Page 8 of Unspoken Love

After she’d procrastinated long enough, she headed back inside and finally started unpacking.

The upstairs bedroom that she had picked was beautiful. There were soft blue walls, crisp white trim, and huge bay windows that looked out over the highest part of the cliff and the side of the lighthouse.

The view alone was worth waking up early for, with sunlight spilling through sheer white curtains and casting golden streaks across the pale wood floors.

The bed sat between the largest windows, the bed frame had a tall whitewashed headboard giving it a coastal cottage charm. A thick, cloud-like comforter in soft shades of blue and cream was folded neatly atop it, and a mix of embroidered and knit throw pillows created a perfect little nest. On either side, vintage bedside tables held glass lamps filled with seashells and beach glass.

The remodeled closet stretched the entire length of one wall, giving her plenty of space for her clothes. Across from the bed, a low antique dresser with ceramic knobs stood beneath a trio of paintings—each one a stormy seascape, brushstrokes bold and emotional, as if the artist had poured their soul into every wave. A reading nook had been set up in the far corner near the windows, with a plush ivory armchair with a woven blanket tossed across the back and a tall bookshelf filled with well-loved novels and Max’s collection of coastal field guides and poetry. Her brother was such a dork about them and snagged books up at every antique store he stopped at.

The room felt like a retreat, like a page torn from a storybook where the heroine finally found peace. And maybe, just maybe, a future.

As she placed a pile of folded sweaters onto a shelf in the closet, something odd caught her eye. A seam at the back of the closet. Subtle, but obvious to her keen eyesight.

Frowning, she moved closer to the back of the long closet and shuffled a few items she had already set down to run her fingers along the edge. The panel gave way with a soft click, swinging inward to reveal a dark narrow tunnel beyond.

A hidden passage?

Goose bumps pricked her arms.

Did Max or Juliette know about this?

She squinted, trying to peer inside, but it was too dark. She looked inside, but there was no light that she could see and she couldn’t find a switch. She didn’t have a flashlight handy, and her phone was almost dead since she had forgotten to charge it before going to bed the night before.

Maybe she should…

Suddenly, a high-pitched sound shot through her implant, sharp and disorienting. She winced and clutched the side of her head, waiting for it to pass.

When the noise faded, a full-blown headache was almost blinding her.

“Nope,” she whispered, stepping back and gently closing the panel. “Not dealing with something new and scary right now.”

Whatever mystery that dark hallway held could wait. She rubbed her temples and glanced longingly at the freshly made bed.

Five minutes, she told herself as she lay down and covered herself with the soft throw blankets.

She was asleep in two seconds.

Faye stirred, surfacing from a sleep deeper than she’d expected.

She blinked up at the ceiling, disoriented for a second, then let out a slow breath as the familiar sounds of her brother’s house came back into focus. The distant gulls crying outside her window. The low hum of waves hitting the rocks far below the cliff. The soft ticking of the antique wall clock in the hallway.

She’d only meant to rest her eyes for ten minutes, but the heaviness in her limbs and the change in the lighting in the room told her that she’d been out for at least an hour.

Her cheek was warm from where it had been pressed against the throw pillow, and her body was sore from the early morning run. She blinked against the sunlight filtering through the window, then stretched slowly to loosen up from the sleep and the run.

She made her way into the kitchen. She pulled out a cold soda from the fridge and froze.

There, in the pasture just beyond the barn, Nate was riding one of the horses—Blaze, the bigger of the two. Nate sat with ease on the beast, guiding the horse in a lazy circle while holding the reins loosely in his hands. His posture was relaxed, like he’d been doing this for years.

Faye pushed the back door open and stepped out barefoot onto the porch, her soda still in hand.

She watched man and animal for another heartbeat while something soft and unfamiliar bloomed in her chest.

It was more than admiration. It was something she’d never felt for a man before.

When Nate finally spotted her standing there watching him, he gave her a little wave before guiding Blaze toward the barn.

By the time she pulled on a pair of mud boots and stepped into the barn, he was brushing Blaze in the stall.