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- Herausgeber: Lorhainne Eckhart, INC.
- Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
- Serie: The O'Connells
- Sprache: Englisch
Seven years ago, she lost her husband. Three years ago, her daughter was taken from her. Today, she’s taking back her life.
"There’s a lot within this book that will draw out strong feelings at the injustices that Reine, and other women/families in similar situations, have had to endure, but it also portrays the strength, love, support, and forgiveness that a family can and should show to one another." Catlou
Being taken in by the O’Connells would be a bit overwhelming for some. But for Reine Colbert, the feeling of being on the outside, looking in is all too familiar. Yet when Suzanne O’Connell, the unruly rule-breaker, steps in with her very pregnant sister Karen to right all the wrongs Reine has suffered along the way, she exposes a deeply guarded secret involving crimes against other women, and the three soon find themselves in a perilous situation that could leave one of them paying the ultimate price.
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Seitenzahl: 198
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021
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The Gatekeeper, The O’Connells
COPYRIGHT © Lorhainne Ekelund, 2021, All Rights Reserved.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Contact Information: [email protected]
Editor: Talia Leduc
The Gatekeeper
The O’Connells
Book 17
Lorhainne Eckhart
Contents
Keep in touch with Lorhainne
About the O’Connells
The Gatekeeper
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Coming next in The O’Connells
The Hunted
A New Crossover Series!
Other Works Available
The Trap
About the Author
Series Available
Links to Lorhainne Eckhart’s Booklist
Keep in touch with Lorhainne
Sign-up for Lorhainne’s Newsletter & Monday Blog
Like Lorhainne on Facebook
Follow Lorhainne on Instagram
Follow Lorhainne on Twitter
Lorhainne’s Audiobooks on Audible
Follow Lorhainne on Bookbub
Follow Lorhainne on Amazon
Connect with me on Goodreads
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About the O’Connells
The O’Connells of Livingston, Montana, are not your typical family. Follow them on their journey to the dark and dangerous side of love in a series of romantic thrillers you won’t want to miss. Raised by a single mother after their father’s mysterious disappearance eighteen years ago, the six grown siblings live in a small town with all kinds of hidden secrets, lies, and deception. Much like the contemporary family romance series focusing on the Friessens, this romantic suspense series follows the lives of the O’Connell family as each of the siblings searches for love.
The O’Connells
The Neighbor
The Third Call
The Secret Husband
The Quiet Day
The Commitment, An O’Connell Novella
The Missing Father
The Hometown Hero
Justice
The Family Secret
The Fallen O’Connell
The Return of the O’Connells
And The She Was Gone
The Stalker
The O’Connell Family Christmas
The Girl Next Door
Broken Promises
The Gatekeeper
The Hunted
The O’Connells Box Set Collections
The O’Connells Books 1 - 3
The O’Connells Books 4 - 6
The O’Connells Books 7 - 9
The O’Connells Books 10 - 12
The O’Connells Books 13 - 15
The O’Connells Books 16 - 18
The Gatekeeper
The O’Connells
Seven years ago, she lost her husband.
Three years ago, her daughter was taken from her.
Today, she’s taking back her life.
Being taken in by the O’Connells would be a bit overwhelming for some. But for Reine Colbert, the feeling of being on the outside, looking in is all too familiar. Yet when Suzanne O’Connell, the unruly rule-breaker, steps in with her very pregnant sister Karen to right all the wrongs Reine has suffered along the way, she exposes a deeply guarded secret involving crimes against other women, and the three soon find themselves in a perilous situation that could leave one of them paying the ultimate price.
ChapterOne
Reine woke to the sun streaming in, and she stretched before jolting upright, taking a second to realize where she was. She pressed her hand over her heart.
The window by her bed was open, with a light breeze fluttering the white cotton curtains. The double bed was comfortable, and she took in the white walls, the white metal bedframe, the wicker dresser with a mirror and a chair in the corner, and a small closet. The floral comforter on the bed reminded her of spring. The room was so welcoming, and the way the morning light danced off the walls was comforting. She still had to remind herself this was real.
