Read Haunted for Free Online

oversized stone
mantel. “No family pictures or personal effects. Why is that?”
    She took a deep breath. “I cut ties with my
family a long time ago.”
    “You want to tell me about it?” He sat down
and laced his free hand with hers. When she didn’t respond, he said, “If it’s
too personal—”
    “My parents adopted me after years of
trying to conceive.”
    “Go on.”
    Elle set her tea down when she realized her
hand was trembling. “My mother got pregnant when I was about five. Everything
changed after that. I didn’t fit in anymore. They had their real daughter, and I was just an afterthought.”
    “God, that’s terrible.” Caleb put his mug
down so he could edge closer. “I’m sorry.”
    She shrugged. “It was okay. I just tried to
stay out of trouble and out of their way. It’s not that they were bad parents.
I mean, they weren’t abusive or anything. I just knew they didn’t love me the
same way they loved my sister.”
    “That’s why you cut ties with them?” he
asked gently.
    “It wasn’t really a conscious decision.”
She rested her head against his arm. “I moved to Nashville, and they stopped
calling. So did I. I got busy with school, and once my career took off, I was
too focused to think about much else.”
    “So you’ve had tunnel vision ever since?”
    “Something like that.” She didn’t want to
admit she was a workaholic with no time in her life for anything or anyone
else. Though it was true, she didn’t want to deter him.
    “I can relate to that. I’ve been working
hard for a long time too. That’s why I decided to buy the place in the Keys. My
ex said I needed to make time for R&R. She thought it would be the perfect
place for us to get away from it all and spend some quality time together.”
    “And was it?” Elle wasn’t thrilled to hear
about his relationship with another woman, but she was interested to learn what
made him tick.
    “I enjoyed the time away from the rat race,
but it didn’t help our relationship. We just found reasons to argue on water
instead of dry land.” He smirked. “It didn’t take long for me to realize we
couldn’t save that relationship. She blamed it on the fact that I was a
workaholic, but I just don’t think we were compatible.”
    “Did you end things on friendly terms?”
    “I guess you could say that. She’s a nice
girl, and I have no doubt she’ll find the right guy someday. It just wasn’t
me.”
    Elle was almost afraid to ask, but she felt
compelled to hear his answer. “You’re sure that wasn’t you? I mean, you don’t
have any regrets about ending the relationship?”
    His smile faded, and his eyes darkened with
an intensity she hadn’t seen before. “If I hadn’t ended things with her, I
wouldn’t be here with you, and something tells me this is exactly where I need
to be. Do you believe in fate?”
    “Fate?” She swallowed her trepidation. She
wanted him to feel what she was feeling, but she was afraid of the next step.
“I guess so. Why?”
    “I can’t shake the feeling that you and I
were destined to meet. Do you feel that way too?”
    She felt as if she was playing truth or
dare. Given the choice, she would have taken the dare, no matter how
outrageous, because acknowledging her feelings for him was frightening. Opening
her heart meant trusting someone she barely knew, and she didn’t know how she
could contemplate that after she’d been betrayed by a man she’d known and
trusted for years.
    “Answer me.”
    “I do.”
    “Good,” he said, kissing her hand. “I just
wanted to make sure we were on the same page.”
     
     

Chapter Four
     
    Caleb shut his computer down and
waited for Drake to enter his office after his receptionist had announced
Drake’s arrival. Caleb had been trying to put Elle out of his mind all morning,
but Drake’s arrival just moved her to the forefront again.
    “Hey, buddy,” Drake said, entering the
office. “I hope I’m not interrupting.”
    “I could use