Page 26 of Haden

Emilia

* * *

“Powder room, now,” Claire whispers in my ear a second before grabbing my hand and yanking me out of the dining room.

I twist around to look for Haden, but he doesn’t make eye contact with me. He’s leaning over a massive set of blueprints with the rest of the bossy men who live in this mansion.

Dinner was relatively normal… No, it really wasn’t. For one thing, Haden had his hand threaded with mine when we entered the room together. We were the last to arrive, and every single person watched as he guided me to a seat, pulled it out for me, and then pushed me in and claimed the chair next to mine.

There was a hush in the room before all the women grinned and the men smirked. No one said a word, but they didn’t have to. Their body language spoke volumes.

Haden also filled my plate, put my napkin in my lap, and made sure my water glass remained full. When he was done eating, he turned slightly toward me, set his hand possessively on my thigh, and leaned in to whisper in my ear, “Finish your meal, baby.”

He expected me to eat after that?

My stomach was flipping around as if there were a tsunami inside me, so it took me forever to finish the food on my plate, but I eventually managed. No thanks to his wandering, teasing thumb precariously close to my panties.

Meanwhile, the men started discussing what Haden has identified as the most urgent priorities in the mansion. The only part that stood out to me was the fact that Haden intends to go from room to room tomorrow with tools to dislodge the windows. I understand now that the fact that they are painted shut is a fire hazard. It’s his top priority. Makes sense.

There’s a sprinkler system in the house, but no one is sure when it was installed or how likely it is to work in an emergency. Ensuring the smoke detectors are in working order and updating the sprinklers is Haden’s second item of business in the coming days. Apparently, Haden’s third objective is to install roll-down ladders in every second-floor and third-floor room so everyone can climb down to safety in the event there is ever a fire.

As soon as everyone was finished with dessert, the men rose and moved to the other end of the enormous table to spread out the blueprints. They’re obsessed with those papers. So obsessed that I don’t think any of them notice as all five of us women slip from the room.

I giggle as Claire pulls me down the hallway. “Powder room? Who says that? Do we even have such a room?”

Claire waves a hand through the air. “Whatever. Any room.”

Reagan rushes ahead of us and starts opening doors before finally turning to face us. “In here.” She rushes inside.

Arianna and Melody follow her. Claire and I bring up the rear.

Suddenly, we’re in some sort of parlor. I don’t think I’ve explored this one. It’s absurdly adorned like many other rooms with far too many decades-old, gaudy trinkets. Like dozens of other rooms in this monstrosity, this one looks like it hasn’t been touched in half a century. As if the occupants suddenly left and never returned.

Now that I know more about my family’s history, I suspect that’s almost exactly what happened. For some reason, all four of Amos’s sons left home soon after their mother died and never looked back. That was almost fifty years ago.

According to Gretchen—whose mother worked here before her—this place was bustling with activity when Old Man Wilde’s wife, Carolyn, was alive. That would be my grandmother. The boys—my father and his brothers—were rambunctious and full of life. Gretchen had just started working at the mansion when Carolyn passed, but she remembers listening to her mother talk about what this place was like in its heyday. Not long after their mother’s death, all four Wilde boys moved away.

This old house has so much history, and it’s so evident in every room, including the one we’ve just entered.

“Start talking, sister,” Claire insists, crossing her arms.

The four of them gather in a U-shape around me, eyes wide, grinning.

I shrug like it’s no big deal.

“You started flirting with the man the moment he pulled onto the property yesterday,” Reagan says.

Arianna laughs. “I guess it was effective. How did he manage to stake a claim on you so quickly? None of us even saw the men today. They were dealing with the trailer for hours.”

Melody gives Arianna a playful shove. “As if Dallas didn’t march into the library and sweep you off your feet in like thirty seconds.”

Arianna giggles. “True.”

Claire shakes her head. “It’s baffling. Haden gets out of his truck, inhales the air near the mansion, and boom, he claims a woman.”

I shrug. “Do you think I should be concerned that it was me because no other single women were around?” I’m joking, but perhaps there’s some truth to that if we’re going to get superstitious.

Reagan holds up a hand. “What I want to know is if you’ve done the dirty already. You looked very well-fucked when you arrived at dinner.”