I dug my feet in. “I imagine you’d prefer if I left you, Jack. You don’t want me anymore, do you?”
“Laura.” He gave me a condescending shake of the head. “You rejected me, and if you really want to leave, I can’t stop you. Be very sure, because I won’t chase after you—not this time, not after what you did.”
What had I done? I had no idea. I gaped at him. “Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you? You’d divorce me and remarry before the ink is dry on the paperwork.”
“Maybe I would.” Jack shook his head. “One thing is for sure—I wouldn’t walk back into hell with someone like you again.”
FOUR
PRESENT TIME
Willow
After dinner, Jack kisses me goodbye and heads into the office with Ruby. His PA seems like a nice woman and made me feel at home but I did wonder why she sat at the table with us for dinner. When I asked after the children, I discovered Noah and Ava would be spending the next few days with their grandparents, to allow me to settle in. I’m hoping they’ll accept me into the family. Deep down inside I have the strange feeling that there’s a reason I wasn’t introduced to them before we married. They weren’t even at the wedding. It was a low-key event because I didn’t want a big wedding. I married Jack in a hotel room with my parents and two of Jack’s business partners looking on. After a perfect honeymoon, being left alone on my first night in this creepy old house seems so out of character for Jack. I stand as a girl who tells me her name is Amy clears the table. “I’ll follow you to the kitchen.”
“Yes, of course, Mrs. Hunter.” Amy places the dishes onto a cart and pushes it into the hallway.
I follow the squeaking wheels, peeking into as many rooms as I can along the way. I poke my head inside the library doorand inhale the smell of books. The bookcases almost reach the ceiling; leather-bound volumes fill one wall and another has various books of all shapes and sizes. Two cozy leather chairs sit before a fireplace but although the evening is cool, the grate is empty. I guess they leave the fires until winter. The weather here is comfortably warm in the summer and from what Jack tells me the sea offers a fresh breeze. I duck out of the room and run to catch up with the squeaky cart. I enter the kitchen, noticing the doors are like a restaurant, as in two swinging doors with a metal strip halfway to allow carts to push through without damaging the surface.
I step inside and all eyes turn to me. One young woman is stacking plates into a wall cabinet above an impressive marble counter. Like the rest of the house, everything is marble but in here, the high-end appliances are stainless steel. I gape at the refrigerator; it takes up a huge space along one wall and has a glass front displaying the contents like in a supermarket. Above a center island hang pots and pans from a rack.
“Mrs. Hunter.” Sue comes toward me wiping her hands on a dishtowel. “Is there something you need?”
I smile at her. “Not right now. I’m exploring the house. Jack didn’t have time to show me around. He has an emergency at the office.”
“Do you want me to take you?” Sue folds the dishtowel and looks at me expectantly. “It’s easy to get lost.”
I shake my head. “No, I’m fine. Are there any locked areas I’ll need keys to open?”
Furtive glances move through the staff and my stomach clenches. Are there secrets in this house no one wants me to know? I wait, glancing from one to the other. I clear my throat as the question remains hanging. “Another thing. Who decides the dinner menu?”
“That would be Ruby, she knows what Mr. Hunter likes.” The chef comes out of a walk-in pantry and smiles at me.
I nod to him. “Yes, maybe she does but I’d prefer to discuss the menus for the week with you from now on, Pierre. I’m sure you can advise me on Jack’s favorite meals, although after four weeks with him, I have a good idea of what he likes.” I turn to Sue.
I walk to the drinks area of the refrigerator and pull open the door. It is like a store; with everything a person could desire. I select a bottle of water and with a nod continue to explore the house. It’s dark now and the drapes remain open with the night pressing against the windowpanes. I admit, I’m scared of the dark and being in this house magnifies it a thousand times. Just going and closing the blinds gives me the creeps. I’ll need to tell Sue that I want the drapes closed at dusk.
I make my way to Jack’s office and take a pen from his desk. I’ll make a list of the things to do and present it to Sue or George in the morning. Where is George? I haven’t seen him since we arrived. Maybe he goes to his room on the stroke of five or whatever. I’ll need to know who is on duty and at what times. I sit in Jack’s comfortable leather chair and inhale the scent of him. How strange I could almost feel him the moment I entered the room. I need a notepad and pull open the top drawer. Inside are neatly stacked notepads and a bunch of keys. I take a pad and lift the keys to inspect them. Five keys, two large old ones, the other three look almost identical. I push them into the pocket of my chinos, but I want copies of all the keys and head back to the kitchen. As I walk past the stairs, the portrait of Laura stares at me as if daring me to invade her sanctum. I keep my eyes averted and keep going. “Jack is mine now. Soon, you’ll have a new home in the loft and can keep your dirty looks for the mice and spiders.”
In the kitchen, I go straight to Sue. “Now about those keys. I gather there’s more than one set for the house? Will you get me a set please?”
“There’s always someone here to answer the door, Mrs. Hunter.” Sue lowers her eyes to the floor as if trying to hide her expression. “The other keys are to keep the children from the cellar and the loft. There is, of course, the room on the first floor. None of us are allowed inside by Mr. Hunter’s orders. I don’t have a key. I’ll ask Mr. Hunter if I can get copies of the others cut for you in the morning.”
She’s refusing to give me a key to my own house? What the heck is going on here?
FIVE
SIX MONTHS BEFORE OUR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
Laura
Jack tells everyone he purchased this house for me. It’s a lie. He bought it as a status symbol and tells everyone that will listen it was because it belonged to my uncle and I wanted to live here. I never have, but I keep up the story to make him happy. Ispent some time here as a child and it was spooky then and hasn’t changed. I swear I’ve seen a face looking from a window that doesn’t exist. I’ve searched for it and found nothing. Strange things happen here and when I speak to my fast-dwindling circle of friends they figure I’m joking. They’re jealous of the house but don’t know how difficult it is to live here. Honestly, I look at the carved wood, marble and priceless antiques and my skin crawls. Each day my home is invaded with people, cleaning and making noise with vacuum cleaners. They have that smell, you know, that dusty old-ladies’-house smell, which wafts around for hours once they’ve been through, and then there’s Ruby, Jack’s PA. Miss Super-Efficient, I call her, with her tight tops and chinos and perfume that closes my sinuses. I understand he needs someone to do all the grunt work for him but I wish he hada male PA. I’m a jealous woman and I admit I don’t enjoy him spending so much of his time with her.
Jenny, the nanny, and Sue—the housekeeper—are plotting against me. I swear they keep moving my things. I’m forever looking for my phone. I put it down for a second and it grows wings and moves to another part of the house. I make requests and, when things aren’t done, they insist I never asked them. I figure they’re trying to make me look bad in front of Jack.
I’m isolated in this house, no car, no visitors. I’m a prisoner in my own home. I only get to see people when Jack takes me with him to spend time on the yacht. Early in our marriage we threw many dinner parties and he escorted me to his business lunches and socialite parties but things changed when I had Ava. Although during that pregnancy I was allowed to visit my friends and go shopping alone, not so with Noah. From the moment Jack knew I carried his son, my freedom and most of my friends vanished. The staff watch me now as if I might turn into a monster and kill them all. I hear them whispering when I move around the house, sending secret messages to each other as they follow and likely record my movements.
Am I paranoid? Most people would love the lavish surroundings, enjoy having the most handsome and rich husband in town, but every day something else happens to make me question why I’m here. My babies hardly know me, Ava allows me to brush her hair and chats to me, but Noah screams and holds his arms up for Jenny. When this happens, Jack sends the children away and tells me not to become upset. I want my babies—I’m their mom, not Jenny.