Reine pulled in a breath and swept back her bed hair as she looked over to the bedside table, which had a digital clock. For a moment, she felt the familiar panic that had her tossing back the comforter, sliding her legs over the edge of the bed, and standing barefoot on the soft cotton throw rug. The clock said nine thirty-two. Reine couldn’t believe she’d slept so late.
She stumbled over to the mirror, taking in her image and the long light green pajama T-shirt and shorts, which hung loose on her. They had been sitting on the bed for her—from Charlotte, she thought. She reached for a light blue housecoat on a hook on the back of the closed bedroom door, something else she thought Charlotte had put there for her, and turned the knob.
Her heart hammered with unwelcome unease as she stepped out, hearing a woman’s voice downstairs. It was so quiet, and she wondered if she would ever find her footing. As she walked down barefoot, the creak of the stairs halfway had her jumping and staring for a second at the closed front door, the one she’d been on the other side of a few days earlier. That seemed like another lifetime now.
Reine pulled in one breath and then another, furious at herself for a second for being so jumpy. She forced herself to take another step down even though that irrational worry was still there, the worry that she could find herself thrown out the door and have her freedom yanked away again. She forced a swallow, willing her nerves to steady, as she heard the clatter of dishes and took in the short dark hair of a woman whose smile reached out to her.
“You’re awake. Hope you slept well. Come on, sit. Coffee?” said Iris O’Connell, Marcus’s mother, who had such a warm presence. Reine pulled out a stool at the island and sat beside two-year-old Cameron, who was in a high-back stool with a bowl of cereal and a cup of juice. He had dark hair with a natural wave, and she could see how much he looked like his father.
“I would love a coffee, thank you.”
Iris filled a mug with big hearts on it. “Milk, sugar…?”
Reine shook her head. “Strong and straight, please.”
Iris settled the steaming mug in front of her, and Reine lifted it, breathed in the coffee, which smelled heavenly, and took a swallow.
“This is good, thank you. Can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a good cup of coffee.” She glanced over to Cameron, who was staring at her, and back to Iris, who had her own mug of coffee and was now leaning on the island. “Eva’s gone already, I guess. I wanted to be up and see her before she went to school.” She didn’t hear any other sounds in the house.
“You’ll see her tonight. No one wanted to wake you. You had to be exhausted. Take some time, get some rest. Eva didn’t want to go to school today; she wanted to stay home with you. Not sure how Marcus and Charlotte convinced her.”
Reine took another swallow as she heard the front door open, and Suzanne walked in with her baby in a carrier.
“Hi, Reine…” she whispered. “I just got Arnie to sleep. He was fussy most of the night, up three times.” She put the baby carrier right on the kitchen table behind her, and Reine took in the sleeping baby with a light blanket over him.
Suzanne walked right to the coffeepot and poured herself a coffee. “Harold had to work last night. Some call came in around two this morning. I’m sure it was the phone that woke the baby the second time right after I got him to sleep, so I took him to bed with me, and Harold never came home. He’s going to be tired…” She had the fridge open and pulled out a plastic-covered plate of what she thought was leftover chicken from the night before, the barbecue.
This family seemed unusually close and so different in a way she didn’t understand. She watched as Suzanne pulled out a piece and took a huge bite, and Iris only shook her head before taking the plate from her and putting it back in the fridge.
“Reine, how about some breakfast?” Iris said. “You have to be starving. I can whip you up some eggs and toast, or cereal…”
“Hey, and maybe Reine would like some leftover chicken? Not everyone eats cereal, Mom,” Suzanne cut in after taking a big bite of meat from a thigh. She looked right at Reine. “I’ve never liked cereal. I’d just as soon heat up any leftovers from dinner in the fridge.”
