Chapter Forty-Five
The House In The Trees
"Here you are," Susan Collins said dramatically as she came to a halt before the driveway leading to the property, she'd brought us to see. "I knew it was you two, the very moment I managed to get hold of the keys and view it yesterday."
"Okay…" I grasped Edward's hand as I frowned dubiously at the view.
We had seen many houses that just weren't suitable for one reason or another. In my mind, I had a vision of the perfect home where our baby could be born and thrive. My little seaside cottage was fine for one person, but three people would soon find it cramped. I hated to leave it behind, but there was no other choice.
"This can't be it…" I whispered as I shook my head at the frontage before us.
We'd followed the estate agent's excited lead down the driveway of Gull Cottage and then turned left along the road. We passed a few houses with neat frontages and well-kept lawns. They were all smart and gleaming in the sunshine.
Then we stopped at the bottom of a dark, overgrown driveway that showed us nothing of the property beyond. The house we'd come to see was buried somewhere within a jungle of a garden that had long been neglected and allowed to become densely overgrown.
Miss Collins turned to us with some dismay in her eyes when I made no further comment. I think our reaction was obvious from our various expressions.
She rushed on, "I mean, it does have everything you asked for in a property, Mrs Miles. It finally came onto the market last week after the owner had died. He'd been in hospital for several years, so the place is a little rundown."
The four of us remained silent. We looked at each other. I knew right then that it was meant to be. But I worried because Edward was frowning and looked deeply unsure.
The agent maintained her smile. "Ah, you'll be the first people to see it. I'm told it's something very special."
Her bright smile faltered a little. "The address is excellent, and I know it has great views. You'll need to be quick if you want to buy it. Other people have already shown an interest in it."
Her lips compressed briefly. "But only for the land to build condos on. They see the house as derelict and a tear-down." She looked uncomfortable with the idea.
"What do you really think?" Edward finally asked Devon and Carolyn. "I mean, we never expected to find anything so close to you guys. There must be a catch."
"It is an 'as is, where is' purchase," Susan emphasised as she consulted her notebook. "All the contents are included. I didn't venture too far yesterday, but I saw some lovely things."
"Of course. It's the Neal house…" I breathed as I gripped Edward's arm with both hands. "I do remember the old man. Nathan was an old-style Hollywood screenwriter, and he used to visit Emma now and then. But, one day, he just stopped coming over. We asked around but we never found out what became of him. All I found was the house had been locked up and he was gone."
Susan nodded. "Yes. His son told me that when Mr Neal suddenly fell seriously ill. The family flew out here and took him back with them to New York. He never returned and now they want the property sold as soon as possible."
She consulted her notes. "It does have some lovely bones, but it will need a great deal of work since it hasn't been lived in for 's Edwardian and it is what you said you were looking for, Mr Miles. You did say you wanted a project to work on."
Carolyn turned to us. "Well, I'm not holding my breath. There may be too much to do and I don't want you to be disappointed. But we can give it a look. It's certainly sounds intriguing."
"And time is running out for you two," Devon concurred. "But if the place requires too much work, then you will have to reconsider your options. Kat's little house will soon become too cramped."
"Well, we've come this far," I replied quickly. "We can walk up the drive and see what's there." I was really curious now.
"Of course," Edward replied automatically, taking a tighter clasp on my hand.
"Oh, I hoped you'd say that…" The estate agent brightened as she pulled a set of keys from her jacket pocket. "Please follow me. I cleared a path yesterday."
"I feel like we need a couple of elephants and some gun bearers," Devon joked as we made our careful way up the cracked pavement of the driveway through the overhanging tree limbs and creeping strands of ivy that linked everything together into a dense green mass where the sun barely penetrated.
"Careful…" Edward held onto me and made sure I had my footing.
I was being careful. The rank driveway finally curved across the front of the property and then the house could be seen through the overhang of the surrounding trees and smothering foliage.
Matching single-storied wings, with massive bay windows to catch the light, dominated each side of the house. A long and deep front porch linked the two halves together. The rest of it was hidden behind a jungle of overgrown shrubs and trees that had become all tangled together like a funerary shroud jealously guarding its secrets.
"All we need are some bats to fly out of the chimney," Carolyn commented drily as we approached the front steps. "Or a face to appear at a window."
