Both men almost slunk out of the room, leaving Mel gaping at Ryne who stood in the doorway holding a shirt in his hand. His stance, his expression, the way his hand was fisted, all screamed aggression. He kept his eyes fixed on the other two until they were out of sight. Shifting uncomfortably, Mel spoke hesitantly.
“They were just introducing themselves to me. Neither one did or said anything wrong.” She tried to placate Ryne, not sure why he had sounded so angry and dominant. The reaction of the other two was puzzling as well. Why did they put up with his attitude and allow him to order them around, as if they were naughty children and he was their father? Even if he owned the place, that was no way to speak to grown men.
Ryne’s response was delivered in a sharp tone. “They know better. I told them to keep their distance.”
“From me? Why?”
“I have my reasons.” Ryne abruptly changed the topic. “Here’s a T-shirt to wear.”
Mel took the offered clothing and turning her back, she somehow managed to shimmy into it without losing the towel. Once she was decently covered, she pulled the towel from underneath the shirt and hung it over the back of a chair. By the time she’d finished, Ryne seemed calmer but Mel was still anxious to get away from the man. He was just too unpredictable for her to feel comfortable around him. “I suppose I’d better go. I’ll type up a list of questions and drop them in your mailbox tomorrow. That way you won’t have to leave the gate unlocked.”
“Actually, I’m in town tomorrow. I work at Miller’s on Wednesdays.”
“All right. I’ll drop it off there.” She looked around, found her purse, and started to head towards the front door, keeping the conversation light for fear of setting him off again. “Thanks for lunch and the tour of the house. It really is an interesting home. When I first saw it from the outside, it seemed sort of spooky, but now I can see it has potential.”
“Thanks.” He seemed cordial enough now, and Mel felt herself relaxing marginally. They were at the front door now. Her hand was on the door knob ready to open it when Bryan walked down the stairs, rubbing his hair dry with a towel.
He was whistling unconcernedly. Surprisingly, the younger man didn’t seem to bear a grudge for the way Ryne had talked to him, merely grinning and offering a bit of advice. “I wouldn’t go out there if I were you.”
Ryne raised his eye brows in query and Bryan continued. “First of all, it’s raining so hard, I doubt if Mel could see to drive. Secondly, there’s a large tree that fell down across the driveway about halfway to the road. There’s no way you can get a car around it.”
“You mean I’m stuck here?” Mel couldn’t keep the squeak of surprise out of her voice. She didn’t believe this. This was the sort of thing that happened in books and movies, not real life.
“I’m afraid so.” He turned to Ryne. “Daniel and I looked at it, but it will take all three of us, and probably a chainsaw, to move it out of the way.” Bryan shrugged and wandered on his way, seeming completely unconcerned by the situation.
Mel turned to Ryne, all thoughts of his earlier bad temper washed away by a sudden pressing need to leave. She was his guest and she figured he had certain obligations towards her. Rocking back and forth on her heels, she looked at him expectantly. “Well?”
“Well, what?”
“Well, do something.” She fluttered her hands at him, as if shooing him on his way.
Instead of moving, he put his hands in his back pockets and then shrugged. “If the road is blocked, it’s blocked. Like Bryan said, it’ll probably take all three of us and a chain saw to clear the road. Those trees are massive.”
“I heard him. I mean, why aren’t you getting your coat and umbrella and whatever else you need to go out there and get to work?”
Ryne looked at her as if she was crazy. “Because it’s pouring rain and quite possibly it will start to thunder and lightning. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always heard you don’t stand outside playing with power tools in the middle of a storm.”
Mel regarded him for a few minutes, blinking slowly as she processed his words and their implications. When it all made sense, she slumped back against the door and closed her eyes, shaking her head slowly side to side in denial. “So I’m stuck here for how long?”
“Probably until morning.” Ryne glanced at his watch. “It’s almost four now. By time the rain stops, it will be getting dark and too late to do anything.”
She whimpered and opened her eyes, looking at him resignedly. “As I recall from the tour of the house, you don’t have any spare rooms do you?”