“Hold up. My brother, as in, West, is going to the fair?” She balks at me.
“Uhh. Yes?” I question, wondering what I’m missing.
Wren shakes her head. “Man, the guy’s got it bad. He hates the fair,” she tells me, looking a little shocked. “He complains about it every year. Even when I wasn’t living here, I heard about it.”
I work my lip between my teeth, feeling unsure now. Surely he wouldn’t ask me to the fair if he really didn’t want to go? After all, he was the one that asked me.
“Oh. He didn’t say anything,” I tell Wren nervously.
“It’s the calls. Every year there are drunk drivers, noise complaints, theft reported from the booths. Young kids getting into trouble. You know, all that kind of stuff.”
“Ahh.” That makes sense.
“Do you remember last year, Jade?” Sarah giggles, and I smile at the memory. I don’t think anyone could forget that Ms.Johnson tricked Ian into wearing a speedo for the Dunk A Cop charity booth.
“How could I forget?” I giggle.
“What happened last year?” Wren asks us.
Sarah and I share a look before bursting into giggles. We tell the story to Wren, who joins in, and we laugh until our abs hurt.
The day goes by quickly, and before I know it, we’re closing up shop and saying our goodbyes.
“You need a ride, Jade?” Wren asks, looking up at the sky.
Dark clouds start to roll in, and chances are it will rain before I make it home. Thunder booms in the background, and I take her offer. “That would be great, thanks.”
Like I predicted, the second we turn off Main Street it starts to pour. Fat rain drops slide down the windshield, and the roads begin to pool.
“Are you going to make it home okay?” I ask Wren, looking out at the growing storm.
“I’ll be fine. Nothing I haven’t driven in before. Plus, old Tilly here has been through so much worse with my brothers.”
Wren’s truck is an old single cab blue Ford that has been passed down between her siblings. For being as old as it is, it’s in great shape. The exterior doesn’t have a single dent, scratch, or paint chip. The interior is still the same original leather and doesn’t have a single tear or stain. The only thing that’s been updated is where there once was an old cassette player, now sits a CD player. Wren told me Hayes did that when he had it.
When we pull into my yard, I unbuckle my belt and throw my sweater over my head before opening the door. “Thanks for the ride!” I yell over the sound of rain and thunder.
“No problem! See you tomorrow!” Wren yells back, waving before I take off running for the cover of my porch.
As soon as my feet hit my steps, something feels wrong. I look around but don’t see anything out of sorts. No one isout in weather like this, but I still can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t right. I unlock the door and breathe through flashbacks of the last time I walked into a house and felt like something was wrong. Very slowly, I take a deep breath and push inside.
The house is dark and still, but the sound of footsteps and the slide of the back door has my steps faltering and my hand flying up to stop the gasp that wants to come out. Quickly reaching into my pocket, I pull out my phone and dial 911.
“Lavender Falls dispatch. How can I help you?”
“Hi. I think I just had a break in,” I tell a voice that I recognize as Beatrice on the other line.
“Can you tell me your name and address? I’ll have an officer there shortly. Are you hurt in any way?”
“No, no. I’m okay. Just frightened. This is Jade. I live at house 6 down Birch Ave.”
“Okay, Jade. Just wait there and an officer will be with you shortly. Is the intruder gone? Are you safe?”
“I believe they are gone,” I tell her as I begin to take slow measured steps deeper into the house.
“Okay. Are you okay to hang up, or do you want me to stay on the line?”
A knock on my door makes me jump, and my heart rate speeds up.
