All Chapters of Whispers of the Heart: Chapter 201 - Chapter 210

I forgot that sleeping in with Nate was impossible. Since school started, he was up bright and early almost as soon as the sun rose. I had somehow managed to drag myself away from Owen last night, although neither of us wanted to. I told him it would be better if while we were here, if I slept in the bed with Nate and he stayed in his own room. It was what his mother wanted and although she wasn’t here, I wanted to respect her wishes in her own home and I explained that to him. He had pouted but said he understood and let me know that he didn’t think he would get a wink of sleep without me since he had gotten so used to us sleeping side by side.I put Nate playing on his tablet while I took a shower and while we waited for Owen to get out of bed. We hadn’t really discussed what the plans for each day would be so I needed to wait and see what the plan was for everything, from meals to activities.Owen stumbled over around eight-fifteen and bless his heart, he didn’t look like he had sle

Monday was a perfect pool day. After the rain on Sunday, the sun had came back out in full force for what some of the old timers around town called “Indian Summer”. It’s apparently a time in late fall, usually October or November, when Mother Nature decides that summer is not quite over and hits us with one more blast of hot weather before we have true fall and then the first hints of winter.It was ninety degrees by noon so after finishing a late breakfast and playing some basketball with Nate in the gym inside the large building called the pool house, we switched gears and climbed in the pool.Their pool was designed with warming jets and Owen had turned them on early in the morning so that the water would be reasonably warm enough to match the temperatures outside. There is usually that moment of climbing in the pool that is a shock to your system. It's when your body has to do a major adjustment and then you have to just decide to put yourself out of your misery and go under as qui

After school started back, the excitement turned to the upcoming holiday that all kids and teenagers love, Halloween. The local theater was putting on their annual haunted house but we saw signs that they were short on actors. They had it open on Saturday nights and then on Friday nights that there wasn’t a home football game to compete with.There was an old abandoned mansion at the end of a dead end street here in town that the owner allowed them to use every year for the haunted house. The home belonged to his mother and father and he had never had the heart to sell the place, although he had no intentions of living there. It was over a century old and would need so much renovation to modernize that he deemed it not worth it. So, he had made a deal with the theater company years ago to allow them to use the place, free of charge and turn it into the haunted house each year as long as they paid the utilities during the time it was in use as well as mowed and maintained the grounds th

The night was ruined but we had little choice but to pick ourselves up, get back into our positions and finish as best we could. I did it but my heart was no longer in it and I replayed Phil’s words over and over again every single time I jumped out of that coffin. I no longer felt flirty and playful. Now, I felt cheap and forced. His words echoed in the back of my mind the rest of the night.I felt exposed, like I was suddenly naked in the room and on display for all to see. I knew it was ridiculous and I was just letting him get inside my head. He knew exactly what to say to bring me to my knees, too. It helped having Owen and our friends there but they could offer little in the form of comfort and reassurance while we were busy working and playing our little roles down in this dark, damp dungeon of a basement. A space that was once fun and free was now my own prison.Across the way, I could tell he had affected Owen deeply, too. I could all but feel the waves of rage and anger rolli

I stared at Chief Harding like he had just grown a second head. My heart was pounding so hard, I could hear it in my ears, blocking out most other sounds. Another body? Victim number five? But not around here. What did that mean?I voiced the question aloud. Chief Harding looked back at Detective Clements before both looked back at me again.“Honestly, Miss Butler, we don’t know. The Tennessee Bureau will take over and let us know. It could be that he has moved on or it could just be that he knew the heat down here was too much right now.”“I am so sick of this,” I whispered, looking down at my hands in my lap. “Why can’t I just live a normal life?”“I’m sorry, sweetie,” Chief Harding answered, dropping the formality. “I have kids, two daughters and I would be going crazy right now if either one of them were going through something like this. I can’t promise you that this will be over anytime soon but I can promise you that we will try our best to keep you safe. As of today, I am putti