Free Relentless: Three Novels by Lindsey Stiles Page B

service now. I started fixing up the house on the outside about a month ago. Believe it or not, it was much worse.”
    “Really?” she asked.
    “Yeah, it was full of trash and dead shrubs. My dad wouldn’t let me touch it when he was alive.”
    She shuddered. “I’m glad you cleaned up the grounds.”
    “Fresh paint is next for the outside, but I have no idea of what to do with the inside until I get it emptied out.”
    “Emptied out? What do you mean?” she asked. “No one’s lived here since?”
    “No,” he said quickly. “My parents owned the house, but they never did anything with it. They never rented it, much to my mother’s frustration. It’s almost just as your family left it, 25 years ago. To the day, apparently.”
    “Oh, my goodness,” Nikki said, swallowing hard with the realization that he even remembered the exact date. “Now, I really want to see it.”
    “It’s locked. Let me run down the street and get the house keys.”
    “Okay. I’ll wait here,” she said.
    He jogged toward his big house on acreage at the end of the dead-end street, down by the river.
    After he left, she sat on the front steps and waited for him. She could remember sitting here to play jacks with her sister and eat homemade ice pops made from Kool-Aid. Her mind drifted to the past and only good memories surfaced. She was relieved. On impulse, she texted her sister, Tara, and told her where she was.
    Get out of there! Tara texted back. What are you even thinking?
    No! I want to put my fears to rest, once and for all , Nikki texted back.
    Call me later! Tara texted. I’m worried about you.
    Okay, sis, Nikki texted back.
    Before she knew it, Jimmy Matthews showed up with the house keys and a flyer with the price of the house and a list of its features. She got up from the front steps and glanced at the flyer before she put it in her purse.
    “Good price. Thanks for your phone number, too.”
    “You’re welcome. That price is for the house in its current condition. After it’s all cleaned up, the price will be raised.”
    “Of course,” Nikki said. “I just told my sister I was looking at our old house and that it was for sale.”
    “Oh,” he said, blinking in surprise. “I hope going in here won’t upset you.”
    “It’s been a long haul, but I came because I want to put the old fears to rest, once and for all, by seeing the house. You know, without crying or drama.”
    “Wow. Areyou okay now?” he asked.
    “I should be fine,” she said calmly, though she felt shaky. “I take meds for anxiety, but I don’t even remember much of what happened that day.”
    “You don’t?” he asked, his expression calm.
    “No, nothing. I was too little. Therapists said my sister and I were either too traumatized to remember, or too young to understand what happened. Or maybe we weren’t in the room when it happened. When she got—”
    “You poor kids,” he said sympathetically and sighed. It took some doing, but he got the lock to yield and the door to unstick when he gave it a little kick at the bottom.
    The peeling front door swung open into her past.
     
     
     
    Chapter Two
     
     
    A musty smell drifted out as Jimmy flipped on the light. “I had to have the utilities turned on for a potential buyer who came out with a home inspector, but the sale fell through because of his bad credit. At least I know everything’s working. Electricity, plumbing, washer, dryer, everything’s good. I had to haul the fridge to the dump. The roof is purple slate, and still in perfect shape. Those roofs can last 120 to 150 years.”
    “Wow,” Nikki said. “Who knew?” She could see dust motes floating in the air and the couch was all torn up by rats or squirrels. The bottoms of the once-beautiful drapes were likewise shredded.
    “I just need to upgrade the electrical and put in smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors to meet the local code. Otherwise, things are fine. That’s as far as I’ve gotten on the indoor