The Gilded Curse: Will the young heiress be the next victim of her family's curse? (6 page)

Lexie whipped her head toward the hallway. “Russell, let’s look at the safe.”

There was no mystery about where the safe was located. Grandfather had been defiant about putting it inside its own locked closet. He didn’t care who knew where it was, confident it couldn’t be opened or moved by anyone but himself or Lexie’s father.

“Let’s see, I believe it’s in the closet under the stairs. Is that right?”

Of course, Russell would have seen it in the past.

Lexie nodded and stepped into the dim hallway. Her eyes took a moment to focus and orient herself. The silence in the house unnerved her. Goose bumps traveled up her arm with the sensation of being
watched. She glanced over her shoulder to see if Russell followed.

“I’m right here.” Russell fell in step with her as they moved past the stairs. Lexie hesitated, glancing up. What did the upstairs look like now? She took a deep breath. One thing at a time.

Lexie squinted to see in the windowless space. A few feet past the stairs stood the door to the closet that held the safe. She stretched her hand out to the doorknob.

“Do you want me to open it?” Russell said.

“No, let me.”

She grabbed the knob and turned. The door opened without protest, unlocked. She jumped back, expecting it to be locked. Recovering her composure, she stepped forward and jerked the door wide open. Inside, the safe’s interior stood exposed, the door ajar.

The safe was completely empty. As it should be. But would they have left the safe open when they left and the closet door unlocked as well? Yet, if the safe was empty, it might as well be left open.

“Well, I don’t see anything amiss here.” Russell gestured to the safe.

“I guess not. But should the doors be locked?”

“Maybe, maybe not. Some folks leave them open so any would-be burglars don’t have to tear things up to find out there’s nothing there.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Lexie stepped back, staring at the empty safe.

“Are you ready to look at the rest of the house?”

“No, I don’t think so. Frankly, I want to get out of here and get some fresh air. Can we come back tomorrow?” Perhaps this trip would take longer than she expected. She’d seen enough for now and just couldn’t abide staying in the cottage one more minute.

“Sure.” Russell put his hand on her waist and led her back out to the foyer and the front door. “I have a meeting in the morning, but perhaps after that. Unless you want to come alone.”

Lexie widened her eyes. Could she come back alone? She steeled herself. Of course she could. She was an adult now, not the little girl who left.

“Russell, you don’t need to babysit me or change your schedule for me. Maybe I will come back by myself. I’m a big girl now, you know.”

As they moved out onto the veranda, Russell faced her with a wide grin. “You don’t have to tell me!”

Lexie’s cheeks warmed. She gave him a little shove. “Stop it, Russell!”

He threw back his head and laughed. “All right. But I will have
housekeeping get in here early tomorrow and clean the place up. I should’ve done it anyway, even though you didn’t request it.”

She didn’t argue with him this time. It wouldn’t hurt to get rid of the dust. At least she could breathe the next time she entered the house. As Russell turned to lock the door, Lexie gazed at Jekyll River behind the house.

“Let’s take a walk in the yard. Do you mind?”

“No, of course not.” They strolled around the veranda to the rear of the house that faced the water. Lexie pointed at the bay window.

“That was Grandmother’s favorite part of the house. She made Grandfather build the breakfast room so she could look at the river and the marshes across the way.”

The veranda ended, and they descended steps into the backyard then walked to the water’s edge, startling a heron stalking fish nearby. It squawked its displeasure about being disturbed. Lexie couldn’t shake the feeling that she was intruding in a place where she wasn’t welcome. Her own family cottage shielded its privacy from her. She turned around and stared at the house. Framed by looming oaks and dripping moss, it held onto years of secrets. Lexie shuddered. What had once been so familiar now appeared mysterious. Why did she think the house looked back at her, telling her to go away and leave it alone?

Movement from the other side of the house caught her eye, and she glanced in that direction. Abner Jones stood in the shade, staring at her.

