Chapter Six
Ben was driving the same beat-up truck I’d seen the day before. He opened the passenger door, putting the bouquets in the middle of the bench seat, then left it open for me. I slid in. The vinyl was hot under my legs.
“Thanks for this,” I said.
“No problem,” he replied as he got behind the wheel. “The Woods is a serious dead spot. I mean, that’s what I hear. I don’t have a phone, currently.”
I looked at him, remembering Clark’s tin-can-and-string comment from earlier. “Why not?”
“Well, usually I just take the spiritual route and say I was on it too much and decided to be more present,” he replied, now backing up. The flowers bobbed between us. “But really my dad stopped paying the bill.”
I considered this. “So why’d you just tell me the truth?”
“It occurred to me that the spiritual thing might make me sound like a jerk.” He glanced at me. Up close, his freckles made him look boyish, in a cute way. “This is a small place. Only so many people. Better to get off on the right foot when new ones show up.”
This confession was both unexpected and endearing. “Well, for what it’s worth, I doubt I would have thought that. Since you are at this moment doing me a favor.”
“Yes, but the favor is taking you to make a call,” he pointed out as we bumped down the driveway. “So you might have taken it as passing judgment. Had to consider that, too.”
“You put a lot of thought into this,” I observed.
“See, you’re not supposed to realize that,” he replied. “I was going for ‘carefree.’ ”
“It’s not too late for ‘carefree,’ ” I assured him.
He wiped a hand over his brow. “Whew.”
I smiled. Neurosis could be charming. Who knew? It didn’t hurt that his manner wasn’t the only cute thing about him. Which was not relevant, as I had a boyfriend.
At the Egg, we pulled around back. As he cut the engine, Ben nodded at a folding chair on the dock, overlooking a dumpster. “That’s the spot,” he said. “Sorry about the flies.”
“It’s fine,” I replied.
I’d been sitting there, swatting at them, ever since. Despite the promised five bars, however, I still couldn’t get hold of anyone.
Now the screen door opened and the waitress from earlier came out, untying the back of her apron. Then she stretched her arms up over her head, catlike, closing her eyes.
“Lana,” Clark said, poking his head out the screen door. “Raymond’s stuck in the driveway and we just got two four-tops.”
She exhaled, her eyes still shut. “I’m on break.”
“You can spend it driving.” He stuck out his hand, a set of keys dangling. Ben was at the grill, his head ducked as he flipped something with a spatula.
“Can I get a ride back over to the Woods?” I asked her. The sun was getting hot on my shoulders.
“Yo! Pancakes are up and ready for berries,” I heard Ben call out. Clark dropped the keys on the handrail and disappeared, the door banging shut behind him.
Lana pulled off her apron, balling it up and chucking it in an empty crate, then gestured for me to follow her back down the ramp. The seat was even hotter this time.
“I’m Finley, by the way,” I said as she cranked the engine.
“Lana,” she replied. “You related to Kasey and Liz?”
“My aunts,” I told her. “My mom’s Catherine.”
“What?” She looked over at me, wide-eyed. “For real? I thought she was, like, an urban legend.”
“My mom?”
She glanced over her shoulder as we pulled across the road. “Heard stories about her all the time, but nobody sees her in the flesh. Like Bigfoot.”
The contrast between my buttoned-up mother and a yeti made me want to laugh. “She’s real, I promise. Not sure why anyone would think otherwise.”
“Probably because she’s stayed away so long.” She slowed as we reached the road, looking both ways. “Around here, if people don’t know something, they just make it up.”
I felt like I had to ask. “So what do they say about her?”
“It varies.” She tucked some hair behind her ear as we pulled across to the driveway. “The family cut her off when she got married. Cat owes the family some big sum of money. She joined a biker gang, then punched Liz out in a bar fight.”
“What?” I said.
“Okay, that last one I made up.” She smiled. “But you get the idea.”
“Well,” I said, “I sure can’t tell you anything. I didn’t even really know this place existed until yesterday.”
“Seriously?” It was clear I’d shocked her. “Like, at all?”
“You said it yourself,” I told her. “She’s a mystery. Not just here, either.”
“Clearly,” she agreed as we came over a hill. “Oh, man. There he is.”
Sure enough, a brown UPS truck was ahead, one tire stuck in a sizeable hole. A short man in uniform with dark hair stood nearby, wringing his hands.
“Raymond,” Lana said as we pulled up. “Why didn’t you just leave it at the Egg?”
“The package was addressed here directly,” he replied. “I figured it must be important.”
She got out, going around to the truck bed. A moment later, she returned carrying a large piece of cardboard. I watched as she bent down near the trapped wheel, sliding it under for traction. “Try it now,” she said.
Raymond got in the driver’s seat, the engine starting. Seconds later, Lana stepped back, gesturing him toward her as he carefully reversed, onto the cardboard and out of the hole. “Good, good,” she said. “And… stop.”
