On the Ropes by Holley Trent Read Free Book Online Page B

about renting it out through a property management company, but neither of them liked the idea of having strangers reside in a family space, even temporarily. This wasn’t investment property. It’d been a gift from their grandmother. They didn’t need the money, so the topic didn’t come up again. Still, when the house was built and he’d been an idealistic young lawyer, he’d thought his schedule would allow for him to come down for long weekends and holidays. In ten years, he’d been at the house maybe twenty times.
    Shit had to change, or he was going to work himself to an early grave just like his grandfather.
    He got the sticking door open, made a mental note to look at it in the morning, and patted the stairwell walls for the light switches. “Ah.” He hit them all, and looked out to see Jan standing patiently just by the SUV. She looked like some kind of goddess in the dim light with the gentle breeze swishing her skirt around and bouncing her short curls.
    “Come on in,” he said. “Make yourself at home.”
    He hadn’t asked her about her hair, but he’d noticed the change and liked it a great deal. Every time he’d seen her in the past, her hair had been in small plaits all pulled back into a tight bun. Her new look was not only more casual, but softer. He liked it.
    She skirted around him, paused at the base of the stairs, and looked up.
    “There’s a door at the top,” he said and walked to the SUV’s trunk. “It opens into the kitchen. The light should be on in there.”
    “Is there…” She wrung her hands and looked back at him. “Is there an alarm to deactivate or anything?”
    “There is, but I’m coming up right after you. I’ll disarm it. You’re not scared, are you?”
    “Honestly? Yes. You’d think I wouldn’t be having lived alone all these years, but even now, when I enter my apartment, I do a sweep of every room to make sure no one’s hiding. I can’t sit down or cook dinner until I’m sure I’m alone.”
    He grabbed her suitcase’s handle as well as one of his own, and pulled the luggage down. He was surprised she’d shared that with him. Most people weren’t so willing to confess their fears, especially over things most people never gave a second thought about.
    “All right. We’ll go through together. I’ll be right on your heels.”
    She nodded, and started up the stairs. “I know it’s silly,” she said. “My stepmother used to tease me about it, and my father was very impatient with it.”
    Not cool. He didn’t know her family, and wouldn’t presume to judge them. That would certainly cause offense. Still, he’d boxed long enough to know that personal safety was an anxiety trigger for a lot of people, especially women who felt powerless. It was amazing how putting a pair of gloves on someone and showing them how to fight back made them bloom. He’d seen it time and time again, and in every single instance, something had happened to instill fear in them. Something had happened. He didn’t know what had happened with Jan, and might never know. But, if looking in closets and under beds for intruders made her feel a modicum safer, he’d do it.
    She pushed open the door at the landing and gaped at the open, airy kitchen in front of her. Stephen thought it was nice, but not that nice. Then again, kitchens in general didn’t geek him out. He was more of a patio and deck kind of guy.
    “Like it?” He pushed the two suitcases away from the door and eased around her.
    “It’s beautiful. I can’t imagine owning it and not wanting to live here full-time.”
    “Honestly, I was just thinking the same thing not too long ago. I don’t get down here very often, and that’s a shame.” He shut the stairway door and locked it. He could get the rest of the bags when they were done. “You want to start up at the loft and work our way back down to the first floor?”
    “Sounds like a plan.”
    He indicated the staircase just past the attached family room,