Ellie glanced at the vent in the ceiling. The Bridgerton room was right above it. “They heard everything, didn’t they?”
Nate nodded, the corner of his mouth twitching as if he was holding back a grin. “You’re lucky you got me instead of Sadie, Abby, and Mallory. They were all set to pick up the swords they’re decorating the walls with and come to your rescue. Those are three bloodthirsty women.”
Ellie laughed. They weren’t decorating the walls with swords. She’d vetoed the idea. But even if they’d come to her rescue brandishing swords, she didn’t think they would have shut her mother down as completely and as effectively as Nate. “They’re also very good friends,” she said. “Tell them I’ll be up to help them in a minute.”
“They were finishing up the wallpaper when I left, and I’ve been given strict orders that you need to take it easy.”
“That’s sweet, but I have to get ready for tomorrow’s brunch and tours. There are sandwiches to make, and—”
A disembodied voice that sounded a little like Abby’s came through the vent. “Nate, get her out of here. She needs a break, and she won’t take one if she stays.”
Ellie rolled her eyes at the vent. “I don’t need a break.”
“Do too,” her grandfather said without looking away from the TV screen, where he was happily blowing up more zombies.
“Sorry, Ellie. They’re a lot scarier than you are,” Nate said as he walked away. Then he glanced over his shoulder. “You might want to change before we go.”
To avoid her mother criticizing her appearance, Ellie had put on a sundress. “I’m not going for another jog. I won’t be able to get out of bed tomorrow.” The muscles in her calves had protested when she’d gotten up this morning, which went to show how terribly out of shape she was.
“Yeah, I didn’t think you’d be up for another walk. I saw you inching your way down the stairs this morning, remember?”
“How could I forget? You told me I was walking like I was a hundred.”
“I was being kind.”
“Goodbye, Nate.”
She shook her head as he left the room laughing, then turned to her grandfather, who was grinning at her. “He’s a keeper, Ellie my love.”
“I agree with you, Grandpa. But Nate is a man who likes his freedom. He’s not interested in a relationship.”
“Never knew a man who thought he was. Not until the right woman came along. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about. I had no intention of settling down until I met your grandmother.” He put down the controller. “It was your grandmother who figured out you’d inherited Agnes’s gift, you know.”
Ellie glanced at the vent. This was one conversation she didn’t want anyone to overhear. “Maybe we should talk in your room.”
Her grandfather followed her gaze and nodded, standing up to lead the way into his room. Ellie closed the door behind them, following him into his sitting area by the picture window. Outside, the kids were laughing, running after Finn, Sadie and Chase’s golden retriever, who’d stolen the football.
Ellie spotted Ryder and smiled. This was the happiest she’d seen him since he’d arrived. Down by the dock, Chase was laughing at something Nate had said. From Nate’s exasperated expression, it wasn’t the response he’d expected or wanted. She drew her gaze from Nate’s handsome face and took a seat in the chair beside her grandfather.
“How did Grandma Mary know?”
“She went to a church tea and heard the talk about Agnes. At the time, we had no idea what your mother had put Agnes through. We would have put a stop to it had we known. The mayor took your grandmother aside and filled her in at the tea, asking her to stand up with them against some of the church ladies who wanted Agnes cast out. They believed her abilities were the work of the devil.”
Her mother had said the same thing to Ellie after one of the therapists Miranda had dragged Ellie to had concluded she was psychic, not crazy. “Grandma Mary didn’t think that, did she?”
“No, she thought they were a bunch of closed-minded ninnies, which was what she told them. It made a difference coming from her, given that your mother was the one who’d started the rumors. Mary was as mad as a hornet when she got home from the tea. She called your mother straight away and gave her a tongue-lashing the likes I’ve never heard. Their relationship was never the same after that.” He cast a sad glance at the photo of Ellie’s grandmother and mother on the mantel. “After seeing the way Miranda treated you, neither of us wanted much to do with her. But we held our tongues. We were afraid she wouldn’t let you come and stay with us or let us see your brother and sister.”
So it wasn’t just that Ellie had learned a secret her mother would guard with her life—Miranda blamed her for the loss of the love and respect of her parents. Her mother wouldn’t think to look at her own actions. As Ellie had learned over the years, nothing was ever Miranda’s fault. She was always quick to cast blame elsewhere.
“How did Grandma Mary figure out I was psychic?”
“She used to sneak you kids over to see your Granny MacLeod whenever she got the chance. On one of those visits, your granny told Mary that you’d inherit her abilities. Agnes asked Mary to promise we’d protect you from your mother. Your grandmother gave her word, but truth be told, Mary didn’t believe in the all that woo-woo nonsense. Neither did I.”
“But Grandma Mary stood up for Granny MacLeod.”
“She did, and she’d do it again. Didn’t mean she believed Agnes could tell someone’s future. But nor would she allow your granny to be persecuted for her beliefs.”
“What changed Grandma Mary’s mind?”
“It took a while. You were careful to hide your abilities. But your grandma was a smart one. She began noticing that you’d do things before we even asked, so she made a game of it. Got me in on the act.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’d take turns thinking about the most outlandish things we’d want you to do. They had to be something out of the ordinary or it would be too easy to brush off as coincidence.” He gave her a mischievous smile. “Remember the time you painted the tree by the lake blue? Or the time you made cupcakes frosted with ranch dressing and topped with bacon bits and cherry tomatoes?”
“Or the time I dug up Grandma Mary’s wildflower garden in the front and filled it with rhododendrons?”
He laughed. “I forgot about that. Your grandmother wasn’t happy with me about that one. I slept in a guest room for a week.” The twinkle in his eyes faded. “It wasn’t five minutes after we’d think the thought that you’d be rushing out to get it done. You were so anxious to please us, as though you were afraid we’d send you away if you didn’t. It broke our hearts, Ellie my love. It truly did. We tried to get your mother to leave you with us full-time, but your father wouldn’t hear of it. I blame myself for that. I should have told him. I should have told him everything.”
“Don’t blame yourself, Grandpa. If anyone should have told Dad, it should have been me.” She’d come close a few times, but she’d been afraid her father would reject her like her mother had, and she couldn’t risk him learning why her mother hated her. “But why didn’t you ever say anything to me?”