The Inn at Dead Man's Point (8 page)

Tony was the only one who lived out of the area, and he flew up every other month or so for a visit. He and his wife lived in California, at one of the hotels she owned, and Tony ran the California division of
Max and Company
. Al had thought about moving to California, and then he’d found the inn. Now he was committed to staying for at least five more years. It would take him that long to work his way through the improvements he intended to make to the property.

Some of the kids went into the living room to play. Nobody missed two little girls until Sophie came running in yelling, “Katie went to get Callie and she got stuck.”

Al and Jenna both jumped up and ran outside, but Katie was nowhere in sight. Sophie pointed to the hill overlooking the beach. Katie was perched halfway down, and Al’s heart dropped down there with her. Most of the trail she was on had washed away, and it was a long drop to the rocks below. If she fell, she could be seriously injured or killed. “Don’t move, Katie,” he called. “Hold real still and I’ll be right down to get you.”

Angelo ran out to his car and returned with a length of heavy rope while Nick called 911. Al wrapped one end of the rope under his arms. Blade and Vincent grabbed the other end and wrapped it around a sturdy tree.

All the color had left Jenna’s face. “Trust me, Jenna?” Al asked as he tied the rope. She nodded, but he could almost smell her fear.

He walked easily down the narrow trail for a few feet, and then it was barely wide enough for a foothold. “Hang onto that rope,” he called. “Katie, hold real still, honey. I’m coming to get you, okay?”

“O-okay.”

This damn trail may be wide enough for a cat, but not for a kid and certainly not for a man. He had to build a fence along the top of this hill. He should have done that first, before they started on the roof, but he didn’t know back then that they’d have a four-year-old living here.

Al turned to face the hill and held onto the rope, his toes barely grabbing hold of the eroding hillside. “You have to hold me now. Let me down slowly.” The rope gave a little and then a little more, and Al was hanging out over the rocks. If the rope gave way now, he’d be in serious trouble. “Hold real still, Katie. I’m almost there.”

A few more feet, and he could almost reach her, but reaching her wasn’t enough. He had to get a solid grip on her. “A little more rope, guys.” The rope let out inch by inch, until he wrapped an arm around the kid. “Put your arms around me, honey. That’s my girl. Hold on tight.” As little arms tightened around his neck, he called, “I’ve got her.”

Sirens sounded above. Help was on the way.

The first family dinner at his house, and it almost ended in disaster.

Katie was whimpering when the paramedic peeled her out of Al’s arms, but she was all right. Minutes later, Al was on solid ground being fussed over by his mother.

And then Jenna stood before him. “Alessandro.” Her eyes filled and spilled over. “Thank you.”

He acted on impulse, wrapping his arms around Jenna and holding her close while his family watched. “My pleasure,” he whispered, and he wasn’t talking about saving the kid. Jenna fit just right in his arms. Why had he been keeping his distance when this was what he wanted?
She
was what he wanted.

Katie pointed to the hill. “Callie fell down.”

A fireman looked over the hill. “There’s a cat lying on the beach. She’s moving her head and one leg, but she’s not getting up.”

“Can you get to her?” Jenna asked the fireman.

“Sure. My little girl has a kitty, too.”

Sophia watched her youngest son holding the pretty blonde. He’d always been a hero in her eyes, and now he was in everyone’s eyes. He’d saved the little girl from serious injury and now he was comforting her mother. All those uptight women he’d been dating couldn’t touch the compassion in this one. Mattie Worthington was a spiteful old woman who had nothing good to say about Jenna, yet the girl was loving and patient with her.

She wasn’t sure what was going on between Jenna and Mattie, but she was sure of one thing. Her son had found his match. He might not be aware of it yet, but Sophia knew about love. She’d married the love of her life, and all her kids except this one had finally found love. Nicky and Maria had both been married and divorced, but they’d married again, and they were happy now. One of these days, her youngest son would be happy, too, and she’d have another grandchild to love. Katie was a sweet little girl.

Alessandro had always been different from the other kids. When Tony and Nick got into mischief, Alessandro watched and listened. When Angelo recited something he was learning for school, Alessandro memorized it along with him. She thought he was quiet because he’d lost his father, and then she realized he was just being himself.

The other kids all looked out for him when he was a kid, especially Angelo. When they were growing up, Al tagged along after Angelo, read a lot of books, and drew pictures of houses. She was immensely proud of the man he’d turned out to be. Vincent would be proud of him, too. He’d be proud of all of them.

Alessandro was the only one of her kids with a college degree, and he’d graduated at the top of his class. All those girls who didn’t give him a second glance when he was a teenager gave him come-on looks now, but he was picky about the women he dated. He went out with attorneys and accountants and doctors, serious professional women who were all business. But they weren’t right for him. Alessandro was serious enough. He needed a woman who could teach him to play and have fun.

Someone like Jenna.

The family dinner was essentially over, so Al put the injured kitty on the backseat of his car. Ma offered to stay with Mattie while Jenna and Katie went to the emergency vet clinic with him, but Mattie complained so much, Jenna said she’d have to stay with her aunt.

“Can I go with Callie?” Katie asked, and Al couldn’t say no. Jenna nodded her permission, and Al put Katie’s car seat in his car beside the injured kitty, strapped the kid in, and drove to the vet hospital in Tacoma. Katie talked to the kitty all the way to the hospital, and at one point, Al heard the little cat purr. He hoped she’d be all right, because the kid was getting quite attached to her.

He sat in the waiting room, Katie on his lap, while the doctor took X-rays and did a thorough exam on the cat. After a few minutes, the little girl leaned her head against Al’s chest and closed her eyes, trusting him completely.

Holding her soft little body in his arms, he envied Brian.

