“Do you want to go for a drive or something?”
She considers it for a moment. “My house isn’t a crime scene anymore. Do you want to take me to get a couple of things from my porch? The rain has let up.”
“Let’s go.”
The rain has stopped and thin sunlight cuts through the clouds when we park in front of Silver’s house. She hops out of the truck, takes down the yellow tape the authorities put up, and stuffs it into her outdoor trash can. A sign on thedoor warns the house is condemned and unsafe for entry. Considering most of the roof is lying inside, it’s not a warning most would need. Nobody’s going to be squatting here.
Someone calls Silver’s name in a piercing voice, and a woman from a house across the street comes striding over. “I was hoping to catch you if you came back. I’m so sorry about your house. How are you doing?”
“Hi, Blanche, I’m alright. Insurance fought me a little over it but that’s straightened out now.”
“Oh, I’m glad to hear it.” The whole street can hear her. She’s loud and her voice is as shrill as a siren. “Are you going to rebuild?”
“I’m afraid not. I’ll be looking to sell soon.”
The human teakettle’s eyes brighten. “My son and daughter-in-law have been looking for a place to put a manufactured house. I’d love to have them right next door.”
“It’ll be after the holidays before I can get an appraisal and everything. Whoever buys it will have to clear it because I don’t intend to do that first.”
“My cousin co-owns a demolition company. I’m sure he could do it cheap. It’s perfect for them!”
Silver looks pleased. “Why don’t you give me your phone number, and I’ll call you when I know what I’ll be asking for it?”
The woman happily trades numbers with Silver. After she walks away, Silver glances up at me. “That could be lucky.”
“Sounds like it. Do you think her son is that loud? The neighborhood will hate you.”
She grins and starts toward the porch. “Well, I’ll be long gone.”
“Someone named her right. I blanched every time she talked.”
Silver laughs and takes down a set of wind chimes. She hands them to me to carry while she picks up a ceramic cat that lies on its side next to her door. She flips it over and I can see tape residue in two dark streaks across the bottom. “Guess I don’t need the key back,” she chuckles. “You can throw it out. Or did you leave it inside?”
The night of the fire, her text said that her key was under the cat, but I didn’t use it. “I don’t have it. I didn’t need it. The door was unlocked.”
“What?” She stares at me. “I never leave my door unlocked. That’s why I made sure the key was out.”
“I didn’t touch it.”
“I can’t believe I was drunk enough to be that stupid. Where is it now then?” She’s not asking me as much as talking aloud.
I glance at the mix of debris that’s scattered around the porch. “It probably got kicked into the mess by the firefighters once the cat was tipped over.”
“Maybe. Weird,” she murmurs.
Justus is out with Landon, and Silver cuddles up with me on the couch to watch TV. Neither of us are paying much attention to it, lost in our own thoughts.
“If I went to my brothers’ house for Christmas, would you want to go with me?” she asks.
As much as I hate to disappoint her, the thought of meeting new people and celebrating with my mind this messed up is too much. I run my hand down her back. “I’m not in a good headspace for that. I’m sorry. You should go. It’ll be good for you to see your family after everything that’s happened.”
She lays her head on my shoulder. “I don’t know. I’ll think about it. Would you go to Lacey’s then?”
“Sure.” Her glance tells me she knows better.
“You’re not a good liar.”
“I don’t really care about the holidays. It’s never been a big deal to me.”
