He glanced over at me as if he’d forgotten I was there. But then he blinked and handed me the card. I rubbed it on my jeans shorts.
“Anna, that’s not going to—”
“Try it now,” I said, handing it back. He reached out the window again.
“I have a feeling something else is the prob—”
The wrought iron gate slowly swung open. He gave me a surprised glance. I grinned. He shook his head sheepishly.
“I should have known it only required a sprite’s touch,” he said under his breath as he put the car in Drive.
The road meandered through a ravine, the steepness of which was emphasized by the giant pine trees that surrounded us. After a moment, I realized we followed the path of a creek that ran to the left of us. Sunlight barely penetrated the tunnel-like entrance. I found it beautiful, and a little eerie. At one point, the narrow road forked. Evan veered to the right.
“Where does the other road go?” I asked.
“To the South Twin. The garages are on opposite ends of the property.”
“Are the two houses connected somehow?”
“They were once, by a corridor. Not anymore. They’re completely separate,” he stated. Something grim in his tone made me study his profile closely.
“Your father-in-law… I mean your former one, Elizabeth’s father,” I said. “You don’t like him much, do you?”
“I’ve never known anyone who does.”
That gave me pause for a few seconds. Even Elizabeth hadn’t liked her own father?
“He was a physician, wasn’t he? Before he became the governor of Nevada?”
“Before he was forced to resign as governor because of a scandal of his own making? Yes. That’s right. He was a neurologist, actually. Brilliant man. What he did with that genius was the stuff of horror stories, in my opinion.”
“What do you mean, the stuff of—”
“Can we not talk about Noah Madaster right now, just when we’re arriving at our new home?” Evan interrupted. He glanced sideways and saw my open-mouthed surprise at his sharpness.
“Sorry,” he muttered. “Madaster is a topic from my past. Talking about him always sets me on edge.”
Obviously.
“We don’t have to talk about him if you don’t want to.”
He gave me a quick, grateful glance and pointed out the window.
“This is one of the only stretches of shore on the eastern side that has sugar pines. That’s one there. See how giant the cones are?” he said, pointing at a suspended pair of cones that must have been a foot long each. Warmth had crept into his voice, despite the earlier edge to his tone.
“You really love it here, don’t you?”
He gripped the wheel tighter. “It’s a wonder. But I suppose part of me does, yes.”
He loved the place, despite the fact that he snarled even at the mention of Noah Madaster’s name… despite the fact that he’d lived with and lost Elizabeth here.
An invisible hand seemed to squeeze at my heart.
We broke the tree line. Light poured into the car windows, lighting a fuse of excitement inside me. At our elevation, we were above the main part of the mansion, but only just. I stared over four steep gables and two tall turrets of what looked like one sprawling stone house. Because of several giant pines, I couldn’t see the gap between the properties. Tahoe glowed like sun-shot turquoise glass on the horizon.
Evan glanced over at me, and I realized I’d gasped. I suppose it only made sense that a fairy-tale castle existed in the magic forest alongside the enchanted lake.
“Welcome to Les Jumeaux,” he said.