Refuge on Leebrick (The Hills of Burlington Book 4) Page 17

  Mary agreed with her aunt on that wholeheartedly. For almost ten years after the death of her husband and her two sisters, all within one horrendous year, Charlie had simply pulled into herself. Oh, she got through the days. But that was all she did. It was only in the past year or so that she’d actually begun living each day again instead of simply going through the motions and passing time. Thank goodness.

  “Sweetie. I’ll make a point of writing down what I remember as much as I can when I remember it. I think I’ve already got down on paper most of what I heard all those years ago but let me take a few more days to see if anything else pops. Then I’ll give it to you girls.”

  “That’s more than fine, Aunt Charlie. You take whatever time you need.” She looked at the painting again. “She’s such a beautiful girl, isn’t she?”

  “Inside and out.” Charlie slipped her arm around her niece. “Each and every one of my girls are.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  “You know there’s at least half a dozen things we could…actually that we should be doing at the newspaper.” Mark didn’t bother to mention that they should be doing those things rather than spending a long lunch at one of Mary’s many Burlington properties. That was a given. Neither was the man he was now following up the stairs of one of her latest acquisitions stupid. Both knew exactly what he was talking about.

  “This won’t take long,” Jake said easily. It wasn’t lost on him that most of what Mark was griping about had more to do with not knowing why he was being dragged here than anything having to do with all that needed to be done at the newspaper the two of them now co-owned. Or, he corrected in his mind as he often had to, mostly co-owned. His cousin, Dave, had a ten percent share of the place and a descendant of the man who’d founded the newspaper had held on to his twenty-five percent share of the floundering institution. That still left the two of them with a controlling majority share. In many ways that little piece of data didn’t mean a whole lot since both of the other owners were about as silent as church mice. A more than fair deal when it came to silent partners as far as he was concerned. And besides that, the place wasn’t floundering anymore which he knew would keep their silent partners silent.

  Jake opened the door leading into the linen closet that served as a entryway of sorts into the small room behind it. The small room that housed books filled with information on generations of his family even he was intrigued by. If Mark was at all surprised about where he was being led he hadn’t made any comment about it yet. There was absolute silence behind him contrary to the continual complaints on the way up the stairs. Jake wondered if Mary’s suspicion would prove out once his old friend and current business partner took those first few steps into the inner room they were heading for.

  He didn’t have to wait long. He was barely five steps into the room when he heard the sounds of a commotion behind him that had him turning around. It didn’t take much to figure out what had happened. Mark had stopped dead in his tracks. Having done so as quickly as it appeared he had caused Tom, who had quietly come into the room behind them, to walk straight into Mark causing both to stumble forward quite a bit even as each worked to keep their balance. In that moment Jake realized it was a good thing he hadn’t put any money down on Mary’s suggestion. He would have lost it handily. The expression on Mark’s face told him everything he needed to know before anyone said anything. Shock was a good description but staggering astonishment probably worked better.

  “Something wrong?” Jake asked his business partner dryly. He looked past Mark to Tom, who also had a knowing grin on his face, probably a mirror of the one on his own. He too had recently felt the gut punch on entering the room for the first time. And it hadn’t been all that long ago. It had been that event that had intensified their quest for more information about their unknown ancestors. It had also given credence to much of the research they’d already done over the last couple of months before Tom’s arrival.

  “You tell me.” Mark took a deep breath. Then another. He’d heard about the room behind the linen closet. Casey had brought his wife Terry up here sometime in the last couple of days. He’d heard all about it. But he definitely couldn’t remember hearing anything about having the wind knocked out of you when you walked through the door. The look on Jake’s face told him that whatever had happened wasn’t totally unexpected. At least not by his business partner and friend. And he didn’t have to turn around to look at Tom to know his expression was much the same as Jake’s. He could practically hear the man’s amusement coming in his direction silent that it might be. He wasn’t keen on being on the receiving end of anyone’s joke but he had a feeling there was a lot more to this than fun and games.

  Jake watched as Tom pulled a folded packet of papers from the inside pocket of his jacket and silently handed it to Mark.

  “What’s this?”

  “Your family tree. It’s several pages long so for the moment you might want to focus on the parts that I highlighted on the first and last pages. That will give you a better sense of things before Jake fills in all the holes,” Tom said almost casually before adding in a dryer tone that was very similar to Jake’s. “Which are many and most of them are deep.”

  Mark let that convoluted comment slide past him as he studied the sheets of paper in his hands. He focused on the highlighted areas but skimmed through all of it on the way to the highlighted lines on the last page. He wasn’t at all certain how he felt about what he saw there. “We’re related.” He looked at Jake. He’d known the man for a long time. First as a colleague in the world of journalism where they had first met then as a friend and professional confidante. One he knew he could trust to keep his mouth shut in an industry not known for it.

  Mark continued to look through the papers. Then he turned around. “You’re on here too. Page two where there aren’t any highlights but I saw the name. It can’t be a coincidence.” He wasn’t surprised by Tom’s slight nod of acknowledgment. Or by the barely evident smirk that he hadn’t been able to rein in. He shifted and turned so he could look at both of them. “We’re all related.” He knew he was being redundant but nothing else seemed to form in his brain at that moment and simultaneously make its way to his mouth.

