The Poppy and the Rose by Ashlee Cowles

Author:Ashlee Cowles [Cowles, Ashlee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Young Adult, Romance, Historical Fiction, Gothic Mystery
Publisher: Owl Hollow Press, LLC
Published: 2020-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Taylor

I close the book and use it to fan my face. Forget class divisions and denominational strife, this Caleb is a keeper. If Ava is too blind to see that, the girl will live to regret it.

Maybe she did.

Nathaniel returns to the atrium, holding up a plain key in triumph. “Okay, let’s get started. Giles is skeptical, though—Mae always kept her father’s study locked, so no one has been in there in quite some time.”

“You mean it’s still considered Jonathan Knight’s study? Even though he died nearly a century ago?”

“Ah, yes, this quirk is one of Meadowbrook’s most endearing features… or one of its creepiest, depending on how you look at it.”

“I’m going to go out on a limb and say creepiest. Please elaborate.”

“Seeing as how the house is so massive, whenever a family member passed away, Mae just left their favorite room intact. Almost like a shrine. In short, her father’s study is exactly the way it was the day he died. And that room you slept in last night…” Nathaniel grins. “Let’s just hope Mrs. Porter washed the sheets.”

“That’s disgusting!” I elbow him in the side as we head toward the staircase in the foyer. “You’d better be kidding.”

“Of course I’m kidding, though Ava’s bedroom is definitely furnished the way it was when she died.”

“And when was that?”

Nathaniel shrugs. “Not sure. The 1980s maybe?”

“What I don’t understand is why Ava’s gorgeous photographs were hidden in that closet. I’d much rather hang them on the walls than look at those two grumps all day.” I nod at the intimidating portraits of the first Lord and Lady Knight above the staircase.

“Don’t ask me. By this point, you probably know more about Ava than I do. Mae didn’t really talk about her family much. It seemed like a sore subject, so I never pried.”

We head upstairs. “Speaking of which, why didn’t Lady Knight—Mae, I mean—ever marry or have children?”

Nathaniel nods. “I always got the sense Mae wanted a family, but I don’t think she was lucky in the romance department. Again, she never talked about it, but based on a few offhanded comments by Mrs. Porter, my hunch is Mae lost someone during the war. The Second World War, that is.”

“So she swore off love for good? That was probably wise.” After all, my mom had done the exact opposite—diving headfirst into another marriage because she couldn’t bear being alone. Except she wasn’t alone. She had me. But that wasn’t enough. “I don’t understand how people can keep trying to find love after experiencing such a devastating loss. Isn’t that just inviting more heartache into your life?”

I never understood how Mom fell for someone else after being married to my dad. My stepfather, Derek—comic book connoisseur and real estate agent extraordinaire—is a nice enough guy, but he can’t hold a candle to Dad.

“I couldn’t disagree more,” Nathaniel says. “I think it’s when you lose someone that you begin to realize how bottomless love is… how much you actually have to give.

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