My mouth felt lined with cat fur, my brain pickled from sleep. I shoved my hair out of my face and scooted back until I was pressed against the puckered velvet headboard.
She followed my gaze to the half-open door. “Shh. I’m supposed to let you sleep, but you look fine to me. I’m Phoebe, by the by,” she said. “Mac’s my grandda. You met him last night, I hear. He and Gran help Lu run the estate.”
“I’m—”
“You’re Hope,” she said, giving me a blinding grin that went all the way to her hairline. “I know. Everyone knows. We’re so excited you’re finally here.”
“That’s, um . . . good?” I managed before she hopped to the floor.
“I’ll put your things away while you get ready.”
I winced as the bubbly girl began yanking clothes from my suitcase and jamming them into a massive ancient dresser. When a pair of too-large sweats emerged from the jumble, she cocked an eyebrow at me.
“They’re my mom’s,” I said as I slid from beneath the covers. “I just—”
“You don’t have to explain to me. I sleep in one of my da’s old shirts. I know it’s nutters, but sometimes I can still smell him. We lost him when I was but a babe. Still . . .”
Her smile wobbled as she swiped a hand beneath her nose. “It’s pure natty, but I don’t care. Gran and I had a huge row when she threw it in the bin and I fished it right back out.”
It was so weird to watch someone else handling my things. I’d never had a friend back home. No one to wear my clothes without asking or ruin my favorite sweater or share stories about boys. When I was younger, I dreamed of having a friend like that, but Mom always claimed being around “empty-headed” girls my own age would only distract me from my studies.
Stifling a groan, I eased out from under the covers and stumbled to the center of the room, taking a first real look at my new surroundings.
Holy cow, I’m living in freaking Hogwarts.
Turning in an idiot circle, I gawped at the shabby opulence. Dusty ostrich feathers topped yards of midnight-blue velvet that draped the immense canopy bed. A high, scalloped ceiling was complete with plaster cherubs. Stuffed bookshelves lined each side of an honest-to-God marble fireplace. I inhaled, tasting book glue and the ghosts of long-ago fires.
Phoebe cheerfully slammed the last of my things into a drawer. “Pure awesome room, aye? It was your mum’s, you know. Sarah’s.”
I could see it. My mother as a young girl, curled on the tartan loveseat, strawberry hair tucked behind her ears as she frowned down at a leather-bound book.
Phoebe tactfully ignored me, humming under her breath as she heaved my empty suitcase over to a closet. I noticed her eyes were an exact replica of her grandfather’s. Small. Blue. Smiling.
Before setting the frame on a bedside table, she studied the only photo I’d brought. Me and Mom, lying on a bed of autumn leaves, brown and gold bits tangled in our hair as we grinned up at my dad.
“Gads,” she said. “You don’t look anything like her. Sarah, I mean. You’re exotic, like some gypsy girl, with that dark hair and those great gray eyes of yours.” She tilted her head, studying me. “But then, you’re adopted, aye? Lucky, that. They say I look just like my mum. And you couldn’t know, but that’s pure unfortunate.”
I couldn’t help but grin at her comically tragic expression. A stud pierced one straight, rust-colored eyebrow, which I assumed meant that beneath the dye, she was likely a redhead. The silver stud winked in the light as she babbled on in an accent so thick, I had to concentrate to understand.
“I met her—Sarah—when she was here in the fall. She came before . . . Well, she was in an awful hurry then, wasn’t she?”
“You saw my mom?” The words tangled in my mouth until I almost couldn’t get them out. “But . . . she never . . . I mean, I thought she went straight to India. Are you sure it was last fall? When, exactly?”
The girl’s mouth snapped shut, eyes widening at the obvious mistake.
My mind whirled, trying to take it in.
Mom had left home only once last year. The final time, nearly eight months earlier. Why hadn’t she mentioned going to Scotland?
“So, uh . . . you haven’t met Collum yet,” she bumbled on. “Just so you know, my brother can be a bit of a wank, sometimes. Though if he acts like that to you, I’ll give him—”
Phoebe winced as a distant voice called up the stairs.
“Bollocks!” she groaned. “If Gran catches me, I’m done for. Don’t mention you saw me, aye?”
“But,” I called after Phoebe as she fled the room. Feeling as though I’d been buffeted about by a tiny, blue tornado, I whispered to the now-empty room.
“But why would she lie to us?”
Chapter 4
AFTER A QUICK SHOWER IN A CLAW-FOOT TUB WHOSE HAND-HELD sprayer spat rusty, lukewarm water, I wound my way down the curved stairs and through a series of rooms. High ceilings soared over scarred wooden floors lined with tatty vintage rugs. Scruffy antique furniture was clustered in comfy arrangements before fireplaces mounted with crossed swords or family crests.
I followed the sound of clinking dishes until the heavenly scents of baking bread and frying eggs overcame the odors of stone and age. My stomach rumbled as I paused in the long dining room to watch a spider swing between the prongs of a huge deer-antler chandelier. Judging by the spotless gleam on the massive table beneath, I didn’t think the impressive web would be there long.
Two voices penetrated the nearby door, the source of the delicious smells. When I heard my name, I shamelessly pressed against it to listen.
“What did ye think of her?” a woman’s voice spoke. “Will the lass be able to handle such a thing?”
I recognized Mac’s gravelly rumble. “The child barely spoke, my love. She was exhausted, and most Yanks get a bit fankled when they first see the manor, even in the dead o’ night. All I know is that Lu believes her capable.”
“Lu believes in her because she’s Sarah’s daughter.” The woman sounded unsure. “She’s had no real training, and ’tis a hard task for one not raised to it.”
I couldn’t make out Mac’s reply, though I heard the woman’s response well enough.
“I hope that’s so. I worry about the poor lamb. We’ve so little time to get her prepared.”
I frowned. Get me prepared? For what?
I didn’t like the sound of that at all. But I probably wouldn’t learn much lurking in the shadows. Exhaling, I pushed into a bright, homey kitchen. Next to a flour-dusted island, Mac and the woman stood in a loose embrace. A thick, graying braid swayed across her back as he rocked her gently, her head tucked under his chin. My throat swelled, watching them. When I was little, I’d once come upon Mom and Dad in the same pose, swaying to music only they could hear.
Mac’s blue eyes opened, and I realized I’d been right about Phoebe. The eyes were identical.
“Why, look who’s come to join us, darlin’.” He released the woman, grinning at me, and I realized he’d passed his blazing smile along to his granddaughter too. “Welcome to Christopher Manor, lass.”