Free A Stranger in Wynnedower by Grace Greene

heart? A lunatic? She looked around again thinking this would
be a good time for someone sane and boring to come along.
    A rangy Abelia snagged
the hem of her shorts. She detached the thin branch. “Overgrown. I wonder how
much of this can be salvaged?” She paused, wanting not to ask but unable to
stop herself. “Did you speak with her that day? Was it the same for her? Love
at first sight?” She ran her hands lightly through the long, twiggy branches.
    He moved away, pausing
near a chipped and stained concrete bench. He sank down upon it and leaned
forward, both hands clasping his knees. “I thought I’d gone to heaven. At the
very least, that I was dreaming. I approached her and she spoke. Oh, it was
innocent. But it was also fate.”
    He held out one hand to
her. He was a stranger, but a friend of Jeremy’s. Almost mesmerized by his
strange behavior and poetic tale, Rachel accepted his hand, and he tugged her
down beside him onto the bench. His breath was rough, excited.
    “She was timid with
everyone else, but together we were special. She warned me about Jack, but I
already knew. She said, ‘he won’t like this.’ I was prepared to take on
anything, anyone, for her.” He pressed his hands to his eyes. “I failed her. I
failed us both. I’ll never forgive myself, but if I could know she was well and
happy, not under the thumb of that monster, then I could move on.”
    Stunned, she repeated,
“A monster?”
    “Jack Wynne.”
    Rude, yes. But a
monster? “What business was it of Jack’s?”
    He whispered, “He’s her
brother.”
    “He hasn’t mentioned a
sister.”
    “I asked Jeremy to help
me find Helene. Or, rather, not find her, but to find out where she is and how
she is, so that I’ll know she’s okay. Up until a few months ago, she was in a
safe place.
    The man stared toward
the sky at an overarching branch whose leaves rustled in the breeze. “Helene is
different. Very delicate. But then one day I discovered she’d left where she
was living with no forwarding address. She wouldn’t have done that on her own.
Jack would have been involved. Why didn’t she surface anywhere? Jack showed up
here, but where’s Helene? You see why I’m worried.”
    “No, I don’t see. How
could Jeremy help you with that anyway?”
    “By looking around.
Listening. Asking a few questions. Whether Jack was here or off traveling,
Jeremy was my best chance of finding out what Jack was up to.”
    “Jeremy spied for you?
How can that be? He wasn’t here while Jack was.”
    “Don’t you see? It was
perfect. Jack was out of town, but when he returned, Jeremy would still have
access whenever Jack left the house. He could enter Jack’s quarters without
fear. Could have, if he hadn’t gone away.”
    Rachel cringed. Would
Jeremy have agreed to do that? No, she didn’t believe it.
    “No, I still don’t see.
You, Jack, his sister, wherever she is, you’re all adults. Why can’t you manage
your business without involving my brother?”
    His words came out on
separate breaths, ragged. “Would you help me?”
    As if he was deaf to
her words.
    This was too much
emotionalism and illogic. She reclaimed her hand and turned away. The dining
room and Jack’s quarters flanked both sides of the garden. Before them was the
window arcade. Windows, windows, everywhere, and Rachel didn’t want to be seen
sitting here on the concrete bench consoling David Kilmer.
    “I don’t blame you for
despising me, and I don’t deserve another chance at love. I took money and
abandoned her. And left my heart behind, too. I’m a loser and I always will be
without Helene. I’m not someone to depend on, not even for someone I love.”
    He took money. But it
wasn’t her business and it was long ago, anyway. “Don’t be so dramatic.” She
tried to soften her tone. “Everyone makes mistakes. You were young and
foolish.” No longer so young, but foolish was a hazard for all ages.
    “And afraid. Jack would
have never let us find