Randi found herself catching Carter's excitement as they drove through the small town. Carter had said that one they left the town, it was only a ten minute drive. It looked like a really nice town, with a ton of expensive chain stores that rarely did much business in such underpopulated areas. It probably helped that everyone who had lived there seemed to be rolling in money. It wasn't like all the other little towns they had driven through. It was a resort for rich people masquerading as a small town. She wondered if Carter even noticed the difference. She had already realized that Carter tended to not see much past appearances.
" We're almost there!" Carter shouted over his shoulder. For once Carter had made a time estimate that wasn't horribly off. It was a long running joke that if Carter said it would take ten minutes, then they could count on it taking at least twenty. She hugged him tightly as they sped down the secluded, forest road. They came up on a high stone fence and wooden gate and Carter slowed the bike to a halt. " This is it. Technically all the land around here is ours, but Grandpa had this stone fence done to enclose the main house and out buildings. There's about ten acres fenced in."
" Ok." She wasn't sure what the right response was. The way things were now, ownership of land seemed a rather silly issue. She could just as easily say she owned all of Chicago. Or New York. Or Ireland. No, she decided suddenly, he's just trying to impress me. " Is there a pool?"
" No but there is a rock quarry that's fed by a spring. It's probably a little cold though. There's a small lake too. And there's lots of deer. How do you feel about some nice venison steaks?" He got off the cycle and opened the heavy wooden gate as he spoke.
" Remember, I need to see a dead deer before I start fantasizing about fresh meat." She had given up on the men as hunters. Granted, none of them had made more than rare attempts to shoot animals for food, but the last fresh meat she had that summer had been a over grilled hamburger from Doc Magoo's before they had closed their doors. Since then, aside from a feast of trout back in Iowa, she had been eating out of cans.
" You're so demanding." Carter joked as he got back onto the cycle. " Here I am, presenting you with a beautiful house and a wonderful estate and now you want fresh meat too? Just what am I to you? A convenient male protector?"
" Well, you're not bad in bed, either." She put her arms around him, this time for affection and not traction. He was good in bed, which was more than a small surprise. Somehow she had formed the idea that he was the sort that fumbled along at sex. Instead he was gentle, and responsive, and often very inventive. Generally, they didn't have enough time or privacy for much inventiveness but she was looking forward to having a bedroom to share.
" Ah... good in bed. What every man needs to hear. Don't ever stop saying that." He revved the engine of the motorcycle and then shouted over his shoulder. " Wait till you see the lodge. I'll let you pick the bed."
They drove down the long drive way in silence. It really wasn't a driveway, more like a private road lined with low stone guide posts. They turned on a wide curve and came upon the house. It looked almost as big as the Carter mansion in Chicago. It also looked like a giant log cabin, complete with a huge covered front porch that extended to the second story. There was an equally large garage off to the side, but Carter pulled right up to the house and parked the cycle on the cobblestone sidewalk. " It looks like no one's been here at all."
They both got off the cycle. Randi hated to rain on his parade but she felt it had to be said. " Carter, before we go in... Is there any chance that you're going to well... Run across the body of some family member?" She didn't want to kill the mood, but at the same time, she knew finding a corpse would kill the mood. It would royally kill it.
That stopped him for a moment, and he did lose some of his good humor. Finally he said, " No. Everyone was in Europe. Mr. Jerrick the caretaker might be here. He lives... lived in the caretaker cabin. It's behind the main house, near the horse barn. He would have been the only one here." After a moment, the smile returned to his face. " Come on, I want to show you around."
She followed him up to the front door. Or rather, the front French doors. The French doors with an extensive mosaic of stained glass that depicted wild animals hiding in the forest. This isn't a hunting lodge, Randi thought, a hunting lodge is a pine shack with tar paper on the roof. This is a expensive house. Carter unlocked the doors and held them open for her. " After you."
" You just want me to find the bodies," she muttered. Still, she had to admit, she wanted to see what passed for casual living in Carter's mind.
The doors led into a giant great room. Up against the far wall was a huge stone fire place. There were several pretty indian rugs on the hard wood floors. Part of the large room was open all the way to the rafters. She stepped over towards the fireplace and checked the whole room out. Despite being so open, the place had the warm homey feel that only log cabins seemed to have. She stepped over to the fireplace and looked up. A stairwell came down from what looked like a loft space. Another stairwell rose from the loft to the third floor, though that just seemed to lead to a small walkway. " This is a big place."
