by Trisha Grace
When she’d agreed to stay in the mansion for a year, she didn’t think it would be this difficult.
She didn’t like where the house was situated; she didn’t like the feeling of being separated from the world. But she just realized how difficult it was to be trapped in the house with all those memories.
Everything in the house reminded her of the late Mr. Hayes.
The memories of their conversations were still imprinted so vividly in her mind that she could almost see him right there in front of her.
She couldn’t imagine the pain he was in for the past twenty years. As much as everything reminded her of the late Mr. Hayes, everything in the house must have reminded him of Tyler’s parents.
Now she could understand why he thought it was better to move Tyler somewhere else than for him to remain in this house.
“The two of you were close,” Tyler said.
She didn’t know why, but she felt awful. She felt as if she’d stolen the one family that Tyler had. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. To me, he’s been dead for twenty years.”
Although his face remained straight and revealed none of his feelings, the anger rang clear in his words as his eyes darkened. Kate finally realized how much the late Mr. Hayes had hurt and was still hurting him.
Maybe she was jumping to conclusions. Maybe she wasn’t irritating him. Maybe he just hadn’t figured out how to deal with everything.
She was suddenly remorseful of all the indignation she’d felt.
She should’ve been more understanding.
He was abandoned right after his parents were taken from him, and he never got to listen to his grandfather’s explanation. He never got the answers he needed.
“Would you say you were rather awful to me last night?” Kate asked.
“Excuse me?”
“Last night, you weren’t the nicest person.”
Tyler considered her words for a moment. “You haven’t answered my question.”
“What question?”
“Why did you choose to forfeit the house?”
“It’s a pretty long story,” she answered. “I’ll tell you later when we’re not standing around like idiots. And you haven’t answered my question.”
“Yes, I was. I’m—”
Kate lifted her hand, palm out, to stop him from talking. “I’m not looking for an apology. I’m hoping you can do me a favor.”
He frowned, his eyes narrowing slightly. “What do you need?”
“Is Marianne staying on this floor with us?”
Tyler shook his head. “She used to have a room on the other side of the house and insisted on staying in the same room.”
“Then will you stay in one of the guest rooms near mine instead of the master bedroom?”
The unspoken question was written clearly on his face.
“This is a big house. It’s surrounded by trees, and it feels rather … scary.” And lonely, she thought. But she didn’t want to sound pathetic.
He smiled. “Like a scene out of a horror movie.”
She grimaced as she remembered the awful comment she made about his house.
“I thought you stayed here before?”
“Yeah, but I’ve never liked it. The house is big; the rooms are big. And it gets really quiet at night, except for all the strange noise coming from the woods.” Kate smiled sheepishly.
Though she told herself that she was giving Tyler an out from having to stay in the master bedroom, she still meant what she’d said.
She never liked staying over.
It was a huge house, too huge. Everything creaked at night, and the noise was always magnified in the empty hallways.
In the light of day, she could appreciate the spaciousness. She enjoyed looking up at the renaissance finishings on the ceiling and imagining the stories that unfolded in the house.
At night, her wild imagination, coupled with watching way too many crime shows, won over any fondness she had of the place.
Without giving her a verbal answer, Tyler made his way toward where the three guest rooms were situated.
She saw him take a glimpse into her room before stopping by the guest room next to hers. “So you’re an interior designer?”
“You’re the owner of Hayes Security and you didn’t check up on me before moving in?”
“Did you check up on me?”
“My best friend would’ve made me do it if I knew how to. But I don’t, so I’ll have to settle with locking my door and windows.”
Tyler grinned, his eyes creasing. “The windows? Do you think I’m Spiderman or something?”
It wasn’t until now that she noticed how similar the late Mr. Hayes and Tyler were. Their smiles always seemed more polite than actually being happy.
That was the first hint of genuine joy she’d seen from him.
She returned his grin and gave an aloof shrug. “If we’re done here, I’d like to get to work. See you later.”
“Why are you in such a hurry to leave? And you didn’t answer my question again.”
“I don’t think you’re Spiderman.”
He laughed. It was a short laugh, but it caught her attention.
“That wasn’t the question I was talking about.”
Kate arched her brow.
“You’re an interior designer?”
“Oh, that.” She chuckled and continued. “Yeah. I own an interior design firm with my best friend, Evelyn. And I’m not in a hurry to leave. I thought you might want to explore the house on your own for a while.”
Tyler turned the doorknob and opened the door to his new room. “I haven’t been …” he said the words slowly, and she could hear the melancholy in his voice. “Maybe you can give me a tour.” He pushed his luggage in and looked back at her.
Kate shook her head and made disapproving noises. “You’re so bias.”
“Bias?”
“When your friends asked me for a tour, you told them to get out. Now you want me to give you a tour.” Kate smiled, letting him know that she was teasing.
“You seem ready to head to work, so I guess you’re not that tired.”
“True.” Then sighing softly, she looked at him apologetically. “I didn’t stay here much. And when I was here, I was mostly in your grandfather’s room, the guest room, or the study. I don’t think I can help much with the tour.”
