The moment he was out of the car and had collected his briefcase from the back seat he moved swiftly towards where warmth and hot food would be waiting for him, casting a brief glance in the direction of the property next to it as he did so, and his step slowed.
A town house like his own, it had been empty for years and he was amazed to see a car parked outside and a flicker of light coming from inside, as if from a torch or a candle. He frowned. He doubted it was thieves, as there would be nothing in there to steal. Could be squatters, though, and the thought was not appealing.
When his housekeeper opened the door to him she couldn’t wait to tell him the latest neighbourhood news. When she’d returned from picking the children up from school there had been the car parked outside, and shortly afterwards a bed had been delivered from a nearby furniture store.
‘Wow!’ he exclaimed as he closed the door behind him. ‘Surely they’ve had it cleaned first? It must be filthy after being empty for so many years. The amount of lighting inside has to mean that they’ve not had the electricity switched on and are using candles or a torch. It seems an odd state of affairs. Once I’ve changed into something less formal, I’ll do the neighbourly thing and go and introduce myself, ask if there is anything I can assist them with.’
When he knocked on the door of the run-down house that was a blight in the crescent of much-admired Victorian town houses there was no sound for a moment. Then the door swung open slowly and his jaw dropped at the sight of a slender stranger with long dark hair that swung gently against her shoulders and a face blotched with weeping.
‘They haven’t been,’ she cried desperately as he was on the point of introducing himself. ‘The cleaners haven’t been and the place is full of spiders’ webs and the dust of years. I will have to find a hotel for the night.’
‘Are you alone here?’ he asked carefully. ‘I’m Ryan Ferguson, and my family and I are your new neighbours.’ He held out his hand in greeting. The tearful stranger shook it limply but didn’t volunteer any information about herself. she seemed extremely distracted, which was no wonder considering the situation.
He got the impression that she wanted him gone but he could hardly go back to his own comfortable home and leave her in such a state.
‘Can you recommend a hotel not too far away?’ she asked. ‘I just can’t spend the night in here. I’ve had a bed delivered but haven’t taken the wrappings off it so it should come to no harm for the present.’
Ryan was still standing in the doorway and would have liked to see just what a mess the inside of the house was in, but he could hardly go barging in without an invite.
‘You must be exhausted. I’ll take you to a hotel if you would like to lock up. My car is parked out front like yours, so I will lead the way and you can follow.’
‘Thank you,’ she said unsteadily. ‘I do apologise for breaking into your evening. I shall be onto the cleaners first thing in the morning.’
‘I’m only too pleased to be of assistance,’ he told her. ‘If you will just give me a moment, I’ll go and get my car keys.’
When Mollie opened the door to him again he explained, ‘This is our new neighbour, Mollie. I’m taking her to a hotel as the house isn’t quite ready to move into.’
‘Oh, you poor dear,’ Mollie said, observing the strange woman standing hesitantly at the kerb edge. ‘What a horrible thing to happen, and on a cold, dark night like this.’ She turned to Ryan. ‘I’m just about to dish up your meal before I go home for the day. There’s plenty to spare, so can we not offer the young lady some hospitality?’
‘Yes, of course, by all means,’ he said, forgetting his weariness for a moment.
Their new neighbour shrank back.
‘I couldn’t possibly intrude into your evening any more than I am doing,’ she said.
Ignoring her reluctance, Ryan insisted. ‘You are most welcome. How long is it since you last had something to eat?’
‘I can’t remember.’
‘If that’s the case, you need food now.’ He stepped back to let her past him to where Mollie was hovering near the kitchen door. ‘If you want to wash your hands you’ll find anything you need in the cloakroom at the end of the hall. Mollie will have the food on the table when you’re done.’
‘Thank you,’ she croaked meekly, and disappeared.
Mollie was ready to go by the time his unexpected guest had removed the day’s surface grime and once they were alone silence descended in what was a tastefully furnished dining room.
When they’d finished eating Ryan said, ‘There’s a fire in the sitting room. Make yourself comfortable while I make coffee.’
She nodded and said uncomfortably, ‘The food was lovely. Thank you so much.’
He was observing her gravely. ‘Are you going to tell me who you are? The house next door has been unoccupied for many years so it was a surprise to find signs of life there when I came home. Are you actually planning to live there?’
‘Er, yes,’ she told him hesitantly. ‘My name is Melissa Redmond. The house was left to me by my grandmother when she died some years ago. I’ve had no interest in living out here in the backwoods until a short time ago when my circumstances changed dramatically.
‘I’d arranged for a firm of cleaners to come in and make it liveable, and for the power to be connected, but when I got here late this afternoon nothing had been done and I was frantic.’
‘Yes, I can understand that,’ Ryan said slowly. Melissa didn’t look quite as bedraggled in the warm glow of the lamps in his sitting room as she had when she’d opened the door of the mausoleum next door. The colour had returned to her cheeks and she seemed a lot calmer. His curiosity about his new neighbour had definitely been piqued. He wanted to know more.
When he came back with the coffee cups she was asleep, overcome by the comforting warmth of the fire. So it looked as if he wasn’t going to find out any more about her for now.
An hour passed and Melissa hadn’t stirred out of the deep sleep of exhaustion that had claimed her. There was no way she could be allowed to go back to the chill of the house that had been empty for so long, neither did Ryan want to rouse her to go to a hotel at that hour. Instead, he went and found a soft fleece, laid it gently over her, and went up to bed with the intention of checking on her at regular intervals. That turned out to be a wise precaution as the first time he went downstairs, she was awake and about to disappear through the front door.
‘Melissa, wait!’ he cried. ‘You can’t stay in that place tonight. I have a spare room that is always kept ready for visitors. I insist you stay in it. I won’t be able to sleep knowing that you’re not somewhere safe, and I’ve had a very exhausting day that I need to recover from before the next one is upon me.’
‘My nightwear is in my case next door,’ she protested faintly.
‘I’ll find you some,’ he offered. Was he going insane to let a strange woman wear something that had belonged to Beth?
He pointed to a gracious curved staircase and said, ‘If you would like to go up, I’ll show you to the guest room. While you are settling in there I’ll find something for you to wear.’
Ryan dug out one of Beth’s plain cotton nightshirts to lend to Melissa. He avoided taking out any of the prettier nightgowns that Beth had favoured.
Melissa took it from him with a subdued smile and said with tears threatening, ‘I hope that one day I’ll be able to repay your kindness, Ryan.’
He smiled. ‘Don’t concern yourself about that. Tomorrow is another day and it just has to be better than this one has been for you.’
With that brief word of comfort he left her and