Devon walked to town almost daily. He could drive he supposed, or be driven, but he loved the walk. Even in the rain it wasn’t bad. But today, it was simply perfect. With his dog Jamie beside him, the two of them played fetch, mostly the dog, and Devon kept an eye out for breaks in the fence.

He almost ignored his cell phone when it rang, but he lifted it from his pocket just as Jamie came back with the large stick in his mouth. Throwing it as far as he could ahead of them, he answered the phone.

“I’ve a favor to ask of you.” Devon rolled his eyes and thought of all the things his grandmother might want of him. He loved her, but lately she’d been making some odd demands of him. “Don’t think like that. You know I have only your best interest at heart.”

“If this is another set up, I’m not interested. The last one nearly had me raped.” She fussed at him. “Grandma, I swear to you, if you set me up with another woman, I’m going to go back to living in the States and leave you here all alone.”

“You’ll do no such thing. And this isn’t a date. I mean, not really.” He waited, tossing the stick for Jamie again. “It’s more of an escort. And not the kind that is running through that dirty mind of yours.”

“Grandma, I’m a grown man. Everything running through my mind is dirty.” She huffed and he laughed at her. “I’m not going to go on an escort thing either. I like my life the way it is. And if my mate, whoever she might be, comes along, then I will court her nicely, ask her to marry me, and we’ll live happily ever after.”

“You don’t go anywhere but to town and back. Had your mate been any one of the women in town, I’m sure you would have noticed them by now.” That was the plan, he thought to himself. “Devon, I swear to you, you’re making me old with this. I would like to see one of my great-grandchildren before I die.”

“Do you perhaps have another grandson that is producing one for you? That would make me an uncle. I wonder, should I start knitting booties for it?” When the line went dead, he laughed out loud. “Jamie, I think I might be in big trouble when I get myself back to the house.”

The walk to town wasn’t just a way for him to get out of the house. Primarily it was, but today he also had business. Riley Quarter owned the local bed and breakfast, and he wanted to ask Devon about expanding. Devon was all for the idea; their little country town had become quiet the booming place over the last few years. He thought that putting in a few extra rooms might be just the ticket.

As soon as he was seated at the little bar, he was given a glass of tea. Devon would drink hot if it was the only thing offered, but most everyone knew that he didn’t care for it served that way. Iced tea was his favorite drink, without lemon or sugar.

“I’ve got me a tenant coming in the morning. The missus is about to bust. She’ll be our hundredth one since we opened. She wants to give her an extra day on us to see around the village.” Devon suggested Riley see if any of the other merchants wanted to chip in on a basket and a free dinner too. “Oh yes, I like that idea, too. Something she can show off to her friends about our little town. I’ll do it today. Now, business. I figure if we got out the backway some, we can add on four more rooms. Two on the top and two the bottom.”

“I was thinking that you need a family room. One of the newer rooms with two bedrooms in it instead of just the one. Might make it so you don’t have to double up on the rooms. You remember what happened last year when that happened?” The people had been very upset to find out that they had to share a room with their children. It had stated in the brochure that there was only the one bed, but the man and his wife thought that it meant that they’d let their kids stay for free in another room. “Those people were slammed when they gave you a bad review.”

“I saw that. Made me feel pretty good to know that so many people came to our defense.” As they talked over what was going to be needed and how much money, Devon made notes. His phone had rung twice, but since he was working, he didn’t bother with it. Whoever it was would either leave him a message or knew where he was to call.

At a little after two his grandma came into the little inn to have lunch with him. He was both surprised and glad that she’d done it. As they were given menus, he asked her what was up.

“Why does there need to be something up when a woman wants to have lunch with her grandson?” He just looked at her. “Oh, all right. I wanted to see if you’d please do this for me. The escort. Mary is a dear friend and her daughter is all alone.”

“Did it occur to you that she might be alone for a reason?” She asked him what that meant. “That she might be tired of having someone, two busy little women, setting her up on dates, and then she has to fend off advances that she’d rather not have.”

“The things you say to your poor old grandmother. Especially when she’s trying to make you happy.” Devon pointed out that he was very happy. “You’d be happier with a wife and children at your feet.”

“Grandma, you know as well as I do that a mate for me is not in the picture. That any children that I have will be dragons. There aren’t any women out there who are going to be thrilled about being mated to a great monster.” He felt her pain at his words and took her hand in his. “I’m sorry. I know that relationships aren’t all like the one that my father had. I know this. But in my heart, I don’t think I’d be a good man to someone.”

“Oh, Devon darling.”

He asked to change the subject and she did. Devon hated hurting her this way, but he knew that he’d never fall in love. A woman for him was completely out of the question.

