There was a long pause on my side of the line as I mulled over what to say, not that there was much that I could say. At that point, in Michael's mind, I was wrong and not much could change that.

"So are you going to tell me why you just ran away? Wait, I know why don't you start with where the hell are you?" Michael shouted into the phone.

I winced at the edge in his voice. If it wasn't clear before that he was livid, it sure was then.

"I'm in Silver Point."

"So you just hop on a plane and fly to a town in the middle of nowhere to a place you've never been. All on your own and without telling anyone where you went?"

I pursed my lips together but I couldn't stop the flood of bitterness rushing through my veins, "I'm a grown woman Michael, I don't need to tell you about my daily doings all the time. Your my brother not my keeper!"

"Grown women don't act like irresponsible children, Kit. They tell someone when they're leaving, they don't just disappear. You had me worried out of my mind!"

"I'm sorry, okay?" I barked while tears stung my eyes.

"What the hell are you even doing there?"

I had lost this battle long ago. Michael could read me like an open book and I found out a long time ago it was better, to be honest with him.

"The house mom left me, I wanted to see the place she grew up."

"So you just decided to leave without saying anything?"

"Admit it, you would have tried to stop me. What's worse is you would have succeeded and I would have stayed home, all alone."

"I offered to stay with you!"

"It's the same Michael and you know it."

I felt tears burning my eyes but I refused to cry in the front seat of my car. If I was going to cry it was going to be behind closed doors.

"Then what is it, Kate? Because I'm at a loss here!"

"She's everywhere, Michael. There's not one damn room in that house that's not suffocating me."

"Kit-Kat, you should have told me," Michael said his voice softening.

I felt the first tear roll down my cheek and angrily swatted it away. I could take Michael being angry with me but I couldn't take the sympathy, least of all from him. "I just needed to get away for a while."

Michael sighed, "How long are you staying for?"

This was the part I was dreading, I hadn't planned to stay here for the whole summer but I wanted to fix the house and I knew he wouldn't agree with that. But, I still had to tell him otherwise he would just pester me until I went home. Worse case, he'd come and get me.

"For the whole summer."

There was a long pause at the other end of the line and for a minute and I wondered whether the call had been dropped. "Michael?"

"Kit, why are you staying that long?"

"The house here is in ruins, I'm fixing it up."

"Why are you running away from this? The house isn't going to bring mom back."

My throat closed and his words punched me in the gut. My walls were crumbling and I needed to get home wherever the hell that was. "That's not what I'm doing, I'm old enough to make my own choices."

I ended the call after that and drove back to the house. Tears kept streaming down my face but I made no sound. I knew nothing could bring her back but dammit I still needed her and if I wasn't busy with something I would just be swallowed by the grief.

When I rounded the corner of the culdesac, I saw Lucas waiting on the porch with a deep scowl etched into his face. I parked the car in the driveway and quickly wiped the tears from my face. All I wanted at that moment was a warm shower and a bed. More than that, I wanted to be alone.

I got out and heard Lucas' voice call out to me, "Did it really take three hours to buy new bedding? I've been loitering here for most of the day."

My patience had run out with Michael and I had none to spare for Lucas. I brushed past him, walking to the front door and kept my face down. The last thing I needed him to see is my blotchy and red face.

"Then why didn't you leave. This might be a small town but I'm sure an email or call would have worked just as fine."

"That's not how this works. It's rude to just leave someone hanging, but what should I expect from some girl from the big city."

I swung around and speared him with my eyes. He took one look at my face taking in my tear-streaked cheeks and kept his mouth shut.

"Listen here buddy, I hired you to do a job not to reprimand me on manners. You don't even know me, so take your judgment and shove it up to your ass!"

To my surprised, Lucas smiled, "Feel better now?"

The frown on my face withered and turned into confusion. I just insulted him and all he could do was grin like he had won the fight. Did I feel better?

"Yeah, I do. Now about the house?"

"Do you want the good news or the bad news."

I rolled my eyes, "The bad, nothing I need to do about the good."

Lucas raised his eyebrows in shock, "Okay. So you need an electrician to check out the wiring but I think the whole house needs to be rewired. I've managed to get the power on but I can't guarantee how long that's going to last. The pipes are rusted and they could burst at any minute. The woodwork throughout the whole house needs to be replaced not to mention all the landscaping outside."

My mouth hung open, "So what's the good news then?"

"The structure is pretty sound. For a house this old that's always a concern but you seem to be in the clear there."

I looked at him like he was crazy.

Now it was Lucas' turn to roll his eyes, "If you had structural damage as bad as the rest of the house you would have had to scrap the whole building. I'll send you the total pricing tomorrow."

I nodded my head and with that and not so much a goodbye he took off. I couldn't help watching his retreating form and admired the view. He may have been a jerk but Casey was right, he was a sight to behold.

I stepped inside the home, switched on the light, and smiled when it came to life.

I went to work cleaning down the room I was going to sleep in. After dusting, sweeping, and cleaning down all the surfaces, I put the new comforter on the bed.

Then I took a long well-deserved shower. It wasn't long before I crumbled to the floor as the flood of emotions pulled me down. I shook with sorrow, far too tired to keep it back. Grief was like an old friend welcoming me in its cold embrace and there was nothing I could do to escape it.

For the past few months, I've felt out of control most days, always being yanked in ten different directions. Then I came to Silver Point and I found something in this old house. I found something I could control and focus on. I found a purpose that I couldn't fail.

So no matter what happened next I was going to do this. Whether Michael wanted me to or not and even with the jackass Lucas, I would do it. For my mom.

After I towel dried my hair I fixed it into a messy bun on top of my head and then made some dinner which I only ended up picking at.

