What is the house hiding?
New Release: Haunted Heritage
LIVE TODAY! Read Chapter One below.
Haunted Heritage, A Secrets of Covington Corner Novella
She’d prepared to be flooded in during the storm, alone…she didn’t plan on being stranded in a haunted house with him.
With an antebellum home to protect, Olivia doesn’t waste any time in her preparations. She’d promised her employer she would take care of the place while she was in the hospital. No power and no exit route is par for the course this far from town.
But her plans didn’t include a sexy PI who seems intent on digging into her employer’s every secret. Isolated by rising flood waters, Olivia can’t get away from his questions or the heated attraction he evokes. Still she can’t shake the feeling he’s hiding something.
Will the old trunk in the attic reveal a new kind of storm? Will his investigation into a long lost heir destroy the very love they’ve both been longing for?
Chapter One
Everything’s ready.
Olivia Lanford glanced around the empty room, cataloguing her efforts.
Flashlights—check.
Lanterns—two.
Generator—gassed up.
Firewood—in the boxes to dry out.
Miss Della had taught her to be self-sufficient and prepared. Olivia wouldn’t let her down, even if her employer couldn’t be here right now. Thunder boomed outside, shaking the hundred-year-old house around her. Olivia breathed deep. Everything would be fine. She’d stayed in Miss Della’s house plenty of times during storms. The fact that this was her first time doing it alone shouldn’t make any difference.
The lights blinked; then the room went dark.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” she asked aloud.
It was as if the house itself heard her thoughts and was determined to prove her wrong. Or maybe it had been Mr. Mason—Miss Della’s long-dead husband. The elderly woman was convinced her husband still inhabited the house, stroking her hair as she went to sleep most nights. The idea kind of freaked Olivia out, but she’d only had to deal with some unexplained slamming doors herself. That she could handle.
She reached out in the dark to turn on one of the lanterns. No sooner did the eerie white-gray light ignite, than the phone on the counter rang. The jangling noise made Olivia jump. As her heart beat in the base of her throat, she gave a little laugh. At least there was no one to witness her jitters.
“Hello?” she said after clearing her throat.
“Hey, girl!” It was her friend, Piper. “I wanted to check on you.”
“I should have known you’d be the one to call.” In truth, Olivia relaxed a little at hearing her friend’s voice. Anyone would be rattled in this big old house, alone in a thunderstorm. Right?
“It’s my day,” Piper said with a laugh. “We didn’t want to overwhelm you.”
Olivia smiled, though her friend couldn’t see it. Her close group of girlfriends had been “checking on her” since Miss Della had gone to the hospital and she’d been staying here. “I appreciate it, though.”
“Well, we all know what it’s like to be alone.”
Olivia swallowed back a surprising surge of emotion. They did. All of them but Cara had lost their families. They’d supported each other through the losses and continued to watch out for each other, including an in-person coffee every Saturday at Covington Corner. The oldest corner to grace the downtown square had seen many changes, but now housed a cute coffee shop and outdoor seating area with a fountain. Perfect for them!
“I know the phone can go out at any minute,” Piper said, “so I’ll keep it short. Since you probably don’t have reception right now, the weatherman is saying the worst of the storm will be overnight and tomorrow early, then steady rain for several days. Watch that bridge. If the phone goes, you could be flooded in without contact for several days. Check in when you can, okay?”
“I will—”
Before Olivia could finish her sentence, the line went dead.
She stared at the receiver for a moment before putting it back on the old rotary base. That was probably her last conversation for days, as it would take a while after the storm was over for repair crews to make it this far from town. The silence settled around her for a short moment before the sounds of the storm crowded in.
Instead of letting her earlier nerves press forward, Olivia went to light the fire in the sitting room and secure the house for the night. The sound of the rain beating against the sides of the antebellum house and tin roof reverberated in her ears even though she was on the ground floor. The lantern created moving shadows on the walls as she went from room to room, never quite reaching the corners.
Olivia had loaded the woodbox earlier, here near the fireplace and on the back porch. Because she’d prepped starter in the fireplace, all she had to do was set a match to it. The days weren’t too cool this far into spring, but the nights could be, especially with the old heating system cut off. Besides, a fire would help her feel warmer…less alone…more settled, maybe?
