The Sisters' Secrets: Rose Read online

  ‘How’s that?’ Rose asked.

  ‘I’m much happier here. With you.’ His lidded gaze turned her way.

  Rose bit her lip. ‘If I’m honest, I feel the same way.’

  ‘What about you?’ Shane asked. ‘Now that we’re getting into the juicy details of our love lives.’

  ‘There isn’t much to tell,’ Rose said. ‘It’s been hard. My parents had this amazing life together. They were so in love with each other. Even as a kid, I always wanted to emulate their relationship, but I haven’t experienced anything like it yet.’

  ‘It’s good to have high expectations of someone you’re going to marry.’

  Rose scoffed. ‘Most people call me picky.’ Namely Missy, who’d married her middle school sweetheart.

  ‘I’m no expert on love and marriage, but when you feel it’s right, it has to be.’

  ‘You had that with Denise?’ Rose had infatuation as a child, but nothing that made her toes curl when she thought of them. Not until now.

  ‘To be honest, I don’t think I did. But I never thought I would. My parents weren’t the shining example of a happy couple.’

  ‘How do you feel about that?’

  He shrugged. ‘I always focused on my career, so relationships took a back seat.’

  ‘For me, I wanted to find someone who made me feel the way Mom did around Dad.’

  Shane turned the burners and walked over to Rose. His hands reached up, tentatively. They hovered in the air between them. ‘I want to apologize again.’

  ‘Don’t worry about it,’ she said. ‘You had every right to be upset.’

  ‘I’d like to make it up to you.’

  She wanted the same.

  Rose leaned toward him and pressed her lips against his. His hands gripped her waist and pulled her against him as he deepened the kiss. Light exploded behind her eyes and every sound in the room sharpened. His breathing rasped in her ears. Shane’s hands set fire to her. This was what she was looking for, and like her parents, she wanted to work every single day to keep it.

  Chapter 21

  After dinner, Shane suggested they have a nightcap on the back porch. With the two glasses of wine and a full belly of pasta, it would have been a good idea if they were anywhere else.

  Rose draped her hands by her sides, holding them against her legs. She wasn’t sure what to do with them as she tried to calm herself.

  Shane opened the back door for her, and she plodded through. She was content sitting with him but couldn’t help glancing at the nearness of the water. Without a wall between them and the water, her pulse spiked. The moon was high in the sky, and the crush of the water on the beach filled her ears. Without being able to see the treacherous ocean, a lump formed in her throat.

  ‘Do you want to walk by the water?’ Shane asked. ‘Or is it too much for you?’

  It was the question she’d expected but dreaded at the same time. ‘I’m not so sure.’ Her dinner churned in her stomach. She hadn’t been on a beach since she’d moved out of her childhood home, not counting Pearl almost drowning the other day, but that had been out of necessity and not an after-date stroll. Even then, she’d kept her distance. She wasn’t sure if a date was the perfect time to go into panic mode at the thought of the water touching her.

  ‘We don’t have to,’ he said, leaning against the railing, facing her. ‘But I was a lifeguard in high school. If that makes you feel better.’

  ‘No offense,’ she said. ‘But not at all.’

  ‘I won’t push you. We can stay here.’

  For the first time in her life, Rose wanted him to push her. Though Shane already knew that she was stubborn. It wasn’t his fault for keeping the peace between them. So far, it had been a good date, and she wasn’t interested in ending it anytime soon.

  ‘It’s fine,’ she said.

  ‘I’ll stay on the water side.’

  Rose twined her fingers together and placed them under her chin. ‘My hero.’

  ‘You’re funny,’ he said and took her hand in his.

  A breath caught in her throat, but she didn’t move away from him. It was as if he’d waited for the perfect moment. Maybe the walk was his way of making her scared enough to want to hold his hand.

  Well, it worked.

  They walked off the back porch and into the sand. She kicked off her flip-flops and allowed the sand to surround her feet. The closer Rose got to the water, the more her nostrils flared. The salt from the water flooded her nose, and she instinctively squeezed Shane’s hand.

