BILLIONAIRE FOR KEEPS: Book 3 (Point St. Claire, where true love finds a way) by Robyn Grady Read Free Book Online

Vanessa told herself to stay calm. Stay numb. She wasn’t here to reminisce. To feel sorry for herself.
    She hadn’t come to mourn.
    Her mission was more important than that.
    Since finding out via her father’s attorney that Toomey Constructions was signed over, sold to Griffin, the day of Ronan’s fatal heart attack, she had been moping around at home, at the office, unable to concentrate, not wanting to eat or talk or forgive.
    The remedy?
    Do something about it, sooner rather than later. Point St. Claire was the key.
    As she drove toward the town center, she focused on her plan. First, a place to stay. And not just any place.
    Before setting off that morning, she hadn’t phoned ahead. She wouldn’t give herself the opportunity to back out if the cottage from her childhood wasn’t available. She was a minute away from finding out.
    As she walked into the realty office, the entry door tinkled, and Vanessa hesitated. The sound took her back, way back to a morning when she and her dad had gone to a store and the first domino leading up to this point had fallen. A woman stood behind the realty counter, a welcoming smile, no accusations in her eyes.
    “I’d like to rent a cottage,” Vanessa said.
    “We have some gorgeous places right in town―”
    “By the lake.” Tight smile. “Thanks.” Vanessa gave an address. “Is it available?”
    The woman, Emma Bagwell her name badge said, tapped on a laptop keyboard, narrowed her eyes on the screen and nodded. “It’s free. Has been for a good while, actually.”
    As Emma saw to rental agreements and deposits and such, Vanessa caught a movement out the corner of her eye. Another woman stood in a doorway that led to the back of the building. Extraordinarily pretty with long brunette hair and an inquisitive, thoughtful expression.
    Emma Bagwell handed the keys over. “Do you need directions?”
    “I’ve been here before.” Vanessa tipped closer. “And if anyone should ask…”
    Emma held up both palms. “We never met.”
    *
    The cottage hadn’t changed. Not a bit, which was eerie. She felt as if she were that girl again, being carried in through the front door.
    Every stick of furniture was in the exact same place. The same rug was laid out before the same twin sofas. The same fireplace and pokers and grill. Closing her eyes, Vanessa inhaled. It even smelled like the past, not exactly musty, but…locked away.
    She opened her eyes, glanced around. In a corner, she saw herself as a first grader playing with oversized memory cards. There were pictures of animals…a big blue friendly bear, a racoon with a round googly eyes.
    A door clicked shut behind her and she swung around.
    No one was there. Not in the here and now. But she still saw her father walk over to that younger Nessa and ask if she wanted to go play on the beach in a while.
    Then a feeling prickled up the back of her neck, all the way over her scalp. She smelled freshly baked pie, and heard her mother’s call. Vanessa walked into the kitchen. Her mother was bent over, sliding a pie out of the oven, setting it on the counter, sprinkling sugar on top.
    “Nessa, honey, come get a slice before it goes cold.”
    Her mom baked the best pie ever.
    Another noise filtered into the room. A scratching. Insistent. Like steel nails dragging on dried paint. And this time it wasn’t in her mind. It was now and getting louder.
    On the dining room table sat a vase of fake flowers. A film of fine dust dulled the petals. She was wiping a rose on her sleeve when that noise came again, closer this time. She swept back a curtain, the one that covered the glass doors that led to the back landing, and looked out over the lake, over the wood planking, then closer and lower near her feet.
    A cat sat on the other side of the glass. It was looking up at her like it couldn’t understand the hold up. Its coat was white and short and shiny, its nose was a blob of lolly pink, and its eyes were wide and as blue as an August