AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I rubbed my swollen eyes. “I needed to see the grave. I guess a part of me didn’t want to believe he was really gone. Silly, I know.”
“No, not silly. It’s understandable,” his gaze was sad. “All the time, I want to think that what happened to my dad was a really bad nightmare. But it’s real and I’ll always have to live with his loss.”
I scooted over and draped my leg over his, so that I was straddling him. I laid my head against his chest and closed my eyes, listening to the steady beating of his heart. I counted the beats, letting the rhythmic sound calm me. His arms wrapped around me and he rested his chin on top of my head.
“Thank you,” I murmured.
“For what?” His fingers tangled in my hair.
“For this. For everything that you do for me,” I whispered
“It’s not much,” he chuckled.
“It is,” I pressed my lips against his forehead and his eyes closed. I slid off his lap and buckled my seatbelt. “I’m ready to go.”
“You sure?”
I nodded, braiding my hair and securing it with a ponytail holder. “It’s time for our honeymoon.”
He chuckled, pulling out of the cemetery parking lot. “I like the sound of that.”
“You know, when you said lake house somehow I envisioned a cottage. This,” I eyed the palatial house, “is definitely not a cottage. It’s huge.” I craned my neck back, staring at the house.
“It’s seven thousand square feet…a lot smaller than the mansion,” he reasoned.
“Yeah, but way bigger than the one house that most people own. It’s a second home for Pete’s sake. Why does it need to be so big? I might get lost,” I frowned as he opened the garage door and pulled inside.
“You’re not going to get lost.”
“You don’t know that,” I argued. “I don’t have a very good sense of direction.”
“There’s nothing wrong with your sense of direction,” he snorted. “Stop making excuses. I know you’re really going to love it here.” With that, he slipped from the car and I was forced to follow.
Once we got on the road, it hadn’t taken us long to reach the house in Maine. Like with the mansion, the house was located off the beaten path. There didn’t appear to be any other homes anywhere near here. Just the woods. And a lake, I assumed. Why else would they call it the lake house?
He grabbed our bags from the trunk and I followed him up the steps into the house.
We entered a darkened mudroom and he flicked a switch, bathing the room in light.
The walls were covered in paneling, but not the cheap kind, this was definitely expensive. I kicked my sneakers off and he did the same with his boots.
“I’m going to take these to our room,” he shook the duffel bags, “and then I’ll give you the grand tour,” he winked.
“Okay,” I smiled.
He left the room and I heard his feet smacking against wooden stairs as he headed to the second level.
Since I had no desire to stand in the mudroom and wait for him, I ventured further into the house. All of the rooms were dark, but it didn’t have that unlived in smell that some homes got. I figured the Wentworth’s had someone stop by periodically.
I turned on a light and looked up.
A bloodcurdling scream escaped my throat and I slapped a hand over my mouth.
“Olivia?!” Trace called from upstairs as his feet thumped against the floor in his haste to reach me.
“I’m okay!” I called out to calm him.
“Then why were you screaming?” His voice grew closer as he descended the steps. He stood in front of me with a raised brow, waiting for me to reply.
