The drive from New York to this far corner of Pennsylvania took longer
than I’d expected, and by the time I pulled up the long curved driveway I was
wiped out. Suzie had promised that most of the guests wouldn’t arrive until the
evening, so I was looking forward to having some time to myself before the “fun”
began.
I pulled my rental car through the wooden porte-cochère that arched over
the drive and around to the back of the building. Blake’s Maserati was already
there, making my economy rental look shabby by comparison. Knowing Blake and
Suzie’s friends, that might be indicative of the whole weekend.
Why had I agreed to come to this
thing?
Because Suzie had promised me a mystery. During her most recent trip to
the UK, she’d grilled her family about our mutual great, great aunt, and
uncovered a family secret. As much as I dislike large gatherings, I hadn’t been
able to resist.
I grabbed my bag from the trunk – the boot
as Suzie would say – and went around to the front of the house. The door was a
huge slab of polished wood with a pattern of stained-glass squares in the
center. The afternoon sun slanted under the awning, making the multi-colored
panels glow.
I raised my hand to knock but the door opened before my knuckles touched
the wood. A tall, thin man dressed in what looked like a tuxedo welcomed me
into the house with a palm-up wave of his hand, as if he were presenting the
house to me on a platter. I’m sure my jaw hung open for a moment but the man’s
expression remained blandly polite.
We were in the middle of Pennsylvania – where the hell had Suzette found
a butler? I stepped past him into the foyer, and the man nodded. “Welcome, Ms.
Ryder. Ms. Charon is expect—”
“Evie!”
The shriek of my name was accompanied by a flurry of blonde hair as arms
twined around my neck. I stumbled but managed to keep my balance, and returned
the hug with enthusiasm. Suzie had been job-hunting with her fiancé in London
so we hadn’t seen each other for two months.
When Suzie had been accepted into the social work grad program at
Columbia University, she had sought relatives living in the US and found me,
her third cousin by marriage. That we were both going to Columbia seemed like fate to her, although I was
studying art history. She’d called me from London, begging me to get an
apartment with her even though we’d never met. As usual her instincts were spot on and we’d become best friends.
Suzie had finished grad school this fall, and was moving back to the UK
with her fiancé. Since Suzie’s parents were selling the apartment we’d shared
on the Upper West Side, the move was costing me my best friend and a home at
the same time.
Suzie stepped back but kept an arm around my waist. “I missed you, Evie.
I have so much to tell you.
“Same here, Suz. Well, on the missing part.”
Suzie’s eyes narrowed and she turned to me with a pointed finger. “You’ve
been busy since I left, and I expect to hear all about it. Everything.”
I gave her a shrug, but mentally braced myself for an interrogation.
Suzie turned towards the butler who had been standing silently beside us. “Mason,
please bring Ms. Ryder’s bags to the Blue Room in the West Corridor.”
Mason nodded and reached for the suitcase that I’d dropped when Suzie
accosted me. He put it by his feet and held out his hand.
Was I supposed to precede him?
Follow him? Give him something else?
“Your coat, ma’am.”
I shrugged out of my quilted jacket and handed it to Mason, who whisked
it down a side corridor. This whole servant thing was weird. Would I have to
find him when I wanted to go outside – or would he magically appear, alerted to
my approach by some servant sixth sense?
Suzie and I headed for the stairs. Soft footsteps followed us. We paused
at the landing to let Mason pass, and I turned to take in the entry hall below.
The flagstones of the foyer gave way to a large entry hall paneled in
smooth wood. Arched doorways led off to the right and left. The sun flooded
through the stained glass, turning the floor into a colorful sea of light.
I pointed to the carved wooden flowers decorating the wall where it met
the ceiling. “I’d forgotten how beautiful this hall was. The woodwork there is
gorgeous. “
Suzie’s gaze followed my hand and she nodded. “I guess those aren’t the
kinds of things a kid remembers. How old were you when you came here?”
“Six – and we only stayed for the day.”
I rested my hands on the smooth wooden barrister that lined the outside
edge of the stairs. This I remembered. Although the stairs made a sharp turn,
the bannister curved around the corner in a smooth arc, like a slide.
Suzie stepped up beside me, patting the smooth, polished bar. “I never
noticed the bannister before – it would be fun to slide down it, don’t you
think?” She turned to me. “Did you do that when you visited as a kid?”
I shook my head and felt a funny little twinge of regret.
Suzie smiled and started up the second flight. “I bet you wanted to.
Thought about it every time you walked through this hallway, didn’t you?” She
stopped suddenly at the top of the stairs and whirled to face me, grasping my
hands.
“Oh Evie, who’s going to get you to do wild and crazy things when I’m
gone? Who’s going to make sure you don’t turn into the little Stepford doll
Aunt Marge thinks you should be?”
The genuine concern in her eyes made my throat prickle uncomfortably.
Then her face filled with mischief and the prickle was gone. “We’ll just have
to cram as much wild and crazy into this weekend, so you’re well-stocked when I
take off for London. Maybe you’ll even ride down that bannister.”
