The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor Read Free Page A

that he wasn’t the one for me.”
    She put her hand on mine. “I’m so sorry for everything you had to go through. How’d he meet Jiggly, anyway?” I smiled at her use of my name for Jilly.
    â€œAt a bachelor party for his brother.”
    â€œYou know, I never liked Brad, even in college,” she revealed in a conspiratorial tone.
    â€œWhy not?” I asked in surprise.
    â€œHe was a control freak. He always had to be part of everything you did. We could never do anything alone, just us girls.”
    â€œI never noticed.”
    â€œLove is blind, Carleigh.”
    â€œI guess. But if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have Lucy. So I’m at least grateful to him for her.”
    â€œThat’s true,” she conceded, then changed the subject.
    â€œAre you dating? You look fabulous. I’ve always been jealous of that long red hair of yours,” she sighed.
    I laughed at her. “I’m through with men for a while. I’m just concentrating on Lucy and my work. Speaking of men, how’s Boone?” Evie and Boone, a banker, had been together for years, but neither was ready to get married. Both of them always joked that they were already married to their jobs.
    â€œOh, he’s the same,” she answered breezily. “Works all the time, travels a lot. The bank sent him to Singapore this time. That’s why I came back here for a while. It’s lonely in Atlanta without him. All I need is a computer and I can work from anywhere.”
    â€œI’m glad you can be here while I’m here,” I told her. “It’ll be fun. And besides, I’m sure you’ll want to see the house as the work progresses.”
    â€œI’m excited to see how it goes,” she agreed. “Mother and Daddy were hoping they’d be home by tonight to see you and Lucy, but they’re visiting friends and they won’t be here until tomorrow.”
    â€œIt’ll be nice to see them,” I said.
    Lucy appeared in the doorway to the drawing room just then, rubbing her eyes and dragging Cottontail.
    â€œI’m hungry,” she announced.
    Evie stood up. “Dinner should be ready by now. I’ll go check.”
    She left and Lucy climbed up into my lap. I nuzzled my face in her soft curls. We sat quietly like that until Evie poked her head in the room a few moments later to announce that dinner was ready.
    The dining room was toward the back of the house, next to the drawing room. It was a long rectangular room with drab, fraying antique wallpaper and a threadbare rug that must once have been beautiful. Heavy cherry furniture gleamed in the sunlight still streaming through the windows. This screams old money, I thought. I assumed this space was one that I would be working on very soon.
    Cora-Camille confirmed that the moment she sat down for dinner. “Carleigh, I’m not sure how much you remember of this house, but it’s probably gotten even worse since you were here last. This dining room, for instance, is downright ugly. This old place has such a rich history; I hate to see it in decline. I didn’t even realize how bad it had gotten until I saw a book of beautiful old photographs of the manor taken when photography was new, and then it hit me. You see, I tend to concentrate more on the farm than the house. And I just couldn’t decide what to do with it until Evie reminded me that restoring old buildings is your specialty. I can’t wait to see it the way it was always meant to be.”
    â€œIt will be beautiful when it’s done,” I assured her. “After dinner I’d like to take a look around and get an idea of what I need to do.”
    â€œWonderful. I can go with you, or Evie can.”
    â€œI’ll go, Gran,” Evie offered.
    â€œThen I’ll play with Lucy,” Cora-Camille replied happily.
    A woman came into the dining room just then and placed dinner plates in front of