Montgomery Manor (The Haunted Book 2) Read online

  Chapter One

  Meg Falkner shivered, but she wasn’t certain whether the weather or the cold unease that ran through her caused it. She watched her husband. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  The wind blew an eerie sound all about her, whistling in harmony with the beating crash of surf against the rocks of a nearby cliff.

  “Yes, I am.” There wasn’t a hint of uncertainty in his expression or his voice.

  Meg drew in a breath that in no way warmed her, and ignored the icy bite at her lungs. “What if it doesn’t work out?”

  “We’ve already talked about this.” Quint Falkner’s deep blue eyes sparkled through the cold, misty air reminding Meg of a moonlit night full of stars. “We can do this.”

  Meg wished she believed him, but they were about to take one big, scary leap of faith. She didn’t think any amount of preparation would be enough.

  Quint met her gaze and gave her a soft, reassuring smile.

  Despite his smile, Meg felt the icy fingers of fear touching the back of her neck. There were just so many questions, and even though Quint had answers for them before, the questions still swirled through her thoughts. “I can’t help it, Quint. I’m worried. This will be so much work, and my store already keeps me so busy. I don’t know how much of this we can do together. I think you’ll be doing most of it alone.”

  “Meg…”

  “I just need to know you’re sure.”

  His gaze still held hers. “I’m sure,” he replied without hesitation.

  She stared at the hulking edifice before them. Montgomery Manor. “This huge, old place is liable to crumble around us. The upkeep alone is going to take everything we have.”

  “Even if we do nothing else, the restaurant that’s already in the North Wing is doing well enough to pay expenses.” He sighed.

  “We still don’t even know why Mitchell Greensburg left it to you,” Meg muttered. “I didn’t know he was a distant cousin.”

  “Us,” Quint corrected. “He left it to us. And neither did I. Maybe he liked my construction work. I fixed a door for him a long time ago,” Quint put in. “Come on, Meg. Cousin or not, Greensburg left this place to us, there’s no other family left to take it. Either we take it and try to make a go of it, or we take the offer Greensburg’s manager, Brad, made for it. I’m not selling it to anyone else. It’s as simple as that.”

  Meg stared up at the monstrosity of a house. She took in its carved ornate architecture, its many balconies, decorative gray stone, columned front porch, and gargoyles perched on each corner as if to keep guard. It was beautiful and frightening at the same time. “It’s rumored to be haunted.”

  Hell, it looked haunted.

  The sun attempted to pierce the frosty clouds and shine down upon the old house. She wanted to groan. The idea of moving in to a supposedly haunted house and trying to make it into a profitable bed and breakfast while simultaneously updating the present restaurant, sent the lingering chill around her into the pit of her stomach. It didn’t look as simple as Quint made it sound.

  “Are you afraid, Meggie? Because I’ve never known you to be afraid of anything besides snakes. After all, you took a few boxes of books and turned them into a doing-very-well business.”

  Meg let out a breath, unaware she’d been holding it. “Yes, I admit it, I’m afraid. The house scares me. It will take me weeks just to learn the layout of the rooms.”

  Quint looked up at the house. “I know it’s big and I know it’s going to take a lot of work, but we’ve worked things out money wise. We just have to take it slow and steady, do it bit by bit while we expand. It’s not like we owe on it. We inherited it. It’s already ours. As we finish a section, we’ll open more rooms up to the public. We’ll get the ball room in order and rent it out as a banquet hall for weddings and things like that. We could even do floral classes in the conservatory. We can’t lose here. Party rooms, game rooms, dinners, weddings, showers. We could create a space for any need. I’ve got so many ideas.” His voice rose with every sentence. He was filled with enthusiasm, he sounded like child ripping open Christmas presents.

  He turned back to Meg. “Don’t let its size scare you now.”

  “Aren’t you just a little scared?”

  “No.”

  “What if it really is haunted?”