She’d driven into town on her own but he said he’d go on ahead of her, that he needed to stretch his legs a bit more. Grandma had some shopping she needed to do—a few things for her upcoming trip to see her dear friend—and she would see him at home. Devon and Jamie made their way back, both of them in a different frame of mind than when they’d started out.

“Jamie, do you suppose that she’s out there? This mate of mine.” The dog woofed at him as if to say, really? “I know. It’s a longshot, but I had hoped after my father was dead that I’d find her, make the house a lovely place to be, and go on as if he never was. Childish dreams, but there you have it. I was just a kid.”

Devon thought of the day his father had been killed. He was pretty sure that everyone knew what had happened. Or at least most of it. Yes, he’d knocked him down the stairs. And yes, he’d not called anyone to come to his aid until he was sure he was dead. Only Devon knew what had been said between them when the fall, or in this case the shove, had happened. His father hadn’t known that he was a dragon until seconds before he’d gone over.

“What do you mean, you’re not human? My blood runs in your veins and I will not allow you to be anything but my heir. You will get that notion out of your head now or I shall be forced to beat it from you.” He’d drawn back, as he had many times before, to slap him. “I do not want to hear another word about it. You will not change, or whatever it is you said you can do. I forbid it.”

“I’m a dragon, the same as my mother. And her mother before her. I am dragon.” The slap had taken his breath away, the pain of it taking him to his knees. His father had moved to the top of the stairs then, no doubt thinking that the conversation was finished. “Shall I show you what I am? That I can do things you never allowed my mother to do?”

He’d held his dragon to him for as long as he could. But when his father came at him again, this time with his brass knuckles on his fist, Devon had let him go. It was the dragon that had shoved the man down the stairs. He’d only been protecting him. And as his father tumbled down the long staircase, he had watched him with no emotion whatsoever. No one had even come to see what had happened until he called for them. Devon had often wondered if they, too, had waited to make sure his father was dead.