The late Mr. Hayes didn’t mind her looking around, but she never ventured around on her own. Everything in the house seemed too personal and too heartbreaking for her to touch.
Tyler nodded slowly.
She didn’t want him to think she was refusing to help so she continued. “But since I’m staying here for a year, we can explore it together.”
“This isn’t a castle, exploring seems exaggerated.”
Kate scowled at him. “There’s nothing much on this floor. Besides the two of our rooms, there are another guest room, a study, the master bedroom, your grandfather’s room and,” she tipped her chin to direct his attention, “the gathering area.”
“You just said an awful lot,” Tyler said as he glanced around.
“Yeah, but they’re mostly rooms with beds.” Then breaking into a smile, she added, “I can give you a tour of the study. There’s a nice table; I believe it’s antique.”
Already used to his lack of replies, she went into her room, put down her laptop, and started her stride toward the study.
She opened the door and leaned against it, ushering him in. “Before your grandfather got too ill, he spent a lot of time in here.”
She sighed softly as she saw the room.
She was tempted to walk away and leave Tyler alone in it. She didn’t want to be going through the late Mr. Hayes’s things without him around. She didn’t want to be in the room. She didn’t want to be reminded that she wouldn’t see him sitting behind the mahogany desk again or that she wouldn’t be hearing another story from him.
But this wasn’t about her.
She
tugged at her necklace and forced herself to step in after Tyler. She kept her back to him as she moved around the room, pretending to be occupied with sweeping off invisible dust on the surfaces.
Tyler stood by the door for a moment, his eyes scanning the room.
The room appeared less cluttered than he remembered. There used to be files and paper stacked on the table, then more files on top of the cabinets lining the wall.
He entered the room and moved toward the antique table that Kate spoke of.
Everything in the house was so familiar—yet so strange.
His hand skimmed the surface of the table, and he wondered how many times he had been in the room. He was fairly certain that he’d loved barging into the room even when he wasn’t allowed to. But the memories seemed so distant that he wasn’t sure if he’d imagined it.
He moved around the table and immediately saw the photo in a silver frame.
A photo of a boy sitting on his grandfather’s lap.
It took him a moment to realize that the boy in the photo was him. He couldn’t recognize himself with the wide, carefree grin. Even the boy seemed foreign to him.
For the first time since being in the house, a happy memory surfaced: the camping trip he’d begged his parents and grandfather into bringing him.
He was thrilled to be able to stay in a tent while his grandfather told him silly folklore.
Even as his lips curled into a smile, his chest tightened and he couldn’t breathe.
He swallowed and looked away. That was when he noticed the black Bible sitting on the middle of the table.
“Your grandfather wanted to give that to you on your eighteenth birthday. He gave something similar to your dad on his eighteenth birthday.”
Tyler turned away and shifted his attention to the cabinets.
“Your grandfather had one, too. The only verse highlighted within was ‘Ask and it will be given to you’,” she said.
Tyler remained where he was, his back facing her.
“I once asked him what was he asking for. He said he’d asked for courage; courage to meet you, to talk to you.”
“Then God failed miserably,” he replied.
Kate shook her head. “Even when God parted the red sea, I’m sure the Israelites didn’t gain courage until they started walking and started seeing that God would keep the water from them. I’m sure that if he’d taken the first step, he would realize that God had supplied the courage.”
She didn’t wait for a reply. Moving toward one of the cabinets behind the desk, she continued. “There’s a safe in here. The password is your date of birth.” Then she returned her gaze to Tyler. “The password to every safe in this house is your date of birth.” Moving past him, she strode out of the study without another word.
Tyler trailed behind her, not knowing what to say.
He was thankful that he was with Kate. He didn’t want, or perhaps didn’t dare, to walk around the house on his own.
Before she arrived, he’d lounged on the couch downstairs, refusing to budge.
Since he was thrown out, he’d always wanted to come back home. But now that he was home, he couldn’t understand the dread he was feeling.
He thought this house would help him remember all the good times he’d spent with his parents. He thought that by being back in this house, the lingering sadness that had shrouded him all these years would finally leave.
He was completely wrong.
Instead of the laughter, he only remembered the screams. Instead of the smiles, all he could remember was the agony on his parents’ faces.
He hated feeling so out of place in what was supposed to be his home.
“Let’s go to the other wing. Marianne can probably give us a tour,” Kate said.
Tyler had so many questions for Kate. He wanted to know exactly how she met his grandfather. He wanted to know if his grandfather was who he remembered him to be.
He wanted to know how he was to her. He wanted to know if he was incapable of loving anyone or if it was just him.
“Did you hear what I said?”
“She’s out buying groceries,” he said as his eyes flitted to the flight of stairs leading to the attic.
His old room used to be in the attic. If his grandfather had kept his parents’ room exactly as it was, there was a chance his was the same. Then again, his grandfather could have burned everything he’d ever touched.