  “I’m not afraid of a few ghosts, either,” he argued.

  She looked from Quint to the house. Forget it had flowerbed after flowerbed that would require a permanent landscaper every spring. Forget they needed to install a handicap ramp beside the twenty steps leading to the front door.

  Despite Quint’s admonition, the size and the idea of a few ghosts did scare her. She was used to a small ghost-free two-bedroom house.

  “If this doesn’t work out, we could be in big trouble, and it could haunt us for a long time.”

  He chuckled. “Funny play on words.”

  She laughed with him, but her unease remained. “I know. But it’s true. That’s why I’m a bit leery of doing this.”

  He laughed more.

  “This isn’t funny. I know for certain our little two-bedroom house isn’t haunted. I don’t have to worry about a single ghost closing any doors and hearing any chains rattle.”

  “Meg, I’ve been all round this house in the past two weeks. I assure you I haven’t seen any signs of ghosts or heard any chains rattle here, either. But I do see potential. We can make this something grand. I know this all seems scary. Were you scared when you opened your bookstore?”

  She didn’t point out that there was a massive difference between her opening a small bookstore and running a bed and breakfast with over two dozen rooms. His smile eclipsed his face, and his hand over hers squeezed tight. Excitement burst from his every pore. She hated to shoot him down with her fear. The fact was her store was doing very well, but it had started out small and grown into what it was today. As the largest single family house in four counties, Montgomery Manor was by no means small. “I didn’t have to worry about any ghosts moving books in my store.”

  “All right, I’ll admit,” Quint met her gaze again, but bright sparks of exhilaration filled his eyes, “it’s a pretty big project to take on. And yes, it’s true there are rumors about it being haunted, but you can’t deny that this would be steady work, a lot steadier than the construction business, and I can do most of the repairs myself.”

  “That’s true,” she agreed slowly.

  Quint gave her a determined look. He still held her hand. To her surprise he raised it to his lips and gave her two butterfly kisses to the back of her hand. “I know you’re worried, but I don’t want to do this without you. If you really don’t think we can make a go of this, fine, I won’t do it. I’ll can the whole idea. I’ll talk to Brad about the offer he made for it. But just remember, I never discouraged you when there was something in the store you wanted to add or change. And I never stood in the way of your opening, either.”

  That much is true, Meg thought. Quint wasn’t much of a reader, and he didn’t come into her bookstore very often, but he’d never tried to stop her from fulfilling that part of her dream. Nor did he tell her how to run her business, unless she asked him a question. If she didn’t give him the same opportunity, he would resent her. The guilt alone would eat her alive.

  “And I promise if we see any signs of anything out of the ordinary, we’ll sell it. I don’t want you being scared.”

  She smiled at his offer. “Thank you. Just tell me you think we can afford to do this, that we can handle it.” She had to be certain. She looked up and saw a familiar fire in his dark blue eyes.

  The wind blew a dark wave of his hair near his ear, and
Meg fought the urge to brush it back with her fingers. He grinned at her playfully. “Please trust me on this. Yes, we can. Together, we can handle anything.”

  “How can you be so certain?”

  “Meg, I just am. I’ve studied the numbers, and I’ve looked at the house. I want to do this with you. Please trust me.”

  “I do trust you.” She looked up at Montgomery Manor again. Framed with dark, heavy clouds threatening rain, it appeared far from welcoming. The branches of the leafless trees around it blew in the wind, morphing into long, skinny fingers reaching out. And did she see a curtain in one of the upper windows flutter with movement? Who or what watched them from that upper dark room?

  Meg fought down another shiver.

  Quint reached out and brushed her cheek with the back of his fingertips. “I know we can do this. Besides, I dreamt about it last night. I feel like the place is calling me somehow. Let’s just try—we always have the option to sell it to Brad later, if he still wants it.”

  “What changed your mind?” she had to ask. “Up until two weeks ago, you were all for selling it and walking away with the cash.”

