“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m trying to get your attention!”
“Why didn’t you just ring the doorbell? I’m the only one home.”
“Well, how was I supposed to know that?” I asked.
Nova rolled her eyes. “I’m coming down. Meet me at the front door.”
I stomped back around to the front of the house, grumbling under my breath. So, it was okay for her to break into my bedroom like a thief in the night and scare the shit out of me, but I was ridiculous for tossing a few pebbles? I had half a mind to get back on my bike, and not tell Nova a damn thing about the Cleansing. But as I rounded the corner and saw her standing on the front porch, her thin arms wrapped around her midsection, her face tight with worry, I sighed and felt all my aggravation whoosh out of me with a breath.
“Look, I’m sorry I bailed on you,” Nova blurted out, before I could say anything. “My mom caught me sneaking out, and grounded me. I was lucky to get that one text off to you all before she took my phone. I thought you’d put two and two together, so I didn’t bother to?—”
“Nova, this isn’t about that. The Cleansing happened without you.”
Nova just blinked at me. “You don’t mean… Wren Vesper, did you seriously try to do that all by yours?—”
“Are you out of your mind? Of course not!” I said, and launched quickly into an explanation. The longer I spoke, the wider Nova’s eyes got. By the time I’d finished, she looked like she’d forgotten how to blink.
“Oh my goddess! My mother is going to lose her ever loving shit when she?—”
“She already knows,” I cut in. “Persi went to the Conclave today to confess everything. They didn’t even go hard on her. She said she got an official warning.”
“Unbelievable. And here I am, grounded for the next month.”
“Seriously?”
“She won’t even let me out to help with the Litha pageant, and that’s like a local cultural requirement.” Nova exhaled sharply, her nostrils flaring. Then, all at once, her shoulders sagged, and all the fight went out of her. “Bernadette’s okay?” she asked in a small voice.
“Yeah. Well, I think so. In any case, she’s herself again,” I said. “And now they’ll be able to question her without Sarah’s interference.”
Nova’s voice dropped to a hoarse whisper. “I hope she wasn’t… I hope she didn’t know that…” She couldn’t finish, but she didn’t need to.
“I know. Me, too.”
We both jumped as the phone rang shrilly inside the house.
“Probably Ostara checking to make sure I stayed put while she was gone,” Nova ground out. “I’ve got to go. Tell the others I’m sorry? You know, for the lying and for not being able to help with the pageant.”
“I will, but seriously, don’t worry about it, Nova. They understand.”
Her face twisted with an emotion she couldn’t repress. “I don’t think they do. But, thanks.”
And she ran into the house, closing the door behind her, a little harder than was strictly necessary.
The Marins livedin a beautiful old house right on the corner of Main Street and Hecate Lane, less than two blocks from the cafe. It was bright yellow, with shutters and a door painted robin’s egg blue. A Cuban flag and an American flag fluttered enthusiastically on the pole jutting out from the porch, and pots of flowers and herbs crowded the railings and windowsills. From that porch, I could see the beginnings of preparations for the Midsummer Festival. A few shops had already begun erecting stalls on the sidewalks, and a stage was being constructed on the grass in the middle of the town’s only roundabout. A huge banner fluttered above Main Street, and brightly colored flyers had been stapled to all the light poles, and taped onto shop windows. Soon, the steady trickle of summer tourists would become a horde, and the quaint and quiet street would come alive with the bustle and magic of a Sedgwick Cove celebration.
“Hey, Vesper. Come on in!” Eva called from inside, before I could even knock. I supposed she could see me through the big picture window by the front door.
I pushed the front door open, and let myself into the living room. It was as cheerful and colorful as the outside of the house, with coral-colored walls and flowers everywhere. Eva was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. She had a bottle of soda in her hand.
“I was just grabbing a drink, you want something?” she asked.
“Sure, thanks. Whatever you’re having,” I said, pulling off my shoes and placing them by the door, where a small pile of shoes was already sitting.
Eva pulled another bottle from the fridge, and closed the door with her hip. Then she popped the tops off with a bottle opener that hung on the wall, and handed one to me.
“Xiomara makes this herself. It’s delicious,” she said.
I didn’t need convincing; everything Xiomara made was delicious. I took a sip, and sighed. Flavors of ginger, citrus, and tarragon burst on my tongue.
