The Mysterious Stranger (Triple Trouble) Read online

  “Of course not. A room will be provided for you until you figure things out. I meant what will you do with your time?”

  “I don’t know.” She hadn’t thought that far in advance. “Walk around and talk to guests, I suppose. Don’t worry, I won’t make trouble or be intrusive.”

  “I never thought you would be.”

  “Yeah, right. Does it matter what I do? I’ll be out of your life, and that’s the most important part.”

  “You’re right about Anna Jane,” he said. “I know she’s a lonely child. I’m not sure what to do about it.”

  “Children aren’t that complicated. Spend some time with her. Love her. It’s a pretty simple formula.”

  “Business keeps me busy.”

  “As it’s Christmas, I’ll quote Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. ‘Mankind is our business.’ You might want to remember that, just in case you’re due to be visited by three ghosts.”

  Jarrett Wilkenson actually smiled. The corners of his lips turned up and he flashed white teeth. Ariel staggered a step before she reclaimed her balance.

  “Are you comparing me to Scrooge?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  She headed for the door.

  “Ariel, I’d like to ask you something.”

  Oh, but she would have liked to have kept on walking. Turning her back on him and ignoring what he had to say would have given her great satisfaction. Manners made her pause. Not only was he her host, but he was going to be putting her up in his hotel for the next however long it took until she came up with a plan on her own.

  She paused and leaned against the door frame.

  “You responded to my niece’s note. She thinks you were sent here for her.”

  “Yes, and you think this is all an elaborate trick. So either I had something planned in advance and got lucky with the note, or I found the note and made an impulsive decision to try and snare you. We’ve discussed this already. What’s your point?”

  It was much easier to speak her mind when she had her back to the man. If they were ever caught up in another argument, she would have to remember this strategy.

  “Until you recover your memory, or someone comes looking for you, perhaps you would be more comfortable staying here. At the house. Being alone in a hotel can be very lonely. Especially during the holidays.”

  She clutched her clothes tightly to her chest and turned to face him. He had to be kidding. “You hate me.”

  “I don’t know you well enough to hate you.”

  “Fine. You don’t trust me and you doubt my story.”

  “True enough.”

  “Yet you’d invite me to move in to your home?”

  “For the sake of my niece, who asked if you could stay, yes.”

  His dark eyes gave nothing away. Neither did his face. The man was good. She wouldn’t want to play poker with him. Unless it was strip poker and in her best interest to lose.

  Not sure where that thought had come from, she pushed it away. “This is crazy.”

  “It’s your decision.”

  She thought about what he’d said. About the holidays being lonely in a hotel. He was right. And if she was completely honest with herself, the thought of going back without knowing who she was had her more than a little terrified.

  But stay here? Was she crazy to consider it?

  A sound drifted up to her open window. A car engine. “My driver is here,” he said. “Should I send him back or have him wait for you?”

  Ariel weighed her alternatives. She knew Jarrett would keep pressure on the hotel manager to find her family, so she wouldn’t miss out on anything by not being at the hotel. While the man of the house might make her crazy, she liked Anna Jane. Truth be known, being here would be nicer than being alone at the hotel. Here she at least had a name, even if it wasn’t her own.

  “Send him back,” she said, squaring her shoulders and meeting his gaze. “Thank you for inviting me. I would like to stay.”

  He rosé to his feet.

  “On one condition,” she added.

  He waited silently.

  “Think what you want about me. I have no right to control that, but I don’t want any more conversations like we had last night,” she said. “If mutual respect isn’t available, then I’ll settle for common courtesy.”

  “Agreed. I’ll have the boutique send over some clothes and toiletries for you. They should be here in a few hours. I’ll let Leona and Anna Jane know you’re our guest for the time being. Please make yourself at home.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Wilkenson.”

  “Please call me Jarrett.”

  “Thank you, Jarrett.”

  With that, he was gone. She stared after him as he moved down the stairs. What were his secrets? she wondered. What had hurt him so much that he could be generous with his things, but hold back such a large portion of himself?