“Woo-hoo!” Raymond cheered. “And I’m only down a few minutes.”
“You work way too hard,” she told him. “Give me the package, I’ll bring it up.”
“Bless you.” He bent behind him, pulling out a box. “It’s kind of heavy.”
Her door creaked open and she set it between us before reversing to let Raymond out. Then we started up the driveway again.
“So where are you from?” she asked me.
“Lakeview,” I said.
“Nice.” She maneuvered around a tree root. “How long you down for?”
“A week.”
“That’s just enough,” she said approvingly. “Any less and you’re rushing. More and you’ll get sick of it.”
“You think?”
“I know.”
A moment later, we came out of the trees. At the house, Lana pulled up behind Liz’s minivan and the North Lake Estate Sales SUV, cutting the engine.
“Wow,” she said. “You guys are already getting rid of stuff, huh?”
“I guess so.”
My mom came out onto the porch. “Finley. Did you see the UPS man? I was supposed to be getting a package.”
“Right here.” Lana opened her door, taking out the box.
“Did Raymond get stuck?” That was Liz, with Angela behind her.
“Yep,” Lana replied as she climbed the stairs. “Got him out, though.”
“Cat, this is Lana. She works at the Egg,” Liz told my mom. “Lana, my sister Cat.”
My mom nodded, immediately turning her attention to the box. Lana, clearly intrigued, continued to study her with interest.
Kasey appeared in the doorway. “Raymond got stuck?”
“Who’s Raymond?” my mom said.
“Our UPS driver,” Liz told her. “He’s the best.”
“Then why is she delivering my package?” my mom replied, nodding at Lana.
“Because nobody orders stuff here because of the driveway,” Kasey told her. “We just get everything sent to the Egg.”
“That driveway is a monster,” Angela agreed. “Not sure how we’re going to get all this stuff out.”
“We should just wait for them to bulldoze it,” Kasey said. “Do it then.”
Liz, startled, looked at her. “Don’t say that.”
“And we actually need it earlier,” Angela, clearly practical, pointed out. “Aren’t we doing the sale this weekend?”
“This weekend?” Lana turned to look at Kasey. “That was fast.”
“What is that anyway?” Liz asked my mom, nodding at the box.
“A printer,” she replied. “I figured we’d need it for the paperwork.”
Kasey said, “There’s one at the Egg. That’s what we use.”
“And Trav has a really fast one at the office,” Liz added. “It’s only five minutes.”
“That’s ridiculous,” my mom said, irritated. “We need a printer here.”
“We have one,” Kasey replied. “At the Egg.”
“But the driveway’s a pain, you just said so,” my mom told her. Kasey rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry. I’ll take it with me. You can put a blue sticker on it if you want.”
Silence.
“Welp,” Lana said, after a moment. “Guess I’ll get back to work. Nice meeting everyone.”
We all stood there, watching, as she went down the stairs and got back into the truck. It was like someone had cast a spell of awkwardness over us.
“A printer will probably come in handy, actually,” Liz said finally.
“It’s the principle,” Kasey said. And we were back. “God forbid anything here is good enough for Cat.”
“I’m trying to help,” my mom replied. “Again, isn’t that why I came?”
“I’m just going to head out.” Angela began inching down the stairs. “See you all soon.”
I took the opportunity to exit as well, heading to my room. Despite the door and distance, I could still hear every word.
“Let’s just all take a breath,” Liz was saying. “There’s no need to come to blows here.”
“Says the person who, less than twenty-four hours ago, claimed to be furious about Cat showing up with no notice.” That was Kasey. “But sure, yes. Let’s breathe.”
It was quiet again. Were they actually doing it?
“I think what we can all agree on,” Liz ventured, after a moment, “is that this isn’t just about the house and land.”
“It is to Cat,” Kasey muttered.
“It’s about,” Liz continued, over this, “that spot on the beach where the Judge lined us up with our little matching fishing poles. Mom and Dad getting married here, then renewing their vows summers later. That one spot on the back porch that turns gold when the sun sets.”
My mom sighed. “You sound like a commercial.”
“You,” Kasey shot back, “sound like a bitch.”
Whoa, I thought.
“So keep it! Keep it all,” my mom was saying now. “Repeat those wonderful stories. That’s all they wanted anyway.”
“What’s wrong with having memories?” Liz asked. “I don’t understand!”
Bang! went the door. Moments later, the one to Juvie did the same.
“And that’s where we always end up,” Liz said. “Something, everything, all our fault. The end.”
Chirp! I had a video call. Colin! I clicked on the green button and there he was, a porthole showing water behind him.
“Hey!” I said. “You would not believe everything that’s happened. I have so much to tell you.”
He bit his lip, then looked to the side. Something was wrong: I felt it in my heart, sharp, even before he spoke.
“Yeah,” he said. “We need to talk.”