knock at the front door, Chase noticed some of the floorboards were hanging loose from their joints and bits of paint had begun to peel off of decades-old exterior walls. He looked closer and found cobwebs lurking in dark, dingy corners of the veranda.
Apparently the maintenance had been ignored for quite some time. A flash of anger at Kate for letting things slide cameâand quickly went. This much deterioration had to have begun with her father. Princess Kate would know no better. No sense blaming her for things she hadnât done. There were plenty of other things for which she deserved the blame.
âWelcome, Chase.â The alto voice was feminine but not Kateâs.
He turned to see a slight woman in her midtwenties with ash-blond hair and soft-gray eyes, standing at the open door with a toddler in her arms. It was the quiet look in the womanâs eyes that made the schoolday memories reel forward in his mind.
âHello, Shelby,â he murmured. âItâs been a while.â
She stood aside and let him move through the doorway. âTen years. This is my daughter, Madeleine. Weâve been expecting you this morning.â
âHow do you do, Madeleine,â Chase said to the serious baby with the big blue eyes, before he returned his attention to her mother. âKate tells me you and your daughter are living in one of the guest cottages, Shelby. You divorced?â
Shelby chuckled, turned and headed toward the sweeping, main staircase. âYou get right to the basics, donât you, Severin? No, I am not divorced. Maddieâs father was a marine. Went off and got himself killed before he even knew he had a child on the way. And no, Iâm not his widow, either. We werenât married.â
Chase followed Shelby up the wide, carpeted stairs. He could easily see now why Kate had wanted to help this woman and her child. Her story had disturbed him a great deal, and he barely knew her.
âKate didnât mention which room youâd be wanting to occupy,â Shelby said when she reached the top of the staircase. âI try to keep up with the cleaning, but I didnât know you were moving in until this morning. If you want one of the rooms that isnât made up, itâll only take me twenty minutes or so toâ¦â
âWould you mind giving me a short tour of the house first?â He still did not know what his own intentions were. âWhereâs Kate?â
Shelby moved the baby to her hip and gestured to the faded carpet. âLeave your luggage here on the landing. Iâll show you around. Kate is outside doing Saturday chores.â
âKate? Doing chores? Youâre kidding.â
âHold it, Severin,â Shelby said as she stopped and poked a finger at his chest. âYouâve been gone a long time. Maybe before you just jump to conclusions, you might want to take the time to really see the way things are now.â
He dropped his luggage and smiled at the irate woman and her child. âPoint taken.â Chase wasnât sure he would be able to stand spending enough time here to see anything though, not with all the unwanted feelings that kept getting dredged up whenever he was around Kate. âLead on with the tour.â
For the next half hour Shelby showed him through the ten upstairs bedrooms, the kitchen, dining room, library and four parlors. Everything was clean but shabby. It made him melancholy to think of a grand historical house like this one falling into such disrepair.
Finally they arrived back at the base of the main staircase. âYou wonât need to make up a room for me,â he said before they could climb the front stairs again. âIâll store my luggage for today and Kate and I will work out the sleeping arrangements later. Thanks.â
Shelby released the baby on the marble floor, letting her crawl free. âNo problem. Do you mind if I ask you a personal question? Somethingâs
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