“Out here,” she called, standing to meet him. She had never been so relieved to see a dog in all her life.
Trick sat on the sleeping porch’s bed across from her chair. “I thought you’d want to see him.”
“You were right.”
Spotty curled on her feet. It had gotten cold out and she welcomed the warmth. “You need some quiet too?” she asked Trick.
“Something like that.” He pulled out a cigarette.
She looked over at him as he lit the end. “Since when do you smoke?”
“Every now and again, I do.”
She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the chair again.
“You shouldn’t have run off with Bo today. It was bad timing. Silas was a madman when he was looking for you. I’ve never seen him so worried. You have no idea what we dealt with last night. I’m sure whatever he said or did hurt you, and it was probably a real asshole thing to do, but he loves you. I just think you should know that.”
“You’re telling me stuff I already know, but I appreciate it. Why can’t your brother talk as easy as you do?”
Trick shrugged. “If he did he wouldn’t be Si.” Then he stood and put out his smoke. “Just try and forgive him, eh?”
Without another word, he stood and headed back toward the stairs, leaving her alone, again.
Chapter Forty-three
Winter nights are quiet. And beautiful and frigid. She pulled the blanket up near her face and took in one final breath. She needed to go inside, it was ridiculously cold to be outside. Spotty still lay diligently at her feet but he had hidden his face under his paws to try and keep warm.
“Alright. Come on boy.” She attempted to stand, but was slow moving. Her knees popped as she came to her full height. Her stomach growled as she stepped through the door and into the hall. She realized that she hadn’t had anything to eat since coffee that morning. Did coffee count as eating?
She made her way down the stairs. The dog danced and whined when he saw the door; clearly he needed to do his business. She let Spotty out in the backyard, not worried about him running off without her. Then Emmie made her way back to the kitchen. She opened the icebox, not surprised to see there was almost nothing, just a little milk. After scouring the pantry and cabinets she decided there was a houseful of people with no food. Wasn’t that just like a bunch of men?
Emmie sighed as she pulled out a jar of canned tomatoes, flour, milk, butter and salt. Tomato gravy and bread it was. Her mama used to make this for her. The smell of the tomatoes simmering on the stove was like medicine to her soul taking her back ten years. She could feel her mother’s spirit with her while she mixed in the milk and flour. Peaceful. Warm. Just what she’d needed. Grabbing a knife from the drawer she moved to the breadbox and pulled out a crusty loaf of bread. It wasn’t molded, so she’d assumed the housekeeper had made it recently. As she was cutting the loaf into thick slices she heard the kitchen door swing open.
She was sure it was Silas even though she only saw the back of him. He must have turned around and walked right back out when he saw her.
“Darn right you better be scared to see me.” She turned back around to her pan.
She heard his hand hit the swinging door as he paused. Emmie turned from slicing the bread for a second to see him standing in the doorway. He looked tired and disheveled. He was still dressed but his vest was off and his shirt was half undone.
“Scared?” His face had a genuine grin of surprise. “You think I should be scared of you?”
“Yep,” she said, pointing the serrated knife at him.
“For what?”
“Don’t be daft.” She rolled her eyes.
She finished cutting the last piece of bread and piled the chunks on a plate and moved to the skillet. As she picked up the ladle and filled it with the bubbling tomato gravy, she felt Silas’s warm breath on her neck and his arms snaked around her waist. The unexpected movements caused Emmie to jerk in surprise. The ladle filled with hot red liquid slammed back in the skillet splattering them both with boiling tomatoes. Of course she was in front of the pan and had taken the brunt of the hot mess.
“Are you okay?” He grabbed a towel and wet it. “Are you burned anywhere?”
She jerked the towel away from him and started blotting her dress in vain.
“Damn it, Silas,” she shouted, moving away from him.
He looked amused. “Such language?”
“Well, you could make a preacher cuss, you know that?”
“I have on a few occasions but never because I kissed them,” he said with a smile.
Emmie turned away from him and moved the skillet off the stove. He really was the most infuriating man she’d ever met in her life. The audacity of thinking he could just come in here and wrap his hands around her after what he’d done earlier. He’d kissed her. He’d touched her then just turned and shouted at her the next moment. Who’s to say he wasn’t getting ready to do the same thing again.
