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CHAPTER EIGHT

A s soon as the sheets were clean that evening, Aspen lay down for a short nap and ended up sleeping for almost three hours.

She woke up starving. She stoked the fire, fixed herself dinner, which she ate on the floor in front of the hearth, and then settled onto her bed to read a few chapters of her novel. But the chill in the air and the strange creaks and groans of the old house kept pulling her focus from the book.

She’d never lived so far from civilization. Except for the last year, she’d never lived alone. At various times over the years, she’d thought about getting her own place, but she and her father had gotten along so well. And with the rent prices in Hawaii, it was either live with him or live with roommates.

Even after Dad’s death, surrounded by neighbors she’d known for years, she’d hardly felt abandoned. Back in Kona, all she had to do was step out her front door, and she’d almost always see a friendly face.

The novel failed to hold her attention, so she thought she’d watch an old sitcom on the tiny screen of her phone, hoping the familiar voices might lull her to sleep, but she had no service.

When she couldn’t sleep in Hawaii, she went for a walk. The evening air, scented by the sea and the flowers that bloomed everywhere, never ceased to relax her.

But she wasn’t in Hawaii anymore.

She was creeped out. Being in this strange wintery world, so far from everything, had her nerves on edge. She needed to find a way to feel comfortable in this place if she was ever going to sleep.

She wished she could settle in front of the fire downstairs where it was warm. But the hardwood floor wasn’t exactly cozy.

Tomorrow, she was going to get furniture. And deal with the internet and phone issues.

And she’d buy a TV, if for nothing other than noise. Could she get cable up here? Wi-Fi?

Why hadn’t she managed any of that rather than taking a three-hour nap?

Stupid jet lag had her system all out of whack.

She added those tasks to her to-do list, then closed her eyes.

But lying on the bed was doing her no good. After dressing quickly, she moved into the walkway, thankful for the overhead lights, which she flipped on along the way. Downstairs, she stoked the fire and added another log. She figured she’d want it roaring when she got back. Then she put on her new boots and coat, slipped on the nearly useless leather gloves, and trudged to the back of the house.

She could do this. She could face this scary, secluded world. She could survive here.

When she opened the door, a blast of cold air almost had her changing her mind. But…

Wow.

She stepped onto the deck and closed the door behind herself. The clouds had moved out and the moon was full, its light bouncing off the fresh snow that had fallen that evening, which covered the ground and the trees, making the world much brighter than it ought to be at nearly midnight.

Millions of stars twinkled overhead. She picked out a few constellations, and the familiarity was comforting.

The world seemed so different, but the moon had come with her. The stars had come with her.

The Lord had come with her.

She wasn’t alone.

The scent of wood smoke filled the air, comforting.

And then the silence hit her.

Had she ever experienced such silence?

There was always noise in Kona. The whir of traffic, the conversations of locals and tourists, the chirps and calls of birds.

At night, when everything else was quiet, she could pick up the sound of the surf against the rocks not far from her apartment.

But here, she heard nothing.

She couldn’t decide if it was peaceful or terrifying. Maybe both.

After carefully maneuvering down the snow-covered steps, she wandered across the backyard— her backyard—and stepped into the woods. She couldn’t go far, though. The trees and brush were thick, and she feared falling and breaking an ankle. She’d freeze to death before anybody found her. She turned back to the yard and walked the perimeter, spying a narrow path that led into the woods near the detached garage.

She took a few steps down it, then thought better of venturing into the unknown in the middle of the night.

On the other hand, this wasn’t going to be much of a walk if she was afraid to leave her yard.

Why did she feel so nervous? After Garrett and his friends left, she hadn’t heard a single car drive by. She was safe and, though she might have felt differently, she reminded herself that she wasn’t alone. God was at her side.

That thought gave her courage to venture around the house. Halfway there, she heard something and paused to listen.

It was the sound of a car engine, coming closer.

She was nearly to the corner of the house when she saw headlight beams shine on the narrow road coming from town. She’d thought the car had been coming quickly, but it seemed to slow.

Before the vehicle came into view, its headlights quit bouncing. Then they went off entirely.

She could hear the vehicle idling on the far side of the thick forest, but all she could see was moonlight glinting off metal. Sedan, SUV, pickup—she couldn’t tell.

Somebody was watching the house, and the last thing she wanted was to alert that person that she was all alone outside, completely vulnerable.

She dared not move.

She had no way to call for help.

Two minutes passed. Three.