  * * *

  “Ariel, Anna Jane, there’s something here for you,” Leona called.

  At the sound of his housekeeper’s voice, Jarrett gave up all pretense of working. He exited the spreadsheet program and returned to the main menu of his computer, then stood and walked into the foyer.

  Leona stood by the open French doors and waved the two females inside. “Hurry,” she said. “There’s so much to see.” Her hazel eyes danced with excitement. She was short and plump, with dark hair that had started graying at the temples. He’d known her for years and had, in fact, stolen her and her husband away from a business associate.

  “What is it?” Anna Jane asked, scampering inside and glancing around. Her gaze fell on the pile of boxes by the front door. She squealed. “Are they for me?”

  “Greedy piglet,” Leona said warmly. “They’re not presents, but something almost as good. Come open them with me.” When Ariel started to hang back, Leona motioned her forward with a nod of her head. “There are several for you, Ariel. Come on. This will be fun.”

  “Are you going to watch, Uncle Jarrett?” Anna Jane asked as she dived for the boxes.

  “Sure.”

  Ariel gave him a quick glance as she passed. No doubt she wondered what was going on. Since that morning when she’d agreed to stay at the house, she’d kept busy with Anna Jane, as if wanting to avoid him as much as possible. What she probably didn’t know was that the main patio by the pool was directly outside his office. With the windows open, he could hear everything said.

  At first he’d thought that was part of her plan. But as their conversation had washed over him, he’d had second thoughts. She hadn’t grilled his niece about him, nor had she steered the conversation into a direction that flattered her. Instead she’d talked to Anna Jane about the girl’s school and her friends. In that morning of eavesdropping Jarrett had learned more about his niece than he had in the few weeks she’d been living with him.

  Was Ariel trying to use Anna Jane to get to him, or was he being paranoid? It would take a few days to figure out the truth. For now, Anna Jane wanted company and Ariel was willing to provide it. With Leona supervising the two, Anna Jane would be safe with their visitor.

  Another squeal cut through his thoughts. He glanced up and saw Anna Jane opening a box of Christmas lights. “They’re beautiful. Are they for a tree or decorating the house?”

  “Either,” he said. “The tree will be delivered in a few days.”

  She wrapped the long strand around her like gauze around a mummy, then ran over to him. Instinctively, he lowered himself to his knees and caught her when she flung herself toward him.

  Her small body was warm and sturdy with a sweet little-girl scent that reminded him of growing up with his sister. Brown eyes glowed with happiness.

  “We’re getting a tree?” she asked, her voice laced with awe.

  “Of course.”

  “You didn’t forget Christmas.”

  He feigned a wounded expression. “Did you think I would?”

  “Never!” she announced, and hugged him again.

  Over her sho
ulder he saw Ariel watching them. He waited, but she never hinted that while he hadn’t forgotten the holiday, he’d had no intention of celebrating it until she’d reminded him that Anna Jane would expect all the trimmings.

  “These are for you,” Leona said to Ariel as she studied the contents of several bags. “Clothes and other things from the boutiques.” She winked at Jarrett. “Looks like they didn’t leave anything for the other customers.”

  Jarrett released his niece and stood. “I told them to send a wide selection. I guessed at the size.”

  Ariel pulled out a beaded cocktail dress. “The size looks right, but there’s too much here.”

  “Take what you want and send the rest back.”

  “That’s pretty,” Anna Jane said, hurrying to her side.

  “Let’s get these off you before someone forgets you’re a little girl and plugs you in,” Leona said as she unwound the lights.

  Anna Jane laughed.

  Ariel joined in as she pulled more cocktail dresses from the bag. There were shoes to match, along with tiny beaded handbags. She shook her head. “Okay, this can all go back. Unless you’re planning a formal event?”

  “Not him,” Leona answered for him. “Mr. Jarrett doesn’t entertain.” When he frowned, she waved away his annoyance. “It’s true,” she said. “You never have company. You live like a monk. You’re a young man. It’s not healthy.”

  “Leona!”

