Her dreams were haunted by a raven-haired woman and a man who wore a snake around his neck like a scarf. The woman cried as the man pressed a wooden cup into her hands.
The man’s fingers were covered in tattoos. His face was a shifting shadow. The snake—a horned viper—was terrifying. Black beads of venom dripped from its fangs, and it reared its head back, ready to strike.
Nora’s dream self knew that if she got too close, she wouldn’t survive the encounter. She tried to run, but her legs weren’t working. And when she looked down, she saw that her lower half was made of marble. She couldn’t move, and the man with the snake was coming for her.
Chapter 7
You want happy endings, read cookbooks.
—Dean Young
The next day, Nora’s whole body ached from lack of sleep. But after ibuprofen, coffee, and a long shower, she felt almost human. She dressed in her favorite jeans and a rust-colored blouse, spending more time than usual on her hair and makeup. Crowds of festivalgoers would be visiting Miracle Books today, and Nora was determined to make a good impression.
As she dabbed concealer under her eyes, she wondered how Celeste was doing. Was she at home? Was the social worker watching over her? Had she been questioned again?
There wasn’t much more for Fuentes to do until the ME submitted his report, and Sheriff McCabe would be back before then. The thought comforted Nora. Deputy Fuentes was a good man, but he’d been working extra shifts to cover for McCabe, and he needed some time off. The sheriff would look into Bren’s death with tact and sensitivity. And if Nora knew him as well as she thought, he wouldn’t be too happy about the Women of Lasting Values.
What will they do next? Paint a devil on Bren’s gravestone?
The possibility of those self-righteous women adding to Celeste’s grief reignited Nora’s anger. If they got wind of Bren’s drug use, they’d triumphantly shout, “We told you CBD was a gateway drug” to anyone who’d listen. But to what end? To drive a grieving mother out of town?
Nora pulled on a barn coat and went out to the deck. She gazed at the hill where a million dewdrops clung to a million blades of grass. They shimmered in the sunlight like clear crystals. Like the jewelry Bren made.
A breeze drifted through the grass, and the dewdrops danced and sparkled. In that moment, Nora felt like Bren was there. But when a cloud slid in front of the sun, the feeling disappeared.
A train whistled from somewhere down the line. Its hopeful, haunted note made Nora wish that Jed wasn’t so far away. She took out her phone and called him.
“Hey, stranger. How are you?”
“I’ve been better.” Jed’s voice was leaden. “Mom’s in the hospital. She has an infection. Nora, it’s in her lungs.”
Having spent months in a burn unit, Nora knew that patients with internal injuries were more prone to infection. It wasn’t something that went away after they left the burn unit either. Many survivors were plagued by a weakened immune system for the rest of their lives.
Though Jed’s mom had been hospitalized several times since the fire, he’d always been around to take care of her. This time, she’d been admitted to the hospital by someone else because Jed was six hours away in Miracle Springs.
“I’m so sorry,” Nora said. “I wish I could reach through the phone and hug you.”
“Me too,” Jed said. There was a pause, and when he spoke next, his tone was frosty. “Just so you know. I’m not leaving until she’s okay. Like she’s back home and feeling one hundred percent okay.”
Jed wanted to pick a fight. Nora knew that he wasn’t mad at her, but at himself. After all this time, he was still filled with self-loathing for starting the fire that had injured his mother. Nora had given him a list of books to help him heal, but he’d refused to read it. He repeatedly told her that he didn’t need bibliotherapy or any other kind of therapy. He just needed to work as hard as he could so that his mother received the best possible care.
“You’re a good son, Jed.” Nora tried to infuse every word with tenderness and warmth. “Your mom will probably recover twice as fast because you’re there. Can I do anything for you while you’re away? Check on your house? Stop by your neighbor’s and see how Henry Higgins is doing?”
Jed exhaled into the phone. “Maybe. I don’t know. I’m too distracted to think right now. I know there’s a big festival today, and you’ll be crazy busy, so go sell a billion books. My mom’s nurse is heading this way. I’ve gotta go.”