Though her hands were shoved deep in the pockets of her jacket, her fingers ached with cold. Her teeth chattered. Her heart raced.

When the car made no move, she inched away slowly. So slowly. Finally, she reached the back corner of her house and bolted across the yard, up the back steps, and inside. She locked the door behind her.

After she shed her coat and boots, she crossed into the living room and peeked through the blinds and out the front window.

The watcher was gone.

Aspen was still in bed the next morning, barely awake, when the doorbell rang. She checked the time on her phone—nearly ten o’clock.

She never slept that late in Kona. Of course, in Kona, she didn’t have creepy people stalking her in the middle of the night.

She threw on a pair of jeans, an old sweatshirt, and some socks, then hurried down the stairs, where she opened the blinds. She couldn’t see the front step, but Garrett’s truck was parked in the driveway.

When she opened the door, she barely caught his smile before it morphed into a frown.

“Did I wake you?” He shook his head. “I mean, not that you should have been awake already. You can sleep as long as you want.” He pressed his lips closed and quelled the babbling.

She caught sight of two steaming cups in his hands and prayed they held coffee. She’d brought her grinder and French press from home, not to mention a bag of beans, but she didn’t want to wait for the kettle to boil.

Come to think of it, she didn’t have a kettle.

Considering the look Garrett was giving her, she should’ve spent a little more time getting ready before rushing downstairs. She stepped back and held the door open. “Just give me five minutes.”

Leaving him in the living room, she washed her face and brushed her teeth and hair, then found her fluffy slippers.

Downstairs, Garrett was trying to maneuver an old wooden ladder-back chair into her house.

“Here, let me help.” She held open the storm door, and he carried the chair through to the dining area. She followed and discovered he’d brought another chair and a small table. “Where’d these come from?”

“My aunt and uncle.” He arranged the three pieces in front of the tiny window. “My uncle’s always collecting furniture to refinish, but he never gets to it. They said you could have these. They’re not much, but at least you can sit to eat.”

“How kind of them. Tell them I said thank-you.”

He nodded and handed her the cup. “I thought maybe it’d be too late for coffee, but I guess…”

She took a long, grateful sip. It wasn’t Kona coffee, but it was good. “This is exactly what I needed. Thank you.”

“Did you sleep all right?”

“Not exactly. Any chance you drove up here last night to check on me?”

He squinted, and his head tilted to the side. “Uh… no. Should I have?”

She sat in one of the chairs. It felt solid, but the once-white paint was peeling off the seat. The table was a dull brown, but it seemed sturdy and solid. She took another sip, wishing she didn’t have to burden her contractor with this. But who else did she have?

He sat in the other chair. “Did something happen?”

“I couldn’t sleep.” She told him about her walk and the vehicle she’d seen.

By the time she was finished with the story, his lips were pressed together. “Somebody was watching the house?”

“I thought so at the time, but maybe…I don’t know. Maybe people come up here to look at the stars or something? Or maybe... Are there any other houses on this road?”

“Summer homes for tourists farther up.” There was something in the set of his mouth, the lowered eyebrows, that made her think he was angry.

“I’m probably just being paranoid.”

“There are miles of road between here and town. Whoever was driving that car, if they wanted to look at stars or peer into the woods or…make out, if it was a couple of kids, they could’ve done it anywhere along the road. They stopped here for a reason.”

“So you think?—?”

“Exactly what you think.” He stood and ran a hand over his head, then swiveled to face her. “First, Bart Bradley and all those glares at the restaurant.”

He’d seen that? She hadn’t thought?—

“And then…” He swallowed hard, shaking his head. “Now your house is being watched. What’s going on here, Aspen?”

“I don’t know.” Had her voice shaken? She’d lain awake for hours, terrified, not falling asleep until the world outside her window started to brighten. At some point, she’d convinced herself that she’d overreacted.

It seemed Garrett disagreed. “You have no idea?”

“I’ve never been here before. This is your town. I don’t know these people.”

“They seem to think they know you, though.” He sat and studied her. He wore a dark gray chamois button-down that looked warm and soft, so unlike the glare he was giving her.

“Are you angry about something?”

“You came to fix up this house and sell it,” he said. “And what else did you say? Do something that has to do with your parents? What exactly?”

“How is this your business?”

“It’s not.” He dropped his head back and stared at the ceiling, taking a deep breath. “I’m not angry with you.” He pushed back the chair and stepped through the door into the kitchen. He returned a moment later and set a backpack on the table. “I drew up the plans we talked about. Do you want to look at them now?”

