The kitchen was cleaner than he’d have expected, what with Cade being responsible for it. Maybe he hadn’t given the guy enough credit, but the reality was that he came across as a bit of a dick, and Will had no idea what Jena saw in him – hell, she’d directed a few glares at Cade tonight, which made Will wonder if she was thinking the same thing.
Will was familiar with those looks; Rebecca had been a master of them before she’d dumped his ass.
And rightly so. He’d been so caught up in his need for the truth, in hunting down other people’s secrets, that he’d completely missed the fact she’d grown up and moved on to a normal life while he was stuck chasing ghosts and demons.
So, he didn’t have it in him to feel bad for Cade if Jena decided to give him the flick. He probably deserved it too.
Will opened the cupboard and pulled down Rose’s pills, sorting the ones she needed onto the tray along with a glass of water, and a gin and tonic. She wasn’t technically meant to be drinking, but there was no way he was going to deny her. Rose was dying, and she might as well enjoy the remainder of her life in the way she saw fit.
It was probably why she kept him on.
He grabbed the tray and carried it through to Rose’s room, nudging the door open with his butt and kicking it closed behind him before he placed the tray on the bedside table.
‘Come to inflict your torture on me again?’ Rose asked with a wry grin.
‘And I’ve brought your special drink to help it go down easier.’ He handed her the pill cup. ‘You know I’m just doing my job.’
‘And I’m doing mine. No one ever said I had to make it easy on you,’ she said with a wink, though she tossed the pills back and reached for the glass of water. It took her a few seconds to get them all down; he could see how they caught in her throat, making Rose grimace.
This had never been the job of his dreams – but there was no money in ghost hunting, and a lack of ancient ruins to explore in New Zealand meant that his real interests were just a hobby – but he found it fascinating how people said all kinds of things in the lead up to their death. Here, in this role, he had the chance to hear something interesting. Something revealing. And in this particular case, he hoped it would be something about what had happened all those years ago on the night of the fire.
‘Okay, give me my gin and we’ll natter for a bit, and then you can disappear and let this old woman rest.’
He passed her the glass. For eighty-seven, Rose didn’t look too bad. Although the cancer was making her thin and frail, he could still see the beauty that shone from the photos dotted around the house.
‘Don’t tell me you don’t like our little talks,’ he said. ‘I know you do.’
‘I won’t admit it, though.’ She took a long pull of gin, coughing a little as it went down.
Will leaned forward, reaching for the glass. ‘Did I make it too strong again?’
She pulled it towards her, not letting him take it. ‘No, just strong enough. This body isn’t what it used to be.’ She sighed, her shoulders relaxing as she took another drink, finishing it off before passing him the glass. ‘Did I ever tell you that I once had the interest of royalty? Oh, he fancied me, but he was far too pretty to be my type.’ Rose relaxed back into her cushions, her eyes drifting closed.
Will imagined it was true. She’d been gorgeous, much like Jena was now – though Jena had shadows that lingered in her gaze, whereas Rose hadn’t seemed to, in the photos he’d seen from her youth.
‘I think you told me about that before. What was your type, then? I didn’t see photos of your husband around the house.’
She opened her eyes, narrowing them on him, but their focus was slightly dulled by medication and alcohol. ‘We do not talk about him. He left. Good for nothing man,’ she huffed, glancing away. ‘Gone before the grandkids came along, thank goodness. Was bad enough having him around the kids. I didn’t look for him when he left.’ She shook her head, eyes narrowing in pain. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, Will guessed the betrayal had hurt her, all the same. ‘Maybe I should have gone for the pretty boys; might have saved me some trouble.’
The way she pursed her lips made him think there was more to the story, but there was no point in trying to dig – he knew when Rose was done talking about something. It was there in the set of her shoulders and the way her eyes slid away from his.
‘So, what do you think of Cade?’ he asked, taking a seat in the chair beside her bed. He would normally have made himself a drink too, but he wanted to be clear-headed tonight with Jena in the house. Just in case she decided to press her point with Rose.
‘He’s not the right guy for her,’ Rose said, shaking her head, lips turning down in distaste. ‘I know we’re not close now, and that’s my fault, but anyone with half a brain can see it. He’s not right.’
