Chapter 40
OCEAN
The scent of potting soil wafted around Ocean as she crouched in the courtyard. A leaf blower roared across the street, and Miles peered at her from beside the planter, all big eyes and silent pleading.
She pretended she didn’t see him, and focused on planting the new trays of marigolds.
“O-ma!” he said.
“I’m sorry,” she told him, “there’s nothing else we can do.”
His eyes got even bigger. “Puh-leeease!”
“Honeyboy,” she told him, unable to keep the fondness from her voice. “I called a bunch of lawyers and she doesn’t want visitors. I’m not sure what else we can do.”
“I don’t mean about CJ!” he said, suddenly indignant. “I’m not even talking about her.”
“Oh,” she said. “Oh, right.”
“You barely know her. You went on like three dates!”
Ocean wiped dirt off her cheek with an even dirtier finger.
It had been more like five dates, but he wasn’t wrong.
Maybe she was trapped in the lesbian urge to merge, but she couldn’t stop thinking about getting CJ out of jail.
So much so that she assumed everyone else was worried about the same thing.
“I’m sorry,” she told Miles. “I’m still a little shaken up. You’re talking about Anthony.”
“Of course I’m talking about Anthony! I don’t get it. They keep asking for volunteers.”
“You do get it.” She clunked her trowel for emphasis. “Anthony can’t chaperone an elementary-school field trip because he’s a felon.”
Miles plucked a dead leaf from a stem. “He was a felon.”
“Once a felon always a felon.”
“People change! Can you think of anyone else in the whole entire world who’d keep us safer than Anthony?”
“Not even close,” Ocean admitted. “But that’s still not enough to convince your principal.”
“You’ll talk to her, though?”
“I’m not sure she’s even allowed to change her mind.”
“Pleeeeeease?”
“Fine,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll get anywhere, but I’m proud of you for sticking up for him.”
“I learned from the best!” he sang out, before scampering inside. “Thank you!”
Squatting beside the trays of yellow and gold marigolds, Ocean raised her face to the sun. She listened as a mockingbird’s song replaced the leaf-blower noise. He’d learned from the best? Who? Mrs. B? Ocean wasn’t sure she was good at anything at the moment.
She continued planting and was watering the freshly filled terra-cotta pots when Pax crossed toward her from CJ’s cottage. “Hey, do you need a hand?”
“Oh, Pax. Um…”
“I’m sorry! Maybe the others didn’t tell you that I’m stopping by once a day to—”
“Take care of CJ’s birds, right.”
“I hope that’s okay with you?”
Ocean huffed a laugh. “It’s fine. Though she’s silly for not asking me. I’m right here.”
“I guess she doesn’t want to make a bad impression on you.”
“While she’s in jail.”
Pax winced. “I can’t believe—I mean—this is all going terribly.”
“Yeah.” Ocean peeled off her gardening gloves. “She asked you to stop by indefinitely?”
“No, no. I’m supposed to take them home, but I don’t want to manifest that CJ is gone for good. Like if I keep coming by, that means she’ll be back soon.”
“I can have the kids handle that if you want.” Honestly, having Pax hovering around wasn’t exactly helping her mood.
“Thanks. I’ll let you know.” When he rubbed the back of his head, his bicep bulged. “I guess I’m being na?ve. I mean, the evidence is watertight, but her aura feels innocent, you know?”
Ocean grabbed the empty flat of flowers. “I do know.”
“She’s not a killer.”
“Yeah.” She considered the freshly planted flowers. “I guess we have to hope the real killer pushes someone else down a stairway.”
“Don’t even say that,” Pax told her, his chiseled face perfectly humorless. “That’s a terrible thing to hope for.”
“Then what should we hope for?” she asked, looking for a real answer.
“We should…” He gazed thoughtfully toward the street. “I guess we should hope that our dreams align with the universe.”
But Ocean had never been into that kind of mumbo jumbo, despite being raised by her parents and her relationship with Mrs. B. She believed in protecting the ones you love. And while she didn’t know exactly how she felt about CJ yet, she’d do whatever she could to protect her.