He leaned around her to try his hand at it, doing his best to ignore the urges clamoring through him to lean forward a few more inches and press his mouth to hers.
What waswrongwith him? He had never reacted to any other woman like this. He tried to tell himself it was because she had revealed something amazing to him but he suspected the hidden room had nothing to do with his reaction to her.
“What other secrets does this place have?”
“That’s part of the fun of restoring an old house, all the mysteries you can discover along the way.”
“Did you renovate your own house?”
“Oh yes, but not all at once. It was Gary’s parents’ house and his grandparents’ before that, so it needed a lot of work. After his father died, his mother decided to move to Portland to be closer to Gary’s sister, so we bought the house from her. We worked on it here and there, whenever we had a bit of extra money. Which wasn’t often in those early days.”
“I’m sure it’s lovely.”
“It is, though not on the scale of Stormhaven. It’s about a third the size of this house. We have a very nice sea view as well and it has a lovely garden, along with a small guest cottage on the property where my mother lives now.”
As if on cue, his own mother and the kids came in through the front door.
“Hi, Rosie,” Zara said cheerfully.
“Is Dottie here?” Finn asked, looking around.
“I’m afraid not. Sometimes she comes to work with me but today she’s hanging out with my mom.”
He hugged both of his children, then sent his mother a look of inquiry. “I thought you guys were going to a movie after day camp.”
“I should have bought tickets online. Turns out, they were completely sold out. I bought tickets for tomorrow afternoon instead.”
So much for his long stretch of writing time. He sighed. Apparently he would have to plan for another late night to get all the words.
“Hello, Rosie.” His mother smiled brightly at her. “You’re looking lovely today.”
“Thank you.”
Rosie stepped forward and gave his mother a kiss on thecheek. “I’ve been catching up on the progress here at Stormhaven.”
“Doesn’t it look good? It’s turning out even better than I had hoped. It’s going to be such a wonderful home once it’s done.”
“Did you know Rosie once owned the house?” he asked.
His mother nodded as she unwrapped her scarf. “Sylvia told me that. It must be tough for you to work so hard restoring a home you once dreamed of owning yourself.”
He watched a tiny flare of color rise up Rosie’s cheekbones, though she gave his mother a cheerful smile. “I was telling Andrew how happy I am that Stormhaven ended up with someone who will love it as much as I did.”
Rosie was far more generous than he could ever be.
“You’ll never believe what Rosie just showed me. It’s the coolest thing, something I had no idea the house had.”
“What?” Finn demanded. “Does it have a secret dungeon?”
“Close,” Andrew said with a grin. “Rosie, do you want to do the honors of showing them, too?”
She led the way over to the mantel, gave the children a mischievous look, then pushed the button.
Zara and Finn both gasped as the secret door opened, both children wearing matching incredulous looks.
“What’s in there?” Zara asked.
“Is it a monster’s lair?” Finn asked.
