come back inside.
He opened the front door in time to see security lights illuminate the back of a sleek black limo. Car headlights explained the glow. Once he left the landing, he picked his way down the hill, hoping the groundskeeper had removed any roots or toe-stubbing rocks. By the time he reached the orchard, a light sheen of sweat covered his face.
Wendy stood on the outside of the orchard in a short denim skirt and low-cut red halter. One hand held a bat and the other was on her hip. After a moment, she grabbed something off the ground, threw it in the air, and positioned the bat.
Rob never had any reason to be fascinated by a woman’s shoulders, but the sight of hers in the soft moonlight left him mesmerized. Her professional polo shirt had hid the dips and curves, the play of muscle when she moved. It was all on display now. He wanted to inhale the scent in the hollow of her neck, trace hisfingers over that smooth skin.
Her hair swung over her shoulder, grazing the neckline of her top, as she swung with a viciousness that hadn’t been there the other day. An dull splat sound carried over to him. She reached for the ground again and repeated the action. This time, her aim was wildly off and the fruit thumped to the ground.
