Page 85 of The Diávolos: Part Two
“As ready as I can be.”
As we near the property, I notice the lined, tall trees on the side of the road. The long, eerie roads spreading away from us lead to what seems like nowhere. There’s no sunshine in this area, the trees and thick mist creating a fog overhead.
It’s unnerving, uncomfortable, and my heart threatens to come out of my throat. Panic starts to set in—the realization that I’ll soon meet someone from my mother’s past mixed with our creepy surroundings—and my breathing grows erratic. I clutch onto both sides of my head and lower my face between my legs, pulling my hair to create any distraction from the feeling of suffocation that’s squeezing my lungs.
Evan pulls over, before leaning closer to me. He starts rubbing my back, making gentle soothing noises, his touch comforting. As someone who also struggles with episodes, heknows that sometimes it’s better to just let the other person ride the wave.
“Breathe, baby. In from the nose, out from the mouth,” he instructs, his voice gentle as a whisper. “Are you okay, angel?”
“Yes.”No.But I can’t tell him how I feel. He’ll never let me see Lydia if he knows I’m a millisecond away from having a nervous breakdown.
Evander calls my bluff. “I know you’re lying, Angelica.”
“I have to do this, Evan. I just have to,” I plead.
His face turns sympathetic as he holds my gaze, then he nods and keeps driving. Not long later, we stop again, and he helps me out of the car.
My hands tremble as I straighten the hem of my shirt and step out onto the pavement.
A few yards ahead of me is a small, cottage-like house. It’s made of brick and has the prettiest porch with a two-person swing.
Evander puts his palm on the small of my back and leads me to the front door.
I take a deep breath and knock, using the woodpecker-shaped knocker. There’s no sound from the other end, so Evan walks around the porch to check the back of the house while I stay at the main entrance.
Armed men flank the property behind us. Evan wanted to make sure that we had backup in case this was a trap. Ireallyhope it’s not a trap.
Just as I’m starting to get nervous about the situation, Evan reappears, with a short woman wearing soiled clothing and gardening gloves at his side. She is beautiful, with blonde hair and dark blue eyes, and seems to be in her fifties, just like Eldora described. Just like the woman in the picture who was standing next to me. And she still somehow looks like the little blonde girl I saw in the photos with mymama.
The woman is weary, expectedly, as there are at least twenty men surrounding her lot and two strangers at her front door. She removes her gardening gloves and brushes off some of the dirt from her clothes, still eyeing the men’s guns warily.
But as soon as the woman notices me, her eyes take on a haunted look, as if she’s just seen a ghost, but she quickly blinks it away. She approaches me, and everyone tenses, but I don’t feel a threat. There’s something drawing me to her.
“Angelica,” the woman murmurs, bringing her hands to my face to cup my cheeks. “I can’t believe it’s you.” Her eyes widen in disbelief, tears forming in the corners. “You look so much like your mother.”
Overwhelmed with emotion, I don’t move. Evander takes that as his cue to stand next to me and wraps his arms around my shoulders. He extends one hand to the woman.
“Hi, I’m Evander. Sorry for barging in on you like this,” he says with a not-exactly-apologetic shrug.
She glances at Evan’s guards. “I know who you are. I’m Lydia,” she responds, hesitantly returning his handshake.
Lydia returns her gaze to me. “I expected you’d come eventually.”
When I finally snap out of my daze, I feel embarrassed about my reaction, but Lydia doesn’t seem to mind. Instead, she invites us in for tea.
“Usually, I get notice when I’m having company, so I didn’t prepare any snacks, but I’ll whip something up,” she tells us as we walk into her small house. It’s quaint and cozy, just as I pictured from the outside. There’s a small fireplace on the right side of the living room with a large couch and two armchairs. Further inside, I see a dining room that leads into a small kitchen.
Lydia disappears to get us refreshments, so we make ourselves comfortable in the front room.
“How are you holding up?” Evan asks me, his voice low enough not to be heard by Lydia.
“I’m fine. Better than I was when we first got here.” This time, I’m not lying. I don’t feel like my chest is caving in, but I’m still worried about what my mother’s childhood friend has to say.
Seconds later, Lydia comes back with a tray of coffee, tea, and fresh fruit. “It’s the best I could do on short notice,” she says with an embarrassed grimace.
“No, please don’t apologize. We shouldn’t have come unannounced. I just didn’t have any other way to contact you. A family friend gave me your address,” I rush out.
“Eldora, I assume? Your mother told me about her the first day she moved into your father’s estate. She’s a wonderful woman.” I smile back because Eldora truly is amazing.
