Chapter 6 A Blueberry Adventure
Wakefulness came too early, tapping against her fitful mind where she slept in the guest room.
Visions hadn't clouded her night but rather too many thick emotions, one after the next, until she woke feeling near-to-bursting with too much inside of her.
She felt bruised from all of the emotions there.
These emotions were a curse.
She didn't need to part the lacy curtain, because she could feel that night hadn't yet released the world. One look at her phone told her it was four in the morning and that Ronnie had texted her.
RelationallyStunted Ronnie: I'm telling you, two times in one day is saying something
She forgot she'd changed his name. She hadn't forgotten that his last text hadn't been a goodbye, which she had deserved.
She groaned, flopping back onto the pillow before she got herself up to take a quick, cool shower. Sleep would be too elusive to chase at this point.
She was showered and tying the red robe she kept in Jen's guest room closet as she padded into the small kitchen, then stopped short when she saw Sulphur sitting on the marble island.
The cat sat there indifferently, her gold-striped tail flicking.
"Well, hello." Sulphur tilted her head, her one gold eye and one black blinking lazily.
"Hope you told Casper you left. That dog will panic if he can't find you.
" She opened the cabinet and pulled out one of the six matching white coffee mugs Jen had.
She started the coffee maker and when she turned around, she let out a gasp when she saw a new mug sitting on the island where, she was certain, nothing had been other than the cat moments before.
She looked around the kitchen, which was warmly lit by under-cabinet lighting and one lamp, the living room and hallway beyond dark.
She slowly reached out and picked up what looked like a replica of The Blueberry House.
There was a wraparound porch with white trim on a Victorian blue house with a gabled roof and dormer windows.
She peered closely. Even the famous Incrediball hydrangea bushes in glorious bloom were at the base of the mug. She frowned.
Maybe Jen had bought this?
Sulphur slid her sleek body against where her hand rested on the island and she purred, the vibration against her arm warm and drawing her attention to something black that lay next to her hand.
She picked it up as she set the mug down, absently petting Sulphur, inspecting a thick envelope. Expensive.
When she turned it and saw her name in golden scroll, she closed her eyes tightly and shook her head. When she opened them again, her vision was still slightly blurry from not wearing her glasses, but she could see her name.
"What is this, huh? You delivering mysterious mail, or did you take up calligraphy?"
The coffee maker beeped, the sound too loud in a too quiet kitchen, but she was grateful for the steaming mug (she used the white one from Jen's cabinet), breathing in the rich scent as she sat on the hard wooden stool and opened the envelope.
To Tilly Nguyen:
A wheel of misfortune has struck your life. The Lost Souls House would like to extend an open invitation for residence in one of the unused guest rooms.
The room, already chosen and decorated, can only be opened by one Tilly Nguyen. This room will be a welcome repose for a life that has taken a topsy-turvy turn, and invite you into a place of thoughtfulness and rest.
Although worn-through carpet and walls that one could whisper through are perfectly acceptable accommodations for an underdeveloped twenty-something, that age has passed and it is now time to settle into a space far more sumptuous with the persuasive inclination for unpacking.
You don't even have one picture up. It's disturbing.
If you should accept this invitation, all you must do is show up for an impractical and overflowing dinner tonight in the back garden of The Lost Souls House, where you will find flowers and fruits blooming in the summer evening, and the stars blinking in welcome.
Please do not be late. That is rude.
"Hey," a sleepy Jen said with a yawn as she walked into the kitchen wearing a matching red robe to Tilly's. They had been a present for Tilly's last birthday. She kept the robe, a set of silk pajamas, two outfits, a toothbrush and face wash here for grown-up sleepovers.
"Hey. Sorry, did I wake you?"
Jen was filling another white mug with coffee before she bent over the other side of the island.
"No. I was too excited to sleep much." She frowned. "What's Ursula's living room tiger doing here?"
Sulphur licked her paw next to where the mug and black invitation sit.
"And what's with the mug and love letter?"
"This isn't your mug?"
Jen picked up the blue Victorian and shook her head. "Nope. It looks exactly like The Blueberry House." She pulled it closer. "It even has the purple door!"
"Hmm. Well, I got this invitation and this mug this morning."
