Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 120230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
And yet I was certain I’d seen someone in their room.
My spatial sense might not be the best, but it wasn’t hard to count windows.
I was still frowning when I came out of my room dressed in jeans, fluffy socks, and a fine cashmere sweater in black, my body warm again after a hot shower. Most of the doors were open now, and Grace emerged with Aaron around the same time as me.
The tight black curls of Aaron’s hair glimmered with beads of water.
Grace waved, her smile pure bubbly energy. “Is everyone already up?” she asked, tugging the sleeves of her creamy yellow sweater over her hands.
“I think so.” Vansi’s door was also open, so she’d probably gone downstairs while I was in the shower.
“How’s Creepy Bea?”
Aaron’s question made me realize I hadn’t even looked at the doll that morning. “Living her best doll life,” I said, making him laugh.
The other two preceded me down the stairs.
I hesitated, said, “Give me a sec. I forgot my phone.”
They waved and carried on, and I waited until they were out of sight before I went to Ash and Darcie’s room. Poking my head inside, I looked around, searching for signs of disturbance.
A shimmer in my peripheral vision.
I jerked . . . and saw that their window was slightly open. Probably to air out the room.
That explained what I’d seen. A freaking curtain twitching in the breeze.
And since Aaron had reminded me about the doll, I decided to check in on her, too. I didn’t know what I was imagining—that she really had gone walking about in the night? But Bea’s doll sat where I’d put her, every hair in place and those frayed bits on her clothing silent evidence of an unknown child’s play.
I wanted to tell myself that Bea would’ve been happy that the doll had been played with, but as warm and generous as Bea had been, she’d also had a possessive streak. But only for certain people and things.
Which was why I would’ve expected her to have this doll with her when she decided to take her own life. It had always been a comfort object for her. And yet she’d left it behind. For Darcie?
Still chewing over that fact, I decided to put the doll out of open view. Just in case Darcie came to visit me in my room. She might be ready to look at the doll one day, but that day definitely wasn’t going to be today.
And my complicated feelings for her aside, I had no desire to torture her with memories of her younger sister. The easiest place to put the doll was inside the large closet—I hadn’t properly unpacked the night before, so there was plenty of space. Even if I had unpacked, there still would’ve been plenty of space.
Placing the doll on the back of a shelf, I gently petted one shoulder. “Don’t worry, I don’t intend to leave you in here forever.”
My stomach rumbled as I shut the door, and I’d suddenly had enough of twitching curtains, haunting graveyards, and creepy dolls. After making sure I had my phone on me, I grabbed my everyday camera.
I’d trained my friends to rely on me to document our gatherings, and it was a task I loved. As I skirted the slippery floor runner, I wondered if I should just roll it up out of the way. It was a menace this close to the staircase.
The thought decided me, and I put it into action then and there, leaving the rolled-up rug neatly against the wall. Then I ran down the stairs. When I heard voices in the living room, I snuck my head in to see Kaea crouched by the fire, feeding it another log, while Vansi stood next to him, whispering fast and low.
Her face was scrunched up small and tight, her eyebrows drawn together.
I wondered what that was about as I continued on down the hallway to the kitchen. V and Kaea got along most of the time, but if she was still having problems with Phoenix, then she was probably irritated at the world in general, and Kaea just happened to be in the line of fire.
Whatever it was, it would blow over quick enough. Kaea didn’t know how to hold a grudge—and it was difficult to hold a grudge against someone like him, someone so bighearted and open. Oh, he had his faults, but when it came down to it, he was a good guy.
I took my first photograph from the main doorway of the kitchen. “Straight out of a Country Living magazine.”
Phoenix waved a spatula at me. He now wore an apron of heavy brown fabric. Ash, meanwhile, was squeezing orange juice out of what looked like fresh oranges, while Grace had just walked inside with a bouquet of frost-damp wildflowers in her hands, and Aaron was already pulling trays of toast out of the old-fashioned oven grill.