“Mrs. Greber’s.” And in response to a blank look: “Your neighbor?”
Aunt Quinlan sat down again. “Katharina Greber?”
Mrs. Greber was one of the few people Aunt Quinlan truly disliked, and her tone gave that away. Anna was glad to see that Jack had it figured out.
“I see there’s some history I don’t know about. You aren’t the best of friends?”
Anna scrambled for the shortest possible explanation. “Aunt Quinlan believes that Mrs. Greber took—”
“—stole.”
“That Mrs. Greber is responsible for the disappearance of one of Mr. Lee’s prize roses. Roots and all. There used to be a door in the wall between her garden and ours—”
“Anna,” said Aunt Quinlan. “You know she took that rose.”
Jack said, “So you won’t miss her, now that she’s moved away.”
Aunt Quinlan’s expression stilled, and then she produced a huge and unapologetic smile. “Moved?”
“To live with a son, I think.”
“And the house is empty?”
Jack’s gaze settled on Anna. “For the moment. I was thinking we might want to buy it.”
“Anna,” Aunt Quinlan said. “If you don’t kiss that man, I’ll have to do it for you.”
? ? ?
THE HOUSE WAS far smaller than the Quinlan residence, but similar in style and solidly built, most likely by the same architect. Buff-colored limestone walls and a tile roof, the rooms not especially large but more than sufficient. Inside it was in desperate need of renovation and repairs, but Jack had known immediately that it would suit. The expression on Anna’s face told him he was right.
She went from room to room and then outside into the garden, almost as large as her aunt’s, but terribly overgrown. The symmetry made it clear that this property must have once belonged to the Quinlan parcel, and according to Jack the plat book confirmed that. Both buildings constructed in 1840 by Jonathan Quinlan, Harrison Quinlan’s grandfather. In her second marriage Lily Bonner Ballentyne had married into a family with a shipping fortune and, more rare still, an appreciation for beauty.
“Mr. Lee will need help to bring this garden back to order,” Anna’s aunt murmured.
“There are Mezzanotte cousins and nephews enough to help,” Jack said to her, but he kept his gaze on Anna. “Mr. Lee can have his pick of an army of gardeners.”
Anna walked away from them into waist-high weeds, scanning the brick wall and then pointing. “There’s where the garden door was taken out and bricked over. Could that be restored, do you think?”
“It could,” Jack said. “I would put it at the top of the list so you can come and go easily. It will be safer for the girls too.”
She swept around, her eyes so bright that he thought for a moment that she might be on the verge of tears.
“How soon can it be brought into order, do you think?”
“I’ll talk to the attorney tomorrow. We can start renovations next week, after we make plans and talk about a budget. If that’s what you want to do.”
She strode toward him. “Of course it is,” she said. “It’s exactly what I want. You’re exactly what I want.”
Jack heard Aunt Quinlan moving away and the door closing behind her just as Anna walked into his arms.
She said, “First on that list of things to do is to get a room together where a person can take a nap.” And then she sneezed, three times in a row.
“Good idea,” Jack said. “Unless we want these weeds mowed down first.”
She sneezed once more, a triplet of high quick spasms that made him laugh out loud.
? ? ?
ON THE WAY uptown later in the afternoon, Anna asked the question she could hold back no longer. “How long have you had that house up your sleeve?”
He shrugged. “Just since yesterday. I saw a mover’s wagon pulling away from the curb and I asked some questions. This morning I talked to the attorney and made an offer. What?”
“Before you asked me?”
“It would have sold to someone else before the day ended. Did I misstep?”
“No,” she said, quite truthfully. “You stepped perfectly.” And after a long moment: “This will be difficult for your sisters.”
Jack touched the small of her back to steer her around a group of girls playing with a jump rope. “There may be a way to lessen the sting.”
She glanced up at him. “You are full of surprises today. What are you thinking?”
“Ask for their help. Unless you want to handle the furnishing and decorating yourself, of course.”
That made her laugh out loud. “Do you think they’re so easily distracted?”
“Ask them and find out. But be prepared, the first question they are going to ask you—”
“A date for the wedding.” She sighed.
“Such enthusiasm,” Jack said dryly.
She pressed his arm. “If the house can be ready, I would say late summer. Will that serve?”
“No,” Jack muttered. “But it will have to do.”
21