"Darling. This coffee shop has become quite a hot topic. You've done a marvelous job."
The praise, especially from this woman, bloomed inside of her.
"That means a lot coming from you. Thank you, Crystal. Do you want tea?"
"Oh yes. Have an herbal with mint?"
"I have a spearmint with dried orange and rosemary," she offered and Crystal clasped her hands in delight.
As she started making the tea, they chatted. Crystal had been busy taking over the chicken farm that her nephew and his wife were leaving because the money was drying up. They couldn't pay the property taxes and when their money troubles started to become glaring. His wife nearly left Crystal's nephew when she found out he'd taken out two loans against the farm for gambling debts.
"What are you going to do with hundreds of chickens that lay eggs full of glitter?"
"Who knows? Isn't that delightful?"
She laughed wishing she knew how to be so open to such an uncertain future as Crystal.
"Now how are you, darling? We're due for a dinner club soon."
"I'm good," she replied thoughtfully. And she was, mostly. It had been two weeks since the night she sat with Taylor in the graveyard and gave him her secrets. Nothing else had happened, though it had become a habit to look behind her while walking alone, in darkened rooms at the house, and she had successfully avoided going to the graveyard without someone at night since.
True to his word, the detective sat down and listened to everything she could remember about the man. She'd had to tell him everything, something she'd not done since she sat in the beige police station in Florida that had smelled like shoe polish, pine sol, and the butting of young and eager officers with the tired and old. She experienced the latter.
As she went back through those memories, and detailing him, she found herself holding her body tightly, her elbows pressed into her sides until by the end of the conversation she was so rigid, her muscles were nearly shaking. When she dropped her shoulders and let her body loosen, she let out a sigh and knew she would have a headache from the effort.
On her walk home, she'd caught the sight of a soaring hawk above her, the white dappled wings spread strong and sharp against the gloomy sky. The comfort of seeing the fierce bird was unexpected, but she gathered the comfort and stuffed it in her pockets as she let some of the stress fall from her shoulders with each step until she was back inside the old house.
Ursula had made her a chamomile and willow bark tea with honey for her headache, no prying, but concern clear in her face.
She still hadn't told her about everything that happened in Florida. She needed to. Ursula knew her friend was holding something inside of her that she wasn't ready to release.
But since Taylor took her statement, nothing else had been amiss.
Still, every now and then she got the ghost of his smell and she felt that familiar flare of panic that she had learned to quiet.
"Hey, let's all get together tonight," she said on a whim. The excitement of out-of-the-blue plans with women who had a penchant for bringing out the soul in each other flew through her.
Crystal smiled brightly. "I think that's a great idea!" Then her face fell the slightest. "I do have to check on a young lady who is going through something, but perhaps she can join us." She chewed on a few thoughts as Eloise put a lid on her drink. "Bess, you come tonight too. My chicken farm at seven tonight. Bring dessert and tell Ursula to bring her homemade ricotta and a fresh lemon! Oh, and if I could stop by and grab some flowers?" She took the tea from Eloise's hand and then she flitted off with Eloise watching her.
"She is one of my favorite people," Eloise said wistfully.
Bess sidled up next to her. "Yeah. She's pretty cool." She could feel the heaviness of Bess thinking. "Maybe I should sit out dinner tonight." When Eloise gave her a questioning look she quickly explained. "I have this project for history and Uncle Jay will kill me if I don't get it done."
The teenager was an excellent student and as far as she could tell, Jenson was nothing but proud when it came to her studies. Something else was holding her back and she had a feeling it had to do with school, but not the academics. Bess had never before turned down any dollop of time with The Lost Souls Coven.
She wiped down the bar and said thoughtfully, "Sounds like Crystal will be helping a friend and she could use the support. Do you know who she has to check on?"
Bess shook her head.
Eloise smelled something new. Bess always smelled of roasted coffee beans and old library books but today instead of the pages lovingly touched by time, Eloise smelled the dust that can collect on unread stories.
Ursula was worried about her. As was Eloise; this young woman full of fire and thoughtful words had become dulled embers and quiet. She weighed her words carefully before she lay them on the bar in front of Bess.
"You know, being a teenager is harder than we remember. But I do know that when it comes to other people's opinions about you it can be difficult to bifurcate between opinion and truth. Be careful that the voice in your head is speaking truth."
Bess chewed her lip thoughtfully. She wasn't sure if the message would land. Bess was smart, smarter than most her age. But she was also a young woman who had to learn what it meant to be secure in a world that would do anything to wrap her up in layers of insecurity so that it could hold her back.
Eloise was about to walk away having said her piece when Bess's soft words stopped her.