Chapter 5

L
exie grabbed Russell’s arm. “Russell! That man. He’s watching us!”

Russell followed her gaze and waved to the man. “Abner! How are you today?”

Flashing a glare at Russell, Lexie gritted her teeth. “What are you doing?”

“I’m speaking to Abner. Don’t worry. I won’t let him hurt you.” He gave her an annoying wink as he motioned for the man to come.

The tall, lanky gardener ambled toward them, his eyes fixed on Lexie. A straw hat covered the top of his gray hair which matched his bushy gray mustache. As he approached, a memory flashed through her mind of herself as a little girl, holding a flower she’d picked off one of the bushes in the yard. The tall man stood over her, pointing his finger and scolding her for taking the flower. “Miss, you shouldn’t do that. You go pickin’ all the flowers off and they won’t be any left in the yard to look at.”

She had trembled at the reprimand turning her good intentions into a crime. “But I wanted to give it to my momma and make her happy,” she said, with huge tears coursing down her cheeks.

“Your momma can buy all the flowers she wants from the club greenhouse. You just leave my flowers alone.”

When the man stopped in front of them, Russell nodded and turned to Lexie.

“Abner, do you remember Miss Alexandra Smithfield?”

Rubbing his chin, the gardener looked her up and down. Lexie stiffened from the perusal. After a few uncomfortable moments, he nodded.

“You was that little girl? You all growed up now.”

“She is indeed.”

Lexie stifled the urge to kick Russell.

“Yes, that was me, Robert Smithfield’s daughter. My grandfather built the cottage.”

“Umm hmm. I knowed your grandfather real well. He hired me when I was just a boy.”

Judging him to be in his fifties, that meant he’d worked for the family over thirty years.

“I understand you’ve been taking care of the property for us. That’s very nice of you, considering … well, considering the circumstances.” Heat rushed to Lexie’s face as she stumbled to express herself.

“You mean since you fired me?” Abner Jones drew himself up and crossed his arms. “Hmmph!”

Lexie’s stomach churned. “I’m sorry, you see, our accountant didn’t think we needed a gardener anymore, especially since we haven’t been here for years.”

A bony finger pointed in her face. “Let me tell you something, young lady. I had a deal with your grandfather. He hired me to do a job, and he never fired me. So I’m still doing my job!”

Lexie jumped back and Russell stepped between her and Abner. “Abner, settle down. Miss Smithfield had nothing to do with the decision. I believe she was trying to thank you for your commitment.”

Lexie peered around Russell to see the gardener’s reaction. The man stared at Russell then shook his head. He turned and walked away, muttering to himself.

Russell faced her with a wistful smile. “Sorry, Lexie. Abner’s manners are wanting.”

Lexie stared after the retreating silhouette then glanced up at Russell. “I feel like such an outsider here. He acts like the house belongs to him and not me. And in a way, maybe it does. After all, he’s the one who’s stayed to take care of it.”

“Abner knows he’s not a club member. He’s a bit set in his ways, but he’s harmless.”

“I’m sorry Grandfather isn’t here to thank him.” Lexie lowered her gaze. “I suppose Mr. Jones thinks a young woman like myself is not to be taken seriously. I’m just in his way.”

Russell grabbed her shoulders, peering into her face. “Lexie, this is your cottage. You have every right to do what you wish with it. I just wish … well, you just do what you have to do, and don’t worry about Abner, okay?”

“Okay, if you say so.” They turned to walk away, but she stopped and faced Russell. “Russell, what do you wish?”

“Oh, I wish things didn’t have to change, I guess.” He let his arms
drop to his side. “But they already have. Your family is one of the few remaining founding families of the club.”

“Really? I didn’t know that.” Lexie recalled the waiter’s words that morning. She didn’t realize so many of the original members were gone.