By the time Devon made it back to the castle, he was tired. He and Jamie had a light dinner and sat in front of the fireplace. It was well after midnight when he made his way up to his room.

~~~

Kelly started unpacking her things. When she’d started out on this trip she’d had only three cases…now she had four. She had spent more on things than she’d thought she would, but less on her meals than she’d budgeted out. All in all, it had balanced out. She was sure she was going to have to pay more for the extra bags on the way home, but for now she was happy.

She thought of the man who had welcomed her here an hour ago. He had struggled hard to get all four of her cases, and she’d finally had to insist that she take one. He smiled at her when they finally made it to her room.

“There’s a nice wash up room down the hall. And you’ve a commode in here should you need it. There be no one else here right now, but we’ll be full up tomorrow.” Kelly thanked him. “I’ve made you a list of places you’d want to go, as you asked. And the local restaurants too.”

Kelly looked at the pretty basket that had been in the room when she arrived, and Mr. Quarter had blustered over it for ten minutes when he told her about it. The hundredth guest this season, he’d said, and the other merchants had chipped in some of their wares as well. She was mentally making room for it in her bags when she saw the people in the streets below her. Grabbing up her wallet, she made her way out of the inn.

When her phone vibrated in her pocket she only pulled it out long enough to see who it was. Her sister had been calling her several hundred times a day, quite literally, since she’d left home. And the messages were getting more and more angry all the time. Now she only left a few words to her, mostly along the lines of she was no longer welcome to call her sister, and when she was really upset, telling her that she’d been disowned by both her and her mother. But for the last several days, Kelly hadn’t bothered to even listen any more. This was her last week and she was determined to enjoy it.

The list that Mr. Quarter had given her had shops on it that she should visit. A graveyard, as well as two churches. A castle was also listed, but she was going to save that for her last day. Kelly had seen ten castles in all and had been able to explore most of them.

Making her way around the little town, she stopped in several of the shops to get herself some tea and a pretty little cup to take home. There were other things that she wanted, but she’d get them later. Now she had to get started on getting her bags ready to go home, at least the ones that had just trinkets and things in them. Perhaps she’d need to get herself one more bag. Laughing, she made her way back to the inn.

After dropping off all of her new things, she pulled her shawl around her shoulders and made her way to the first of her self-guided tours. The cemetery.

People had always thought her odd that she would enjoy a good walk through a cemetery. But cemeteries held so much history that she knew a lot about the town that used it when she left. Who the founding fathers were. Who had the most children. Sometimes she’d even find a scandal or two to keep her entertained. Most of the stories were her own, but she loved weaving them in her head.

As she entered the iron gates, she was startled to see a very well dressed woman sitting on a stone bench near a very plain headstone.

“Well, hello there. I don’t believe I’ve seen you before.” Kelly told her who she was and where she was from. “Oh, I so love the States. I was there only a few months ago. My name is Susanna Underwood, by the way. It’s lovely to meet you, Kelly.”

“I was just going to walk around. I won’t bother you.” Susanna smiled and patted the place beside her. Kelly went toward her, but she wasn’t sure that it was a good idea. “This is my daughter. I come to talk to her every day when the weather is nice.”

“Marchioness Lady Anna Cornwall Underwood Wakefield.” Kelly looked at the woman sitting next to her after reading the name. “You’re a Marchioness. A real lady.”

“As are you. But we’re not going to start off with you being all tongue tied about what title I have, are we?” Kelly nodded and the Marchioness laughed. “No, we can’t have that. I’m Susanna and you’re Kelly. I’d like to just leave it at that for the time we have together.”

“I don’t even think that’s a possibility, do you? I mean, you’re something like third in line for the crown, aren’t you?” She said that her grandson was, not her. “Oh well, that makes it so much different.”

“You’re a treat, my dear.” Susanna laughed again. “You’re staying at the inn, I take it? Riley is such a wonderful man. He and his wife just opened their doors last season. I think he was surprised at how well he’s done.”

“I’m his hundredth guest, he said. I have an extra night to stay, but I can’t. My plane leaves on Wednesday and I have to go back home.” She asked her how long she’d been traveling. “A month. It’s been so wonderful. I’ve seen so many things and eaten some pretty amazing food. One of the places I stayed gave me recipes to take home with me. I don’t know that I’ll try them, but I could should I want to.”

“You should go up to the castle while you’re here. I can get you inside of it.” Kelly laughed and so did Susanna. “We should make a day of it before you go back. The place looks much better than when I lived in it, but you’ll still enjoy it. And the cook can make us something special for lunch. Something foreign.”

“I’d like that.” Kelly knew that she was only making conversation. She knew that there was no way she’d be welcome inside the castle like she was one of them. “When I first started this trip out, I was so terrified. I had no idea what I was going to do when I got somewhere. If there was going to be enough money for me to make it. I’ve found some of the most generous and kind people. Some bad apples as well, but for the most part, everyone has been kind to me.”

“Of course they would be. You seem to be such a lovely young woman.” Kelly said nothing but could feel her phone vibrating again. Pulling it out she saw Rachel’s face and put it back. “Not anyone you want to talk to?”

“No. She’s upset with me and I her. I’d just soon not have to hear what she has to say to me right now.” Susanna didn’t ask and Kelly didn’t tell her. It was too nice a day to be depressed about her sister. “I suppose I should get moving. I wanted to have a look around.”

But she didn’t move, only to stretch out her legs in front of her and let the warm sun shine on her face. They sat there in quiet for several minutes before Susanna spoke again.

“I miss her. My daughter, I mean. A great deal. Her husband poisoned her, I think, but I’ve not been able to prove it even after all this time.” Kelly looked at her as she wiped at the tears on her face.

“I’m so sorry. It’s hard when you lose someone you love very much by a senseless act. My father was murdered as well, but not by my mother. Not for lack of trying, I don’t think.” Kelly thought about curbing her tongue but enjoyed Susanna’s company too much. “She drove him to leave home at odd hours. Just to get away from her. And one night his wanderings took him to a store that was being robbed. I don’t think she ever forgave him for leaving her no one to fuss at.”