Iris shook her head and glanced up. Reine was really starting to get a picture of the dynamic of this family, Marcus and Charlotte’s family, here in this house. She wondered when she wouldn’t feel like an unwelcome guest.
“Eggs and toast, if it’s not too much trouble,” she said. Suzanne was still looking at her, unsmiling and unapologetic as she held that chicken thigh and chewed.
“It’s no trouble at all, Reine,” Iris said. “You live here now. You make yourself at home…” She moved Suzanne out of the way. There was something sweet about the teasing between them.
“That’s right, because after today, you fend for yourself,” Suzanne said. “I think we should put Reine in charge of side dishes for whatever Owen’s barbecuing tonight. Did he seriously say tonight he wants fish?”
Reine didn’t know what to say. She was stuck on the idea of her making a side dish. For what? She moved to lift her hand to ask, taking in the back and forth between mother and daughter, then pulled her hand down and decided to say nothing, trying to figure out what exactly they meant by “tonight.”
“A friend of Owen’s came back with a mess of trout, bull trout, or was it cutthroat?” Iris said to her before dragging her gaze back to Suzanne as if this were the most normal information to add to this odd conversation.
“Do you not remember the last time Owen barbecued cod, or was it salmon or something he picked up at the store? It was overcooked. He should stick to what he does best: burgers, chicken, or hotdogs. Or even pork chops. He hasn’t done that in a while,” Suzanne said before going on further about the fish.
Reine wondered whether they were talking about that night or a different night. She moved to raise her hand again.
“You have a lost look on your face over there, Reine. Everything okay?” Suzanne said. Meanwhile, Iris cracked eggs in a bowl before setting a fry pan on the stove and turning it on. Bread was in the toaster, as well.
“Well, I guess I don’t understand,” Reine said. “I’m supposed to come up with a side dish… Is this for a party? And Owen, your brother, is barbecuing? When? Is this at his place? I guess I don’t understand what’s going on. Maybe I’m just not clear on how everything works here. You look after Cameron? I take it Marcus and Charlotte are…”
Iris had poured the eggs from the bowl into the fry pan. Reine wasn’t sure if that was an amused expression on her face.
Suzanne glanced her mother’s way before looking back to her. “Ah, I see you’re trying to figure out how we all work. Well, we always have our noses in everyone’s business. Family night happens…what, three or four times a week, usually? It’s here, or at Ryan’s, or at Mom’s place, although with Tessa and Owen fixing up their little house and Chloe and Luke now living next door to them, I can see us starting to migrate more and more there. Harold and Arnie and I still live at his condo, which equals no house, no yard, and no barbecue.” Suzanne took another bite of the chicken as Iris finished scrambling the eggs in the pan.
Reine was now starting to understand what Eva had said about family night. “So you basically have your own lives but are always together, and last night wasn’t just because Marcus brought me back here?”
Suzanne was shaking her head as Iris scraped the eggs onto a plate and the toast popped up in the toaster. “Well, yeah, we were all waiting here to welcome you, but it’s what we do. When she’s in town, Mom looks after the kids, Cameron and Eva, either here or at her place, and when I get a job with the sheriff’s department, Mom will also look after Arnie.”
Iris rested the plate of eggs and buttered toast in front of Reine with a fork. “Here you go. Do you want peanut butter or jam on your toast?”
“Um, yeah, peanut butter would be great. Thank you. This is really nice…” She watched as Iris reached into the fridge and pulled out a jar of peanut butter, as well as a clean knife from a drawer, and slid them in front of her.
“Suzanne, you know Marcus already said no to a job at the sheriff’s office,” Iris said. “You really think you could work under him, considering the way you two butt heads? And do I need to remind you that your husband, Harold, is the lead deputy?”
Maybe it was hearing about the two men who’d arrested her that had Reine gripping the fork a little harder than she normally would have as she said, “Why do you want to be a cop?”
