Copper Lake Secrets

Free Copper Lake Secrets by Marilyn Pappano

Book: Copper Lake Secrets by Marilyn Pappano Read Free Book Online
Authors: Marilyn Pappano
Tags: Suspense
danced it out of the pool. “You ever come here before?”
    “Not that I recall. I told you, I don’t swim.”
    “Yeah, but what kid can resist throwing things in the water?” He tossed another small piece, then a second. As they bobbed along, an old memory came to mind: her and her dad at the duck pond in Denver. How many hours had they spent on a concrete bench not much better than this one, tossing in stale crackers and chunks of bread for the ducks and talking about the wonders of life? Of course, to a nine-year-old, everything was pretty wondrous.
    The wish that it still was ached deep in her chest.
    “This one,” she answered in response to his question.
    With a grin, he shook his head. “You must have read an entire library’s worth of books that summer.”
    Maybe. In dire need of escape to a world where things still made sense, she’d read a lot those first weeks, when she wasn’t crying and trying to convince herself it was all a horrible nightmare and she would wake up soon. After that…
    Well, that was why she was here. To find out.
    For the hundredth time, she wondered if knowing was really important. It didn’t take a psychiatrist to know that there was a reason she’d blocked that summer out. Something bad had happened that her thirteen-year-old mind had deemed unbearable. Was she any better equipped to deal with emotional trauma at twenty-eight?
    Evie thought so. Martine did, too. Sometimes so did Reece. But sometimes…
    She was about to suggest they get moving again when a wind blew over them. Elsewhere around them, the air remained still; the leaves didn’t rustle; the branches didn’t sway. The current was icy and bore hints of smells: sweat, brackish water, fresh dirt, rain, tobacco. Goose bumps raised on her arms, and she hugged herself tightly to contain a violent shudder.
    When she managed a look at Jones, he was watching her. The skin on his arms was pebbled, too, but he wasn’t shivering. He sat as still as stone.
    As quickly as it had stirred, the wind stopped. For an endless moment, the woods were silent as a morgue, until one brave bird chirped. Another swooped from one tree to the next, and the usual chatter slowly resumed.
    Jones stood, his movements smooth and easy, and extended his hand. She wasn’t sure she could have stood without his help. Her legs were unsteady, her hands trembly and her insides awhirl.
    They’d gone a hundred feet, her hand still clasped inside his big, warm one, before he spoke. “Now that’s something you don’t experience every day.”
    She laughed, just a little, enough to ease some of the tension making her vibrate. “I think it’s safe to say that most people don’t experience ghosts every day.” As relief and calm seeped into her, self-consciousness flooded her, and she eased her hand from his and put a few more feet between them. “My father used to tell me stories about this place. Grandmother said they were all nonsense, and Grandfather…well, he thought pretty much everything about Daddy was nonsense. They didn’t get along. The first time I can remember coming here for a visit, I must have been five or six. As soon as we walked into the house, I started asking, ‘Where are the ghosts, Daddy?’” She shook her head. “My grandparents were not amused.”
    “Did you see anything?”
    “I never actually see them. I hear things. Feel things. Footsteps, that wind, creaking, emotions.” She looked up. “Do you see anything?”
    “Sometimes just wisps or vague shapes. But usually not.”
    The conversation might have struck anyone else as ridiculous, but not Reece. Besides her own sensitivity to other presences, Evie talked to spirits and they talked back, and Martine had her own experiences with things otherworldly. It was a common thing in their small circle.
    “But Miss Willa doesn’t believe.”
    “Oh, no. So if you have any trouble with the ghosts when you start digging up the yard, don’t expect her to

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