For Jared it was a relief to have another man to talk to about the coming wedding. Ken was busy during the day putting the finishing touches on the chapel and his evenings were spent with Jilly. Jared thought perhaps they were no longer in separate bedrooms.
Jared talked with Tim, a great money person, about the arrangements for the wedding, and about how the gifts would go to Izzy and Glenn, who needed them. “Kingsley House certainly doesn’t need anything added to it.”
Tim, who was married, had set Jared straight on that issue. “Alix may not want a new blender, but there must be something that she truly wants.”
Jared realized what that was. “Her own office here on Nantucket.”
The only place that made sense as an office was the two-bedroom maid’s quarters. Victoria was out for the day so they could do it.
“You’ll need the other bedrooms for the kids,” Tim said. “In my experience they start coming about six months after the ceremony.?
?
“Alix might like that,” Jared said.
“You two have talked about kids?”
“It was either that or ghosts, so we went with kids.”
“Wise choice.”
Jared called a couple of cousins, who called some more, so they had enough people hired to remove the old wallpaper and paint the rooms. While they worked, Tim and Jared went shopping the Nantucket way, meaning that they raided the attics of the old houses the Kingsley family owned. They found everything they needed except for a drafting table.
Jared and Tim looked at each other and said, “Stanley.” It took only one call and Stanley said he’d fly over with the table the next day and would install it during the wedding.
By ten that night they had it done. They’d moved Jared’s office in from the guesthouse so he and Alix would be together. They’d found some magnificent artifacts hidden in the attics, from scrimshaw to whale bones, and they hung them about the rooms. The only thing they didn’t have was the table. Stanley had managed to find an ex-client who was going to Nantucket on his private jet, and he was giving a ride to Stanley and the table.
All in all, Jared was glad for the physical labor of the day. It kept him from thinking about what might happen the next day.
It was late when the house was finally quiet, and, with Tim asleep upstairs, Jared found Dr. Huntley on the couch. Poor man, it looked as though Victoria had exhausted him. There were circles under his eyes and his skin had a gray pallor to it. Tomorrow after the wedding Jared was going to tell Victoria to let the man rest.
At that thought, all Jared’s anxiety came back to him. Tomorrow was the twenty-third, and his grandfather would leave the earth forever. The question was whether Victoria would go with him.
He saw her in the hallway and was afraid to leave her. When they finally said goodnight, he wondered if he’d ever see her alive again.
As soon as she went into her bedroom, Jared started toward the attic stairs. He meant to go talk to his grandfather, but he took one step and was so overcome with sleepiness that he almost fell. He had no doubt on earth that Caleb was doing this, using his new powers to control and manipulate.
Jared fought the feeling of being drugged, but it was no use. The door to Alix’s bedroom was open and the bed—tidily made and so very soft looking—pulled him in. He barely made it to the bed before he fell across it and was sound asleep.
That had been last night, and now he was sitting in the attic, where he’d always gone when he was upset. He wasn’t sure whether this was going to be the happiest day of his life or the worst. Tim appeared in the doorway. His friend had visited Nantucket often and knew that Jared often hid out upstairs.
“Please tell me you’re not changing your mind,” Tim said as he sat down in the wing chair.
“Change my mind? What are you talking about?”
“You look like a man who’s going to be executed, not a happy bridegroom.”
Jared tried to remove the frown from his face, but it wouldn’t leave. “Everything is great with Alix. It’s just …” He trailed off. “If I asked you to do something with no questions, would you do it?”
“Does it involve firearms?”
“Only a beautiful woman.”
“I agree. No questions asked. Don’t tell the wife.”
Jared didn’t smile. “I want you to go downstairs, open Victoria’s bedroom door, look inside, and check on her.”
Tim had met Victoria yesterday and had made some jokes about his own mother-in-law not looking like that. “Peeping in her bedroom? That’s a bit invasive, isn’t it? Illegal, maybe?”