Black Rose (In the Garden 2)

"All right. "

"And the written permission we talked about before, for me to access family records, birth, marriage, death certificates, that sort of thing. "

"You'll have it. "

"And permission to use the research, and what I pull out of it, in a book. "

She nodded. "I'd want manuscript approval. "

He smiled at her, charmingly. "You won't get it. "

"Well, really - "

"I'll be happy to provide you with a copy, when and if, but you won't have approval. " He picked up a short, thick breadstick from the wide glass on the table and offered it to her. "What I find, I find; what I write, I write. Andif I write a book, sell it, you owe me nothing for the work. "

She leaned back, drew air deep. His casual good looks, that somewhat shaggy peat-moss brown hair, the charming smile, the ancient high-tops, all disguised a clever and stubborn man.

It was a shame, she supposed, that she respected stubborn, clever men. "And if you don't?"

"We go back to the original terms we discussed at our first meeting. The first thirty hours are gratis, and after that it's fifty an hour plus expenses. We can have a contract drawn up, spelling it all out. "

"I think that would be wise. "

When the appetizer was served, Roz decl

ined a second glass of wine, absently selected an olive from the plate. "Won't you need permission from anyone you interview as well, if you decide to publish?"

"I'll take care of that. I want to ask, why haven't you done this before? You've lived in that house your whole life and never dug down to identify a ghost who lives there with you. And, let me add, even after my experience, it's hard to believe that sentence just came out of my mouth. "

"I don't know exactly. Maybe I was too busy, or too used to her. But I've started to wonder if I wasn't just, well, inoculated. The family never bothered about her. I can give you all sorts of details on my ancestors, strange little family anecdotes, odd bits of history, but when it came to her, nobody seemed to know anything, or care enough to find out. Myself included. "

"Now you do. "

"The more I thought about what I didn't know, the more, yes, I wanted to find out. And after I saw her again, for myself, that night last June, I need to find out. "

"You saw her when you were a child," he prompted.

"Yes. She would come into my room, sing her lullaby. I was never afraid of her. Then, as happens with every child who grows up at Harper House, I stopped seeing her when I was about twelve. "

"But you saw her again. "

There was something in his eyes that made her think he was wishing for his notebook or a tape recorder. That intensity, the absolute focus that she found unexpectedly sexy.

"Yes. She came back when I was pregnant with each of my boys. But that was more of a sensation of her. As if she were close by, that she knew there was going to be another child in the house. There were other times, of course, but I imagine you want to talk about all that in a more formal setting. "

"Not necessarily formal, but I'd like to tape the conversations we have about her. I'm going to start off with some basic groundwork. Amelia was the name Stella said she saw written on the window glass. I'll check your family records for anyone named Amelia. "

"I've already done that. " She lifted a shoulder. "After all, if it was going to be that simple, I thought I might as well wrap it up. I found no one with that name - birth, death, marriage, at least, not in any of the records I have. "

"I'll do another search, if it's all the same to you. "

"Suit yourself. I expect you'll be thorough. "

"Once I get started, Rosalind, I'm a bloodhound. You'll be good and sick of me by the end of this. "

"And I'm a moody, difficult woman, Mitchell. So I'll say, same goes. "

He grinned at her. "I'd forgotten just how beautiful you are. "