Chapter 8
Elodie rinsed her mug as the door to the cottage flew open. Her sister rushed inside, a disheveled mess.
“Oh, thank God,” Edie said as she put her hand to her heart.
Elodie faced her sister as she wiped her hands on a towel. “What’s going on?”
“Where’s your mobile? I’ve been calling for the past thirty minutes.”
“Oh. It’s in my room, probably still charging.”
Edie’s lips tightened. “Did you not hear it ring?”
“I put it on silent while I sleep. What’s going on?” she asked again.
Edie sighed loudly and yanked off her coat with angry movements. She then tossed it on the back of a kitchen chair. “What happened, my dear sister, is that a Druid died last night.”
“That’s horrible news, but I fail to see what that has to do with me.”
“She was murdered.”
Elodie carefully draped the damp towel over the edge of the sink before turning. She no longer considered herself a Druid or even from Skye, but she was still shaken at the news. There was a lingering worry in her mind, something just out of reach that she couldn’t pull into focus. “How?”
Edie’s brows drew together as she came to stand before her. “I don’t know, but this wasn’t like what happened with Da.”
“You said she was a Druid, so of course, it isn’t like him.”
If it were possible, Edie’s frown deepened. “You’re upset. I can see that. I thought it was because of…of…”
“The incident,” Elodie finished for her. “It isn’t.”
“Then what is it?”
She shrugged. “I’m not certain. I didn’t sleep well last night.”
“You’ve not slept well since you’ve been here.”
That was true. “I know, but this was…different.”
“Different how?” Edie pushed.
Elodie shrugged, waving a hand around as if she could pull the words out of the air. “Dreams. So many dreams, but none of them clear. And a sinister feeling. I thought it was just ghosts.”
“Ghosts?” Edie asked in surprise. “The cottage is haunted?”
“No. Not at all. At least, I don’t think so.” Elodie winced. She wasn’t making things better. “I’m speaking metaphorically. Memories of our childhood leading up to that day and then after.”
Edie nodded slowly. “Yeah. Those ghosts. I get that.”
“They’ve rattled me since I walked through that door after returning.” She couldn’t stop herself from glancing down the hall to the still-closed door of her parents’ bedroom.
Edie followed her gaze. “You’ve still not gone in there, have you?”
“Nope.”
“Want me to do it?”
“Nope.”
“Elodie.”
“I said no,” Elodie replied firmly. “I’m a big girl. I can do it.”
Edie sighed and took her hands. “I want you to know that you don’t have to. You don’t have to do any of this. I’ll give you whatever money you need.”
Elodie squeezed her sister’s hands. “I love you for that, but I’m not here to take a handout.”
“It’s not a handout. You’re family.”
“I’m the one who fucked up my life. I’m the one who will get it straightened out.”
Edie wrinkled her nose. “Why don’t we finish the cottage together?”
“I can manage it.” When Edie started to argue, Elodie quickly said, “If it gets to be too much, I’ll come straight to you.”
Edie rolled her eyes before pulling Elodie against her for an embrace. “I’m sorry, but I’m rejoicing in you being back. I’m going to take every second I can with you.”
Elodie wrapped her arms tightly around her sister. “I missed you, too. More than you know.”
“Please tell me what brought you here.”
Elodie released her sister and plastered a smile on her face. It felt tight. “My usual. I was stupid.”
“The one thing you’ve never been is stupid.” Edie licked her lips and glanced at the floor. “Listen, I was thinking of going to see Mum. Want to come?”
“No.”
“Elodie, please. She misses you.”
“I can’t,” Elodie said with a shake of her head.
Edie shrugged and took a step back. “I spent a lot of time going back through memories, wondering how I didn’t see what was going on between them.”
Elodie turned her head away. She’d had those same thoughts. Being back in the cottage had drudged them up again. “Stop.”
“You, me, and Elias never saw anything because they made sure we didn’t. We didn’t see the bruises. Didn’t hear the fights.”
“Stop,” she said again. Elodie hated to think how long her mother had suffered in silence as the family laughed and played.
How many times had Elodie and her siblings spent the day with their father at the beach while Mum remained behind?
There was always a good excuse or reason that didn’t make any of them question things.
Edie was quiet for a long moment. “Everyone has a breaking point.”
“Mum should’ve told him that she was a Druid. If he had known that she had magic, maybe he wouldn’t have abused her.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“Why didn’t she use magic to stop him? She had ample opportunity. She didn’t have to kill him.”
Edie lowered her gaze to the floor for several heartbeats. “We’re speculating on their actions and thoughts. Neither of us was in that relationship. We don’t know why things happened. Only two people know the truth.”
“And one of them is dead.”
“He abused her,” Edie stated.
Elodie crossed her arms over her chest. “He was our father.”
“And she is our mother.”
“I don’t hate her for what she did.”
Edie raised a brow. “Really? Because it sounds like you do.”
“She only saw one way out, and she took it.”
“Sometimes, that’s all a person has.”
She knew that feeling all too well. Elodie reached out a hand. Edie grasped it, and they embraced again.
“It really is good to have you here. I can see you all the time,” Edie said, tears in her eyes, her voice trembling.
Elodie wished she were happy being back on Skye.
Maybe it would be different if she were staying somewhere other than the cottage.
As soon as she thought that, she knew it was a lie.
Everything about Skye, the Druids, and the cottage was a reminder of a past she needed to release and let go of.
That meant never returning—just as her brother had done.
