Читать книгу: «The Sister’s Secrets: Reen»

Readers love Katlyn Duncan

‘I will definitely be reading more from this author again.’

‘Engaging and thought provoking.’

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‘Gripping. Thrilling. On the edge of your seat exciting. I absolutely loved it.’

‘This story kept me guessing.’

‘Perfect for someone who wants a quick read that's also gripping’

Contents

Cover

Author Bio

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Praise

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Epilogue

Acknowledgements

Dear Reader

Excerpt

Endpage

About the Publisher

PROLOGUE

The cheering voices filled Reen’s ears as she inhaled a steady and slow breath. Her mind turned inward until the scratchy plastic under her feet was the only thing she focused on. She pressed her fingers under the edge of the block and bent her knees at the precise angle to get the best advantage in the water.

But she didn’t need any advantages. She was already in the top spot on her team and in the state, which was why she had a choice of any college swimming program. The school of her dreams had already picked her, but she’d kept it a closely guarded secret. She wanted her rivals to think she hadn’t yet made a choice. It made the competition a little sweeter when everyone fought for the low times. She’d drawn recruiters from all over the country to her meets.

Reen sifted through the shouting of the crowd, finding Brody’s voice first. Her entire body tingled. Mom, Dad, Rose, and Brody never missed her meets. They were the support system in her life who made living in this dead-end town bearable. She couldn’t wait to finish the race and throw her arms around Brody and kiss him – after he congratulated her for another personal best score, of course.

Even though Brody wasn’t interested in her because of her talent in the pool, Reen got an incredible high from taking out the competition. She lived off it for at least a day afterward, making every moment spent with Brody that much more exciting.

The other girls took position, but she didn’t bother looking at them. In the past, when she did, they would put her off or pull faces at her. Their jealousy only fueled her, but she didn’t need negativity in her life. Besides, she had Brody – what else did she need?

When the gun went off, Reen let out a slow breath as the other girls dove into the pool. It was better to have a late start than a false one. As a young swimmer on the team, she’d false-started more times than not. Control took skill, and she’d honed it over the years. Now, she was quicker and could make up the time once she was in the pool.

She shoved off the block. When the water touched her fingers, a bolt of energy pulsed through her. The second before her face hit the water, she pulled in a breath. Fully submerged, she allowed herself a half second to revel in the way the water surrounded her body. Ever since she remembered, the water felt more like home than her actual house or the town they lived in. She didn’t understand her sister Rose’s fear of the water, but at least Mom felt the same way as Reen. For much of the year, they waded in the surf – only a few steps away from their back door.

The feel of the water around her snapped her back to the present. Her body moved on instinct after years of practice. Even though her coaches didn’t care much for her ability to hold her breath much longer than seemed possible, it was the only way she could get ahead without resistance.

She didn’t take a second one until shoving off from the other side of the pool.

Using the split second to breathe from both sides of her strokes, she checked out the competition. She was already in the top spot. But that wasn’t enough for her. The goal of any meet was to beat herself. The other girls weren’t her competitors. The more she thought that way, the lower her times became.

She waited to sprint until her last lap and managed to get far enough ahead that only one of the girls was close behind when Reen touched the side of the pool.

The crowd exploded with cheers, but all she focused on was the scoreboard.

She held the number she wanted to beat in the front of her mind. When her times appeared, she inhaled sharply and whooped as loud as she could.

Whipping around to see her family, she expected four smiling faces: Brody, Dad, Mom, and Rose. The rush of adrenaline filled her body as she hopped out of the pool. The momentary pull from the water stopped her in her tracks.

Brody had his back to Reen. Her feet slapped against the tile floor as she neared her family. Why wasn’t he coming over to congratulate her?

Reen looked for Mom in the crowd. It took her a second to spot her sprinting from the room with her cell phone pressed to her ear.

