Wait Until Dark Read Free Page A

legally and emotionally, and, as a result, had lost something tangible. What had Irene Hall lost? A dream. A wisp of memory that was almost three decades old.
    The injustice of it made Lindsey's heart wrench.
    "He really did wish he'd known you, Lindsey," Nicholas murmured, watching her face. "Honestly."
    Emotional shutters descended inside her. She didn't even know this man. She certainly wasn't going to bare her scars to him. "It wasn't me I was thinking of. In any case, I appreciate your candor, Mr. Warner. I hope my questions weren't intrusive."
    "They weren't. And it's Nicholas." He reached out, touched the sleeve of her windbreaker. "It's only natural that you'd be curious about your... about Harlan. I'd be happy to fill in whatever blanks I can. Why don't we go somewhere and grab a cup of coffee? We can talk. I'll tell you if you're overstepping."
    He certainly knew the right things to say. And the right times to say them.
    Perhaps too well.
    He'd gone from being pleasantly impersonal to warmly empathetic in a matter of minutes.
    Lindsey had the uncomfortable feeling she was being manipulated.
    And she could think of just one reason why.
    "There's one blank you can fill in right away," she tested. "And that's your role as prospective buyer of this house. I've been racking my brain, and I've come up empty. Why didn't Mr. Falkner sell the manor to you before now? Clearly, he didn't want it. It's been vacant for years. So why wait?"
    The barest hint of a pause. "That's easy. He wanted to give you first dibs."
    "After he was dead."
    "After it was too late for Stuart and Tracy to try talking him out of his decision. A will is binding. It made the choice of whether or not you owned the manor solely yours to make. If you sell, it won't be because you were deprived of the opportunity to own this place. It will be because you don't want it."
    Another honest reply. Maybe she was being overly suspicious.
    Maybe.
    "Okay, suppose that's true," she conceded. "My next question is, why would you want to buy it? You're a successful real estate developer. You work on projects that yield huge profits. Why would you want a single, neglected Georgian manor? Restoring it would be a huge undertaking and a minimal profit-maker."
    This time the pause was longer, more pronounced, and Lindsey had the feeling she was about to find out what it was about Nicholas Warner that made her so uneasy.
    "Because I have plans for the land," he said at last. "Plans that could give lots of people a chance to wake up to a view of the ocean each day."
    "The land?" Lindsey blinked. "Lots of people? I'm not following you."
    "I'm not going to restore the manor, Lindsey. I'm going to build condos. A cluster of luxury townhouses nestled in the middle of the thirteen acres - "
    "Condos?" Lindsey spat out the word as if it were poison. So that was it. He wanted to demolish something he knew she'd want to preserve.
    She backed away, whatever camaraderie there had been developing between them blown to bits. "You want to destroy this magnificent manor so you can build some condos?"
    "You make it sound as if I said prisons. I'm talking about tasteful structures of wood and cedar shakes, constructed so they blend in with the natural setting - "
    "I don't care if you said miniature Taj Mahals." Lindsey's palm sliced the air, effectively cutting off whatever else he'd been about to say. "The answer is no. Absolutely no. You're not razing this beautiful house to the ground. You're not tearing down one brick, not one wooden tread. And you're definitely not replacing it with some garish, high-priced townhouses."
    She flipped up the hood of her windbreaker, marched around him, and headed for the door. "You can keep your cup of coffee, Mr. Warner." She paused, facing him as she twisted the doorknob. "Oh, and thank you for making a difficult decision very easy. As of now, this manor is not for sale. Not at any price. I'm keeping it."
    She stormed out of the house.
    Nicholas