Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
On the way to our cars, Dante started to grumble.
“That didn’t do any good,” he said.
“Yes, it did. We have his name—Jet Shy, from Singapore. And I don’t think your aunt is losing her mind. Nor is she nearing dementia. I know why she’s resistant to listening to your warnings.” I leaned against my car.
“What do you mean?” Dante shivered. “Can we get in? It’s cold.”
“Let’s go to a coffee shop. I don’t want Tilly noticing we’re still in her driveway. She’ll know we’re talking to her.” I held up my keys. “Meet me at Barista Heaven.”
The coffee shop was open till midnight. It was in Seattle, but traffic was light at this time of night, unless there was a football game.
“I’ll see you in about twenty minutes,” Dante said, waiting till I was safe in my car. As I pulled out of the driveway and eased my way up the narrow road leading to the street, the sound of the waves along the waterfront seemed to whisper goodbye.
The trip back over the 520 floating bridge wasn’t quite the harrowing trip it used to be, before they had replaced the bridge. But still, driving across a windswept lake that was frothing wildly in the icy breeze was a little daunting.
I opened my window and breathed in the chill air. There was a hint of snow on the wind—that tang of ozone that happened before both thundershowers and snowstorms. The temperature had dropped, it was now pushing thirty-four degrees. I closed the window again and corrected for the wind. Focused on keeping my vehicle from hydroplaning, I slowed down to thirty miles per hour as a particularly nasty gust rocked the car.
Ten minutes later, I pulled into the parking lot of Barista Heaven. Dante had made it here before me, and I could see him waiting inside the coffee shop. I grabbed my purse and stepped out of my car. The next moment, a snowflake landed on my arm, then another on my face. The clouds had shifted to silver, and in the glow of the streetlights, snowflakes began to fall among the sleeting rain.
I watched for a moment, transfixed. I always loved the snow—it blanketed the world, cloaking the grit and grim with a cleansing veil. After a moment, a snowflake landed on my cheek, startling me out of my thoughts, and I jogged over to the entrance, pushing the door open.
Dante already had his drink, so I stopped at the counter to order a hot cocoa. I’d had enough caffeine for the day and wasn’t planning on staying up the rest of the night. I carried my cocoa and a chocolate chip cookie over to the table and sat down.
“It’s snowing,” I said, giving him a wide grin.
“And you love it,” he said. “Do you think it will stick?”
“I don’t know, but it’s beautiful.” I stretched back in my chair, then quickly adjusted my legs. “Damn, I think I’m going to get rid of all my short dresses. This is annoying.”
“Well, you look good, so that’s something.” Dante stirred his cocoa. “So, what were you going to say about Tilly?”
I sighed. “I don’t think she’s losing her acumen at all.”
“You don’t mean you believe this guy is for real?”
“I didn’t say that. What I mean, is—after listening to her—I understand why this Jet guy has been able to blindside her. She’s in love , Dante. Your uncle never loved her, and even though they were friends, she’s experiencing what she thinks is true love for the first time. That will do a number on you, especially after so many years alone She’s blinded by love, and I think she’s desperate to make certain that nothing interferes.”
Dante took a sip of his cocoa. “I guess you’re right. To be honest, I had no idea that Gino and Tilly had an arranged marriage. When I was young and we went over to visit for the holidays, they always seemed formal with each other, but happy enough. But I guess you’re right. If you’ve lived a long life, been relatively happy but never knew what it was like to be loved—by an actual lover—I guess you’d be overwhelmed if you thought you found someone after all those years.”
“I think that’s going to be the sticking point. She doesn’t want to believe it isn’t real. And with her sense of station, she’d be embarrassed to feel she’d been duped. So, she can’t let that be true. I think we’re going to have to work around your aunt on this, so that she doesn’t find out and tip him off.” I finished my cookie. “All right, I’m heading home. I’m tired.”
