True Love by Jude Deveraux Read Free Book Online Page B

Thermopane, twelve over twelve,” she mumbled as she gave a jump and hoisted herself inside, leaving Izzy to get in by herself.
    Once she was inside, Alix quickly glanced around. There was a dim light on in the kitchen so she could see a living room and dining area. All one room. It looked to be a nice place, but she wanted to see where that light was. She hurried up the stairs, opened the door on the right, and saw a room with windows on three sides. She knew the light would be beautiful during the day. There was an old rug on the hardwood floor and under the windows was an antique drafting table, probably from the Edwardian era. Beside it was a little cabinet, the top covered with drawing supplies. In a day of computer drafting systems, it was wonderful to see actual drawings with pencil, pen, and ink. She touched his mechanical pencils, all of them lined up by lead, from hard to soft. There was an erasingshield, brushes, and a T-square. There was no drafting machine anywhere.
    To the right was a wall covered by his drawings. They were for the construction of small structures, not houses, and each one was exquisite in both concept and execution. There were two sheds, a guesthouse, a children’s play set. Three garage plans were next to sketches for garden structures. Nearly every bit of empty wall space had been covered with his drawings and draftings.
    “They’re beautiful, wonderful. Magnificent,” she whispered.
    She stepped back to the doorway to take it all in. The room felt like a shrine or a sanctuary. “I bet he never invites anyone in here,” she said aloud.
    What surprised her was how much she and this man thought alike. She deeply believed that beauty could and should be found in the smallest object. Whether it was a soap dish or a mansion, to give it beauty was of utmost importance.
    “Wow!” Izzy said from behind her. “It’s like …”
    “Something on a ship?”
    “Yeah, it’s very much like a movie set for a captain’s cabin.”
    Alix was trying to take in every inch of the room. There were old things everywhere. A piece of antique china with “Kingsley” written on it. Taking up one corner was a carved wooden ship’s figurehead of a mermaid, weathered as though she had sailed through many oceans.
    “Didn’t their family used to have whaling ships?” Izzy asked.
    “Mostly the China trade.” Even as she said it, Alix had no idea how she knew that. “I didn’t read of any whalers in the family,” she added to cover herself. She walked around, touching things, memorizing them. If she had a home office it would look exactly like this. “Isn’t it wonderful?”
    “Frankly, no,” Izzy said. “I want everything computerized. Deliver me from pen and ink. This place isn’t my style.” Outside, a car door slammed and they looked at each other in panic. “We better get out of here.”
    Reluctantly, Alix started to follow her friend down the stairs but turned back for one last look. On the floor had fallen a freehand sketch of a little garden pavilion. It was octagonal with a roof like an upside-down tulip. Without thinking about what she was doing, she picked it up, stuck it in the waistband of her trousers, and hurried down the stairs.

Chapter Three

    A lix leaned back in the chair and looked at the paper model she’d made of the chapel she’d designed. It hadn’t been easy to construct since all she’d had was card stock and tape. It was late afternoon and she was in the big room at the back of the old house, the one where she felt warmth and happiness. She knew without being told that when she was a child she’d spent a lot of time in this room. She remembered building little houses that had towers and turrets. At first she’d used old wooden blocks, and had piled up objects she found in drawers and on shelves. Then came Legos, her favorite childhood toy. There had been a great box full of them and in the bottom were little boats that she built sheds for.
    While she’d