"Maybe it's even haunted," I added for good measure as a frisson of awareness feathered up my spine.
"Oh no, I very much doubt that," Susan was quick to deny. "I was here for some time yesterday and I never heard or saw anything out of the ordinary. Just a lot of dust and cobwebs."
"Of course not," Devon assured her with a smile. "We all know there's no such thing as ghosts."
"Exactly!" the estate agent replied as she pushed a large old-fashioned key into the door lock and turned it.
She didn't see the wry look that passed among us as she pushed on the front door and it creaked open. We all walked inside, and the dusty gloom of long neglect greeted us. All the doors leading from the central hallway were shut and any windows had been covered by heavy brocade curtains that shut out most of the light that did manage to penetrate the gloom of the garden.
"Well, I say there should be ghosts," I commented as we moved forward into the wide hallway. "They'd be right at home here. Nothing has been touched for years. It's as if Nathan just walked out."
"I left everything exactly as I found it," Susan encouraged. "I think you will find the purchase price is very fair since the family wished for a quick sale." She turned the page in her notebook and quoted a price that raised my eyebrows.
I traded glances with Edward and his parents. I managed to keep my expression neutral as I looked from one to the other.
"What do you think, Mum?" I asked.
Though I was now very comfortable with calling Carolyn by that title, I still hesitated to address Devon with the same familiarity. I knew I was being foolish but I couldn't help it.
The price was more than we had been willing to pay, but I could see the advantages of the property once it had been brought back from being smothered beneath its green entombment. It would be a crime to allow it to be torn down and replaced by soulless condos.
"It's a blank canvas," the agent said. "You may put your own stamp on it. It would be such a shame if it was to be bulldozed." She looked at us hopefully.
"Do you think we should explore any further?" I asked in a regretful tone.
I laid one hand over the swell of my abdomen. I was unwilling to go deeper with the house in its present condition. But I itched to be able to explore.
I paused then asked, "Well, what do you think, Edward?" I waved an expansive hand. "It is what we've been looking for."
Looking down at me, I knew he could see the eagerness in my eyes. "I think that subject to all the usual due diligence and an extensive builder's report," he said. "We can certainly consider the property as a distinct possibility. It's certainly the best of what you've shown us."
The agent beamed. "Oh, I'm so glad! The vendor did say the family wanted a quick sale without any conditions or fuss. I knew it was for you as soon as I saw it yesterday. I'll drive back to the office and set the ball rolling. Let me know when you…"
She went on talking brightly but none of us were listening to her. The dusty hush of the house surrounded us. Despite its musty and cobwebbed interior, I could feel we could be happy here. But it would take a great deal of work and time that I knew was already in very short supply.
※※※※※
"You've gone and traded in a perfectly good Irish castle, and a thousand acres, for an Edwardian, tumbled-down ruin here in Montecito…" Michael shook his head when I told him on our first day back in the office. "Are you both nuts? Sounds like condos are the best thing for it."
He threw down his pen and sat back in his office chair. "From what you've told me; it'll take months to set it to rights. You ain't got that kind of time to spare. Not with the workload we've got going on around here. We can barely keep up now."
I shrugged as I glanced at Edward. "If it manages to pass the builder's report, then it'll be a very good purchase. Too good to leave for someone else to snap up or bulldoze for condos."
"I'm having a builder's inspection done on the place tomorrow," Edward replied. "I want to be there for that."
"And I have already accessed the county's blueprints and plans for the house," Kitt added through the comms link on Michael's wrist. "If anyone needs my input. It certainly looks like a sound investment for the price being asked. Such properties will only increase in value as time goes on. I am prepared to complete a full inventory of the contents as soon as we have legal access."
He paused and then said, "I am also more than willing to become your general contractor for the renovations, Edward. It would be my pleasure to accelerate your occupancy of the house. I would work day and night. My onboard computers are capable of far greater speeds than any human brain. All I need is a frontman to oversee the workmen."
"Thanks, Kitt," Edward replied. "I hadn't even considered that. It would certainly speed things up."
"Then, you can consider me your frontman," Danny offered, as he hitched his hip onto the corner of Michael's office desk. "I've had some experience supervising on building sites back in the UK. Just tell me when and where you want me."
"After you've done everything that I need you to do around here," Michael replied sternly. "And haven't you got somewhere else you need to be right now? I know I just gave you a new case."