She spun on her heel and pointed her finger at him. “Don’t you try and kiss me again, Silas McDowell. And don’t you try and tease your way out of this. I am furious at you.”
“I should be mad at you. You’re the one that said you’d grab your pants.” He kept his voice level.
“What’s it with you and those stupid work pants? You’ve got something wrong with you. Trick and Gabe saw me in my nightgown the other night and you didn’t get all weird. That shows a lot more than those work pants. I think you’re just in a bad mood because you don’t have any idea what’s going on around here and you are taking it out on me. I’m done with it.” She said it so quickly she was out of breath when she finished the comment.
“They are brothers… it’s not the same. You wore those pants just to make me jealous with Bo.”
“Brothers?” she asked.
“Trick’s mine, Gabe’s yours.”
There it was, right there in her face again that her family life was screwed up. She hadn’t expected to have a new brother brought up in this argument. Emmie rubbed her hands over her forehead to try and find the point in this argument.
“Silas.” She paused, unable to think what she wanted to say. “I just don’t know about any of this. You are being ridiculous. Bo is my friend, I have no idea why you picked him as your competition but there was none.”
“Was?” He noticed the past tense. “So, you mean there is now?”
“Ugh…” she growled. He could never let anything slide. “No. I don’t know.” She spoke much louder than she meant to.
“Is Bo what you want? Because I’m sure he’d oblige… with or without your vulgar clothes.”
Vulgar clothes. Silas was a loon. She screamed and rolled her eyes in frustration. Without another thought she reached down and grabbed the first thing she could get in her hands. It happened to be tomato-soaked chunks of bread. She flung it at Silas. It landed on his white shirt and slid down to the floor. Emmie didn’t think he could look more surprised if she had smacked him in the face.
“You make me so angry. Never has anyone ever in my whole life made me angrier. And that is saying something. I worked for Mr. Thomas. I lived with Ronnie Talbot, but you, Silas… none of them hold a candle to you,” she shouted.
He opened his mouth to speak but looked down at the red gravy dripping down his shirt and then back at her with wide eyes, still genuinely surprised… and maybe a little amused.
“I was with Bo to try and help you. You Silas. Not him, YOU. I still think his family has answers you need.” She walked right up to him. “And before today… well, I went with Bo to make moonshine. Make. Moonshine. Not Love.” She threw her hands up in the air. “When in the hell are you going to get it through your thick head he was never your competition? You are the only person I want to give that part of myself to,” she shouted each word a little louder than the next.
Silas had never seen her so angry. Ever. He was thick-headed, he realized. He looked down at the red splatters on the f
ront of his shirt and the pile of soggy bread on the floor. It dawned on him that he was screwing this up like he had everything else down here. She pushed open the kitchen door and paused for a second before exiting. He could see shades of embarrassment coloring the sides of her neck. Of course there was an audience gathered outside of the kitchen door: Gabe, Trick, and Vince. Each wearing expressions varying from surprise, amusement, and confusion.
“Give her some space, eh?” Silas shouted at them.
The crowd disassembled and he heard her stomping up the stairs. He looked around at the mess of tomatoes and made his way over to the sink to try and clean his shirt. Trick came in the room and grabbed a plate.
“What’s this shit?” he asked, dipping his finger in the skillet for a taste.
He shrugged, dipped some onto his plate and grabbed a slice of bread. He pulled down another plate and handed it to Silas. “Let’s eat. I’m starving.”
“Trick, are you serious? I’m covered in that shit.” He pointed to his shirt.
“Yeah, and judging by how mad she is you’re lucky it’s not blood. Sit. Let’s eat,” he said, fixing a plate for his older brother. Silas didn’t listen to Trick often but this time he did.
Chapter Forty-four
The night was long and restless for everyone in the DeCarmilla house. Emmie pushed back the blankets and soft down comforter on Ava’s bed. She looked around the room and smiled. Everything in here reminded her of her friend. Feathered headpieces, a vanity covered in makeup, trays of smelly perfume, and stacks of fashion magazines. She missed her. Emmie made up her mind. Once this mess was sorted out she would go to Chicago. A little lighthearted wedding planning was just what she needed.