  “We are that,” Jake said easily enjoying his friend’s discomfort more than he thought possible. Maybe he didn’t feel quite so irritated with Mary after-all. “It’s a distant relationship, that’s for certain. Kind of like that faraway, ever so remote galaxy on those old Lost in Space re-runs but the connection is there, that’s for sure.”

  “That sounds…” Mark just stopped. He had no idea what he thought about all of this let alone what to say.

  Jake tilted his head to one side as he studied the other man thoughtfully. “Got your breath back yet?” He tried again to keep the amusement out of his voice but failed abysmally.

  “And exactly what the hell was all that about?” Mark looked at both of them. Neither seemed all too surprised by his reaction to what had literally hit him like an invisible sledge hammer practically from the moment he stepped into the room. He wasn’t even certain he had both feet in the room when it hit him seemingly coming from out of nowhere. “What hit me?” But he had a feeling he knew. Deep down where it mattered most he knew. He suddenly had memories that weren’t there minutes before. Moments before. Memories of people and places he’d never been, had never heard of…but someone had.

  Jake scooted the old desk chair out with his foot and swung it around so he could sit down in it facing the high back of the chair. He leaned forward and crossed his arms along the backside of it. “I don’t know that I can help with the what portion of your question but I think we’ve got an idea of the how and why.” He glanced at Tom to see that he too had gotten comfortable where he was, leaning against the wall just inside the small room. “It appears that many who’re connected to the family, even in distant remote ways, are the ones who get the big welcome on their arrival here. And there’s also the theory that the more di
rect the family connection the greater the impact.” He watched Mark’s face, knew it almost as well as his own. “Hit me pretty hard. But to hear Tom tell it he got punched even harder. The women, not so much.”

  “Why’s that?” Mark wandered the room as he listened, which didn’t take much as small as it was.

  “The women or Tom?”

  “Either.”

  “The general consensus is the women aren’t hit by it like we are so much the first time they come in. With them it seems to grow stronger each time they visit. I guess you could say they ease into it instead of being blasted by it like we are.” Jake looked over at Tom, saw he was still leaving all this to him and didn’t appear to have anything to add at this point. “I will say that after the first time you won’t feel it quite so much when you come in,” Jake added almost as an afterthought before continuing on from where he’d started. “Anyway, from what we know to this point or at least as far as we’re able to research only the female descendants were able to connect with the…” He stopped and looked to Tom for how to express whatever the heck it was they felt in here and was grateful when he pulled away from the wall obviously willing to finally add his thoughts on it.

  “From all that we’ve read and been able to learn in the journals left behind by many of the women of this family it seems pretty clear that what’s felt in here is left over emotional energy stemming from what they experienced in their lives,” Tom nodded to the book laden shelves that filled the wall beside him. “Based on what’s written only the women were able to feel it, were able to connect with what remains here or wherever else these were stored through the centuries. From what Beth and I have found out in our research there’s no documentation that any of the men of the family ever made the connection to this emotional energy or whatever you want to call it until Jake walked in here and was hit by it.”

  “Tom found out he was connected after Mary brought him over to show him the place so he could decide if he wanted to stay here while he was in town.” He smiled at his friend and business partner. And very distant cousin. “And now there’s you.”

  “After I found my distant connection in the family tree we all began to wonder if anyone else who we’d known a long time might be somehow connected.” Tom walked over to the long shelf of books and thought about all they held…all that had been sacrificed along the way by the women who’d contributed to the knowledge contained within them.

  “Especially if that person found themselves a resident of Burlington,” Jake said into the silence that had fallen in the room.

  Mark was beginning to understand where all of this was going. It also explained why Casey had brought Terry over here. “You believe my decision to move here was more than just a business decision?” Mark asked as the thought played around in his head. He wasn’t certain how he felt about any of this.

  “I think,” Jake glanced at Tom and knew this one was on him. “My personal opinion on that is if there was anything else that had to do with your decision to move here other than to buy into the newspaper with me it would be the people.” He glanced back at Tom and saw he understood and agreed with where he was going. “I don’t believe this room draws us here, I think family, however loosely connected, draws us together. As far as I’m concerned, if anything could influence any of us to do something we normally wouldn’t be inclined to it would be family.”

  “There’s something else we should think about as well,” Tom said then waited until he was certain he had their attention. “I agree with the theory that the women don’t get hit like we do because the impact of the room comes to them over time. It’s almost as if it’s in such a way that allows them to adjust to it.” He paused, wasn’t certain whether what he was about to say would answer any questions or add more to the list of what they didn’t know. Lord only knew there was plenty they didn’t understand. “I think it’s possible the reason that we’re hit harder initially is because we are men. Through the generations it’s only been women who have been able to sense what these books hold. Maybe over the generations the women of the family have adapted to it. Whatever,” he didn’t know if that explained his thoughts but for the life of him he couldn’t think of another way to put it. “But assuming that, the opposite of that would be that…”

  “The men haven’t adapted to it because they were never in tune with it…or whatever,” Jake finished for him. “At least until this generation. That makes sense, a hell of a lot of sense.”

