Give Me Grace

Chapter 5

Part Two

After eating my fill, I was finally ready to go to bed. We still had a lot to do at the house and it was already late. The thought of having to do more work tomorrow made me sigh heavily. I should have known better than to expect my family to leave the place in good shape.

“Dude, your aunt is fucked up. I can’t believe she did that so carelessly.”

Miles put the leftover food in the fridge as I turned the TV off. We had it on for background noise. I guess I had gotten too used to hearing my parents argue that the silence bothered me. It didn’t help that during college and after graduating, I was always in loud places. Although the silence was still uncomfortable, I found myself slowly getting used to it since Miles needed it to sleep.

“I know right? The older I got, the more I started to understand. But my grandpa taught me not to follow in their footsteps. I learned a lot about what love should look like thanks to him.”

“I don’t know much about him, but he sounds like a pretty admirable man.”

“He was. And honestly, I don’t think I would have survived without him. He saved me in a sense. Even in death.”

“You relied on him a lot, didn’t you?” Miles was a very kind-hearted man and I didn’t want him to change. It was part of the reason I was attracted to him.

“I did. And I took it really hard when he passed.”

“You have me now. You can rely on me for anything. I won’t go anywhere.”

“Thank you, Miles. For saying that.”

He rolled over and turned the lights off before holding me in his arms. Miles was a first in a lot of ways for me. I’ve dated many men before him, but none of the relationships lasted. My first boyfriend lasted the longest, but it was unhealthy.

When I started dating, I seemed to follow in my mom’s footsteps while also desperately trying to hang onto the morals Mr. Bates taught me. Now, after so much time has passed, I think I finally found what he told me to look for. Miles was the right person, and I had no doubts about that. Still, there was so much to get used to.

“Let’s get some rest. We have a long day ahead of us.” He was right. I snuggled in close to him as I drifted off. 

Morning came too quickly and a new day was here. I just wanted a few more minutes of sleep before getting up, but the smell of coffee pulled me out of bed. When I opened my eyes, I saw Miles sitting at the small round table with two coffees and breakfast sandwiches.

“Go get washed up. I’m going to run to the lobby to see if they have any jam for my toast. I forgot to grab it at the cafe earlier.” He smiled at me before walking out the door.

I had a lot to do today, so I didn’t have much time to waste. After quickly freshening up, and eating my breakfast sandwich, we took our coffees to go and left the hotel.

Our first stop was the small market so we could pick up more supplies. The amount of money I didn’t expect to spend was adding up quickly. And with every passing day, I’m charged extra fees for the storage, movers, and garbage bin. I would have to call the movers and tell them I no longer needed their services so I could save some money.

Getting back to the house, I started to think it was going to take longer than I initially planned. We had sorted out all the small things yesterday and today we had to take out the large furniture and clean the walls and floors. Although it didn’t seem like much, we still had yet to touch the bathrooms, kitchen, living room, and dining room.

“Something has been nagging me. You said you haven’t spoken to your family since you moved out. How did you know they were no longer here?” Miles was curious as ever and it reminded me of my younger self when I would ask Mr. Bates all sorts of questions.

“They were evicted by the new landlord. After Grandpa passed, he left everything to an unnamed person. My parents were furious and said we wouldn’t leave unless we were forced. A month after I got to college, my sister reached out to me letting me know they were evicted.”

“Don’t tell me she wanted to move into your dorm room with you?” Miles’s eyes were big, showing his shock.

“No. She was just letting me know. I never responded to her, so I don’t know where they moved to. And honestly, I still don’t care to know.”

“So what did you do during breaks then?” 

“I typically stayed on campus. I had a job during my time in college and I saved all my money for the longer breaks. During summer, I rented either an apartment or a house near campus so I could continue working.” 

“That sounds expensive,” Miles said as we took the last pieces of furniture out of the room.

“It wasn’t too bad, since I didn’t have to worry about paying for college. It was more lonely than anything.” Miles just nodded.

“I came back here a few times, and each time the house was empty. I still had keys to the house and gate and thought about staying here a few times. But the loneliness I felt each time I walked through the gate was more intense than staying somewhere else, so I left.”

“What about the new owners? They did nothing to the house? Didn’t sell, renovate, or even visit?”

“Uncle Joe- I mean, Mr. Stevens didn’t tell anyone about the new owner, so no one knows who they are. But since my family left, no one has been in or out of the gates except me. There was a rumor that the property is haunted.”

I laughed at the silly thought but Miles looked terrified. The property wasn’t haunted and there was a very reasonable explanation for everything. I knew why the place was abandoned and why no one ever came in. I knew why my family was kicked out. And I knew that if I stayed here, no one would have kicked me out. But I also knew why people thought it was haunted.

“You have me cleaning out a haunted house? I don’t play with ghosts. And I don’t want them getting mad at me for touching their things.” Miles shouted.

“The house and property are not haunted. People just say that because of the way my family left and because all the crops died and animals were sold. It’s just not what it used to be.”

“How did it get so bad?”