Endless Night Read Online Free PDF Page B

transpired here. Souvenirs from family vacations. School drawings. Trophies. Hand-knit blankets.”
    As if aware that she was rambling, Megan bit down on her lip.
    “Didn’t that strike you as odd?” Jake prompted.
    “Goodness, do you want a cup of coffee?”
    He grinned at the blatant segue. “Coffee sounds wonderful, Megan.”
    In midstride, Megan stopped to gape at him.
    “What?” he asked, troubled by the look on her face.
    “Nothing—it’s just—,” she paused, “—I’m not used to hearing anyone say my name.”
    Before he could respond, Megan moved to the coffee machine and busied herself spooning grounds into the filter.
    He watched her.
    I’m just not used to hearing anyone say my name.
    There was more of a mystery to Wakefield House than the simple matter of his heredity.
     
    “Alright, you already mentioned that there are no pictures—no personal items, right?”
    True, Megan thought .
    For a woman who had lived eighty-some years, there was little to show for that existence. The notion disturbed her. Maybe it disturbed her because if someone were to comb her room upstairs they would find nothing of a personal nature either. No photos. No childhood memorabilia. Definitely no identification. That was one of the reasons she moved into this old relic. They accepted cash each month and asked no questions.
    “When I got here, Estelle had already moved into the nursing home. I met her, like I said, but the conversations weren’t always lucid. From what the Realtor told me, there was an estatesale and most of Estelle’s stuff was sold off. They just kept the primary pieces of furniture in hopes of renting out this house.” Quietly, she added, “Gabrielle—Gabrielle had already rented an apartment in Bangor when she started receiving treatments for her cancer. Estelle was not going to be able to take care of her, so she stayed near the hospital.”
    Jake looked at her. “Good thing you came along. I don’t think anyone else would have rented this place.”
    “Anyone in their right mind?” she snapped.
    “Hey, easy now. You keep decorating like this and you’re going to have yourself one beautiful home.”
    Megan was skeptical.
    “I mean it,” he added. “If you look beyond the faded wallpaper, past the worn floorboards and tarnished windows, you can see that this was once a grand place.”
    Jake walked up to the kitchen window, his knee nearly clipping hers as he leaned to look outside. Megan caught a whiff of his soap. She watched the corded muscle that ran down the length of his neck.
    “Take this porch, for example.” He craned for a better view, but with the heavy downpour the view just didn’t get any better. “Imagine it painted white. And the house—oh, maybe a baby-blue. That swing would be white too. And between each column on the porch you could hang a basket of geraniums…”
    Megan followed that muscle in his neck as it dipped into his shirt collar. Jake’s chest, which nearly loomed over her as she shrank into the corner, was wide enough that a person could get lost in his embrace. The sinewy strength continued through his arms, their sculpted profile evident beneath the warm fabric. He had an athletic build—the build of a man who worked outside.
    “Let me guess.” Megan’s voice was thick. “You do construction for a living. Your card said Engineer.”
    Jake’s grin was beguiling.
    “No.” He righted himself, but didn’t move away from her. “But I’ve been around construction enough.” His eyebrow arched. “Well, on a slightly bigger scale than this.”
    “How much bigger?”
    “Have you ever been to Boston?”
    “Yes, don’t tell me you engineered the Big Dig.”
    Jake chuckled. “No, that new tower in the Back Bay, and the other tower next to the Prudential building—”
    “You built those?”
    Jake laughed at her astonishment and propped his hand on the wall. “Hmm, I could take the credit and you wouldn’t know any better, would