  He stared directly into her eyes for a long moment. “Greensburg left it to us for a reason. Owning it and keeping it, giving it a shot is the right thing to do.”

  Meg stared back at him. For a reason she couldn’t fathom, his words, his voice didn’t sound like the Quint Falkner she knew, the Quint Falkner she’d married. His voice was deeper, and the slight grin he offered her was crooked and out of place. His dark hair was longer than he usually wore it, and it blew around his face in the wind. It even curled at his collar. Just two weeks ago, he hadn’t cared about keeping the house; he was excited about having money in hand. He’d even mentioned something about taking some of the money and going on “the cruise of a lifetime.”

  “So tell me why you’re now having all these questions.”

  Before, he hadn’t wanted the house. Before, she hadn’t needed the answers. Before, she wasn’t standing in front of the house, looking up at it, seeing how creepy it looked with the clouds looming above it.

  She didn’t point out she still wasn’t getting any real answers.

  “I just feel that now we’re to the point in our marriage, and with my business, that we finally have time for each other. I don’t want to give that up.” It wasn’t a complete lie.

  “We won’t,” Quint promised. “I know this will keep us—at least me—busy for a while, but it won’t last long. And I’ll be the boss, so I can take time off to spend with my wife any time I want.” Again he kissed the back of her hand, and his grin teased with the hint he wanted more.

  Did that mean he still planned to take her on the vacation of a lifetime? She was afraid to ask.

  She forced a smile. “How mad was Brad when you told him we’d changed our minds and decided not to take his offer?”

  “Not too much when I told him to stay on as manager and gave him a raise.” Quint looked toward the front doors. “Come inside and meet the employees I plan to keep on. Then I can show you some of my ideas. You won’t be sorry.”

  A strong gust of cold wind stung her cheeks.

  She looked over at her husband, wishing she could match his enthusiasm. A large, icy raindrop landed right on her nose, and, despite her heavy, wool coat, she could no longer fight back a shiver. Absently, she pulled up her hood and tucked in the wisps of hair that pulled free of her clip and blew about her face. She studied the huge house before her. With its twin towers and many rooms, it was a castle. Meg stared at another one of the upper windows. The gauzy curtains looked for a moment as if a person stood there and watched her. Then it was just a window, just curtains.

  It was going to take more than just a little work. It was going to take a lot of her time, even double or triple of Quint’s. They stepped into the foyer onto a hard wood floor, and she looked around at the decorative carvings.

  Quint leaned close. “You’ve been here before, haven’t you, before you and I learned of the inheritance?”

  “I enjoyed lunch in the restaurant a few months ago.”

  “Were you afraid then?”

  She thought about it. “No, not at all? It was a very nice lunch.”

  “Did you see any ghosts, feel any cold spots?”

  “No. It was welcoming.” But then she hadn’t owned it, either.

  “How does it feel now?”

  “All right.”

  “Tell me you don’t see the potential.” Quint put his arm around her and held her to his side. “Envision new lights, an old-fashioned check in desk with mail or message sorting boxes, plants, fresh paint, maybe a fountain.

  “Oh, it does have character.” She was glad her whispered words didn’t echo. And listening to his ideas, she looked at the foyer with new eyes and she saw its potential.

  “My goal is to keep the restaurant and a few rooms of the Bed and Breakfast running while I do renovations, then open the rest little by little. All the other rooms were just locked up.”

  “That’s sad.” Meg looked up at the huge grand staircase and pulled in a heavy breath.

  “Yes, it’s time to open the whole house.”

  Perhaps she wouldn’t be sorry, after all.

  Chapter Two

  Two months later…

  The roses were beautiful, perfect red blossoms with long stems in a elegant vase, decorated with a red velvet ribbon. Meg set them on the counter and reached for the card.

  Dear Meg, All my best for the grand opening of Montgomery Manor.

