LeAnn woke up with the feeling she was being watched. Her eyes slowly blinked open, and she was right. Matt was staring at her while she slept.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked stretching.
“Watching you sleep.”
“Why?” Smiling, she looked at him, and he kissed her. “Because I love you and you’re beautiful when you’re asleep.”
“As opposed to being awake?” she teased. She then got serious. “Matt, I want to apologize for last night. I got a little carried away. I’m sorry.”
“No, I’m sorry. I haven’t been very supportive. I saw what you and Hannah went through, and I still was skeptical. My own mother experienced something, and I doubted her. I heard it and I saw it, LeAnn. I can’t explain what I heard and saw, but it was there just the same, and I’m so sorry.”
“That means a lot to me. Thank you.” She turned to face him. “Now what?”
“This.” He pulled her to him and started to kiss her. She returned his touches and kisses.
After they made love, they got up, showered, and dressed. LeAnn started making the bed and called out to Matt, “What time is Nick coming?”
“Ten thirty,” Matt said from the bathroom.
She looked at the clock and saw it was almost ten. She started to strip the bed and put the sheets in the laundry basket.
“Matt, are you hungry?” she asked him from the bathroom doorway, she looked at him as he shaved. He had a handsome back. Strong with wide, muscular shoulders. She could tell he worked out.
“Not really, but I could use a cup of coffee.” He smiled, looking at her from the mirror. She laughed at how funny he looked with the lather all over his face.
“Coffee coming right up.” She turned an went down to the kitchen to make the coffee.
A few minute later, there was a knock on the door. LeAnn went to the door to let Nick in. When she opened the door, her eyes opened wide in surprise.
“I heard you needed some furniture moved again, lady!”
“Adam!” She screamed with delight and jumped into her brother’s arms.
“Hi, sis! Surprised?” Adam laughed. He hugged her, and they kissed each other on the cheek.
“What do you think? Of course I’m surprised!” She gave her twin brother another big squeeze.
“What are you doing here?”
“I told you as soon as I got back from Alaska I was coming straight here, so here I am!” Adam grinned.
“Are you shit’n me? Adam Klein, is that you?” Matt said as he came down the stairs.
Adam looked up in the direction of the male voice with a questioning expression on his face. “Matt Weston? What the hell are you doing here? And coming from my sister’s bedroom?” LeAnn knew her brother was giving Matt a hard time, but Matt didn’t.
“Um, well, um,” Matt stuttered, looking at LeAnn for help.
“He’s messing with you, Matt. Ignore him.” She turned to her brother. “Cut it out, Adam.”
Adam laughed and held out his hand to Matt. “Hey, buddy. I’m sorry. Had to give you a hard time after all of these years.” The two men shook hands and then hugged, laughing.
LeAnn saw Nick standing on the porch. “Nick, get in here!” Laughing, she reached and grabbed his arm and pulled him in the house.
LeAnn interrupted Adam and Matt’s reunion and told them all to come out into the kitchen where the coffee was ready. She and Adam happily walked arm in arm. “I really can’t believe you’re here!” She said looking up at her brother.
Adam gave her a squeeze. “Yup, in the flesh.”
Matt, walking behind them, asked, “How did you happen to hook up with Nick?”
“Actually, I have your Dad to thank for that, Matt, Adam answered.
“My Dad?”
“Yeah, I was at the counter in the resort, and I ran into your Dad. I don’t think he knew who I was at first, but I’d recognize your folks anywhere. Anyway, I told him I was here to surprise LeAnn and needed to rent a boat. He told me that Nick was coming out and he’d have him bring me. Here I am.”
“And, I’m so glad you are,” his sister said, hugging her brother again.
“On the way out, Nick told me he was coming out to move stuff. LeAnn, am I ever going to be able to come out here and not have to do manual labor?” They all laughed.
LeAnn made everyone breakfast. While they were eating, Adam looked at Matt and said, “So, Matt, what did you do to your hand?” The room went quiet and cold. Adam looked at everyone as they all looked at each other with strange expressions. “Whoa, what the heck did I say? You all look like I caught you with a body or something.” Adam frowned and looked at his sister. “LeAnn? What’s going on?”
