And to pay back Naldo his fifty dollars, which she’d stuck in an envelope and placed in the mansion’s mailbox.

She lay stretched out on the sofa, flipping through a handwritten recipe book she’d found in one of the kitchen drawers. Was this the one mentioned in the will? Why would there be a special provision that her mom should keep her own recipe book?

It was beautiful, though. Bound in red leather, a special book made to be treasured. No scrawled notes or taped-in newspaper clippings here. Her mom had written the recipes in a careful copperplate hand on the creamy vellum. Pen-and-ink drawings accented with bright watercolors illustrated some of the recipes.

The drawings surprised her. She hadn’t known her mom had artistic talent. But apparently there were a lot of things she hadn’t known about her. She bit the inside of her mouth as another wave of raw emotion threatened.

A load roar outside yanked her attention from the smooth pages of the cookbook.

What was that noise?

Anna peered out the window of the cottage.

A lawnmower. Typical. Naldo must have told the gardener to keep on maintaining the property around the cottage as if it was still his. Annoyance spurred her to her feet as the mower came into view through the window.

Now that the cottage and the land were all she had, she felt proprietary about them. She’d even started to have stray thoughts about keeping them. She didn’t have anywhere else to go right now.

She hurried outside and waved her hands to get the driver to stop. It was a young guy she didn’t recognize. “Please don’t mow this lawn,” she called, striding toward him.

The man frowned. “The grass is getting long.”

“Mr. De Leon no longer owns this cottage or the land around it.” A flash of fear stung her as she made the bold pronouncement. It didn’t feel true.

The young man’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “You kidding?”

“Nope. It’s mine. My mother used to live here and Robert De Leon left it to her when she died.”

“Letty was your mother?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.” He nodded. “She was very nice.” He gave her a strange look, and there was an awkward silence thick with the unspoken words and you, maybe, aren’t so nice.

Why did it mean so much to her not to have Naldo’s employee mow her grass?

“Anyway, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mow here for now. I want to grow the grass longer, for a more natural look.” She licked her lips awkwardly.

The gardener’s brow lowered and a smile tugged at his lips. “More natural?”

“Yes, you know. A Xeriscape.”

He looked like he was trying not to laugh. “You’re the boss. You don’t want it mowed, I won’t mow.”

Anna gulped. She didn’t feel like the boss of anything.

“I’m Ricky, by the way.” He looked at her steadily.

“Oh, hi, I’m Anna.” She walked closer and held out her hand, mortified that she’d forgotten even common politeness in her grim quest to defend her little stronghold.

“Hi, Anna.” Something twinkled in his eyes as he gave her hand a firm shake. Amusement. Anticipation of the fireworks display he’d see when he told Naldo?

She gulped.

A big white Mercedes sedan pulled into view, and she gulped again when she saw Isabela’s face in the open driver’s side window.

“Gotta go,” said Ricky. He sped away on the mower before Isabela adjusted her dark glasses and stepped out.

In a floaty chiffon jacket and wide-legged pants, she looked comically overdressed as she picked her way across the overgrown grass in her high-heeled shoes.

“Anna.” She smiled. “I must apologize for the other night.” She lifted her huge sunglasses to reveal big brown eyes. “I was feeling rather emotional. It’s been a hard time, Daddy’s death, you know. Coming home for the first time in ages.” She waved a ring-laden hand in the air. “I suspect I was rather rude.”

You could say that. Anna wondered if this visit was really about making amends.

Isabela gave an apologetic smile. “I’m an artist. I can be a little temperamental. Truce?” She held out her hand.

Anna decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. After all, Isabela’s bluntness had clued her in to the truth.

She shook Isabela’s soft hand. “It’s a tough time. I’ll miss your dad. He was a pretty amazing guy. And I actually appreciate you filling me in on the situation between him and my mom. I really had no idea. A lot of things make sense now.”

Isabela nodded. “And you have this cottage.” She gestured at it. “You own more of the estate than I do.” An odd laugh peeled out of her. “Funny, isn’t it?”

Anna felt a stab of pity. The look in Isabela’s face showed that it hurt more than her glib words let on. “It is odd that you don’t inherit. Especially since you’re the oldest.”

“I’m a mere girl. Patriarchal to the core, that’s the De Leon family. That’s why it’s such a shocker that Daddy left land to your mother. She must have held quite a sway over him.”

