Reclaimed Hearts: A second chance, forced proximity romance

Unraveling Secrets

Eleanor Covington?

My finger hovered over the little video attachment icon. I swallowed, a lump already growing in my throat.

Was I ready to see a video from Eleanor? Granted, I had seen her a few weeks ago, but now that she was… gone, it seemed odd. Morbid, maybe.

When did she record it? Why? And why for me?

Maybe it wasn’t specifically for me. Maybe it was some sort of generic message to the residents of Covington Cove. Maybe it was—

Enough. I could keep guessing for hours, but the answer was right in front of me. All I had to do was click on the attachment.

But for some reason, it took some sort of superhuman strength to do just that. My finger shook as I forced it to press down.

I gasped when her face filled my screen, her soft smile adorned with the same lipstick she always had on, her white hair perfectly styled.

I could almost smell the sweet, floral perfume she wore, the one that smelled like the Indian Hawthorn bushes that grew outside of the mansion, even though I had never seen any perfume actually contain that particular bloom.

“Marlowe. My sweet Marlowe. The first thing I want to tell you is how incredibly proud I am of you. You’ve grown into an extraordinary woman, and I have no doubt you’re going to go off and do amazing things in your life.”

My hand flew to my mouth, stifling the sob trying to escape my throat. Hearing her words, in her regal and elegant voice, brought me to tears. They streamed down my cheeks instantly, dripping onto my arm and the plush beige carpet under my feet.

“If you’re watching this, it means I have finally reached the end of my time on the island. Please know that I have lived a very long and fulfilling life, and I left wanting for nothing. It was people like you that brought me much happiness throughout my years.”

I held my breath, my heart shattering into a thousand pieces. I was extremely proud to have known such an extraordinary woman such as Eleanor, and to have a video such as this helped with the closure, even if just a little.

“Upon my death, I have instructed my estate to withhold the will reading for a short time. During that time, I have something special for you, Marlowe. Soon, you will be receiving more information, but I want you to know that I chose you personally for this quest. You are a special girl, and I loved all of our time together. What you do with this quest is up to you. The only request I have is that you only tell those people in your life that you trust explicitly. I’m sure by the end, it’ll be all over the island, but to start… trust your gut. I know you’ll succeed. I chose you for a reason. Goodbye, sweet Marlowe. Thank you for being the sunshine in my life every time we crossed paths.”

The video ended. I quickly clicked the button again and watched it three more times, sinking to the floor and crossing my legs underneath me. Tears puddled in my lap.

Eleanor left me with more questions than answers, and a deep hole in my heart.

Silence was all I heard for the next few days. Liam and Livvy were due back next week, Emma picked up every extra shift she could, and Caleb started working at the Richards’ boat company as a tour guide. Even Norah had been busy.

I went to work, to the Bennett’s, and repeated. Life seemed to settle into a normal routine, just in a different house.

A house with two dogs who enjoyed nothing more than endless rounds of fetch and keep away with their squeaky balls. If I didn’t hear another squeak for a month, it would be too soon. But they were adorable and had fun, so I dealt with it, over and over and over.

Tonight was the Mansion Masquerade, the one Grandmum asked me to work.

I hadn’t spoken to her since then, either. Seeing her tonight would feel weird, but then again, I also didn’t think it would be much different than normal. I completely understood where she came from, because if I had lived most of my life already and planned on relaxing in my retirement, only to be saddled with a rambunctious five-year-old and then had to go back to work? I would be permanently grumpy, too. So I did my best to keep to myself and not bother her much.

I checked my to-do list on my phone. I still needed to take a shower before getting ready for the event. The Bennett house had the best showers I had ever used, so I planned on staying in it for quite a while. They even had those shower stereos that hooked up to my phone via Bluetooth, so I could blast some music, too.

“Noodle! Fluff! Time to go in!” I called, whistling for them even though I had no idea if they knew what I meant. They had been trained, but I wasn’t exactly sure of all of their commands. They could sit, stay, and paw, but come seemed to be fifty-fifty for them.

Noodle came running back first, a grin on his face with a ball in his mouth. It took a little while before Marshmallow showed up. Thankfully, neither of them had muddy paws this time, so we all went straight inside. They curled up at the end of the bed while I hopped into the shower.

I put on my own personal concert while washing and conditioning my hair. The encore was during body wash, and the final bows while I rinsed.

Another great part of the Bennett house was the attention to detail. The towel warmers in each bathroom provided an amazing touch, and I used it not only for my towels, but also for my pajamas on some of the chillier nights.

After wrapping a warm, soft towel around my body, I stepped out of the shower and wiped some of the fog off the mirror. My hair hung in damp ringlets over my shoulders, dripping onto the counter beneath me.

I would have to wear it back in a full bun for work tonight, even though I hated doing that. It also meant I would have to blow dry my hair and just thinking about that made my arms hurt. My hair was so thick and curly, it took forever to dry.

Knowing I wasn’t going to keep it curly, I threw it up in another towel and padded my way out to the bedroom to lay out the two sets of clothes I needed. The first for the bike ride to the mansion, and the second being my actual work uniform.

The Mansion Masquerade was one of the most elite black-tie events of the year. Even the wait staff were in tuxes and gowns. But housekeeping continued to wear our normal uniform of a white button down and black straight legged pants.

The dogs had disappeared, but that didn’t surprise me. The concert I put on wasn’t really popstar quality. Plus, neither of them stayed in one place for long, especially if they weren’t getting any attention.

What did surprise me was the weird noise currently coming from down the hall. Somewhere around the kitchen.

The noises didn’t stop, but my heart sure did.

It didn’t sound like the dogs. There were no scratches of nails on the floors, no barks, no happy panting.

I froze, not moving or breathing as I strained to listen. The noise stopped, but then started up again. It sounded like… footsteps? Was someone in the house? As far as I remembered, I had locked all the doors after I came inside, not wanting to leave anything to chance, even though crime on the island was low.

My first instinct was to grab my phone and lock myself in the bathroom while calling the police. My second was to man up and see what was going on. More than likely, the dogs would have been going nuts if it were a person, so the logical part of my brain ruled that out. Sort of.

I tucked my lips in and sucked in a quiet, but deep breath, before leaving the bedroom. I braced my back against the wall as I tip-toed my way down the hall. My palms were clammy as my heart pounded behind my rib cage. My moves were slow and deliberate as I kept my eyes open wide.

My breaths came in staggered increments, shorter and shorter with each step I took down the hall.

Trying as hard as I could not to make any noise, I stole a quick glance around the corner toward the kitchen, trying to see what was causing the ruckus.

My heart leaped into my throat when I caught a glimpse of a person a few feet away.

A tall person, holding a baseball bat.

“Ahh!” I screamed, jumping out from behind the wall and clutching at the towel around my torso.

“Who are you and what are you doing in my—Marlowe?”