The garden started to rustle again, swaying restlessly, trying to get her attention.
“What?” she demanded, picking up a pebble and throwing it toward the tomato vines. The tomatoes trembled violently and then stopped abruptly just as Sadie heard a man’s voice yelling in the distance. She stilled, strained her ears, and leaned forward, trying to make out what it was saying.
“Chief!” the man yelled. “Come here, boy! Come home!”
And through the screen door, Sadie heard Bambi’s mild whine in answer.
She knew that voice. Damn it. Of course, Bambi would be Jake’s dog.
A movement near the tree line caught her eye.
There was nothing there, but a sense of something, a presence, unsettled her. The air seemed to ripple, and the smell of burned herbs grew so pungent her eyes watered. The tomato vines trembled violently beside her.
The back of her neck tingled.
That slow-moving shiver down her spine that made her think of spidery fingers inching over her shoulder or the weathered shadow of a face you always fear seeing in the corner of the mirror.
And that’s when she heard it.
A low, haunting sound that slithered under her skin and wrapped around her bones. There were no words, just an eerie, sinister snarl. No words. But Sadie knew a threat when she heard one.
She wanted to run into the house, scattering salt behind her.
Instead, she forced herself to walk at a leisurely pace, her heart pounding with certain dread the whole time.
Mint Julep Ice Cream
Use this to clear out the past and start over by painting all past painful memories in a happier light. Don’t eat too much, or you’ll be forgetting other things too, until you’re a doddery old fool like me, who can’t remember what day of the week it is. Getting old really is a son of a bitch.
Ingredients
1 c. sugar
? c. water
? c. bourbon
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. milk
2 c. heavy cream
6 large egg yolks
8–10 large sprigs fresh mint （plus extra for garnish）
Directions
1.?Bruise the leaves of the mint leaves to release oils and flavors. Combine the sugar, water, and the 8 mint sprigs in a small saucepan over medium heat, and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, and let cool completely. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer, then add the bourbon.
2.?Combine the milk and cream in a large nonreactive saucepan, and bring to a gentle boil. In a small mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Whisk 1 cup of the hot cream mixture into the egg mixture. In a slow, steady stream, add the egg mixture to the hot cream mixture. Continue to cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
3.?Whisk the bourbon mixture into the cream mixture. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap down against the surface of the mixture to keep a skin from forming, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
4.?Remove from the refrigerator, and pour the mixture into an ice-cream machine. Churn according to the manufacturer’s directions. For an extra kick, add a spoonful of bourbon over ice cream before serving.
??5??
“QUIT YOUR FIDGETING,” GIGI scowled, swatting at Sadie as they drove to church. Gigi was always crotchety on the way to church because, in her words, “If you’re gonna drag my ass to God’s house, He better know I’m not coming willingly.”
Her grandmother’s Baptist roots wouldn’t let her go too long without attending, despite her feelings on the matter. And today, Sadie needed backup. Everything was going, as Gigi always put it, to hell in a handbasket. The burned garden. That sound from the forest. Gigi. Bambi belonging to Jake. There were too many thoughts to fold in half. She’d need an origami master to make any kind of sense in her brain.
The second she pulled into the Poppy Meadows Community Church parking lot at the end of Main Street, thirty minutes early, she let out a shaky breath. The church wasn’t fancy, but it held fond memories of vacation bible school and potlucks, fundraisers and talent shows. The main building was bigger than normal for a church built back in the 1800s, and had been expanded on with a cluster of buildings recessed from the street and connected by charming walkways lined with cheery flowers. There was a large kitchen, Sunday school rooms, and meeting rooms, with a swath of meticulously manicured grass in the middle. Wrought iron bistro tables and hanging bougainvillea made it feel more like a European bed-and-breakfast than a place of worship. But perhaps the beauty was its own kind of worship.