Travis and Jacqueline came down a few minutes later with duffel bags and backpacks. “We’ll be back for the last of our stuff and to officially say goodbye the day after tomorrow,” Travis said. “In the meantime, will you be here?”
I nodded. “Most likely. We’re going to pack some of my stuff and close down the house. It’ll be here when you get back if you want to stay here.”
Travis smiled at me. “If you decide not to hang onto it, just toss my stuff in a storage bin. Don’t let my stuff be the reason to hang onto the past.”
Darn it. This kid was too smart for his own good.
“Thanks. Drive safely.”
After I closed the door behind them, I leaned against it and tried not to be sad that my baby was in college and going to study abroad. This was a good thing for him.
“It’ll be good to get him out of town,” Deva said. “Maybe he won’t get mixed up in all this mess.”
I stiffened, remembering why we were here and about my stupid ex.
“Agreed,” I said and accepted a glass of wine from Beth. “And I vote we look for my asshole ex-husband in the morning. Tonight is for us and for wine.” Hopefully I wouldn’t be too hungover tomorrow to deal with this mess.
Chapter Five
Emma
Something about waking up in this house made me unsettled. Being back home had been good for my soul. I didn’t like being back here, despite the good memories of my son the house held.
As much as I might not admit it to anyone else, the bad memories were more potent. I was trying my best to remember the good times, to focus on Travis growing up here and all the joy that had come along with having my son, but everything felt shadowed by the pain of the memories with Rick.
My ex was a virus that infected everything he touched. Though I never would have had Travis without Rick, obviously, I couldn't help but wish the memories I had with my son weren't tainted with Rick's selfishness. Fortunately, Travis himself seemed to have dodged that personality trait bullet. I would give anything for my son, I'd even do all of this over again, knowing the pain I would go through, just to have him and the joy and happiness he'd bring to the world. It was that joy and happiness that had kept me going for so long, even on my darkest days, and it was that reason I'd been reluctant to get rid of the house.
Travis was right though, as usual, I had photos and videos to keep those memories, and didn't need to keep the house, not when I now realized how bad it made me feel. The fact that Travis had recognized that and was encouraging me to get rid of the house wasn't surprising, the boy was too observant for his own good. I wasn't sure where he got that from because clearly I'd missed quite a bit if my marriage had fallen apart and I hadn't been able to stop it.
No, that wasn't fair. The marriage wasn't just on me. I wasn't the only one who could have made it work. Rick could have tried as well. He could have talked to me but he didn't, instead, he chose another woman over me. Ugh. Did he have to be such a stereotype?
As I stretched, my nose and brain finally connected to one another and I smelled coffee. Oh, yum. If Deva made it, it’d have a special pick-me-up and put me in a peppy good mood for the day. When I listened carefully I heard the murmur of voices downstairs and figured I was probably the last one up.
My old self would have been horrified. The guests were up before me and making their own coffee and who knew what else? Unacceptable.
A thought occurred to me as I pushed my ridiculous old hang-ups from my mind that they might have been able to send the coffee smell up here somehow to wake me. I'd have to ask about that at some point. There was still so much I didn't know about witchy stuff.
“This house is heavy,” Carol said by way of greeting when I walked into the kitchen thirty minutes later. I'd taken a quick shower and hadn't even bothered to blow dry my hair, today I was just letting it do whatever it wanted. There was no reason to get all spiffy and I definitely wasn't going to put the effort in when I knew we were going to be searching for toads. Who knew what we'd be getting into? Still, it'd taken me 30 minutes to get myself together enough to come downstairs.
“Heavy?” I thought I knew what Carol meant, but I wanted to make sure. As Deva reached across the table to hand me a cup of her phenomenal coffee, I smiled gratefully. She must’ve brought the ingredients with her because I doubt I had anything that could, or should, be used to make coffee.
“You were unhappy here,” Beth said, her blue eyes tinged with sadness and her expression and body language muted from her normal bubbly self. “We can feel it. Sleeping here, it’s like the unhappiness melted into me.”
Guilt twinged in me. Maybe we should have sprung for a hotel? I sighed and looked around. “I can’t deny I felt it, too. Not as much as you guys probably did with your witchy powers, but yeah. It’s there.” I don't know if I would have even noticed it, or if I did notice it understood what I was feeling if it weren't for my friends. Maybe it was partly because of the whole karma thing as well, but I was definitely more aware of the way sadness seemed to cling to the very air in the house.
After a sip of coffee and another sigh, this one happy, I looked at the plate Deva set in front of me. “This looks amazing.” She seemed to have found her way around the kitchen without any issue and was definitely putting her talents to good use.
The plate held an egg-white omelet with feta, spinach, tomatoes, and even some artichoke if my eyes weren't deceiving me. There must have been a decent amount of spices in there as well because it smelled like I’d died and gone to heaven. I dug in with a moan and enjoyed what was probably the first meal I’d eaten in this kitchen that I hadn’t cooked or ordered myself. I couldn't believe how my friends were taking care of me, even here, in my unhappy house.
“I took a quick trip to the store,” Deva said, giving me a wink.
Even though they didn’t have the cat food I like, grumbled Buster from a corner of the kitchen, where he was glaring at his food bowl.
Deva laughed. “Don’t worry, we’ll be back home soon.” She shivered. “And out of this house.”
I tried to ignore the wave of guilt that swept through me. “I don’t think this kitchen has ever seen food cooked this good. Heck, I don’t remember the last time this place was filled with friends and laughter.”
“You didn’t have a lot of friends here?” Beth asked, stirring her coffee.
