Chapter 4
By the time Louisa knocked, the lake house was clean and welcoming, with the scent of red sauce simmering on the freshly scrubbed stove. Padding down the hall in thick socks, Olivia opened the door, tugging her sweater tighter against the sudden rush of cold, damp air.
“God.” Louisa laughed. “You’ve gotta love Massachusetts in the fall.” She stepped in and pulled down the hood of her raincoat, shaking loose her hair.
“Uh-huh,” Olivia murmured, distracted as she noted the water pool at Louisa’s feet on her freshly polished floor.
Louisa followed Olivia’s gaze. “Don’t worry, I’ll clean it up.
Anyway, these are for you.” She held up a bottle of wine in each hand.
“I didn’t know which you’d prefer, so I bought red and white.
” She inhaled deeply and her stomach let out a loud rumble.
“Is that spaghetti I smell?” Her eyes rolled in pleasure.
“Yes.” Olivia nodded. “It used to be your favorite.”
“Still is,” Louisa grinned. “Okay, red it is. I’ll just go uncork this bad boy and let it breathe before dinner.” She headed for the kitchen. “Oh, and by the way, your surprise is on the porch.”
“Er… thanks?” Olivia frowned as she turned to look out of the open door.
“You’re welcome.” Louisa wandered down the hallway, trailing raindrops in her wake.
Olivia’s gaze fell on a figure in a distinctive uniform climbing the steps to the porch.
“A cop? You brought me a cop?” she yelled over her shoulder in the direction of the kitchen. “What am I supposed to do with him?”
“A hug would be good,” he suggested, and removed his hat with a grin, revealing a familiar face.
“Jake?” Olivia’s eyes widened in surprise. She took in his short, blond hair and mischievous blue eyes, almost the exact same shade as his sister.
“Hello, Olive. It’s been a long time.” He grinned, holding out his arms. “How about that hug then?”
Without thinking she launched herself into his arms, not caring about the rain from his heavy jacket saturating her clothes.
Jake was only a year younger than Louisa, and when they were younger, the three of them had been inseparable. Over the years, she’d often wondered what had happened to them.
“You got so tall,” Olivia muttered as he gave her a squeeze and dropped her back on her feet.
“That tends to happen.” He tugged her long dark hair playfully. “What about you, pretty girl? You grew up nice too.”
“Nice?” Olivia’s brow quirked. “Really, Jake, stop with all the flattery. It’ll just go to a girl’s head.”
“Alright, beautiful.” He laughed, a deep rumble that warmed her stomach. “You mind if I come in? I’m getting a bit waterlogged out here.”
She stepped aside to allow him through and followed him inside, closing the door behind them.
The last time she’d seen him, he’d been a scrawny kid with dirty blond hair and a missing front tooth.
Now, the guy standing in her hallway was insanely hot.
Not her kind of hot—he was still just Jake to her—but she could imagine he was never short of potential dates.
He was tall and broad, and when he removed his jacket, she watched in interest as his muscles rippled beneath his shirt. Definitely not a scrawny kid anymore.
“What?” he asked as he turned back and caught her staring.
“Nothing.” She shook her head with a smile. “I just can’t believe you’re all grown up and a cop too.”
“Yeah, sorry about the uniform. I didn’t have time to change.”
“Come on, guys! I’m starving,” Louisa yelled from the kitchen. “I’m going to die if you don’t feed me soon.”
Jake rolled his eyes and Olivia chuckled. He dropped his arm around her shoulders, and they wandered toward the kitchen. “You remember the rule? Never come between Lou and her–”
“Food,” Olivia finished. “I see some things never change.”
“Hey, I heard that,” she replied. “I’ve just pulled a double shift, and I haven’t eaten since this morning.”
Louisa had removed her coat, revealing her scrubs with her plastic IDs still clipped to her waistband.
“Wow, you’re a doctor?” Olivia stated in surprise.
“That’s right.” Louisa continued, opening random cupboards. “Where are your wineglasses?”
“I have no idea.”
“Found them!” Louisa retrieved three beautiful blue stemmed glasses.
“You’re really a doctor?” Olivia repeated, barely glancing at the glasses as Louisa began to pour.
“Yes,” Louisa answered in amusement. “Emergency medicine. I work in the ER.”
“But that’s so…so…”
“Unexpected?” Louisa handed her a glass.
“I don’t know… I guess I don’t know what I expected,” Olivia concluded as she took a sip. “Last time I saw you, you wanted to be a rock star,” she added in amusement.
“Ah, yes. My third-grade ambition.” She laughed in remembrance. “Well, there was just one problem with that.”
“Which was?” Olivia smiled as she took another sip.
“I can’t sing.” She grinned.