Will had to laugh. ‘Was it because of the manual labour thing? The surfing?’
‘No, it’s because I could see the way he was eyeing up things in the china cabinet, as if each had a price tag on it and he was calculating how much he could make. It wouldn’t surprise me to find he’s already slipped a few things into his car boot. He might not have started up with Jena for a quick buck, but that’s how it’ll end.’
Will leaned back in his seat. He hadn’t picked up on any of that, but he had got a weird vibe off the guy, like he wasn’t quite as dedicated as he made out. But then, who was Will to judge, all things considered?
‘Okay, so you don’t like him. Got it. What about her?’
Rose turned to look him in the eye, her gaze sharpening. ‘She’s my granddaughter. What do you mean by that?’
Will swallowed, licked his dry lips, summoning the courage to speak. ‘I mean that you shut her down tonight as soon as she hinted that she might broach the topic. You just left. Is there something you don’t want to tell her?’
‘There are a lot of things I don’t want to tell her, but that’s really none of your business,’ Rose snapped. Then her shoulders sagged. ‘I shouldn’t have sent her away to begin with, but it seemed like the right thing to do. It doesn’t matter what I do now, it’s never going to be enough to make up for that. I had my reasons.’
‘You could tell her your reasons,’ Will said. You can tell me your reasons, he meant. ‘I bet it would go a long way to clearing up some of that ill-ease.’ He leaned forward and caught her gaze. ‘It’s why she’s here, right? You need to make peace before the end.’
Rose looked away. It wasn’t like her to back off, but clearly, he’d hit the nail on the head.
‘You know, my mother died when I was in my teens. It stuffed me up big time.’ He scratched behind his ear, giving Rose a second to turn back. She did. ‘Actually, she didn’t die so much as she was murdered. Things had been a bit fraught between us before that, and I never had the chance to talk it through with her, resolve the issues. Tell her I was sorry for making things difficult.’
‘What? You’ve never mentioned that before,’ Rose said, her brow pinching in surprise, concern. She looked at him for a moment as if deciding whether to pry or leave that wound scabbed over. Her voice was soft and thoughtful when she next spoke. ‘I know I have things to say to Jena, but I don’t know how to have that conversation without it destroying her.’
Destroying her …. Will’s mind buzzed at those words. It seemed like Rose had even bigger secrets than he’d imagined. He schooled his features, turning his curiosity into concern. ‘Hey, no need to worry about that tonight. They’ve gone to bed, and you need your sleep too.’
‘Oh Will, I got a good one with you, didn’t I? You’re not as nosy as the nurses at the hospital, and you don’t get in my way too much.’ She patted his hand.
He laughed. ‘I love that you’re so straight up, Rose. And I’m here for as long as you want me.’
‘Has Jena put the hard word on you yet, about getting out of here?’
He raised an eyebrow, impressed that she could have seen that coming, and nodded. ‘She did suggest I could disappear whenever I wanted. She’s capable enough.’
‘Capable, but not a proper carer, and without you here to keep tabs on her for me she might stumble into things she’s not ready for. She was always a curious one, poking her nose into things that were better left alone. I have a feeling nothing has changed in that regard.’
‘I guess we’ll find out.’ Will picked up her empty glass and patted her hand as he stood. ‘Let me know if you need anything; you’ve got your buzzer.’
‘You don’t have to say that every night,’ she said with a groan.
‘Actually, I do. Part of the job description.’ He winked and then left the room, pulling the door closed behind him.
He waited in the hallway, but there wasn’t a sound in the house. Which was odd – now that the population had doubled, he’d have expected the noise to as well. He put the glass in the sink and headed upstairs, a weird energy vibrating through him.
Rose was close to spilling her secrets, he could feel it, and Jena was the key to unravelling everything. He’d puzzled over this mystery for so many years, but having met these women now, he couldn’t help but wonder what the cost of the truth might be.
Who would wear the fallout? Would Rose and Jena still be speaking by the end of their second day together, or would the old woman use her illness to avoid conversation entirely?
He hoped, for both their sakes, that they could find a way to set aside their past and be together for whatever time Rose had left.
He wished he could do the same with his mother.