Kingdom by the Sea (Romantic Suspense) Read Free

sale?”  Her fake-kidding tone of voice failed to be
convincing. 
    Nicole
wasn't sure why Linda was annoyed.  It wasn't particularly like her to be petty
or materialistic.  Yet, she had been kind of aloof ever since the reading of
the will.  Was there something specific that she had wanted that she didn’t
get?  Nicole couldn’t imagine what it would be.  Her older sister had always
been mercurial.  But this seemed different.  On most of the drive down today she
had been almost sullen. 
    “Sure,
of course,” Nicole responded now.  “Just tell me if there's something you
want...”  She felt awkward, because the words made her sound as if she had some
kind of authority over her sisters, and that just seemed wrong.  “You seem
mad,” she added.
    “I'm
not mad,” Linda protested.  Clearly defensive, she said, “Why would I be mad? 
You've always been Aunt Nina's favorite.  I have no problem with that.”
    “No I
haven't...”
    “Sure
you have.  Remember that emerald pendant she got you for college graduation? 
She didn't give Alyssa or me an emerald.” 
    “You
guys got nice necklaces—”
    “Nicole,
it's fine, you're making a thing of it,” Linda said, turning it all around on
her.  “I'm just saying—you really didn't spend much time with Nina toward the
end.”  Affected by the words, Nicole swallowed a hard lump.  “I mean, we didn't
either.  You know, we saw her a few times—just like you did.  Yet, she leaves
you practically everything.”
    Alyssa
broke in, “Linda, come on, Nina was always generous with us.  But someone had to get the house.”
    “Let's
drop it,” Linda said.
    With
silent agreement, Nicole turned and ventured deeper into the house. 
    She
quickly became distracted by her surroundings.  The living room, in its
yellow-glazed walls, held a vibrancy of color that usually existed only in
memory.  The sofa was bright and cheerful with tiny flowers in the pattern. 
The chairs were fat and indigo with mismatched throw pillows.  The fireplace
was a sheltering mosaic of chunky stone.  Across the room, on a weathered
sideboard was a pitcher filled with orange roses. 
    That
gave Nicole pause.  She walked closer and saw that the rose petals were silk. 
Odd—Nina had always loved fresh flowers from her garden. 
    Pursing
her lips, Nicole paused and wondered if the garden was in disrepair and for how
long.  At the thought, a familiar weight settled on her chest.  Resignation
slacked her features.  Pulling on her was that inescapable sense that time was
streaming past her.
    She
continued exploring the house, passing through the nook Nina used to call her
“coffee corner.”  Like an elbow, it connected the living room and the kitchen. 
It was a small space lined with red brick; a tall hutch stood along the wall. 
To the right was an open archway to the kitchen.
    Nicole
approached the French door beside the kitchen table.  As she reached for the
handle, she noticed a white box set beside the door frame.  It was identical to
the one that secured the front entrance.  Cedric Davy had given Nicole the
10-digit code for the alarm when he went over the details of her inheritance. 
Using a mnemonic device, she pretty much had it down.  4 seasons – 7 sins –
3 wishes – 2 cities...
    Finally
she heard a soft click and the door's hinges crooned as they were set
into motion. 
    The
back porch blazed with light.  Effortlessly, the sun ducked beneath the
overhang and billowed out, spreading over the wood like a pale sheet of fine
thread.  She realized at once something obvious: it was not just the house
she'd been given.  It was the stretch of grass behind the house that eventually
sloped into sand.  And the two big oak trees that still stood.  Idly, she
remembered that one of those oak trees had held a tree house; Aunt Nina had had
it built for Nicole and her sisters when they were kids.  Nina used to call the
girls her “princesses,” and at their