It was still strange to hear Virginia Powell laugh. I was so used to her stern but delicate persona, discovering this new version of her, a curious, caring woman, was a constant surprise. In her own way, she had tried to protect her family, just like Catherine and her great-grandmother … only without the homicidal tendencies.
‘Even if there were a way to go back and change the events of the past, I believe I would leave things be. Let the cards fall where they may,’ she said. ‘It might not look like much to you, but I have had a good life. I loved my husband, my daughter is healthy and I believe happy in her own way. All I can wish for now is the same for Lydia and Jackson. Their path was already set to be a difficult one, and now … well.’ She pressed her hands into a prayer, fingers intertwined. ‘I shall be quite ready to meet my maker knowing I did all I could to protect my grandchildren. That to me is a life well lived.’
I chewed my sandwich thoughtfully. No one made all the right decisions every time but it had never really occurred to me how much she loved her grandchildren. Lydia was forever complaining about her strict rules and adherence to outdated etiquette, and Jackson mostly brushed Virginia off as an out-of-touch guardian but she’d sacrificed so much, for them and before them. Losing her magic, her mother and grandmother, living a lie for so many years, it can’t have been easy, but here she was, head held high, loving them the best way she knew how, whether they liked it or not.
‘One thing I have learned in this life is that the lion’s share of the burden always falls to those who don’t deserve it – so often the young,’ Virginia added. ‘But the worthy always rise to the challenge even when times look bleak. We cannot possiblyhope to know what fate has in store for us, Emily, prophecy or no. The darkest days chase the happiest like the dog after the hare. We find love only to lose it, but joy shines brighter against the shadow of pain. One without the other is impossible and knowing that helps us choose to soldier on.’
‘Believe me, I’m soldiering,’ I said, a hand over my mouth as I swallowed. ‘I’m soldiering.’
‘I do believe you,’ she replied. ‘I only wish you didn’t have to.’
Under her watchful gaze, I finished every last bite of the sandwich. With a satisfied nod, she picked up my empty plate and took it to the sink, eschewing the dishwasher for a sponge and soap.
‘Can’t help but notice Jackson hasn’t been himself lately.’
‘Uh, really?’
‘I’d say not.’
Viriginia slipped her elegant hands into a pair of ever present but never used rubber gloves. ‘That boy was born with a smile on his face but it’s been a sight scarcer than hen’s teeth the last few days.’
I didn’t know what to tell her. I was as confused about Jackson’s behaviour as she was. Ever since they’d moved in, he’d been quiet in a way that made me uneasy, almost as though he’d left the easy-going, charismatic Jackson Powell behind and sent this sullen, suspicious version along in his place.
‘I trust my grandchildren implicitly and they trust you,’ Virginia said, resting my plate in the drying rack and pulling off the first rubber glove. ‘Lydia with her life, Jackson with his heart. It is painfully obvious to the rest of us you do not return his affections.’
The second glove came off with a resounding snap. I opened my mouth to defend myself but she wasn’t done.
‘Alexandra and your father were fierce friends until the end.Part of her always loved him, still does to this day. It would be nice to think part of him loved her too, perhaps not in the same way, but it was there. It is my fondest wish that their love lives on in you all.’
Draping the rubber gloves neatly over the drying rack alongside the plate, Virginia returned to the table, one hand on my forearm, understanding written on her face.
‘I’m not a tyrant or a fool, I know we can’t choose who we love, even if Jackson has yet to learn that lesson. I only ask that you treat him with kindness and respect. Please don’t let my grandson take risks for a love he will never see returned.’
‘I won’t. I would never,’ I promised, mortified to have the situation laid out so bare.
‘Would that he were having his heart broken for the first time under more ordinary circumstances, but all’s fair in love and war, as they say. Or unfair, as the case may be.’
She ran a hand along the kitchen counter as she headed for the door. ‘Goodnight, Emily, take the poultice with you and try to get some rest. Burning the candle at both ends makes the room twice as bright but you’ll find yourself in the dark twice as fast.’
Chapter Thirty-Six
‘Well, y’all might be fiddling while Rome burns but at least you’ll be fiddling in style.’
It was Sunday, the day before the full moon. Twenty-four hours until Lydia’s Becoming, until the wolves came, and we were about to throw a party. Ashley leaned against the doorframe and whistled at the sight in front of her.
‘Is this really our house?’
‘It really is,’ Lydia said, satisfaction on her face as she surveyed her work. ‘And doesn’t it look incredible?’
For once, not even Ashley could argue with her. Lydia had oiled and opened up antique room partitions I hadn’t known existed, uniting the parlour and our completely unused study, to create an honest to goodness ballroom. Every stick of furniture in the parlour had been moved to the edge of the room, the rugs rolled up and stashed away, and anything breakable safely secured elsewhere. The floors had been polished and there wasn’t so much as a single speck of dust to be seen. Even the wallpaper shone a little brighter than it usually did. The house was as pleased and proud of itself as I was. It was easy to imagine the Savannah of old, back when Bell House wasfirst built, ladies in their best gowns, gentlemen in their finery, talking, drinking and dancing. Tonight’s affair, I suspected, would look quite different.
‘Not to be rude’ – Lydia grimaced as she gave my grubby clothes a once-over – ‘but you are planning to change, right?’
Ashley grinned. ‘Into what?’
‘I’m planning to keep watch,’ I replied, wiping my dirty hands on my already dirtier T-shirt. ‘Do I really need to do full glam for that?’
‘Please,’ my best friend scoffed with disgust. ‘There’s nowhere safer in this whole town.’
