Page 71 of Winter

Luna stared at her. “What’s wrong?”

Inca hesitated then shook her head. “Nothing. Look, I need to call Tommaso. Can you give me a minute?”

“Of course.”

She called Tommaso and told him that she was spending time with Olly; Tommaso, to his credit, told her to have a great time. “I can’t be selfish with you now that I know we’ll be together in Italy soon.”

Inca smiled. “I love you, Tommaso.”

“And I love you. Call me later,Principessa.”

Inca followed Olly out to his car and waited as he slid into the driver’s side and started the car. He turned the car towards the harbor and drove straight to the ferry terminal.

“So where are we going?” She swallowed as her voice cracked. Olly didn’t notice.

“Oh, no. I’m kidnapping you.” Olly grinned. “It’s a surprise.”

She stared at him for a long moment, then tried to smile. “As all good kidnappings should be.”

He laughed. “Exactly. You’re a very cooperative abductee.” He held out his hand and, reluctantly, she took it. He smiled widely. “Inca, I promise you, this will take your mind off everything.”

On the mainland, Inca stared out of the window as Olly drove south of the city. Olly had chatted enthusiastically for a while but sensing her mood, he had lapsed into silence. She felt him glance over at her every few minutes, curious, wondering. She gazed out at the rain which was making everything hazy, the road slick, the sky dark.

“Are you okay?” His voice broke through her reverie.

“I’m fine.”

Olly abruptly pulled the car onto the off ramp and onto a road Inca didn’t recognize. On the side of the road she started to see a few kids from one of the reservations.

Olly put his hand on hers. “We’re almost there. I’ll let you in on the secret soon.” He laughed, his face open and friendly. He turned onto a small mud road. The car wound up a hill; the pines became denser, thicker as they climbed. The forest blocked out the light, the trees curving over the road. After a mile or so, Olly pointed. “Inca, look there.”

There was a clearing in the trees to the left of them. Olly brought the car to a stop and they got out. Surrounded on three sides by the forest, the clearing fell away at a cliff at the far side. The view stretched for miles over lush, verdant pine forest; at the horizon, Inca could see the cobalt of Puget Sound, dark patches of the islands scattered across it. The low winter sun cast golden glints off the water. The Olympic mountain range rose out of the west. Inca turned to Olly, smiling but confused.

“Olly, it’s beautiful. But I don’t understand …”

He smiled and nodded behind them. “Look there.” He pointed into the trees and she turned to look. A house, a large Richardsonian-Romanesque style building, stood out against the dark green of the forest.

No, not a house, a mansion,Inca thought.A behemoth.

“I thought you might appreciate the architecture … have you ever seen something like this here?”

She shook her head, staying silent. The windows of the house were blank and dark and she shivered. It wasn’t a welcoming home; it was a statement. Incongruous in this landscape, it simply didn’t fit in this beautiful natural place. She looked at Olly’s face and read the pride and excitement in his expression—and something else. Triumph.

Inca frowned, confused. “Olly, I—”

“So, do you like it?”

No.

But she nodded, smiling slightly, and he beamed.

“Good. Because I bought it.”

She turned and looked at him, studying his face. After a moment, teeth gritted, her voice hard, she asked him the question she’d been holding back.

“So you didn’t want to buy anything in Willowbrook? Nothing there that caught your eye?”

“What do you think?”