“You’ll remember all this tomorrow, but it’ll be an easier pill to swallow after a good dose of that chocolate. Have another bite.”
I did as she asked, even though I hadn't remembered the chocolate bar was still in my hands, and another wave of contentment washed over me. I licked the gooey bits from my fingers where I'd been holding it, enjoying the feel of the silky substance on my tongue.
“This is going to be great,” I muttered.
“That’s the spirit!” Deva laughed as though she knew a secret I didn't. She pulled her car up to a house that I assumed belonged to my brother's girlfriend. A woman came out the front door and stood on the porch, fiddling with the cuffs of her cardigan. “Come on, have you met her yet?”
I shook my head. Technically I had, but she’d been young then. I didn’t know her as an adult, or as my brother’s girlfriend.
I got out as Deva did the same, grabbing the bag of food from the backseat. As we walked up to the porch, I realized it wasn't just her fiddling with her clothing that let me know how painfully shy she was, but the way she couldn't hold my gaze. The way her eyes darted around, checking on everything as though she was worried something was out of place. Everything about her said that she was uncomfortable around people.
I wondered why.
Under the oatmeal-colored cardigan she wore a pale pink chambray shirt that was unbuttoned just at the collar and some jeans with a pair of fuzzy bunny slippers, the kind where the ears moved as she walked. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun, the auburn locks straining for their freedom. From the looks of things, she had natural curls or at least waves in her hair that made it bunch up in sections even though she'd tried to pull it as tight as she could. Dark, doe eyes watched us from under a thick layer of lashes. She had a natural, no-makeup-required beauty that made most women probably want to scream. I was just glad that my brother had found someone who seemed just as quirky as he was.
Alice smiled and ducked her eyes. “I’m so happy to meet you,” she said in a soft voice after Deva introduced us. “Your brother has told me so much about you.”
She was just perfect, and that wasn’t the chocolate talking. Maybe a little off, considering she was mid-thirties and still wearing bunny slippers and having people watch out for her, but so was my brother. Together it seemed like they would be spot on.
There was no staying to chat, no inviting us in. It was a quick introduction, then Alice scurried back inside with her food and we got in the car and drove up the road to my place. Or maybe I should say Henry's place, since I hadn't lived there in so long. Our place. All I knew was that it wasn't my parent's house anymore.
Deva's voice broke through my inner ramblings as she said, “Alice is a witch, but her magic is a little off. Every time she tries a spell or potion it backfires, sometimes in hilarious ways, but also problematic ways. We keep an eye on her.”
"I missed this. People keeping an eye on each other. My old neighbors would call the cops if my grass got too long,” I said with a snort.
"If they call the cops here, at least it would be one of the cute, young officers that came out to see you." Deva chuckled.
Bring on the eye candy. After being married to Rick for years, I needed some. Despite myself, I thought of Daniel. It was stupid. He was just some guy I’d run into in a store and made a fool of myself in front of, but his bright green eyes seemed to float through my thoughts, and the memory of his smile made something inside of me ache. Like a yearning I couldn’t explain. And just the feel of that yearning made me think of Rick cheating on me all over again.
I didn’t want that jerk to still be hurting me, but somehow he was. Somehow even the thought of a handsome man’s smile made me think of pain instead of love and potential. Had my ex broken something inside me? And could it be fixed?
The chocolate was good, but that could only get me so far, unless Deva had some other chocolate to help with a broken heart.
I'd have to ask her about that.
7
Emma
Carol was rocking in one of the old, weathered rocking chairs on the front porch when we got there, with my car parked in the spot on the left, the one that opened out onto the walkway to the front door. Deva eased into the driveway beside my car, and my gaze was fixed to Carol. For some reason, time seemed to slip away, and I remembered her waiting for me after school on the front porch when I had track practice. She would have the same far away look on her face back then. Only she was thinking about Bryan. They’d been sweethearts, the kind everyone thought would get married, until he’d had to move junior year.
She’d sworn that he was the one, and that she would wait as long as it took to get him back. But I couldn’t imagine, even after all these years, that she was still thinking of him in these moments. She had to have moved on. Right?
I’d have to ask her about it. Because the only thing I could think of that would be worse than having your heart broken by a cheating ex was losing someone who could’ve really been it, and then spending your life missing them.
“Come on, let’s go inside,” Deva said, flashing her teeth in a quick grin.
I nodded, feeling strange. Happy but caught in my own thoughts too. Deva was beside my door a second later and pulled it open for me. Somehow, I remembered to unbuckle my seatbelt, and then we headed for the porch. My mind felt like candy floss, like it had been whipped around until it was as light as air and barely there at all. It wasn’t unpleasant at all, but maybe a little disorienting.
The look vanished from Carol’s face, and she smiled as she saw us heading toward her. “Feeling good?” she asked, tossing me my keys.
I couldn’t help but return her smile and nodded as I unlocked the front door and threw my keys on the table inside the door. Then froze. The happy, relaxed feeling faded away and a cold shiver moved down my spine. I lifted my arm and stared down at it, realizing that every hair was standing on end. It was more than just goosebumps. This was every hair follicle pushing, every atom of my being telling me something had changed. Then I dropped my arm.
Before I even stepped forward to let Carol and Deva in, I knew deep in my soul that something was very, very wrong.
It felt like the floor was tilted under my feet as I let my gaze roam over the room. There was blood on the floor. Not a lot of it, but a small pool. And there were splatters around it.
If Henry was injured, it would be a bad injury, but he’d be okay. It didn’t explain why he hadn’t called me or why he was nowhere to be seen. I moved forward, taking in the rest of the living room as my eyes darted away from the pool of blood. It was trashed. Furniture had been tossed around. Vases and lamps that my parents had bought were shattered on the ground. And yet, the TV was tossed on its side, not stolen. Nothing seemed to be taken. So if this wasn’t a robbery, what was it?