“Uh…” The change of subject had her reeling. It was too early in the morning for this.

Well, not early, exactly.

“I guess,” she said.

After another long moment of him watching her, he said, “Why don’t you get something to eat, try to wake up a little.”

He was right. Food would help. “You want anything?”

“I’m good.”

In the kitchen, she put an English muffin in the broiler. While it cooked, she scrambled herself an egg, then buttered the muffin, put the egg on top, and added a slice of cheese.

She returned to the dining room with her breakfast sandwich to find Garrett had opened a laptop.

While she ate her breakfast, he focused on the screen. Neither of them spoke.

She missed the easy camaraderie they’d shared the previous day. For reasons she didn’t understand, someone had driven halfway up the mountain in the middle of the night to watch her house.

And Garrett seemed to blame her for that.

It didn’t make sense. None of it made sense.

She barely tasted the breakfast, but the calories kicked her brain into gear. Who cared what Garrett thought of her? He needed to get her house prepared to sell, and he didn’t have to like her to do that. She’d worked in restaurant management long enough to learn that people didn’t have to like her to work for her. In fact, sometimes it was easier when they didn’t.

She finished the sandwich, carried the plate into the kitchen, and returned to the table. “Look?—”

“—I’m sorry.”

They’d spoken at the same time. She sat and nodded for him to continue.

He blew out a long breath. “I’m not being very nice.”

She knocked on the table. “You brought me furniture.”

The tiny smile transformed his face from good looking to gorgeous. She was sorry when it faded. “I’m just worried, that’s all. Trying to figure out what’s going on. But seeing as how I know absolutely nothing… It’s frustrating.”

“I’m as much in the dark as you are.”

“Are you?” When she didn’t respond, he said, “I think you’d be safer back at the hotel.”

Maybe.

But Dad had bought this house for a reason. She assumed that reason had something to do with the reception she’d gotten in town the day before—and her middle-of-the-night visitor. She also assumed this house was the key to finding her mother. If she left it empty, would its secrets be safe?

Or was somebody else also looking to uncover those secrets? Maybe Aspen’s presence had opened the proverbial can of worms, and now everybody in town knew that the worms were hidden somewhere on this property.

If that even made sense.

“I’m sorry I encouraged you to stay here last night,” Garrett said. “You need to go back to the hotel. I’ll wait while you gather your things and?—”

“No.” Terrified as she was to stay… “I’m not leaving.”

His smile seemed forced. “It’s not going to be a problem. Even if we were to do all the renovations I want, it won’t cost you a hundred and fifty grand, and you’ll get plenty of money out of this house. You can afford to stay in the hotel, or… Why don’t you find a rental property? I have a friend who owns condos in the community where I live. I could ask him?—”

“It’s not about the money. I need to stay here.”

“That’s insane. Why would you?—?”

“I am not insane.” Her heart raced at the word, and she pushed to her feet. “Look, I don’t know who you think you are to come in here and tell me what I should do. Just because you don’t understand my reasons doesn’t mean I don’t have good ones.”

His hands went up, palms out. “I didn’t mean?—”

“My life is none of your business.”

Both his arms dropped, his shoulders along with them. “You’re right.” Silence settled between them, but she wasn’t about to break it. The nerve.

After a staring contest—his pale blue eyes were enchanting, so it really was no chore—he blinked. “Are those reasons really worth the risk, if somebody’s stalking you?”

It was a fair question, and she considered it as she took her seat again. Was it worth the risk?

To do what her father had asked?

To find her mother?

To find the answers to questions she’d been asking all her life?

She closed her eyes and prayed. Most of her days began with prayer and Bible reading. Not that she hadn’t done a lot of both the night before when she’d feared the stranger outside, but having missed her time with God that morning, she felt off her game. I need You, Lord. Give me wisdom.

Am I being foolish?

Am I like my mother? Am I crazy?

She’d spent years praying she wasn’t like her mother, watching for signs of her own insanity. Was this one?

But God’s peace settled into her heart. God had been with her throughout this journey, and He was with her now.

She opened her eyes to find Garrett watching her closely.

“It is worth the risk. I know that doesn’t make sense to you, and I can’t explain it.”

She expected him to ask her what she was up to, what she hoped to gain by staying there. Maybe she should tell him, but she wasn’t ready to share her plans. Fortunately, he only nodded.

Aspen liked that he didn’t pry. “I’m not crazy,” she reiterated. “I don’t want to stay here without some protection. Will you help me?”