“Drive safe. Whether or not it sticks, the snow’s going to make it slick.” Dante gave me a quick hug and then walked me to my car. As I drove home, I thought about love, and how the search for it could lead us to tragedy. I filed away the subject in case I ever grew desperate.
I arrived home around ten PM. Penn was there, curled on the sofa, studying her e-reader. She had a notebook on her lap, and was chewing on a pen as she stared at the screen. As I opened the door, she glanced up and swung her feet off the sofa.
“How was dinner?”
“How was class?”
She laughed. “Class was fine. I’m just getting some studying in. I’m amazed that I managed to run my store as long as I did without it folding. I’ve decided that I’m financially illiterate. Now, your turn. How was dinner?”
I sighed, dropping my coat on the sofa. “You know, sometimes I wish I could wave my fingers, twitch my nose, and make people see the truth of their situations. It would save so much time and energy. And hurt.”
“Do you think so?” Penn asked, setting aside her notebook. She turned, crossing her legs to face me, as I sat in the rocking chair across from her. “Or do you think a lot of them would ignore the warnings? You can talk yourself blue in the face with some people, and they’d still believe propaganda over facts.”
“True enough,” I said. “Oh, it’s snowing outside.”
Penn let out a squeak and turned around, resting on her knees as she leaned on the back of the sofa to stare out the living room window. “I can see it coming down under the streetlights. I did not have snow tonight on my bingo card.” She watched for a moment, then turned back around. “You hungry?”
I shook my head. “After dinner, Dante and I stopped at Barista Heaven and had cocoa and cookies.”
“So, I take it that Tilly didn’t want to talk about her beau?” Penn picked up the bag of gingerbread snaps she’d been munching on and pulled out a couple.
“Not even close. She clammed up fast. All we found out was his name, and that he told her that he escaped from Singapore but they froze his accounts. He’s led her to believe the ‘mob’ is after him. At least we can investigate the name he gave her, though if that’s fake, I’m not sure what we can do. She’s been paying his way. But, given she’s the matriarch of the family, I doubt they can do anything. And since they don’t speak to Dante, well…”
“Well, that sucks,” Penn said.
“Yeah, it does.” I leaned back, rocking carefully. “How was the day? Where are the cats?”
“Oh, it was pretty good. I worked on my website. I’m surprised how well my sales picked up once I switched over to online commerce. Luckily, I have a knack for coding, so I don’t have to pay anybody to create the site for me.”
I nodded. “A talent I definitely don’t have.”
“As for the cats, Murdoch decided he was going to try and leap into the fridge when I was deciding what to make for lunch. He missed the shelf he was going for, and managed to knock the container of leftover soup all over the floor, then he and Jangles proceeded to stand in the puddle, licking it up as I cleaned. I had to catch them and wash their paws. They didn’t care for that.”
I snorted. “They’re a pair, all right. I still can’t believe how quickly they bonded.”
“There’s something interesting about Murdoch. You said he was Letty’s familiar?”
“Yeah, that’s what Angela said.”
“I believe it. His nature…he’s magical. I could have sworn I heard him say something to me while I was mopping up the soup.” She quirked her lips at the corner. “I thought I heard him say Stop that—we’ll eat it .”
I stared at her for a moment. “Cat’s don’t talk,” I said, though at this point of my life, I wasn’t entirely sure that was true.
“Well, I’m not saying he did, but…” She shrugged. “Maybe I heard his thoughts—translated from cat, of course.” She closed the cookie bag. “You want to watch a show before bed? A new episode of Dream House just dropped.”
Dream House was a house renovation show we both enjoyed. It had enough drama to keep it interesting, and yet it always had a satisfying ending.
“Sure, that sounds good.” I put my feet up on the ottoman, smiled as Jangles jumped into my lap, leaning her big floofy body against mine, and Penn and I lost ourselves in the world of lumber, nails, and paint.
My alarm rang at six AM and I squinted, floundering to turn it off. Finally, I resorted to voice instructions. “Cassidy?”
“What can I help you with?” my phone’s AI assistant asked.
