Broken Love (16 page)

Taking the cup of tea, I held it in my hand while I used my other arm to hold the crutch. It had taken me some time at first, but I quickly figured out a good way to get around the little house.

I set the tea down on the table and looked around. The old antique furniture in the house was beautiful. I fully intended on looking over the writing desk better, but that would be saved for another day.

“Okay, I say we start with the bookshelf. Who knows what amazing books we can find.”

I had gotten into the habit of talking to myself … or at least that’s what I thought in the beginning. I had the strangest feeling I wasn’t alone. Ryder said I was getting cabin fever, but I swore I felt a presence. Call me crazy, but I knew I wasn’t alone.

I slowly made my way to the bookshelf and smiled as I looked at it. Books from floor to ceiling filled the two bookshelves, with one each flanking the fireplace. Old knickknacks also took up space on the shelves, along with a few old family pictures. The old writing desk was pushed up in the corner and to the right of the fireplace. The view out the window was breathtaking and one I could certainly get used to. Ryder said it had been that way when his sister Kate used to spend time here in the house.

I walked up and reached to pull out a book but screamed when I heard a loud crash. Turning, I saw a picture frame had fallen off the shelf and landed on the desk.

“Holy living shit balls. That scared the piss out of me!”

I used the furniture to make my way over to the desk. My drawing pad was sitting neatly on the side table, waiting patiently for me to get back to work. I didn’t have to turn in my design to Maurice until next week, so I had plenty of time to play and explore.

By the time I got to the desk, I felt exhausted. “Jesus,” I panted out. “I need to move around more. I’m out of shape.”

I lifted the picture and gasped when I saw it. “Kate,” I whispered as I looked into her deep blue eyes. Lifting my gaze, I scanned all the other pictures of Ryder’s family. Most were of his great-grandparents, his grandparents and his father. There were a few of all the kids, but this seemed to be the only picture of Kate.

“That’s weird. I wonder if Lucy put this here after …”

I stopped talking when I felt a chill come over my body. The glass in the picture frame cracked as I lightly ran my finger along the pattern. I couldn’t help but feel like the picture was calling out to me. Almost as if Kate was trying to tell me something.

Closing my eyes, I took in a deep breath.

“So, this is all new to me. I’m not really even sure if you’re here, Kate. If you are, please don’t make things fall at night. I’m just saying, I have a weak bladder and if you don’t want to scare your brother away from me by me peeing in the bed, let’s just come to that understanding now shall we?”

I peeked my eyes open and glanced around. “Hello? Anyone here?”

Good lord. I’m talking to pretend ghosts now. Maybe I do need to get out of this house.

Pushing out a breath, I let out a giggle. “I’ve officially gone insane.”

Placing the picture on the desk again, I turned to head back to the table and to the bookshelf but something caught my eye. The sunlight was hitting the picture frame and casting the light onto a book. Reaching up, I pulled it out and gasped.

Montgomery Family Bible

“Oh my word … this is beautiful.”

The leather Bible was old and in delicate shape. I carefully opened it to see the front pages filled out with births and marriages.

My heartbeat began beating faster as I carefully closed it and made my way over to the couch. Slowly sitting down, I set the Bible on the table and cautiously opened it again. This time, I ran my finger over the faded writing.

Robert Montgomery – Hampshire 1890

Candice Montgomery – Hampshire 1892

Katherine Montgomery – Hampshire 1893

“Holy. Shit,” I mumbled as I tried to read the next name but couldn’t make it out.

My head snapped up as I looked around. “How cool is this!”

When I glanced back down to the Bible, I saw a piece of paper sticking out and turned to the page that held it.

It was an old letter folded up neatly. I ever so carefully unfolded it and started to read it.

I read the letter three times before folding it back up tucking it into the page where I found it.

What did he do? What was the decision he made? Did Lizzy accept his proposal? Was that the same Robert as in the Bible? Who was Lizzy?