A breath caught in Reen’s throat and the roar of the crowd dampened as her heart pounded in her ears. Something had happened. She knew it in her bones. It was the same intuition that always led her straight and true in the water. Her gut twisted so hard that she almost doubled over. The heat from the room intensified as the world dangerously tilted.

The last thing she saw was Brody drifting toward her with his hands shoved in his pockets and his eyes filled with concern.

CHAPTER ONE

It wasn’t the simple act of coming home Reen dreaded more than anything. It was the water. She’d spent her entire life in the salt-filled ocean or a chlorine-filled pool. Well, her whole life up until eight years ago. Since leaving the coastal town of The Burrow, she tended to avoid large bodies of water because the reminder of home was, at times, too much to bear. Her body craved the sensation that linked her to her childhood, but she turned away from it, as her family had turned away from her. Traveling by car and plane across the country, avoiding the shores and deep lakes, she’d done just that. Until now.

When she arrived at the familiar house, her childhood home, she hesitated in the driveway. Rose had rented the house to her new boyfriend, but Reen wasn’t ready to meet someone new and pretend everything was okay between her and her sister. The reminder of Dad in every inch of the house was hard enough. A stronger force pulled her around to the side, where the sand met the small patch of grass out front. The water called her, a siren song reappearing in her mind as if it had been waiting for her to return.

She kicked off her wedge heels and stepped forward, allowing the sand to swallow her feet as she walked toward the ocean. Each cautious step brought her closer, but she was careful not to drop everything and run to it. The last eight years had been a test of her will, yet she found it wavering.

Reen stopped at the point where the damp sand touched the dry. She closed her eyes and inhaled the salty sea air. It was as if she hadn’t breathed at all in the years she’d been gone.

At that moment, it was as if she’d never left. The urge to strip down and jump into the unknown depths overwhelmed her. But she held her composure, knowing her sister was on the way. She’d texted her once she’d landed in Hartford, yet the always punctual Rose wasn’t on time. Any other time, this might have alarmed Reen, but since hearing that Rose had a boyfriend now, Reen guessed that her sister’s attention was on him. It was Rose’s way to mold herself into whomever she was dating.

Though, she wasn’t sure why Rose chose to live in a separate apartment from their childhood home yet kept it in the family.

From the short conversation she’d had with Rose two days ago, it seemed her boyfriend was in the police department. It was so like Rose to choose another local. Another root set down in this dead-end place. It didn’t matter. Once Reen saw Mom, she’d be on the next flight out of Connecticut and back to her own life.

‘Reen.’ Rose’s voice called behind her, barely audible over the crashing waves filling her ears.

Reen gulped another breath of air before turning to her sister.

Rose looked almost the same as she had when Reen left. Like Mom, she’d refused to cut her hair. It fell in brunette waves down her back. The sun shimmered off the lighter strands. It took a steady breeze to move the thick locks from her shoulder.

An inward smile warmed Reen as Rose took in the status of her hair. Reen hadn’t cut it for a few years after leaving, but one drunken night, she’d decided to chop it all off. It was the last tie to her family and she’d wanted nothing to do with them. At the time, it seemed like the perfect way to break away from her old life, but when Reen woke the next morning to a choppy disaster on her head, she’d thrown a baseball cap on and headed to the salon. Since then, she’d never let her locks grow below her shoulders. Other than the color of their hair, they no longer resembled sisters as they had in the past.

The stark contrast was enough for Rose to stare. ‘You look…different.’

‘You don’t,’ Reen said, trying to keep the snap out of her tone. As much as she missed the relationship from their childhood, it hadn’t been the same for a long time. Rose’s refusal to go into the water had been the start of their separation.

Further up the beach, the door leading to the back porch opened, and a man stepped out. Reen shielded her eyes to look at him. She didn’t recognize him as a typical local. He hadn’t yet settled into the pot-bellied laziness of most of the older men. Though, he couldn’t have been more than a few years older than Rose. Reen guessed that was most likely why her sister had pounced on him.

