Ever After Read online

  Behind her, Jamie sat up on the table.

  “Do you feel better?” she asked, forcing herself to smile but thinking, I need a boyfriend!

  “I do,” he said. “Thank you.” He started to get off the table but then halted and looked at her.

  It took Hallie a few moments to realize that he was waiting for her to leave before he stepped down. Why? Because he was afraid that his movement would allow her to see more of his nude body? What an odd man, she thought as she walked into the garden.

  When Jamie was again fully covered, he joined her. They walked around together, speculating on how the garden had once looked. At the big oak tree, they found a little brass plaque that said, In memory of my beautiful ladies, Hyacinth Bell and Juliana Hartley. Henry Bell.

  “Your namesake,” Jamie said.

  As they sat down on the bench under the tree, Hallie told what she’d learned: that she wasn’t related to the Bell family at all but to Leland through his second marriage. “It makes no sense that Henry Bell would leave the house to me.”

  “Maybe he really was in love with women who died long ago and you’re the closest person he could find,” Jamie said.

  “Which would mean that Henry had no relatives of his own. But then…” She shrugged. “My question is, did he decorate the upstairs for them?”

  Since Jamie hadn’t seen the second floor, they went back to the house and up to the two bedrooms. It wasn’t easy for him to go up the stairs on crutches, but he did it. Only when they were in the bedroom did Hallie remember seeing her few pieces of luggage downstairs. Jamie insisted on hauling them up the steep, narrow stairs, and that caused some hilarity. He kept pretending he was about to fall, so Hallie got behind him and pushed on his lower back.

  While she unpacked and put her toiletries in the bathroom, Jamie looked around. “Very girly. You’re right that these rooms were decorated for women.” He sat in her bedroom on a chair covered in blue and pink chintz and watched her. “Whose bedroom was whose, do you think?”

  Before she thought, she said, “This one belonged to Hyacinth.”

  “How do you know that?”

  There was no way she was going to tell him that she kind of, sort of, maybe, possibly heard two female voices telling her which bedroom to use. “I like this one better, so I’m sure it belonged to the sister with my name.”

  “Makes sense to me.” He looked over his shoulder into the sitting room. “I bet you can see the garden from that window.” It was as though he momentarily forgot about his injured knee. Leaving his crutches leaning against the bureau, he made almost a leap across the little sitting room to the window seat.

  “So help me, if you hurt your knee, I’ll—”

  He waited. “Come on, what’s the threat now? You’ve used Jared and my mother. Who’s next?”

  As she sat on the opposite end of the seat, she gave him a little smile. “The next time I massage your head, I won’t lean over you so very far.”

  After a quick look at Hallie’s ample breasts, Jamie put his hand to his heart and fell back against the wall. “Bring me the hemlock. My life is over. I have nothing more to live for. Even the prospect of losing that soft but very firm, luscious treat will take away all that I have left in life. I will—”

  Hallie’s face was turning redder by the second. His very intimate description was too much! “Will you stop it? You’re my client, not my—”

  “Patience is what I have. I will wait forever if it means that I may—”

  “Look!” Hallie said loudly as she nodded toward the window.

  “I can only see you. I can see no one else but—”

  “Okay! I’ll smash my entire chest up against you for head massages! Now will you look?”

  With one more glance at Hallie’s bosom, he looked out the window. Edith was leaving the side of the house and walking quickly toward the red gate.

  Jamie pushed up the window and leaned out. “Edith!” he shouted in a voice so loud that the force of it nearly knocked Hallie backward. She had an idea that he may have been heard in Boston.

  Hearing it, the little woman halted and smiled up at them. “Jamie? Is that you? I can’t stay, but the Tea Ladies left something for the both of you. Is that Hyacinth with you?”

  Hallie was a bit startled at being called that, but then she leaned close to Jamie and put her head out the window. “It is me,” she called down. “It’s very nice to meet you. Stay and we’ll come down and have something to eat.”

  “Thank you, dear, but no,” Edith said, her hand up to shield her eyes. “I’m full now. At least for a few minutes.” For some reason she seemed to find this statement highly amusing. “Maybe tomorrow. Kiss Jamie for me.” Turning away, she began to hurry toward the gate.

  “Good idea,” Jamie said.

  Hallie realized that she was practically lying against him, his face close to hers.

  “I think you should kiss Jamie,” he said in a low, seductive voice.

  Ignoring his words, she moved back to the opposite side of the seat. “I thought you just met her, but she’s sending you kisses?”

  “What can I say? Women fall for me.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “And do they manage to get your clothes off you?”

  “Only if it’s very, very dark.”

  Laughing, Hallie stood up and got his crutches. “What did she mean that the Tea Ladies left us something? And who are they?”

  “I have no idea. Maybe they work for the B&B.” When he took the crutches, he acted as though he’d forgotten how to use them. “I’m going to need help getting down the stairs.”

  “What if I remind you that the food is downstairs and you can’t have it unless you get down there?”

  “I think part of being a good physical therapist is making sure your patient is fed.” He sounded serious.

  “No, it’s not. In fact, even the massages aren’t part of it.” Smiling, she was walking backward toward the staircase. “I learned that art form in totally different classes that I took before I became a physical therapist. Used massage sessions to pay for school. In fact, they were—”

  She broke off because she tripped on a loose corner of the big floor rug and was about to fall. But in a lightning-fast move, Jamie dropped his crutches and reached out to grab her. They went down together. He hit the floor hard, with Hallie on top of him, his braced leg to one side.

  Hallie’s head hit his chest almost as hard as his back slammed into the floor. “Jamie! Are you all right?”

  He lay on the rug, utterly still, his eyes closed.

  She clutched his head in her hands. “Stay here.” Her voice was frantic. “I’ll call an ambulance.” She started to roll off him, but his arm held her tightly against him. “Let go! I have to—”

  When she realized that he wasn’t even near being unconscious, she lay where she was, her upper body on his wide chest. “Let me guess. High school football taught you how to take down your opponent.” She saw the tiniest of smiles on his lips. “What were you? The entire defense team?”

  His smile grew and she felt his stomach move in laughter.

  “Let me up or I’ll—” Since she couldn’t think of anything to threaten him with, she put her elbows in the two spots on his chest where she knew she’d cause the most pain and pushed down.

  “Yeow!” Jamie yelped, his eyes flying open.

  Hallie rolled off him and stood up. “Can you get up by yourself or do I need to get a crane?”

  “I think my back is broken,” he said, smiling up at her.

  “That’s too bad. I guess I’ll have to get scissors to cut your shirt off and have a look at your bare back.”

  Jamie gave a sigh, rolled over, grabbed a crutch, and stood up.

  “It’s a miracle,” Hallie said and went down the stairs, Jamie not far behind her.

  Waiting for them on the kitchen table was an afternoon tea so lavish it would have pleased King Edward VII. There were two tiered stands with three pretty plates on