WALL MEN: A Haunted House (The Wall Men 1)

“What do you need?” I wipe my brow, hoping it’s just a quick question and he’ll scoot off.

“Babe, you have to see this.”

If he calls me babe one more time, I swear I’ll—

Bard appears behind him. Yes, the same Bard who said he’d be busy chopping wood somewhere in the forest.

Bard stares with his intense look. I’ve come to learn that his silence has more meaning than his words.

“Be right there.” I sigh and remove my leather work gloves, dropping them on top of the crate.

I march up the garden steps to the terrace—now a mess of old cobblestone and weeds that once looked out over a beautiful fountain and the rose garden.

“This’d better be good,” I mutter and follow Dave and Bard inside.

The first room off the back door is the kitchen’s “old store,” meant for drying herbs and storing things like potatoes and apples. Today, it’s a den for mice, spiders, and anything else that wants to live there.

I enter the kitchen and ignore its sad state—1970s pea green refrigerator and stove, and the rusted farm sink—and follow the animated voice of Dave, who’s already in the dust-filled dining room with the old turn-of-the-century stained-glass window. Boxes and wrapping materials are everywhere.

“What’s going on?”

“This.” Dave points to a clear stone the size of an acorn sitting on Grandma’s scuffed-up cherrywood table.

I shrug. “What’s that?”

His jowls flap for an entire ten seconds. “That-that is a very large diamond.”

Sure it is. And I’m a unicorn that shits money. “Sorry to burst your bubble, but my family doesn’t own any diamonds.”

“I’ve had extensive training on gemstones,” Dave says. “Helps save on appraisal expenses. And that is a diamond. Flawless. I’ve never seen anything like it. Not that size, anyway.”

Dave seems convinced. “Okay, what’s it doing here?” I’ve never seen it in my life, and it’s not the sort of thing Grandma would own. She sold off any truly valuable assets long ago to keep up with the estate taxes and to feed us. At least, that’s what she said.

“I found it in the china cabinet over there.” Dave points to the hutch filled with piles of old white plates.

Something feels off about this.

“Bard, do you know where that came from?” He knows all the family’s little secrets because Grandma trusted him over me.

“You promised,” he growls, and I know exactly what he’s talking about. Bard has a one-track mind. He’s referring to my earlier commitment of keeping the estate should a magic pile of money appear.

Dave looks at me, then Bard, and back again. “Promised what?”

“Nothing,” I snarl.

“No. Not nothing,” Bard replies.

“I didn’t mean it,” I say. “I was mouthing off to shut you up.”

Bard’s nostrils flare. “You cannot break your vow. Your grandmother raised you to be smarter than that.”

“What’s she got to do with this?” I throw back.

Dave’s head toggles between us. “What are you two talking—”

“Shut your fucking mouth,” Bard tells Dave, “or I’ll take you out back and introduce you to my ax.”

“Bard, don’t talk to him like that.” Dave might take him seriously and leave. Or, worse, call the police. I don’t want Bard getting in trouble. If he’s going to take his ax to Dave, at least make it look like an accident.

“Or what?” Bard steps toward me.

“You know what.” I step forward, too.

Bard may be a hard man, but he knows everything about me. That includes never crossing certain lines. I will not be bullied. I will not be disrespected. And if we’re going to fight, we do it in private.

Bard holds up his hands in surrender and leaves the room.

“What just happened?” Dave looks at me with a quizzical expression, arching his neatly manscaped brows.

“It’s complicated. So what’s the diamond worth, and how quickly can you sell it?”

“Best guess?” Dave circles his hand in the air. “How’s five million dollars by the end of the week? I know a few gemstone dealers who’d be very interested in a diamond like this.”

My knees loosen. My lungs stop working. I feel like I’m going to choke on my tongue.

“Lake, you okay?” Dave scrambles toward me with a chair that’s probably okay to sit in. Most of them are held together with superglue and sheer Norfolk family stubbornness.

I sit and take a deep breath. Five million dollars. Five. After I pay income tax on the diamond’s sale, along with anything else owed on the estate, I’ll still come out with enough money to keep River Wall Manor and make all the necessary repairs. But where the hell did that diamond come from?

“Sell it,” I say. “And make it fast. We have work to do.” Especially if I want to save what remains of the main house before the first snow comes.

CHAPTER FIVE

Winter has finally arrived with Mother Nature’s full force, dumping three feet of snow on our land overnight. Bard was smart enough to prep our snowmobiles and park Grandma’s old blue Bronco next to our mailbox just off the main road. That way, we can still get to town since our dirt driveway is half a mile long and always impassable by car after a big storm like this. It often takes Bard two full days to plow a path.