Maria was waiting for them at the front door. He could read the puzzlement in her friendly expression, the slight droop to her welcoming smile, the confusion that darkened her light blue eyes as he parked his car, then went around to open the passenger side door.
Tess thanked the doctor, but shook her head when he offered to help her climb out of the car. Ever since escaping the station house, she started to feel a little more awake, a little more like herself. The shock would fade while the grief overwhelmed. At least she was still breathing.
Before this, she never would’ve fallen apart the way she had at the hotel. Tess allowed herself some slack because of the very extreme circumstances, but it was beginning to bother her that everyone she encountered expected her to simply shatter. Tess was built much stronger than that.
She could get through this. She’d been through worse before and survived. All she had to do was get out of Hamlet in one piece and she’d be fine.
One step at a time.
The step that took her away from Lucas’s car brought her face to face with a Victorian-style house, a wall of red brick with a white decorative trim. She could see turrets and towers, and bay windows that reminded her of the one in the Hamlet Inn. It wasn’t as large as the inn had been, and it only had two floors rather than three, but, on the outside, it appeared as cozy and inviting.
Plus, it had a porch swing. She’d lived her entire life in apartment buildings. She would do anything to own a house with a porch swing.
A woman stood on the top step, her hands wrapped securely around the white railing that surrounded the porch. She waved when she saw them, though she made no move to meet them on the manicured lawn or the cobbled walkway that led to the porch steps.
Tess paused at the foot of the stairs. Lucas brushed her arm as he passed her, greeting the smiling woman with a crushing hug. It was the first true reaction she’d seen from him since they met in the hotel room. When he finished squeezing her, he placed one of his arms around her shoulders.
And, once again, Tess felt like the outsider.
Lucas nodded at her. “Tessa, I’d like you to introduce you to my sister. Maria, this is Tessa Sullivan.”
Even without the introduction, Tess would’ve thought she was related to the doctor. Her long hair, hanging straight and shiny to the middle of her back, was the same dark shade. A fringe of bangs fell into a pair of eyes that were just as stunning, even if there was a warmth that kept them from seeming as arctic and remote as Lucas’s own peepers. Maria was tall and willowy; standing side-by-side with her brother, she could see there was barely an inch difference in their height.
“Nice to meet you—” A small pause. “—Miss Sullivan.”
Maria's throaty voice was more heavily accented than her brother’s. It carried the lilt of Italian, and a hint of a question.
A pang shot right through Tess. Her stomach dropped. She knew she had to correct the other woman. “It’s Mrs. Sullivan, actually.”
“Of course. And your husband will be joining us, yes?”
The assumption was innocent enough. How could Maria know? That didn’t stop Tess from letting out a short gasp, her breath catching in her throat.
Would her husband be joining her? No. He wouldn’t. Never again.
“I… oh, God.” She wrapped her arms around her middle, desperate to hold herself together. Everything was spinning. She backed away from the front porch, her steps unsteady as she shook her head. “No… no.”
Ever a doctor, Lucas’s instincts went on red alert. Leaving Maria behind on the porch, her brother hurried over to Tessa, jumping down the three steps in one leap. The way the outsider woman had gone pale so quickly must have worried him. Moving behind her, he placed his hands on her upper arms, steadying her while, at the same time, keeping her from continuing her quick retreat.
“Take a deep breath,” he instructed. “In and out, ‘atta girl. You’ll be fine.”
“Luc? Sta bene?” Maria had a habit of breaking into Italian when she panicked or was unsure. She rubbed her throat, then started for the steps, though she didn’t leave the porch. “What’s wrong?”
When Tessa shuddered out another breath, her color returning, he reluctantly stepped away from her. Turning to his sister, he said, “Maria, do you think we can show Tessa her room? And then I’d like to see you in the kitchen. There are a few things we have to discuss.”
She looked from Lucas to the shaky outsider, her curiosity a tangible thing. But she didn’t question her brother’s request. After taking a moment to compose herself, she nodded. “Come with me. I turned down the bed in the Lavender Room.” She smiled indulgently in Tessa’s direction. “I’m sure you’ll love it.”
Lucas leaned down to whisper something to the outsider. She shook her head. He offered her his arm. She refused it. As Tessa gained some of her composure back, she dropped her trembling hands to her side, moving further away from him. Lucas let her go but, as she started toward the front steps, he followed barely an arm’s length behind her.
Maria watched the scene in avid interest. She only realized she’d been caught staring when Lucas, a touch of annoyance to his tone, said, “Maria? Which room is the Lavender Room?”
“Oh. Sorry. It’s right this way.”
Lucas reached to take Tessa’s elbow, pulling his hand back before he made contact. A muffled mmm ripped his attention from Tessa as she carefully climbed up the porch and slipped inside of Ophelia. A quick glance his sister’s way told him that she’d seen everything and already made her own assumptions.
He bit back his scowl.
“She’s pretty,” Maria noted as the two of them walked into the kitchen. Having set the outsider up in the Lavender Room—one of her biggest, but also the furthest from the center of Ophelia—she didn’t bother to keep her voice down.