Secrets Whispered from the Sea - Emma St. Clair Page 0,93
while the doctor was talking. I needed to finish cleaning out the final room in the house and I wanted to see Lucy home from the hospital. I wasn’t a monster, even if I was furious with the Three Terrors. I could drop the new keys off with Tommy—did Tommy know??—and tell him to use whatever real estate agent he wanted. That was it.
Alec opened and closed his mouth, ran a hand through his hair again, and then finally spun on his heel and stalked back to his car.
“I want to know that you get there safely,” he said, and something twisted in my heart. It felt a lot like the blade of a knife, cold and sharp. “So, at least do me the courtesy of sending a text to let me know you’ve gotten there. But then, Clementine? Don’t contact me again.” He paused, and somehow his face shifted until he looked even angrier than he had before. “Not unless you ever decide to stop running.”
And then, he was gone.
I told myself with each step I took upstairs that it was the right thing to do.
I had to get away from Sandover, to start fresh. To leave the lies behind. I couldn’t risk my heart with Alec. Not after this.
As much as I told myself that I was making the right choice, it didn’t stop fresh tears from painting my cheeks.
I wanted to throw myself into bed—or the couch—and just sleep this day away. But as I walked inside Nana’s cottage, the door at the end of the hallway beckoned to me. I’d been saving this one room until the end, thinking I had more time. But time had run out.
I crossed the house with a confidence I didn’t really feel. With my hand on the knob, I hesitated. What would be waiting inside? The first guest room had a lot of lamps and magazines, plus stacks of newspapers waist high. The second room had boxes and boxes of old clothes, nothing I’d ever seen Nana wear, plus some odds and ends like figurines and mason jars. It could be anything.
I unlocked the door with my fingernail and flicked on the light.
For a few moments, I simply stood there, blinking as I stared around the room.
The completely neat, orderly room. It even smelled more strongly of cinnamon and apples.
My eyes filled, and I held on to the doorframe. I was relieved there was no sign of hoarding, no giant mess that I’d have to sort through and clean. But why? How had Nana filled so much of the house with junk and then left her own room so clean?
Something on the dresser caught my attention. It was a white envelope, matching the one the attorney had given Ann. But this one had my name on it. My heart thudded heavily in my chest as I walked to the dresser, looking down at the letter before I could bring myself to touch it.
Nana hadn’t known she was sick. Her death had been sudden. How long had she kept this envelope here for me? And why not give it to the lawyer like the one for Ann.
With trembling fingers, I picked it up, staring at her familiar handwriting on the outside. Nana. I held the letter to my cheek, letting my eyes flutter closed and my chin dip to my chest.
I missed her so much. And yet, now an anger knotted in my chest. How could she not have told me? I clenched my teeth, trying to force back the swell of emotions from rising. I wanted to tear the letter open and read the words she had for me. At the same time, I was terrified. What other secrets would she have for me here? I couldn’t take any more.
When I opened my eyes, they fell on something next to the dresser. There was a small, plastic thing plugged into the outlet. Some kind of nightlight? I crouched down, still holding the letter to my cheek.
The smell hit me before the realization did. It was one of those scented plugins, cinnamon and apples. I read the label once, then twice before I ripped the whole thing from the wall and tossed it in the trashcan.
Closing Nana’s door behind me, I shoved her letter into the recesses of my purse and got ready for bed. With the last room in good shape, I could leave Sandover in the morning.
from A Full Accounting of My Mistakes and Failures