Damon, Lee (26 page)

"What are these bushes?" asked Kitt, gesturing to an unidentifiable tangle of thin brown branches that edged a curve.

"I'm not up on plants and stuff. Some of them have flowers, and I know that's forsythia," he said, pointing to a blaze of yellow. "I think there's some honeysuckle in there somewhere and—".

Laughing, Kitt waved him down. "Never mind. I'll explore myself sometime. Besides, it will be easier to identify them when the leaves are out. Ohhhh."

They had rounded a high ledge and stopped in a courtyard. Kitt tried to look in all directions at once and managed to bump her head scrambling out of the jeep. Slowly turning in circles, she moved out into the middle of the wide, paved area, totally unable to decide what to examine first. O'Mara and Gus leaned against a fender and watched her rapt expression with satisfied smiles.

Finally, she stopped turning and walked to the far side of the courtyard, away from the house, and stood at the low brick wall looking down over a randomly terraced lawn. It took a moment for her to realize that the terraces followed the ledged contours of the underlying rock. There was an opening in the brick wall which led onto a wide flagstone walk that descended via shallow steps down two terraces to a magnificent natural swimming pool formed in a deep depression of the native rock. White sand filled in and smoothed out the roughness of the ledge around the pool, and then gave way to lawn and a sizable flagstone patio with a permanent barbecue. Kitt could picture it in the summer: white wrought-iron furniture with colorful, weatherproof cushions and umbrellas, steaks sizzling on the grill, people splashing in the pool and lounging comfortably around, while Gus and a horde of tanned, long-legged kids raced over the rolling lawns. Off to the right, partially screened by what looked like rhododendrons, she could see a tennis court and, below that, on another terrace, a horseshoe pitch.

Tucking her hands into her pockets, she took a deep breath, holding down her rising excitement, and slowly turned around to face the house. Perfect. Just perfect. If she could have sketched the ideal house, it would have looked like this. Long and low, pale gray shingles with a blue roof and white trim, a dark red door, wide, small-paned windows, a deep overhang to the eaves to shade and protect the second-floor windows, a wide, roofed porch across the front and a narrow strip of bark-mulch set with azaleas and boxwoods between the courtyard's brick edging wall and the porch. She couldn't even guess at how many rooms there might be, but it was a large house. Besides the main two-story section, there were two single-story wings on a slightly lower level angling out at either end of the irregularly shaped courtyard. At the left was a four-car garage, and on the right was what almost looked like a separate apartment with its own entrance. It boasted a huge floor-to-ceiling bay window, and Kitt could just make out the shapes of furniture and a wall of books.

"Kitt?"

"Hmmm?"

"Do you like it?"

The deep voice was just above her right ear, and she turned to look at him with dreamy eyes and a musing smile, strands of hair blowing across her face in the crisp breeze. "I love it. It's all... so perfect."

He curved a gentle arm around her shoulders and urged her toward. "Come in and see the rest of it and meet Andy. She's been peeking out the kitchen window, consumed with curiosity and impatience."

"I can't wait. Oh, where's Gus? And Hero?"

"Look." He half-turned and nodded toward the huge, contoured lawn. Gus and Hero were racing across the broad sweeps of grass, dodging around bushes and leaping over rocks.

"I know that's a lot of room, and then there's all that thick undergrowth around the outer edges, but what if a kid or an animal gets too close to the edge of the cliff?"

"Don't worry. It's not very visible because we've let vines and bushes grow up over it, but the whole perimeter of the Rock is securely fenced or walled. In fact, as you'll see when we go in, the house is quite near the front curve of the cliff, and for added safety I had five-foot fences installed from the back corners of each wing out to the perimeter fence. The only way through to the front from here is via two locked gates. Gus and his friends play on this side."

She scanned across the acre or so of lawn and murmured, "They've certainly got room enough for just about anything."

"And the wherewithal. Besides what you see there, there's a basketball hoop that fastens to the garage and a volleyball net that goes up down there in the summer. We use that large, flat area at the bottom for croquet, and there's a slide that fits by the pool. Believe me, they don't have any need to explore around front!"

"It all sounds wonderful, and I won't worry about Hero sprouting wings. Why do you call the other side the front? This looks like a front to me."

