Page 28 of Echoes at Driftwood Cottage

Before Rowan could answer, Daniel’s temper flared. “Unless she was driving, which she wasn’t, that’s irrelevant. I called 911 about a break-in at her place.” He took a step toward Theo. “But for the record, what she said is all true. I’ve seen the headstone for myself. Rowan, show him the picture you took on Saturday.”

Rowan swiped through her phone until she held up the photograph to the cop. “This is at Eternal Gardens. It reads Rowan Avery Eaton. That’s my name and my birthdate. Me. I have a birth certificate and driver’s license to prove it.”

“Twins, maybe?” Theo proffered.

“Not according to Rowan’s birth certificate,” Daniel clarified. “This whole thing has sort of ruined her homecoming. She grew up here from ten to eighteen. During those years, her Gran had custody. We’re not sure exactly what’s going on, hence the papers dumped on the floor. She was looking for some answers. Now the break-in tells me someone is looking for something very specific that has nothing to do with the ownership of the house or a fancy MacBook Pro.”

Theo rubbed the back of his neck, shifted his feet, and adjusted the holster attached to his belt. His eyes drifted to Daniel. “I take it the two of you were together at your place when this happened, right?”

“Yes.”

Theo nodded and angled toward Rowan. “Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do for tonight. You go back to Daniel’s and get yourself a good night’s sleep. If you haven’t packed a bag, gather whatever you need, a change of clothes, toothbrush, etc. In the meantime, I’ll take photos of this mess and hopefully get some usable prints to run through the system. And yes, I’ll dust both doors. But it looks like whoever came in here just walked in. Tomorrow, the first chance you get, drop by the station when your head’s clearer and make a formal statement about this girl who died. I’d recommend writing it all down first so that it makes more sense, maybe comes off a tad more cohesive.”

Daniel helped Rowan throw a few things into a bag and got out of there. But as soon as they got outside, he ushered her to his Subaru. “I see now why you were reluctant to go to the police. That guy was a jerk.”

“At least he didn’t accuse you of having too much to drink,” Rowan snapped. “Me, he treated like some hysterical female with a personality disorder. And I didn’t even mention the ghost part.”

“It’s weird,” Daniel proclaimed as he started the car and headed around the block to his house. “This guy is so new he doesn’t seem to know about the basics stemming from Pelican Pointe’s most famous resident, ghostly or not. How could he not know about Scott Phillips?”

“Ignorance is bliss. I might not have moved back here if I’d known,” she conceded.

“You’re looking at this all wrong. It’s not Scott’s fault your family history isn’t what you thought it was. He just happened to deliver the message.”

“If Scott sees himself as helping, I don’t see an upside to all this chaos,” she noted.

After pulling up in his driveway and waiting for the garage door to go up, he shifted in his seat to look at Rowan. “What about learning the truth? Don’t you want to know where you came from?”

“What are the odds I came from a normal family who’s pined after their missing kid all these years? What if I came from someone just like Gwynn, only worse? Look at it from my perspective. I trusted the woman who I thought was my beloved Gran. And look how that turned out. I’m not exactly on a winning streak.”

“But she obviously loved you. She tried to protect you as best as she could, even from her own daughter. She took you in and raised you like you were hers.”

“God, I do sound ungrateful and pathetic, don’t I? This is all hitting me from so many angles. I’m confused, angry, hurt, scared, and worried that I’ve made a terrible mistake giving up my job. I have savings and some money from Gran, but what if I can’t make it here as a graphics designer?”

“The house is paid for, right?”

“There is that.”

“You’ll at least have a roof over your head. But the one thing I’ve learned since moving here is that the people in this town go out of their way to support new residents or a new business. They did me. They’re mostly friendly. And if money’s that tight, then work from home instead of taking on a lease with Logan and Kinsey, at least until you get your first steady clients.”

“I did manage to bring two with me from my former firm. Clients.”

“Then build on that.”

She reached across the front seat and ran her fingers down his cheek. “Are you always this upbeat?”

“No. But I see the potential here between us. Don’t chuck it away because you’re scared right now.”

“You don’t even know who I really am.”

“I know you’re a great kisser, adventurous in bed, you have a stubborn streak a mile wide, a killer sense of humor, and you like my grandmother’s lavender ice cream. What else is there to know?”

She leaned in and took his chin. When their lips met, her troubles seemed to melt away. She sunk into the kiss, heat simmering between them until they broke apart.

She couldn’t let fear control her. She had to embrace her new life and the knowledge that things were not as they appeared. No matter how painful it might be, she had to uncover the truth about her past. “You’re right. Let’s do this. We’ll take on Gran’s secrets, one by one. But you need to promise me something.”

“What’s that?”

“We won’t move too fast on this thing between us. My life’s a mess right now. Things need to smooth out for me before I can even think about focusing on a relationship. I have my house and you have yours. We’ll take turns spending the night at each place. When you need your space, you’ll let me know.”

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