Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75015 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75015 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
“Uh, who are you?” he asked, still rubbing his head.
“I’m Rose Ho—Gibson. Rose Gibson.” I smiled wider as he gave me a funny look. “Sorry. Just um . . . going through a stupid divorce and still getting used to not using his name.”
He stepped off the boat with a nod. “I understand that. Marriage is tricky sometimes.”
“Ha. Yeah, it is.” I glanced over my shoulder at his house. Up close, I could see more of the details. The table on the patio. Sliding doors. Fancy pendant lights in the kitchen. A slide and swing set was off to the left, along with a sand pit.
My eyes swooped right, to the darker house tucked deeper within the trees. The lights were now on in one of the downstairs windows. If I wasn’t mistaken, the curtains shifted, like someone had been watching but let them drop when I looked.
“So, uh, what can I help you with?” the man asked, wiping his hands on his pants.
“Right.” I whipped out my phone again and turned the screen his way. “I’m just going around the neighborhood and hoping someone can help me. Have you seen this woman?”
He studied Eve’s picture, looking down his nose at it. “Hmm . . . no. Can’t say that I have. Why? Who is she?”
“Her name’s Eve.” I lowered my arm. “She stayed in the cottage across the lake from here.”
“Oh—the rental?” he asked, then scoffed.
“What?” I gave a wary laugh.
“Nothing. It’s just the boys who own that rental. Don’t like ’em.”
“Why not?”
The man peered over his shoulder like someone was around who could hear.
“Long story. Would you like something to drink?” he asked. “I’ll have to bring it outside. My daughter is napping right now.”
“Um . . . sure. That would be nice. Water, please.”
“Of course. I’m Eddie, by the way. Be right back.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
I sipped from the glass of cold water as Eddie sat down with a mug of coffee.
“I get wary about visitors,” he confessed. “Especially around here.”
“Why is that?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” He waved a dismissive hand. “This town has great views, but the people here are just . . . weird. I’m telling ya. They all just stare at you. Look at you like you’re an alien if they haven’t seen you before.”
I could understand that, especially after that random run-in with Rory and bumping into Sherriff Reed.
“Well, if it helps, I’m only here temporarily. I’m actually staying in the cottage we just spoke about. The one those guys own?”
“Oh, right. Yeah. The Reeds.” He made a noise of disapproval, sipping again. He said their name like it was a disease. “They’re too quiet for me. And not a good quiet, you know? They ain’t neighbors who respect the peace. Like the Abbots over there.” He pointed to the dark house a few yards away. “The Abbots are pretty good people. Well, Mrs. Abbot is. Haven’t talked to Mr. Abbot much but he seems like a decent man.
“But the Reeds have that eerie quiet going on, like they’re hiding something. I always catch them on this side of the lake looking at my house. I don’t understand why they do it. Like they own the whole damn area or something. You should’ve seen them when we had the place built. They were pissed about all the noise, which I understand, but it still wasn’t any of their business. Plus, the Abbots said they catch them sometimes too, just milling around, looking at their house. If either of our houses are ever robbed, we’ll know who did it. I’ll tell you that much.”
“Have you ever spoken to the Reeds personally?” I asked.
“Just once. To the one named Damian. And I wouldn’t exactly call it a conversation. He’s a strange one.”
I shifted in my seat. “How do you mean?”
“Dunno. There’s just something off about that kid. He has that look in his eyes—the kind you see and are immediately skeptical of. Get this: I saw him fishing one day, figured I’d say hello. We’d just built the house, and I wanted to get to know the lands. I approached him, waved and asked how he was doing, and he just stared at me.” Eddie narrowed his eyes, focusing on the lake. “For a while I thought something might’ve been wrong with him. Maybe he was deaf or mute. But he’s not.”
“Oh, wow. Yeah, that is strange. I waved at one of them earlier and they stared at me too. Didn’t bother waving back.”
Eddie sipped before saying, “It was probably Damian then.”
“So, when did you officially move here?”
“Well, we bought the land about three years ago and had the house built last year. We moved in ’round April, so a couple of months now.”
I sipped again. “And do you like it here?”
“I do. It’s quiet. Like I said, the people can be a little weird, but we just have things delivered or order groceries for pickup if we don’t want to be bothered.”