For the first time since he’d stood on her front porch with two cups of coffee, he gave her a genuine smile. “What’d you have in mind?”

“An alarm system, for one. But without a landline?—”

“As it happens,” Garrett said, “I remembered last night that you don’t have cell service. You can cancel the appointment, but?—”

“Wait…appointment?”

“They’re going to install phones. I made some assumptions about what you’d want.” He shifted in his chair, seeming nervous. “I should’ve asked you, but I didn’t want to come back that late, and if we hadn’t called until today, they probably wouldn’t get out here until tomorrow—or even Monday. I know a guy at the phone company, old friend from school. I did a little cajoling, and he’s gonna come out around four. Along with the landline, I got you their best internet service—the price difference between that and the next one down is negligible. And TV service. You won’t get any reception up here without it. You can change or eliminate anything, but my friend told me to order everything so the tech would have the equipment in his truck, whatever you decide.” Garrett took a piece of paper from his breast pocket and slid it across the table. “You can call from town if you want to change the appointment.”

A phone, internet, and cable? Garrett had taken care of that for her? “That was…” Her eyes stung. She blamed fatigue, and maybe relief. “Thank you so much.”

He shrugged it off and glanced at his watch. “If we head to town soon, I can get an alarm system installed before they arrive, and then we can hook it up so the police will be alerted if anyone tries to break in.”

“I have my own errands to run—and my own car. I don’t need to go with you.”

“I’m not leaving you alone here, if that’s what you’re thinking. Do you own a gun?”

“Uh…no.” She wasn’t sure what to respond to first—his thinking he could tell her what to do, or that crazy question about the gun. She decided to ignore the first and deal with the second. “Do you?”

“Several handguns, a few hunting rifles, and a shotgun. I’ll bring you one. Handgun, that is.” His lips twitched as if the idea of her having a shotgun were humorous.

As if the rest weren’t.

She was still processing. “You own several guns?”

“I’ll teach you how to use it. You need to be able to defend yourself.”

“It’s not that I’m against guns, but?—”

“Let’s hope not, all things considered. The locks on this place have all been updated, and the windows are nailed shut. But there’s no?—”

“Nailed shut? Why?”

“The guy who lived here before…”

“Oh. Right.” He’d made the house into a prison. This was getting weirder all the time.

Garrett kept right on talking as if she were keeping up. “So if somebody were to come in through a window, they’d have to break the glass. You’d hear that. I’ll grab a couple of motion-sensor floodlights for outside in case somebody decides to approach the house at night. Maybe a video camera. We’ll have to price them. Anything else?”

“Seems you’ve thought of everything.” She was glad of it, too, since she wouldn’t have known where to begin.

“You could always get a satellite phone in case you’re in the woods and need to make a call.”

She couldn’t help the laugh. “That feels a little extreme.”

He studied her a long moment but said nothing.

Before he could convince her that she needed a phone that would enable her to order pizza from space, she glanced at his laptop. “Did you have something you wanted to show me?”

“Right. Yeah. Let’s make a plan.”

Aspen scrolled through the images on Garrett’s laptop. Awed.

He could make this old place look like that ?

In the first picture, the old brown siding seemed fresh and new. He’d leveled out the front yard and added a walkway to the door. A few bushes and flowers made it look pretty and inviting.

But it was his vision for the inside that had her jaw dropping.

In the rendering, he’d removed the walls to open up almost the entire downstairs and added a semi-circular island—barstools and all—between the kitchen and living room. He’d rearranged the large appliances and sink so the layout made sense for both cooking and entertaining. In the dining area, he’d removed the small, solid door leading to the backyard and the window beside it and added glass French doors in their place. The adjacent wall held a bay window. The two walls now offered an expansive view of the forest, practically bringing the outside in.

He’d even added furniture to show how it would look when it was finished.

Garrett scooted his chair closer. “I didn’t open up the other space down here. I think the great room is large enough already, and that’d be a nice office. Do you mind?” He inched his fingers toward the trackpad, and she moved to give him access.

As lovely as the house on the screen was, his scent—some delicious combination of cedar and man—was just as attractive.

Maybe more so.

She leaned away and tried to focus on the images as he scrolled. “We’d have to rebuild the stairs to the basement, move the opening closer to the front door. That sounds like a bigger undertaking than it is. But then we could…” Finally, he stopped scrolling, and she saw what he meant.

“If we added French doors here, between the office and the hallway?—”

“I love that.” The office doors would be just around a short hall to the great room, so it would be both private and accessible.

