Keeping Secrets by Bina Bernard

Author:Bina Bernard
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781951627577
Publisher: Arcade
Published: 2021-01-07T16:00:00+00:00

As Robert pulled into the driveway, Hannah stiffened. She knew that seeing the cottage under their new circumstances would be hard for her. Surrounded by dune grass and other modest beach houses, the small, two-story, gray-shingled A-frame was on a lane just behind the dunes. From the deck off the upstairs bedroom Robert and Hannah often watched the ocean waves undulate on the sand. In the late afternoon they’d sit sipping wine and congratulate themselves for being fortunate enough to have such a spectacular view. Seeing the sun set was a perfect coda to any day.

When the front door slammed behind her, the familiar smell of damp pine embraced her. Hannah closed her eyes and recalled the happy times she and Robert had spent there. Her memories cheered her until she walked into the living room that now doubled as an office. The drop-leaf dining table they found at a thrift shop and she’d waxed to a hard luster finish was folded and relegated to a sidewall. Robert’s large drawing table, piled high with blue prints, T-squares, rulers, and other architectural paraphernalia, now dominated the room. The gray-ticking couch, along with a white sale-cloth easy chair and glass coffee table were shoved to the other side of the room. Tacked on the walls, with pushpins, were huge renderings of the two houses now in mid-construction. It was still the same beach house, but now it was officially Robert’s. Deep down, Hannah had always considered the cottage to be his.

She had been out of town on an assignment when Robert first saw it and he couldn’t reach her. The house was exactly what they both wanted and at a price they could afford. He put down a deposit that very day. “I couldn’t risk losing it,” he explained. It was the only time Robert ever made a major decision without consulting her. Until now.

“We’ll be ready to eat in no time. Just relax,” Robert said, as he took his cache of food into the kitchen. Grinning, he added, “If you can figure out how to do such a simple thing.”

“I’ll do my best,” she said with the utmost seriousness. “Do you have anything cold to drink?”

Just as the question fell from her lips, Robert handed Hannah a mimosa before disappearing into the kitchen. She looked around trying not to feel displaced. Hannah was surprised to see the staircase leading to the master bedroom now had a railing. For years she had pressed for one. Seeing the change unnerved her.

“The house looks very different,” she said.

“It’s only temporary,” Robert yelled back.

Unlike Hannah, he attached no significance to the changes.

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