Iris Read online

  “Really.” He smiled at the man’s efforts. “I suppose he won’t be the first or the last person to succeed on the heels of a great marketing ploy.” They reached the end of the shops and he slowed his pace at the sound of children in the nearby playground. The old-fashioned park with a carousel and tall metal slide took him back to years ago when he and his sister lived for an afternoon in the park.

  “I’ve always loved the sound of children’s laughter.” Iris paused beside him. “I can’t imagine what it must be like to lose a sister.”

  “In some ways I lost her a long time ago. We’re only two years apart. As kids we were inseparable. Once school started we fell into the typical big brother little sister roles, but stayed close nonetheless. Once we hit college, life seemed to get between us.” Or at least Richard had. “She met her husband my last year at school. She was a sophomore. Richard had a charming British accent and proceeded to sweep her off her feet. It didn’t hurt that he had the money to go with the accent. She was invited to summer with his family.”

  “Which meant she didn’t spend her summers with your family.” Iris sat at a picnic table and patted the bench beside her for him to do the same.

  Straddling the bench, he kept his eyes on a pair of siblings running back and forth. “Mom had passed away from cancer Adele’s senior year of high school. Dad couldn’t take being in the house alone, so he sold it and moved to Florida near my mom’s dad. The two had always gotten along well and shared a love for Mom and her memory. My work as soon as I graduated college took me everywhere. No time to sulk over the memories in the house. I suppose traveling with Richard made it easier for her as well. Neither of us had to go home and face Mom not being there.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss.”

  He bobbed his head. Whether she meant Adele or his mother he wasn’t quite sure. “By the time they decided to get married, I don’t think I liked Richard any more than Richard liked us. Deep inside I always thought he looked down on our blue-collar family. Dad was an electrician. We had a comfortable middle-class life. But it didn’t compare with his family. I always expected to see his eyes cross looking down his nose at us.”

  Iris didn’t say anything, she just listened. He didn’t realize until now how badly he needed to have somebody just listen.

  “If we saw each other ten times over the last ten years that was a lot.” And just as much his fault as his sister’s. He certainly couldn’t blame Richard for that. “I guess it never occurred to me that she wouldn’t always be there. That we wouldn’t have another day, another year, another time to make things right.”

  “You wouldn’t be unique in that. Most of us expect to have a tomorrow.”

  He tore his gaze away from the children he’d been watching, and looked at her. “I don’t want to screw this up.”

  She seemed to be considering his words. Possibly looking for an easy way to let him know he already had, or maybe searching for words of encouragement, or perhaps wondering the same thing he was…why in heaven’s name had his sister left a bachelor like him with her two children. “I wish I had some easy answers for you. All you can do is your best. Follow a few basic rules.”

  “Like?”

  “At this age, routine is important. Standard bedtime. Not too much sugar. Creative activities. Limited screen time.”

  “Screen time? They’re little.”

  “Exactly.” She nodded. “And maybe you have better instincts than most parents nowadays who hand their toddlers a tablet and let the screen entertain them. You knew to buy them books instead.”

  He held back a scoff; he hadn’t known a blasted thing, but he had to try something. “My sister’s attorney had strict instructions. Starting with if anything happened to Adele and Richard the kids were to be packed up and shipped off before his parents got wind of what had happened. Another thing was for us to have counseling. I suppose she knew how hard this would be for everyone. I’d barely picked the children up from the airport when I was given the name of a psychologist and an appointment time for the next morning. You have no idea how hard it was for me to ignore his advice and buy the children a few books.”

  “First, he was clearly an idiot.” She offered a reassuring smile. “And defying him shows you have good instincts.”

  A woman pushing an infant in a stroller called to the two children he’d kept an eye on as they circled around after each other, giggling and laughing. A moment later “time to go” crossed the mother’s lips and the duo hurried to her side. The pair looked to be a little younger than Emily and Gavin.

  So many thoughts and fears swirled around in his head. He couldn’t help but wonder would he ever see his niece and nephew laughing and playing as carefree as the children now chatting away at their mother’s side?

