The Gilded Curse: Will the young heiress be the next victim of her family's curse? (36 page)

She climbed out and straightened, her back relieved to be out of the confining space. As she walked to the dining room bay window, she heard the floorboards creak.

“I’ll take that.” A male voice behind her made her jump.

Lexie spun around to find a man with an overcoat and hat on, reaching out for the box. She strained to see his face, and as a bolt of lightning flashed, the features of the boat captain came into view.

“You!” She hugged the box against her chest as a tremendous boom rocked the whole house.

He took a step toward her, his arm outstretched. “Just hand it over, Miss Smithfield.”

“No! Why do you want it? It doesn’t belong to you.” Lexie’s heart raced.

He glanced around before taking another step forward. “Look, I don’t want to hurt you. Just give me the box.”

“You mean like you hurt Abner Jones? Guess it was easy to hit an old man from behind.”

“I didn’t … look, I don’t want no trouble. Just give it to me.”

Lexie caught the acrid smell of something burning but didn’t dare take her eyes off the man in front of her.
Lord, please help me
.

“Tell me why it’s so important to you, why you’ve been trespassing on my property to look for it.”

A female voice approached from the kitchen. “I’ll tell you.”

Chapter 39

R
ussell hunched his shoulders against the wind. He pulled his hat lower over his head as cold heavy raindrops slapped his face. What an awful time to be on a horse. But somebody had to be there, so it might as well be him.

Soon the rain made it impossible to see toward the ocean, and the roar of the wind across the water rendered any other noise unheard, except for the ear-splitting thunder. Good thing Lexie got back to Hollybourne before the storm arrived. But too bad they hadn’t had more time together. He had noticed a change in her recently. She acted comfortable in church now, not frightened like she had been at first. She had made peace with God and seemed to be making peace with her past. Was he preventing that process?

He turned back toward the clubhouse as the horse whinnied, spooked by a violent clap of thunder. Perhaps the weather would be more bearable on the other side of the island by the river. As he came around the Grand Lawn, he saw a plume of black smoke rising above the treetops down the road, probably from the chimney at Hollybourne. However, the closer he got, the greater the smoke cloud grew, but it was farther away than Hollybourne. Destiny?

A flame shot above the trees. Something was on fire. He kicked the horse and galloped toward it.

Stella sauntered across the room to stand beside her husband. Her eyes gleamed like daggers pointed at Lexie, and her crooked smirk dripped with derision.

“It’s about time you heard the truth about your father.”

Lexie’s pounding heart dropped a notch.

“What are you talking about?” She hugged the metal box tighter.

“Eleven years ago, your father seduced me. You’re shocked, aren’t
you?”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Ha! Well, it’s true. And I’ve got proof too.”

Lexie glanced at Stella’s husband Jack, noting the pained expression on his face.

“What proof?”

“Remember that little girl on the boat ride with you? The one that liked your fur coat? That’s his daughter Evelyn.”

She tried to breathe, but the acrid odor of smoke filled her nostrils. She shook her head. “No, that’s not possible.”

Pointing her finger at Lexie, Stella said, “Oh yeah? Guess I should know, huh? Yeah, he got me pregnant, and when I told him, he promised to take care of me and the child. But then he went and killed himself. Coward.”

Russell burst in the front door. “Lexie! The house…” He stopped mid-sentence and stared at the scene before him. “What’s going on here? Jack? Stella?”

“You tell her, Russell.” Stella glanced sideways at Russell and nodded at Lexie. “He knows all about it.”

Lexie jerked her head at Russell. “Is it true, Russell? Did my father have an affair with this woman?”
He killed himself
echoed through her head.

Before he could answer, Stella took a step closer to Lexie. “
This
woman?”

“Russell, tell her she’s a liar.”

Russell moved toward Lexie. “The house is on fire! We have to get out, now!”

“No!” Stella screamed. “That’s mine, and this house is mine! He told me he kept his most valued possession in a safe place here. I figure he hid the lease here, and it belongs to my daughter, his heir.”

“But he already had heirs.”

Stella gave her a sinister smile. “You’re the only one left, besides Evie.” Looking at her husband, she motioned to Lexie. “Get it from her, Jack.”

Jack grabbed hold of the box and tried to wrestle it from Lexie’s arms as Russell lunged across the room. He knocked Jack down and seized Lexie by the arm while the ceiling above began to crackle and split apart as the fire made its way into the first floor.

“Stop or I’ll shoot!” Everyone froze and turned to face Stella holding
a gun and aiming it at Lexie. “Give me the blasted box!”

“Lexie, give it to her.” Russell tried to pull Lexie toward him.

“No! Whatever is in this box belonged to my family, like this house.”

“Then I have no choice but to kill you.” Stella lifted the gun and pointed it at Lexie’s head.

“No, Stella. This has to stop.” Jack reached out to his wife. “You almost killed Abner. I won’t let you do this. Give me the gun.”

Parts of the ceiling fell around them, filling the room with smoke.

A startled Stella turned the gun toward her husband. “But Jack, it belongs to us, to Evie.”

As a chunk of ceiling fell inches away, Jack lunged for his wife and the gun went off.

Russell grabbed Lexie and raced out the front door with her, not stopping until they reached the street. They looked back at Destiny as the roof fell in, with flames shooting out the top and the sides of the building.