Rose glanced over her shoulder and smiled at him. He waved but didn’t attempt to come closer to them.

‘He’s cute,’ Reen said, drawing her sister back to the conversation.

‘Thanks.’ Rose’s smile reminded Reen of a time when she’d been in love too. ‘How’s Maryland?’

‘I live in West Virginia now,’ Reen said.

‘Oh,’ Rose said. ‘Sorry.’

‘When are we going to see Mom?’ The name sounded foreign on her lips. In the time she’d been away, any question about her family she answered with a dismissive wave of her hand, and a brief excuse about them living in Connecticut.

Rose cleared her throat. ‘I thought you could settle in first.’

Reen’s grip tightened on her bag. ‘I’m not settling anywhere.’

Rose’s lips pressed into a smile. ‘Come on. You should stay for a little while. Let’s catch up.’

Reen shook her head. It was the last thing she wanted. Rose always buried her true feelings in polite tones. Reen never forgot Mom pushing them out of her life after Dad died.

‘Once I see her, I’m headed out. I’ll grab the next flight out of here.’ Reen didn’t have a lot of money and wasn’t frivolous with what she did have. She wanted to uphold her wandering persona in front of her sister. It added an extra thrill to keep Rose on her toes.

‘When are you leaving?’ Rose asked.

Reen dug her toes into the sand. Why had she taken her shoes off? The water made her vulnerable. She never wanted to be that way around Rose.

‘Tomorrow morning,’ Reen said.

‘Then we have time. I wanted to talk to you about something else.’

‘Does it have to do with Mom?’ Reen asked.

Rose nodded. ‘I – well, Shane and I had the strangest experience—’ Her words cut off as if she were trying to figure out a puzzle in her head.

Reen waited a moment, before crossing her arms over her chest.

Rose blinked as if coming out of a dream.

‘What is it?’ Reen asked.

Rose shook her head. ‘I’ll tell you about it after we see Mom at the Whinding House.’

‘Okay,’ Reen said, unsure of what Rose wanted to tell her. Whatever it was, it didn’t seem important enough for her to press for more information before going to the nursing home.

‘We can take my car,’ Rose said, walking toward the house.

Reen wasn’t ready to be alone with Rose, cramped inside of her car. ‘I’ll meet you there. I have a rental.’

Rose’s lips twisted. ‘We’re both coming back here. We can take your car—’

‘I’m not coming back here,’ Reen said.

‘Do you have somewhere to be?’

Anywhere but here. ‘I don’t want to stay here with you and your boyfriend.’

‘I never expected you to stay here with us. Shane was going to cook dinner tonight. I planned for us to stay at my place, together. You know I don’t live here anymore.’

‘Neither do I,’ Reen said. It was easier for everyone if they kept their lives the same instead of changing everything now.

‘You really can’t visit us for one day? Your family?’

Reen looked away.

Rose licked her lips. ‘Not much has changed, has it?’

‘I’m here to see Mom. This isn’t going to be a big reunion.’ Reen let out a sigh. ‘I don’t know what you’re expecting from me. Mom made it clear who was important after Dad died. I have a life elsewhere.’

Rose pressed her hands against her forehead. ‘I thought you would be over that by now. Mom is sick. Why can’t you let this go?’

Reen opened her mouth to say something, but she caught Shane out of the corner of her eye, sauntering toward them. ‘Is everything all right over here?’

He had a slight limp, but that didn’t detract from his good looks. This guy wasn’t Rose’s type at all. He wasn’t polished and perfect, like her sister. She usually chose the pretty ones with no personality.

Reen’s hackles rose, ready for him to get on her case too. No doubt Rose had told him one-sided stories about her.

‘I’m Reen,’ she said, holding her hand out for him. Her dad had always said the sign of a good person was his or her handshake.

Shane passed the test. His smile was kind too.

