Scarlet Nights (Edilean 3)

“Why, no.” Mike was surprised. “I don’t know anything about it except that it’s falling down. Why would anybody want it?”

“The farmhouse was remodeled around the original cabin, so it’s still there. And the McDowell family has made sure every outbuilding has been kept up just enough to keep it standing.”

Mike knew his face was blank because he had no idea what she was talking about. Not a word of it made sense.

Sara’s voice slowed as she further explained. “The house was built in 1674, and when it was added on to, the old house was left inside, intact. The outbuildings are the same as they were when they were built.”

Mike was staring at her. “Are you saying that that farm has been left alone since 1674?”

“Pretty much.”

“Through the Revolutionary War and the Civil War?”

“And two world wars. My mother says it even survived the hippies in the ’70s, and that they were more invasive than Sherman.”

Mike was hardly listening to her. He didn’t know what the Vandlos were after, but his gut told him it had something to do with Merlin’s Farm. There was no other reason Stefan would want a farm. He wasn’t about to open a house to the public, that’s for sure—unless he and his family could pick the pockets of the visitors.

“So when do we go see it?” Sara asked.

“What?” Mike came out of his reverie.

“When do you and I go see your new home?”

“I don’t think it’s safe for you to go. Tess said old Brewster Lang carried a shotgun.” Mike didn’t want Sara near a piece of property the Vandlos wanted.

“He makes his living selling vegetables—especially heirloom tomatoes—to my mother. I’ll get her to make him leave on the day we want to visit.”

“And what excuse will you give her?”

“All I have to do is tell her I want to go with you and she’ll drive us there.” She gave Mike a hard look. “So you didn’t come here to break Greg and me up?”

This is where Mike was good: bald-faced lies. More than once he’d fooled lie detectors. “My sister nagged me into coming here to Edilean to sign papers—and she made me swear I’d use her apartment. My plan was to sneak in here, sign the papers the next day, then leave. Your being in this apartment was a surprise. You don’t think Tess

set it up between you and me, do you?” He hated selling out his sister, but right now it was necessary to make Sara trust him.

“Yes,” she said firmly, “I do. I think Tess called Luke, and the two of them arranged it all.”

“Now that I think about it, Tess was the one who told me to use the old tunnel instead of the front door.” He vowed to send his sister flowers—or maybe a few sapphires.

“Now I’m sure I’m going with you,” Sara said brightly. “Mr. Lang comes into town on Thursdays, day after tomorrow, for the Farmers’ Market, so that’s when we’ll go.”

“No, you can’t possibly go with me. I need to—”

Sara got off the couch. “Do you think those scallops were burned? I could eat a dozen of them. What can I do to help make dinner?” Turning, she left the living room to go back to the kitchen.

As Mike watched her leave, there was one thing he was sure of: Sara was not going with him. Until he found out a great deal more about this Merlin’s Farm, she wasn’t getting near the place. Of that, he was absolutely, totally certain.

6

ON THE DRIVE to Merlin’s Farm, Mike couldn’t help being pleased with himself. All through dinner last night, Sara had given him multiple reasons why she should join him on Thursday while Mr. Lang—as she called him—was at the Farmers’ Market. Mike had been polite, had even pretended to consider what she was saying, but the truth was, he’d never come close to wavering in his decision to not allow her to go.

However, to ensure that nothing went wrong, he decided to go a day early. That night, after the kitchen was cleaned up, he went outside to call Tess. He asked her to do whatever she needed to in order to secretly get Lang off the property the next day so Mike could make a thorough inspection without Sara knowing.

“I’ll call Luke,” she said. “He’s the only one who can manage the old man.”

“Luke seems to run this town.”

“I think it comes with owning the Big House. But then, knowing Edilean, it’s probably some leftover from medieval times. So you’ve been thinking of the farm?”