Page 13 of A Heart So Haunted
“Are you upset I didn’t make it this morning?”
The grass kissed my feet as I crossed into the lawn. My SUV sat under an oak tree on the other side of the driveway, mostly hidden from the sun. The last late-spring tree blossoms skittered across the hood and into the woods.
Yes.“No, I know you’re busy with work and stuff,” I said. “It’s just been a long day, and I’d rather go alone.” Before I had to find a place for the funeral flowers that smelled too much like Aunt Cadence,before, before, before.
He loves her, a torturous little voice whispered to me.Not you. Why else would he send her?
I’d heard that little voice before. Predominant when I was young; slithery and distant as I got older. It mirrored my insecurities, enhanced them in all the wrong places, and trailed after me just as I’d followed Emma that day on the soccer field. Except when I grew up, so did it.
With a sigh, Emma took a scrunchie from her wrist and tied her hair into a knot. “I can start going through the food, if you want. Do you want dinner later? I can heat something up. There are so many casseroles that—”
“I don’t know yet.”
She hurried in front of me and popped open the trunk. Straw lay strewn like confetti on the Hefty Liner. Of course I hadn’t cleaned it out. A client had needed straw a few weeks ago, and I’d forgotten after … everything.
I sat the box on the trunk lip. Emma retrieved a rooster before I had a chance to push it back.
“Chickens?” She examined his ceramic tail, touched a chip in his plumed feathers.
“They’ve crowded the casseroles in the kitchen. I figured I’d take a few to Meredith before she closes. Say hi.” The chicken collection had gotten worse since I’d last been here. Like a small army, multiplying in secret. But counter space was more important at the moment.
“Oh, I love Meredith,” Emma crooned. Her expression softened when she met my gaze. “I love you, too, you know. I’m sorry if … my timing was bad.”
“I love you, too.” I flicked the pieces of straw away and turned to her. “You know I’m always happy to see you.”
Her head tilted. “You’re sure?”
I nodded. “Positive.”
“How are you doing? You know.” She shrugged. Looked at the tree branches looming above, then toward the backyard, before landing back on me. “All things considered.”
My brow furrowed. “I’m fine.” Shouldn’t that be obvious? I was here. That was all that mattered. I reached for the trunk handle. “Just busy. Could be worse.”
“Lanny.” Her eyes said enough: from the way they quickly skimmed my frame, examined how my clothes dangled on my body instead of hugged it. Once, she asked why I didn’t wear my hair down more, and I’d avoided the answer—in reality, if I did, strands of hair fell out left and right like a trail of confetti behind me.
“Emma.” I straightened.
She crossed her arms. I always marveled at her elbows. How they could be so slender without looking boney. How her collarbone shined just right in any lighting. My eyes burned at the thought. If only I could look like her.
“I’m fine.” I made sure to meet her gaze. “I am.”
We stared at each other for what felt like an hour until she rubbed the bridge of her nose and nodded. “Okay. Well, I’ll pick a room. Unpack my things. Maybe we can clean out one of the smaller rooms tonight, since you’re …” She eyed the box. “Already manic cleaning.”
“That would actually be great,” I said with a smile.
“Anything I should know about?” She grinned this time, raised her eyebrows and tilted her chin down, like she was waiting for a spilled secret. “Any stories? Have you heard anything in the house yet?”
I stifled a laugh. “Not you, too.”
“Me, too? There are more people?” Hope lit her face. “So, something happened?” She grabbed my upper arm and shook it. “You have to tell me.”
I nudged her out of the way and made for the driver’s door. “It’s not haunted.”
“Come on! We watched scary movies all the time when we were young. The nursery rhyme! Just think of theexperience, Landry. Did you see something, or was it Sayer?” She lowered her voice to a sultry whisper. “Didhesee an unexplainable entity?”
“We thought we heard something and went to check, but it was nothing. Just a raccoon in the garage,” I said. I popped the door and hopped inside.
Emma gasped and covered her mouth with both hands. “No, you didn’t.”
