Rose shook her head. ‘I’m not sure. But…’
‘But what?’
‘You’re going to call me “crazy” again,’ Rose said.
Reen wasn’t going to make any promises. ‘Tell me what you’re thinking.’
Reen’s heart skipped several beats as the necklace swung between them.
‘Did you know, the day she showed clarity, these were in my purse?’
‘What are you talking about?’ Reen breathed.
‘It could be why Syrene wanted me to have them. They might have reminded Mom about her life. Helped her remember. I know you don’t believe in all of this, but there’s no harm in trying.’
Reen’s eyes welled with tears. ‘Don’t get your hopes up.’ She wanted to scold her sister not to get her hopes up. She’d had enough emotional breakthroughs in the last few days. She wasn’t sure how much more she could take.
‘Have some faith. I know what I saw, and I’m going to get answers.’
Reen didn’t want to argue with her sister. It wasn’t her intention at all. They walked out of the elevator and onto the glossy sterile floor.
‘Wait.’ Reen touched Rose’s shoulder.
Rose crossed her arms. ‘What is it? You’re going to tell me I’m crazy. You didn’t experience what I did—’
‘I did,’ Reen said, unable to look Rose in the eyes. Her entire body lit up in flames. Admitting it felt so wrong and right at the same time. It was as if locking the truth in place was the key to opening herself up to her family. She let out a breath.
‘What?’ Rose said.
‘I was so upset before. I went for a swim. You know it’s the only place I can think.’
‘Just now?’ Rose said, eyeing her as if she’d just noticed Reen’s damp hair. ‘In the rain?’
Reen nodded. ‘It was stupid, I know. I – I thought I was going to drown. I passed out, but somehow I ended up on the shore.’
Rose grabbed on to Reen and pulled her close. Reen didn’t remember the last time she’d hugged her sister. She tightened her grip on Rose. Her chin trembled, and her eyes brimmed with tears.
‘She saved you,’ Rose said against Reen’s ear. ‘Syrene.’
‘Maybe,’ Reen said, untangling herself from her sister. ‘I’d like to find out if there’s any truth to the effect of this necklace, though.’
Rose took her sister’s hand. ‘There’s only one way to find out.’
#
The pearl necklace didn’t change the world the second they walked through the door. It took a few minutes. Reen wouldn’t have believed it unless she saw it. The faraway look in Mom’s eyes slowly faded. Her eyes fluttered shut, and for a moment, Reen thought it was all over.
In truth, it had just begun.
‘Mom?’ Rose asked.
Mom tilted her head to the side. ‘Rose, dear.’
Rose let out a small sound and took Mom’s hand in hers. ‘Hi.’
‘This is not good,’ Mom said with a little groan.
‘What’s not good?’ Reen asked.
‘This body.’
Rose and Reen shared a look.
Mom glanced around the room and let out a sigh. ‘It’s my time, isn’t it?’
‘What is it about the pearls?’ Reen asked, even though a million other questions flooded her mind.
Mom’s hand reached up to touch Reen’s cheek. ‘My biggest regret was not telling you two about my past. But I couldn’t take any chances. I left them, but I also promised to protect them.’
‘Are we mermaids?’ Rose asked.
It sounded ridiculous to Reen, but she leaned against the bed, wanting the answer.
‘No,’ Mom said.
Rose’s shoulders sagged.
‘You two are half of me, so a hybrid of sorts.’
‘But you are?’
‘Yes,’ Mom said. ‘Syrene came back to try and force me to return before I perished on land. The necklace is important to that mission. They used to be mine. A long time ago…’
Mom trailed off, and for a second, Reen thought she was gone again. She grabbed her arm and Mom jolted.
‘My mind may be clear now, but I know there isn’t much time left for me,’ Mom said. ‘But I’m going to leave you with the means to find the answers for yourselves. I’m sorry it had to be this way. If I never surfaced, then I would have never experienced love with your father or had my life blessed with the two of you. But that’s the way of curses sometimes.’
‘Curses?’ Reen asked.
One of the nurses entered the room, and Reen shot the woman a look.
‘Can we have a minute, please?’ Rose asked.
‘I’m just checking in,’ the nurse said. ‘You won’t even know I’m here.’
‘I know you’re here,’ Mom said. ‘I would like some time with my daughters.’
The nurse blinked, and for a moment, Reen thought she was going to pass out or run from the room screaming. Instead, she backed out of the room, shaking her head.
Mom smirked. ‘Now, where were we?’
‘There’s so much I want to know,’ Reen said.
‘You will,’ Mom said. ‘But for now, I want to be with the two of you before this wretched human body snuffs out my soul.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Reen and Rose had two more days with Mom before she passed. The last day, they took Mom on a short trip to their childhood home. Even though the fog in Mom’s mind lifted, with the help of the magic of the pearl necklace – something Reen never thought she’d admit to herself – her body was still fragile. It was a struggle, but with help from Shane, they were able to sit Mom in a folding chair at the edge of the water.
When her feet touched the surf, Mom’s head tilted back, and her eyes fluttered closed. The pearl necklace was wrapped around her fingers as if it were a part of her.