  ***

  “The day seems to have flown by.” Lucy wiped a pot dry and set it aside. “I think the children really enjoyed themselves.”

  Fiona Hart nodded. “Emily did well with the paints. Gavin is still hesitant.”

  “At least they seem to have a good appetite.” Iris handed Lucy another pan from dinner.

  “How did the visit into town go?” Grams placed one of the dry pots into the cupboard. “I’m concerned for Eric too.”

  “Yes,” Iris nodded at her grandmother, “you can see how hard all of this is for him. I think you may be right. He’s ignoring his own grief in order to care for the children.”

  “Can’t be easy.” Lucy tsked. “How are they doing now?”

  “If by they you mean the General and the little guests,” Poppy walked into the kitchen carrying empty glasses, “Gavin is clobbering him at Old Maid.”

  “Before that, the General grumbled about losing at War.” Cindy followed her sister into the kitchen. “The traditional game of Whist has been put aside until bedtime.”

  Poppy smiled. “Right now the men are at one table and the ladies at the other. Emily seems to be doing pretty well herself, but I think Nadine is having a hot streak.”

  “I was thinking,” Grams dried her hands on a nearby towel, “up in the attic there are some of the easels you girls used as children. I bet the children would like it if Eric set them up a little paint studio while they’re visiting.”

  “Maybe we can get Eric to paint as well. Isn’t it supposed to be good therapy?” Poppy suggested.

  “May not help, but it can’t hurt.” Grams smiled.

  From the other room a diminutive voice shouted “Go fish!”

  “I guess they’ve moved on.” Iris strained to hear the conversation in the parlor.

  “From here, it all sounds so normal. I wouldn’t know they’d lost both their parents suddenly.” Poppy reached for one of the massive aprons that Lucy always kept by the back door. “Gavin is still a little quiet, but somehow they don’t seem so… lost.”

  “Don’t let a little temporary shift fool you.” Iris heaved out a heavy sigh. “It’s going to be a while before they adjust to whatever their new norm is.”

  Poppy nodded and yanking the apron tie tight, waved at her cousin. “You’d better get in there and join the game. Emily is waiting for you.”

  “On my way.” Iris spun around and hurried into the parlor where the evening crowd were now playing childhood games. From the way Nadine threw her arms in the air after dropping her cards on the table, anyone would think this was a fierce game of Poker rather than a friendly game of Go Fish.

  “Oh, good.” Nadine pushed away from the table. “My luck seems to have turned. This young lady is cleaning our clocks. You can have my seat. I’ll see about another pot of coffee.”

  A roar of laughter erupted from the men’s table. “You win again,” the General said loudly.

  Gavin’s head bobbed quickly, but there was no accompanying smile. Iris understood that patience, routine, and time was key in this situation, but she couldn’t help but wish for a sweet smile. At least he was engaged.

  “So,” Iris rubbed her hands together, “what are we playing?”r />
  Emily held up a playing card. “Old Maid.”

  “Old Maid it is.” Iris hadn’t played the game in many years. Five hands later, she’d yet to win, but didn’t care. She’d forgotten how much she enjoyed young children before money and privilege turned them into entitled teens and clueless adults. Every so often she caught Emily smiling. Not very big, and not very long, but a smile, and that was a good thing.

  By the sixth round, Eric had stood from the table. “Sorry folks, but it’s past bedtime.”

  Without a word, Emily set the cards on the table and shoved her seat back. For years Iris had been slowly losing patience with the constant attitude of spoiled teens. Whether it was over homework, technology time, or even bedtime, enough was enough. Except right now she’d pay big bucks to get even a trickle of an argument from either of the two children.

  His beloved plush leopard tucked under one arm, Gavin reached for the deck of cards.

  “You planning on playing cards in bed?” Eric’s question had been more of a tease.

  Little Gavin gripped tightly on the deck and shook his head.

  “That’s fine if he wants to take the cards home with him.” Grams came over and kissed the boy on his head. “Tomorrow we’re going to go rock hunting.”

