Stranger in the Moonlight Read online

His words “the love of my life” made Penny and Russell look hard at Kim. Penny glanced at Kim’s left hand, obviously noting that there was no ring.

  Kim knew there was more going on in the silence than in the words being spoken. “In case all of you forgot, I’m here to find my ancestor.”

  “And his possible descendants,” Travis said.

  “It seems that there’s a grave site near an old mill, so Travis and I are going to go see it.” She looked directly at Russell. “I think you should go with us. If this place is a ruin it’ll be quiet there. A person can think. Or talk.”

  Russell gave a little smile. “I’m about talked out,” he said and looked at his mother. “What about you? Finished with your New York business?”

  “Completely,” she said.

  “Penny is going to retire,” Travis said to Kim, “and she’s thinking of moving to Edilean. Any good houses there for sale?”

  “Old or new?” Kim asked.

  “Old, small, on at least an acre. I like to garden. But I don’t want it to be too far out of town.”

  “I know a place. It used to be an overseer’s house. It would need some renovation.” Kim turned to Russell. “And what about you? Where do you live?”

  “Not in Edilean,” he said as he put his napkin on the table and stood up. “When do you want to go to this falling down old building? Anyone bring a camera? Notebook and pen?”

  Travis stood up to stand beside Russell. They were exactly the same build and wore the same expressions of challenge on their handsome faces.

  Kim glanced at Penny. Why didn’t Travis see the resemblance? Again Penny looked at Kim with that expression of pleading. Please don’t tell, she seemed to be saying.

  Kim hadn’t made herself a success by being intimidated by anyone, no matter who she worked for. “Tomorrow,” she said softly, and Penny nodded. She had twenty-four hours to tell Travis the truth and if she didn’t, Kim would tell him.

  Travis was waiting for her by the door. “Russ rented a Jeep and he went to get directions.” He lowered his voice. “Kim, if you’d rather that you and I spend time alone together, I can turn this whole thing over to Penny. She’ll find out about Dr. Janes.”

  “No,” Kim said. “I think you should—” She’d almost said “get to know your brother” but she didn’t. She wondered how he was going to react when he found out that his beloved assistant had had an affair with his father. Travis already had enough issues with his father and he didn’t need any more.

  “Think I should what?”

  “Nothing. Here’s Russ. Shall we go?”

  Travis wanted to drive, but Russell wouldn’t let him. “My car, my hands on the wheel,” he said.

  Kim rode in front with Russ. Travis was in back with the handwritten directions.

  “Looks like you failed penmanship,” Travis said. “I can’t read this.”

  “Maybe you should have gone to better schools to improve your comprehension,” Russ shot back. “Oh wait. I went to the same ones you did.”

  “Did you pass any of the classes?” Travis mumbled.

  Kim looked out the window to hide her smile. They sounded like her and Reede.

  The Old Mill was beautiful. It was wide and low, U-shaped, with the middle part one story, flanked by two-story sections. The building had a low stone wall along the front, which made a courtyard in the center of the U.

  For a few moments the three of them stood, looking at the wonderful old building. Part of it had no roof and doves flew out when they walked up. But the two-story section on the left had new tiles on the roof. The little stone wall looked to be falling down, but in places the rocks had been replaced.

  “Someone’s been working on it,” Travis said.

  “That is perfect,” Kim said. She was pointing inside the courtyard to the right. There, behind another low stone wall was a perfect little garden—except that it looked like something out of an eighteenth-century book about gardening. It had gravel paths laid out in the shape of a double circle with an X through it. Inside the eight quarters were wild, weedy-looking plants of different colors, heights, and textures. They had all been carefully, meticulously tended.

  “Unless I miss my guess, those are medicinal herbs,” Kim said, grinning, “and that means there’s still a Tristan here.”

  Travis and Russ looked at each other, then back at Kim.

  “What does that mean?” Russ asked.

  “The Tristans are doctors so . . .” Kim said.

  “Medicinal herbs,” Travis finished for her.

  “All the Tristans have the greenest thumbs imaginable. When we were kids we made Tris plant things for us. If he planted them they grew for sure. When the rest of us put anything in the ground, half the time it didn’t grow.”

  “So maybe a descendant owns this place,” Russ said.

  A tile came rattling down from the roof, hit the ground, and broke.

  “One who can’t afford to restore it,” Travis said, looking at Kim. “I think you are going to find some relatives here.”

  She looked at Russ. “Finding new relatives—ones you didn’t know you had—can be very rewarding, don’t you think?”

  “It can also be terrifying,” he said softly. “Traumatic.”

  “Possibly. But then I always find truth to be better than deep secrets.”

  “Depends on the truth,” Russ said. His eyes were laughing, as though he were greatly enjoying the exchange.

  Travis had walked away to the center of the building and pushed open a door. “Are you two going to spend the day in some cryptic, philosophical exchange or are we going to look around?”

  “I vote that you scale this wall and walk along the ridgepole. Show us what you learned in Hollywood,” Russ said.

  “Only if you show us that you know how to do anything at all,” Travis shot back as he went through the doorway.

  Russ went to the door, and turned back to Kim. “Are you coming?”

  “I . . .” There was something about the herb garden that she liked. Maybe it was the shape of it, or the light on the yellow-green leaves of one of the plants, but she was glad she had her sketch pad with her.

  Travis came back to the door, and went to Kim. “Why don’t you stay here and draw? The kid and I will find the cemetery and record everything.” He kissed the top of her head.

  She was grateful to him for understanding. When a spurt of creativity hit, it needed all her attention. To put it off might allow it to disappear. And too, unlike her history-loving cousins, Kim couldn’t abide cemeteries. “Thank you,” she said.

  “Don’t leave here, don’t talk to strangers, and—”

  “And don’t eat any of those plants,” Russ said.

  “I’ll try to behave myself,” Kim said as she shooed them away. She really did want to put those shapes down on paper.

  Travis kissed her again, this time on the cheek, then went to the door.

  “I thought you were a ladies’ man,” Kim heard Russell say, “but you don’t even know where to kiss the girl.”

  “I could show you a lot about . . .” She heard Travis say as their voices faded into the distance.

  Kim sat down on a flat stone near the plants she most admired. They were tall, with seed-filled heads that looked as delicate as rays of sunshine. She pulled out her phone, snapped a photo of one of them, and sent it to her cousin Tristan. WHAT IS THIS? she wrote.

  Kim started sketching, translating the shapes into jewelry. The chain would be made of long, thin tendrils, like the leaves of the plant. She drew a curved shape with tiny spirals inside it that would clasp one edge of the chain. She’d put a pearl at the center of each one. The earrings had a thin leaf that would curve up a woman’s ear.

  Her phone buzzed; it was Tristan. ANGELICA, he wrote. WHERE DID YOU SEE THAT?

  Standing, she stepped back to get a full view of the garden. When she couldn’t get a good photo that showed the design of it, she climbed on the surrounding wall, snapped, and sent it to Tr