Jen took the thick paper from Tilly and read it over as she sipped her mug of coffee.
"Did you tell Eloise and Urs that your apartment is being sold?"
"Nope."
"Well," she ran a hand over Sulphur's curling and stretching back, "I would say that's creepy, but I mean at this point it's not. And pretty freaking cool. Though you know you can stay here for as long as you need to, right?"
"I do, and as much as I appreciate that, we both know that we would kill each other exactly nine days into that arrangement."
Jen's wide smile flashed, bright white teeth against her skin and the darkness of the kitchen that had slowly started to lighten as the morning got closer. "It's good we know our boundaries."
"Amen to that."
They clinked mugs.
"So, what do you think? Going to take the magical house up on the invite?"
"I don't know. Real estate here is worse than Manhattan."
Jen made a hmm of agreement.
"And of course, losing my job is not helpful. I have savings, but with no clear future I'm kind of starting from scratch."
"What do you think the mug means?"
"Uhhh...that somehow The Blueberry House will play an important role in my future journey? Or something."
"Life is weird."
Tilly nodded absently then thinking of the text message from Ronnie, she looked to her friend knowing what Jen would say if she knew that Ronnie was back in town.
She knew exactly the look that would come over her face.
But she also knew that if she didn't tell her, she'd be hiding something from Jen that she'd helped her heal from.
"So, Ronnie is back in town."
There it was. That look; her perfect eyebrows arched, head tilted down just so, mouth paused against her mug.
"And?"
"And he's Ronnie," she said with a shrug.
Jen's eyes narrowed. She also knew that look. It was her don't think about bullshitting me look. And Tilly knew with that look that the reason she'd told her was so that she wouldn't give him another piece of her.
"And I am good. Without him. I want nothing from him. I had to put too much of myself back together for someone who was," she paused, looking around, not finding words.
"A loser. A guy who hoped you would help him feel worth something from his high school glory days and not have to face not maturing past that."
Tilly's laugh was sharp, and Jen joined her as they laughed about old broken hearts that once lived with a force and now had no hold.
It was powerful to look at the ghost of a broken heart and know that you were fine.
Jen smiled. "Alright, well, how about we make blueberry pancakes, listen to music, and spend the day in our pajamas watching reruns?"
"Deal."
"And if he does anything," she added, but Tilly laid a hand on her arm with thankful eyes.
"I know."
She knew.
They'd spent most of the day that way: lounging, snacking, talking between lines of a shared favorite show.
Until noon hit, and something inside of Tilly made her itchy to get outside and move.
She wasn't sure that she could describe it other than to name it as restlessness that comes with feeling like you've lost power and control in your life.
She took stock of her emotions after a tumultuous run with them yesterday. She was scared about losing her job. But other than feeling a little frayed around the edges and like she had failed at something, she wasn't buzzing with too many feelings today.
So, she got dressed in a red sundress and flip-flops and kissed Jen on the cheek, thanking her for taking care of her.
After a stop at The Black Cat where Eloise had her honey lavender latte ready, which she might have found curious a few months ago but now was just one of the benefits of having witchy friends, she found herself walking around the surrounding streets heading downtown.
Sunshine trailed down her face and arms in a delicate brush of comfort.
This was the time of year when the sun was welcome and hadn't yet pressed too much of itself against the world.
She felt off-kilter, as anyone would in her current predicament, but there was something more to it.
It felt outside of herself, like the world around her had been a nicely fit puzzle, and now a few pieces were missing.
Her thoughts swung to Ronnie, and she rolled her eyes at herself. She was glad she'd unloaded that burden with Jen in the early morning kitchen.
Sometimes Jen could be overbearing when it came to her opinion on things. Though she was usually right.
Her phone rang and she stopped to dig it out of her purse. When she saw her sister's name flashing on the screen she groaned, throwing her head back and gathering herself before she answered it. But as she was about to, someone called her name.
She looked over to find Mrs. Ling walking down the porch steps of The Blueberry House. She hadn't realized that's where her mindless walk had led her, as she looked up at the umbrella canopy of the large weeping willow she was standing under.
The mysterious mug truly had captured its grand beauty.