  Gavin’s head lifted high. Iris could see the questions in his eyes. And she had a few as well.

  “Rock hunting?” Emily came to stand beside the older woman.

  “That’s right. We’re going to go looking for some pretty flat rocks and then we are going to do some painting.”

  For a short minute, Iris could see the twinkle in both children’s eyes. Maybe she should have brought her Grams to work with her all these years.

  Chapter Seven

  “Hi Gil.” Eric stepped outside of the cabin to take the call.

  “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for twelve hours. When did you stop checking your messages?” Eric had worked with Gil for close to a decade. He knew as well as anybody that Eric always answered his phone.

  “My fault. The lake where we’re staying has spotty reception at best.”

  “Lake?

  “Long story. What’s up?”

  “Persian Gulf. Should have had you wheels up last night.”

  Eric shook his head even though no one could see. “No can do. I told you I’ve got my sister’s kids.”

  “Yes, and I am sorry, but there is such a thing as babysitters. Or nannies.”

  Yeah, he’d certainly come to learn about nannies.

  “I would have called Kurt, but the powers that be have specifically asked for you.”

  “Well, you’re going to have to disappoint them. I simply cannot leave now.”

  “We’re ready.” Emily appeared on the doorstep, Gavin on her heels.

  “Sorry, Gil. Gotta go.” Heaving a deep sigh, Eric looked up the hill to Hart House. He wasn’t totally sure if it was the company, the location, the food or the people that had his niece and nephew eager for breakfast, but his gut said it was all about the people. Something he was unwilling to risk for any job.

  Speaking of special people, by the time they’d closed the cabin door behind them, Lucy was already on the porch waving at the children. “Why, don’t you look all spiffied up and ready for your day of rock hunting.”

  Fiona Hart appeared on the porch beside the family housekeeper, her gaze lifted to the bright blue sky. “It’s going to be a wonderful day.”

  “I do agree, ma’am.” Eric nodded at his hostess. “We are all looking forward to today’s project.”

  The momentary flicker of a smile on Emily and Gavin’s faces was all Eric needed to know Iris approached the house. Last night, the only thing they had asked for at bedtime was a story from Iris. He had a feeling two nights in a row made her bedtime stories officially part of the steady routine that she’d successfully drummed into him was so important. What he wasn’t sure of, was how deeply everything else about Hart Land would be ingrained in the children’s ever important routine.

  “I want a round rock.” Emily stabbed at her pancakes.

  Fiona Hart smiled at the child. Tall and thin with silver hair cut sleek just above her shoulders, the woman did not look anything like a typical grandmother. Yet the twinkle in her eye, as bright as the smile on her lips, at the prospect of spending time with two little children, made him think of over-the-river, through-the-woods, and just about anything else about apple pie and doting grandmothers.

  “I don’t know about any of you,” Iris swallowed her last bite, “but I’m so excited to learn something new with my grandmother.”

  Eric was also excited to learn from Fiona Hart, though he doubted it had anything to do with rocks or painting.

  Fiona Hart slapped her hands together. “In that case, let’s get hunting.”

  “Take my Jeep.” The General tossed his keys to Iris. “You’ll be able to get further up the mountain than with regular car.”

  Iris merely nodded and caught the keys midair. Within minutes the children had climbed into the car and fastened their seatbelts.

  “Miss Fiona,” Lucy came hurrying down the steps of the big old house, “I think you’d better take this call. I can’t make out which reservation he’s talking about. Anything you can do to calm the man down before he blows a gasket would be great.”

  Fiona turned to her granddaughter. “You guys better go on ahead. I’ll be ready when you get back.”

  For an instant Eric expected the children to somehow protest, but standing on either side of Iris, each child holding a hand, all seemed unscathed.

  “Well,” Iris said with more enthusiasm than was probably required, “looks like we’re on our own. Ready?” Both heads nodded and Iris looked to him.

  “Yes, ma’am.” He clicked his heels and saluted.

