Broken Love (18 page)

“Why?”

Jennifer shrugged. “She didn’t like Mom at all.”

“That’s terrible.”

Jennifer chuckled. “Yep. Mom said our grandmother made her life a living hell.”

“Who wants dessert?”

Jennifer and I both looked up to see Lucy and Nate Sr. both standing with pies in each hand.

With a low moan, I shook my head. “I’m sure I’ve gained ten pounds since I broke my leg.”

“At least you’re not pregnant like Dani.”

We both turned and looked at Dani who wore a beautiful smile. “She looks beautiful though,” I said.

“Yeah, she really does.” Jennifer sighed. “I hope I find love someday.”

With a grin, I bumped her shoulder. “You will. Just be patient.”

Jennifer rolled her eyes and pushed out a frustrated breath. For someone as romantic as she was, I found it hard to believe she hadn’t been swept off her feet yet.

After everyone ate dessert and helped clean up the table, it was time to head into the family room for what Nate described as four hours of sure torment and hell. Jennifer and Ryder started pulling out games as my mouth dropped open.

“Games?”

“I told you … four hours of torment and hell.”

“I hate board games,” I whispered.

“You are spending Thanksgiving with the wrong family then, sweetheart. It’s tradition. Stuff your face full of food and then play game after game of stupid nonsense until you’re so sick of it all, you would pay to have someone kill you. When what we could be doing is sitting our ass on the couch watching football.”

With a huge grin on my face, I turned to Nate. “I have a way of getting us out of game night.”

His eyebrows rose. “Really? If you can make that happen, I will owe you big time.”

“So, what you’re really saying is you will owe me a favor. Anything I ask for you’ll have to do it.”

Nate pinched his eyebrows together as he looked at me. “I can easily accept this offer because you have no clue how powerful game night is on Thanksgiving in the Montgomery house. You cannot win at this one, my sweet newbie.”

I reached my hand out and said, “The only way to find out is to shake on it.”

Nate laughed and took my hand.

“Deal. If you can somehow make the heavens open up and swallow up all the board games and leave me in peace to watch football … I’ll owe you whatever your little heart desires.”

With a grin, I turned to Lucy, who was instructing Dani’s husband Rich on how to set up the card table.

“Lucy, did Ryder tell you I found the Montgomery family Bible today?”

Everyone stopped moving as all eyes turned to me. Lucy’s eyes widened as she stared at me with a disbelieving look on her face.

I could feel Nate’s eyes burning a hole into me as he leaned in closer to me. “You little sneaky bitch,” Nate whispered.

With a jab in his side, I smiled bigger.

“Where did you find it, Ava?” Lucy gasped.

“On the bookshelf in the stone house.”

Lucy’s head snapped over to Ryder. “Did you see it?”

He nodded and said, “Yep.”

Lifting her hands in the air, Lucy called out, “Game night is cancelled. Ava and I are going on a little history lesson.”

“Thank God!” everyone called out as Ryder started laughing while making his way over to me.

“I’m not sure what you just did, but you’ve obviously made the rest of the family very happy with game night being called off.”

“You don’t like it either?”

Ryder shook his head. “Hell no. Kate came up with game night and we all hated it. Ever since she passed away, Mom has been insistent on it and none of us have the heart to tell her no.”

My heart ached for Lucy. I couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for her to lose her daughter. “No one will be mad I had a part in her calling it off will they?”

Ryder flashed me his signature melt-my-panties smile. “Are you kidding? You’ve probably moved up to hero level in everyone’s eyes. Especially Nate’s.” Ryder turned to look at Nate. “The bastard already has the football game on. I’m sure we’ll see his hand slip into his pants and a cold beer in the other hand in no time.”

“Gross,” I mumbled as I turned away from Nate.

Lucy walked up to me and clapped her hands. “Shall we head to the house?”

Excitement bubbled up once again. “Yes!”

As we made our way back to the stone house, Ryder pulled me back. “You’re not showing her Kate’s journal, are you?”

My eyes landed on Lucy as I shook my head. “I don’t think Kate ever had any intentions of your mom reading her journal. There are some very personal and private things in there.”

With a nod of his head, Ryder said, “I think for now you keep that find to yourself.”

Even though a part of me felt so guilty for holding something back that was Lucy’s daughters, I agreed as we continued to follow Lucy who was now walking in record time.

The moment I handed her the Bible, I could see the happiness on her face, especially when she found the letter Robert had written to Lizzy.

“And this letter was in the Bible?” Lucy asked with a confused expression.

“Yes. I assumed you had seen it before.”

She shook her head. “No, I had found Lizzy’s journal years ago in their house in Helena. That’s how I knew about Lizzy.”

“So, Robert and Lizzy were your great-great-grandparents?”

Ryder shrugged, “Great-great … great-great-great … what difference does it make?”

I playfully hit him on the chest. “A lot!”

Her head snapped up and she flashed me a wide grin. “When you’re moving around a bit more, we’ll head in and I’ll show you the house. It is a beautiful Victorian house Robert had built when Lizzy and he came over to America.”

“Why did he pick Montana?” I asked as Lucy took a picture of Robert’s letter.

“I would think the gold in the area. At the time they came here, the area was growing in population. The railroad and gold were big money makers and Robert invested in both. He needed to; he walked away from his birth right in England so he only had the money his mother had given him to start a future.”

