You’ve got a world of choices, Livy. Don’t let anyone make you feel like you’re supposed to do anything you don’t want to do.

I cleared my throat and pointed at the house, now just visible ahead. “Villa Tuscana is considered one of the finest examples of Italian landscape design in America.”

“I . . . see.”

“My dad used to bring me here,” I said. “Lots of memories. That means you have two options: either you let me play tour guide or I collapse in a blubbering blob.”

“Blubbering blob?”

“I could say that I’ll collapse like a grief-stricken Victorian lady, sobbing silently on your loafers, but I’m not a pretty crier, as you may have noticed. Tour guide, then?”

I didn’t wait for him to answer.

“When my dad first brought me here, I was already into architecture, so he got me a book on Italianate and we spent the day, me snapping pics on my new digital camera and him pointing out structures and details for me to identify. Like a reverse scavenger hunt.”

“What’s that?” He pointed at a structure almost hidden on our left.

“Tea house,” I said. “It’s an open pavilion at the end of a promenade terrace. While tea houses are generally considered British architecture, this one was done in Italian style. And thank you for playing.”

We continued the game until we’d crossed the vast lawn to the front of the house.

“It’s very . . .”

“Plain?” I said.

“I was going to say large, but yes, I suppose I would have expected something more ornate.”

“Italianate style in nineteenth-century America was a reaction to the more ornate Gothic Revival and Victorian that you see in Cainsville. Personally, I like ornate. But I can see the appeal of the smooth lines and simple arches. I will point out, though, this grande dame’s face is on the other side, overlooking the lake. And it is amazing.” I inhaled. “Which is not why we’re here at all.”

Gabriel shrugged. “There’s no reason not to enjoy the setting.”

“A point of view I share, which likely means we have been in dangerous situations far too often. Summoned to an abandoned house? Huh, well, let’s do some sightseeing first before all that life-and-death nonsense crops up.”

He smiled, a real and unmistakable one. “A perfectly valid way to look at things.”

“Agreed. But we should at least pretend to be figuring out why we were summoned.”

Gabriel walked along the side of the house. I climbed the steps and poked my head through a hole in the boarded-up door. Inside, it was too dark to see more than walls and shadowy piles of debris.

“Anything amiss?” I asked.

“Nothing I can see.”

“Me neither.”

I hopped onto the thick marble railing as Gabriel murmured, “Careful.” I balanced there and surveyed the grounds, seeing only weeds and rubble.

“Nothing at all?” Gabriel said as I jumped down.