  “Fine. I say too much. But it’s the truth.” She headed for the kitchen. “I know, I know, start lunch. I’m going.”

  Ariel was busy folding the evening dresses back into neat, tissue-wrapped packages. He couldn’t see her face, but he suspected she was smiling at his discomfort, not to mention the housekeeper’s words.

  “I do not live like a monk,” he growled.

  “It’s true,” Anna Jane piped up. “Uncle Jarrett hardly ever talks to God, and monks talk to God all the time.”

  “Thank you,” he said to his niece.

  She dimpled. “You’re welcome.”

  Ariel opened another bag. In it were shorts, shirts and a few frilly things she quickly thrust out of view. “Maybe I’ll take this up to my room and sort it out there,” she said.

  “Don’t take long,” Anna Jane responded. “We have to help Leona decorate after lunch. We can do the living room and maybe wrap some lights and stuff around the banister.”

  “I’d like that,” Ariel said. She scooped up an armful of clothing and rosé to her feet. “Gee, Jarrett, you’d better hope that in my other life I’m frugal, so I have a lot of room left on my credit cards. Everything is very beautiful and it’s going to be tough for me to decide what I want. I might end up picking several things.”

  He stared at her. “You expect to pay me back?”

  “Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

  Because he was rich and no one ever tried to pay him back. Most people made it a habit to see how much they could get from him. Ariel stepped close and lowered her voice.

  “I don’t know who your friends are, but you might want to think about hanging out with some different kinds of people. I swear, even if I’m working somewhere for minimum wage, I’ll pay you for these. It might take a while, but I’ll do it.”

  Conviction burned in her green eyes. He figured even odds that she was lying…about everything else. He believed her about the clothes and her wanting to pay him back.

  She climbed the stairs, her shorts showing off long, shapely legs. His reaction was as quick as it was predictable. Leona was right; he’d been living like a monk for too long. Yet there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. He, of all people, knew the risk of getting involved.

  Chapter Five

  Ariel hung her new clothes in the spacious closet. Anna Jane curled up on the queen-size mattress and watched her. “It’s funny to have the weather so nice,” the nine-year-old said.

  Ariel glanced at her over her shoulder. She still wore her hair in a pretty French braid. Anna Jane fingered her own short hair and wondered how long it would take to grow it enough to braid. She’d wanted it long, but her mother had always said it was too much work. Maybe she should talk to Uncle Jarrett. She didn’t think he would mind how she wore her hair.

  “Where are you from?” Ariel asked.

  “Manhattan. We wouldn’t always have snow for Christmas, but it was usually cold. Here it’s warm all the time.”

  “I know what you mean. I keep expecting a little whiff of something chilly.” Ariel frowned.

  “Do you remember where you’re from?” Anna Jane asked eagerly.

  “Not exactly. I can picture fog and rain. But nothing specific, which means it’s not much help. It gets foggy and rainy just about everywhere.”

  “Not here.”

  Ariel grinned. “That’s right. Not here. Every day is a good-hair day on St. Alicia.” She sat on the edge of the bed and started folding T-shirts.

  The clothes she’d chosen were different from what Anna Jane’s mother would wear. The casual shorts and shirts, along with a few dresses, wouldn’t suit her mother’s designer tastes. But Anna Jane liked them. It was important to dress up in the city, but here it didn’t matter.

  “Do you miss New York?” Ariel asked.

  “Some. My school.”

  “Friends?”

  Anna Jane wrinkled her nose. “I’d changed schools in September so I hadn’t made a lot of friends, but I miss the classes and the teachers.”

  Ariel put down the shirt she’d been folding and reached forward, resting her hand on Anna Jane’s bare knee. “It’s tough being the new kid, huh?”

  “Yeah. Some of the girls talked to me, but most of them were real snobs.”

  “And really stupid,” Ariel said, giving her a quick squeeze before returning to her folding. “You’re a great kid and they were too dumb to figure that out. Hey, if they’d taken the time to get to know you, they could have visited you here. It’s their loss.”

