Chapter 4: Silver
Emma’s POV
I changed my clothes for the third time. I wanted to look good, and hopefully I wouldn’t start babbling again. I didn’t understand why he had such a drastic effect on me. It felt like more than just an attraction, but I didn’t know for sure.
Lots of people on TV fell in love at first sight, and I’d seen people discuss it on the internet. But was it really possible? I’d do some research later. Did Denhurst have internet service?
Dressed in a denim skirt and a summer top I decided I looked good enough. I was downstairs when I remembered I had forgotten to try my makeup, but decided it was too late to run back upstairs. The steaks were done, and Grey should be here any minute.
Sitting at the patio table next to my aunt, I struggled not to pick at my nails as Grey approached us. Lily had made sure everything would be ready before she left. The patio table was set with elegant china for three people, and she’d even put flowers in the center of the table.
Grey sat across from me. When our eyes met again, something rushed outward from my soul and into his. We sat in silence until my aunt reminded us that she was there too.
“Uh hem.” Aunt Addie cleared her throat. “Dinner is ready, you two. I need help bringing the food outside from the kitchen.”
Grey jumped to his feet. “I’d be glad to help, Addie. Come on, Emma, let’s get this dinner going. I’m starved.”
After the steak, baked potatoes, and salad were brought outside, we dug in. The steaks were fantastic.
“I’ve never eaten such rare beef before,” I said around a mouthful of savory steak. “It’s delicious.”
“Rare is the only way to eat beef,” Grey said. “Too much cooking dries out the juices and takes away its flavor.” He cut off another small piece of meat and put it into his mouth before licking the blood from his fork tines. “And it’s perfectly seasoned.”
“Lily is a good cook,” I said, trying a bite of the salad. It was crisp and fresh and covered with a delicious homemade dressing.
“She is,” Aunt Addie agreed. “I think you’ll find her quite adequate as your housekeeper. A cleaning team comes once a week to do a thorough cleaning. Lily takes care of everything else in between.”
“Does she live here?” I asked. It would be nice to have company in the huge house. Maybe she could tell me more about Grey. I wanted to understand him. Maybe she knew why he did things like hug me in my bedroom when we were talking about my mother, but then he couldn’t wait to get away from me a minute later.
“She has a suite in the west wing,” Grey replied. “It was her mother’s before she retired to Florida.”
Since the meal began, he had been concentrating on the food. It made me feel a little disappointed. Maybe I was imagining any attraction to me on his part.
After the apple pie Lily had made for our desert was eaten, Aunt Addie began to yawn.
“I’m sorry, kids, but I’m exhausted,” she said. “I’m staying the night, but I’m going back to my own home and my husband in the morning.”
“How is Garrett?” Grey asked.
“As stubborn as ever,” Aunt Addie said with a grin. “He works too hard for a man his age.”
“I can’t wait to meet him,” I said. “It’s comforting to know I have family nearby.” Other than my recluse mother, I had no memories of a family before. It was nice to know I now had people nearby who cared about me.
“Shall we get to the dishes, Emma?” Grey asked, that eyebrow lifted again.
I laughed. “I’ll wash, if you dry.”
"There is a dishwasher, children,”
Aunt Addie said as she stood. “Goodnight and see you both in the morning. Unless you need me for anything, Emma, dear.”
Aunt Addie went to her room, and Grey and I carried everything back inside. We put leftovers in the fridge and put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher.
“This can’t go in there.” Grey held up a huge broiler pan. It was a burnt greasy mess. “I guess you’ll have to wash it by hand.”
“Why me?” I whined. It would take a lot of scrubbing to get that pan clean.
He put the broiler pan in the sink. “You wanted to wash the dishes. Well, here you go.”
“No way!” I couldn’t help giggling. “I’ll run it through the dishwasher twice.”
“Naw, that’s wasting water.” He found a scrubbing pad next to the sink and handed it to me. “This and a little elbow grease should do it.”
Was he teasing me or serious? I took the scrubbing pad and stood at the sink. Grabbing the sink sprayer, I turned on the water and a stream of cold water shot into Grey’s face. I was mortified.
He jumped back, a look of astonishment on his handsome face.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t know the sprayer was that touchy.”
“Sure, it’s okay.” Grey took a pitcher of cold water from the fridge and held it high as he approached me.
“Nooo,” I said, unable to keep giggles bursting from my mouth. “I said I was sorry, and the water in that pitcher is really cold.”
