Chapter 1 - THE WOMAN IN HIS DEAD WIFE’S BED
Kevin Vale threw open the bedroom door and ripped back the blanket.
Then he froze.
Annie Brooks was asleep in Claire’s bed.
His five-year-old twins were curled against her on either side.
Jordan had one fist knotted in the sleeve of Annie’s gray housekeeping dress.
Justin’s cheek rested against her shoulder.
For eleven months, Kevin had allowed no one to sleep in this room.
Not his mother.
Not his sons.
Sometimes not even himself.
“Get away from my sons.”
Annie woke instantly.
Jordan tightened his grip.
Kevin pointed toward the hallway.
“You’re fired. Now.”
Annie started to sit up.
Justin panicked.
He threw both arms around her waist.
“Don’t make her leave.”
Kevin stopped.
The boy’s voice was raw from crying.
“What happened?”
Neither twin answered.
Then something slid from beneath the pillow.
Deep burgundy silk.
Kevin recognized it before it reached the floor.
Claire’s scarf.
She had worn it during the last Christmas before her ovarian cancer returned.
Kevin picked it up.
His anger changed.
“Where did you find this?”
Annie looked toward the twins.
“I didn’t.”
Jordan pointed toward the bedside table.
Not the top drawer.
The bottom one.
The drawer Kevin had locked the morning after Claire’s funeral.
“Mommy said Daddy wouldn’t open it.”
Kevin stared at his son.
“What?”
Jordan lowered his eyes.
“She said you’d be too sad.”
Kevin’s chest tightened.
Annie slowly stood.
“I didn’t touch the drawer.”
“Then why are you in here?”
“The boys came in during the storm. Justin was crying. Jordan said this was the only room where they remembered how their mother smelled.”
Kevin looked at them.
He had thought they were getting better.
That was what his mother kept telling him.
They’re adjusting.
They need routine.
Stop reopening the wound.
Kevin reached into his pocket.
The drawer key was still on his ring.
He had carried it for eleven months without using it.
Annie moved toward the door.
Kevin stopped her.
“Wait.”
He unlocked the drawer.
Inside were two envelopes, a thin leather notebook, a folder from Claire’s attorney—
and a white card bearing one handwritten name.
ANNIE BROOKS.
May you like
Kevin slowly turned toward the maid he had hired seven months after his wife died.
“How did Claire know your name?”
Related Stories
