Page 32 of The Manor of Dreams

She looked at him in alarm. “What? Did something happen?”

He straightened up. Something—relief?—seemed to come over him. “Never mind.”

“What do you mean, shaking? Is something else wrong with the house?”

“It’s nothing,” he said lightly. “Just a dream.”

She stood at the sink and deliberately washed her hands and then her face. She still felt nauseated, especially so this morning. Was it the wine? Had she eaten something bad? “Qin ài de,” she said.

“Hm?”

“What did Eugene’s wife mean? Did something happen with your family here?”

He looked at her straight in the mirror. “Just a… it’s complicated. There’s been a couple of family tragedies. It’s all too sad, really.”

“Is that why your mother doesn’t like to stay out here?”Family tragedies.When she blinked, she saw the figure from the mirror the night before burned into the backs of her eyelids. Where could such an awful vision come from? Could Richard’s mother have seen something similar when she was a girl?

“For many reasons. But I think she didn’t have an easy time growing up. The family stuff really got to her. I don’t like to dwell on it.” His tone became irritated. “I don’t know why Eugene would tell Jennie that in the first place. At least now we know she’s a gossip.” He finished at the sink and went into the bedroom. “Are the girls awake? We should make them breakfast.”

The mood had turned. Vivian’s questions had upset him. She got the sense he did not want to be pressed further.

thirteen

AUGUST 2024

DAY 4 IN THE HOUSE

NORAheard a knock at the door in the morning. When she went to answer it, Ma stood on the other side, visibly brightened. “?,” she said.

“Morning,” Nora said cautiously. “Are you feeling better?”

Ma nodded. “I was going to make breakfast. None of those sisters are up yet. Have you eaten?”

Nora glanced down. Suddenly she remembered everything from last night. The garden. Madeline. The pictures in her phone.

“You should eat. I’ll make some tea for you, at least.”

“I think we should leave.”

Her mother frowned. “What?”

What could Nora tell her without sounding like she’d gone insane? Could she tell her about what had happened with Madeline? “This place… doesn’t feel right.”

It sounded ridiculous, but so did saying that vines tried to kill Madeline. She wasn’t even going to touch how the flowers seemed alive and bled from their centers. Mahadtold her never to go into the garden.

“We can’t leave,” Ma said. “We can’t let them have the house. Just this one week, Nora. Okay? And then this is ours. And we can keep it or sell it and have it pay for school. We can even… You know, I’d started thinking of housing justice orgs to donate the rest to. Places that help families find affordable places to live or help families with legal assistance.… Like I said. Whether it’s the house or the money, it’s better with us than with them.”

Nora imagined not having to think about how many loans to take out or which schools would give scholarships. This could be staggering, life-altering money. Still, she persisted. “But is it really ours?”

“Jia-Jia. Vivian gave it to us. Sheowesus.”

Her skin prickled. “What for?” Ma didn’t answer. Nora stood. “Did Vivian truly give us the house?”

Ma crossed her arms. “What do you mean?”

Nora stared at her mother warily. Could Lucille be right? Nora pulled her phone from her back pocket and showed her mother the picture she’d taken of the security camera screenshot. The one from July 20, 1:28 p.m.

“Ma,” she said quietly, her eyes trained on her mother’s face. “Was this you?”

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