“Turn off the fucking alarm.”
The alarm stopped. “I have turned off the alarm,” Cassidy answered.
I didn’t want to get out from beneath the covers. It was chilly inside—even though I kept the heat at a steady seventy degrees, and the morning seemed too bright, though I couldn’t see any sunbeams.
I squinted, staring at the window. The sky shimmered with a silvery tint, and though I couldn’t see out into the yard from where my bed was, I realized that the clouds were a bit too bright for rain. I sighed, pushing myself up against the headboard, but quickly wrapped my blankets over me. I slept in the nude, and the room was too chilly for exposed flesh.
Jangles and Murdoch raced into the room. Both Penn and I liked the cats to sleep with us and so we left our doors cracked so they could get in and out.
“ Marowwww ...” Jangles let out an elongated meow, then bounced on my bed. She squirmed into my arms, licking my face. Murdoch stood at the bottom of the bed, staring at me.
“I take it Penn isn’t up yet, and hasn’t fed you,” I said.
Murdoch meowed, loudly, as if answering me. In fact, I was pretty sure he knew exactly what I was saying.
“Hey, Penn said it sounded like you said something to her last night, in English. Did you?” Part of me felt ridiculous for talking to a cat, yet I also realized that another part of me actually expected an answer.
Maybe.
The word hung in the air, and I stared at the cat. I didn’t know if I’d heard it aloud, or whether it was my imagination playing with my head.
“What? Did you say ‘maybe’?” I leaned forward, staring at him.
But Murdoch gave me a bored look and jumped down, running out of the room. I petted Jangles, staring at the spot that Murdoch had been sitting. What the hell?
After a moment, I heard Penn in the kitchen.
“Okay, Jangles, time to start the day.” I gave her another cuddle, then threw back the covers and pulled on my terrycloth robe. As I slid my feet into my slippers and padded to the window, I was greeted with a winter wonderland. The yard sparkled with snow. It was only a couple inches, yet everything was pristine and icy, enveloping our little corner of the world.
I opened the window and leaned on the sill. The windows were screened to keep the cats in, but the air washed through the opening, filling the room with that frozen smell snow has when it first falls. It was as though the entire world had crystallized overnight and nature had fallen into a deep slumber. The sounds of the living were muffled, cloaked in a subdued, frozen silence.
I inhaled a deep breath, then let it out slowly and closed the window before it got too cold. Calmer, I headed out to the kitchen, where Penn was starting to cook breakfast.
“Did you see—” I started to say, but she smiled.
“It’s so pretty out. I think I’ll make cookies today. I hope it sticks around for a few days. I checked the weather report. They didn’t expect the temperature to drop far enough for snow, but I guess it did. The forecast is for another few days of snow, then it will warm back up and rain. So we’ll have winter for a couple days, this year.”
As she scrambled eggs in a bowl, I turned on the espresso machine. “Mocha today?”
“Peppermint, thank you. I’m making eggs and I was going to make toast, but I could change that to waffles, if you like.”
I glanced at the clock. “You know, I can be a little late. Waffles it is. I’ll go get dressed and then help.”
She laughed and set the eggs aside, then began to assemble the ingredients for waffles. “You know what, why don’t you leave the cooking to me? You have time for a quick shower, if you want.”
With a chuckle, I finished making her mocha, and decided to wait on mine until I was out of the shower. After a quick rinse, I decided to dress for warmth, especially since we were due at Michael’s today to check out the haunting. I put on a pair of leggings under my black jeans, added a black turtleneck, a cobalt scarf, and then brushed my hair and put on my makeup. I slid into a pair of platform ankle boots and laced them up.
On the way back to the kitchen, I noticed Murdoch standing in the hall, staring at me. Once again, I thought of how much had changed in my life over the past month. I was happier, and I thought Penn was, as well. Murdoch let out a loud purp, then bounced away, and I had the oddest feeling he had read my mood. Or rather, my mind .