She hadn’t meant to say it out loud. She glanced over to Cameron, who was eating with his hands now, picking the cereal out of his bowl, and she realized both women were staring at her. The moment had suddenly turned awkward.
“Well, for one, I loved being a first responder, but I got bounced out of that, and the current council here and the politics of the fire department have made sure I will never get hired here again. I think I would make a great cop, but Marcus keeps telling me no, he won’t hire me.”
Iris was looking at her as she slid her hand over the island. “You’re still angry at Marcus?” she said. “I can see you’re trying your best to hide the hurt. We could all see it last night, the tension that lingers between you and Marcus and Charlotte.”
There it was, the eight-hundred-pound gorilla in the room, except neither was here. Yet she was under their roof, and she was still powerless even though she was free. “It doesn’t go away overnight. I’m Eva’s mother, but Marcus and Charlotte make all the decisions for her.”
She hadn’t meant to say that, either. After all, this was Marcus’s family, closer than any she’d ever seen, and she was the outsider coming in.
“I understand, Reine, but know that you’re welcome here,” Iris said. “You’re Eva’s mother, and Eva is our family, and there is something about family, Reine. We fight, but we do forgive, eventually. You just need to find your footing. All I can say is just give it some time as you slip into this family. It’s not all about their being in charge of Eva. It’s about all of us. And Marcus feels horrible over what happened…”
“But I have no rights here.” She wondered if she was smart or stupid for forcing her point. The awkwardness lingered again.
“You know what?” Suzanne said. “Finish up breakfast, and then get dressed. We’re going out.” She looked over to her mom. “Can you watch Arnie?”
She admired Suzanne and her determination. She wondered whether anything ever scared her.
“You know I will,” Iris said.
“Okay, and where are we going?” Reine started as she reached for her fork again, feeling lost, not fitting in anywhere.
“It’s a surprise, but it will do you good, give you a new perspective. Come on, finish up.” Suzanne gestured at her plate, and Reine took in her bright smile.
Iris shrugged, looking back over to her. Just then, Cameron decided he was done, so Iris raced over and lifted Marcus’s little boy, and Suzanne’s baby started fussing from the car seat he was still in. Reine watched these two women she figured were trying to make her feel welcome. But, being the outsider, she still had no idea how she could fit into this family or what, exactly, her place was.
ChapterTwo
“I don’t understand why you’re being so nice to me,” Reine said, speed-walking to keep up with Suzanne’s long-legged stride.
“Excuse me? Seriously, Reine, you make me sound as if I’m tossing you a crumb, as if you’re some charity case.”
She wasn’t sure what to make of Suzanne’s remark or Suzanne, for that matter, as she took in the quaint downtown city block. The sun was out, but she was still fighting the urge to look over her shoulder.
“Here, put these on,” Suzanne said as she reached into her bulky cloth purse and pulled out a baby soother, then a pair of polka-dot sunglasses. She tossed the soother back in her bag but stopped in the middle of the sidewalk until Reine took the sunglasses.
“Why…?” she said, but Suzanne had started walking again.
“Because of the way you keep looking over your shoulder with that spooked look on your face, as if you believe everyone knows your secret and wants to judge the shit out of you, look down on you, or maybe even spit on you. I see it and recognize it, as I’ve been there, so stop it and put them on.”
She slid the sunglasses on and looked up at Suzanne as she hurried to keep up. “I don’t think anyone would spit on me,” she finally said in a low voice, wondering how Suzanne understood and had voiced what Reine believed deep inside herself.
“There you go. You just focus on that one positive thought. If anyone spits on you, I’d have to punch them, and then Marcus would show up and figure out a way not to arrest me.”
There was something about Marcus’s sister that Reine couldn’t help but like. She even felt the tug of a smile at her lips. “You’d really slug someone?”
Suzanne made a rude noise as she stopped outside the door of a shop. Despite the noise of cars on the street and the chilly air, something felt so right about being with Suzanne.