“Or we could build a closet in there and close it off, but since there’s no full bath on this floor?—”

“Yeah, it doesn’t make sense as a bedroom. And there are four upstairs.”

“Exactly.”

She glanced his way in time to catch a little smile.

He scrolled to the next picture, this one of the interior of the office. “Obviously, we have to replace all the old windows.”

“Why is that obvious?”

“Those old wooden windows might as well be sieves. What you’ll spend on the windows, you’ll save in your heating bill.”

“ I won’t.”

He nodded. “Your buyer will thank you. If you don’t replace them, any buyer with half a brain—and every real estate agent—will know it needs to be done. It just makes sense for you to do it. So, since we have to do that anyway, why not put another bay here? It’d bring in so much natural light, which this place desperately needs.”

She could think of a few good reasons why not , the first being the expense. But it could look amazing.

He’d already shown her what the place would look like with the changes she’d asked for, and she’d been happy with that plan. New countertops, new appliances, refinished flooring, fresh paint. It would be fine.

But this was…

“It’s wonderful.” She turned his way as she said it. He’d inched closer and was so near that she caught the scent of mint on his breath.

He cleared his throat and leaned back. “Thanks. I’ve been putting these plans together for weeks, ever since Christiansen…” His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he scooted his chair away. “Obviously, the budget’s much bigger on the second option. But I talked to a friend in real estate last week, and she seems to think you’ll get back twice what you put into it, if you’re willing to spend the money and spend it well. She was throwing out numbers in the seven-hundred range. I know it’s not Hawaii prices, but?—”

“But aside from what I spend to do the work, it’ll be all profit.”

“Exactly.”

“Did you show her these plans?”

He nodded. “Some of the ideas were hers—to level out the yard, for instance. She said it would improve curb appeal, which will add a lot to the value of the house without spending much money.”

“I can see that.” Aspen looked around, surprised to see the dingy space after looking at what it could be. She’d love to see that transformation. And she wouldn’t mind the return, either.

“How long will it take?”

He scooted his chair a little farther away, blowing out a breath as he did. “That’s the issue, of course. If we were to go with your plan, it’d take a month, maybe six weeks, depending on how quickly we can get the supplies. My plan will take twice that long, at least.”

“So, three months?”

“Maybe longer. I’m not one of those contractors who’ll tell you four weeks when I know it’ll be closer to eight. I’m trying to be as honest as I can here. Truth is, everything’s in short supply these days. And if it’s coming from overseas?—”

“I get it.”

“I hope it takes less than that but”—his shoulders lifted and fell—“it might take four months, worst case scenario, six. There are things out of my control. I can tell you that I’ll do everything in my power to get it done as quickly as possible. And once we get going, if we’re organized and have all the decisions made up front, you don’t have to be here. You can do what you have to do and then go on to Florida.”

“Where strangers don’t glare at me? And stalk me?”

“Not that I’m in a hurry to get rid of you, but yeah.”

She scrolled the rest of the images to see updated bathrooms, clean and bright bedrooms, pretty light fixtures, new windows everywhere.

It was gorgeous. If he could make this place look like that, she might want to stay.

Well, if the town didn’t hate her, that was. And it weren’t so cold.

She shivered at the thought and pushed the laptop back to him.

“The furnace guy is coming tomorrow, by the way.”

“Thank God.”

He laughed and closed the lid. “I’ll let you think about it. Meanwhile”—he stood and pushed in his chair—“we should get going so we’re not late to meet the phone installer. What do you need to do today?”

What she wanted to do was curl up in bed and spend some time with God. But she doubted Garrett would be willing to hang around while she did that, and he’d already said he wasn’t leaving her alone at the house until he knew she was safe. Which was sort of overbearing and sort of sweet. Considering she didn’t exactly want to be there alone—even in the light of this sunny day—she wasn’t going to argue.

“I need to hit a Target or Walmart or something, a place where there’s food and other household goods. And I need furniture.”

“Okay. We should be able to get everything in Plymouth. If not, we can pop down to Tilton, but it’s another half hour, so we should get going.”

“I can go by myself. My errands will take a lot longer than yours. We can just meet back here later.”

His smile was disarming. Maybe he knew that. Maybe that was why he’d donned it. “You tired of me already?”

“You must have better things to do.”

“Nope. Yours is my only job right now. Besides, I doubt you’re going to fit everything you need, plus living room furniture, in the back of that SUV.”

He made a point.

“Come on. It’ll be my pleasure.”