Lonesome Rider and Wilde Imaginings (25 page)

They had talked about everything together, mulled over all the options. Because it should be done for historical reasons, and also because it would make life easier for both of them, they had decided that they would open both places to the National Trust two afternoons a week—different afternoons, of course, just in case they needed privacy, though of course most rooms would never be opened to the public. The future seemed suddenly bright and beautiful. Travel appealed to both of them, and they looked forward to taking off at the slightest whim.

They were also both looking forward to starting a family. A year alone sounded nice to both of them, but Brian was several years past thirty, and Allyssa felt that she was fast approaching the three decade mark herself, so they felt comfortable knowing they could start their family any time.

She had never imagined being quite so happy.

Their honeymoon would take them to Paris for a few days, then down to the Italian Riviera for a few more, but their plane wasn't scheduled to leave Heathrow until noon the following day. Because of that, they had decided to escape the wedding crowd in the castle and spend their first night as man and wife in the place where they had felt the first stirring of passion for one another—in the quaint old thatch-roofed cottage they intended to call home.

They left the castle in a storm of rice and flowers. In Brian's BMW, they pretended to head for London, then turned and drove straight home. Mrs. Griffin would be leaving from the castle for her holiday at Bath, and the day help had been given time off, too, so no one would be around to intrude on their solitude.

Brian lifted Allyssa from the BMW and carried her, in her elegant and traditional white gown, along the path between the roses and over the threshold of their home. In the doorway he held her tight, kissing her in a very long and leisurely fashion. Then he groaned softly. “I've got to put you down!”

She laughed, sliding to her feet. “Oh, no, I think the honeymoon is over, and it hasn't even started yet!”

“Is that so?” He swept her up, laughing when she protested that he ought to put her down again, then carried her up the stairway, his eyes locked with hers.

But when they reached the second floor landing, she found that her gaze was suddenly drawn from her husband's.

There was a painting hanging on the wall, a nearly life-size portrait of a man. Tall, dark, remarkably like Brian.

He was wearing tight black riding breeches, a white cotton shirt and black knee-high boots, and carried a quirt. Behind him, against the backdrop of the fields and the castle, stood a horse. A huge black horse. The man seemed to tower there, handsome, arrogant, his gold eyes examining all those who would pass him by.

“What is it?” Brian asked her.

For a moment she couldn't speak. Then she lifted her arm from his shoulder to point to the painting. She was still struggling for breath.

“Who—who is that?”

“The painting?” he inquired.

She nodded wordlessly.

“That's Paddy. Painted in his younger days. He was in his late nineties when he died, you know. I'd say that must have been painted when he was about thirty.” There was a curious pride in his voice that touched and warmed her.

He might have fought his battles with Paddy right along with everyone else, but Brian had loved the old man.

And maybe, Allyssa thought, in his way, Paddy had loved Brian far more than her husband would ever imagine or believe.

“Allyssa, you're so pale! What's the matter?” he asked anxiously.

She shook her head, smiling at him and stroking his cheek tenderly with her knuckles. “You resemble him. A lot.”

“You think so? He was your great-grandfather, not mine.”

“Well, then you must both look like his grandfather!” Allyssa said, then drew his head down to hers and kissed him tenderly.

How strange. The great-grandfather who had caused her parents so much torment had loved them, too.

And he had also loved her. In the end, he had given her everything. Not just the family heritage, but something far more important. Love. Brian.

Brian was studying her, his expression worried. She smiled. “I think we should go on to the bedroom while you're still strong enough to get me there,” she teased.

“I have plenty of strength left!” he promised indignantly. Then his mouth lifted in a promising smile.

“Oh?” she murmured huskily. “Care to show me?”

He started to carry her again. Over his shoulder, she stared at the man in the painting.

She blinked, certain she had seen the man wink, then stared hard again. No, it was just a painting …

Paddy. She had a sudden sad feeling that she wouldn't be seeing him again. He had accomplished all that he had stayed behind to do.

“Thank you!” she mouthed to the painting.

“What?” Brian said.

She leaned back and met the golden eyes of her husband. “Thank you!” she whispered softly.

And then his footsteps were hurried, taking them to his bedroom. Their bedroom.

It was, after all, their wedding night. And Allyssa was convinced that they were quite alone. Nothing would ever haunt them again.

Nothing … but the power of love.

A Biography of Heather Graham

Heather Graham (b. 1953) is one of the country's most prominent authors of romance, suspense, and historical fiction. She has been writing bestselling books for nearly three decades, publishing more than 150 novels and selling more than seventy-five million copies worldwide.

Born in Florida to an Irish mother and a Scottish father, Graham attended college at the University of South Florida, where she majored in theater arts. She spent a few years making a living onstage as a back-up vocalist and dinner theater actor, but after the birth of her third child decided to seek work that would allow her to spend more time with her family.

After early efforts writing romance and horror stories, Graham sold her first novel,
When Next We Love
(1982). She went on to write nearly two dozen contemporary romance novels.

In 1989 Graham published
Sweet Savage Eden
, which initiated the Cameron family saga, an epic six-book series that sets romantic drama amid turbulent periods of American history, such as the Civil War. She revisited the nineteenth century in
Runaway
(1994), a story of passion, deception, and murder in Florida, which spawned five sequels of its own.

In the past decade, Graham has written romantic suspense novels such as
Tall, Dark, and Deadly
(1999),
Long, Lean, and Lethal
(2000), and
Dying to Have Her
(2001), as well as supernatural fiction. In 2003's
Haunted
she created the Harrison Investigation service, a paranormal detective organization that she spun off into four Krewe of Hunters novels in 2011.

Graham lives in Florida, where she writes, scuba dives, and spends time with her husband and five children.

Graham (left) with her sister.

Graham with her family in New Orleans. Pictured left to right: Dennis Pozzessere; Zhenia Yeretskaya Pozzessere; Derek, Shayne, and Chynna Pozzessere; Heather Graham; Jason and Bryee-Annon Pozzessere; and Jeremy Gonzalez.

Graham at a photo shoot in Key West for the promotion of the Flynn Brothers trilogy.

Graham at the haunted Myrtles plantation, Francisville, Louisiana.

Graham and the Slushpile Band playing the Memnoch the Devil Ball at the Undead Con in New Orleans, 2010.

Graham with dear friend, actor Doug Jones.