"You'll see," he answered mysteriously. "Hey, Gus, we're going in! Are you going to help show Kitt around?"

"Yes! Wait for us! Come on, Hero, run!"

Kitt looked around again, this time with a puzzled frown. "I can hear the surf, and I know we're surrounded on three sides by water, but I can't see any of it from here."

"Not on this side. I was struck by that right off the first time I looked at the place. It did seem strange, and I couldn't understand why the owner, who was also the man who designed and built the place, hadn't cleared some vistas. He explained that there's always a wind up here, which can vary from a gentle breeze to a roaring gale. If the trees and bushes were cut back to open up viewing areas, it would give the winds too much sweep at ground level, and we'd have trouble keeping the plantings intact, to say nothing of what it would do to the lawns and pool. As it is, this whole back area is quite protected, and we have very little damage even in the winter storms."

"I can understand the reasoning, but it seems a shame not to be able to see the ocean. It must be spectacular from up here."

Gus and O'Mara exchanged laughing glances, and Gus grabbed Kitt's hand, tugging her toward the door. "Come on, Kitt. We'll show you the ocean!"

With both O'Maras urging her onward, she had only a fleeting impression of the large, light hall—white-painted paneling, gold-framed mirrors and paintings, several doors, another hall off to the left and, incredibly, a wide, graceful staircase curving up from the center of the main hall.

"Oh, wait! Let me see!" She tried to stop, tipping her head back to look up at the lovely spiral.

O'Mara's hand on her back pushed her onward. "Later, love. First, the ocean."

Gus and Hero had run ahead and were now waiting by the open French doors at the end of the hall. Dazzled by bright sunlight, Kitt couldn't make out details until she and O'Mara had stepped from the dimmer hall into what, for a moment, seemed to be the outdoors.

Kitt stopped short as her eyes adjusted to the light and the full impact of what she was looking at hit her. She gasped in wonder and her head swung from side to side as she tried to take in the unbelievable panorama. She was barely aware of Gus and O'Mara taking her hands and leading her forward until she heard the deep, laughing voice in her ear.

"Well, what do you think? Is that enough ocean for you?"

"I'm speechless," she breathed finally, looking around and up and realizing just where she was. The bulk of the house was behind her, and she was standing in the front part of a large, triangular glass room with a polished wood ceiling. The base of the triangle was the house-wall, which contained three pairs of French doors and a wide, rock fireplace. Two walls of large glass panes, divided by sturdy white-painted wood strips, angled out from the house to meet at a point some fifty feet from the edge of the cliff. All of the underbrush had been cut back to give an unimpeded, one-hundred-and-eighty-degree view of rocky coast, island-dotted ocean on the left, open sea straight ahead and to the right, with a few ledges breaking the surface in-shore.

"It's like being on the very front of a ship," Kitt said wonderingly. "If you watch the movement of the water for a minute, you even feel as if you're moving up and down. It's fantastic. Look at that ocean—it just seems to go on forever.

And the sky! I've never seen so much sky. Oh, glory, we are going to watch the sunset from here, aren't we?" She turned to O'Mara, her face alight with eagerness.

"Nope. We've got an even better place for sunset-watching when the winds are within reason."

"Up on the captain's deck," exclaimed Gus.

"I thought this was—"

"Oh, no," said Gus, bouncing with excitement, "This is the bridge. The captain's deck is up on top."

O'Mara glanced at his watch and checked the western sky. "We've got maybe thirty minutes before that sky gets interesting. Just time for a quick look through the house while it's light. You can take your time later and browse around all you want."

"You mean there's something else that comes up to this room?" Kitt pulled her eyes away from the view with considerable effort and turned her attention to examining the bridge. She only had time to note the low, cushioned benches along the glass wails and the casual scattering of lounge chairs, comfortable-looking sofas and low tables in various sizes, everything fitting into a nautical color scheme of red, white and blue. Her eyes halted in their survey as she caught a movement from the French doors at the right, and she watched an attractive, middle-aged woman walk toward her.

O'Mara moved to meet her, putting an affectionate arm around her shoulders and bringing her directly to Kitt. He laughed down at the smiling, dark-eyed woman and teased, "I don't know how you've contained your curiosity this long. Why didn't you come out sooner? Here she is, Andy. This is my Kitt."

