Magnolia Dawn Read Online Free

you mean that.”
    â€œBelieve me, Mr. Cousins, I do.”
    They reached the building, a small, single-story frame structure with a wide front porch, and climbed the steps together. “This was the overseer’s home,” Anna murmured, opening the door, “back when
Ashland was a working plantation. After the original structure burned in the forties, this one was built.”
    She crossed the threshold, and Rush followed her inside, his senses swimming with a sense of déjà vu so strong he couldn’t speak. Anna seemed not to notice and continued to talk. “You’ll find everything you need here. Linens in the closet over there.” She pointed to her right. “The bedrooms are…”
    At the back. There are two. Rush drew in a deep, steadying breath. He knew this floor plan; he recognized the light fixtures, the placement of windows, the brick fireplace.
    â€œUse the first,” she continued. “The other is smaller, like a…”
    Nursery. Rush moved his gaze in that direction, wondering if he would feel this same overwhelming sense of recognition when he looked in that room for the first time. Wondering, too, if he wasn’t losing his mind.
    Anna moved toward the door. “The kitchen has a passable selection of cookware, dishes and the like. Sorry, but there’s no phone. If you need to make a call you can make arrangements with me. And if you need anything else, or have any questions, well…I’ll be around.”
    He had questions, all right, questions about who he was and who had lived here years ago. Rush met her gaze, fighting to hold his impatience back. He was unaccustomed to waiting or inaction, and he liked neither. He forced an easy smile anyway. “It’s a nice place. Who did you say used to live here?”
    â€œThe plantation manager and his wife. But Ashland hasn’t been a working plantation in forty years.” Anna expelled a frustrated-sounding breath. “Daddy leased and sold off the land, bit by bit, years ago.”
    Forty years. Two years after he was born. Rush flexed his fingers. “It’s been empty that long?”
    Anna gazed at him a moment before answering. “No. The overseer
and his wife stayed. They rented the place for a while. Macy continued to keep house for us. Her husband found work in Greenville.”
    â€œThey didn’t have any children?”
    She drew her eyebrows together, obviously surprised at the question. “They had a son. He died as an infant.”
    An infant? Or a young boy? Excitement coursed through Rush, and he had to work to keep it from showing. Could it be this easy? After a lifetime of wondering, could he have found his past so quickly and with so little effort?
    â€œWhy the interest?” she asked, gazing steadily at him.
    He should have known she wouldn’t keep her questions to herself. Even after only an hour with her, he knew that wasn’t her way. Again, he forced a casual air. “This place has so much history, it almost begs for a story to be told.” And there was one particular story he was interested in hearing. “Do you mind if I spend the day looking around the plantation?”
    She hesitated, and her small smile disappeared. After a moment, she nodded. “Fine. But the interior of the house is off-limits.”
    He stiffened at her tone. “I hadn’t planned to come traipsing through your home without invitation.”
    â€œI hadn’t meant to imply that.”
    Like hell. He walked toward the door, anxious to get rid of her and look around. “If you don’t mind, I’ll have a phone installed. At my own expense, of course.”
    Again she hesitated, then inclined her head. “Fine. I don’t have a problem with that.”
    â€œGood.” He held the door open for her. “I’ll see you at eight in the morning.”
    She followed him to the door and stepped out onto the porch. There, she