Lexie stared at the inferno, her trembling hands covering her mouth in horror. Russell put his arm around her shoulders, and together they watched the fire devour the house, while the dwindling rain did little more than sizzle as it hit the flames. Movement on the porch caught their attention as Jack stumbled out of the smoke holding Stella. He struggled down the steps and into the yard where he collapsed.

Russell rushed to the couple and helped pull them farther away from the fire. Lexie ventured near the man sobbing over his wife’s still form. “I told her to stop, to give up. She just wouldn’t listen.” A red stain spread across the woman’s chest. Lexie’s heart went out to the stricken husband despite his threats to her just moments earlier. He was a victim, too, and Lexie pitied him. The urge to pray for the couple grew inside her, so she did.

A resounding crash turned their heads to witness the final surrender of the house to the flames. Destiny was a smoldering pile of rubble.

Chapter 40

March 2, 1942

L
exie stared out the window from Russell’s office, trying to come to grips with the secrets of her family’s past so long hidden from her.

“I can’t believe my father had an affair with another woman.”

“Maybe he didn’t. No one knew for sure except Stella and your father, since no one else was around. And Stella could have been lying, but Robert made sure she kept quiet by sending her money every month. He didn’t want your mother to know, or you or anyone else, for that matter.”

Lexie turned to face Russell. “But how did Robert know?”

“The day of the hunt, Jack confronted your father in front of the hunting party. Jack was angry because he was in love with Stella and planned to marry her. Your father was drunk, which was his usual state after the stock market collapse. When Jack threatened to expose him, your father raised his gun at Jack. Robert and I rushed him, the gun went off and the bullet hit my foot, taking a couple of toes with it.”

Lexie’s eyes widened. “
That’s
what happened to your foot?”

“Yep. Robert took me to the infirmary, and your father stormed off.”

“What did Stella mean—‘he killed himself’?”

“That’s not true. When they found his body, the question was raised, considering his state of mind—drunk and upset. But the doctor ruled out suicide. It was obvious that he tripped on his gun and caused it to go off. It really was an accident.”

“But why didn’t you tell me about this, Russell? Didn’t you think I had a right to know?”

“Robert swore me to secrecy. I wanted to tell you when you came back here, but I thought it was better to leave the past in the past. I had no idea the past would rear its ugly head again.”

Lexie strolled to the picture on the wall showing her father, her brother, Russell, and Jack in their hunting attire. “Was this the day he
died?” She crossed her arms and stared at the faces, shaking her head.

“Yes, the day that changed so many lives.”

She spun around and faced Russell. “So Stella sent the telegram.”

“Either she or Jack, under her orders.”

“She was pretty desperate.”

“Obsessed is more like it.”

Russell tapped the metal box on top of his desk.

“Looks like we’ll have to get a crowbar to open this.”

Lexie had forgotten all about the box, the one that almost cost her her life. She studied it, then an idea struck her.

“Maybe not.” She lifted her gold necklace with the heart and key out of her blouse. “Maybe this will fit.”

Russell lifted an eyebrow as Lexie unhooked the necklace and handed it to him. The key slid in and the box clicked when he turned the key.

“Are you ready?” He studied her face.

Lexie sighed. “Yes, go ahead.”

The lid creaked as Russell pushed it open. Inside was a faded red construction paper heart with a doily glued to its back.

“I made this.” Lexie picked up the paper heart and looked into the now-empty box. “I made it for Father. Is that all that’s in there?”

Russell spread out his empty hands. “That’s all. Wonder why he put that there?”

“Me too.” Lexie frowned. His most valued possession was a paper heart? Then she burst out laughing. “Of course. Father told me this was the key to his heart.”

Russell frowned. “So where’s the lease?”

“It must be with our accountant. I can’t imagine why Father would leave it here.” Shaking her head, she replaced the heart she’d crafted all those years ago back into the box. All of that for a piece of paper. Yet warmth filled her knowing Father loved her so much.

Russell shook his head. “Stella must have gotten desperate after Robert died and her money stopped coming. So she sent you the telegram, hoping you’d lead her to her fortune.”

“I wonder why she thought she’d find something valuable in the house.”

“Your father had an ironic sense of humor. He may have teased her about having treasure hidden in the house.”

“But his treasure wasn’t valuable to her.”

“No, only to him.”

Lexie’s tears trickled down her face, and she turned away to gaze out the window. “I hope she can get the help she needs at the mental hospital. Thank God, the bullet missed her vital organs.”

“Poor Jack. She must’ve been driving him crazy.”

Lexie’s heart skipped, and she spun around. “Russell, I have a sister!”

Russell drummed his fingers on the desk. “Maybe, and maybe not.”

“But what do you mean? If Evelyn is Father’s daughter…”

“
If
, Lexie. We can’t be sure. Jack might be her father. After all, he married her as soon as she got pregnant, and no one knows but God who the father of the child is. Your father was drinking heavily, and he probably made passes at Stella. But she could’ve made the whole thing up, just to blackmail him.”

“Well, I want to get to know the little girl anyway. I know what it’s like to have your mother in a hospital, especially a mental hospital. I can at least be her friend. Besides, I’ve always wanted a little sister. Russell, maybe it was really God that brought me here so I could help her.”