I continue to stare toward the house that sits in the hills amongst other large homes. Is my dad some sort of drug lord? How the hell does someone own a house like this? It towers over us. I know Mom mentioned him going to school for engineering, but can someone with that profession live in a place like this?
It’s surrounded by large trees, shrubs, and more trees. My eyes follow the long driveway that I assume leads to an entrance. Unless there isn’t one, and I need to teleport myself inside the house.
“I was not expecting this.” Ellie breaks into my thoughts.
We continue to stare at the house, and I reply, “What did you expect?”
“I don’t know. A townhouse, maybe? A small one-bedroom house? Is he some celebrity we don’t know about?”
“That would be better than a drug lord,” I murmur.
Ellie turns her head to me with pinched eyebrows. “A drug lord?”
I wave her off. “Let’s go.”
We walk up the driveway and as we turn around a curve, a long path continues, and I must admit, even the driveway is nice. It leads up the hill where the house sits, a brick path leading the way. I look at Ellie, and her eyes scan everything around her.
Finally, I see the stairs in the distance on the left side of us but notice the path continues up. Maybe to the garage?
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Ellie says in an exasperated tone.
When we reach the front of the stairs, both of our head’s tilt slightly upward, following the concrete stairs that go up and up and up. It’s surrounded by more trees that hover above it. You can tell that this space was made for privacy.
Once we get to the top, I look over at Ellie, who tries to catch her breath and places her hands on her hips.
“I gotta lay off the sweets,” she breathes out.
The house exterior is a deep charcoal with beadboard siding. A wooden pergola roof is entwined in more greenery, covering the large porch. The porch is filled with potted plants that either sit on the floor or hang from the wooden roof of the pergola.
It’s only when we start walking down the path to our right, toward the door, that we both turn and look over the railing.
The ocean’s sprawled out and vast, you can see so much of it. Below us are more homes, and in the distance, we can see more large homes that sit in the hills.
When I look down, I notice that the driveway goes next door to another house, a neighbor, instead of a garage. We must have missed it somewhere in the jungle. I feel Ellie grab my hand, and I look down to her.
“You ready?” she asks gently.
“No,” I reply.
We walk toward a light wooden door, and I can’t seem to lift my hand to knock. I feel paralyzed. I stare at the door, and I can feel every thud my heart makes against my chest.
“Do you want me—” Ellie points to the door.
I don’t look at her, but I nod in reply. She takes a deep breath, like she’s doing it for the both of us and then lifts her fist to knock on the door. My heart feels like it’s fluttering around in my chest, and I tap my finger on my jeans with my other hand that’s not wrapped in Ellie’s.
The door opens, and I hold my breath. A blond woman stands at the entrance of the home. She’s small, like Ellie, with hazel eyes. Her warm smile greets us, and she looks like someone who would take you in with open arms.
“Hi, can I help you?” Her voice comes out angelic and sweet.
Ellie looks at me and I can’t seem to find my voice. My mouth is suddenly dry. Ellie looks back at the woman.
“Hi, um, I’m Ellie. This is Rowan.” She points to me. “We were hoping we could speak with Michael Williams?”
The moment Ellie says my name, the woman’s smile falls and turns into surprise. She looks behind her and then back to us. I still can’t say anything, still can’t move. She forces a smile on her face.
“Of course, hold on just a second, okay?” She leaves the door open and quickly walks back into the house.
Ellie slightly leans in, trying to peek inside. “Wow, and we thought the outside was big.”