Chapter Five

T
wo days later, Callie came home from the vet with a cast on her leg. She had to stay in a kennel where she couldn’t jump around, but Katie appointed herself the nurse. She watched over the kitty, fed her, and opened the door to pet her when she thought no one was looking.

Al put his work aside for a few days so he could erect a fence along the edge of the hill. He bought a long rope ladder in case something like this happened again, and he also increased the liability insurance on the property. He still had visions of Katie’s little broken body lying on the rocks down below.

He thought this would be a good place to raise a family, but remembering the mischief he and his brothers got into when they were kids, he was having second thoughts. Tony would have dared Nick to climb the hill, Angelo would have done it, and Tony and Nick would have gone down after him. And Ma would have had a heart attack.

Jenna had been inviting him to eat with them. He didn’t mind cooking for himself, but there were days when he got so busy with work that he forgot the time. Jenna didn’t cook Italian, but she did all right. He didn’t go hungry. Mattie complained about the food, but she complained about everything. What made him think he could live peacefully in the same house with Mattie Worthington?

Al gave Jenna money for groceries that evening and she handed it back. “You saved my daughter’s life. The least I can do is feed you. Besides, there’s a bunch of money in Aunt Mattie’s account. We might as well use it before she decides to give it all away.”

“It’ll be yours someday, Jenna.”

“No it won’t. She’s made it quite clear that I’m not getting anything from her, and it’s not worth fighting over. When I’m finished here, I’ll find another job and move on.”

The thought of her leaving here made the house feel empty, and she hadn’t left yet. He watched her go up to the attic, where she spent most of her evenings. He had work to do, but knowing she was up there alone didn’t help him get it done. He’d fallen for her sweet smile when he was fourteen, and seeing her every day, watching her laugh with Katie and patiently take care of Mattie, made him fall for her all over again.

He turned off his computer and walked up the attic steps.

She looked up. “I found my mother’s family genealogy. I thought Aunt Mattie was my grandmother’s sister, but she’s not. We’re not related at all.”

“What about Charlie?”

She stared at the paper. “He’s not on here either, and my father’s parents came here from Russia. Aunt Mattie’s family built the inn way back when, and Uncle Charlie’s family lived in Virginia during the Civil War, so I know they weren’t related to my father. If he really was my father.”

After seeing those pictures, Al didn’t think it likely. “Did you find anything else?”

“If you mean any record of my parents’ investment in the inn, no, but I have two more boxes of personal papers to go through, and I haven’t even looked in the other closet.”

He sat on a chair and leaned forward, propping his forearms on his knees. “Jenna, why are you putting yourself through this?”

She shoved the box away from her. “At first I wanted to know my parents better, and then, when I thought it through, I knew my parents had money when they died. They both had good jobs and they weren’t frivolous spenders. I remember my dad giving Uncle Charlie money to invest in the inn, and before the accident, they sold their home so we could move into the inn and use that money to help Uncle Charlie restore the inn. So where is the money from the house? Where is their savings? What happened to their 401K accounts? If it all went into the inn, why wasn’t my name put on the deed after they died? I was their only child, and they supposedly left everything to me.”

“I’ll bet Mattie knows.”

Jenna sighed deeply. “I’m afraid to ask her.”

“Why?”

“Because... I think I already know the answer. Uncle Charlie wasn’t my uncle, he was my father, but he was married to Mattie when my mother got pregnant with me. Mattie has always hated me, and now I understand why. Uncle Charlie was unfaithful, my parents moved into
her
inn, and then they died and left me here.”

“Maybe. And maybe your parents put their money somewhere else. Maybe Mattie knows nothing about it.”

“Either way, talking about it will only upset her, and she wouldn’t tell me the truth anyway. She’s already lied about how much my parents put into this place. Whatever the truth is, I won’t hear it from her.”

“Who was the executor of your parents’ estates?”

“Uncle Charlie. Aunt Mattie didn’t handle the money, Uncle Charlie did, or at least I think he did. And I can’t ask him about it now.”

Al walked over and gazed through the dusty window at the moonlight sparkling on the water. It was pretty, but his mind wasn’t on the view outside. He dropped to his knees beside Jenna, so close his arm brushed hers. She was barefoot, her hair was a mess, and she wore no makeup, yet she was most appealing woman he’d ever known. He lifted her chin and turned her face to gaze into her eyes. “I want to kiss you.”

“A real kiss this time?”

“An all-over kiss in my bed.”

A little smile played with her lips. “I’m tempted, but you’re looking for a one-night stand, and I don’t think I’d be satisfied with one night. Not with you.”

He dropped his hand. “If I was offering more than one night?”

She stood and brushed off her behind. “Just what are you offering, Alessandro?”

“I don’t know, honey. I can’t sleep for thinking about you, and I thought—”

She touched her finger to his lips. “Then stop thinking and kiss me.”

He stood and gazed into her eyes for several seconds before dipping his head to brush his lips over hers. Teasing her lips open with his tongue, he tasted her mouth, and then he scooped her against him so she could feel what he wanted. A little sound deep in her throat encouraged him to kiss her again, and he did, slowly and thoroughly making love to her luscious mouth while he held her. She kissed him back, and her gentle hands caressed his shoulders and chest. She was breathing hard, they both were, and he was ready to take her right here on the floor, without a condom, when a little girl called, “Mommy.”

Jenna jumped back and stared into his eyes for a second. Without a word, she ran down the attic steps. He had a feeling she was running away from him as much as she was running to her daughter.

What in the hell was he doing? Jenna Madison was the last woman he should be seducing, but knowing she was sleeping alone right down the hall night after night turned him inside out. He wanted her so much it was killing him, yet the next step was a big one. If it didn’t work out between them, they’d still have to live in the same house together. Maybe he should go out and find himself another woman, scratch the itch, and get rid of it.