Free ScandalandSin by Lynn LaFleur

didn’t
frighten her, but intrigued her.
    “Maybe it’s just the excitement of knowing the
house will be mine soon. When will you start working on it?”
    “Dax, Griff and I will pick up supplies
this weekend. We may be able to start as early as Monday.”
    Alaina clasped her hands together beneath
her chin. This was really going to happen. Stevens House would be her new home
in a few months. She could hardly wait to tell Kelcey and Emma.
    “Knowing how quickly my dad works, he’ll
have that draft for you to look at tomorrow. And you can get together with Dax
to talk about paint colors. It’ll be a while before we’ll do any painting, but
he can pick up some of those paint sample cards for you.”
    “I already have dozens of them. I’ve been
checking out the building supplies warehouses for weeks. I’ve already picked
out most of the light fixtures and ceiling fans. Oh, and the crown molding.”
    Rye chuckled. “You were determined to buy
this house, weren’t you?”
    She nodded.
    “Why this house? You told Bella it called
to you the first time you saw it. What’s so special about it?”
    Alaina thought of the book she carried in
her purse…the book that explained so much about her family, yet left many
questions unanswered. She hoped to find all the answers in this house.
    Until she found the answers, she wasn’t
ready to tell anyone about the book.
    “My purse is in your truck. I can write
that check to you now before I leave Lanville.”
    “Where are you going?”
    “Back to Dallas. I want to tell my
housemates my good news. I’ll spend the night at home and be back tomorrow.”
    She turned and headed for the staircase,
Rye close behind her. At her car, she removed her purse, dug through it for her
checkbook, then joined Rye at his pickup. She snagged the pen from behind his
ear. “Is five thousand okay?”
    “That’ll be fine.”
    She wrote out the check and handed it to
Rye with his pen. She had no reason to hang around since their business for
today was done, yet she didn’t want to leave him. Despite their shaky start
this morning, they’d been civil to each other for the last couple of hours.
    “I have an appointment with the sheriff in
fifteen minutes,” Rye said.
    “Oh sure. I’ll, uh, be on my way.”
    “See you tomorrow.”
    Alaina slipped into her car. Once she
pulled away from Stevens House, she looked in her rearview mirror. Rye stood by
his truck, watching her drive away.

Chapter Seven
     
    April 15, 1937
    Laura came home early to help our
mother. She has been ill for several days. We thought it was just a cold, but
it may be something more serious. Her cough has grown deeper and more
persistent. Laura insisted we need to take our mother to see the doctor in Dallas.
That would be a long and expensive trip, but our father agreed with Laura. He
said we would take our mother first thing in the morning.
    That despicable man showed up at the
store this afternoon with his “personal physician”. Laura was so grateful, I
thought she would hug him. I managed to smile and thank him, but I doubt if
there was any sincerity in my eyes. He didn’t bring in a doctor simply to help
my mother…he did it to get closer to Laura.
    * * * * *
    “You didn’t even get the house appraised,
Alaina,” Kelcey said. “How do you know it’s worth anything?”
    “It’s worth everything to me.” She glanced
at her housemate and good friend in the passenger seat. She knew Kelcey
couldn’t help but think like an accountant. “Bella Olinghouse sold the house
and twenty-two acres to me for twenty-five thousand dollars. The land alone is
worth over a hundred grand. It was a bargain.”
    “I still think you should’ve talked to
other construction firms before you hired that one. You gave him a deposit
without even talking about a contract!”
    Alaina bit her tongue to keep from sighing.
Kelcey was a year younger than she, but she acted so much older. She was so
intelligent, maybe even a genius, yet