Sitting on the bed, I looked at the box that contained the letters mom left me. I knew I should have told Michael about the letters but I felt like mom left them for me with the purpose to come here. I was terrified to find out what all the letters held.

I pulled the second letter from the box and held it or longer than necessary. I wanted to read the letters, hell I wanted to read them all at once but there was so much mom had kept from me. How would I handle the whole truth? What happened in this town that made a mother want to forget about it? Or a better question would be, did I really want to know?

With trembling hands, I opened the letter and started to read.

Dear Kit

I know you're wondering about why I kept most of my life away from your kids, you see I've made many mistakes. Mistakes that I wish I could have made up for. Never have I wanted you to be in this situation wondering about what I did or did not do.

I guess by now you're in Silver Point trying to figure it all out. That, or you've read all the letters and I misjudged you. But if you happen to be there know this, this town was my home and I regretted every day that I couldn't raise you, kids, there.

This town and its people are like no other place you've ever been and it was my home for many years. Even after leaving, a piece of my heart always remained there. I have no idea what condition the house is in and for that I'm sorry, I should have gone back sooner to check on things.

I know right now you don't understand all of this and your feeling lost. I hope Silver Point can give you a little something it's always been able to give me. Hope.

Love Mom.

I wiped at my eyes and cheeks trying to sort through the clutter of thoughts in my head. Mom had known I would come here and try to figure things out.

Without much thought, I ran downstairs and began combing through all the drawers and cupboards. I found a stack of photo albums and boxes full of knick-knacks. All the while tears rolled down my face. Sleep evaded me most of the night so instead, I decided to sort through all the items in the house.

I pushed all the furniture in the living room against the walls and rolled up the carpet. Making piles for items to be stored and items to be thrown away. When twilight colors began skimming through the curtains, I had the living room ordered and ready to be boxed up.

I made a mental note to ask Lucas where I could find boxes. A lot of the photo albums were now in one pile. There was a section in the large living room I left for furniture that I was going to throw out or donate. Most of the furniture had seen better days but I wasn't sure if they could be restored. One more Lucas mental note added to the list.

When dawn finally broke I collapsed down into a couch with a hole in its seat and a steaming cup of coffee in my hand. I blearily looked at my handy work and felt a smile dance on my lips. If one could not sleep, one should be productive.

I snickered at the thought, it was something mom used to say when I couldn't sleep but it never really happened that often. Lately, I spent most of my hours awake unable to get my mind to slow down it's thought process.

My eyes drifted shut as my weary body finally gave in to the fatigue. My breathing slowed down and soon I was drifting through my dreams.

The waves of the ocean lapped at my feet, pulling me to peace. I stared at the blue water flowing back and forth in a peaceful rhythm. Then a dark storm cloud started to roll over the horizon and lightning cracked the sky wide open. Thunder rumbled, the ground trembling and the once tranquil scene turned into something darker. There was an urgency in the air that coiled around my body like a whip and I couldn't move my feet. The wind howled and whipped my hair across my face and my pulse started to race. The energy built up around me and I could feel it was about to snap. My eyes went wide as another quake of thunder shook the ground.

Then the waves, that had so lovingly caressed my body, not seconds before, began pulling me towards the storm. I fell down and dug my fingers into the wet sand and gaped as I got dragged further into the turbulent waves. I was hauled under the dark water and a bubble of air passed my lips. Black clouded my vision and my lungs refused to take in air. I flailed my arms around and tried to swim to the surface but that waves kept whirling me over in the water. I couldn't even tell whether I was up or down.

As the waves became more viscous and unrelenting, pain exploded in my head while my lungs shrieked for air. I finally saw a bright light in the darkness and started kicking my legs in its direction. When my face broke the surface, I took a big gulp of air. Darkness fell over me as a large wave formed above me and I knew there was no way that I could outswim it. So as the water came crashing down, I took a deep breath.

My eyes sprung open the moment my body made contact with the unforgiving hardwood floors. Somewhere, something was knocking and I was taken back to the nightmare with it's rumbling thunder. One by one my senses came back to me and I realized someone was banging at the front door and I had fallen off the couch.

I rubbed at the tender spot where I fell and I knew it was going to bruise. The knocking grew louder and more frantic making me race to the front door.

What I saw when I opened the door made me want to shut it again. Lucas was standing on the porch as dark and imposing as the first time I saw him.

His eyes blazed with irritation, "How nice of you to finally open the door. This is Preston Willow," he said pointing to the older man next to him, "he's the electrician here to check out the wiring."

Preston smiled at me and I couldn't help smiling back. His was was wrinkled and grey fuzz covered his head. Warm brown eyes with a lively smile made me feel relaxed. It was only Lucas' death glare that made me uneasy.

"Hi Preston, I'm Katelyn," I said and stuck out my hand to him.

He clasped my hand and gave it a hearty shake, "Nice to meet ya, Katelyn. I'll go out back to check the wiring from the breaker and then work my way in."

When Preston was out of earshot Lucas turned to me, "Is there a valid reason to why I have to nearly bang down your door every time I come here?"

Well someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed, I thought to myself. Well though luck, because I hadn't even managed to get an hour of sleep and if he believed coming here and being rude was going to work, he's dead wrong.

"It's none of your damn business," I said through clenched teeth.

"It is my business when you're wasting my time. Next time I'll just leave and your house can fall apart for all I care."

I narrowed my eyes at the blatant warning, "I dare you."

A carnal smile spread across his lips and Lucas took a step towards me until his heady scent trapped my senses and left me with nowhere to go. He towered over me and I felt my body flush with the fever at the proximity.

"Wrong move, Princess."