  He stopped in place and turned to her. ‘You don’t need to be brave.’

  ‘Keep going.’ She thought of Mom and being too scared to save her. It wasn’t who she wanted to be. She wanted to be better.

  Shane brushed a finger across her cheek and lifted her chin to face him. ‘I have to say, when I moved here, I never expected you.’

  She reached up and touched his fingers, drawing them into her hand. ‘Same here.’

  He licked his lips and moved closer to her. Her eyes fluttered closed, and his breath whispered across her lips.

  A splash in the distance turned her bones to ice. Her eyes sprung open, and she whipped her head to the side, bumping her cheek against Shane’s chin. Hard. The pain barely registered as she homed in on someone in the water. Too far into the ocean to be safe.

  ‘There’s someone out there,’ Rose said, her legs moving on their own accord toward the surf.

  ‘I see that,’ Shane said, grabbing on to Rose’s hand.

  A ringing settled in her ears and catapulted her back to the day she almost drowned. The world tilted as those mysterious whispers from her past filled her head once more. Still unable to decipher them, the water beckoned to her.

  Shane walked toward the water while she stood in her place. It was so much like the night she almost drowned.

  ‘I saw a ring buoy in one of the rooms,’ Shane said. ‘Stay here.’

  She wasn’t going anywhere. But with Shane gone, she wanted whoever was out there to know that he or she wasn’t alone. Her feet burrowed in the sand with each step she took toward the water. The cold liquid over her feet seared her insides, and she sucked in a breath. She cupped her hands around her mouth. ‘Someone is coming! Hold on!’

  The figure disappeared under the water.

  ‘Shit,’ Rose said to herself as she fought every instinct in her body and stepped closer to the water. How could she ever live with herself if she didn’t try to help this person? What if it was a kid? She couldn’t let go of someone else. Not after the girl on the pier. She’d let her down and she wasn’t prepared to do that again.

  Her mind went into autopilot. Her fear hidden beneath adrenaline, Rose waded into the water up to her ankles, then her knees and called out again. But the person didn’t resurface. Her shoulders tensed, and her mouth went dry. Every inch of her skin tingled, and with a snap decision, she ran into the water.

  ‘I’m coming,’ she said, unsure if the person could hear her. She kept her eyes glued to the last spot where she’d seen the person surface.

  Her teeth chattered. It still wasn’t warm enough in the season for a swim. Ice clenched her spine, but she moved forward. A static sound filled her head. The whispers intensified, and black spots appeared in her vision. It was as if young Rose pushed her toward the eerie sounds, desperate for answers. The ocean floor dropped out from under her and Rose dipped under the surface of the water before clawing her way back up. Damp strands of hair clung to her face, and she scrambled to keep them away so that she could find the person.

  ‘Rose!’ Shane called from the shore.

  She whipped around to face him as he hopped on one foot, kicking his shoe off. She was further away from him than she’d wanted to be.

  Even though her heart threatened to beat from her chest, the water didn’t scare her as much as she imagined it would. The idea of saving someone threw her fears to the wind. As the current pulled her further from the shore, she couldn’t find the perso
n. If she was going to save someone, she needed to do it quickly, before it was too late for him or her. It was too dark to see under the water, so she tried to stay as still as possible, bobbing up and down with the waves.

  As the seconds dragged on, the first surge of energy forcing her into the water formed a trembling in her bones. What was she thinking?

  She turned to face Shane, but he was much further to her left than she realized. She lifted her arms over her head to start swimming, but they were heavy. Too heavy to move. Something brushed against her leg, and an electric pulse pushed through her veins. Seconds later, it moved against her again, and she waited for the inevitable tightness around her ankle before it pulled her under.

  A scream caught in her throat as the thing bumped into her body and then it surfaced.

  The face was human, but also not. The pair of eyes were narrow, and its skin was translucent. Dark hair rested on the surface of the water, coiling around both of their bodies.

  Rose couldn’t take her eyes off the girl, as a memory flooded her mind. The girl from the library and the pier. Could it be her? She looked so different now, a little more inhuman than she remembered. It was Rose’s turn to be terrified.