" It just looks that way because of the open floor plan." Carter said. He gestured expansively around the huge room. " This is it for the first floor. The kitchen is behind those double doors, but that and a bathroom is it for this floor. There's about eight bedrooms upstairs and the loft is really more of a library. And Grandpa's study of course. "
" I could tell someone likes to read," Randi said. Bookshelves lined all of the walls and while there was a big screen tv tucked off in one corner near the kitchen, but otherwise the place seemed very quiet. No doubt it was some sort of secluded retreat for the Carter clan.
" There's a pool table in the basement, and a gym. I think you'll like all the boxing stuff. There's even a whirlpool bath down there." Carter crossed his arms and leaned up against one of the wooden pillar supports, a smirk on his face.
She decided to bite. " What good is a whirlpool without electricity?"
He grinned even more, and flicked the light switches. Recessed lights flared into life and in seconds the entire room was brightly lit. " Pretty nice, huh? It'll probably take a few hours to get the water heated up, but I think an evening lounging in the hot tub with a nice chablis sounds pretty damn good."
" Ok, that's pretty cool." And definitely much better than what she had expected. Despite the fancy trappings, she had thought it would be much like when they stayed at motels. Soft beds and not much else for luxuries. She hadn't expected electricity. " Got any other surprises?"
" Not really." He shrugged nonchalantly. " I'm still basking n the knowledge that I please you sexually. Could you maybe go into more detail?"
" I'd rather you didn't, if that's ok." Lucy tentatively stepped through the French doors. She was holding her rucksack and one of the bags of supplies from the truck. Her gaze took in the huge room and its bright electric lights and she smiled hesitantly. " Nice place. Where's my room?"
Carter shrugged again. " There's eight bedrooms. Most are on the third floor. Everybody can have their own. I think we should leave one of the second floor rooms for Kerry though. She probably doesn't need all the stair work."
" Good point." Lucy set down her bags. " We all just pulled in. Luka and Doug are unpacking the truck. Jeanie is helping. Kerry is yelling at Dave for not letting her drive." She glanced at her watch. " Its two o'clock. It's almost like a holiday. I feel like we ought to be driving."
" I suppose you could go driving." Carter said amiably. " There's plenty of food here but we could go out if you like." He was being nice, Randi knew that, but at the same time she wasn't quite sure how much she liked John paying attention to Lucy. It wasn't jealousy, not exactly. Lucy was troubled. She needed them to be concerned. Randi didn't want to behave like a jealous witch when Lucy was still flinching away from all the men. At the same time, especially as she stood in the center of what amounted to a palatial home, she felt insecure. The fact was, she was hardly the sort of girl that John Carter would have brought home before the plague. He had rarely done more than say hello to her before that summer. They had completely different backgrounds and different educational levels and she knew the sort of women he used to date. She wasn't in their league. Even Lucy really wasn't, but she was a much closer fit.
" I'm fine, Carter." Lucy said after a moment. " I just meant that we're normally on the road until almost dark. I might just find a room and take a nap. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night." She started up the wooden stairway but stopped as if struck by a thought. " Carter, when you get around to assigning evening chores, don't have Kerry cook. She's not well. It'd be like letting a typhoid carrier make dinner."
" I get your point." Carter said easily. Both he and Randi waited until she had disappeared from the loft area to continue. " So do you want to cook?" His tone and smile implied an entirely different meaning. He stepped towards her and put his arms around her. They both smiled and began to kiss.
" Don't you two have anything to do? I mean, aside from making out? We are unpacking the truck." Randi broke away at the sound of Kerry's harsh voice. The older woman stood in the doorway and in no way was awed by their surroundings. Instead, she seemed to be frothing at the mouth. Randi wasn't sure whether it was a good thing or not. On the one hand, it was a definite return to normal. Kerry had always been a person with a short temper and her weird little attempt at playing it cool had only made Randi more inclined to worry. On the other hand, Randi didn't particularly like getting a patented Weaver tongue lashing when it was deserved, and she didn't deserve it in the slightest.
" Lucy said you weren't feeling well." Carter said brightly. Good idea, Randi thought derisively, just get her more mad. Why not just ask her about her limp? She might just stroke out.
" I am fine" Kerry warned. She limped into the large room, and flicked the light switches off. " Its broad daylight out, Carter. You shouldn't waste electricity. Where's the bathroom?" She headed off as soon as Carter pointed, her skin suddenly taking on a grayish tint.
" She's so much fun." Now it was Dave standing in the doorway. He limped in. Randi gave up on the idea of being alone with John, at least for a while.
" Why are you limping?" she asked.
Dave shrugged. " I offered to help her up the steps. She said she didn't need any help. Then she hit me with her crutch in the knee." He sighed. " I think I made her mad."
Randi shook her head. " You're not very bright, are you?"