***
Suzie turned and continued down the hallway. “Of course, you’ve already
stepped out of Aunt Marge’s perfect pattern, haven’t you? There’s hope for you
yet.”
We rounded another corner, and Suzie pushed open a door halfway down the
hall. As advertised, the room was decorated in shades of blue, from the palest
ice tint on the walls, to the royal swirls woven into the rug and the midnight
accents on the curtain fringe. The furniture was all antique: a large bed with
a delicately carved headboard, a dressing table, a standing mirror, and a tall
wardrobe with double doors. My suitcase sat open on a blue-cushioned bench next
to the wall. Through another open door I could see a bathroom.
I took in the room with a nod. “Luxurious. Does every room have a private
bath?”
“No, I gave you one of the nicer ones. The other guests will have to
share the ones in the hall.”
She sat down on the bed. “You’re glad to be here, aren’t you, Evie? I
know you’re not much for crowds but this should be a good group. There will be
some folks you know, besides Blake and me, of course. Rachelle and Melina, the
two blonde women from my clinical studies class. Also, a woman I went to school
with in London who has since moved to the States. The rest are Blake’s friends.”
My stomach did a little sidestep. “Blake’s friends? From the UK?”
She waved a hand. “No, just the American ones. The UK contingent is
planning a welcome thing for us when we get back.”
My belly relaxed. I was pretty sure the men I’d met at Suzie and Blake’s
holiday party were British, so I wouldn’t run into them this week. For a moment
I didn’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved but then sanity returned.
Men who could make me lose my head like that were to be avoided.
Both of them.
Suzie leaned forward. “Now we’re alone. Tell. Me. Everything.”
I turned away from that too-knowing gaze and ran a hand over the smooth
wood of the dressing table. “I told you on the phone. Colin and I broke up—”
“You mean you broke off the
engagement with him. There is no way that man would have broken off an
engagement to Mr. and Mrs. Ryder’s daughter.” The distain in her voice was
clear.
Although we were no longer together, I couldn’t resist the familiar urge
to defend him to Suzie. “Colin is a nice guy and a great catch—”
Suzie huffed behind me. “Evie, you two are no longer together and you’re
the one who broke it off, so there’s no need to catalog Colin’s finer points
like some sort of pro-con list. The cons clearly won out.”
I shrugged, keeping my back to the bed. She was right of course but that
didn’t mean that it was easy. After two years I’d gotten used to having someone
around, and being alone was, well, lonely.
“Evie.” I turned around. “I know it’s hard when you end a relationship.
But when you’re going to spend the rest of your life with someone, you can’t
settle for whom your mother thinks is best.”
I gave her a half shrug and attempted a smile. “You have to admit, it was
convenient. My parents already liked him.”
“Convenient! Marriages of convenience went out of favor in the Regency
Era
and I doubt they were half as
exciting as your romance novels make them out to be. So what happened? I’d been
saying for ages that he was wrong for you, but it wasn’t until I left town that
you broke things off. What changed?”
Nothing I wanted to share, not even
with my best friend. “I guess I finally came to my senses and realized you
were right.”
She shook her head. “Nice try but I know you better than that. Something
made you change your mind about Colin.” She hopped off the bed. “I’ll get it
out of you eventually. But first, I want to show you something.” A slow smile
spread across her face. “Something you’ll love.”
Trinity Blacio has been writing now professionally for ten years. Currently she has available titles from Freya’s Bower, Ravenous Romance, and Riverdale Anenue Books with more to come. She is always excited to be writing, hearing from readers, and helping fellow authors.
She lives in Wellington, Ohio and shares with her two children, Cheyenne and Rudy, two cats Smokey and Missy. When Trinity has time you can find her reading all sorts of romance novels. But as you have figured out her favorite are Dark Fantasy, Erotic, Menage, Erotic Horror.
Website: http://trinityblacio.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/trinityblacio
Louisa Bacio -
Louisa started reading A. N. Roquelaure’s Sleeping Beauty series at an impressionable age, and has been hooked on erotica ever since. She believes that everyone should have a little love, and a lot of pleasure, in their lives.
Website: http://louisabacio.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Louisabacio
Joy Daniels -
Writer of erotic romance that’s smart, sexy and down-to-Earth!
I write erotic romance because I like to expose my characters completely – strengths, flaws and scars.
Before turning my keyboard to love and lust, I studied oceanography and spent my days trying to save the world one fish at a time. While the environment is still one of my passions, these days my focus is on writing and growing veggies in the Washington, D.C. area with my scientist husband and two curious kids.
I’m originally from New York City and still a loyal Yankees fan. Since moving south of the Mason-Dixon line, I’ve developed passions for NASCAR and country music and both feature prominently in my stories. My debut novella, Revving Her Up, is the first story in the Full Throttle series, which focuses on the bad boys – and girls! – of stockcar racing. It was released by Samhain Publishing on January 15, 2013. Since then I’ve contributed to a number of anthologies and I’m working on a new paranormal series featuring demons, angels and New York City cops.
Website: http://authorjoydaniels.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorJDaniels
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