The Seductive Impostor Read Online Free

you and I used to have in Sub Rosa while it was still being built. You were obviously able to find the key to the strongbox if you’re reading this. Now find the room.
    And when you finally enter my secret door, smile at my cunning and remember our good times working together.
    Oh, and take note, Rachel, of how I did it. You’ll find one special room in Sub Rosa that echoes the same design. Just don’t let Thadd know that I told you.
    She had finally found the key, once she had stopped her frantic search long enough to think with the left side of her brain. The only thing her father had given her five years ago had been a barrette made up of silver charms. The charms were miniature architect tools.
    All except for the small silver-plated key.
    Rachel raised her gaze to the ceiling again, mostly to keep the tears from streaming down her face. Her daddy had tinkered with her design.
    Moved walls.
    Hidden a room.
    And kept a terrible secret.

Chapter Two
    R achel set the plate of overcooked eggs in front of her sister, then carried her own breakfast around the table and took a seat across from Willow.
    â€œEat,” she told her, trying to get her sister’s attention away from the newspaper. “Before your eggs get cold.”
    Willow ignored the petition, instead lowering the paper and staring at her with shocked eyes. “They found him?” she asked in a disbelieving whisper. “After all this time?”
    Rachel nodded.
    â€œHe’s going to reopen the house, isn’t he?”
    She nodded again.
    Willow gave one last look at the photograph accompanying the newspaper article, then picked up her fork and began pushing her eggs around on her plate.
    â€œIt was bound to happen eventually,” Rachel said into the silence, letting her own eggs grow cold. “A billion-dollar estate won’t sit forever without someone stepping forward to claim it.”
    Willow looked up at her with haunted eyes. Rachel wanted to hug her tightly and never let go, but she gave Willow a smile instead. “A billion dollars in assets and bank accounts, minus the five million Thadd left to each of us. Suppose Keenan Oakes will miss our share?”
    â€œI’m never touching that money,” Willow said, her face darkening with anger. “I’m going to give it to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.”
    â€œSo you’ve said before.”
    Willow dropped her fork, pushed back her chair, and stood up. She walked to the island and turned and faced the table. “I’m doing it today. And I’m selling my Lakeman Boatyard stock and giving that money to the College of the Atlantic.”
    â€œThen do it. You’re going to feel a hundred pounds lighter and five years younger,” Rachel promised, speaking from personal experience. She had given her anonymous gift from Thadd away two years ago, to Habitat for Humanity.
    â€œDammit, Rachel,” Willow said through gritted teeth, waving at the paper on the table. “We’re just getting our lives together. I don’t want him coming here. I don’t want Sub Rosa being reopened.”
    Rachel stood up, limped around the table, and hugged her sister. “Let it go,” she said, echoing Wendell’s words from yesterday. “It doesn’t matter anymore, Willy. You and I have moved on, and now it’s Sub Rosa’s turn.”
    She pulled back and smiled at Willow’s tear-washed face, giving her shoulders a gentle squeeze. “You have a new apartment to hunt for in Augusta and an assistant state attorney general’s desk to clutter up with important cases.”
    â€œI can’t just leave you here. Not now.” Willow suddenly reversed their positions, gripping Rachel’s arms. “Come with me. Sell the house and move to Augusta.”
    Rachel pulled away and went to the stove, taking the cooled frying pan to the sink and running it under the water. “No,” she said, concentrating on