  Water moved around them, keeping them in place. A smooth hand grasped on to Rose’s arm. She should have been afraid, but she wasn’t. The whispers filled her mind and images flickered in her vision.

  Within seconds, Rose wasn’t in the water anymore. She was somewhere else entirely, watching the world through someone else’s eyes.

  The building with all the sick humans. The barrier was easy enough to get through. And the solid glass slid open with only a slight push. Pearlina lay on the bed, her eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. They slid over to the girl, but nothing was on the other side. She reached out and touched Pearlina’s hand. The wrinkly woman sucked in a breath, and her mind opened. Being apart from the sea did this to her. Why did she ever leave? Syrene never understood that.

  She filled her sister’s mind with all the yearning and love she had over the years. And the one apology she’d never make to anyone in her life. The night that haunted her for years. The night that she tried to take her sister’s firstborn as retribution for leaving them.

  A water droplet fell from Pearlina’s eyes as she accepted the apology.

  Syrene handed Pearlina the heirloom. It was the only way to bring her back. A pearl necklace strung with a thin strand of woven seaweed. The seven pearls clinked together as Syrene closed her hand around Pearlina’s.

  As if catapulting to another time, Rose appeared at the library the day of the rainstorm, watching it from a different point of view. The girl’s. Being on the surface was strange. She wasn’t as warm as it normally was in the water. A strange metal thing appeared, almost hitting her. A human jumped out of the car. Everything about her was familiar. But she couldn’t stay any longer.

  The next vision was of the same woman, running toward her while Syrene stood tall on the edge of the pier. Her feet dug into the rough surface and then she jumped, narrowly missing the rocks below. Her strange limbs intertwined and formed into the tail that she’d known all her life. It was the last time she’d ever walk with humans.

  She swam to the building by the sea, waiting for Pearlina to join her. Syrene waded for what seemed like forever.

  But when Pearlina appeared – the old, wrinkly human – her back was straighter. Syrene knew that the reminder had worked. But she hadn’t expected Pearlina to throw the necklace into the ocean.

  Syrene gasped, plunging into the water to retrieve it. Rage consumed her as she obtained the necklace, holding it against her chest. Shooting to the surface, Syrene wanted to confront her sister. But several other humans surrounded Pearlina. Including her niece. The one she tried to take all those years ago. There was so much to say. She would listen. But she’d have to get her into the water first.

  The humans couldn’t know of their existence. Syrene swam away, saying a final goodbye to her sister.

  Rose blinked, and it took her a moment to realize she was still in the water. The girl from the pier, this creature, stared at her as if waiting for her to say something.

  ‘Syrene?’

  The girl blinked a few times.

  Rose had misunderstood when Mom spoke of Syrene, thinking she’d meant Reen. Was she Mom’s sister? It seemed that Mom had named Reen after her.

  ‘Rose,’ Shane said, a few feet away. ‘What were you –?’ His eyes bulged as the fish-like girl named Syrene turned her gaze to his. He wiped a hand over his face, clutching the buoy with the other.

  Rose reached out to Shane and pulled him close. She didn’t know how to communicate with Syrene, but she wanted her to know that Shane was with her; they were all on the same side.

  Syrene dipped under the surface, and Rose turned her wrist to grip her harder. Popping up again, Rose noticed the slits against Syrene’s throat. They strangely resembled gills.

  ‘Miss, do you need help?’ Shane asked.

  Syrene opened her mouth, revealing a set of pointed teeth. If she intended to ease Rose’s mind, it wasn’t working.

  Shane gripped Rose’s arm, tugging her away.

  ‘She doesn’t need help,’ Rose said. ‘She’s Pearl’s sister.’

  ‘Your mother? What is she?’

  Syrene released her hand from Rose’s arm and lifted it above the surface. A thick string with seven pearls dangled from her thin fingers.

  The whispers bounced around in her head again as Syrene thrust out her hand toward Rose.

  Uncurling her fingers, Rose accepted the pearl necklace. They locked eyes for a moment, Rose sifting through her mind to figure out what the girl wanted to tell her. But before she could ask, Syrene disappeared under the surface, releasing Rose.

