Chapter 1 - The Bell That Rang Twice
“Get rid of it.”
I looked at the small silver bell resting in the elderly woman's hands.
“Ma'am?”
“The bell, Olivia. It's tarnished. It's ugly. And I don't want it anywhere near my wedding decorations.”
Madeline Sterling stood beside the enormous floral arrangement.
Her white silk gown shimmered beneath the chandeliers.
Her engagement ring flashed as she pointed toward the service hallway.
“Take her downstairs.”
The elderly woman was seventy-nine.
Her name was Rose Whitaker.
She wore a simple navy dress.
Her silver hair was pinned neatly.
And she had brought the bell wrapped in a soft blue handkerchief.
“She says Mr. Vitale invited her,” I explained.
Madeline laughed.
“Gabriel invites people out of sentiment.”
“She used to sell flowers to his mother.”
“Exactly.”
Madeline's smile turned cold.
“She was a flower seller.”
My name is Olivia Grant.
I was twenty-six.
I worked as a waitress at Gabriel Vitale's estate in New York.
My mother had recently undergone heart surgery.
I needed every paycheck.
Usually, I obeyed Madeline.
But Rose Whitaker had traveled nearly two hours by bus.
She had dressed carefully.
And she held that bell as though it were made of gold.
“Could she at least sit near the back?” I asked.
Madeline's eyes narrowed.
“No.”
“She has an invitation.”
“Olivia.”
Her voice sharpened.
“If you want to keep your job, you'll stop questioning me.”
Then she leaned closer.
“And whatever you do, don't let Gabriel hear that bell.”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
Madeline's face changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
“Because I said so.”
Ten minutes later, I found Rose sitting alone near the service corridor.
She was polishing the bell with her handkerchief.
When she saw me, she smiled.
“Did Gabriel get it?”
“Not yet, ma'am.”
“Oh.”
Her smile faded.
I sat beside her.
“Can I ask why it's important?”
Rose looked down at the bell.
“His mother used it.”
“For what?”
“To call the children home.”
I smiled.
“That's sweet.”
Rose nodded.
“Gabriel and his little sister used to play in the orchard.”
I looked up.
“Mr. Vitale had a sister?”
Rose stopped polishing.
Her expression changed.
“You didn't know?”
I shook my head.
She lowered her voice.
“Then perhaps I shouldn't have come.”
I frowned.
“What happened to her?”
Rose hesitated.
“She disappeared.”
“When?”
“Thirty years ago.”
I stared at the bell.
Rose touched the handle.
“His mother rang it every evening for six months after the girl vanished.”
My chest tightened.
“Even though she knew her daughter was gone?”
Rose nodded.
“She never stopped hoping.”
Before I could ask another question, the dinner announcement sounded.
Rose began wrapping the bell.
“I suppose I should leave.”
I looked toward the ballroom.
Then at her invitation.
“No.”
She frowned.
“Dear?”
I offered my arm.
“Come with me.”
The ballroom was filled with guests.
Gabriel Vitale stood beside the head table.
Forty-two years old.
Tall.
Dark-haired.
Wearing a black tuxedo.
A man whose name could silence an entire room.
Madeline stood beside him.
When she saw us, her expression hardened.
“Olivia.”
I kept walking.
“Olivia, I told you where to seat her.”
Before I could answer, Gabriel turned.
He saw Rose.
Then stopped moving.
“Mrs. Whitaker?”
The old woman smiled.
“Hello, Gabriel.”
He crossed the room.
Then embraced her.
“You came.”
“Of course.”
He stepped back.
“You should have called.”
“I did.”
He frowned.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
Gabriel looked toward Madeline.
“She called?”
Madeline forced a smile.
“I don't remember.”
Rose shook her head.
“You answered, dear.”
The room became quiet.
Gabriel looked at his fiancée.
Then noticed the bell.
His expression changed.
“Where did you get that?”
Rose held it out.
“Your mother gave it to me.”
Gabriel took it carefully.
He stared at the tarnished silver.
Then slowly rang it.
A clear, delicate sound filled the ballroom.
Gabriel closed his eyes.
“My mother used to ring this.”
Rose nodded.
“Every evening.”
He opened his eyes.
“For me and Anna.”
Rose's eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
Gabriel looked at the bell.
“I thought it was lost.”
“It wasn't.”
He turned it over.
Then frowned.
“What's this?”
Rose pointed toward the underside.
A name had been engraved into the silver.
Anna.
Gabriel swallowed.
“My sister.”
Rose nodded.
He turned the bell again.
Then noticed something else.
A second name.
Scratched beneath the first.
Madeline.
Gabriel went completely still.
He looked toward his fiancée.
“Why is your name on my mother's bell?”
Madeline's face drained of color.
She forced a laugh.
“Gabriel, there are thousands of women named Madeline.”
He stared at her.
“Not with your birthday engraved beside it.”
The room became silent.
Rose reached into her purse.
She removed a faded photograph.
Two little girls stood beside a wooden fence.
One wore a yellow dress.
The other wore blue.
Gabriel stared.
“That's Anna.”
Rose nodded.
“And the other girl?”
Rose looked toward Madeline.
Her hands began trembling.
“That's the girl who came to play with Anna the afternoon she disappeared.”
Madeline stepped backward.
Gabriel noticed.
“Madeline?”
She shook her head.
“This is ridiculous.”
Rose spoke quietly.
“No, dear.”
Then she turned the photograph over.
A name was written on the back.
Gabriel read it.
His expression changed.
He looked at Madeline.
Then at Rose.
“Why does this photograph say my sister was taken to your father's house?”
Rose's eyes filled with tears.
“Because that's where she was last seen.”
Gabriel stared at his fiancée.
Then Rose whispered:
“Gabriel, your mother didn't give me that bell because she wanted you to remember Anna.”
He slowly turned toward her.
“Then why?”
May you like
Rose took a trembling breath.
“Because she wanted you to recognize the sound if your sister ever came back.”