“You started it,” Grey reminded me and came closer. His eyes were twinkling merrily, and his sensual mouth was turned up in a smile. He was teasing!
“And I’ll end it,” I said and boldly sent another stream of cold water at him. A second later I dropped the sprayer when the pitcher of water was dumped over my head. “That’s cold!” I shrieked, doubling over at the waist as my laughter echoed through the room.
Grey’s laughter joined mine, and we clung to each other, laughing until we could barely breathe.
When our laughter began to die down, Grey looked deep into my eyes. He pushed my wet hair back, away from my face, and his hands cradled both sides of my head as his face slowly moved closer to mine.
My pulse raced and I tingled everywhere when I realized he was going to kiss me. Barely able to breathe, I couldn’t think about anything but him as I waited for his lips to touch mine. This was a moment I dreamed about since I was ten: my very first kiss.
But he suddenly let go of me as if he’d been burned and put his hands behind his back. “Sorry, Emma. I got carried away. You’re soaking wet.”
“It’s okay,'' I mumbled, but it wasn’t okay. I didn’t understand what I did wrong that made him stop. “I’ll scrub the broiler pan.” I picked up the scrubbing pad to hide my embarrassment.
“I can do it,” he offered. He took a quick look at the palms of his hands and then his gaze returned to me. “I see you’ve got your mother’s silver locket and earrings on.”
“Locket?” I looked down at the big heart shaped pendant. “I didn’t know it's a locket. I found it in her jewelry box after she died.”
“I remember when your dad gave it to her,” Grey said. “Take it off and look at it.”
I unfastened the clasp and turned the heart shaped piece of silver over in my hand. I could see on the side there were two sections. I put my fingernail into the tiny crack and opened it. Inside was a small photo of a man.
I studied the photo for a moment and gasped. It was the same man I’d seen for an instant, sitting at the desk in the library when I first arrived.
My hand shook as I showed Grey the photo. “Is this my father?”
“Yeah,” Grey replied. “That’s him, Hunter Taylor.”
I clung to the sink, unable to believe my mind conjured up my father’s image. I didn’t remember him.
Grey put a hand on my shoulder. “Emma, what’s wrong?”
I put the necklace into my pocket. “I saw this man when I first arrived at Denhurst.”
“Where?” Grey shook his head. “Emma, he’s dead.”
Frustrated, I blinked back tears. “I think it could have been a flashback, like a memory or something.”
“That’s nothing to be upset about,” Grey insisted. “When you were little, you often saw your dad sitting at that desk. He worked at that desk all the time.”
“Really?” I whispered.
“Really,” Grey said. “It’s a good thing if you remember your father.” Grey pushed the top of my hair back, avoiding my face and ears. “He loved you very much, Emma. If your mother didn’t need you so desperately, he never would have let you leave his life, like he did.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded.
“Let’s leave this pan to soak,” Grey said. “You’ve had a long day and need some rest.”
“I think so too,” I agreed. I needed to get away from Grey for now. Even though I yearned for an explanation as to why he didn’t kiss me, I feared my churning emotions would lead me into doing or saying something foolish.
Grey walked me to the grand staircase. “Do you have everything you need?”
Everything except my first kiss, I told myself. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Good night.” I hurried up the stairs to my bedroom and shut the door behind me. I had unpacked before dinner, so I grabbed a nightgown and headed for the bathroom. After a quick shower and brushing my teeth, I went to bed.
It was as comfortable as it looked. I pulled up the coverlet and settled in with a sigh. But just as I was falling asleep, something howled in the woods behind the house. It was a lonely sound, but in seconds it was joined by other voices baying at the stars.
Shaking, I got up and looked out my window. I thought I saw things moving just inside the woods. What were they?
Grabbing my robe, I hurried into the hallway and ran into somebody hurrying toward the stairs.
“Ouch. Sorry, Emma,” Lily said. “I just got back and realized I forgot to lock up and turn off the lights.”
“Did I hurt you?” The girl was so tiny, she had literally bounced off me.
“I’m fine,” Lily assured me. “Are you having trouble sleeping? I can bring you some warm milk.”
“No, but thanks.” I fiddled with my robe’s sash. “I was almost asleep when I heard something that sounded like howling outside.”
Emma shook her head. “Those darn coyotes again. Don’t worry, they can’t get into the house.”
“Good to know, but the howling is a little unnerving.” I turned to go back to my room. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” Lily chirped and hurried downstairs.
I went back to bed and fell asleep. Soon I was dreaming about howling creatures and the man in the locket.