After shaking her hand, he placed his on the small of Rose’s back. A pulse rushed through Reen. As much as she could pretend that she had been around the country, having the time of her life with whomever she wanted, all she had really done was hide. She’d had a few one-night stands, but she didn’t allow herself to fall into a long-term trap with anyone. She knew what happened when she opened her heart.

Rose bumped against Shane and her lips curved. Their faces lit up, and Reen looked away as if she’d been staring at the sun. At least someone in their family was happy.

‘Reen isn’t staying for dinner tonight,’ Rose told Shane.

Shane jutted his lip out and nodded. ‘I’m making lasagna, but I can make something different if you’d like.’

Reen barely heard him as the rush of her heartbeat filled her ears. Rose was trying a different tactic by putting her on the spot with Shane. Reen wouldn’t falter. ‘I have an early flight in the morning.’

Shane and Rose shared a look but didn’t push.

‘We should get going,’ Rose said, and kissed Shane.

Reen’s chin tipped downward as she witnessed an intimate moment between Shane and her sister. She turned and walked toward her car. ‘I’m headed out. I have the address for the nursing home on my phone.’

‘I’m right behind you,’ Rose said.

CHAPTER TWO

On the way to the nursing home, Reen took the path of least resistance, the same as she had when she first drove into town. She wasn’t interested in a nostalgic drive through the streets. Instead, she kept to the coastline. She wanted to be closer to the water. In her brief time in The Burrow, she wasn’t going to miss the opportunity.

After Rose had given Mom up to the Whinding House, Reen had researched the facility. It seemed nice enough, but it wasn’t home. Mom belonged by the ocean. It was something Rose hadn’t understood for a long time. When Rose was eleven, she sleepwalked into the water and had refused to go near it since. Reen had tried her hardest to convince her sister it wasn’t a big deal, understanding that Rose used to feel the same way about it as she and Mom did. But it was no use for her big sister. The water continued to draw Reen and Mom to it as if it was their true home.

Reen pulled into the parking lot at the facility and sat in the rental car, keeping the air conditioning on while waiting for Rose. She could easily walk through the doors and find Mom, but she wanted to wait for her sister. Navigating her way through unrecognizable halls would only show how much she didn’t belong.

Reen checked her phone. There were several unanswered texts from friends, the ones she’d kept at arm’s length throughout her journeys, avoiding her past. There was a text from her boss, Jeremy, the owner of the convenience store she currently worked at, asking how long her sudden vacation would take. Considering she had two weeks off saved up, she wondered what he was on about. In the months she’d worked there, she’d far surpassed her sluggish co-workers. She knew he’d ask her to be a manager, and she’d already thought of several excuses and mapped out her escape route from town once she got the offer.

It was the same everywhere she went. While keeping her head in the sand, having no husband or children, she was a commodity to her employers. Little did they know that she had a bigger path in mind. Avoidance. At all costs. Them wanting her only pushed her away.

A text came in from Darin, and her heart fluttered. ‘Let me know when you need a ride from the airport.’

Reen smirked. She understood the innuendo and her legs quivered. Darin, the twenty-five-year-old drummer with dreams of making it in the music industry, had been a more recent casual fling. She wouldn’t say they were in a relationship, but he adored her. He wrote songs about her and wanted her to come to all his shows. Some nights, he helped her avoid her past with mind-blowing sex. It gave her the out she wanted whenever she needed it.

Rose’s car pulled alongside Reen, breaking her from her thoughts. She turned off the rental and stepped out of the car.

The hot, sticky air clung to her skin as she walked over to Rose. Rose had pulled her hair from her face in a messy bun at the top of her head. From what Reen recalled, Rose rarely styled it any other way but down. She supposed slight changes were normal; she couldn’t expect the world to stop turning in her absence. Maybe Shane was right for her sister. At least, he was a change. In this place, anything new was hard to come by.

‘The Cottage is over here,’ Rose said, pointing at the smaller building on the other side of the lot. ‘The bigger building is for assisted living only. Those who don’t have memory issues.’