At the unmistakable note of love and pride in his voice, Kitt's gaze lifted to meet his, and for a long moment she was lost in the blaze of happiness she could see in his eyes. She knew, as clearly as if they were speaking, that he was thinking about sharing this home with her, planning the days and nights of their lives together. His voice was husky as he continued, "Kitt, this is our chief dragon and favorite mother-figure, Mrs. Andretti, more widely known as Andy. You might as well give up without a fight, right now, because she'll end up managing you for your own good, too."

"Michael! Behave yourself. You'll have the young lady thinking I'm an old witch or something. I'm very pleased to meet you at last, Kitt. I haven't heard about anything but Kitt and Ez and Hero for days."

Kitt laughed and held out her hand. "Oh, poor you! That must have gotten terribly boring after a while. I hope I can redeem myself."

They smiled at each other over their clasped hands, and Kitt felt a relaxing of an inner tension which she hadn't even realized was there. Until it was gone, she hadn't known that she was worrying about Andy's reaction to her. After all, she had been the only mother Gus had ever known. Also, it had been obvious from the way O'Mara talked about her that he had great affection and respect for her, and Kitt had sensed that this was more than reciprocated by Andy. It wouldn't be at all surprising if she were wary of Kitt's sudden advent into the O'Maras' lives as a potential wife and stepmother. But as Kitt intently examined the older woman's expression and listened to her voice, she discovered only warmth and friendly interest.

As Gus and O'Mara nudged them across the bridge toward the left-hand doors, the two women chatted easily about Ez and Hero, exchanging laughing compliments on how well they had done in handling the males in their lives.

"Don't get overconfident, you two," O'Mara commented. "Remember, counting Hero, you're outnumbered four to three even if you bring in Midge for reinforcement."

"That doesn't make any difference," Andy said complacently. "Cleverness wins over brute force every time. Isn't that so, Kitt?"

"I should have known better than to get you two together," O'Mara groaned.

Led by Gus and Hero, it was a convivial group that quickly toured the house, pausing only to point out the highlights to Kitt. O'Mara was eager to reach the captain's deck in time to watch the sunset. Kitt took in the huge family/recreation room which they entered as they left the bridge, noting big, comfortable sofas and chairs, game tables, a pool table, a folded-up Ping-Pong table pushed back against one wall, an upright piano, a small soda fountain in one corner with a marble-top bar and swivel stools, paneled walls hung with animal and sporting prints, another rock fireplace which backed on the one on the bridge, and wide, many-paned windows looking out over the ocean on one side and onto the courtyard and lawns at the opposite side.

A bubbling Gus made sure that Kitt didn't miss any of the features of his paradise as they slowly crossed the big room toward the wing with the huge bay window.

"Easy, Gus," O'Mara chided. "You can bring her back later and show her everything in detail."

As they reached the far side of the room, Kitt paused at the top of four broad, shallow steps and looked back, trying to orient herself. "This looks like it takes up one whole end of the main house."

"It does. The former owner did a great deal of entertaining, and we sometimes end up with a houseful of guests in the summer," O'Mara explained. "I changed the type of furnishings and equipment, since Gus will be using it for some time to come with his friends. It's practically indestructible, which also makes it a great place for adult parties."

"To say nothing of a playroom for Ez!" exclaimed Kitt, laughing. "Now, what's down here?"

"This is my bailiwick," said O'Mara, leading her down the steps and sliding open double wooden doors to give access to a rectangular hall. He pushed open a door immediately in front of them. "Full bath." Giving Kitt time for no more than a glimpse of dark green, white and tan, he urged her toward the door at the left end of the hall. "This is where I work, and don't start getting the 'neatening bug,' because even Andy leaves this room alone."

Kitt walked slowly into the bright room, easily twice as long as it was wide, with one long wall almost entirely made of glass opening the room up to a stupendous view of ocean and rocky coast with the spires and roofs of Kennebunkport in the distance on the right. Tearing herself away from the riveting view, she turned to examine the rest of the room. The long wall opposite was almost filled with modern horizontal files and bookshelves. She walked through the room, noting the well-worn leather chairs, a couch, the big L-shaped oak desk and its upholstered swivel chair, an IBM typewriter on a large, movable table and, finally, at the far end, an archway that led into a small but fully equipped kitchen.