  Mark just stared at his business partner. He understood Tom’s rationale. He could even see the logic in it. “That sounds all and good maybe for you. I sure as hell don’t see the sense in any of this so far.”

  “Give it time,” Tom advised sagely. He knew how the other man was feeling. “It’ll grow on you.”

  “And if it doesn’t Casey will nag you until it does,” Jake added knowing that little bit of information would only add to the other man’s day. He just laughed when Mark’s dole expression told him his comment had been received and understood.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Mary carefully stepped over the boxes she’d yet to unpack as she made her way to the door. Only moments before someone had tapped on it just loud enough for her to hear from where she was in the back of the large room. When she swung it open she was surprised at who her visitor was.

  “Liana.” She opened the door wider and motioned her inside. “I didn’t know you were going to be back this quickly.”

  “Neither did I actually.” Liana fought back the need to wring her hands together. She wasn’t that person any longer. Wouldn’t be. “I hope you don’t mind. My…the children’s father wanted to take them on a vacation for a week or so. I decided to go ahead and move the little I’m bringing with me so I can get things set up before the kids are here.”

  “Smart thinking.” Mary wondered how much the empty and probably all too quiet house the woman had left behind played into her decision. “And if I remember correctly and I bet I do, putting things the way you want them without little helping hands will take about half of what it would with their eager assistance.” She smiled gently, her own memories of those times just under the surface of her thoughts. “My own children were very much that way. I can’t tell you how much I miss every bit of their pandemonium now that they’re grown up.”

  “Oh, yes. They love to help out.” And Liana could see easily for herself just how well the other woman understood her conundrum. “I never realized how quiet the house could be without them dashing around from one room to another.” She stared off into the distance…at all that wasn’t there any more. “I hated it.”

  “Then you made the perfect decision.” Mary looped her arm through the other woman’s and led her towards the back of the small house that sat behind the one Liana would soon bring her children to. “The kitchen, or what I’m calling a kitchen, is small but I’ve got a coffee pot set up. I was just getting ready to take a break and make a pot. Now you can keep me company.” She reached out to flip the button so the coffee she’d just put together would begin to brew. “Tell me how things are going.”

  “Things are…calmer.” Liana decided that described it as well as anything could. “The kids are excited about coming here. They see it as a huge adventure. Even going to a new school doesn’t bother them.”

  “Kids are capable of seeing almost anything as a huge adventure,” Mary said, again remembering how easily her own children adapted to change. Often far easier than she did.

  “Yes. Well mine seem to be more capable than most.” She took a breath and pushed ahead with one of the reasons she’d come looking for the woman who was lifting a couple of mugs she’d found out of a box on the floor. “I’ve talked with Leslie. I don’t know what happened but according to her whatever the problems were they’re taken care of.” She looked steadily at Mary. “I know even though she wouldn’t admit to it I have you to thank for that.”

  “There was nothing to take care of, Liana. Sometimes people simply ha
ve way too much time on their hands and unfortunately nothing better to do with it than cause heartache for others. Sadly, it’s not an uncommon phenomenon.”

  Liana wondered at the sadness with which Mary’s words were spoken but didn’t feel comfortable enough yet to ask her about it. She owed the other woman far too much to take a chance on opening the door on something that obviously had caused her misery somewhere along the way. “Well, it still needs to be said. I’m grateful for not having to worry about what might or might not have come of their efforts no matter what their motivations might have been.”

  “Let’s put that to rest, Liana. I know and you know what this was about. We also both know that the situation you were dealing with had a lot to do with your mindset at the time that allowed it to drag out. As long as both you and I are satisfied with how this has been resolved so, I promise you, is Leslie.”

  “I got the same from Leslie. She made it clear that as far as she was concerned it was over and nothing more needed to be said about it.” Liana looked down into her coffee, still stirring it though the creamer she’d added had quickly dissolved into the hot brew. “I just don’t understand what set them off against me the way they were. I didn’t even personally know half of those you said were pressing for Leslie to break my contract. And it seemed no matter what I said or did nothing made it better…only worse. I was at my rope’s end. I wasn’t nearly as concerned about the contract as I was what any publicity about it might do to my kids especially with what they’ve already been through.”

  “Don’t worry about it now. It’s over and there’s nothing in regards to that situation that is going to hurt your kids. Unless you choose to tell them they’ll never hear about it,” Mary said staunchly. She wondered though if Liana had any idea of just how involved her former husband had become in the resolution of the situation. Leslie hadn’t been all that forthcoming even with her the last time she’d spoken with her. But she’d said enough so that she knew that despite their divorce he still had a mile-wide protective streak when it came to his ex-wife. And from what Mary heard it had little to do with their children. She sighed inwardly. The last thing she wanted to do was cause the younger woman sitting across from her any more angst. But after what she’d heard from Leslie and with what she knew from Liana herself, well, she knew she was going to stick her nose where it didn’t belong.