| |
Eden and Beverly shuffled out Martha’s front door with their heads hanging down.
“I thought for sure we were going to jail,” Beverly said. “Can you imagine what my children would think?”
“They’d probably be impressed. They should be. The way you were going to smash that vase over his head. I never would have guessed you had that in you, Beverly.”
“You thought I murdered someone.”
“There was that,” Eden mumbled.
“There’s a lot people don’t know about me, you know,” Beverly said. “Like sometimes I bite my fingernails.”
Eden gasped in exaggerated shock.
“Sometimes I eat strange things, like Spam out of the can or butter right off the cube. I just bite it right off. But only if I’m really stressed.”
Eden couldn’t resist a sideways glance. “So you’re a little bit of a freak, but everyone—”
“When no one’s home, I watch the Kardashians. And in college one time I made out with my roommate’s boyfriend because I hated the way she smacked her gum and kept me up late and stole my clothes.” Beverly slapped both hands over her mouth.
A smile spread across Eden’s face. “Once you start opening up it’s hard to stop, isn’t it? Don’t worry. I’m not judging. I mean, I’m keeping it logged away for future reference, but ...”
Beverly’s eyes bulged as she backed away.
“I’m just joking,” Eden said.
Beverly turned and hurried away, waving one hand behind her as she went.
“That was strange,” Eden said. “Oh, that’s right, you skipped out on me in the middle of a life-threatening situation, didn’t you, Gabi? Some best friend you are.” She pulled out her phone, frowning when Gabi still didn’t answer. “Let’s get you home.”
Eden turned her phone off and on again as she walked. Gabi was still silent. “Come on, say something sarcastic. Insult my outfit or something.”
It was strange not having Gabi’s commentary, not to mention inconvenient. She would have been really useful during the break-in, although she didn’t have the ability to wield a weapon like Beverly did.
Eden and Beverly were lucky Jed was more attached to his mother than he’d let on. In fact, he’d gone on and on for the better part of an hour about how she’d taught him to make daisy chains as a child, and how he really wished he’d put work aside to spend more time with her before she died, even though they didn’t always get along. Eden suspected her inheritance had something to do with his sudden vulnerability, and felt grateful for it for a change.
Jed had told them he was touched that they’d go to that much effort on his mother’s behalf—so touched he’d agreed not to call the cops if they stayed out of her house and a couple hundred feet away from him for the rest of his life. He also thought they were insane, and told them they should give it a rest. Jed was sure Martha’s stupid plants had done her in—his words.
Maybe Jed was right. Eden had convinced Jack that Beverly was a killer, then she’d convinced Beverly to break into Martha’s house. She’d even stirred up trouble in the neighborhood, turning long-time neighbors against each other.
Eden paused near her front steps, her eyes traveling over to the morning glory she’d transplanted. It should have been a few sad little sprigs of green sticking out above the dirt. But it wasn’t. The vine was green and healthy, and had already begun to climb up the house. Eden shuddered. She’d been wrong about so many things. For all she knew, she may have just planted the botanical version of Kujo next to her front steps.
She’d been relying on a gut feeling that Martha’s enchanted vine was a sweet, loyal pet, and the fact that a hipster in a potion shop had told her Martha was making a protection spell. Only she hadn’t actually even told her that. Martha’s spell might have been for gluten intolerance! Never once had it occurred to her that that’s all it might have been. No one seemed to know Martha all that well, or what she might have been up to. Eden had walked into a strange world acting as if she had some idea how things worked. But she didn’t. Until a few weeks ago, she hadn’t even known she was a part of it.
Eden gave her chili a stir, wishing Gabi would chime in with her advice on how much longer it needed to cook. Sure, she could look it up, but it wasn’t the same. She glanced at the microwave. The panel flashed Error.
“You too?”
Eden slumped to her bed and crawled under the covers, wishing she could just disappear.
***
When Eden woke from her nap, the light coming through her bedroom curtains was sunset-golden. She sat up, and for a moment she wondered why Gabi had let her sleep. When the fog of sleep cleared, she remembered that Gabi was gone. Beverly’s horrified face when she’d backed away floated to the surface of her mind, then came the image of Jack, bleeding on the ground when he’d come after her in the street the other day. Eden wrapped her arms around herself, feeling alone in her new house and alone in her new neighborhood. After the way she’d been acting, everyone would be best served leaving her that way, too.