Reen supposed it had been. In their time at the hospital, Mom didn’t explain too much about her past. She’d wanted to catch up with her daughters about everything she’d missed. Mom told Reen that she had come to California all those years ago to bring her home. But, in a moment of weakness, she backed out, knowing she’d been a terrible mother to her daughter.
‘It was my biggest regret when it came to you,’ Mom had said.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the room as Mom admitted her mistakes.
‘Being human isn’t easy,’ she’d said. ‘My previous life didn’t leave much room for emotions. We worked primarily on instinct. Like animals.’
Since Mom turned down the opportunity to talk much about her past, as her time was short, Rose and Reen didn’t question her about what she’d been before.
On the beach, Rose and Reen sat on either side of Mom, watching the ocean ebb and flow over the sand. Reen traced her veins with her fingers, wondering what sort of blood moved under the surface.
Less than an hour went by before Mom grew uncomfortable in the chair. She winced in pain as they helped her up and to the car. Shane carried her as if he were about to whisk her over a threshold.
‘It’s too much,’ Mom said to Rose, handing over the pearl necklace.
‘But you’ll forget,’ Rose said, staring at the pearls as if they carried the plague.
‘I didn’t feel like this before,’ Mom said. ‘It’s coming sooner than I expected. You girls have given me everything. I don’t want to remember the terrible things anymore.’
Reen took the pearl necklace from Mom’s hands and placed it on the railing of the back patio. ‘I love you, Mom.’
Mom’s soft fingers brushed over Reen’s cheek. ‘I love you more.’
Reen reached for her sister’s hand as Rose said her final goodbyes to their mother. The further they got from the necklace, the further Mom’s mind traveled away from them.
Rose choked out a sob, and Reen couldn’t hold back any longer.
Mom glanced up at Shane and smiled. She’d always appreciated a handsome face.
#
Reen and Rose didn’t leave Mom’s side u
ntil she took her last breath. Even though Reen was sure Mom would have preferred being home, the Whinding House was the perfect substitute. Mom died with the scent of the ocean air around her and her two daughters holding her hands.
They didn’t call for help right away. No one would be able to. Rose stared out the window as the sun peeked over the horizon. To Reen, it looked as if she were waiting for something. Or someone.
#
They held a private ceremony at their home with Rose, Reen, Shane, Brody, and Missy in attendance. Even though Reen was sure the town would have had a bigger reception in Mom’s honor, Rose and Reen wanted to keep it small, going back to their home, the place where they’d seen the greatest love between their parents.
Reen had so much she wanted to say to Brody, but she couldn’t find the words. He was polite and offered his condolences, but he kept his distance when it came to any personal conversations about their recent brief relationship.
The pressure of Mom’s death and her newfound need to tell those who mattered most in her life came to a head when they were in the most inconvenient of places.
Rose and Reen agreed they wanted to spread Mom’s ashes in the place she’d come from. While they didn’t share the mermaid information with Missy and Brody, the siblings never questioned it. They knew Mom loved the water and that was all they needed.
Missy volunteered their boat. While Brody agreed to drive, he kept his distance from Reen, growing her need to be closer to him.
If she’d learned anything from Mom’s life and death, it was that she couldn’t push people away anymore. She already had such a small circle of family and friends who she cared about. She wanted to open her arms and her mind to them and not waste any more time in her life running.
While she’d never expected to live in The Burrow her entire life, she wondered if her time away was enough. Rose and Brody would never leave this place. She loved them both, so there had to be something special here for her too. After the funeral, Mom would live in the water again. Reen wasn’t sure she could turn her back on the amazing woman who raised her. Not twice.
The familiar place where Brody and Reen had rekindled their relationship added to her already heightened emotions. She was tired of the silent treatment. She shoved through Missy and Rose’s conversation and strode over to Brody.
‘I can’t do this,’ she said to him.
He rubbed at his chin and glanced at Rose. ‘We can come back another day. But you should talk to your sister about it.’
‘No,’ she said, reaching for him. Before they made contact, she pulled her hand away. ‘Me and you.’
His gaze flicked over her shoulder. ‘Reen, I’m not sure this is the right time.’
‘If I’ve learned anything from coming home and Mom dying, it’s that I can’t hide anymore. I can’t run away from difficult situations. Mom…’ She wanted to tell Brody about Mom’s past and how she left one family to make another on land. But it wasn’t the time or place to get into it. Besides, until she understood all of it, she couldn’t tell that story.
All other conversations on the boat had ceased. Brody massaged the back of his neck. ‘Reen. Let’s leave this alone for now.’
‘What better time is there to tell someone you love that you want to be with them?’
‘Reen.’ Missy stepped in. ‘This is a hard day for everyone. Emotions are running high. You should think this through.’
‘I have,’ Reen said, turning to Brody. ‘I want to stay here with you.’
‘You say that now,’ Brody said, shaking his head. ‘I can’t do this again unless—’
‘Unless what?’ she asked, preparing to give him anything he needed to prove herself. Her mind had never been clearer.
‘I want it for the long haul. You can’t—’
‘Then, I’m in,’ Reen said, taking his hands in hers.
He stiffened and, for a moment, she thought she was going to lose him again.
