A Secret Worth Keeping

Chapter 8

Lizzie's POV: Turning over in bed, I opened my eyes, my brain still trying to understand where I was, and why I don't hear Josie typing away on her laptop. Did she oversleep? Sitting up, I turned over to wake up my sister only to pause when I noticed Sophie's smaller figure sleeping beside me instead. Memories from the day before flooded through my head, causing me to sigh as I leaned down to kiss my daughter's forehead, holding my hair back so it wouldn't tickle her face.

Standing up, I walked over to the window and pulled a gun from the dresser to slip it into my waistband. Taking a deep breath, I gently move the curtains to the side to look out at the street, scanning every roof and window before turning away from the window, stretching. 

Realizing that the house wasn't heated yet, I shook my head and grumbled under my breath. That was most likely Hope's fault. I shivered and reached behind me to feel the reassuring grip of my gun, startling myself when I realized that I only had one. I must have left my other one under the passenger seat of the car parked outside. 

Glancing back at Sophie, I smiled fondly before picking up the empty glass from the nightstand and walking from the room.

Taking the stairs two at a time, I hurried down the hall to refill the glass in the kitchen. The sun was only just starting to rise outside, but hardly any of the natural light came in because Hope had drawn all the curtains. Honestly, I have never met someone who despised the sun as much as her. 

Rolling my eyes, I slid the curtains aside, instantly feeling warmth seep into my skin as I sighed in relief. Noticing a family portraits hanging on the walls from the previous owners, I frowned to myself in disapproval. 

Those would have to go.

I stopped just inside the door, checking to see that my gun was still within reach one more time, before yanking it open before the approaching strangers had a chance to knock or ring the doorbell and possibly wake up Sophie...or worse, Hope. The strangers looked flustered, both by the suddenness of it and by the brightness of my smile. 

"Good morning", I greeted cheerily, stepping out onto the porch before pulling the door shut behind me. Walking over to the small plant near the window, I bent over and poured water into it as if that was what I had been planning to do all along. I straightened up and smiled at the two strangers who had backed up to keep from crowding me in the doorway and now stood at a more comfortable distance. 

The man and woman recovered quickly and returned my smile. 

"Good morning. We're sorry to come over so early, but we wanted to be the first to welcome you to the neighborhood", the woman admitted.

I nodded, noting the easy way the woman spoke and the protective way the man stood a little closer than necessary with a slightly more disheveled appearance and bags under his eyes. If I had to guess, I would say that the woman was the breadwinner of the family, controlled the family money, the social butterfly, and the catch and the man feared that he wasn't good enough and would lose her soon, which was quite a possibility, seeing as the woman was gorgeous and the man was only okay, in my humble opinion. 

"That's so sweet of you", I smiled. I was giving the neighbors my feigned attention, but I was also eyeing the street, checking for unmarked vehicles or obvious agents trying to appear casual. I could feel the cold reassurance of my gun against my back, but I still felt uneasy. The street seemed too quiet. The only disturbance was the small gathering happening on my lawn. "We only just got in last night", I told them.

"Really? We didn't see a moving truck, but Ryan saw the sold sign and the new car this morning, and I just told him that we had to come introduce ourselves", the woman said in delight. I nodded, holding the empty glass with both hands.