Her phone chimed. Eden grabbed it, swallowing down the disappointment when it was just a regular text from a coworker, with no amusing commentary to accompany it. A notice came up for a missed voicemail, and Eden tapped it.
Eden’s chin dropped to her chest as her boss explained that her new work situation just wasn’t working, and he was going to have to let her go. Eden thought of calling him to change his mind, but what could she say? She’d been neglecting her work in favor of meddling in the lives of a working mother and a respectable business owner? She’d been convinced that someone had cursed a common morning glory vine, forcing it to become a ruthless killer?
What did she think now? Eden sighed, pressing her hand against her forehead as she stuffed her phone back in her pocket. Who knew why Martha’s vine had done her in? Maybe these mysterious gifts weren’t to be trifled with. Eden had seen her own inheritance do her harm more times than she cared to think about.
Eden trudged to the kitchen and took a bowl out of the cupboard. She couldn’t face Dotty or Yolanda or Beverly or Jack after all her crazy talk. She’d just eat her chili by herself and find a movie to stream in her bedroom.
She’d just given the chili a good stir when she heard a hard, sharp noise. She tipped her head listening. Tick. Tick. The sound was coming from her living room window. Eden hurried over, peeking outside. Jack stood on her front lawn. He tossed a tiny rock towards her face. It pinged off the glass.
Eden went to the front door and opened it. “Can I help you, Jack?”
“I’m hungry,” he called. “Someone gave me the idea that this is where I come for food.”
Eden laughed. “There’s a whole table full of chili out there.”
“I want yours.” Jack’s eyes were either hopeful, or mischievous. From this distance she couldn’t tell which.
Eden paused in the doorway. She could spend the day curled up in her room feeling sorry for herself, or she could share the chili she’d made for the block party and maybe check out the spook alley. She had a feeling Jack wouldn’t leave her alone if she didn’t go. “If I bring the chili, will I see a floss monster at Yolanda’s?”
He grinned, scraping his hand across his neatly-trimmed beard. “It could be arranged.”
Eden sighed. “Fine. I’ll come.”
Eden took her phone off the charger and stuck it in her pocket, just in case Gabi decided to come back. Then she grabbed a couple of pot holders and the chili and headed out the door.
The neighborhood was every bit as garish as Eden had hoped, and string lights were beginning to blink on in pink, red, orange, and green. Eden put her pot of chili on the table. She didn’t see Jack. Since he was keeping his distance, she thought she may as well take her turn at dinner first.
She took a bite of her chili and smiled. “It turned out really good, Gabi,” she said, even though she didn’t think Gabi could hear her. Then she sampled some of the other chilis, appreciating the differences in heat, sweetness, and savory flavors. She could guess which one was Yolanda’s because it was the perfect balance of all of those things.
A little ways off there was a cake walk, and kids were jumping from one numbered paper plate to another, their costumes flopping around as they went. Eden had almost forgotten there were children in the neighborhood. All her immediate neighbors seemed to be middle aged and up. Even if there were kids nearby, they’d probably been kept indoors after Mrs. Thorne’s death. Their parents must have decided all was safe now. Maybe they were right.
Dotty walked over and took a plastic bowl. She looked up at the sky, where clouds were gathering again. “You haven’t happened to see a pink crocheted potholder, have you? Lorna says it’s missing, and I wouldn’t want us to get rained out.”
Eden gave the table a once-over. “I haven’t.”
“Her sister made it for her, so she’s rather attached to it. Don’t worry. If we can’t find it, we’ll distract her with something shiny.”
“She’s got everyone under her thumb, doesn’t she?”
“I supposed she does.” Dotty served herself a big scoop of chili. “Beverly told us what happened.” Dotty ducked her head, as if she were embarrassed to bring it up.
“Oh.” Eden blushed. “I should apologize to her. To all of you.”
“No.” Dotty shook her head, her eyes wide. “You don’t need to do that. I’m not so sure you’re wrong. I mean, about it not being an accident.”
“I’m starting to feel very certain that I was wrong. Everything’s just so strange here. I think I convinced myself that nothing was what it seemed.”