“Adam, let’s finish breakfast first, then I promise I’ll tell you everything. Okay?” she asked, with a pleading look.
“Yeah, that’s fine. But tell me, does this have anything to do with what happened to you before I went to Alaska?”
She wasn’t going to lie to her brother, “Yes, sort of,” she admitted.
“We’ll all explain,” Matt said to his old friend. Then he quickly changed the subject and asked, “How was Alaska?”
Adam smiled and started to tell them all about his trip.
After breakfast, LeAnn cleared up the dishes then went into the living room to join the guys. Nick and Adam where sitting on the couch and Matt was on the loveseat. She sat next to Matt.
“Okay, someone start talking and explain to me what’s going on,” Adam demanded.
LeAnn looked at Matt, and he nodded for her to start. When LeAnn and Matt finished telling Adam what had happened, they sat back and waited for him to respond. No one said anything for a while.
Adam just stared at his sister in disbelief. “You guys do realize this is hard to believe?”
“Adam, I know what you mean, and I wouldn’t have believed it either, but I saw and heard what I did in the boathouse when I got the girls out,” Matt said earnestly.
Nick spoke for the first time. “Man, if I hadn’t seen the condition of the girls with my own two eyes, I too wouldn’t have believed it. They were a mess. I didn’t think anyone could get that shade of white. It was scary.”
Adam looked at his sister, “LeAnn, you’ve always been the level-headed one in our family so I’m going to say I believe you. I am skeptical, but I feel that you wouldn’t make something like this up. Besides, you have these two guys as witnesses. I would be an idiot not to believe all of you.”
“Thank you, Adam. That means a lot to me.”
Adam got up and went over to hug his sister. “I would like to go down to the ballroom, though.”
“What? Why? Adam, please, no,” she begged, scared for him, shocked he would even suggest going to the boathouse.
“LeAnn, it’s okay. I just want to go see it.”
Matt realized he needed to say something quick to stop Adam from going to the boathouse. If nothing else, he needed to calm LeAnn down. “Hold it there, buddy.” he said as if teasing. “Not until we get the stuff done upstairs.”
LeAnn relaxed a little and smiled at Matt as if to say a silent thank you.
“Oh yeah, manual labor again. That’s why I’m here,” Adam said with a grin looking at his sister. “Okay. What do I have to do?”
“Glad you asked. Follow me,” she said, relieved that the whole ballroom subject was over, at least for now. She led the way up the stairs. “See that large rug in the corner over there?”
“Yes,” Adam said.
“Well, that rug is to go in my bedroom over there,” she said, pointing to her room.
“That’s seems easy enough,” Adam said.
“Yeah, but we have to take her bed apart and move it out first.” Nick said
Adam walked over and saw the large antique wood, four-poster bed his sister slept in. “Oh, swell. It probably weighs a ton too,” he complained.
Everyone laughed. “Get the tool,” Adam said.
After Adam and Nick had taken the bed apart, LeAnn got on her hands and knees to clean the hardwood floor before they unrolled the rug.
As she was mopping and polishing the floor, one of the floorboards wiggled.
“Oh no!” She said in an upset tone.
“What is it?” Matt came running into the room. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said, putting down the rag. One of the floor boards is loose. Actually, a couple of them are loose. I think the floor must be rotting or something.”
“Let me see, honey.” Matt knelt next to her. With his good hand, he checked the floor boards and saw she was right. But it was weird how they were moving. It was almost as if someone had purposely made the boards to be removable. He spotted a knothole. Matt put his finger in it and pulled up. The board came out.
“Matt, what are you doing? You’re ruining my floor!” she screamed.
“Relax, LeAnn. This board was made to come up. Look, the next one comes up too.”
She came closer and looked. She put her hand under the next board and pulled up. The board came out easily. She looked down into the dark space. There on the bottom was what looked like ledgers. On top of the ledgers was a silver metal box that looked like a cash box. LeAnn reached in and removed the box and ledgers.