  There was no signature. The handwriting was straight print and not familiar. She wished she knew who sent the roses so she could thank them. She leaned forward and breathed in a long whiff of their heady aroma. It was a wonderful touch of spring even though spring was still weeks away.

  The door chimes jingled behind her and Evan Townsend, her sole employee, strode in with a book in his hand.

  It was a leather-bound edition of Charles Dickens’, A Christmas Carol. The book took her attention from the roses and their mystery sender.

  Meg held the book with the gentle touch she would’ve used to caress a newborn baby. “Oh, my. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a copy in such excellent condition. It’s definitely better than any other copy I have to offer.” She flipped through the pages. “And it doesn’t smell musty or moldy. The pages are yellowed a bit with age, but the type is still crisp and legible. Where did you get it?”

  Evan shrugged. “I can’t tell. What do you think?”

  “I think if you keep making finds like this, I’m going to have to give you a raise,” Meg muttered, not taking her gaze from the book’s perfect pages. “This is quite a gem. Come on, tell me where you found it?”

  “I never kiss and tell.” He gave her one of his easy grins.

  Evan had only been working in Meg’s Treasure Hunters bookstore for four months, but had already, on numerous occasions, proved to be a true book lover. Also, when it came to finding and recognizing literary treasures, he had the nose of a bloodhound. Meg was glad he worked for her instead of one of her competitors.

  “Yes, I know, you don’t.” The kiss part she knew nothing about. What she did know is that he told her next to nothing about himself or where and how he obtained the books he brought her. The fact he’d been able to organize her shelves and her computer index even better than she could, and find rare books were just a few more reasons she liked him. Also, the fact that women flocked into her store, not to find a book but to check out her dark-haired, muscular assistant, didn’t hurt either. The women came in to stare at Evan, and Evan always managed to sell them a book.

  “In fact,” Meg met his gaze, “do you even kiss at all? Do you have any social life, or do you only live for the next brilliant book find?”

  He continued grinning. “I kiss.” His dark eyes sparkled with laughter, but his voice dropped an octave. “Would you like to see for yourself? I could show you by example.”

  Maybe, if she wasn’t m
arried. The thought jumped in even before she could stop it. “No, thanks.” She hoped her voice sounded light.

  The truth was, if she didn’t get a kiss soon, she very well might give in to the offer, and not because she wanted to, but because she needed to.

  She tried to push the idea aside. She hadn’t had a kiss, a real kiss, or a touch or a hug or anything, in what seemed like years. It seemed like years, but in reality it was just two months, the same two months since Quint decided to remain the proud owner of the Montgomery Manor. The same two months he decided to work there every waking moment. The same two months he refused to let her see any of his work since that first time she’d been there to meet the employees.

  Yet, those two months seemed like forever.

  But now, she thought of Quint and the simple act of a kiss. The wait was over.

  Tonight was Quint’s Montgomery Manor Grand Opening. And after tonight, he promised to include her in the planning and running of the Manor. She sighed, excitement and a smattering of annoyance carried on the exhale. Quint had insisted on surprising her with the rest of the public.

  “So where’d the roses come from?” Evan’s voice came to her from somewhere far away, bringing her back from her dream world of the Manor and kisses… Or more…

  “I have no idea, there’s no name on the card.” She glanced at the roses before turning away from him to search for an appropriate place to display the treasured book still held in her grip. “You don’t recognize the writing on the card, do you?”

  Evan checked out the flowers before reading the card. “No, I don’t think so, but they’re pretty nice for someone not to sign their name. How mysterious. I think maybe you have a secret admirer. Otherwise, why would the flowers be sent here and not at the Manor where your husband might see them?” He batted his eyebrows at her in a teasing manner.

  “Oh, thanks. That’s what I need in my life right now.” Sarcasm dripped from each of her words. “With this shop keeping me busy and my husband more gone than not, and his grand opening tonight…But then, maybe they’re from my husband.”