Daughters of the Lake(38)

“I can’t believe you didn’t renovate this floor first,” Kate laughed. “Think of the parties you could’ve been hosting up here all of these years.”

“I know!” Simon cried. “Damn that practical Jonathan. It was his idea to get the moneymaking part of the operation going first thing.”

“What a bore,” Kate replied, and then she wondered, “Is the electricity working up here, or are we going to have to feel our way around in the gloom?”

“Oh,” Simon said. “That might have been a good idea, to flip the switch, as it were, for this floor. We had the whole house rewired, but I don’t have the juice turned on for this part of the house right now.”

“That’s okay, it’s a bright day. Let’s just open up some of these shutters, and we’ll have all the light we need.”

Kate’s footsteps echoed on the hardwood floor as she walked to the wall of windows. “Let’s see, how do these open?” she said, examining the shutters. With great difficulty, she forced open a hook that was holding two shutters together. When she finally threw them open, she gasped at what she saw.

“Simon! Look at this view!” Kate gazed through the (albeit grimy) window onto Wharton’s quaint downtown area and the entire harbor just beyond it. “My God, this is gorgeous.” From this lofty vantage point, Kate could see for miles.

“Old Harry didn’t spare any detail from this house,” Simon said. “Let’s get all of them open so we can see the full effect.”

They opened shutter after shutter, revealing a panoramic sight. They were high on a hill overlooking the bay. From this height, the boats on the lake looked like toys. Although tourist season was winding down, the streets were still filled with people, wandering in and out of the shops. The bright sun glistened on the water.

“This is absolutely stunning,” she whispered.

“Can you imagine the kind of parties they must’ve had up here?” Simon wondered. “This had to be the invitation to get on New Year’s Eve.”

Kate and Simon had no way of knowing that this lavish ballroom had, in fact, rarely been used by Harrison and Celeste in the manner it had been intended. Harrison had envisioned it as the site of lavish parties and balls celebrating all sorts of community and family events; and indeed, the ghosts of more than a few high-society women in taffeta party dresses still twirled and swayed to the tunes of long-dead musicians here. But all that had ended after baby Hadley was born. Celeste’s frail constitution never recovered from her daughter’s birth, and she never again had the energy or the will to plan the society soirees that her husband so loved.

Instead, baby Hadley had used the third floor as an enormous playroom during the winter months. Much later in life, she told her grandchildren stories of riding her bicycle on these floors and playing all sorts of outdoor games here with friends. Many were the chilly days when Harrison would climb the stairs and find a roaring fire in the fireplace and his daughter having a makeshift tea party with invisible friends in the middle of the empty floor. Seeing her mischievous face and bright smile, he never again wished for something as shallow as a society party.

“What are you planning to do with this room?” Kate asked Simon. “The renovation, I mean.”

Simon came alive with this question, as Kate knew he would. He strode into the center of the room, turned around twice, and said, “Imagine this creaky wood floor completely restored to its original glory, gleaming with rich, warm color,” he said. “A fire in the fireplace. A chandelier here, family photos on the walls there. Of course, we’ll have to tear off this shabby wallpaper and find something suitable.”

“Do you plan to hold parties here?” Kate asked.

“Parties, wedding receptions, you name it.” Simon beamed.

“Fabulous,” Kate said. “This is going to be the place to get married in this town. You are going to be busier than you have ever been.”

“About that,” he said, more seriously. “Listen. I had an ulterior motive for bringing you up here. Until now, it’s been just Jonathan and me doing everything, and that’s been fine because we’ve been only moderately busy. But as you said, when this room is renovated, we’re going to have to beat guests off with a stick. We’re really going to need someone to handle the public relations and marketing. You. You’re nicer than we are. People like you better. You’ll be better with the guests.”

“You mean move here? Permanently?”

“Well, yes.”

“I don’t know.” Kate shook her head, not wanting to think about a permanent life change right now.

“Oh, don’t even bother to turn down this offer.” Simon enveloped her in his arms. “You are going to do this. You and I both know it, silly. You’re going to help me run this place and make a fortune doing it. You owe it to Harry and Celeste to keep their house alive. It’s coming to you after I croak anyway, per Grandma’s will—”

“What do you mean, ‘croak’?” Kate looked at him, concerned.

“Oh, stop it,” Simon said. “I’m not dying. Today. I’m just reminding you that this house is staying in our family. And since Jonathan and I have decided not to have any kids, this place is all yours—or your future child’s—when I die or when Jonathan and I get tired of running a business and want to move to Florida to languish on the beach drinking margaritas. So you’ve got a vested interest. And, I hasten to add, if you come to live here you’ll have plenty of free time to work on that novel you’ve been threatening to write for your whole life.”