‘My home is here with you and my sister,’ Reen continued. ‘It took years and a lot of miles to realize it. When I come down to the end of my life, I don’t want any regrets. I love you, Brody. I have since we were fifteen. If you feel the same, then there’s no reason for me to go. I want to stay—’
Before she could finish her sentence, Brody wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. He kissed her as if it was for the first time. She pushed her fingers through his hair, never wanting to be more than an arm’s length away from him. Warmth flooded her body, the same way it did when she was in the water. This was her home, and so was he.
‘Couldn’t you have waited for that until after we got off the boat?’ Missy griped.
Reen leaned away from Brody and squeezed Missy’s arm. She caught Rose’s expression as Shane held her against him. Tears glistened in her sister’s eyes.
‘Let’s say goodbye then,’ Reen said to her.
#
They all turned to the water. Reen and Rose walked to the edge of the boat together. Reen lifted her sunglasses, experiencing the glittering ocean and all its beauty. It was the perfect day for Mom to return home.
Rose lifted the urn from the box she’d brought along with them. While Rose cradled it in her arms, Reen took the lid off the top. They held either side and tipped it over into the water. The wind carried the ashes. They swirled upward and then landed in the waves.
A splash in the distance caught both Reen and Rose’s attention. They didn’t see her, but they sensed Syrene’s presence.
Rose and Reen locked eyes.
‘She’s finally home,’ Rose said.
EPILOGUE
It took Rose a week to get the journal from Mom’s safety deposit box. But not for lack of trying. Before she gave up the pearl necklace, Mom had informed the girls of a key she’d hidden in her jewelry box. It took a couple of hours of digging through the boxes in the storage room to find what they were looking for.
In that time, Reen had closed off her life in West Virginia and moved her belongings into Brody’s apartment. The small space was enough for now, but Reen kept her eyes open around town for bigger places. Digging roots into one place was a change for her, but she wasn’t going to scrimp on the details. She wanted to show Brody she was in it for the long haul, and if it took her entire life to prove it to him, then she’d do it.
On the day that would change their lives forever, Reen and Rose chose to meet on the beach outside of their home on a Sunday morning. Just the two of them. As much as they wanted to include their friends and significant others, this was something Mom would have preferred them to do alone. It was enough that Mom wouldn’t tell her daughters about her past; until they understood it all, this secret stayed in the Barros family.
Rose handed Reen the leather-bound journal and sat in the sand. Reen dug her feet in, no longer denying the side of her that belonged in the water. The energy from the waves filled her up. The sea air enveloped her like her mother did when she was younger. She wished she’d had more time with Mom, but she would have never appreciated her home until she left.
‘Are you ready?’ Rose asked.
Reen opened the journal to the first page and started to read it aloud.
Acknowledgements
A huge thanks to the HQ Digital team for supporting me with your wisdom and amazing cover designs. I’m forever grateful for you picking me from the slush and making my dreams come true.
As always, I wanted to thank the entire TSAG group for your unwavering daily support.
Raven and Kierney, thanks again for reading all the drafts and giving me your honest opinions. You are both stitched into this book as silent characters, and I’m forever grateful.
While I thought Rose’s book was hard to write, Reen proved to be as stubborn as her character suggests. I wanted to thank all those who gave such kind words and reviews of Rose’s book. Because of you, I’m fortunate enough to be able to write these stories.
Hello there!
I’m so happy you’ve returned to
The Burrow to welcome back one of our residents, Reen Barros. She’s quite the opposite of Rose in most ways, but the bonds of family are much stronger than Reen thinks. I’m humbled and honored that you’ve chosen to add The Sisters’ Secrets to your shelf, and I hope you enjoy reading more about this family in future installments.
If you enjoyed this book, I would be forever grateful if you left a review. Reviews are how readers find books, so even one or two sentences would be helpful in getting Reen’s story into more hands.
I love being in touch with my readers so feel free to contact me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to chat about the story or books in general. Pearl’s story will be out soon, and I can’t wait for you to meet her.
Thanks for reading,
Katlyn
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this book – we hope you enjoyed it! If you did, we’d be so appreciative if you left a review.
Here at HQ Digital we are dedicated to publishing fiction that will keep you turning the pages into the early hours. We publish a variety of genres, from heartwarming romance, to thrilling crime and sweeping historical fiction.
To find out more about our books, enter competitions and discover exclusive content, please join our community of readers by following us at:
Twitter icon: @HQDigitalUK
Facebook icon: facebook.com/HQDigitalUK
Are you a budding writer? We’re also looking for authors to join the HQ Digital family! Please submit your manuscript to:
[email protected].
Hope to hear from you soon!
HQ Digital Logo
Turn the page for an extract from The Sisters’ Secrets: Rose
PROLOGUE
Rosemary knew it wasn’t the morning when her eyes cracked open. The waves crashing against the shore were louder than ever. The darkness in her bedroom might have affected some people, but not her, not at that moment. Moonlight filtered through her curtains, billowing them as if ghosts danced under the sheer white fabric. She narrowed her eyes slightly, sharpening the edges of the furniture in her room.
The Sisters' Secrets: Reen Page 14
