Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
He pressed a kiss to her lips. “Then tell me, what is it that I don’t know?”
“Our houses are cursed—or blessed, whichever way you look at it—but they have a history. Every single couple that has been inside those houses has ended up together.”
“So?”
“So, I’m not talking just as a brief fling, it has actually brought them together, to be married. It has helped them to fall in love, and then they move out, and another couple comes in. Elizabeth, the old lady we’ve seen, has watched this happen for well over sixty years.”
“Robin, can you even hear yourself right now?”
“Yes, I can hear myself and I know how crazy it sounds. Trust me, I do, but think about it. Strange things have happened. You found Buttercup.”
“I was nowhere near the house.”
“Yeah, but you still found her, alone, with no owner, and you couldn’t stop thinking about her, even though you’ve admitted you’ve never considered yourself a lover of dogs. She kept finding a mysterious hole in our fence, one we couldn’t find, and you had no choice but to come and see me. Maybe that was the start. Then there’s the mega strange damage to your kitchen. Don’t you think that’s a little crazy? Forgetting your three-week anniversary gift, and we go on it together, and look what happened.”
Dylan stepped back. “No. This is insane. This is some kind of scam.”
“Scam? Scam of what? The truth? Both of those men that were with her lived in those houses before us. Elizabeth has witnessed multiple couples, and do you know what, we’re the longest couple it has taken.” She took a deep breath. “We’re not in control of this.”
“Robin, we are in control.”
“Tell me how we’re in control.”
“You and I make the decisions. Not some stupid house. Not some stupid curse. There is no such thing. It’s just you and me.”
“Then tell me you don’t have feelings for me,” Robin said. “Because everything Elizabeth told me feels exactly the same. I have fallen in love with you, and that is scary, but what scares me more is that I might be the only one feeling this way.”
Robin placed the lead at him, and then without another word, left the field. Buttercup chose that moment to come wandering over to him.
What the fuck had just happened?
Chapter Ten
“I think they were trying to make fools out of you, son,” the builder, Lyonel, said.
Dylan nodded.
After last night’s disagreement at the field, Dylan didn’t think it was right for him to go back to Robin’s house, so he went back home. Miraculously, the builder called him that very morning and promised to be around to assess the damage. Only, there wasn’t any kind of damage. At first, Lyonel had asked if he liked wasting people’s time, and then Dylan told him what happened.
The end conclusion was that the kitchen installers had gone bankrupt, and hadn’t wanted to finish the job, so they created some false problem, then left. There was no store, no company, nothing.
“Your house is solid,” Lyonel said.
“Thanks.”
“Is there anything you need help with?” Lyonel asked.
“Nah, it’s fine.”
Dylan noticed that Buttercup kept looking up at Lyonel. She was sitting perfectly, playing the obedient little dog.
“She’s a darling,” Lyonel said.
“Yeah, she is.”
“Where’s your wife, do you need me to reassure her? She sounded pretty upset on the phone every time she called.”
He thought about Robin. “She’s fine. I’ll talk to her later.”
“Right. I know some things in life can seem a little hard to grasp, but I think if you take the time and have a little faith, then wonderful things happen.” Lyonel wished him goodbye and then stepped out of the door, closing it behind him.
Dylan frowned. What the fuck did that mean?
He opened the door and paused, as the van the builder had arrived in, including Lyonel, was not there anymore. He stepped out onto his front yard, and Buttercup had already gone back to lie down on her spot in the living room.
Looking up ahead, he didn’t see the three people around the car, but he saw the car, and it drove toward him, pulling up in the spot where Lyonel was.
He waited as a man climbed out of the car, and then moved up the path. “Can we talk?”
“I don’t know who you are?”
“I’m Hector Carter, I used to live here, in this house,” he said, holding his hand out.
“Did you see a guy leave?” Dylan asked.
“When?”
“A few minutes ago?”
“Nah, sorry, I didn’t see anyone leave.”
How was that possible?
He rubbed at his temple and then looked over at Hector. “Sure, come on in.”
“I got a call last night from Elizabeth, she had a horrible feeling and wanted to deal with you, but I said I’d come and see you.”
Stepping into his house, he closed the door, looking at Hector and then at Buttercup. She didn’t growl, just laid on the sofa, looking as regal as ever. At least, he didn’t have her to be any kind of guard dog. She was useless.