1 Chapter 1: Denhurst

I don’t know how I could forget a place like Denhurst. It was both elegant and scary. The gigantic, three-story stone mansion was old, but in great shape. The wooden trim had recently been painted, and the grounds had neat flower beds, shrubbery, and manicured lawns. Yet it had an otherworldly vibe.

How could this vast estate and a ton of money really be mine? I felt like I was on one of those TV shows I used to watch where people played jokes on their friends. Only, I didn’t have any friends, so that couldn’t be the case.

When Aunt Addie smiled at my wide-eyed expression, I shrugged and shook my head. It was hard to imagine myself living in this huge, sumptuous home. It was a far cry from the ordinary, one-story house in a Philadelphia suburb where I took care of my mom until her death a month ago.

As I struggled to get out of my aunt’s car, a petite, young girl ran out the front entrance of the house and down the wide entrance steps to Aunt Addie’s car.

The girl wore a big grin on a pretty face that was surrounded by light brown hair with neon pink highlights. I’d never seen pink hair before, but I thought it suited her.

“Lily, dear,” my aunt said to the girl, “this is Emma.”

Lily’s grin widened, and she brushed back a lock of pink hair. “Hey, Miss Taylor. I'm so glad you’re here. Let me help with your suitcases.”

“Um, sure, thanks,” I said, and nudged my aunt. Was this girl a relative or something?

Aunt Addie chuckled. “Lily is the housekeeper at Denhurst. She’s spent most of her life here and took over the job from her mother when she retired.”

“I’m older than I look, Miss Taylor, almost twenty. My mother started training me to take her place when I was twelve,” Lily explained as she picked up my two heavy suitcases with ease.

“You’re stronger than you look.” I gave her a smile. “But, please, call me Emma.” Lily’s sweet manner made me wonder if I’d found my first friend.

Lily flashed me another grin. “Come on in the house. You’ve had a long drive. I’ll fix you a snack and something to drink.”

I started following the girl up the steps to the front doors. But I froze on the top step when I spotted two crouching marble wolves flanking the double doors.

Something about the statues made my stomach squirm. The air around me turned frigid, and frightening images flashed through my mind.

Aunt Addie put a hand on my arm. “What’s the matter, dear?”

I shook my head. The images and the cold had faded. To keep my aunt from thinking I was bonkers, I gave her a weak smile. “I’m just thirsty. I could use a glass of iced tea.”

“I’ve got a pitcher of tea in the fridge, Miss ... I mean, Emma,” Lily said.

The interior of the house was as grand as the exterior had promised. I put my travel bag and laptop case on top of my suitcases that Lily left in the foyer and followed her and my aunt deeper into the house.

We passed by various elegantly furnished rooms. All of them were much fancier than I was used to. I took a moment to peek inside a room lined with bookshelves, and the image of a man with my auburn hair sitting at the walnut desk darted through my brain.

Was the man my father, or had it just been the power of suggestion?

I told myself I’d think about it later.

I could be seeing things after the misery of the last sixteen years. It’s hard to explain the mixture of sorrow and anger I feel just thinking about the lonely days and nights I cared for my mother when she no longer had the courage to leave her bedroom.

I’d only seen Mom’s hideously mangled face two times in my life. After the accident, she always wore a hat and veil even inside our house. And I was forbidden to enter her room without permission.

The first time I forgot to knock I was almost seven. The sight of my mother’s poor scarred face made me scream in horror and run from the room.

My reaction made me feel ashamed to this day. I regret many things now that she’s gone. My constant yearning for things like having friends, attending a real school, seeing a parade, or going out for pizza seemed petty when the coroner took away her body.

When Aunt Addie appeared in my life, I didn’t believe she was my father’s older sister or that I was an heiress. I didn’t remember her or even my father’s name or where he lived.

But she knew a great deal about me and my mother. And she possessed a copy of my birth certificate and a duplicate photo of herself with my mother before her accident when Mom was still beautiful.

It was a photo my mother both hated and treasured.

After traversing another sitting room and the dining room, we arrived in the huge modern kitchen, and Aunt Addie and I sat down at a rectangular oak table.

Glass patio doors in the back wall revealed a huge swimming pool, a fenced vegetable garden, and a stone cottage situated near a corner of the dense woods that surrounded the estate.