“It’s true, she really can’t.” Jake nodded sagely in agreement. “I don’t suppose you’ve got any beers?”
“Sure.” Olivia nodded toward the refrigerator.
“Anyway, that’s not the only respectable thing about me,” she continued as she pulled a delicate chain from the neck of her scrubs, upon which was a gold wedding band.
“You’re married?” Olivia’s eyes widened.
“Yeah, to Tommy Linden.”
“Why does that name sound familiar.” Olivia frowned.
“We went to school with him,” Louisa replied. “Back then, he was a cute, dark-haired boy, bit shy.”
“I think I remember him.” Olivia squinted, eyes distant as she tried to recall her classmates from decades ago. “Vaguely.”
“Well, he hit puberty and went from the cutest boy in class to the hottest guy in school.” Louisa grinned.
“Hey,” Jake objected as he popped the cap on his beer.
“You don’t count.” Louisa gave a dismissive wave.
“Apparently,” he grumbled and lifted the bottle to his lips.
“Why didn’t you bring your husband tonight?” Olivia asked. “I wouldn’t have minded.”
“He’s serving a tour.” Louisa stared down at her glass.
“So, are you feeding us then?” Jake interrupted.
“Sure.” Olivia placed her glass down and stirred the pot of simmering sauce. “I still can’t get over it, a doctor and a cop. Your parents must be proud.”
“Yeah, they are, I guess,” Jake answered as he leaned back against the counter and sipped his beer. “What about you?”
“Research mainly. I’m a historian and author. I specialize in witchcraft and the occult, most recently the witch trials of Europe and early America.”
“Wow,” Louisa replied. “A historian, just like your da–” She cut herself off abruptly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
“It’s okay.” Olivia sighed. “I knew the subject of my parents would come up sooner or later.”
“We don’t have to talk about it, Olive.” Jake shook his head. “It’s none of our business.”
“It’s fine, honestly.” Olivia scooped the spaghetti into dishes, keeping her hands busy, her stomach hurting like it always did when she thought about her parents. “Go ahead and ask. If I don’t want to answer, I won’t.”
Louisa topped up their wine glasses. “What do you remember? About… that night.”
Olivia concentrated on serving up the meal, not looking at them and somehow that made it easier to answer.
“Being inside the house,” she murmured. “The smoke, the fire… but most of all, I remember my father standing over my mom’s body…” Her voice trailed away lost in memories. “There was so much blood…”
“Jesus, Olive,” Jake swore. “I’ve seen my fair share of terrible things doing the job I do, and I can tell you now, no kid should ever have to see that.”
Olivia shrugged. “I don’t really think about it much anymore, or at least, I try not to.”
“What happened after that?” Louisa sipped her wine as she watched her friend in sympathy.
“It’s a bit of a blur, to be honest.” Olivia shook her head. “We were in the car, and I remember being really cold because I didn’t have my coat. We made it as far as Philadelphia before the cops caught up with us and my dad was arrested.”
“He’s still alive then?” Jake asked. “In prison?”
Olivia’s lips tightened. “He’s alive, but when they caught up with him, he was raving.
He kept ranting something about demons. After he was convicted of first-degree murder, he was institutionalized in a high-security psychiatric hospital, and I ended up in foster care.
I bounced around for a few years between family placements and group homes until I aged out of the system. ”
“You weren’t adopted?” Louisa asked softly.
“Who would want the kid of a murderer?” She looked up with a small, self-deprecating smile.
“Olive.” Jake breathed.
“Doesn’t matter anymore.” Olivia shrugged off whatever he was about to say; she didn’t need their pity. “I put myself through college, and I’ve got a job I love that gives me a lot of freedom. I’m doing okay.”
“The one thing I don’t understand”—Louisa frowned—“was why Evelyn wasn’t given custody of you? She adored you.”
“That’s a story for another time.” Olivia wasn’t in the mood to talk anymore so she handed Louisa one of the dishes.
“Come on, the meal’s getting cold. We’ll go to the library.
It’s still a bit of a mess, but at least it’s clean.
” Olivia handed the other dish to Jake, and taking her own, she headed toward the door.
“I haven’t had the chance to sort through the rest of the house yet. ”
They settled comfortably in the library with Louisa stretched out on the saggy old couch and Jake in an adjacent chair, which was deeply cushioned in cracked brown leather. Olivia dragged a couple of cushions onto the floor and settled on the rose-colored rug in front of the fireplace.
“So, Jake.” Louisa scooped a mouthful of spaghetti onto her fork. “What happened today at The Salted Bone? There was a lot of gossip buzzing around the ER this afternoon.”
Olivia swallowed her mouthful of food. “I was at the store this morning, and Mrs. Bailey was practically plastered to the window watching it all.”