Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 88114 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88114 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
I usher Tara away from that room. Stepping into Cormac’s lair was a mistake. The old fox knows how to break people apart, and he managed to make me question everything Tara’s told me so far. I can’t help but look at Tara and wonder why she reacted that way. And what grain of truth is hiding in Cormac’s lies.
I don’t ask her until we’re back in our side of the house. She hesitates outside of our room, looking down at her feet like she can’t meet my gaze. “I need to clear my head. I’m going out.”
“Going where?”
“I have some flowers to plant and, I don’t know, I just want to do something that doesn’t involve this psychotic family.”
I grab her arm before she can leave. “What Cormac said back there. Was there any truth in it?”
She looks like an animal trapped in a cage. She wants to flee but I’m holding on too tight and I’m not about to let her run off. I lean forward, breathing in her smell, staring at her lips and into her eyes, and she stares back like she wishes she could speak, but something’s holding her tongue in check.
Finally, I release her. She takes a few steps down the hall and pauses with one hand leaning against the wall.
“Cormac’s crazy,” she says, not looking in my direction. “That’s all. Just an old man out of touch with reality.”
“Right. That’s all.”
She bows her head and her fingers curl against the wall, but she pushes off and walks away.
I watch her go. Something twists in my guts.
She’s not telling the truth.
Chapter 16
Tara
Kellen leaves early again the next day. “Sleep in,” he says as he gets dressed in the dark. “I have more meetings and more men to kill.”
“Don’t come back hurt and covered in blood again.”
“Why not? You enjoyed the shower.”
I smile and pull the covers over my face. He laughs softly and leaves, the door clicking shut behind him.
I don’t fall back asleep. Instead, I wait until he’s gone, get up, get myself showered and dressed, and head into the house.
It’s early, barely past seven. Most of the staff hasn’t arrived yet—the overnight skeleton shift left an hour ago and the day shift starts at eight. It’s the golden period, where silence reigns and the house feels sleepy and comfortable. I walk through the halls, taking my time, lingering near windows that overlook the gardens I’ve spent so much love and time and effort cultivating, until I find myself outside of Kellen’s mother’s door.
He’s not in there. I checked the driveway to make sure his car was gone. It might be in the garage, but he’s been leaving it outside these days so he has ready and easy access. I reach my hand up and knock softly and wait until Eunika appears, looking sleepy.
Does this woman ever go home?
“Yes?” she asks, frowning and squinting at me.
“I’d like to speak with Mrs. Hayle, if I can.”
“She only just woke. Come back later.”
“Now, please. It’s important.”
Eunika’s frown deepens but she turns and disappears inside without a word. I wait and after a minute, she returns to hold the door open for me.
I pad quietly into Mrs. Hayle’s chambers. The blinds are pushed back and sunlight streams inside. A TV is on playing an old Western, and Mrs. Hayle is still in her nightclothes, watching a cowboy ride a horse hard, chasing after bank robbers or just general bandits. I drift over to the chair beside her bed and sit down and she looks at me, confusion momentarily on her face, before it slips away and she smiles.
“Tara,” she says, and a pulse of hope blooms in my stomach. Maybe she’s having a good day and she’ll remember.
“Hello, Mrs. Hayle. How are you feeling this morning?”
“Good, dear, good. Please, call me Goldie.” She fusses with the blankets. “Might as well use our first names if you’re going to see me in bed like this.”
I smile at her and shift closer to the bed. “I’d like that.”
“Good, good. I heard that you married my son, which makes you my daughter-in-law. Congratulations, I’m very happy for you two. I only wish I could have been there. Eunika says you had a lovely ceremony but it was just too far away. Kellen must be so happy, I know he’s been wanting this for a long time.”
My stomach twists and I look away toward the TV where the cowboy fires off rounds from his revolver, yelling at his horse to go faster. Eunika is nowhere to be seen and the giant room is otherwise quiet.
“We’re very happy,” I say trying to make myself believe it.
“Very good dear, very good. I’m happy you came to visit me. I can be so forgetful sometimes, you know, and I worry that I wouldn’t remember if you did before.”