Surrender to Love by Raine English Page A

the other bedrooms. When they were at the front door and she went to unlock the deadbolt, she discovered that it wasn’t locked. “Grandmother,” she said over her shoulder, “did you get up during the night and unlock the door?”
    A guilty flush reddened her cheeks. “I came down about midnight to make a cup of tea. My cough was bothering me, and even though I’d taken medicine, I had a tickle in my throat that wouldn’t go away. I saw a car parked out on the street. I opened the door to get a better look to see if I recognized it and must have forgotten to lock the door after that.” Her wrinkled face scrunched up, and tears welled in her eyes.
    Tara put her arm around her shoulders. “It’s okay. Come on. Let’s go next door.”
    As they walked over to the Douglas house, Tara realized two things: her grandmother had inadvertently let the intruder in, and the reason she didn’t hear anything was because the codeine from the cough medicine must’ve kicked in, putting her into a deep sleep.
    There was no way Tara could’ve heard anything, being all the way up on the third floor. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea after all to have her room up there.
    She rang the bell, and a moment later, the door swung open. Bennett stood there dressed in a suit with an untied necktie dangling down both sides of his chest. He stared at them with raised brows. “Good morning. It’s a little early for a visit, wouldn’t you say?”
    She saw Easton coming down the stairs, and before she could answer, he pushed by his cousin and was out on the porch with them.
    “What’s going on?” He took her hands between his big strong ones.
    “Someone got into the house last night, and I don’t know if he’s still in there.”
    He glanced next door, then ushered them into the foyer. “Have you called the police?”
    She shook her head. “No, not yet. My first thought was for us to get out.”
    “Do you know if anything was taken?” Bennett asked.
    Tara hadn’t even noticed that Bennett was still in the room. He was standing in front of a hall mirror, fixing his tie.
    “I doubt if they had time to take inventory.” Easton shot his cousin an irritated glance, then he looked back over at Tara as he pulled his cell phone from his pants pocket. “Let me give Officer Bailey a call. He’s what we have for police on the island.”
    “I can’t believe this happened. I’ve always felt so safe here.” There was no missing the tremble in her grandmother’s voice, and her usually rosy complexion had gone pale.
    Easton must’ve noticed it too, because he took hold of her arm and led her into one of the front rooms and then over to the sofa. “Would you like something to drink?”
    She held a liver-spotted hand up while shaking her head. “No, thank you. I’m fine now.”
    Tara sat beside her and watched as Easton dialed the phone.
    A few seconds later, he said, “Hello, Officer Dailey. This is Easton Douglas. There’s been a break-in next door at the Spencer house.” There was a short pause while he listened to the officer, then he went on to say, “That’s right. Everyone’s safe. Just Emily Spencer and her granddaughter are living there, and they’re at my house with me.” There was another short pause before Easton said, “Thank you. We’ll see you in a few minutes.”
    He shoved his phone back in his pocket and looked up at Tara and her grandmother. “He’ll be right over.”
    Bennett poked his head in the doorway. “Seeing as you’ve got everything under control, I’ll be off to work. Should I tell your dad that you’ll be late?”
    A vein pulsed at the side of Easton’s neck, and Tara could tell that he was trying to control his temper. “I would appreciate that.”
    The tension between cousins was extremely high this morning, and she wondered what had happened to bring that about.
    With all the stuff going on with the Douglas family and the strange happenings at her grandmother’s house, the quiet summer