“Or maybe he just felt guilty that he didn’t marry her.”

“Yes.” Isabela looked thoughtful. “But he gave her the jewels, at any rate, and that’s why I’m here. I’d like to buy a piece or two, purely for sentimental reasons.”

Anna frowned. Did Isabela not know that Naldo had them now? That they supposedly belonged to him?

“Naldo has them.”

“Oh, I know. But they’re yours. Daddy paid a gift tax on them five years ago.” She tilted her elegantly coiffed head.

Really? Interesting that Naldo hadn’t shared that tidbit of information with her. “So they’re legally mine?”

“Absolutely. And of course my darling brother intends to buy them from you to restore them to the estate, but I’d so like the pretty ring with the lion on it. And that old yellow diamond in the funny setting.”

“I guess I don’t feel they’re mine to sell, even though they might be legally. Perhaps after I sell them back to Naldo, you can buy them from him?”

Isabela pouted slightly, dimpling her chin. “My brother can be terribly difficult. He probably won’t want them to leave the sacred turf of the estate. I did inherit some spending money when Daddy died, so I can pay what they’re worth. They are my family treasures, too, you know.”

Anna did feel bad for her. How would she handle being shunted aside so a brother could inherit everything? But she knew how strongly Naldo felt about the jewels. Naldo felt strongly about everything. “Seriously, I don’t even have them. You’d better talk to Naldo.”

Isabela chewed the plastic end of her sunglasses between straight white teeth. “Could we go inside for a moment?”

“Um, sure.” Anna led the way through the kitchen and into the tiny sitting room. Isabela looked at the old sofa as if it might bite, then lowered herself onto it.

“This cottage is a sweet little place, isn’t it?” She glanced around, a slight grimace shadowing her haughty features. Anna saw the faded paint, inexpensive knickknacks and mismatched colors through Isabela’s critical eyes. Somehow it made her love them more.

“Yes, it is.”

“But I know you don’t want to stay. You have a business to run, a life to lead.” She raised large, slightly watery eyes to Anna. “I had those things once, but my career…” She broke off and fanned her face with a hand, looking dangerously close to tears. “It’s a tough business and I’m not getting any younger. As you heard me say to Naldo, all I want now is a place to call home.”

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. “This could be my home.”

Anna blinked rapidly. “What?”

Isabela fixed her with a doe-eyed gaze. “Will you sell the cottage and the land to me? It would be an act of sisterhood.”

Anna’s brain was starting to feel overloaded. Sisterhood? With Isabela De Leon? What on earth was she up to? Trying to snatch the land away from Naldo so she had a claim to the property?

“I can’t. Naldo offered to buy it first and I know it means a lot to him.”

Isabela’s lip quivered. “I feel so…rootless and alone. With nowhere to call home.”

Trust me, I know the feeling.

“I’m not even sure if I’m going to sell. I’m having a hard time packing because I’m so attached to the place.”

“You might keep it?” Isabela’s face snapped back into sharp focus. “You mean, actually live here?”

“Yes.” As she said it, the casual thought took on the weight of a serious possibility.

The only real snag would be proximity to Naldo.

“You can’t keep it.” Isabela’s loud voice rang off the walls. “My brother wouldn’t hear of it. Naldo will fight in court to preserve the integrity of the estate. There’s no way he’ll accept the existence of a one-acre hole in his beloved kingdom. You might think you’re going to keep it, but sooner or later, he’ll get his way and you’ll end up with nothing.”

The final word was growled through closed teeth.

Anna shivered.

Isabela laughed. “I’ll tell you a secret. Naldo sent me here. He thinks I’m here trying to persuade you to sell to him. I even told him I’d ask you to sell it to me, and he loved the idea, thought it was hilarious.”

She leaned forward. “Men don’t take us seriously.” Her eyes narrowed. “They think we’re just pretty playthings here to serve their needs. When they’re done with us, they toss us aside. I need to protect myself, and you should protect yourself.” She tilted her head. “I know he slept in your bed.”

Anna gritted her teeth. Had Naldo told her?

“Don’t flatter yourself that he cares about you. Naldo means to have this property one way or another, and he will have it. Protect yourself.”

She rose to her feet with a fluttering of chiffon and shoved her black glasses back on. Her heels tapped on the linoleum as she stalked out of the house, leaving Anna still perched in a living room chair.

Isabela left a trail of unease-and cloying scent-in her wake.