she said blithely, “I probably still will go. Maybe I’ll even move there permanently. Owning half a cabin in Maine has to be less expensive than renting in Baltimore.”
He practically was foaming at the mouth, he was that angry. She watched his hands clench and unclench at his sides, fascinated by his battle for control. “We’re not done discussing this,” he warned her before he stomped out.
He heard from the other lawyer late the next afternoon and when he ended the conversation, it was all he could do not to throw the phone across the room. His temper was short these days and he knew at least part of the reason why. He hadn’t slept well since Robin had died. Though he’d managed not to wallow in grief during the day, he’d had vivid dreams of his stepfather every night, dreams that always ended with Robin closing a door in his face or disappearing around a corner.
It didn’t take a psychologist to figure out that he was trying to work through his sense of loss at Robin’s unexpected death. Still, between the lack of rest and this business with that stupid will Robin had made… Once again he went back over the will’s specific provisions. Every lawyer who had seen the language of the will had been of the same opinion: unless there was some clear question about Robin’s sanity at the time he had it drawn up, it was perfectly legal, perfectly enforceable.
Since Robin unquestionably had been quite sane, it looked as if there was no way to win a challenge to his wishes.
He sighed, the anger draining from him. How in hell was he going to stand thirty-one days in Maine with her? He couldn’t imagine being cooped up in the small cottage with Ana Birch for more than four weeks. Still, he supposed there was no use in prolonging the inevitable. He’d survive it.
When he called, Ana answered her phone. “Hello?”
“I’ve had an answer from the other lawyer about Robin’s will.” He didn’t bother to identify himself or to wait for her to speak. He hated eating crow but he supposed he’d had it coming. “It can’t be changed. So we’re going to be stuck with each other.”
“When do we leave?” She didn’t sound smug or superior, just interested.
“I’m leaving tomorrow morning. I can’t speak for you.” Surely she didn’t think he’d spend sixteen hours in a car with her. “But the sooner you get up there, the faster this farce will be over.”
He hung up and immediately called his housekeeper to instruct her to start packing. Now that he’d made up his mind, he wanted to get to the cottage as fast as possible. Before Ana, that was for sure. He had a sneaking suspicion that if she arrived first, she might just take his favorite bedroom out of spite.
The following evening, he pulled off the small country road and took the long central lane back to the smaller, rougher track that wound another half-mile along the lakeshore to Eden Cottage. There was a porch light on, waiting to greet him through the dusk, and he reminded himself to give the caretakers a bonus next month. The old man and his wife who looked after the place had cleaned it and brought in a few groceries earlier as he’d asked when he’d called to tell them he was coming.
He’d left at dawn and driven with only the most necessary stops the whole day. He was glad it was summertime, still light outside. He got out of the car and stretched, looking down the steep hillside at the flashes of silvery water revealed through the white-trunked birches. He’d pushed himself for a reason. Much later and he’d have had to wait until morning to see this view.
The cottage was perched above the lake with decks on three sides. It was surrounded by towering trees and from the back, looked quite unprepossessing. It had been built into the hill so that the second-floor section that jutted out to the back had a wide garage-style door at what was ground level there, so that the boats and outside furniture and supplies could be stored there through the winter.
He walked down the hill a little way and stepped out onto a rocky outcrop above a small pebble-beached cove. Ahhh. He took a deep, cleansing breath of the fresh, pine-scented air. “It’s good to be here,” he said aloud. As he stood motionless, absorbing the utter peace that was one of the hallmarks of the little lake, the eerie laugh of a loon floated out over the water.
Garrett chuckled in response. This wouldn’t be so bad. Even though he’d arranged to have an office’s worth of equipment, including fax and computer, delivered tomorrow, he’d still feel like he was on an extended vacation. But the momentary buoyancy faded as he envisioned himself sharing the small rooms with Robin’s little fling.
The stutter of a poorly tuned engine could be heard in the distance, and he looked around, distracted from his annoyance. The sound was rare enough to make him scan the lake with a frown. Usually, back this far, there was little to suggest other humans were around. Only canoes and rowboats were allowed on the lake and there was a bare handful of other homes scattered along the shores. When summer ended, nearly all of those would empty out as summer residents returned to their real lives again.
The engine grew louder instead of fading, and he turned. It almost sounded as if someone were heading toward his cottage. But unless the caretaker had forgotten something, he couldn’t imagine why anyone would be back here. There were clear No Trespassing signs posted both at the end of his small lane and at the larger one that led to the road.
He surged up the bank, reaching his own sturdy four-wheel-drive vehicle just as headlights played across the cottage and red brake lights flared. A door opened and a figure straightened from the driver’s seat of a small, battered-looking car.
“This is absolutely beautiful!” Ana Birch said.
Garrett just stared at her. How in the hell had she managed to get organized fast enough to arrive here at practically the same time he had? He’d never known a woman who could pack and travel in less than a day’s time. His mother would have needed at least a week to get ready. And that would have been pushing it.
“Have you been here long?” She bent and touched her toes in one lithe motion, drawing his eyes to the long, smooth line of her back beneath the T-shirt she wore. As she placed her palms flat on the ground and swayed from side to side to stretch out her back, her bottom stuck up in the air in an incredibly provocative manner. He caught himself in the middle of wondering just how limber she really was and banished the thought. She might have bewitched Robin but he, Garrett, knew what she was.
“I—ah, just arrived.” His voice sounded rough and uneven to his own ears. “How did you get here so fast?”
She shrugged, straightening and flipping her hair back over her shoulders, drawing his gaze to the shining, curly mass. “I didn’t really have much to worry about,” she told him. “I packed everything I thought we’d need, stuffed the cat in a box—”
“The cat! I never said anything about sharing my cabin with a cat.”
She shrugged. “I’ll just have to keep her in my half, then. As I was saying, I hopped in my car late last night and started driving. When I stopped for breakfast, I called the bank and the restaurant and quit, effective immediately. I can get another job or two like that easily enough when I get back if I need it.”
“Jobs? You worked for a bank and a restaurant?”
“Some of us don’t have a fortune at our disposal,” she told him tartly. “What on earth did you think I did for money?”
The question fell into the space between them like a hand grenade with the pin ready to fall out. He bit his tongue, knowing that if he said what he’d thought, there would be open warfare in the cabin for the next month. It was going to be bad enough as it was without picking a fight with her.
“Never mind.” She turned away and walked around to the trunk of her car. “I already know the answer to that.”
There was an odd, wistful tone in her voice that made him, for one strange moment, feel guilty for the way he’d treated her. Then he reminded himself that she was nothing more than a gold digger, snagging an old man and talking him into putting her in his will. Two jobs…no wonder she was looking for an easier