  Iris snapped straight. “Don’t tell me you’re former military? Or has a couple of days with my grandfather turned you into a recruit?”

  “Six years with Uncle Sam’s Navy. Dad was an electrician, but my grandpop on my mom’s side came from a long line of navy men. I suspect the ocean is in our blood.”

  “So that’s why you came to the lake?” She started walking up the hill, away from the water and from Hart House.

  Following her direction, he fell in step beside Gavin. “Partly. Though, frankly I don’t know that I ever would have found this place on my own. My sister’s uber efficient lawyer must have arranged for Adele’s mail to be forwarded to me before sunset the day she died.” Part of him meant the statement in jest, but another part realized that pretty much had to be the case for all of this to have come together so fast. “A postcard from the General confirming the family’s reservation was in my mail the day after the therapist appointment.”

  Brows buckled in thought, Iris tilted her head at him. “I suppose that must be part of the General’s new marketing strategy. It’s been almost a year now since he discovered the joys of the internet.”

  “Only a year?”

  “Well, I’m sure he’s used email and other technology, but last year he went to a class reunion and came home with renewed enthusiasm for all things digital. Now he chats online with old friends and plots away new marketing strategies for the cabins.”

  “I see.” The path they followed had narrowed to where Iris led the way with Emily behind her, Gavin and Eric bringing up the rear.

  “Just ahead the brook is wider and lower. We can find lots of fun river rocks there.” Emily slowed her step and tugged at Iris’s arm. It took a few seconds for Iris to recognize what had caught the child’s attention. “Oh, those are pretty.”

  Eric followed the direction the two stared at. A patch of small pink flowers bloomed under a thick stretch of trees. Funny how everything here on Hart Land seemed extraordinary. Even in the thick of the shade, pretty flowers grew.

  “Can we pick some for Miss Fiona?” Emily asked.

  “You know,” Iris smiled at the girl, “I think she’d love that.”

  Gavi
n’s brow crinkled and his lower lip quivered. “Mama said we shouldn’t pick flowers from the park.”

  “That’s right.” Iris squat down beside the little boy and pulled him into the circle of her arm. “But we’re not in a park.”

  Without thought, Eric stepped into his niece’s side where Iris had inched away, and slipped an arm around her shoulder. Emily’s weight leaning against him caught him momentarily off guard. Not the actual weight, but the swelling in his chest at the understanding that this young child trusted him even a fraction more than she had only a few short days ago. The feeling was unexpected, and very new to him, but there was one thing he was very sure of. No matter how incompetent he was, he would not let his sister down.

  “Won’t they die?” Gavin asked, his lip more shaky.

  Iris glanced briefly up at Eric. He certainly hoped she wasn’t expecting him to have an answer for the child. That such a young boy made the connection with picking flowers and death was a surprise to him. No way he knew how to answer.

  “I bet if we put them in a vase with water as soon as we get home, they’ll stay fresh and pretty for everyone to see and enjoy.”

  Gavin seemed to consider the suggestion with much more intent than Eric would have expected. Finally, he looked to Eric then Iris. “Can we give Mama and Papa a glass of water, wherever they are?”

  This time, Eric saw Iris blink back a watery tear and he was guiltily pleased the child had addressed her and not him. What the heck was he supposed to say to that? Without a plan or words, Iris and he switched places. She stood and looped her arm around Emily and he squatted at eye level in front of Gavin. “I bet your mom and dad have all the water they need to drink. I’m also going to bet that right now they’re looking down at you and are so proud you remembered not to pick flowers in a park.” He thought fast and grasping at straws, tried for redirection. “I also bet they’re just waiting to see what you and Miss Fiona do with the river rocks.”

  Gavin seemed to follow the train of thought more easily and without a word, moved to where his sister and Iris stood side by side. He raised his hand to Iris, a silent signal it was time to get the rocks. The flowers would have to wait till the walk home. Whoever had told him that things would get easier with time didn’t have a blessed clue of what they were talking about. What was his sister thinking leaving these kids to him?