“Amanda? It’s Tyler. Did I wake you?”
“It’s all right. What’s up?”
“First, I wondered how you are feeling. I didn’t realize how badly your car had been damaged until I got the report this morning.”
“I’m a little stiff and sore, but it’s not bad.”
“Alex just told me that you’re there alone.”
“Yes.” Sort of, if you don’t count ghosts.
“Could I talk you into staying here for a few days? Just until we’re sure the problem with Sam’s family is cleared up? Alex will be here, and the rest of the security staff, but if you’d like to invite your cousins or someone else to stay here as a chaperone-”
She smiled to herself. “I think I can manage without a chaperone at this point in life,” she said. “But thanks.”
“Will you stay with us, then?”
She looked around her. Was there any reason to be here? The sad truth was, she had a completely blank to-do list. A blank calendar. A blank life.
And if she stayed at Tyler’s house, perhaps she’d get over this ridiculous obsession with him.
Familiarity breeds contempt, right? Or is that, obsession breeds rationalization?
“Amanda?”
“I’m here. Can you give me a little time to think about it?”
“Sure. But-say yes.”
She laughed. “I’ll call back in a little while.”
A hot shower eased most of her aches to a tolerable level.
She dressed in jeans and a light sweater, then went downstairs and sat in the living room. She listened to a silence broken only by the ticking of the grandfather clock in the hall and the soft hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen.
I can always come back, can’t I? It’s not as if he’s asking me to live in another country.
She went upstairs and packed a small overnight case.
She called.
“Yes,” she told him.
“Thank you. I’ll be there in a few moments.”
Tyler hung up the phone, and took the stairs down to the garage, Shade following on his heels.
He hesitated when he saw that the dog wanted to get into the Mini Cooper with him.
“Ah-should I take you with me? Yes. I think it’s best if she grows accustomed to you. But let’s take the van instead, so we’re not crowded-that might be too much to ask of her.”
When he parked and let Shade out of the van, the dog immediately disappeared around a corner of the house. Tyler stared after him, then walked toward the front porch. He was surprised to feel anticipation. He stood for a moment on the steps, savoring it.
When had he last anticipated anything?
Vague memories came to him, from the time near his real youth.
Things will be changing for you.
That message, delivered to him at the last two deathbeds he’d attended. Was this what they meant?
He knocked on the door.
She opened it almost immediately and welcomed him inside. “How are you feeling?” she asked.
“Fine,” he said. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yes, I just have to get my bag from upstairs.”
“May I help you?”
“No thanks, I can get it. Make yourself at home-I’ll be right back down.”
As she went up the stairs, he glanced around him. The room was elegant and yet not lacking in warmth. He closed his eyes for a moment and listened to the sound of the grandfather clock, a sound he found soothing.
When he opened his eyes again, his gaze was drawn to a photograph on a side table, of two handsome young couples surrounding a teenage version of Amanda. He picked it up to study it more closely.
The setting seemed to be a party, the couples and Amanda dressed in evening wear, the adults lifting glasses of champagne. There were many other formally attired people in the background. The photograph had been taken in a large room, with a sweeping staircase in the background, a mansion, but not one he recognized. The adults were laughing, but Amanda, who was looking directly into the camera, wore a serious expression. She looked-perhaps it was his imagination, but he thought she looked hurt, and perhaps disappointed, but was putting on a brave front. He found himself wondering what had happened just before the photo was taken.
He heard Amanda come down the stairs, and turned to see her carrying a small overnight bag. She set the bag down and came to his side. “My parents, Thelia and Hudson Clarke,” she said, pointing to one of the couples, “and my aunt and uncle-Cynthia and Jordan Clarke-Brad and Rebecca’s parents.”
“You don’t look as if you were enjoying yourself.”
“I wasn’t,” she said simply, and started to reach again for her small carry-on-size bag.
He managed to pick it up first, saying, “Allow me.” He frowned, thinking of it being so light. “Is this all?”
“I can always come back here, right?”
“Alex or I will bring you back to gather anything else you might need,” he said as they went out the front door.
She laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“I hear an assumption that I won’t want to come back to my own home.”
“I just want you to be comfortable while you’re with us.”
“Us?”
“Ron and me. And Shade.”
“Don’t forget Alex,” she said, setting the alarm again and locking up.
“Yes, Alex as well. Did you get along with her?” he asked as they walked outside.
“Yes. I like straightforward people.”
He fell silent, busying himself with stowing her bag in the van.
He heard a sound and looked up. “I wonder what that dog is up to now?”
She turned quickly to look in the direction of his gaze. She looked panic-stricken. “What dog?”
“Shade. Are you all right? I didn’t think he still frightened you…”
“Oh, no. He doesn’t. Not much anyway. I just wondered if you were seeing that other dog.”
“What other dog?”
“Didn’t Alex tell you? A strange dog has been coming around here. It was running loose in the woods between our houses last night-Alex said it looked like Shade, but we knew Shade was with you.”
“You thought it was Shade?”
“But he was with you, right?”
“Yes, he came upstairs with me, but I did notice that he stayed out on the deck, watching for something last night. Perhaps…” His voice trailed off as he considered how little interest Shade usually took in other dogs. “Alex didn’t tell me any of this, but she’s been working the late shift, so perhaps over the hours I slept, it slipped her mind. Did the dog look like Shade to you?”
“I’ve never seen it. I’ve heard it, though. And I’ve seen tracks near the house.” She shuddered. “Judging from those, it’s a big dog.”
He put an arm around her shoulders. “You saw tracks last night? Was that the first time?”
“No, I think the first time was the night someone broke into your house, while you were in St. Louis. But-was Shade with you then?”
“Yes. He travels with me.” Seeing her curiosity about that plainly written on her face, he quickly added, “This other dog has obviously frightened you. Has it tried to get into the house?”
“Not exactly, but it isn’t shy about coming close to it. That’s why I moved to the upstairs bedroom-I kept hearing it at night, near my bedroom window. Maybe that makes me sound like I’m totally chicken, but-well, yes-I’m scared.”
“Understandable, though. Can you show me some of the tracks?”
They found Shade intently sniffing the ground beneath her old bedroom window.
Tyler reluctantly let go of her and bent to study the ground.
“These, here in the dried mud?” he asked.
She edged closer, then nodded.
Shade came to her side, tail wagging. Tyler worried that she would be further frightened by him, but she reached out and petted him.
“You’re looking for that other dog, aren’t you, Shade?” she said.