Dotty smiled. “You should know that when I was in the seventh grade, I stole a candy bar from the gas station down the road.” Dotty snapped her mouth closed, her brow creased. “I meant to say that one time I let my dog poop on Beverly’s yard on purpose, because I was so angry at her.” Tears sprung to Dotty’s eyes as she backed away. “Your inheritance—Did you do this?” Dotty looked hurt as she backed away.
“No. At least—I didn’t mean to.” Eden stood staring after Dotty, wishing she could help, but certain she’d only make it worse. It was as if Eden’s inheritance had launched into overdrive, except for where Gabi was concerned. Gabi was shutting up when nobody else seemed to be able to. Aside from the chili, nothing had gone right the whole day. Eden should have cut her losses and kept her date with that movie.
She turned to head home, but when she reached her walkway, there was Jack. He was sitting on the front steps, blocking her way. She stopped at the edge of the walkway, where Jack usually stood, blinking to hold back the tears that burned the edges of her eyes. “Don’t talk, Jack.” Eden’s voice was so quiet she wasn’t sure if it reached him. It was just as well, since she wasn’t sure if she’d meant it. Did she want to know what Jack really thought of her?
“I knew the moment I saw you there was going to be trouble.” His eyes were steady on her, and his voice barely carried across the yard. “I mean, I touched your hand, and it was like a shock went right through me.” He shook his head hard, standing up. “That’s not what I came to say.”
“Jack, you have to leave.” Eden’s voice was stronger this time. She didn’t want to know. His words had already made things harder, because in that moment she realized there was nothing she wanted more than the comfort of Jack’s arms around her. And that was impossible. “Cover your mouth and walk away. Something is wrong.”
“I can’t.” He took a deep breath. “I didn’t know who you were, but I knew it meant trouble, all the same. My grandfather taught me a feeling like that only leads to trouble. I lied before. He never married for love. He used his head from the time Clementina left to the day he died. My dad skipped settling down altogether.”
Eden wanted to cover her ears, but his eyes pleaded for her to listen. She sighed. The two of them wouldn’t be able to come back from this kind of honesty, and the idea of losing Jack’s friendship made her chest tighten.
“My ex-wife taught me that, too, although I realize now I never felt real passion, not the kind my grandfather talked about. I’d been taught for too long that your heart gets you hurt. I chose her because she made sense. I loved her, of course, but I put distance between us. I was to blame as much as she was. I was so afraid of getting hurt that it’s exactly what I got.”
“Jack, you don’t have to tell me about this. Not unless you want to.”
“But I do.” His voice was ragged, and his features hardened in concentration. “At least—I wanted to tell you something.” He blinked hard, his fists clenching, as if he were trying hard to focus. “I came here to tell you about your mug. The one with your company’s logo on it. I saw it in the Biddle’s kitchen.”
Eden released a deep breath. It was over. Jack, in all his chivalry, had only wanted to tell her where her missing mug had gone. He was a prisoner who had just been set free.
“I’ll look into that.”
“Not by yourself. Please. There’s something going on, like you said.” He bit his lip, as if fighting for control over his mouth. “I heard about what you and Martha did.”
“I’m sorry, I—”
“No, I understand. I couldn’t have gone with you. And I can’t imagine you’d let me do it for you. You took someone with. Thank you.”
Eden gave him a weak smile. “That all?”
He shook his head. “No. I overheard Arthur calling Martha’s son to let him know that someone was in the house. What if he knew it was you in there? Then when I saw the mug—” He took a deep breath, still fighting to get the right words out. “There is power in material things sometimes. It’s something I heard once. We’ll figure it out when this insanity passes and we can talk.”
“Okay. Thanks, Jack.”
Jack breathed a sigh of relief, the tension in his muscles disappearing. He looked like he was about to leave. Then he paused. “I want to touch you again.” The words seemed to escape as easily as if he’d said see you later, and Jack clearly hadn’t expected them. His smile dropped away, and he tensed.
He looked away, as if this was the last place he wanted to be, but his feet seemed to be rooted to the porch. He reached out a hand. “That current of electricity against my fingertips—” He paced back and forth on the porch. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about kissing you—and lying doesn’t seem to be an option right now. But if I so much as breathe the same air as you I’m a dead man. Worse, I could get you killed. So I think you’re right. It’s best if we stay away from each other. I can’t end up like them.” Jack hurried over to the side rail and climbed over. He stopped, giving her one last look before hopping over. “The only thing worse than feeling things you shouldn’t is having to say them out loud.”