They walked back toward the clubhouse while Lexie scanned the area beyond Destiny and the compound’s ten-foot deer fence. Primitive woods still inhabited the area beyond—that part of the island which bordered a marsh. Grandfather knew their cottage would be more isolated than the others. It was his way of keeping the club’s original intent of having a simple, rustic getaway from the throes of overbuilt civilization like their lives up north. As a child, the woods had always beckoned to her as a place of intrigue and mystery, but now they whispered dark secrets.

As if reading her thoughts, Russell spoke. “Remember when we used to hide in the woods?”

“Of course I do. You and Robert hid in there knowing I’d follow you. Then you’d jump out and scare me half to death!”

Russell chuckled. “We had fun hearing you scream.”

Lexie gave his shoulder a shove. “You two were very mean, scaring a little girl like that.”

“No harm done. You should’ve thanked us.”

“Thank you, but why on earth?”

“Well, once we scared you, you ran back home. At least you didn’t get hurt or in trouble by following us any further.”

“Oh really? What kind of trouble would I have gotten into?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe you could’ve been bitten by a snake. Or a spider.”

Lexie shivered. Thank God for small favors. “Maybe you’re right. There were enough of those on the bike trails.”

Russell stopped and turned to her. “Hey! That’s a great idea.”

“What is?”

“Let’s go for a bike ride!”

“Now?”

“Let me check in at the clubhouse first and see if I’m needed. If not, we can go get the bikes. Would you like that?”

A bike ride on the island. What an inviting idea. “Yes, that sounds wonderful.”

“Excellent!” Russell rubbed his hands together. “Don’t worry. The trails aren’t as wild as they used to be. We don’t have wild boars running
out of the brush anymore.”

“Well, that’s nice to know. I never did see those, but heard stories.”

By now they had reached the Gould gymnasium on the left side of the road. Mr. Gould had built the indoor tennis facility complete with bowling alley before she was born, and her parents and grandparents had been guests there. She shook her head as she considered the huge building.

“Russell, does anyone use the Gould tennis courts anymore?”

“I think Frank’s family might, but, for the most part, it’s unused.”

“What a shame to let it go to waste.”

“I agree. But we have the club courts for other members to use. Our climate is mild enough to play on outdoor courts most the year anyway.”

As they walked past Villa Marianna, the cottage named after Frank Gould’s daughter Marianne, Lexie gazed up at the house’s high square tower that overlooked the woods and club area. Once she and young Marianne had played in the tower, pretending to be princesses in a castle waiting for their knights to come rescue them.

“How old is Marianne now?”

Russell shrugged. “She’s a teenager, but I’m not certain how old she is. I don’t know if they’re coming this year or not.”

They passed Cherokee Cottage on their left, but Lexie barely noticed, still thinking about Marianne and what she must be like now, ten years older.

“Will you be coming to our church service this Sunday?”

Lexie stopped and looked at Russell. She followed his gaze and realized they were standing in front of Faith Chapel, the small rustic chapel built for club members. An involuntary shudder shook her, and she struggled with a desire to run away.

“No, I don’t think so.”

Russell cocked his head and studied her face. He seemed to be waiting for an explanation. What could she tell him? That she was afraid of the chapel, the place that haunted her mother? As a child, Lexie had been fascinated by the Gothic style chapel adorned with gargoyles. But her mother believed the ones inside the building, the grotesques, represented the six faces of death, and they had cursed the island and her family. Not that Lexie really believed that nonsense.

So why avoid the place? Had her mother’s fears become hers too?

Chapter 6

S
he was a knockout. He hadn’t expected that. He’d never thought that tomboy girl would turn out to be such a beautiful woman. Still feisty, though. It might take a little work for her to see things his way. Maybe the picnic would soften her up.

But those eyes. Those baby blues got his heart racing when she fixed them on him. They were enough to make him offer her the world. Ha. Like he had the world to offer. No, he wasn’t one of the lucky ones born with money like all these folks around him. And now, with the economy shaky and the country at war, it wouldn’t be long before this place shut down. Then what would he do?