  “I hadn’t thought of it that way.” Her comments made Anna Jane feel better. It was funny. On the outside Ariel and Nana B. didn’t look anything alike. Her nanny had been nearly sixty and tiny, with white hair and snapping black eyes. Yet Ariel reminded her of Nana B. It was more what she said.

  “Do you have any children?” Anna Jane asked.

  Ariel glanced at her and opened her mouth. She frowned. “I’m not sure.”

  Anna Jane rolled her eyes. “I keep forgetting you don’t remember who you are. I’ll try not to ask so many questions.”

  “I don’t mind the questions. There’s stuff I don’t realize I know until I answer. But children. How strange.” She got up and put her shirts and shorts into the dresser at the foot of the bed, then returned to her seat. “My first instinct was to say that I don’t have children, but then I wanted to say yes.” She tilted her head as she thought. “I don’t think I have any of my own, but there are kids in my life.”

  “Like friends?”

  “Maybe. Or kids of friends. Maybe nieces and nephews. I’m not sure.”

  Anna Jane realized she didn’t want Ariel to have other children in her life. She wanted to be the only one. Which was silly. After lunch Leona had explained to her that Ariel was just here temporarily. Anna Jane knew that. Yet part of her didn’t want to believe it. Part of her wanted to pretend that Ariel was going to be here for a long time.

  She wanted Ariel to love her the way Nana B. had loved her. She wanted to belong to someone. Her mother had belonged to her father. Uncle Jarrett belonged to his empire. Anna Jane didn’t belong to anyone or anything. Belonging to Ariel would be very nice.

  Ariel looked at the pretty young girl sitting so quietly on the bed. “You’re looking serious about something,” she teased. “Tell me what it is.”

  “Nothing,” came the quiet response.

  It was definitely something, Ariel thought, trying to read Anna Jane’s expression. Unfortunately she’d inherited the Wilkenson ability to hide what she was thinking.

&
nbsp; “There are still a couple of hours until dinner. Maybe we could do something.”

  Shrug.

  “Do you want to play a game?”

  Shrug number two, this one accompanied by a small hand picking at the bedspread.

  “How about exploring the house? I haven’t seen very much of it. It’s big enough that we could even pretend to get lost and have Leona come look for us.”

  Silence. Ariel replayed their conversation. They’d talked about Anna Jane not fitting in at school and her, Ariel, not being sure if she had children. Bingo!

  She scooted up until she was sitting next to Anna Jane, then draped her arm around her shoulders. “You miss your mother, don’t you?”

  Anna Jane raised her head. Tears filled her eyes, then one slipped down her cheek. The young girl slowly shook her head. “No,” she whispered. “I’m very bad.”

  Ariel’s heart ached for the child. “Honey, you’re a lot of things, but bad isn’t one of them. Tell me what’s wrong.”

  “I can’t. You won’t like me.”

  “Unless you plan on selling me to pirates or burning down the house, I can’t think of anything you could do that would make me not like you.” She gave the girl a gentle shake. “Come on. Out with it. I promise I’m not easily shocked.”

  Anna Jane swallowed hard. “My mom died.”

  She clamped her lips shut. Ariel resisted the urge to ask more questions. A voice inside her head whispered it would be better to wait. Almost as if she’d been through a similar experience herself. Had she?

  Forget it, she scolded, pushing aside her questions. Her past wasn’t important right now. She focused on the child and waited.

  “I miss her,” Anna Jane continued in a halting voice. “Sort of. But not like I miss Nana B.”

  “She was your former nanny?” Ariel asked, taking a guess.

  “Uh-huh.” More tears fell. Anna Jane wiped them away. “She retired in September when I went to the new school. She lives with her sister. I miss her so much.” She covered her mouth to hold back a sob.

  “Oh, honey, of course you miss her. She was there for you every day. I know she misses you, too.” Without thinking, she pulled Anna Jane close and rocked her. “I’ve never had a nanny—at least, I can’t remember having one, but I understand it can be a very special relationship. This is so hard for you, losing your nanny and your mother within a few months. No wonder you wanted a friend.”