Reen nodded, already knowing all of this. Rose had no idea how much Reen cared. She liked to appear aloof, keeping a distance between herself and home. If Rose knew Reen was more invested than she let on, then her sister would push harder to make her stay.

Reen looked around the property, wrinkling her nose. Several residents milled toward a garden patch around the side of the building. Lush plants with vegetables and flowers appeared to thrive there.

It seemed like an all right place, though Reen would make her judgments when she got inside. Over the phone, Rose had said Mom wasn’t doing so well. It was probably because she lived in some germ-infested nursing home. Of course, she’d catch something. In Mom’s delicate condition, it would be impossible not to. Another reason Rose should have kept her home. At least she’d be by the water and living in a place she recognized.

Inside The Cottage, Reen stepped into a small foyer. There wasn’t much furniture besides a couple of folding chairs near the front window next to a water bubbler. Decorations were scarce, other than two vases of flowers on either side of the main desk and a few paintings on the walls. Even the sweet scent didn’t take away from the overpowering antiseptic smell.

‘Good morning, Rose,’ said the teenage girl sitting behind the desk.

Rose smiled. ‘Hi, Cassandra.’

At least she hadn’t been lying about coming to visit Mom.

Cassandra glanced at Reen and sat up.

‘This is my sister. Reen,’ Rose said. ‘She’s here visiting Mom too.’

The young girl pursed her lips. ‘If you could both sign in.’

Rose finished signing her name in the binder on the desk. Ever the people pleaser.

‘How is it having your sister home from college?’ Rose asked the girl.

Cassandra rolled her eyes. ‘You know she’s the only reason I got the job here this summer. I can’t wait to have my own space back.’

Rose laughed.

Reen scribbled her name and moved to the side, tapping the edge of the pen against the paper. She had no intention of chatting with this girl all day. All she wanted was to see Mom and gather her thoughts about the diagnosis. Reen clasped her hands, rubbing them together as she fought a chill. Memories from her youth flooded her mind, and she could barely stop her hands from trembling.

‘I’m sure by the end of the summer you’ll be close again,’ Rose went on.

‘Doubt it,’ Cassandra said.

Rose waved at the girl and then led Reen to a set of double doors at the back of the lobby.

‘Do you want to write down the code?’ Rose asked.

Reen narrowed her eyes. ‘No thanks.’

Rose opened the door. ‘After you.’

Reen walked through, cautiously taking one step at a time as she didn’t know the way to Mom’s room. Rose took the lead. Was this her way of showing how superior she was to Reen? Reen wouldn’t put it past her.

‘Over here,’ Rose said, gesturing toward one of the doors.

Rose entered the room, disappearing inside. Hesitating by the door, Reen craned her neck to look down the hallway, delaying the inevitable.

‘Reen,’ Rose called from inside.

Reen gritted her teeth and stepped through.

From the open windows, a cool breeze filtered through the room. Even though it was incredibly hot out for late afternoon, the familiar scent from the ocean tickled her nose. In the distance, waves crashed over the sand, beckoning her to jump into their comforting embrace. The water wasn’t in the backyard, as it had been at home, but it was closer than Reen had experienced in her time away from The Burrow.

A half-closed cream-colored curtain separated the two beds, forcing Reen forward to see her mother after all these years. Each footstep matched the slow pound of her heartbeat in her chest.

Reen’s eyes fell to the dresser. There were several picture frames from their home, including one she hadn’t seen in years. For one Mother’s Day, Reen had glued several types of shells from the beach onto a cheap frame. She recalled how Mom had lit up at the gift.

‘It’s the one you made,’ Rose said.

‘Yeah, I know.’ Reen kept her hands by her sides. One of the shells was missing, and she wondered if Rose had saved it or thrown it away. Reen wanted to look in the drawers to find it, buying herself a little more time.

