Dream

Chapter 8

Zebadiah had taken the time to show his sister around the house with Gianna following their every step. He had arranged for his sister to come and see the house a few days earlier, and he had not been pleased that she had invited Gianna along for the ride.

Gianna was one of the reasons he was spending more time in Belfort, she kept appearing at places in town that he frequented, restaurants, the gym, and even events that were invitation only. She was becoming a problem that he would have to quickly deal with, and his sister's constant attempts to throw them together weren't helping. First, she had hung on to his realtor, invading that meeting, then she had tagged along with his sister after convincing her that there was an unspoken agreement that he would be taking her to the Annual Abbott Gala. He had set his sister straight on the matter during her visit, and he hoped that little scene with Gianna and Lucy in the drawing room had cleared up any doubt Zelda may have had on the subject.

But he realized that he still had to get the message that he wasn't available across to Gianna, and he believed he had figured out a way to do that. A way which might mean that he would get to spend a little more time with Lucy Monroe, if she agreed to his plan.

He wandered into the drawing room from the veranda and saw Lucy as she busily scraped way at something on the mantel. Taking his time, he slowly entered the room, watching her small form as her head tilted one way and then the other as she assessed her work.

Suddenly, as if she sensed his presence, she spun around and looked at him, her eyes wide in concern. "I'm sorry, did you want to use the room again?" she asked as her eyes darted behind him to see who was following.

"No, my company has left. I would have invited you to join us, but I didn't think you would feel comfortable around Gianna." He walked further into the room, moving to stand behind her to see what she was doing. He couldn't help but reach out and run a finger over the fresh wood that she had exposed.

"It will be just as lovely as the study when it's finished."

He could hear the pleasure that the thought brought her. "You enjoy what you do?" he asked, looking down at her. She was so small and delicate, and he felt an overwhelming urge to protect her.

"I love it, I love bring new life back to forgotten things. I love to see them loved once more."

"Like this house?" he asked, looking around the large room. "How will you tackle the ceiling?" He looked up, the idea of it seemed daunting to him.

"Thomas will set up some scaffolding for me." She pulled out a brush from her back pocket and brushed away some dust from the mantel, and he had the impression that he was making her nervous.

"You were right about taking Eden up to the attic, how did you know all of the stuff was up there?" he asked, wanting to put her at ease by talking about something trivial, but it was the wrong thing to say because she tensed at the question.

"Thomas and I used to play up there as children. We used to play all over this house and the grounds. Most people were to afraid to come here, so it was our own little escape from everyone else. I'm glad that she liked it, she seems like a sweet little girl."

"She is sweet and a little too spunky at times.' He responded automatically while he thought about her and Thomas's true relationship. They appeared to be unusually close, but he knew that Thomas was married with a child on the way. Were they past lovers or were they still having an affair? The idea of it made him angry, but he was afraid to look to deeply into the reason why, and since it wasn't his business he didn't ask any questions.

As if conjured up by his thoughts, Thomas appeared in the doorway, looking from one to the other.

"Lucy, Don Mankin is about ten minutes out," he informed her gently, before he looked between them once more and left.

Zebadiah watched as she started to pack up her tools quickly. "Are you going somewhere?"

"I'll be back in a few hours," she said as she picked up her bag and swung it over her shoulder, looking around her to make sure that she had picked up everything.

"Where are you going?" he asked. He found the entire interaction odd.

"Just up the road for a little bit," she said, walking towards the back of the house where the crew parked their cars.

"Can you give me a few more moments of your time before you leave, I have a favor to ask of you?" he blocked her path, and she looked desperate to be gone.

"No, I can't," she shook her head pushing past him. The brush of her body against his was electric, and once again he had to fight himself from reaching out and touching her. He had wanted to earlier and had barely been able to control himself.

"I insist, I only need a few minutes of your time." He heard his voice turned hard, he wasn't going to take no for an answer. He knew he was going about it all wrong, but for the first time in his life he felt out of his element.

"I really can't stay," She moved away from him once more, and this time he did reach out and stop her by placing his hand on her arm.

"Why?"

"You're living here, but to do that legally you need a Certificate of Occupancy and Don Mankin is the county building inspector, he is coming here to issue it," she explained as she looked anxiously over her shoulder.

"What does that have to do with you?" He really was confused.

She looked as if she wasn't going to answer, but as she heard voices in the other room she said quickly, "He won't step foot in the house if I'm here." Then she wrenched her arm from his hand and darted down the back-veranda steps and towards her car.

He watched as she climbed into the car and started it then drove away. He found himself very angry all the sudden, and he forced himself to push the feeling back, finding the cold calm that had taken years to develop, managing to do so just as Thomas entered with a very tall and skinny man with greying hair. Thomas's eyes darted around the room making sure it was all clear before he sagged with obvious relief.

"Do you mind if I tag along?" Zebadiah asked, keeping his face carefully neutral.

Thomas took a moment to introduce the two men then the tour began, and Zebadiah was careful to keep an eye on both men, watching how they interacted with each other. One thing he had learned over the years was that you needed to take the time to learn the players, that way their weaknesses were easier to spot, which in turn made it easier for him to get his own way in the end, and he always got his own way in the end.

He just wasn't sure what exactly it was that he wanted yet, but he had a feeling it had something to do with Lucy Monroe because she seemed to take up more of his thoughts lately, more than she should.