His mother nodded. “I’m so glad she came here. But I think she was a bit overwhelmed today. My being late to meet her train didn’t help, but she was very gracious about it.”
“We’ll do what we can to make things easy for her, Mother.”
“I know. We can begin tonight. I’m sure she’s a little apprehensive about meeting everyone. She’s grown into quite a lovely young woman since the last time you saw her, hasn’t she?”
“Yes, she has.” Michael hadn’t been able to quit thinking of Violet all afternoon. He couldn’t remember when thoughts of a woman had interfered with his work so much, and he didn’t know quite what to make of it.
The sound of doors opening and closing signaled that many of their boarders were home from work, and his mother got up from her chair. “I’d better go see to the finishing touches for dinner.”
Michael stood, as well. “Good. My mouth has been watering ever since I walked in the door.”
“I figured as much. You might want to go to the front parlor and greet Violet when she comes down. And make sure our gentlemen boarders behave themselves.”
“That I will do.” Michael bent and kissed his mother’s cheek. “She reminds you of Rebecca, doesn’t she?”
His mother sighed and gave a quick nod. “She’s the same age that Becca was when—”
He knew she couldn’t bring herself to say the words. His sister had been missing for over three years now, and still they didn’t know what had happened to her. “Is this going to be too hard for you...having Violet here, Mother?”
“Oh, no, dear. She does bring back memories of being in Ashland before Becca left to come here...but those memories are good ones and I welcome them.”
Michael gave his mother a quick hug. “I’ll be grateful that she’s here then and do all I can to make the transition to the city easier for her.”
“Thank you, son.”
Michael watched his mother leave the room, hoping that she was right and that it would be good for her to have Violet here. She could use some joy.
Becca’s sudden disappearance after she’d moved to New York City three years earlier had changed their lives forever. It’d been the catalyst for selling their home in Ashland, moving here and starting the boardinghouse. Thankfully, his father had provided for his mother well so that they could fulfill her wishes. She wanted to give safe haven to the people who lived under her roof, especially the young women. She wanted them to have a place they felt was home even while missing their own. And she wanted to make sure that their families would never have to hear that their loved one was missing, never to be heard from again.
Michael had been trained as a private investigator by the best. He’d worked for Pinkerton before opening his own detective agency, and now he made it his life’s work to try to help his clients who had heard those same words—or others similar to them—and to follow each and every lead that might turn up about his sister.
That Violet was the daughter of his mother’s best friend and their next-door neighbor was enough to make him want to watch her as closely as he would Becca, if she were here. Becca was several years older than Violet and while one wouldn’t have called them best friends, he’d always considered them friends and had teased Violet as much as he had his own sister. He knew that if anything happened to Violet, his mother would blame herself, and Michael couldn’t let that happen.
He stood and rubbed the back of his neck before heading down the hall to the front parlor. Their boarders were a good group for the most part, but after what his mother had told him about Violet, he wanted to be there to try to put her at ease among strangers.
“Why, Michael, how nice of you to join us early tonight!” Lila Miller, a young woman who’d been with them for nearly a year, left the side of Luke Patterson and headed in his direction as soon as he entered the parlor.
“Good evening, Miss Miller, everyone,” he said, trying to make eye contact with each person in the room.
“To what do we owe this honor, Michael?” Lila asked. “You’ve barely been on time for meals the last few weeks.”
He’d like to tell her that it was her company he’d been trying to avoid lately, but that was out of the question, of course. Michael didn’t want to offend her. He just didn’t like the way she fawned over him.
“I thought I’d greet our new boarder when she comes down.”
“Oh?” Lila raised a narrow brown eyebrow. “She’s here then?”
“She arrived this afternoon.”
“And she’s here now.” Elizabeth Anderson, one of his mother’s favorite boarders, entered the room just ahead of Violet. “Everyone, meet Violet Burton. I met her at the landing. She seemed a bit hesitant to come down, but I promised her that we’d all be on our best behavior. At least until we get to know her better.”
The young woman who’d followed Elizabeth into the room smiled at everyone and said, “I took her at her word.”
That brought chuckles from the boarders gathering around her, and Michael quickly crossed the room to her side. “Violet, I hope you’ve been able to get some rest?”
His mother was right. This was not the Violet he remembered. That one had been a young girl and, while pretty and sweet, this Violet was a fully grown woman and a lovely one at that. Her black hair was swept up on top of her head, and when her gaze settled on him, he was struck by how brilliantly blue her eyes were.
“I did, thank you, Mr. Heaton.”
She hadn’t called him Mr. Heaton back home. It’d only been Michael...and that in an exasperated tone when he’d been teasing her and Becca. He chuckled at the memory. Perhaps she was only doing it now because of the boarders, but he didn’t like it. “Oh, come now, Violet. Surely as long as we’ve known each other, we can dispense with the formalities, can’t we?”
She looked up at him and her smiled deepened. “I suppose we can...Michael.”
But her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes and the wary expression in them reminded him of all she’d been through so recently. Suddenly his protective instincts rose up full force, shocking him with their intensity. In that moment, Michael knew he’d do all he could to keep Violet Burton safe and to help her adjust to her new surroundings.
Chapter Two
“Dinner is served,” Mrs. Heaton announced from the dining room. “Come along, everyone, we’ll make the remaining introductions while we dine.”
Michael held out his arm and Violet hesitated for a moment before taking it. This was Michael Heaton, after all, not a complete stranger. He’d been her neighbor for years and he was only escorting her across the hall to the dining room. Although he was several years older than Violet, she’d known him all of her life. And his teasing manner was just the same as it had been when she was growing up.
But Violet hadn’t been prepared for the effect of his smile on her. The sheer force of it, with those twin dimples that hadn’t been in evidence earlier that day, left her a little stunned and bewildered that she felt so drawn to him. She told herself it was because it was so good to see another familiar face in this strange city so far away from home, but she wasn’t sure she was telling herself the truth. Her heartbeat hadn’t slowed down since her gaze met his.
He led her across the foyer and into the dining room. Pulling out a chair, he seated Violet while another of the boarders seated his mother at the opposite end of the table. Then Michael took his own place at the head of the table; his chair was adjacent to the one Violet was sitting in.
The