Twenty minutes later she had a growing fire, warm pajamas, no bra, and her own comfy nest on the sofa. The flickering flames created points of light that shimmered off the fireplace bricks, golden picture frames on the walls, and the edges of the antique furniture. Olivia smiled over her fluffy blanket, hot chocolate, romance novel…everything inside of her relaxed.
She’d only read a couple of paragraphs, just enough to commiserate with the heroine’s bad first impression of the hero when an odd noise caught her attention.
Olivia cocked her head to the side. Was that more thunder? A tree falling?
No.
The repetitiveness of the thud negated her previous thoughts. What was that? She stood, staring back into the darkness of the house, the heat from the fire kissing her neck.
But she wasn’t soothed. All her senses jumped to high alert.
The next recurrence had her grabbing the flashlight from the side table. Her very special flashlight. Because that was a knock—at the front door.
Who in the world would be out here at this time of night? In this kind of storm?
For just a moment, a brief hope surged that maybe one of her brothers had taken it on himself to check on her. Maybe they cared enough— She quickly pushed it away. They wouldn’t even know where to look for her if they were even so inclined.
Which they wouldn’t be.
She edged toward the door with caution. Checking her cell was useless. It wouldn’t work in the house. But she doubted her girlfriends could reach her if she needed them, anyway. Another knock had her jumping. Then the knock turned to pounding.
“I hear you…” she murmured.
Finally she stepped into the foyer and let the beam from the flashlight hit the glass insert on the front door. A shadow shifted on the other side. A tall shadow. What the hell?
She gripped the little flashlight tight in her hand and made her way to the door. The glass insert was beveled, leaving it wavy with no clear picture of who was on the other side. Her breath sped up, sounding loud in her ears.
Olivia forced herself to think quick. Moving forward, she attached the rarely used safety chain across the door. Only then did she release the lock and pull the door open—but just a couple of inches.
“Yes?” she said to the dark figure on the other side, hating her need to clear the tightness from her throat. “May I help you?”
A man stepped into the beam of light. His dark, encompassing hoodie and faded jeans and boots that looked like he’d been wading through the mud gave a criminal first impression. Olivia couldn’t see many details of his face, except for a blondish-brown beard and abundant drops of water dripping from his clothes to the ground.
Behind him, rain washed through the air in heavy sheets that did not bode well for anyone stepping off this porch.
Not that she’d be giving him any other choice.
Fact was, she was a young woman here alone. She didn’t know this man, but she had a feeling he wasn’t supposed to be here. She kept a firm grip on the flashlight despite the door chain.
“Yes?” she asked again.
“I’m here to see Mrs. Mason.” The voice was deep, confirming he was male, and not someone she recognized.
Her stomach tightened. “She can’t come to the door right now.”
Olivia resorted to the standard southern reply. She didn’t want him knowing she was here alone. Let him make of it what he would.
“I was told this is where Mrs. Della Mason lived,” he said again. “It’s urgent that I see her.”
“Well, she can’t see you. And the power is out, so now’s not a good time. You’ll have to come back.”
“Look, it’s important.” He stepped closer to the door, blocking out sight of the rain with his broad shoulders. “It’s about her family.”
His urgency made her uneasy enough to shift on her feet. “Well, it can wait until morning. Good night.”
As she tried to shut the door, he stuck a muddy boot inside. “Look, lady. I will see her now.”
Excuse me?
Olivia’s heart raced. She gripped the handle, wondering if she’d actually have to defend herself. She kept her tone firm. “You’ll do no such thing. Get back in your car and go home.”
“I haven’t come all this way just to come back tomorrow.”
Wow. This guy’s aggressiveness had all her alarm bells going off at once. Even this close, she could barely make out long lashes, a straight nose, and full lips. Surprisingly sexy lips. Every nerve ending stood on end as she glanced down at his boot, trying to determine her options.
“You don’t have any choice,” she said, not sure how she would back that up.
“Why?”
His persistence pushed her from uneasy to angry. “Go away!” she yelled as she stepped back, glancing around for something to defend herself.
Suddenly the door jerked from her hand. His grunt made her think he’d pulled it away, but then the door slammed hard against his foot. He stumbled back with a cry. Eyes wide, Olivia watched in shock as the door then banged shut…and the deadbolt clicked.
It took her a minute. She stared, trying to comprehend. Then she murmured, “Thank you, Mr. Mason.”
Serves you right, asshole…
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