“Who owns the house now?”

Lucy looked at me like I had grown two heads. “We do. It’s been in the family ever since it was built.”

My mind was spinning. Where did Kate find the letter and why didn’t she give it to her mother? In her own journal she writes about keeping a secret. Whose secret? Her’s or Lizzy’s? Whatever the hell it was why did Kate keep this letter away from her mom? Maybe the secret was in the old house?

Ryder walked up to me and placed his mouth to my ear. “I already see your mind working. We’ll visit the house tomorrow if you feel up for the drive.”

I wanted to squeal in delight I was so happy.

After showing Lucy where I found the Bible, and explaining Kate’s picture, she stood there staring at the bookshelf. “I must have brought Kate’s picture here, but how in the world did I miss the Bible?”

“Maybe Kate had it and placed it on the shelf. Sometimes when we’re searching so hard for something, we easily pass it over. The spine doesn’t even have any wording on it.”

Lucy nodded. “It would appear to be just another book … but … I wonder why Kate would have had the Bible?”

Ryder let out a chuckle. “Maybe she was wanting to research the family also.”

Lucy slowly shook her head. “You know, now that you mention it, she did ask me a lot of questions about Lizzy and Robert. She seemed to be interested in my thoughts about them running off together.” Lucy smiled weakly.

Ryder and I both chortled as we watched Lucy look over the Bible.

“Well, now that I’ve got this back in my hands, I can get to work on trying to figure out the rest of these names.” Lucy took the Bible and headed back to the main house to research the other names. I could hardly make out the handwriting, but she seemed to be able to.

The moment the door shut, I turned to Ryder and said, “I need to go upstairs and find Kate’s sketch pads.”

“Now?”

My heart was pounding so loud in my chest, I was sure Ryder could hear it. For some reason, I was desperate to find her work. Desperate to know more about her … and her connection to Lizzy.

What I didn’t know was how much my life was going to change when I found the things I was looking for.

OPENING THE DOOR, I smiled when I saw Nate standing there. “I hope you know getting this key away from our mother was damn near impossible.”

I patted him on the back as he walked in. “But not impossible.”

“No, nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it … and lie.”

I let out a chuckle. “What did you tell her?”

“That I was meeting an old friend in Helena and
she
was interested in old Victorian houses. Just the idea that I might meet and settle down with a girl here in Montana was enough for her to hand me the keys no questions asked.”

Laughing, I shook my head as Nate looked around. “Where is your evil girlfriend who tricked me into promising her my life? Mom would be so upset if she knew she wasn’t the one showing Ava the house.”

Rolling my eyes, I said, “That was your own stupidity to make the bet with her. And she’s upstairs with her head buried in Kate’s old sketches and Mom will never find out.”

He flopped down onto the sofa and kicked his feet up. “Don’t you think it’s crazy Ava is a designer and that is what Kate wanted to be.”

With a shrug of my shoulders, I replied, “It’s a coincidence that’s for sure.”

“And wedding dresses. You don’t find that a little … weird?” he asked lifting his eyebrow in question.

The moment we found the sketches, I could see it in Ava’s eyes how thrilled she was. When she opened the last sketchbook Kate had been working in, Ava gasped and stared at it. I finally just let her be as she poured over the books.

“I know Ava was thrilled to find Kate’s designs. Especially the stuff she was working on before she died. She kept going on and on about how talented Kate was and for being so young.”

Nate looked away. “I don’t understand why she had to die when she had such a full life ahead of her.”

I nodded but didn’t speak. Kate’s death had taken a toll on all of us. Dani and Jennifer, especially. The three of them had always been so close. Kate had always liked her alone time in the old house, but when the three of them got together it was endless laughter and romantic daydreaming.

We sat there for a few moments as we looked around. Our sister had died in this house, but for some reason it never really hit me until this very moment. “Why do you think this house meant so much to her?”

Nate shook his head. “I don’t know. She said she felt like she was more creative here. Like it was her secret garden or something.”

I nodded my head. “Ava says the same thing. She also keeps talking about how she feels like there is a presence here in the house.”

“Creepy. I’ve never felt comfortable in this house and I’m not really sure why.”

“Ryder?” Ava called out from up behind us. When we both turned to see her sliding down the stairs on her ass.

“What in the hell are you doing?” Nate asked with a snicker.

I jumped up and ran over to her, taking the sketchbooks from her hands and handing them to Nate. “Why didn’t you tell me you were ready to come down?”

With the sweetest smile ever, she scrunched up her nose and said, “Well, you were talking to Nate and I didn’t want to interrupt.”

Once I got her standing, she looked to Nate as he smiled and asked, “So? Are we headed to Helena?”

I could tell my brother was enjoying this little adventure probably as much as Ava, even though he would never admit it. That, or he knew a girl in the city and was planning on hooking up with her tonight since we would be staying overnight.

“Yes! I’m so ready, but first I have to show you both something your sister was working on.” She took one of the sketchbooks and put it on the table, opening it to the last drawing.

“She seemed to have a thing for gowns and wedding dresses. This dress, though … I can’t even form the words in my head. I have to show you for you to understand. Nate, will you hand me that pad over there?”

Nate spun around and walked over to the desk and picked up the color pencils I had on the sketchpad. When he looked at the wedding dress, he lifted his eyebrows. “Wow … Ava, is this your design?”