Like the front entry, the back wall of the room was angled on two sides, and both sections held windows draped in burgundy velvet. Double doors leading out onto the veranda filled the center wall, but with the rain starting the night before, Joanna had yet to set foot outside the house.

Settling into an armchair, Joanna propped her feet on a small ottoman and opened the book. She had never read it before, but after chuckling over its discovery, she couldn’t resist losing herself in the pages of Frankenstein.

Chapter Thirteen

The next week moved slowly along as both Joanna and Robert adapted to their surroundings. For Robert, he was content with his television and occasional strolls up the hallway, but for Joanna, other than spending time with her father, her only outlets were to read or catch up on sleep, both of which she was becoming an expert at.

“How come I knew I’d find you here,” Evelyn said, walking into the parlor.

“Probably because this is my favorite room,” Joanna said as she closed her book.

Evelyn scowled as she scanned her surroundings. “It’s a bit draconian, don’t you think?”

“I suppose, but it could be so much more,” Joanna said, looking around.

“I’d have to agree.”

“Evelyn, can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“Why is everything so dark and dreary around here? It’s like nothing’s been changed in decades.”

“That’s because it hasn’t,” Evelyn said, taking a seat in the chair next to Joanna.

“But why not? Does Miss Kane like living in the early eighteen hundreds?”

“It’s not that she likes living amongst antiquities and disrepair,” Evelyn said with a slight shake of her head. “It’s more the fact it just doesn’t matter to her.”

“I don’t understand.”

“She simply doesn’t care, Joanna. She doesn’t see the cracks in the plaster or the outdated lighting because she grew up with it. It’s normal to her. Of course, if something does break, we get it repaired, but as for replacing furnishings or painting the walls, as far as she’s concerned, there’s no need. She has a bedroom in which to sleep, a dining room in which to eat, a study where she spends her nights and weekends working, and a gym in which to exercise. Everything else is inconsequential.”

“Wait,” Joanna said, sitting up in her chair. “This house has a gym?”

“Oh, my,” Evelyn said, letting out a gasp as her fingers flew to her lips. “It seems I forgot to tell you about that.”

“I’ve spent an entire week locked up inside this place because of the rain, putting on God knows how much weight due to Noah’s culinary wizardry, and now you tell me there’s a gym,” Joanna said, rolling her eyes.