I'm trying something a bit different for this story. It's a paranormal (no vampires) and it's starting in third person POV. It's rated M, but that action won't happen for a few more chapters.

Summary: Bella has had a mental breakdown and jumps at the chance to become the manager of a new Bed & Breakfast in Maine. What she finds at her new job will either push her completely over the edge, or make her realize that nothing can separate true love.

Chapter One

The tugging feeling in her belly got stronger as she bumped down the long driveway that was desperately in need of repaving. She was nervous of course, who isn't nervous on the first day of any new job? But she was also excited. This was her new beginning and she was going to make the most of it. Fresh starts weren't just handed out like stripper club flyers in Vegas. She was going to grab this opportunity with both hands and prove to everyone that she wasn't a hopeless case. Even more important was to prove that to herself. That was really where she was having the most trouble. She no longer had faith in her own abilities.

Through the overgrown shrubbery lining the skinny road she could see snatches of white, Heron's Landing, her new home as well as workplace. She could feel the sweat dampening the palms she clenched tightly on the steering wheel. This was it. Her new life started now. There was no room in it for weakness. She was in charge and it was her responsibility to bring this inn to life.

She gasped as the entire building came into view. Its imposing façade was more impressive in person than in any of the pictures she'd been sent. Grand, in a dilapidated way. She could see, even in the waning light of early evening, that it could use a fresh coat of paint, but to Bella it was glorious. Three stories of windows looked back at her, unblinking under a rust colored roof. Not even the unkempt front gardens could take away from the arresting picture it presented.

As she pulled up to the front of the house, she couldn't help but be charmed by the circular drive that went right past the front entrance. She could imagine carriages pulling up under the overhang held up by massive columns of stone, dropping off ladies in ball gowns and men in smart nineteenth century attire. She stopped the car well back from the door, fully aware that she was here to work, not dance. There was a lot to be done and she was the person hired to do it. There would be time for daydreaming later.

Sudden silence greeted her as she turned off the engine of her small SUV. She hadn't even realized she'd had the music blaring in the background until it wasn't there anymore. That was another thing she was going to have to work on, keeping her focus in the present. She had people counting on her again, so it was actually a necessity. Well, she could only add it to her ever-growing list of personal changes. At least here, 2500 miles from Texas, she could concentrate on herself without any well meaning counselors or patronizing doctors breathing down her neck and trying to keep her of sound mind. Why didn't they realize that those things only made her feel more paranoid? No, here she would be in total control of herself and her environment. Deep down she knew that once she got settled and into a routine, things would smooth out. They had to. She refused to consider the alternative.

Grabbing the door handle and taking a deep breath to steady herself, she pushed open the door and stepped out into her new life. I'm an innkeeper. She just needed to keep telling herself that. This is what she had trained for. She knew what she needed to do. She was hired to do a job she was going to be the best damn manager this place had ever seen. Okay, the only manager this place had seen. This had been a private home until recently.

Now that she was out of the car and could really take in the place, she could see some other things that needed to be taken care of, but she would take stock tomorrow. Right now, the smell of the ocean and the feel of the cool, moist wind on her face reminded her that Maine was a different world from small town Texas. She shivered and pulled her brown hoodie together at the front. The house was dark and she needed to get in and get settled before she lost all natural light.

Bending back into the front seat to get her purse with the keys she felt the familiar sensation of being watched crawl up her spine. She jerked back up, banging her head on the roof of the car before spinning around. Not now.Not here. There was nobody watching her.No one even knew she was here.She wasn't expected until tomorrow, but she was so anxious to get here she had made the drive in three days instead of four. She suddenly wished she had stuck to her original plan and would have arrived in the early afternoon tomorrow instead of getting here half an hour before dark. Another bad decision. She was full of them but she refused to let her paranoia chase her away from a chance at a new life.

She briefly considered getting back in the car and staying at the motel she had passed about almost fifteen miles back in the tiny town she had driven through. That was the smart choice considering she didn't have food or any other staples. She didn't even know if there was toilet paper in the bathrooms. What the hell had she been thinking? This was exactly the kind of thing her parents had worried about. They didn't think she could take care of herself anymore. She refused to believe what everyone thought; she wasn't crazy.

On that thought, she slammed the door of her car and started up the path to the front door of Heron's Landing. Focusing on the gravel crunching under her feet kept her from turning back to the car and driving away. Get a grip, girl.She knew she wasn't going to leave here tonight even though her mind was screaming at her to do just that. That strange tugging sensation that got stronger every mile she drove to get here was more compelling than ever. It felt almost as powerful as the first time she had opened the email that contained the pictures of this place. Something had seemed to leap out and pull her here. Well, here she was and there was no going back. She had given her word in the form of a signed contract. If she didn't follow through now, she would never be able to work in hospitality again. She knew the cloud surrounding her exit from Raoul's would haunt her prospects forever; the world of boutique hotels was surprisingly smaller than most people realized. If she blew this opportunity she might as well go back to school to become a math teacher. Even as the thought came she shuddered. No freakin' way was she going to mess this up.