"Yes, Sir…" Danny replied cheekily as he stood up again and tapped two fingers against his temple. "But I still get the weekends off. Come on, Kitt. We can discuss my terms and conditions on the way." He left the office and headed for Kitt's garage, humming a tune to himself.
"So, you found that living in an Irish castle wasn't for you," Michael asked, leaning back in his desk chair. "I can't believe old Wilton kept all that hidden from you. He was a dark horse. And you knew him better than anyone."
I shrugged. "Not well enough, it seems. But he did like to compartmentalise his life. There were times when one hand had no clue what the other was doing. He did enjoy confusing people for his own entertainment. I think he will be enjoying himself hugely right now."
"Well, I'm glad to have you both back here and at work," Michael replied as he stood up. "As the word spreads further about us, we just can't keep up with the work that's coming in. I'm glad to have plain, old Devon Miles back with us."
He walked around the desk to hug me close and slap my back. Then he did the same to Edward. "It's great to see you haven't changed any since you've been away. I don't do airs and graces for anyone."
Edward and I exchanged glances, but I shook my head at his questioning look. Lord Rathmore belonged firmly on the other side of the Atlantic. As far as I was concerned, Wilton was welcome to the title.
Michael stood back and grinned lopsidedly. "Now how about both of you get back to work? I didn't employ you to go galivanting off to the other side of the Atlantic on some ancestral odyssey. I'm expecting results, like yesterday."
※※※※※
"Please, tell me what you really think…" I asked as I sat back on my heels in the attic room of my home. "Of course, I wouldn't do anything without your permission. But it would be a shame to turn down such a wonderful opportunity."
All around me were stacked neat piles of journals and notebooks we'd managed to uncover from the years of accumulated detritus. In the weeks before we left for Ireland, we might not have found bags of gold coins or buried treasure, but Kat and I did discover many things that had a lot of merit. There was also a great deal of broken and unusable things that needed to be thrown away.
Right from the start, Captain Greig had overseen everything we did with a stern eye. Nothing escaped his close attention or a thoughtful stroke of his bearded chin before he gave his permission to set the item aside or dispose of it.
I could see how much pleasure he got from every new find. Emma had sat with her knitting in an old rump sprung chair and looked on with an indulgent smile.
Kat was used to having them around. I no longer thought of it as odd that I was working under the strict orders of a hundred-year-old sea captain who'd been dead for nearly half that time.
Today, we'd worked for hours to sort and catalogue the entire room. My daughter-in-law had finally left to lie down and rest before Devon and Edward came home from their first day back in the office. I left Maria to fuss over her as I climbed back up the attic stairs.
Outside, the October day was cool and windy. Small drafts of air found their way into the attic room, stirring up some of the dust that had escaped all our attempts to finally sweep the place clean and uncover all its treasures.
The Captain shook his head as he frowned at me.'You are the writer, my dear. If any of my old journals can be of use to you, then it would be churlish of me to object. To breathe life into them is to make me live again, in truth.'
"Thank you." I nodded as I watched his lips move. As always, his voice echoed inside my mind but now I was used to this unusual form of communication.
I glanced at Emma and the beguiling scent of Shalimar drifted to me on the dusty afternoon air. Her knitting needles gathered speed, showing her level of agitation.
'You would seek to turn my husband into a romantic hero for the entertainment of other women?' she asked in a disbelieving tone. 'I am not sure that is a right and just use of his works. He is a serious seaman and an excellent captain. He has a reputation to maintain.'
"Well, of course, I would use another name for him. But if you feel that way…" I tried to keep the disappointment from my voice. "It's just that our book about you two has sold very well and my editor is very keen to capitalise on that success. He is open to any suggestions I might have. But he has already mentioned beginning a line of historical novels based around tales of gorgeous sea captains. The sea journals will add an extra layer of authenticity."
'Well, I have always rather fancied myself as something of a romantic hero,' the Captain replied as he puffed out his chest. 'I cannot see the harm in a small amount of poetic licence. Carolyn is an excellent writer.'
'You don't see the harm?' Emma huffed. 'But then it appeals to your male ego to be seen thus.' She shook her head. "Men are so easily flattered and cajoled by the fawning admiration of women. Have a care that your head does not swell to become too large for your hat.'
'I am not that conceited,' he responded loftily.