He wasn’t ready to find out the answer. So instead of heading up the stairs, he stopped and sat on the bottom step.
Kate moved to sit beside him, but she halted mid-stride. “Hold on, there’s something you should have.” She ran back down the hall and into the room they were in moments ago.
Tyler kept his eyes on the hallway, wondering what got her so excited.
Kate didn’t have to do any of this, especially after how he’d treated her last night. He had no right to be angry with her or to accuse her of anything; she wasn’t the one who came up with the will.
He was intending to keep the conversation between them to a minimum. He was never good with people, so staying away from her was the best solution.
But Kate was the only one who had been in the house in the last few years; at least, she was the only one he knew.
He’d offended her almost immediately, but she appeared to be quick to forgive; something he should learn.
When Kate returned, she had a bright smile on her face, and her eyes sparkled with such excitement that his own lips curled.
As she neared, she waved the small squarish box she held. She settled beside him and placed the box into his hand. “Open it,” she urged.
He cradled the brown leather box in his hand as if it were a bubble. He didn’t know what it was, but he knew it belonged to his parents. And somehow, he felt it would be ripped away from him at any moment.
“Go on, you’ll love it,” Kate said. “They were your grandparents’, then your parents’. Now, they’re yours to keep.”
Tyler looked up and once again, her smile captured his attention. Her joy seemed infectious. She was like Ryan. They carried an air of blithe with them; it was as if they were untouched by any sorrow.
Tyler surmised that Kate probably grew up in a world like Joanne’s. She wasn’t spoiled like Joanne was; her only outburst had been of his own doing. But she must have grown up in a family who loved and protected her.
Surely that was the only reason why she was so quick to forgive and magnanimous enough to be smiling so radiantly at someone who had been so rude to her.
He wondered if things were different: if he didn’t lose his parents, if he grew up in the same world that Kate did, would he have the light-heartedness and generosity that she possessed.
“Open it,” she said.
His attention returned to the box in his hand. He glanced over at Kate, then back to the box again. “Mine to keep,” he muttered to himself.
“Yeah. Until you give them to your children, that is.” Kate leaned closer and nudged him with her shoulder. “Open it.”
He flipped the box open to a pair of gleaming rings. One of the rings held three diamonds. The big diamond in the middle was flanked by two smaller ones. Beside the main diamond setting lay another three mini diamonds on each side of the band. The rest of the band was carved with intricate flowers, which covered even the rim of the ring. The other ring didn’t have any diamonds. Only a vein twirled around the simple band.
“It’s white gold. You see the vein stretching across the ring?” Picking up the ring with the diamonds, she tilted it to an angle. There were more carvings of flowers underneath, except for the area right beneath the diamonds. “It’s the same vein; it just blends into the carvings.”
Placing it back carefully, Kate continued. “Your grandfather got it made for your grandmother. He said he couldn’t afford expensive diamonds then, but your grandmother was excited to receive it anyway. When your grandmother gave the ring to your father, he replaced the diamonds and turned the original o
nes into a necklace for your grandmother. Then, he used this ring to propose to your mom.”
Tyler looked at the blissful smile Kate had and couldn’t help but beam back at her.
“Isn’t it a sweet story? This ring has so much love behind it. Oh, and the ring used to be yellow gold. Your father got it plated over with white gold.”
Kate stared at him, seemingly observing his reaction. Then she turned away for a moment before returning her gaze to him.
“Your grandfather said he was keeping it for you, for you to carry on the love story.” Smiling apologetically, she continued. “I know it’s kind of late; you’ve probably gotten a ring for your fiancée. But I’m sure she’ll love this when she learns the history behind it.”
Her fingers moved to tug at her necklace.
“She’s not my fiancée.” Tyler closed the box in his hand and placed it down before him. Reaching over, he took the locket from her hand and examined it. It was a heart-shaped locket with the same vein design that curled into vintage-looking heart shapes. The veins formed into a cage, encasing whatever was within. “What’s inside?”
“But she said she’s your fiancée and you didn’t deny it,” Kate pointed out.
Without letting go of the locket, he looked up at Kate. She’d leaned in closer to prevent the necklace from straining on her neck. Flecks of honey amber, like petals of a flower, were radiating out from her pupil. The flecks made it seem as if she had a sunflower in her eyes.
It suited her character; she was always smiling, and something about her just warmed him up.
“She goes around telling everyone that I’m her boyfriend, then recently she changed it to fiancé.” Tyler had never bothered explaining to anyone about Joanne’s strange habit, but he didn’t want Kate to misunderstand. “When Dan and I became friends, she started announcing to everyone that I was her boyfriend. She was quite young, so I simply ignored her. She’s just calling me that out of habit.”
Kate chuckled at the bizarre anecdote. “Are you sure it’s out of habit? She seemed rather serious.”
Tyler shrugged. “What is inside?” he asked again, directing Kate’s attention back to the locket.
“The reason I’m here.”
He turned to Kate and waited for her to continue.
