The Guest House Hauntings Boxset by Hazel Holmes (novel books to read txt) 📕

just on the surfaces of shelves, windows, and furniture. She hadn’t even touched the floor.

When lunchtime finally rolled around, Sarah was convinced that she had inhaled more shit from that room than in her seven years smoking cigarettes. Coughing and with her stomach rumbling, Sarah headed toward the kitchen.

Having already seen most of what the kitchen had to offer when she was searching for the cleaning supplies, Sarah grabbed a plate and made herself a turkey sandwich with a side of chips and grabbed a bottled water from the fridge.

With her meal ready, she started to sit down at the table but then caught a glimpse of the weather outside. Remembering the garden she’d seen from her window, she decided to take her lunch out there.

Outside, the late morning was a stark contrast from the day before. Nothing but blue skies and sunshine, though a chill lingered in the air despite the sun. But after working up a sweat in the house, she found the cold refreshing.

A concrete path led her from the side of the house toward the garden in the back, where she was greeted with the bright green of hedges, accented with bursts of color from a variety of flowers.

Plate of food in one hand and her bottle of water in the other, Sarah found a seat on a wooden bench nestled under a lattice that was covered in green ivy.

“Hello.”

Sarah jumped, which flung the plate off her lap. Turkey, bread, lettuce, cheese, and tomato splatted against the concrete, and her heel crunched the chips as she stood and spun around.

A tall man in a dirty blue jumpsuit, gloves, and work boots held up his hands in apology. “Sorry.” He smiled, exposing crooked and yellowed teeth. “Didn’t mean to startle you.” His voice was rough like the dark stubble along his cheeks. “I’m Dennis.” He removed his glove and extended a big, calloused hand with long fingernails that matched the yellow of his teeth.

Sarah regarded the hand, and Dennis retracted it, looking a little self-conscious over her dismissal.

Dennis dropped his gaze to the spilled food and then frowned. “Oh no, look what I did. Let me run in and fix you something real quick.”

“No, it’s fine. Really.” She bent down and scooped the sandwich up, dusting off the bread

“Are you sure? I promise I can make it just like you want it,” Dennis said.

Sarah reassembled the sandwich and took a bite to end his attempts to reconcile. “See? Good as new.” She tried to smile through the chomping, but the bite she had taken was too big.

“You must be the new maid.” Dennis cleared his throat and then ran his palm over his head, sneaking a quick glance at her figure. He probably didn’t think she noticed, but she always did. All women did. “Glad to have some help around here, though my expertise is somewhat limited to the yards.”

Sarah finished the bite and then glanced around the garden. “You do all this yourself?”

“Yup.” Dennis crossed his arms and then rocked back on his heels. “Mrs. Bell likes to have a place to come outside and rest. It’s a challenge keeping everything alive, especially this time of year.” He frowned. “Once the first snow hits, it’s goodbye clementine.”

“Right,” Sarah said, still holding her sandwich and still standing. She kept quiet for a while, looking at anything but Dennis’s face, hoping the man would get the hint that she wanted to be left alone, but he kept staring at her, flashing those yellow teeth. “Well, I should finish up.” She raised the sandwich. “Need to get back to work soon.”

“Oh, sorry.” Dennis quickly donned his glove. “Well, if you need anything, don’t be afraid to reach out. Lovely to meet you, um—”

“Sarah,” she said.

Dennis smiled. “Sarah.” He lingered a moment longer than necessary then disappeared behind the tall hedges.

Sarah shivered once he was out of sight, but it wasn’t from the cold. It was the way that Dennis had said her name. There was a hint of adoration, almost as if he was tasting the words as he spoke.

She ate a few more bites of the sandwich, but she’d lost her appetite. Leaving the crushed chips on the ground, she returned to work.

By the time five o’clock rolled around, Sarah could barely stand up straight. She’d finished the room, or at least she thought she had until Iris walked into the room with a tornado of insults, exposing every dirty nook and cranny she had missed.

“This crown molding needs to be replaced,” Iris said, looking down at the floor, then ran her finger over one of the cushions on the seat. “And these need a wash.” She flashed the dirty print toward Sarah. “It’s filthy!”

Too tired to protest, Sarah kept quiet, focusing her energy on keeping her eyelids open.

“You’ll start in this room again tomorrow, and give it a proper cleaning.” Iris pointed at the windows. “You didn’t even reach the top sections of the glass!” Shaking her head in disgust, she stormed out of the room, her grumblings trailing her.

Sarah rubbed her eyes, smudging the dust and grime deeper into her skin, and left the cleaning supplies in the room, since she’d be back in the morning.

She made a pit stop at the kitchen before retiring to her room, making herself a sandwich and snagging two bottles of water. Because she had practically skipped lunch, the sandwich was gone before she returned to her room.

Sarah chugged half the water bottle and then turned on the shower to let the water start to warm. The pipes groaned, and the showerhead rattled, but the faucet eventually spit water as Sarah disrobed.

She peeled the uniform from her body like a second skin, and as she wiggled out of her clothes, the scars etched along her back were revealed.

The smallest of them was less than an inch and the largest no more than three inches. They crisscrossed along her back from the base of her neck all the way to her