“Still, you must beterrified,”Jackie answered while shaking her head. “Who knows when they might come back?”
I stayed quiet, studying her face and her body language, trying to figure out what it was that was bothering me so much about it. I wasn’t sure, but she seemed suspicious; althoughwhythat was was still escaping me.
“I guess,” I finally said, continuing to watch her closely.
Jackie leaned forward over the desk, like she wanted to put her hand on mine, but I pulled back. She seemed to simply shake that off, sitting back again with a smile that only faltered for a second.
“Luckily your parents weren’t there yet, were they?” she asked, crossing her arms. “Aren’t they coming today?”
“They’ll be here later this evening.” I was speaking more carefully now, paying attention to every word. Then I had an idea for a way that I could watch Jackie more closely to try and figure out what was going on. “Actually, I was going to make them a big dinner. Would you like to join us?”
“Of course!” The agreement was surprisingly enthusiastic. “That sounds like a wonderful idea. I would love to meet them, and get out of the house for a bit. My husband has been drivingme up the walls. He has a new hobby, you know? Birdwatching. Of all things, can you believe it?”
She was speaking quickly, but I wasn’t sure if it was because she was nervous or if it was just venting. All I knew was that I was uncomfortable with it. Still, I pretended like nothing was wrong, and simply answered politely.
“That’s not very exciting.”
“It’s not,” Jackie agreed as she rolled her eyes. “I’m glad the festival is coming up, too. It’s something to do, isn’t it? We’re still all going together, right? Will your parents come at the same time?”
“I think so,” I answered, though I wasn’t sure about taking her with us at that moment.
“Grand, grand,” Jackie nodded slowly. “Well, I just wanted to check up on you, and if you’re fine, that’s good. I’ll see you tonight, and we’ll have a blast.”
After work, I headed back home, still thinking about that interaction with Jackie. I’d wondered about what the issue was, and the more I thought about it, the more I wondered if she had something to do with the fires. She had been at the mall the day the kiosk burned, had driven past the ice cream parlor shortly before that fire, had the apartment building and the house on her route as far as I knew, and had been inside my house before.
It wasn’t a particularly strong connection, but it was something that I wanted to look into; if she had been involved, then she was dangerous, and I didn’t know how far she would take it.
Plus, the fire in my house hadn’t been that bad. If she came over for dinner and realized that she hadn’t done as much damage as she’d wanted to, then I wasn’t safe, and neither were my parents. I just had to keep a very close eye on her, and not let her go anywhere alone.
That was, of course,ifshe had been involved or responsible for the arson. I was hoping that my hunch was wrong and that she had been so weird that afternoon for an entirely different reason. She didn’t look like the kind of person who’d randomly set fires, and I wasn’t sure what her motivation would be if she did, either. Maybe she wanted revenge on someone, or maybe she was a pyromaniac, or maybe it was something I knew nothing about.
Either way, I was going to spend dinner trying to figure out more.
After getting out of my work clothes and into a flowery dress, I made my way to the kitchen to get started on dinner. It was simple; chicken lasagna, one of my mom’s favorites. Halfway through, the new doorbell the guys had installed rang through the house.
I hurried to the front door and looked through the peephole to see my parents on the porch. They were about half an hour early, as they usually were whenever they went somewhere.
“Hi,” I said brightly as I opened the door, and wrapped each of them in a hug. “How was the drive?”
“Unnecessarily long,” Dad said grumpily. “Traffic out of town was a nightmare.”
“Oh, it’ll be worth it,” Mom smiled as he dragged their suitcases into my house. “And you, dear? How’s the new place?”
I helped them get set up in the guest room and we talked about my new house and life, though I left out the guys in my stories. At some point, the doorbell rang again, and I let Jackie in and introduced her. She was in a good mood, but seemed to be looking around my house with more interest than usual. Then again, that could have been me just imagining things.
Finally, we were all seated in the dining room, and I brought out the lasagna and a bottle of white wine.
“Oh, how lovely,” Jackie said, clapping her hands together. “Your daughter really knows how to host, Eleanor!”
“She learned from the best,” Dad said, and I noticed him squeezing Mom’s knee under the table. “I’m just glad you’re settling in well. Jackie says you’ve made friends with your neighbors.”
I glanced at Jackie, whose smile widened. “Yes, the firefighters. They’re wonderful guys, aren’t they, Rhea?”
I noticed the teasing in her tone, and the conspiratorial look on her face. My jaw tightened slightly, and I hoped that she wouldn’t blab about the details of my relationship with Calder, Ash, and Beck.
“They’ve been helping me around the house,” I explained. “They’re very kind.”
“That’s good,” Mom said with a long nod as I began to dish up for everyone. “Especially with all of the fires that have been happening lately around here. I saw them on the news.”
