Chloe gave them both her bravest smile. "Hi. My name is Chloe," she said in her brightest schoolteacher voice. "I don't know whether I've arrived on the right day or not, but I'm Sophia's new teacher."
"Goodness gracious, girl!" the woman exclaimed, opening the door wider, letting out a seductive flood of warmth. Behind her, Chloe glimpsed a huge wood-panelled hall, adding to the impression that Widow's Peak was indeed a castle. "You're early. We weren't expecting you for another week and a half!"
"I think I got my dates mixed up," Chloe said weakly.
"Well, never you mind, you come right in."
"Thank you," Chloe said gratefully. She picked up her bags and set them down inside the door. "You must be Sophia," she said to the little girl.
Sophia nodded her head vigorously, all signs of distrust melting like an icicle in the sun.
"I'm sorry I frightened you," Chloe said.
Sophia smiled. "I was just playing," she said.
Chloe glanced at the housekeeper.
"Like I say, she rubs me nerves," she said without any sign of irritation. She spoke with a distinctive Newfoundland accent, musical and lilting, reminiscent of her Irish ancestors. "She probably saw you there with your hair like a birch broom in fits and thought you was a ghost or something. I must say you gave me a start myself. And I wasn't expecting anyone as young as you!"
Chloe laughed as much at the housekeeper's expressions as at the idea of Sophia thinking she was a ghost. "Did you really think I was a ghost?" she asked the girl.
Sophia shook her head, and Chloe smiled at her. She liked her already and wondered how much of the immediate need she felt to protect Sophia had to do with the girl's father.
The housekeeper started to pick up the bags, but Chloe stopped her. "Please, don't pick them up. I'll move them. Maybe Sophia can show me my room." Silently she prayed that it would still be her room tomorrow and that Gaelan Byrne would not send her back on the first plane out of St. John's.
"Okay, okay," said the woman. "But first, we'll have a cup'a tea. You look tired and froze right through."
"A cup of tea sounds lovely," Chloe said. The housekeeper took her coat and hung it on a coat rack before leading the way to the kitchen.
"I should introduce myself," she said. "My name is Windy."
"I'm pleased to meet you, Windy. I like your name. It's very pretty."
"It suits me. I was born in a gale, my husband died when his fishing boat went down in a gale, and I'm sure I'll be blown to heaven on a gale." She laughed at her own joke, and Chloe joined in.
The kitchen was beautiful and warm. At one end of the room a fire blazed in a large fireplace, while the other end held state-of-the-art appliances that would be the delight of any cook. In between was a long harvest table surrounded by cane-seated chairs. Spread across the table were several children's books, a newspaper, and some children's drawings.
"Did you draw this?" Chloe asked, picking up one of the sheets of paper and holding it out to Sophia. A picture of a house on a cliff, it was dark and brooding, with storm clouds gathering above it and a wild sea smashing below.
Sophia nodded a bit hesitantly, as if wondering whether she was about to get in trouble.
"It's very good," Chloe said sincerely. Actually, the drawings were excellent for a child of six. Sophia was obviously very talented. "Is it Widow's Cliff?"
Sophia nodded, more enthusiastically this time. She picked up a picture of a cat and handed it to Chloe. "I drew this one too. It's my cat, Cookies. He's upstairs in my room right now. You can come up and meet him."
Chloe took it from the child. "I'd love to. Do you draw a lot?"
Sophia shrugged. "Sometimes."
Windy placed steaming mugs of tea and a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies on the table. Chloe was pleased when Sophia chose to sit next to her. She felt warm and happy. Oh please, don't send me away! she prayed silently, not knowing if it was a higher power or Gaelan Byrne she was praying to.
"Can I have two cookies, Windy?" Sophia asked.
"Yes, dear," Windy said.
"Can Chloe?" she said.
Windy laughed. "Chloe is the guest, and she can have as many as she wants."
