Closing Books

Chapter 1 - Part 2

Evelyn drove up the lone, single driveway that led to the mansion. Green towering trees that stood throughout all seasons flanked both sides of the road. For a moment, her eyes flickered onto the trees. She forced herself to focus on the road and kept her eyes away from the never-ending woods.

Even after a year, Evelyn couldn't get over how creepy and isolated the mansion was.

Whenever her eyes wandered to the trees, thoughts of someone or something suddenly appearing out of the forest to attack her would surface.

Even with her wild imagination aside, she hated the drive up to the mansion.

She wasn't sure if it was the scenery of the impenetrable forest or the solitary drive, but a sense of melancholy always accompanied her on the drive.

If only Kate had chosen to live somewhere else, then she wouldn't have to make this drive up every other day.

She tightened the grip on her steering wheel as she turned into the mansion and saw Dan's car.

She hadn't seen him for weeks, not since Kate went on her honeymoon, not since that day at the park. But that hadn't stopped her from thinking about him.

She sighed, pushing the thoughts from her head.

They were no longer together, and for good reason.

Stepping out of the car, she strode up to the door and turned the knob. As expected, it wasn't locked.

With so many people going in and out of the house, Marianne had made it a policy to leave the door unlocked during meal times.

Evelyn stepped through the doorway, and her entrance was immediately announced by the motion sensor alarm.

She didn't understand why Tyler had bothered with that thing. The kitchen didn't offer a direct view of the main door, so the alarm did nothing to indicate who was coming in. For all they knew, she could have been a burglar.

Strolling past the luggage in the living room, she headed straight into the kitchen.

She forced her lips into a wide grin. "Hey!"

Kate turned around with a blissful smile and gave her a hug. "Sit! I'm giving out presents. These are yours," Kate said, giving the two large paper bags on the oval dining table a slight nudge.

Without even looking, Evelyn knew it was probably two new branded bags.

Bags were her sole indulgence.

Having grown up with barely anything instilled some habits in her.

She always made sure she set aside more than half of her income in the bank. She didn't go for expensive food and had been driving the same secondhand car for years.

But bags, she was always willing to cut back on other expenses for her bags.

She sat beside Kate and watched her dole out presents to Dan and Marianne. It was strange to see so few people in the usually crowded kitchen.

Kate's husband, Tyler, sat back against his chair with his arm draped lazily across Kate's chair.

The past year had brought about many changes to all their lives.

A year ago, a will left behind by Tyler's grandfather ended up bringing Kate and Tyler together. Along with Tyler, Dan, Ryan, and Joseph all tagged along. They had all become part of the regular people in her life now.

Besides Dan, she wasn't close with any of the guys.

She wasn't a sociable person in the first place. She was the sort who fared better at being alone than having to mingle with people. Having one friend was more than enough for her.