My mind raced as I carefully turned each page. I was stunned to find another letter … this one much more recent.

As I read it, my heart dropped and tears formed in my eyes. It was clear who had written it.

My hands dropped to my lap as I held the letter.

Kate.

She must not have had a chance to mail the letter to her best friend before she passed away.

I placed the letter on the table and began going through the Bible in hopes of finding another letter or something from either Robert or Kate. After no luck, I turned and glanced back over to the shelf.

“There has to be a journal somewhere.”

I stood and made my way back over to investigate. Glancing down to Kate’s picture on the desk, my eyes moved across the desk as I took it in. Leaning over, I looked at the old piece of furniture.

“I wonder if it’s like Grandma’s old desk,” I mumbled to myself as I reached under to find a button that might open a secret drawer. When I felt it, I smiled wide. Holy hell … could it have been really that easy?

“Bingo. If all these old pieces had secret compartments how was anything kept secret?”

The excitement in finding an old journal had my hands shaking. Scandalous love affairs!
Wait until I tell Mom about this. She’ll eat it up.

I tried my best to bend over more to watch where the drawer opened. Hitting the button, a small drawer at the bottom of the desk opened. Reaching down, I took out a package that had been neatly wrapped in a piece of burlap.

Shutting the drawer, I stood and looked at the treasure I had in my hands. I’d never been so excited in my life to figure out what I had stumbled upon.

As I made my way back to the sofa, I tried to settle my breathing down. This kind of thing only happened in books where you found old Bibles and journals. “Let’s see what kind of trouble the Robert and Lizzy were up to.”

The fabric fell to the side easily as I gasped at what was in my hands. It wasn’t an old journal from Lizzy. My fingers lightly moved across the journal owner’s name.

Kate Montgomery

“HOW IS AVA feeling?” Nate asked.

“Better. She’s getting around more and I actually think she loves that little house.”

Nate frowned. “Wouldn’t she be more comfortable in the main house, Ryder? I mean, I get the whole idea of wanting to be alone, but she’s stuck in basically one giant room. She has to be bored.”

“I’ve asked her if she wanted to move up to the main house and she said she loves where she is.”

Nate shrugged. “It’s probably the pain pills keeping her looped up.”

With a roll of my eyes, I followed him into the kitchen. “So, how are things going back in Austin?”

“Good. I think I’ve got this whole thing down of you not being around. We got the McMurphy Ranch in New Mexico. They are ready to sign up for consulting on going organic. All in all, I think I’m pretty good at this without you, bro.”

Grabbing a beer from the refrigerator, I popped the cap off and took a drink.

“What about you? Liking life on the ranch? Working your ass off from sunup to sundown to please dear old Dad.”

My smile grew as I watched my father walk into the kitchen; his eyes were already burning a hole into Nate.

“Don’t know how you do it … I like city life so much better. No getting up at the crack of dawn, no freezing-cold Montana weather. The endless pussy alone is enough to make me never want to mend a fucking fence again in my life.”

This just kept getting better.

“Endless pussy, huh?”

Nate grabbed himself a beer. “Hell yes. You do remember those days before you turned into a pansy ass, right? What is it about this mountain air that turns Montgomery men into being pussy whipped?”

He turned and came to a stop the moment he saw our father. “Hey, Dad.” You could see panic filling his eyes and he did the only thing he knew to do. He blurted out his good news. “I got the McMurphy Ranch in New Mexico.”

Rolling my eyes, I shook my head. My father had always known Nate was never going to stay in Montana. When I moved to Austin, I knew he was upset. He couldn’t figure out why we had to move to a big city when most of our job was traveling to cattle ranches to convince them to go organic.

My father took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Nate, I knew early on you were going to be one of …
those
kids.”

“Those kids?” Nate asked.

“Yes … the kind who were never going to be happy following in their parents’ footsteps. The kind who would move to the city for better … opportunities if you will.”

“You have to admit, there are more girls in the city than there are here,” Nate spit out quickly.