The Billionaire's Secrets(3)

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.