Chloe complimented Windy on the cookies and tea and listened attentively to Sophia as she talked about her drawings. Except for the house picture, they were all of moose, bears, and other animals, and Chloe concluded that Sophia's true passion was animals, not drawing. Nonetheless, the girl was talented, and Chloe vowed to encourage her. That is, if she were allowed to stay.
"Do we start school tomorrow?" Sophia asked hopefully.
Chloe suppressed a sigh with a sip of tea. "I don't know, Sophia. I still have to talk to your father. I'm not sure I'll be your new teacher. I'd like to be, but it's up to him."
Windy looked like she was about to object, but Chloe shot her what she hoped was a warning glance.
"You are my new teacher! He promised!" Sophia objected. She crossed her arms and stuck out her bottom lip in the universal sign of sulkiness.
Chloe put her arm around the girl's shoulders and gave her a quick hug. "Well, you keep your fingers crossed then that everything works out." Chloe always found it difficult to explain the foibles of adults to children. It was a hard lesson for them to learn that adults could not always be relied on to keep their promises. "How about you show me my room? I could use some help with my suitcases."
Sophia immediately brightened. "Okay," she said pulling away from Chloe and running out into the hall. Chloe had been about to follow, but Windy put a hand on her arm to stop her.
"Do you not want to stay here?" she asked in a low voice.
"Of course I do," Chloe said earnestly, casting a glance at Sophia. "I already love it here. I just don't know about Mr. Byrne. I met him on the road on the way in, and he didn't seem very happy to see me."
"Oh, that's just Gaelan. You can't put too much stock in that. He's an odd duck for sure. Doesn't know what's good for him anymore. He's been hurt real badly. Ever since his wife-" Windy stopped short as Sophia picked up the heaviest of Chloe's bags.
"Sophia, put that down! It's much too heavy for you."
Chloe thought that Windy must be referring to the death of Gaelan Byrne's wife. Of course-he must still be in mourning, and wasn't anger one of the stages of grief?
"I can carry it," Sophia insisted.
"Windy's right," Chloe said, taking the bag from the girl. "You carry this one." She pointed to the bag whose contents had so recently been dumped on the road. "It isn't so heavy."
Windy picked up the remaining bag that held the books and school supplies Chloe had brought. "How did you carry this all yourself?"
"It wasn't too bad," Chloe lied. She didn't want to explain how she had expected to be picked up at the airport and how Gaelan had left her standing on the drive with all of her bags.
An open staircase wound up one side of the hallway to a second-floor landing that looked over it. Long halls branched off on either side of the landing, confirming Chloe's suspicion that the house was more like a castle. "Do you clean this house all by yourself?"
"No, thank heavens," Windy said as she led the way down one of these halls. "Two local girls come in every morning. Really, I just look after the cooking and washing up. And Sophia, of course." They reached the end of the hall, and Windy opened the last door on the right.
The room was huge, and out of one corner jutted a circular area surrounded by windows. "A turret!" Chloe exclaimed. She couldn't believe this was her room-it was like something out of a historical romance novel! Her old apartment with Shawn in Boston was a broom closet next to this. Windy went over and lit the fireplace. Facing the fireplace was a chintz-covered loveseat, and Chloe imagined herself curled up with a good book. The floors were dark planks covered with excellent Middle Eastern carpets. But the icing on the cake was an antique canopy bed complete with bed curtains. Not in her wildest dreams had Chloe imagined herself in surroundings like this. She went to the turret windows and pulled back the drapes, but there was only blackness.
"The view is beautiful," Windy said, setting the fireplace screen before the fire. "Hopefully, the fog will clear tonight, and you'll get a chance to enjoy it by and by in the morning." Chloe hoped so too, but she was sure Gaelan Byrne was a bigger barrier to enjoying the view. The fog would eventually clear, but whether she would be here when that happened was the bigger question.
"Can I put your clothes away?" Sophia asked.
"Not tonight, sweetie," Chloe said. "I'm really too tired." She didn't want to bring up the possibility she wouldn't be around long enough to make it worthwhile.