I couldn't help smiling as I watched them argue. They were so comfortable in their ghostly relationship. I knew their love was deep and eternal.
Emma raised her shoulder at him as she turned her attention back to me. 'Kat tells me she and Edward are looking to buy the Neal house. It would be a sound purchase if all is found to be well with the place. It is a proud house and has been too long neglected. I once offered her services for the care of the gardens, but the old skinflint wasn't interested. He said he liked his privacy too well.'
'You're changing the subject," the Captain accused with a stabbing finger. 'You can have no objection to my being immortalised in prose. I am worthy.'
'If it will make you happy and easier to live with," Emma retorted with a sigh. 'Then go ahead. Make a fool of yourself with my blessing. But do not say I didn't warn you.'
She turned back to me. 'Men!' She rolled her eyes and vanished.
'Women!' the Captain responded with a wink at me before he too disappeared into the shadows of the attic.
"Thanks, guys," I said to those same shadows and smiled over having overcome the very large hurdle of their permission.
Maria had read and thoroughly enjoyed 'The Voyage Home.' I'd overheard her talking about it to the Captain's portrait in the living room while she was doing her housework. I'd smiled and tiptoed away.
But my good friend was still completely unaware of Daniel and Emma's ghostly presence in the house. As were Danny and Lucy, Michael and Stevie.
At times, I felt I should say something. Let everyone in on the huge secret. Especially since I now had their permission to use the Captain's journals and diaries for a new line of romantic novels. Questions would be asked and need to be answered about the source of my information.
But it never seemed like the right time. And how did one go about explaining away a pair of ghosts who were very much a part of the house? It was beginning to seem as if we were living in two separate worlds.
※※※※※
Six weeks later:
"Well, what do you guys think?" Danny asked anxiously. "Tell us the truth now. We can take it."
"Are you sure?" I turned to smile teasingly at my husband's younger brother.
He was standing beside Kitt in the recently cleared driveway of our new house. It had been all they could accomplish in a single weekend of hard work. But it made a world of difference. The house could now be seen, even though it was still overgrown. Sunlight glinted off its dirty windows and it seemed to be smiling.
"Imagination…" I shook my head.
I still could not quite believe it had been that easy for us to take ownership of the property. We'd offered Nathan Neal's family a fair and final price in cash and they hadn't haggled with us.
"Geez, Sis, cut us a break," Danny complained. "We've only just gotten started." He rubbed the back of his neck in honest bewilderment.
"I know…" I relented as I hugged him. "And you've already done wonders. Thank you. It's going to be a wonderful Christmas present."
He grinned down at me. "Oh, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Kitt and I are gonna be the dream team. We're pulling out all the stops on this one."
"I have already computed the number of man hours and workers that will be required to complete the renovations. I have also created a detailed schedule of works," Kitt said. "Everything we need has been ordered. I have left nothing to chance."
"It's just as well I didn't have much time to spend my savings while I was working back in Boston," Edward replied. "And I sold my apartment before I moved out here."
I nodded. "And this will soon be our new home since we've just closed the deal on my little house by the sea. We have two months to move out."
Danny shrugged. "Well, since I'm not having my future niece or nephew of mine living in a building site, the sooner we get started, the sooner you two can move in."
"Devon and Carolyn have invited us to stay with them until after our baby is born," Edward said. "We want everything to be done properly. The house deserves that. It's waited this long to be put right."
"Well, I went up there first thing this morning and let myself into the old place," Danny confessed. "I had a good poke around. If there are any ghosts living there, I think I made enough noise to give them a good scare. Everything seems to be as the old guy left it."
"There is no such thing as ghosts," Kitt replied crisply. "They are merely figments of the human imagination. A need to explain things they do not understand or cannot comprehend. The dead simply do not inhabit the land of the living."
"Is that right?" I traded knowing glances with Edward.
"Why do I always get the distinct feeling that you guys know more than you're telling?" Danny complained. "I get this itch between my shoulder blades any time ghosts are mentioned around you. Care to spill?"
Edward gave him a bland face. "I got nothing."
"I guess it's just the wind in the chimneys or a draft or two," I added, crossing my fingers behind my back. "You know these old places and full of creaks and groans."
"Yeah, right…" Danny grouched, looking for me to his brother and back again. "One day, you two are gonna trust me enough to tell me the whole truth."
※※※※※