Holding the metal box on her lap, she slowly opened it. Inside were several unopened letters. She picked up one of the letters. It was addressed to Amelia Tabor. “What the—?” Then she looked at the return address, Jonathan Armstrong, “You have got to be kidding me!”
Adam looked at her, “What?”
“These are letters from Jonathan Armstrong to Amelia Tabor.”
“So?”
“They’ve never been opened.” She examined every letter she took out from the metal box, and not a one had been opened. There were twenty-three letters. “He never gave her the letters. She didn’t know that Jonathan had written her.” LeAnn was talking out loud but really talking to herself. Looking up at Matt, she said, “Amelia never knew that Jonathan had been writing to her. Her father kept the letters from her.” Matt saw tears in LeAnn’s eyes an put his arms around her.
“Check these ledgers out. It looks like Ephraim Tabor was extremely wealthy and he had a silent partner,” Nick said, looking over the leather bound bank ledgers.
“What do you mean?” LeAnn asked.
“He shows the money he took in, but he gave a percentage to a Jacob Carver.”
“Who?” Matt asked quickly, reaching for one of the ledgers.
“Jacob Carver,” repeated Nick, looking at Matt. “You know that name?”
“Well, maybe. I think Phoebe Armstrong’s maiden name was Carver.” Matt looked over towards LeAnn. “I think I read that name in the old newspapers LeAnn found in the attic.”
“Are you serious? Phoebe’s father was partners with Amelia’s father?” LeAnn said wide-eyed
Matt shook his head, “I’m not positive, but I think maybe.”
She got up and ran out of the room and down the stairs to the music room where the newspapers were.
“Hey, where are you going? Adam called out after LeAnn.
She didn’t answer. She ran to where the newspapers were stacked. She started to go through them quickly. Soon she found what she was looking for, an article entitled “Bank Owner’s Daughter Weds”. She read the article quickly. “Mr. and Mrs. Jacob S. Carver announced the marriage of their daughter Phoebe to banker Jonathan Armstrong in a private ceremony at the bride’s parent’s home.” LeAnn read further and learned that the article said Jonathan was an executive in the bank Phoebe’s father owned.
“Oh my God! Jonathan married the boss’s daughter. And the boss was a silent partner with Ephraim Tabor. No wonder Tabor got all those contracts to design and build the banks.” LeAnn was speechless. Then, suddenly she was sad when she remembered that Jonathan was so in love with Amelia. He had probably been writing to her while he was married to Phoebe. Those were probably love letters but Amelia’s father had intercepted them, and Amelia never knew they existed! She thought. Because of the work relationship with Phoebe’s father, Ephraim couldn’t let Amelia ever marry Jonathan. He had to keep the two apart. Ephraim couldn’t let Amelia ever marry Jonathan. He had to keep the two apart. Ephraim couldn’t risk losing all of that money.
Adam came downstairs, where he found his sister on the floor in the library with all the old newspapers.
He chuckled. “What are you doing?” He walked over to where his sister was and sat on the floor next to her.
LeAnn looked at her brother. “Adam, there is so much sadness in this house. Jonathan and Amelia were so in love. Then Phoebe got pregnant with Jonathan’s baby, and Jonathan had to marry her. Then he was killed and…”
“Whoa! Hold it, hold it. What in the world are you talking about? You’ve lost me.” Adam looked at his sister with great concern, hoping she hadn’t lost her mind with all this ghost stuff. “Calm down, sis, and try to tell me what you’re talking about.”
LeAnn just looked at him, her attention somewhere else. “Adam, there is too much to try to explain now. I have to go talk to Matt.” Abruptly, she stood up and ran up the stairs.
His mouth dropped open as he stared at his sister running out of the room and up the stairs. “What in the world is going on here?”
LeAnn found Matt and Nick still looking over the ledgers. Matt looked at her, “Man, these guys made a lot of money! They were loaded. I should have been a banker.”
“Crooks more like it,” Nick said. “They had two sets of books: one set for the bank board of trustees and one set for themselves.”
“Matt,” LeAnn started, “I want you to tell me where Phoebe and Amelia live.”
