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The lawn was freshly mown, but wizened half-dead rose bushes filled the flower beds, and a wild tangle of grass and wildflowers were encroaching from the edges of the forest. It was clear that it all once was a magnificent estate, but the glory days were long ago. I could hear the distant sound of the lake's waves sloshing against the bottom of the bluff far below.
While we walked up the drive, I shivered slightly. Though I couldn't see anyone, it felt like there were eyes watching us. I looked up at the windows of the house, but I saw nothing. Ancient curtains were visible but nothing else.
Tyler gripped my hand again. "Are you okay?"
I nodded. "It's all a little creepy. That's the only thing. I wish we could hear more sound—people talking, dogs barking, or anything."
With everything so quiet, our footsteps sounded unnaturally loud. When Tyler snapped a twig under his foot, I jumped.
As we drew closer, I admired the intricate woodwork around the windows and the wraparound porch, but the house badly needed a paint job, and some of its shutters hung slightly askew. It could be a perfect fixer-upper for an enterprising owner.
Suddenly, I saw something that made my heart pound a little faster. "Tyler, look!" I pointed toward the far side of the house.
It was the tail lights of a car, and from what I could see, it looked like one of relatively recent vintage. I tugged on Tyler's arm. "I think someone's here."
"That's not just a car that belonged to Ian?"
"Let's go check it out."
We crept along the asphalt drive, and more of the car appeared. "It's got current tags on the license plate," I whispered.
Tyler tightened his hold on my hand. "I don't think we're alone."
I held my breath while we approached the house. I noticed places the paint had peeled all the way to reveal the gray wood underneath. The floor of the wraparound porch sagged in places. I could almost hear the house sigh with weariness from so many years of neglect.
We were about to step onto the path leading to the porch steps when a sound broke the silence. I hissed to Tyler, "Someone opened a door."
We froze in our tracks. I had an impulse to bolt, but I didn't know where I'd go. If I ran, it would look like we were guilty of something.
The door to the porch swung wide, and someone stepped out. At first, the late morning sun backlit them, and all I could make out was a dark silhouette. As I watched, it became clear that it was a woman.
Tyler stiffened beside me, and then he suddenly relaxed. A smile crept across his face.
"Maggie?" he called. "Is that you?"
The woman on the porch raised a hand to shield her eyes from the sun. "Tyler Kincaid? Who would have guessed you would stop by here?" She looked at me next, and I saw a flicker of recognition. "And is that Ronan? It makes more sense to find you here, but the two of you together? Why?"
We climbed the creaking porch steps. While I carefully navigated the old boards, I asked, "Did we meet at the bank?"
"That's right," Maggie assured me. As we approached, I looked at her more closely. She had graying hair tied back with a bandana and wore jeans with a faded Blue Harbor High School T-shirt. Her dress and the context were radically different from when I met her at the bank to retrieve the journal from the safe-deposit box.
"I didn't expect to find you here either," declared Tyler with a chuckle. He reached out to offer Maggie a warm hug. "Why are you at the old Gallagher place? Is this a regular thing for you?"
"Well, yes it is." She gestured toward the aging Adirondack chairs on the porch. "I think these are all safe for sitting."
I did my best to relax as I sat, but my hands were trembling. While he found a chair, Tyler told me about the connection. "This is Maggie Brooks. We've known each other a long time, and her nephew, Andy, is the shortstop for the Beacons."
Maggie looked back at Tyler and then at me. A slight grin played at the corners of her mouth. "I used to work for Ian part-time, keeping the old house presentable. He wasn't here often, so there wasn't much clean-up involved. Unfortunately, his maintenance man passed on a few years ago, and Ian never replaced him. I think the funds might have been running low."
Tyler leaned forward. "And now?"
"I still have my key, and I've been doing a little upkeep gratis. I liked the old man, so I come by occasionally to check on things and catch a few cobwebs. Andy mows the lawn." She stopped and glanced back and forth between Tyler and me. "Something tells me your reason for being here is more interesting than mine."
I glanced at Tyler, silently hoping that he would choose to speak for the two of us. I gave him a slight nod.
"Well," he began as he cleared his throat, "Ronan and I, we're… um… we're together." He reached out for my hand, and our fingers wove together. I tensed, not sure of Maggie's reaction.
The silence that followed seemed to drag out forever, but in truth, it lasted only seconds. Maggie's gentle smile turned into a radiant grin.