She was supposed to meet someone named Edward, but that wasn't until tomorrow. Bella figured he was the property manager, but she didn't know that for sure. The actual details of the job were still a little hazy. To be truthful, she hadn't given a second thought about taking this job. She'd snatched it up as soon as it was offered. Every instinct she had told her to go for it since there was nothing holding her in Texas or anywhere.

She was at the front door before she had dug the keys out of the padded envelope they had arrived in. After extracting the small ring of keys she fanned through looking for the one labeled "Front Door" in an elegant script. There was nothing stopping her from inserting it into the lock but still she hesitated. An invisible barrier seemed to push out from the house but at the same time she had the feeling that she was being pulled into whatever lay beyond the door. This kind of thinking was what made people think she was unbalanced. One of the things, anyway. That thought made her shove the key into the door before she had a chance to talk herself out of it. The lock turned smoothly and she was able to push the door inward and step inside.

Surprise had her smiling in delight. The entryway looked beautiful and spotlessly clean. She walked further in, still clutching the keys, but no longer feeling the need to turn tail and run away. She moved to a small table to her right against the wall and couldn't help her automatic finger swipe to check for dust. There wasn't a speck. It was as if someone had come in earlier in the day to clean up for her arrival. Awesome for her, but she was under the impression that the place had been practically abandoned. All of her internet research hadn't turned up any information on this place, but it wasn't all that surprising given that the previous owners had been elderly. The current owner had purchased the property as an investment with no intention of living there or running the inn. That's where she came in. Apparently, the new owner had somehow gotten her name from one of her former instructors. Unusual, but not unheard of.

The timing of the employment offer couldn't have been better as far as she was concerned. She was more than ready to get out from under the watchful eyes of her parents as well as everybody else in Riverdale. She knew everyone from the checkout girls at the grocery store to the bank tellers was waiting for her to have a meltdown right in front of them. Hoping for it most likely. She wasn't blind and she could see how they watched her out of the corner of their eyes as she went about her day. What the hell did they think she was going to do, drop to the floor and rock back and forth? Small-town assholes. She was glad to be out of there, but she traded a small town for a tiny one. Heron's Landing wasn't even officially in a town. It was miles up the coast from the nearest incorporated village. Perfect.

Walking farther into the room, Bella felt her confidence grow with every step. This place was absolutely lovely. It wasn't the stuffy, faded building she was expecting. The furnishings in the living room/lobby were crisp and on the modern side. Nothing tattered or worn, or even especially old, now that she was taking a proper look. It made her wonder if the new owner had upgraded the furniture before finding her.

The farther inside she walked, the dimmer the light got, so she kept to the edges of the room, searching for a light switch. Seconds later her hand grazed over a panel and with a swipe, several lights came to life in various rooms of the first floor. Well lit, the rooms looked even more amazing and welcoming. A sense of rightness came over her as she gazed at the room. For the first time in what seemed like forever, she felt at home. More comfortable in this space than she had been in her parent's house, the house she had grown up in.

Mine. She felt a sense of possession for the first time in her adult life. Her old apartment had never given her this sensation, and she had lived there for almost three years. Bella turned to her right and was greeted by a room with a huge dining table. It wasn't set for service, but it gleamed under the light of the two simple but elegant chandeliers overhead. Wow.

The door on the other side of the dining room had glass panels through which she could see the stainless steel of a professional kitchen. She walked over to the sheer curtains hanging at the windows and watched the last rays of sunlight go out for the night. She knew that less than a hundred yards away were the craggy cliffs she had noticed in the photographs, a gray wall that held back the ocean. A sudden icy chill gripped her, and she forced herself to jerk away from the window. She took another deep breath and mentally shook herself. Getting spooked at the unknown was part of her old life, not this one.

Instead of continuing in this direction or even looking at the rest of the bottom floor she realized she needed to get her things out of the car before it was too dark and she holed up inside. As she rushed back out the front door that she had left standing open she became conscious of the fact that she didn't feel the fear that had been plaguing her for months. The fear of being perceived as mentally unbalanced. The fear of going to sleep because of the same recurring dream that she couldn't escape. The fear of being forced into more psychological treatment that didn't help.

Bella snatched up the duffle she'd kept packed up for weeks, unconsciously ready to bolt at any time. It contained everything she could imagine needing if she had to make a fast escape. She could finally admit to herself that she would have left her parent's home even if she hadn't had the job offer. The atmosphere had been stifling, and every instinct she possessed had been leading her away from the place she had spent most of the last twenty five years.

She left the rest of her things in the car and hurried back to the house, thankful that the lights were glowing on the first floor. It felt good to be able to close the door to the damp darkness of the night. She leaned against the door and her eyes were drawn to the top of the grand staircase she had barely noticed before. She was both excited and terrified of this new chapter in her life, but she felt a sense of acceptance that had been missing up to this point. She was finally home.

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