Page 38 of The Lady on Esplanade
She picked up a hairbrush and began brushing my hair into a high ponytail.“Just because we tell ourselves something isn’t true doesn’t make it any less true.”
“I guess you’re right.Which means that now would be the right time to talk about you planning the engagement party for Carly and Jaxson, and how there is no way on earth I will allow you to go wedding-dress shopping with her—regardless of who she’s marrying.She doesn’t treat you the way you deserve, Jolene.You are nothing but nice to her, and she’s, well…”
“Not,” Jolene finished, smoothing a bump in my hair.“My mama often says that it’s those who are in the most need of love who are the hardest to love.I haven’t quite figured out why Carly is the way she is, but one thing I do know is that she needs a friend.”
“Well, you’re a better friend than I am.”
“Don’t say that, Nola.You’re an amazing friend.Besides, you haven’t seen my voodoo doll collection.”
I looked at her in alarm and didn’t relax even when she smiled.There were so many things about Jolene—like her apparent lack of need of sleep—that could be explained only by voodoo or witchcraft that I couldn’t completely dismiss her comment as a joke.
She studied my head from all directions in the mirror.“I’ve been thinking about something you said in the car on the way home last night.How Beau wishes that his sister would play a part in his search for their parents.”
“Yes?”I said warily, my gaze meeting hers in the mirror.“She’s blocked his number and has made it clear that she doesn’t want to talk to him.”
“Right.But she hasn’t blocked your number.As far as you know.”
“Not yet, but I’m sure she considers me guilty by association.Besides, I don’t have her phone number.”
“No, but Sam does.She’s the one who called her about the fund-raiser party—remember?I’d bet she hasn’t deleted it.”
“You have a short memory, Jolene.Don’t you remember what happened the last time Sam and I tried to work behind Beau’s back?”
“Do you mean how you returned Sunny to her family, so that she now has a relationship with her grandmother?Beau was mad at you for almost five whole minutes.”
I sent her a long stare in the mirror.“It was longer than that.Besides, if Sunny won’t speak with Beau, I’m positive she won’t want to speak with me.”
“How will you know if you don’t try?”
I stood quickly.“Thanks for the primping, but I’m late and I need to get going.”
After a brief scratch beneath Mardi’s chin, I grabbed my backpack and headed toward the front door.In her own words, Jolene was as stubborn as a spot on a ladybug.In any case, I knew this wasn’t the last I would hear on the subject.
Beau was waiting in his truck in the driveway when I emerged with a fresh ’do and with my face completely color corrected.As I climbed into the passenger seat, I said, “Sorry I’m a little late.You could have come in and waited, you know.”
“I know.I just didn’t want to interrupt Jolene’s momentum and spoil the final result.You look really nice, by the way.”
The compliment took me by surprise, making me fumble the words I’d been rehearsing all night, and then forget them completely.“Thank you,” I said instead.“Jolene did it.”
“I know.I can tell.”
I wondered if he’d intended that as an insult.Maybe it had been meant to put us back into our old and familiar pattern.Before he could say anything that might take us down a road I didn’t want to travel, such as the reason why Sam had abruptly left the theater or why he had been carrying a ring box in his jacket pocket, I said, “Can I see the photo you stole from Honey and her sister?”
He didn’t seem disconcerted that I knew.“I didn’t steal it.I was just borrowing it without asking permission.There’s a difference.And I have every intention of returning it, so it’s not technically stealing.As soon as I make a copy of it I’ll find a way to put it back.”He indicated for me to open the glove box.“It’s the photo the sisters used for their real estate ads for the Esplanade house—I recognized it from the one that sparked my initial interest in the property—which means it’s recent.They must have wanted a memento to take with them after they sold it.”
“But why would you…” The question dissolved on my tongue as I brought the picture closer to my face.A white, smoky image appeared in one of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the front room.Although the edges of the cloud were smudged, two figures could be clearly seen.One, smaller than the other, looked like a young boy wearing short pants and suspenders.The face of the other was that of a middle-aged woman, her knee-length floral-print dress modern.Her hand rested on his shoulder in a maternal gesture.
I looked at Beau.“I’m guessing that’s Patrick, the little boy who died in the influenza epidemic in 1919, and I think I recognize the woman from another photo I saw at the sisters’ house.It looks like—”
“Sybil,” Beau finished.“The woman murdered in the house.She’s even wearing the same dress in the photo with Jessica and Lynda.”
“You told me before that you thought Sybil was acting like the protector of the young spirit.This sort of proves it, doesn’t it?”
He nodded.“And I think this is who she’s protecting him from.”He pointed to a corner of the house where tall bushes and other vegetation blended with shadows.
“I don’t see…” I stopped, the shadows morphing into the cohesive shape of a head, torso, arms, and legs.I could now clearly make out the dark shadow figure of a man.I drew back, a cold fear spreading from my neck to my back.Even though the face had no features, I felt the menace of two eyes staring at me from the photograph.
I shoved the photo back into the glove box.“That’s awful.Terrifying, really.We need to show that to Cooper before he makes any final decisions about the house.”
