Holidays In The Hamptons [COMPLETE]

Chapter Eight

The warm glow from the night before remained and Marley woke up the next morning with a smile on her face. She was unconscious that it was there and there it was determined to remain.

She had missed breakfast. Her train ride with Felix had gotten them back into town very late and she would have been responsible for waking Stella up out of a deep sleep to come get her if Felix hadn't offered her a ride home. Thea's house was dark and still as the grave when she sneaked in through the kitchen door.

Everyone had already gone their separate ways by the time Marley made her way to the dining room. All there was left waiting for her was a buffet running slightly cold. She ate in silence and left before the stillness could get to her.

Determined to make herself more at home as they still had several days left in their stay, Marley decided to explore. Gone were the thoughts of her small apartment back in New York. The splendor of Felix's own house in the city made Marley crave to dive into the depths of Thea's mansion to see what she could find.

What she couldn't find was people. She could hear rumblings, her mom on a phone call upstairs, her father typing away nearby, conversations as she passed by the kitchen slipping out through the swinging door but no people.

She found, instead, a library, a billiards room, a ballroom with a gleaming wooden floor that reflected up at it the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling and then finally, at the back of the house, extending out into the expansive, sloping lawn that raced towards the ocean, a solarium, a glassed-in greenhouse attached to the house.

Just as Marley was opening the door and letting the warmth piled up from the sun beating down through the green-tainted glass pour over her, someone spoke behind her and Marley jumped.

"Marley. There you are."

Marley's heart was racing as though she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She moved instinctively to block the slightly open door behind her as if worried Thea would throw her out into the cold winter air knowing Marley had stumbled across her room of hibernating plants.

"My apologies. I did not mean to scare you."

Thea must have heard Marley's racing heartbeat as it pounded in her ears but it was more likely that she had noticed Marley's rapid breathing.

"Ah. I see you've found the conservatory!"

Marley glanced behind her as if just noticing the room behind her.

"I hope you don't mind, I was just wandering-"

Thea gracefully waved away Marley's worry.

"Of course not. This house is yours to explore. I encourage it. I was just coming to find you. Are you busy?"

Marley shook her head. Her shoulders were still tight as the thought of having a one-on-one conversation with her grandmother did not inspire confidence but her breathing and heart rate had slowed.

"If you'll follow me."

Thea led the way and retraced Marley's previous steps towards the front of the house. Off of the main living area, where the second of the two large Christmas trees stood, Thea held open a door Marley hadn't noticed before.

What waited for her was a room of dark wood. Everywhere. The large desk and leather chair behind it could have blended in with the walls. The books lining the bookshelves along one wall, although surely not all one uniform color, seemed to have purposefully faded to match the color theme.

Marley looked around for a large portrait of an overbearing elderly man, or a moose head at least, but was surprised to find neither.

"In here."