Carol laughed, seeming to enjoy the banter as well as the coffee I picked up for her while I was on my way over. My promise of coffee had talked her into taking a short break from Yarns and Yards. If Deva had been there as well it would have been perfect, but morning was the busiest time of day for her business. Carol sighed and said, “You’re never going to have a pleasant conversation with Marble. She hates everyone, except for Beth.”
“Beth feeds me,” Marble muttered, still licking herself.
I looked at Beth, who was grinning over the top of her own coffee. We were all a bunch of caffeine and sugar addicts, and I didn’t plan on quitting any time soon. After taking a sip from her mocha she said, “What? I know the way to a cat’s heart.”
“I think I’m going to get a dog,” I replied, knowing it would insult Marble and not caring.
Marble hissed slightly, then stood, turned around so her butt was facing me, tail high so everything was on display, and sat back down.
“So, should we talk about the elephant in the room?” Carol asked, her blue eyes locking onto me.
I blew on my coffee again and tried in vain to calm my racing heart. Maybe coffee hadn’t been such a good idea since my heart already felt like it was trying to break through my ribs. Caffeine wasn’t exactly known for its calming effects.
I sighed as my mind spun, remembering everything that happened. Yeah, we needed to talk about it all. No, I didn’t want to. As much as I enjoyed the supernatural world, I wasn’t exactly excited about the new dangers I was facing. I’d hoped everything would calm down and just be fun after we got Henry back, but it just seemed to be getting crazier. It made my cheating ex seem… less like the worst thing that happened in my life.
Was that a good thing?
I wasn’t sure.
At the very least I could now officially say there was nothing special about him. Was I about to forgive and forget though? Unlikely.
“Do you think there’s a connection between my ex and the notes?” Beth asked, diving right into the mess that was our lives. Her blue eyes sparkled as she took in every miniscule detail and movement I made, analyzing, and trying to figure out what was going on. She was smart as a tack and put puzzle pieces together in a way I never would have even thought about.
I shrugged and opened my mouth to tell her I had no idea, when a hedgehog I hadn’t been introduced to muttered something. Of course, the hedgehog had thoughts on the situation. I was sure the zoo of animals around us, of which there were many, all had thoughts on the current predicament. I just didn’t think anything they had to say would be useful. Or very nice.
But maybe I was still mad at Marble.
“Did you have something to say?” Carol asked, sounding way too chipper given the situation.
Great, now we were asking the animals their opinions? I couldn’t decide if that was super annoying, or if I just needed more sleep. Glancing at my coffee, I sipped the liquid gold. Maybe after the drink was done, I’d feel more forgiving of the animals. Provided I didn’t combust from all the caffeine I’d been consuming. Going back to bed did sound amazing though.
Beth pulled me away from my dream of comforters and dark, cozy spaces as she prodded, “Go on Hedger.” We all looked at the hedgehog, sitting on a table as he scrolled through something on a phone. I mean a hedgehog using a phone was just next level bizarre. Who knew they could even read let alone use electronics? I knew it was just Beth’s magic, but still. If she videoed this and put it on social media, I bet she’d make a killing. Explaining it would be the hard part though.
“This doesn’t look good for Emma,” he said in a nasally voice, his little brown nose bobbing up and down as he spoke.
I closed my eyes and tried to respond without sounding as irritated as I felt. “I don’t know if there’s a connection between your ex and the notes,” I said. Even I recognized my voice was super tight.
Not that it shouldn’t have been. Someone had been murdered on my porch. I tried to swallow past the tightness in my throat to loosen it but couldn’t get it to go away.
Beth’s store phone rang, and she snatched it up before the second ring. “Private Psych, how can I help?” She listened a moment before her eyes widened. “Oh, no. I’m so sorry to hear that. Yes, I’ll take the case.” She turned away, checking her books, and I didn’t hear the remainder of the conversation.
The little hedgehog tutted and muttered again, probably something about how I’d be spending my life in jail. Actually, that was what he said. I didn’t even want to look at whatever news he’d found online about the dead body and me. Because he was right, it probably wasn’t good.
“Sorry,” Beth said as she joined me again. “Someone’s pet was mauled to death. I agreed to take the case. I want to keep busy.” She stared off into the distance. “The news about Roger has thrown me for a loop.”
She had to be so conflicted. She’d never wish someone dead, but then again, he was a real jerk who cheated on her for years before marrying her little sister, who was really more like a daughter to her. “It’s okay to not be sad,” I whispered.
Beth started and looked at me as though she couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t be upset. “I am sad. But, confused about how I feel. He’s gone.Gone. No more stress for me. But then, he was with my sister, and I feel really bad for her. I don’t know if it would be appropriate for me to call her or try to comfort her.” She shook her head and stood. “I don’t know. I’ve got to go investigate that death.”
I reached out my hand and squeezed her arm as she passed. “It’s okay to feel however you feel. Even if it’s relieved.”
“Every emotion is valid,” Carol added as she set her cup down on the table so she could watch Beth more closely. “It doesn’t matter what it is, if you’re feeling it, then it’s okay. There’s nothing to feel guilty about one way or the other. We are all allowed to react to different things in our own way.”
Beth put her hand over mine and patted it and glanced between me and Carol as she said, “Thank you, ladies. You’re good friends.”
She pulled away and went to jot a few more notes down. I just studied her. Beth always had a cheery disposition. No matter what she went through, her blonde hair was always brushed straight and fell around her shoulders in waves. And she always wore light makeup that perfectly emphasized her big blue eyes and round face shape. But today, underneath that makeup, I swore I saw shadows. And her mouth, that always seemed to be ready to smile, looked forced. Almost plastic. There was too much going on inside her head for it not to be displayed on her face as well, at least to those who knew her well.
I sighed. As hard as it had been for me to find a dead body, and possibly to be the prime suspect in a murder, she must feel like her world had been turned upside down. The much younger sister, Tiffany, who Beth had helped raise, who Beth had sacrificed for over and over again, had just lost her partner. A partner who had been with Beth for years and had two kids with her.
