Heart of Glass by Jill Marie Landis Read Free Book Online

unaware that their way of life was poised on the brink of disaster.
    Kate lowered the photograph to her lap and sat in the middle of the attic, surrounded by dust and shadows. She imagined herself hovering unseen in the background, a witness to their unfolding lives, attuned to their routine and exchanges but not really one of them. Her adoptive parents had distanced themselves from her by their age and interests. As happy as Kate was to visit
Belle Fleuve
, her parents were just as happy to let her.
    So it was that she became a fixture here for days and sometimes weeks, pretending she and Amelie were sisters. She had only the vaguest memories of her real sisters. They’d been separated from each other when Kate was only six. Lovie and Megan were the oldest. Sarah, the youngest, had ended up at the orphanage too. An adorable little blonde, Sarah was adopted months before the Keenes finally chose Kate.
    So out of loneliness Kate had indeed pretended Amelie was her sister and dreamed of ways to get Colin to notice her. But studying the Delany family portrait now and seeing the four of them together, Kate realized the truth for what it was: she might have been a fixture in their home, but she was not a member of the family. After her exchange with Colin yesterday, the futility of her fantasies made them seem bleak and ridiculous.
    Kate felt sure things would be different if Amelie were here. Despite the dire circumstances, their laughter would ring out and she would have an ally.
    She sighed and gathered the photographs into a pile and set them aside. She picked up a cobalt cloisonné baby rattle, turned it over in her hand, and gave it a shake. A half dozen carved wooden animals were also on the floor, remnants of a Noah’s ark set, all missing their mates. She dusted off the animals and lined them up; one donkey, one lion, one elephant, one giraffe. They looked so lonely she scooped them up and set them back in the trunk, andas she did, she tried to dismiss the urge to go to Colin and see for herself how he was this morning.
    Best to keep my wits about me
. She couldn’t let him deter her from her task or forbid her from helping again.
    She closed the trunk and tucked some of the photographs behind her notepaper before she descended the stairs to the second floor. The sun was shining, a gentle breeze coming in off the river as she walked through an open door onto the upper gallery. She tested the floor before she stepped out. It wouldn’t do to have come this far and drop through a hole in the rotted wood.
    She sat down on the top step and turned to a new sheet of paper. Jotting down all the supplies as well as foodstuffs she wanted, Kate checked the list three times and then remembered to add coffee. When she was finally satisfied with the list, she penned two letters, one to her accountant, Dan Rosen, and another to the owner of the warehouse where her mother’s furniture had been stored. Nola had given Kate all of her townhouse castoffs, pieces that could be put to good use here at
Belle Fleuve
.
    An hour later, Kate met with Eugenie’s husband, Simon. His grandfather had been a carpenter who had helped build the original house. Of solid build with short dark hair shot with gray, Simon had hands that were thick and calloused from a lifetime of labor. He rounded up a half dozen able-bodied men in need of work, some trained in carpentry, others willing to do anything. Kate assured them they would be paid fairly.
    When the men walked away, Simon lingered, his expression cloudy.
    “What is it?” Kate asked.
    He cleared his throat and tapped his straw hat against his baggy pant leg.
    “Mr. Colin said he ain’t got any money, ‘cept for what he saved from his army pay.”
    Kate hesitated. In his present state she had no wish to humiliate Colin by telling him she had paid the back taxes or that shewould happily provide all the building materials and money for the workmen.
    “For the time being, I’ll pay for them,