“You have a beautiful smile, Reine,” she said. “You should show it more. Yeah, I’d probably cause a scene, too. I’ve never been known to let anyone walk on me or anyone I care about. Oh, let’s go in here.” She pointed to a small store with a few mannequins displaying clothes in the window.
“Okay. So you haven’t told me what the surprise is and where you’re taking me.” Reine followed Suzanne inside the store, which was filled with racks of clothes and the kinds of pretty things she couldn’t afford. When was the last time she’d walked into a store like this? Damn, it had been a maternity shop in Denver when Eva was a baby and Vern was still alive. Just her and Vern… The memory of his smile, his love, still cut so deep.
“Shopping,” Suzanne said. “You need some clothes, because as cute as those worn jeans you have on are, they’ve seen better days. I think a few new things are a must.”
She stopped just inside the front door when the irrational fear hit her, and she stared at Suzanne, who was at a rack of shirts, pulling one out. She wondered whether she’d lost her mind. The store clerk, unsmiling, was looking her way as she lifted her sunglasses and rested them on top of her head, which she’d only run a brush through. She stepped closer to Suzanne.
“Suzanne, I can’t afford anything in here,” she whispered, then realized the store clerk was listening to everything she said, so she turned her back on her, feeling uneasy.
“You don’t even know how much anything is. Look, this is on sale for $19.99.” Suzanne held up a shirt that Reine didn’t look too closely at.
“If it costs anything, I can’t afford it. I have no money,” she said again in a low voice, wondering why Suzanne didn’t know that.
“It’s our treat, Reine. I talked with Mom, and I called Karen too, but it was Jenny who brought it up. We know you have nothing, so this is our ‘welcome to the family’ gift. Nothing I have will fit you, and the only one in the family who’s close enough in size to you is Alison—and I doubt very much you would want anything Alison would wear, since it’s all low-cut crop tops and skintight jeans.”
Suzanne had her own sunglasses resting in her hair, the kind of brown that didn’t stand out. She handed Reine two shirts, a T-shirt with a cuddly cat on the front and a deep green blouse with flowers and short sleeves. “This is perfect for you, with your eyes.”
Reine looked at the price tag, $39, and wondered if the strangled sound was from her. “This is too expensive, and where would I even wear it? It’s too nice.”
Suzanne handed her two more shirts and then walked over to a rack of blue jeans. Reine awkwardly gripped the hangers as Suzanne stared at her worn jeans before dropping her gaze to her feet and shaking her head.
“Nonsense,” she said. “Just start trying things on, and we’ll add some new shoes, too…”
“Can I help you two with anything?” said the clerk who’d been eyeing Reine since they walked in, standing right behind her. She had brown hair, wavy and thick, with mascara and mocha eyeshadow, and she wore a silky white sleeveless blouse, pumps, and trousers that looked like they cost a fortune. Reine was very aware of how she looked in comparison.
“Can you start a dressing room?” Suzanne said. “My friend here is getting an entire new wardrobe today.”
Reine just stared at her.
“Of course I can. I’ll put these in a room for you,” the clerk said, looking at Reine as she reached for the shirts.
“Sure,” was all she said in reply, and she wondered if the clerk was picking up on her unease.
Suzanne pulled out blue jeans and handed them over, then let her gaze land on Reine. “Any preference? High-rise, low-rise, sweaters, shirts, colors, or does it matter?”
Reine watched the saleslady walk away, then turned to Suzanne, who was staring at her again. “As you can see from the way I’m dressed, it doesn’t matter. Clothes are clothes. Why are you doing this?”
Maybe she wasn’t supposed to ask. Suzanne stilled, her hand on the rack, and took a second to look her way, no longer smiling. “Reine, I already told you we want to do this because you need clothes and because we can. It’s what people who care do. And it’s not as if we’re dressing you for a dinner party. You can raid Alison’s closet for that. This is just a small something. So just go try the clothes on. You’re not signing your life away.
