Chapter One
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“Wow! That is quite a place!” the cab driver gushed as his eyes took in the 12-roomed manor known as Heart’s Haven.
Her eyes saw the same house but her mind remembered a different time. Back when she was a child, when the house was not as dilapidated as it is now. When its vast gardens were filled with blooming flowers and she would run around the grounds, welcoming the wondrous scents and the chirping of the birds.
“Here you go, sir,” she said in a somber tone. She handed the driver some bills. “Keep the change.”
“Thank you, young lady.”
The driver helped her with her suitcases and she thanked him, hoping he would drive away and leave her with her thoughts.
“Erm… I know it’s none of my business but… are you staying alone in this house?” the driver asked, concern brimming from his kind eyes.
“Yes, I am.”
“No family?”
She shook her head. Her grandparents, the owner of the manor, had died years before.
“What about a boyfriend?”
A sour taste welled up in her throat and she had to fight the urge to vomit right then and there. “It’s just me. Don’t worry, I’ll be alright.”
The driver nodded, not really believing her words.
As the car drove away, Faith Greene couldn’t help but just stare at the large house she inherited when she was 20 years old when both her grandparents died in a plane crash. They were going on their tenth honeymoon to Hawaii.
For some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to enter the house. Actually, she couldn’t. She didn’t have the keys. Just as she was about to give the real estate agent a call, she heard the tell tale sounds of stiletto heels on the cobblestone pavement.
She looked up and saw a very attractive woman walking towards her with a winsome smile. Faith tried to smile and it physically hurt.
“Hello there! I’m Hope Rivers, we spoke on the phone.”
“Hi,” Faith greeted as they shook hands. “Thanks for meeting me here. The town changed so much, I hardly recognized Main Street.”
Hope Rivers’ laugh was quite infectious, but Faith couldn’t bring herself to join her. “I know, right? Heart’s Haven must look like a different planet to you. How long has it been since your last visit?”
It was her grandparents’ funeral. “8 years ago.”
“Well, I’m not really an expert since our family moved here about 5 years ago. But because of my work, I’ve gotten to know quite a few of the locals. So if there’s anything you need—“
“I have your number.”
“Exactly.”
The two women stared at each other for a few seconds before Hope raised both her hands in exasperation. “What am I doing? I’m letting you stand outside your own house! What’s wrong with me? And you flew all the way here, too. I’m very sorry. Usually, I had better manners and much better sense.” She picked up one of the suitcases as she looked for the key in her purse.
Faith carried the rest of her luggage and slowly followed Hope.
When the door opened, Faith was surprised to find that the house had been recently cleaned. It didn’t look as bad as she thought it would.
“I had it cleaned when you called yesterday. I knew you would be tired from your trip. There’s no running water upstairs, so you would have to use the downstairs bath. The phone is still working, though. The kitchen is not stocked but if you could write down a list of things you need, I could have them delivered to you by this afternoon.”
For some reason, Hope’s cheerful voice was drowned out by memories. There was the stairs she used to run up and down on and then Grandma would scold her and tell her to act like a lady. There was the rug she and grandpa would lie on in front of the fire to tell ghost stories during winter nights. And down the hall she knew she’d find the kitchen where she spent hours of Saturday afternoons watching her grandma cook.
It was too much, she suddenly couldn’t breathe.
“Faith? Are you alright?”
“Wha—Yes. Um… just…”
“Memories?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, if you need some company I could stay—“
“Oh I’m fine. I just got a little overwhelmed there for a second. Thank you for everything you’ve done. For looking after the house and having it cleaned…” her voice drifted.
“No problem. So what about the groceries?”
“I’ll go ahead and get them myself later after I’ve unpacked.”
Hope could sense that the young woman needed some time alone so she left the keys, had her sign some papers and said goodbye.
“You have my number, you can call me anytime.”
“I will. Thanks again.”
The door closed behind Hope and Faith was finally left alone. Her mind still whirling from the events of last couple of days, she collapsed on the couch. She was so tired. Physically, mentally and emotionally drained. She never thought she could walk away from her life but she did. She didn’t have a choice.
Eric, she thought. Oh Eric! She actually thought she didn’t have any tears left, but once again she was wrong. Hot tears flowed down her cheeks. She wanted to forget that day, that horrible Wednesday morning, but it was still etched on her mind, stubbornly staying, not budging even for a second.
It was a usual day for a magazine editor. Hundreds of decisions to be made, papers to sign, photographers to lecture, ads to be authorized, phone calls to answer. So when her cell phone rang for the nth time before 10 AM, she answered with her usual phrase, “What’s the problem?”
“Faith?” a voice she recognized as Mary Kwan’s, Eric Foster’s secretary, replied on the other end.
“Mary. Tell Eric I’m terribly busy I can’t talk—“
“Faith, Eric’s gone.”
“What? Where did he go?”
“He was jogging and he had a heart attack—“
“No.”
“They brought him to the hospital but it was too late.”
“NO!”
“Faith, the funeral is—“
“Shut up! Shut UP!!!!”
Eric was gone. Eric is gone. He’s still gone. Yesterday, he was placed in a coffin and was lowered down to the ground and covered with dirt and Faith knew that sooner or later she would have to face life without him. But how could he be dead? Not Eric.
Eric Foster was multi-millionaire publishing tycoon. He was 55 years old but looked no older than 40. He didn’t eat red meat, exercised regularly, and was declared healthy two months ago by his physician. And now, he’s dead.
Eric was also the love of her life. She met him when she was in college and fell in love instantly. He was doing a Q&A at her university and he was devastatingly handsome, witty, smart and everything she knew she wanted in a man. Except for one thing, he was married.
But young hearts can be so thoughtless and oftentimes selfish. Faith introduced herself to Eric and that was the beginning of their love affair.
Her grandparents found out and they were disappointed, understandably. They stopped sending her money and she never went back home. When they died 2 years later, Faith was surprised to find that they left the manor to her. She didn’t know she would need it, until now.
There was a loud knock on the door and Faith sat up. She fell asleep without knowing it. Her body must’ve been so tired. She answered the door.
“Good afternoon, miss. Miss Rivers had these sent over.”
It was a week’s worth of groceries. “Oh, thank you! Let me get my purse—“
“No need Miss Greene. Miss Rivers took care of it. Just take it up with her. Enjoy the rest of the day.”
Faith put the groceries away and decided to call Hope Rivers to thank her. She didn’t know how long she was going to stay here so she might as well make some friends.
“Hello, is this Hope? This is Faith—“
“I’m sorry I took the liberty of shopping for you. I hope everything’s fine.”
“Everything’s fine. Thank you. How could I repay you?”
“Oh shush! If you really want to repay me, you can take me to lunch tomorrow. How about it?”
“Really? Ummm… alright. Sure.”
“Great! You remember where Dina’s Café is?”
“It’s still there?”
Hope laughed. “Still standing and still has the best club sandwich in town. I’ll meet you there around 1:30?”
“Of course. Thank you and see you tomorrow.”
“Bye!”
As Faith hung up, she couldn’t believe she said yes. She went back to Hart’s Haven to be alone and to think but suddenly hr thoughts were too powerful that she realized she needed to get away from them. She wished herself luck, half-heartedly and started to unpack her things.[/FONT][/SIZE]
to be continued...