“Come to dinner tonight,” Edie said as she released Elodie. “You’ve not gotten to spend much time with Trevor or the kids.”
Elodie knew it was a mistake. She wasn’t good company, and she never knew what to say to children. But how could she refuse her sister? Edie’s eagerness was visible. Elodie would hurt her soon enough when she left. There was no need to do more now. “Sure.”
“Really?” Edie asked, her surprise evident. “Wonderful. Okay.” She glanced at her coat. “I need to plan. I need to go to the store.” She clapped her hands together and spun in a circle twice before laughing and hurrying to her coat. “Be there at five.”
Then she was gone.
Elodie rubbed her hands up and down her arms. Her smile had vanished with her sister.
All she could think about was the elusive dreams. She kept trying to remember them, but the details refused to surface.
Then there was the Druid’s murder. Elodie hadn’t asked how many were killed on Skye each year, but she couldn’t imagine it was very many—Druids even less since they protected their homes.
She went to the bedroom and looked at her phone.
She had fourteen texts from Edie and eight phone calls.
Elodie sat on the bed and looked up the local news on her mobile.
She found a brief segment about the murder, listing the victim—a thirty-five-year-old woman.
There was nothing about who’d found her, how she’d been found, or even how she’d been killed.
But there would be. The news would race through the Druid community like wildfire.
Elodie told herself that it was none of her business. She shoved her mobile into the back pocket of her jeans and stood. Then she remembered the cold numbness that had filled her when Edie had told her about the murder.
“Shite,” she murmured.
Elodie shook her head, attempting to free her mind of the thoughts. She had a long day ahead of her. The sky was clear, and she needed to take advantage of it and get as much done outside as she could.
At least that was her thought until she stood outside braced against the freezing wind.
There was shite everywhere. It wasn’t just weeds in the flowerbeds.
Junk and trash littered the area, as well.
The only way she knew they were gardens was because she had helped her mum plant and weed them.
Now, they just looked like piles of overgrown weeds that needed to be demolished.
“Perfect,” she mumbled.
She headed to the garage. It took her several attempts and all her strength to get the garage doors open.
The sight of the junk within made her immediately shut the door again.
She couldn’t clean the garage until she threw the stuff inside away.
Which left two choices. She could tackle her parents’ room, or she could begin calling around to get estimates on repairs.
Elodie strode back inside the house and removed her coat and gloves.
Then she sat at the table with her phone and made a list of people to call.
Within an hour, the first arrived to give her an estimate.
She spent the rest of the day showing people around and pointing out the damage. A few showed her things she had missed.
And each of their estimates was more than she made in a year.
The last thing she wanted was to go to dinner and make conversation with a man she didn’t know and kids who would ask countless questions.
Because wasn’t that what children did? But Elodie showered and got ready.
Then she got into her car and drove into town to pick up a bottle of wine and some whisky, because as poor as she was, she wouldn’t arrive emptyhanded.
Thankfully, it didn’t look as if many people were in the liquor store.
She quickly got out of her car and made her way inside.
She decided to splurge on a bottle of Dreagan whisky and a cheaper pinot noir.
She had a feeling she would need the whisky.
Maybe she wouldn’t even bring it in to dinner. Perhaps she would save it for herself.
She was making her way to the register when a man near her age walked down the aisle toward her. He looked vaguely familiar. He smiled instead of giving her a glare, so she smiled back as she passed him.
“Elodie?”
Fuck. She halted and turned to him.
“You doona remember me, do you?” he asked, his gray eyes watching her carefully.
She shook her head.
“It’s Filip. Filip Gordon.”
As soon as he said his name, she recognized him. A genuine smile curved her lips. “It’s been a while.”
“Aye,” he said with a nod, grinning. “I’ve been gone, too. I, ah, well, people have been talking.”
“Of course, they have,” she mumbled and tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice, knowing she failed.
He twisted his lips. “I’m here for family business. Kevin died.”
Sadness filled her for the boy she had known so many years ago. Kevin had been good to her. He had tried to help her, but she had been beyond help back then. “I’m so sorry to hear that, Filip.”
Filip shrugged, his grief evident on his face as he put his hands into the front pockets of his pants. “Thank you. Are you staying on Skye long?”
“No. You?”
“Nay,” he answered with a smile that almost reached his eyes. He ran a hand through his short, black hair. “Listen, I heard you were doing some work on your parents’ place. Need any help? I need to make some extra money. My friend and I are pretty good at handiwork.”
She followed the jerk of Filip’s chin to see none other than the man from outside the pub—Scott. Their gazes met. His were a deep blue like the ocean. She quickly looked away, hesitating.
“Let us come by and give you a quote at the verra least,” Filip suggested.
What could it hurt? Besides, Elodie was sick to her stomach at the estimates the others have given her. Filip and Scott couldn’t be any worse than that. “Do you have references?”
Filip shot her a look. “You knew my da. He showed Kevin and me the proper way to do things.”
That was true. Elodie knew the right thing would probably be to go to Edie and Trevor with the quotes and let them decide. Adding one more before she did wouldn’t hurt. The decision would be out of her hands, anyway. She wasn’t the one who would be footing the bill.
“Okay,” she agreed.
The corners of Filip’s eyes crinkled with his grin. “Great. Tomorrow morning at ten sound good?”
“I’ll see you then,” she said and continued down the aisle past Scott. She felt his gaze on her, but she didn’t look his way.