Page 115 of Holding on to Chaos
“When we find her, just please keep it under your hat until I’ve had the chance to talk to Eva, okay?”
“Sure, Sheriff. Hope you catch the bitch,” Minnie said with uncharacteristic venom.
He would, and when he was done with her, Agnes would regret ever coming to Blue Moon.
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Charisma Champion took the chair across from Eva in a bizarre yet pleasing cloud of patchouli and homemade bread.
Eva bit back a sigh and tugged the headphones off her ears. She’d borrowed an old laptop from the black-eyed Beckett and set up shop at Overly Caffeinated to pour herself into writing. No thieving mother or public shame was going to derail this book. Certainly not while she tried to transcribe everything Donovan said to her last night while working her body into one human-sized orgasm. With inspiration like that, nothing was going to keep her away from her online backups.
“Eva,” Charisma breathed as if she was fogging up a crystal ball. “So lovely to finally meet you. I’m Charisma.” She held out a hand decorated with moonstone and amethyst rings.
“It’s nice to meet you as well,” Eva commented, shaking the offered hand. “What brings you out in the middle of a school day?”
“Oh, I have the meditation class right now. It’s basically naptime for eighth graders. I usually sneak out. And when I saw you here, I felt like it was fate.”
“Hmm, fate. Okay.”
“This trouble with your mother,” Charisma began.
In her head, Eva heard the sound of the figurative shoe dropping. She’d purposely chosen to show her face in town today. Dealing with the public fallout of her choices was one reason. The other possibly more prevalent one was the fact that she just wasn’t ready to return to her house yet.
“Is this typical behavior for her?” Charisma asked.
Eva tilted her head. “Why do you ask?”
“Well, I’m concerned that this planetary event that we’re experiencing may be affecting more than just Blue Moon. I understand you’ve been estranged from your mother, but I wasn’t certain that she has shown a history of criminal behavior. If this is bigger than Blue Moon, we could be looking at a multi-state disaster next week.”
Next week. Halloween and Ellery’s wedding.
Charisma pressed on in true small-town gossip fashion. “Now, I’ve heard from a few sources that your mother has a long history with, shall we saydisagreeablebehavior. Then there’s the story that she left your family to join a convent, and that’s where she’s been for all these years and just suddenly decided to renounce her vows, reconnect with you, and break into your home. Which could indicate that the radius of this planetary crossing is increasing. Which would mean that my calculations were incorrect, and that’s never happened before.”
Charisma’s voice got higher and shriller with every sentence. She was a woman who took her calculations seriously.
“I think your calculations are intact,” Eva said, taking pity on the woman’s crisis of self-confidence. “My mother hasn’t been a pillar of society for a very long time.”
“Thank goodness! You had me worried there for a moment. Whew!” Charisma wiped her brow in relief.
“I’m glad to alleviate your fears,” Eva said dryly.
“Yerba mate with a side of wheat grass,” the eyebrow-ringed barista called from the counter.
“Oh, that’s me! I’d better be getting back to my class. So glad your mother’s a criminal!”
“Uh, me too?” Eva watched Charisma grab her drink and head for the door.
“I’ll see you tonight, Eva!” Charisma called cheerily as she exited.
“Tonight?” Eva asked no one in particular.
The barista shrugged and went back to his graphic novel.
Eva shook her head and put her headphones back on.
She dug back into her backlog of social media and email correspondence first. She didn’t like going too long without talking to her fans. The days of sending handwritten fan letters to a publisher who may or may not forward your sentiments on to your favorite author were long gone. Now, she could speak directly with her readers and get instant feedback on titles, covers, and plots.
And torture them with sneak peeks at her work in progress.