‘Pearl,’ Rose said, and Reen stiffened. ‘You have a visitor today.’

Reen steeled herself and turned, facing the one person she hadn’t intended seeing ever again. At least not here. Before Mom’s diagnosis, Reen had visions of her mother popping up in random locations at each new place she visited. At a local diner or Reen’s apartment. She imagined Mom showing up at one of her jobs and begging her youngest daughter to come back home. Or at least opening communication between them again. But none of those dreams were real. They were only in Reen’s mind. She hadn’t thought of them in some time. A heaviness settled in her chest.

The sleeping woman lying on the bed wasn’t who Reen expected. It appeared as if a lifetime had passed since she’d seen Mom last. The long brown locks of hair, which Reen had braided as a child, had turned stiff and gray. Her face was more serene than ever, but she’d aged so much in the time since Reen had lived in The Burrow. It didn’t seem possible, but the proof lay in front of her.

‘Mom?’ The word fell from Reen’s lips. Even though she knew she’d said it aloud, Mom didn’t move.

‘The doctor says she’s been sleeping a lot. I try to come when she’s awake, but that’s not always predictable,’ Rose said.

‘What happened to her?’ Reen asked. ‘I thought she had dementia or whatever. This – she looks horrible.’

‘Nice,’ Rose said, rolling her eyes. ‘She can hear you, even if she’s asleep.’

‘What do you want me to say, Rose?’ Reen lowered her voice. ‘You didn’t preface this properly.’

‘I told you she wasn’t doing well. Did you need a photograph? If you asked questions or visited more often—’

‘Don’t do this,’ Reen said, pushing away from the bed. It jostled under her touch. She froze, staring at her mother. But the woman on the bed didn’t move a muscle. ‘Don’t guilt me about not visiting. Just because she’s like this, it doesn’t forgive everything.’

‘Doesn’t it?’ Rose said. ‘She tried to contact you. She wanted to apologize. You made that difficult for all of us. By the time you reached out, it was too late. She wasn’t herself anymore.’

Reen drew in heavy breaths through her nose. The room tilted slightly, and the scents of the ocean and cleaning products filled her head, making her dizzy. ‘I can’t do this.’ She fled the room, barely hearing her sister’s voice calling for her.

Rose caught up with Reen before she reached her car. Reen recalled memories of Rose charging from base to base during the softball games Mom and Dad dragged Reen to as a child. Her sister was still as quick.

‘I know it’s hard. It’s not easy for me either,’ Rose said, barely out of breath.

She hated that she allowed Rose to continue the conversation she didn’t want to have.

‘I don’t want to talk about this,’ Reen said, rubbing her temples. Searing pain radiated from her head. She wasn’t sure if it was the scent of the seawater or the inevitability of a fight with Rose. She regretted coming back.

‘I don’t want you to leave,’ Rose said, grabbing her keys from her bag. She fumbled with the ring, plucking one out of the bunch. ‘Here. Take my apartment for the night.’

Reen gritted her teeth. ‘I was going to stay in one of the inns.’

‘You don’t have to. I’ll stay with Shane tonight,’ Rose said. ‘You’ll have my place to yourself. I don’t want you to pay for a hotel. You can stay as long as you want.’

‘I have to go,’ Reen said, even though she didn’t. The longer she stayed, the more her memories surfaced, and the familiar pull of her home became stronger. Those tendrils wrapped around her limbs and started to not-so-gently pull her back.

Rose sighed and shook her head. ‘Dinner still stands for tonight. But no pressure. Let me know if you change your mind.’

She wouldn’t.

‘I know it’s a lot to handle,’ Rose said.

Reen wanted to get Rose off her back, so she took the key from her sister. ‘What’s the address?’

Rose told her.

‘I’ll leave the key in the mailbox or something. I’ll let you know.’

Rose nodded. ‘It was good to see you.’ She reached out a hand as if she were going to touch her but thought better of it.