“She sounds like a treat.” Kelly told her that she was something all right. “You should have seen her, my daughter. Dark hair like the night. Tall like you are, and so tiny. I worried so about her when she told me she was with child. But that man, her husband, he chained her to the bed when he found she was going to have his child and ordered her not to move. I think it might have been what weakened her. Then with the birth of Devon I thought she’d be free to move about. To be what she needed to heal. But she kept getting weaker and weaker by the day until she simply died.”

“You think he poisoned her, you said.” Susanna nodded. “Have you had her body exhumed? I mean, there should still be traces of the poison in her body.”

“Devon forbids it. He was abused by his father as well, you see, and wishes never to speak of him. Not that I blame him much. His father, as I said, wasn’t a nice person.” Kelly’s phone vibrated again and she ignored it. “I think your sister wants to speak to you very badly. You shouldn’t leave it to chance and make it so you might part with bad words between you.”

“I’ll talk to her later. Right now I need to get up and walk. I’m very sorry for your loss, Susanna.” She stood up and took her hand in hers. “You’re a very wonderful person, but I have the feeling that if you really needed to know what happened to your daughter, then you would have figured it out, correct?”

“Perhaps. But maybe I’m afraid of my grandson.” Kelly shook her head with a smile. “And you know this how?”

“You have a necklace on that you play with when you’re nervous or unsure that is from him. Best Grandma it says. I would say that you cherish it more than you do anything you’ve ever received before. Your watch is a man’s watch, not too old, that I’m betting he gave you as well. He might not have realized there was a difference, or else he did not care because he liked it.”

“The necklace is from him. Our first Christmas together.” She looked down at the watch. “He gave me this when I came back from a cruise. I’d been away for a month and he’d missed me. But when I missed my connecting flight because I was delayed, he nearly went into a panic. The watch, his by the way, was his way of telling me to watch the time. How did you know that?”

“My job. I get paid to observe people. I work in the courts system in a way. I help lawyers choose their jury.” Kelly looked around the cemetery. “You should give yourself some peace of mind, Lady Underwood, and either come to terms with her death or find out what you already know in your heart. But will it be worth upsetting your grandson for you to know?”

Susanna stood up and hugged her. Kelly was so moved by the gesture that she felt her eyes fill with tears. It had been a very long time since someone had hugged her for no reason. And when she was let go, Kelly wanted to beg her for just one more.

“You are a good person. And you’re right. It’s not worth upsetting my grandson over. It won’t bring her back and it won’t make me feel any better knowing that I was right.” Kelly nodded. “Now, I’ll call for you this week and we’ll have that tour. I, for one, will be excited to see you again.”

As she made her way back to the inn, she thought of the tour. There wasn’t any way that she’d call, and if she did Kelly was going to beg off. To invade her home that way would be rude. And she wasn’t sure what her grandson would think about a stranger in his grandmother’s home. The little boy might be used to it, but Kelly wasn’t.

Dinner was ready when she returned. She’d told Mr. Quarter, Riley as he insisted that she call him, to make whatever he wanted for her. She was willing to try just about anything. And when her plate was set in front of her, she had to giggle. She wasn’t sure that she’d ever seen so much food before.

“It’s bangers and mash.” She nodded at the gentleman next to her. “Mary Margaret cooks it just right. And the onion gravy will stick to you the entire day. Even should you not want it to. Go ahead, give it a go.”

The sausage was good, beef the man told her, and the mashed potatoes were perfect and not made from a box. She wasn’t really sure about the baked beans that had come with it, nor the fried bread, but she tried it all. When she was finished, the man told her that she’d done well.

“I’m giving my taste buds a treat while I’m vacationing.” He introduced himself as Mr. Potter. “I’m Kelly Dalton from the States.”

“I thought you’d be a foreigner. I like your accent. Very lovely.” She smiled at him. She had learned early in her trip that she was the one with the accent, not the people where she was. Because of course, she was the out-of-towner. When she was finished and decidedly full, Kelly decided to take another walk.

During her trip she’d walked a great deal…much more than she ever had at home. And because of that, she’d shed a great deal of weight. When she’d started out much of her clothing was in the teens, some even larger than that in size, and had been tight. Now, not only had she moved down on the weight chart, but she was wearing single digit clothing as well as feeling pretty good about herself. She had had to supplement her clothing along the way with pretty new things. Kelly hadn’t felt this good in years.

When her phone went off again, she pulled it out of her pocket. Answering the call from her landlord made her smile. But as soon as she did, she knew that something terrible had happened. Kelly sat down on the small stone fence and waited for him to calm down.

“It’s all gone. Everything in your apartment is just gone. I’m so sorry my dear, so very sorry.” She asked him what happened. “A fire. They’re saying it was set, but I don’t know by who at the moment. The door to your place was broken into and the fire set was on purpose, they’re telling me. I was only gone for the afternoon. I swear it.”

“Mr. Bigalow, it’s not your fault. I’m sure there is a good reason for it to have happened. And I have insurance on the place.” Not much, but enough to cover what she might have had in the place. Closing her eyes, she asked him if anyone else had been hurt.

“No, love. We’re all well. No one was home, and it was contained to your place. Only you would have asked about everyone else.” He was quiet then and she asked him what else. “I hate to say this, but I think your sister did it. I saw her a few days ago, hanging around. I thought she was waiting for you to come back. She did seem to pounce on you whenever you were just getting home. But I really think I saw her running away when the fire trucks were called in.”

Kelly thought of the calls she’d gotten from her. Her telling Kelly that she wasn’t being fair, that she’d pay for making her miss this trip. The messages had all been deleted of course…well, except for the last few, but Rachel would never do that. Would she?

After talking to Mr. Bigalow for a few more minutes, she sat there wondering if she should bother listening to her messages. It was in her heart to say no, but she needed to know if Rachel had said anything about it. Pulling up the voice mail on her phone, she put in the code and started listening to them. By the time she got to the second one, there was little doubt to Kelly that her sister had done it.