“I prepared a guest bedroom for you, Emma, until the master suite is redecorated to your tastes,” Lily said as she placed a glass of iced tea and a tray of chips and dip and chocolate chip cookies in front of me. “I hope you like the cookies,” she added. “I made them this morning.”

I picked one up and took a bite. “Umm. They’re great,” I told her. But before I could take another bite, movement near the pool caught my attention.

It appeared to be a young man, about my age, walking toward the house. He had shoulder length, black hair and a muscular body that moved with grace and confidence. Every other sight, sound, and sensation faded away as I watched him stroll toward me.

He drew closer and I held my breath waiting to get a better look at his face. I wasn’t disappointed. He had an aquiline nose set above full lips. I couldn’t tell what color his eyes were, but they were perfectly spaced and set under arched raven black brows.

Aunt Addie noticed I was staring at him. “That’s Grey Morgan, Denhurst’s caretaker. He lives in the cottage. You may have known him when you were children. He’s only a year or two older than you.”

All I could say was, “Oh.” Then I choked on a sip of my tea when he peeled off his t-shirt and wiped the sweat from his face. Wow! I’d only ever seen a man with a body like that on TV and on romance book covers.

I dropped the cookie when Grey stepped into the kitchen. My heart raced at the thought of speaking to him. What would I say? And why didn’t I put on some of the makeup Aunt Addie insisted on buying for me?

“Hey,” he said to the room and helped himself to a glass of tea.

When he sat down across from me, our eyes met. His eyes were the color of polished pewter beneath those black brows. His tanned face made them seem more intense. His gaze stayed on my face for so long that I wondered if he felt the same mental pull toward me that I was feeling for him.

Calm down, Emma, I told myself. You just met the guy. He probably has a girlfriend. Besides, you have no idea how to act around him.

Being totally cyber schooled and having been denied the privilege of making any friends, I had zero social skills. I knew I was doomed to make myself look foolish when I tried to interact with others. And my attraction to Grey was making it hard to think.

I forced myself to keep my eyes from Grey. But I was still hyper-aware of his presence in the room. The sound of his breathing filled my ears, and his masculine scent made my heart pound.

I snuck a look under my lashes and felt a jolt of heat rush through me when I saw his gaze was locked on me. Did he feel some attraction toward me, or was he looking at me like that because he thought I was weird?

I had another chance to act like a jerk when Aunt Addie introduced us. Grey automatically reached across the table and shook my hand. His hand touching mine was like grasping an electric fence, except it felt fantastic. My skin tingled pleasantly, all the way up my arm.

“It’s great to see you again, Emma.” Grey’s words sounded less than sincere.

All I could do was smile and nod while shaking his hand for way too long. What was wrong with me? Let go of him, Emma.

Grey squeezed my hand to get me to release his. My face flamed with embarrassment when he looked at me through narrowed eyes. But I managed to relax my grip on his hand enough for him to pull it away.

Then I made things worse. “I’m sorry. I don’t remember anything from my life here,” I said, answering a question he didn’t ask.

The room was silent, but I kept going. It was as if I had no control over my own mouth. “And my mother never mentioned Denhurst and refused to talk about my father. I guess it was too painful for her. Aunt Addie told me Mom’s accident happened here.”

“I heard she passed away last month,” Grey said. “Sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you.” I blinked back a few tears. My mother gave up on living her life sixteen years ago, but her death still made me sad.

“Why don’t you have dinner with us, Grey?” Aunt Addie asked.

“I defrosted some of those steaks you like,” Lily added. “And I’m eating in town with a friend, so you can help Addie and Emma with the dishes.”

He was quiet for a long moment. “I guess I can’t turn down steak.” Grey looked down at his bare chest and grass-stained jeans. “But I need a shower first.”

“I’ll put the steaks in the broiler before I leave at six o’clock,” Lily told him. “You’ll have plenty of time.”

“That means we have two hours before dinner,” Aunt Addie said. “Grey, help Emma take her things upstairs. Then show her around the house and grounds before you go back to the cabin to shower.”

“She’s in the first guest room,” Lily added.

Grey nodded stiffly. He probably had better things to do than waste his time on a grown woman who didn’t know how to act around other people.

But he finished his glass of tea and stood. Then he motioned for me to follow him and walked toward the front of the house.