“Whoa! Where did that come from?” Matt said shocked.
“I want to go see Phoebe and Amelia.”
“LeAnn, do you realize how old those women must be today? Why in the world would you want to drudge up their past?” Matt asked.
Starting to get angry, LeAnn said, “Because their past is interfering with my life today.”
“Hey, sis, calm down.” Adam had come back upstairs and stood next to his sister.
LeAnn looked at her brother, “Adam, I want to understand what it is in that boathouse ballroom and why it won’t leave me alone. Why is it there? I know you guys don’t believe that it’s a ghost, or an entity from the past. After everything that’s happened, I do believe!” She looked at Matt disappointed, “Maybe those two women can help me.” Her voice was begging for someone to be on her side.
Matt came over and put his arm around her. “All right. I’ll ask my mom. She’ll know where they are. Okay?”
“Thank you, Matt. Thank you.”
“Okay, so, let’s get the floor put back together and get this carpet unrolled. We have to get the bed back together so LeAnn can have a place to sleep tonight.” Nick started giving orders.
The guys got to work. LeAnn slowly walked over to her vanity, holding the letters. She set them down and opened the top right-hand drawer. She reached in and pulled out the velvet box. Opening the box slowly, she once again, saw the beautiful pearl bracelet. The gold heart with the initials of the two lovers twinkled in the sunlight. When did he give this to you Amelia? Leann wondered. I’ll bet it’s in the journal.
“Hey, LeAnn, where do you want this table?” Adam asked. She would have to check the journal later. This stuff had to get done first. She put the bracelet back in the box. Walking out to the hallway, she called out, “What table?”
After they finished, Matt suggested that they all go to Gus’ Tavern for dinner. LeAnn’s mood changed and her face lit up, as she remembered the good looking Greek man and his beautiful wife. “I would love for Adam to meet Gus and Mary. Great idea. Nick, call Hannah and join us. We can make a night of it.”
“I’m in,” Nick said. As he spoke, he reached into his pocket for his cell phone and started to dial Hannah’s number.
“Who are Gus and Mary?” Adam asked looking at everyone.
“They’re a Greek couple that own a tavern on the lake and have the best food around,” Matt said. LeAnn looked at him in shock. Matt saw the expression on her face and laughed realizing what he had just said. “Yeah, even better than Ridgewood’s.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “But don’t tell my mom I said that.”
Nick came back to join the group while talking on his cell phone. “Great, Hannah, I’ll pick you up, and we’ll meet everyone there.” He hung up and said, “Hannah’s in. She thinks it’s a great idea, and she can’t wait to see you, LeAnn.”
“Okay, it’s a party then,” Matt said. “We’ll go by boat. Nick, go get Hannah and we’ll wait here for you. I’ll call Gus and tell him we’re coming.” Matt looked at his watch, “How about we meet here at five?” Everyone agreed. Nick headed for the door as Matt called Gus and told him to expect five for dinner at five-thirty.
Matt turned to LeAnn and Adam, “Gus is all excited we’re coming. He says he has a surprise for us. Seems, it’s Greek Night at Gus’ Tavern.”
“Greek Night? What’s that?” Adam asked looking from Matt to LeAnn.
“Don’t look at me,” LeAnn said, laughing, “I’m new in these parts.”
He turned looking at Matt.
“Knowing Gus, it could mean anything. Hey, maybe belly dancers,” Matt laughed.
“Oh yeah, sure, Mary’s going to let her husband have a belly dancer.” LeAnn spoke up and slapped Matt on the shoulder. “I’m going to go take a shower.” She turned and headed for her bathroom.
Adam looked at Matt, “What’s wrong with belly dancers?” Matt and Adam shrugged and burst out laughing.
Then Adam asked, “Which room is mine?”
“Why don’t you take the front guest room? I’m sure that’s the room LeAnn would want you to have. It’s bigger than the other guest room and has a lake view.”
“Perfect.” Adam responded, and headed down the stairs to get his bags.
Matt headed for LeAnn’s room and could hear she was already in the shower. “Hmmm,” he thought with a mischievous smile, “I need a shower too.”