  Shane touched Rose’s cheek, turning her away from the spot where they’d seen the girl. ‘Are you okay?’

  She shook her head. ‘I have no idea.’ The pearls were smooth in her trembling hand. They were the only things left to assure her she hadn’t been dreaming.

  ‘Did she hurt you?’

  ‘No,’ Rose said. ‘But that was the girl. From the pier. The one I saw jump. She’s alive.’ And her aunt. She wasn’t sure even with proof that she believed it either.

  ‘So, she’s a –’ Shane’s words cut off.

  Rose racked her mind for another explanation, the word rolling around in her head. It was impossible. Or was it?

  Shane’s grip on her tightened. ‘Let’s get out of the water.’

  She swam with him to the shore, slower than she had all those years ago. There was nothing to fear anymore. Syrene had been the one who almost drowned her. But the swell of guilt that went with her vision pierced through her. The ocean floor came up to meet them, and they walked the rest of the way.

  Shane’s arm never left Rose’s waist, even when they reached the beach. Rose dug her feet into the sand, her legs weakening by the second as the entire situation crashed over her. She leaned heavily on Shane as they walked toward the house.

  ‘I know you said you’re okay, but do you want to go to the hospital and get checked out?’ Shane asked as he picked his shoes from the sand.

  ‘She didn’t hurt me,’ Rose said. ‘But I’m not sure that I won’t need to see a therapist this time.’

  ‘You and me both.’

  ‘At least we have a witness to each other’s madness,’ Rose said.

  ‘No kidding. Come on, let’s get inside.’

  Rose allowed Shane to be her crutch as the wood from the back porch scratched over her bare feet. Every step brought her back to the present. The present that made her believe that she may have imagined it all. If it weren’t for Shane, no one in her life would ever believe that she’d witnessed the girl who everyone thought had committed suicide.

  Was she really a girl? With the inhuman eyes, razor-sharp teeth, and the gills across her neck? The word mermaid floated around in her head, but she didn’t dare utter it aloud. When it came t
o that girl, Rose had the urge to know more, and now she knew why.

  Chapter 22

  Rose sat on the porch swing. The clinking of the pearls was the only sound that filled her mind.

  Shane came up from the beach. He’d walked along it, looking for any evidence left by Syrene. But there wouldn’t be anything. She’d worked hard to keep herself a secret. ‘We didn’t imagine that, right?’

  Rose held up the necklace. ‘We didn’t.’

  Shane blew out a breath and sat next to her. ‘I’m having a tough time wrapping my head around this.’

  Rose chewed on the inside of her cheek. ‘I’m going to tell you something, and it might sound crazy –’

  ‘Crazier than what we’ve already seen?’

  ‘Before you got to me, I experienced something. When Syrene touched me, it was as if I jumped into her head. Experienced her memories.’ Shane narrowed his eyes, but she continued, unable to stop herself. If she did, rational thought might win. ‘The day I almost hit her, I saw it from her perspective. It was so real. It was as if my car was about to strike me – kill me even. I – she – was so scared. Then, I saw my mom. Syrene sneaked through the fence and into her room. She tried to give Mom the pearls, but Mom threw them into the ocean. That’s why she escaped. For some reason, she didn’t want them.’ Did Mom remember? Would Rose be able to ask why or did her past disappear with Syrene?

  ‘Are you saying those pearls mean something to your mother?’

  ‘I don’t know what I’m saying. All of this is insane, right?’ A burst of laughter bubbled out of her.

  ‘Normally, I would say that to anyone who reported something like this, but I wouldn’t have believed it if you’d told me.’

  ‘So much for our second date,’ Rose mused.

  ‘I thought it went well,’ Shane said.

  ‘It did until I decided to chase a damn mermaid into the ocean.’ The word slipped out quick enough that she couldn’t catch it. Eyeing Shane, she waited for him to dispute what she’d seen. She imagined he’d tell her to get out, and there’d be a white van idling in her driveway in the morning.