Page 145 of The Seven Rings
Not Cleo. Even if her friend had slipped into the manor without Sonya noticing, she recognized the deeper timbre of male voices.
Not Cleo, not Dobbs. She strained her ears, but couldn’t make out words, just the sound. And now a quick—male—laugh.
She felt no pull from the mirror.
Picking up her phone from the desk, she put it in her pocket.
Her house, she reminded herself, and walked quietly out of the library. She turned, followed the sound of voices. And music, she realized. Bon Jovi. “Livin’ on a Prayer.”
So eighties? Nineties? Or beyond that.
Not from the nursery, and she gave a quick thanks for that, as the room held so much sorrow.
No, they came from what she thought of as a den. Where, she remembered, Owen had once seen himself playing chess with a younger Collin.
Pulse quickening, she stepped to the doorway—the open doorway, where she kept it closed.
A fire crackled in the hearth, and a light snow—thin as gauze—fell outside the windows.
Two men faced each other over a chessboard. For an instant, just a flash, her heart tripped as she thought she watched her father and Trey.
But no, though the resemblance struck hard, she watched Collin with his longtime friend, Deuce.
Deuce with his hair jet-black, no glasses over those deep blue eyes. He wore a sweater nearly as deeply blue, and smiled Trey’s smile as he moved his bishop.
“Get out of that one.”
“Oh, I will.”
But Collin sat back first, sipped a whiskey as Deuce did the same. “How does it feel, old married man, to start planning a nursery?”
“Terrifying. Wonderful. And right back to terrifying.”
“How’s Corrine doing?”
“Still queasy most mornings, but they say that’ll ease up. It’s earlydays.” He pointed at Collin. “Other than my parents, hers, you’re the only one in this loop for now.”
“If I don’t know how to keep a secret, who does?”
“That’s God’s truth. All those years ago, sneaking in here as kids. If your grandmother had found out, our asses would’ve been in matching slings.”
“But she didn’t. And you were the only one who knew I planned to do just what I’m doing, since she no longer has a say in it. Live my life here. We keep each other’s secrets.”
“We do, always have.”
Collin moved his rook, and with a nod, Deuce studied the board.
“You think I don’t see that. But I do. You haven’t mentioned plans for your next trip.”
“I’d been thinking about talking you and Corrine into joining me for a trip to Ireland this summer. Your family homeplace. But now…”
“Now, with a baby coming? I think Corrine and I stay closer to home.”
“I might do the same. I’ve got plenty of company.”
“They’re quiet tonight.”
“Oh, I expect my night music later. Plenty of that during the day, too.”
