Immortal Ever After by Lynsay Sands Page A

shoes. Marguerite came along to do the actual packing,” he added with a reassuring smile for Valerie as he straightened and looked her over again. “I’m just the beast of burden.”
    “Better known as an ass,” Anders muttered and Valerie gave a startled laugh.
    “Marguerite?” Leigh asked, moving to the door to look out. “Where is she?”
    “Julius called as we pulled up. She stopped to speak to him and told me to come on in without her,” Justin said. “She’ll be along in a minute.”
    “Oh.” Leigh turned to smile at Valerie. “I should make tea. Do you like tea?”
    Valerie nodded.
    “Good, we’ll have tea then,” she decided and headed toward the back of the house, adding, “You’ll like Marguerite. She’s my sister-in-law, well, Lucian’s sister-in-law really, and just the loveliest lady. Oh, this will be nice . . . tea and a visit on the verandah.”
    “She doesn’t get out much,” Justin said with amusement when Valerie stared after her babbling host.
    She glanced to him, noting the smile of appreciation was still on his face and he was looking her over again in the nightgown. Her gaze then shifted to Anders as he suddenly bent to pick up the bags Justin had put down.
    “You’d probably like to dress,” he said as he straightened.
    “Oh, yes,” Valerie said at once.
    Nodding, he moved past her to the stairs with the bags. “I’ll take these to your room.”
    As Valerie followed, he added over his shoulder, “Make yourself useful, Bricker. Help Leigh with the tea.”

 
    Four
    “I ’ll wait in the hall,” Anders said, setting her bags on the table they’d been seated at just moments ago.
    Valerie almost said he needn’t wait for her, but then realized that if he didn’t she might have trouble finding the others when she was done. She didn’t know this house, and judging by the length of the upper hallway she’d traveled twice now, it was huge. So she nodded and said, “Thank you,” as Anders left her alone.
    She had her suitcase and overnight bag open and was examining the contents before he’d pulled the door closed behind him. It was strange to see so many of her personal items neatly packed inside. Valerie recognized them, they were all hers, but they seemed somehow alien after her experiences. It made her wonder if everything would strike her that way.
    Shaking her head, Valerie picked out underwear, a bra, a T-shirt, and jeans and began to dress. As she did, she recalled Leigh saying the man who went to fetch her clothes would check with her neighbors about Roxy, but the dog hadn’t been with Justin. He hadn’t found her with one of the neighbors then, Valerie realized, and frowned. She’d have to call about having Roxy’s chip tracked. That thought uppermost in her mind, she finished dressing and then hurried out into the hall to find Anders waiting patiently, leaning against the wall, legs crossed at the ankles and arms crossed over his chest.
    “That was fast.” He complimented her as he straightened.
    “Yes,” Valerie agreed with distraction, starting up the hall. When he fell into step beside her, she said, “Roxy wasn’t with that fellow Justin or Bricker or whatever his name is.” Leigh had called him Justin, but Anders had called him Bricker. She wasn’t sure how she should refer to him.
    “His name is Justin Bricker,” Anders said quietly. “But, no, he didn’t have a dog with him. I’ll ask him what he found when we get downstairs. If he’s still here.”
    They were both frowning at that afterthought as they started down the stairs. But they needn’t have worried, Justin Bricker was still there. Valerie could hear the murmur of a male voice as they started up a hall toward the back of the house.
    “There they are,” Leigh said brightly as Anders led Valerie into a combination kitchen/living room.
    It was a large open area that appeared to take up the entire back half of the main floor. The kitchen was on the left, separated from the