After making note of the broken swing set, Rylee made her way into the old house, not entirely convinced that the entryway wouldn’t cave in above her. She hoped they could make this place work – she hoped they could make them work. She’d given up so much to be with Cole again.
You handed your own sister over to the Conclave, the guilty part of her conscience said. Yes, I did, replied the shameless part of her conscience. That’s the choice I made to be with Cole. Besides, it’s not like she didn’t deserve it after what she did to me.
Moving through the almost-haunted house, Rylee made notes of what they would need to repair. Wooden balustrade along the stairs. The stairs themselves. All of the floorboards. Lighting needs to be redone. Windows need repairing and tinting. Yeah, there’s a lot to do.
There were a lot of house building companies closer to this place than the one Cole was going to, so she hoped he knew what he was doing. Would one really be willing to come all the way from Mornington to help out? That was like two hours away. They must have owed Cole one heck of a favour. It wasn’t like luxury builders based around the Mornington Peninsula were easy to get.
Even if they were the best builders in the world, Rylee wondered if they would be able to make this place any good. It was far beyond renovating. They’d discussed the possibility of building instead, but it simply wasn’t feasible. It seemed as if nothing short of a wish spell would make this place livable.
She moved into the kitchen, noting the cracked benches and collapsed table. This place needed a miracle.
Opening the pantry, Rylee noted that all of the shelves had fallen down. As she turned to leave, though, she noticed something odd. The open wall on the left side seemed just slightly off…
Rylee gave it a light shove, and wouldn’t you know it, the wall swung to the side, revealing a secret passageway.
Very interesting, Rylee thought, taking her first steps toward it.