She opened the window and let the sunlight shine in the room. It was early. Frost had settled on the grass last night, showing winter’s arrival. Emmie tried to place the date but couldn’t remember. It must be nearing the end of November. Emmie heard a pan drop downstairs followed by a string of swears, the boys were cooking.
Ava’s closet didn’t have much that would fit her. And her dress was covered in red tomato gravy. She found a royal blue flapper-styled frock that barely fit over her bits and pieces. Apparently the first thing on the agenda today would be to go home to pack some clothes. She had a feeling she would be here for a few days. Emmie sat at Ava’s vanity and smiled at the stacks of makeup that surrounded her. She had no idea what to do with most of it. She did up her face a little and brushed her hair until it shined. Just because she was mad at Silas didn’t mean she had to neglect herself. As she added some stain to her lips, she decided it must mean just the opposite. She rarely spent this much time on her appearance before breakfast. Good Lord. She was turning into Ava.
She pulled on her stockings and fastened them just above her knees, then strapped her worn heels on her feet and headed down the stairs. She peeked in the library as she walked past. Silas and Vince sat at the desk in deep conversation. As she turned, her attention was caught by the steady stream of smoke pouring through the crack at the top in the kitchen door. She ran to the door and swung it open to find Trick waving towels toward the open window.
“Did you get the bacon grease too hot?” she asked, scanning the room for a fire.
“I guess. The son of a bitch just started smoking like the devil.”
She couldn’t stop the laugh the bubbled up in her chest. He gave her an annoyed look. “I’m glad something about this amuses you.”
For just a second he looked just like Silas. She stopped laughing.
“I’m sorry. Trick. Here, let me help. Mama always said you weren’t a good cook until you’d had at least one fire… I think this can count as your right of passage.”
Emmie made quick work of turning off the flame and moving the skillet to the sink. Trick reached over her and turned on the water.
“No…” she screamed, pushing away his arm, laughing again. “That’s hot grease.”
“Yeah. And I’m going to cover it in cold water to make it not hot.” He tried to spell out for her like he knew what he was doing.
Emmie put her arm out and pushed him back further. Instead she grabbed a kitchen rag and covered the pan in an attempt to keep the smoke out of her face. “Water and hot grease don’t play well together.”
“Huh…” he said, pouring her a cup of coffee. “Sorta like you and my brother.”
“Actually that’s a pretty good analogy, Trick.” She laughed.
“I just can’t figure out who’s the hot grease.” He took a swig from his own cup.
“Oh that’s easy, it’s him.” Emmie laughed and pulled the drop biscuits out of the oven. “Impressive, Trick.”
“Thanks. I may or may not have taken part in my mother’s cooking lessons with Jemma one summer. And I’m not so sure that the hot grease is Silas…”
Emmie laughed. She supposed he was right. “How many plates do we need?”
“The butcher brothers and Gabe have gone out to take care of something. So it’s just the four of us.”
Emmie pulled out the plates and a couple more coffee cups. “Go get the others, I’ll bring the food to the dining room.”
She mixed up a quick white gravy, plated the food, and took it to the dining room. Silas grabbed a couple of the plates from her as she walked into the room. She let him help.
“You’re not gonna start another food fight are ya? Because I just got dressed.” He grinned.
She wanted to smile but kept it inside. She wasn’t quite ready to let go of this one yet. Just as they sat down to eat she heard heavy boots running through the house. “Silas?” Gabe shouted. “Vince?”
Silas stood so fast his chair hit the floor behind him. “Dining room.”
Gabe came in followed by the butcher brothers. “Steven Johnson wouldn’t let me on his land,” he said, winded. “He said after what Bo told his pop yesterday they weren’t sure who to trust anymore.”
Silas’s eyes darkened. “Did this come from Mr. Johnson or his son-in-law?”
“Steven only. I couldn’t get through to his old man without causing a ruckus. I didn’t know how far you wanted me to push them.”
“How did it go with you?” Silas turned to the butcher brothers.
“Shop’s closed. Locked up tighter than a drum.” The bigger brother spoke crossing his arms over his chest.
“Did that stop you from looking around?” Vince asked.
“Nope.” His brother spoke, “That man is packed and ready to go somewhere.”
Emmie couldn’t believe they were letting her listen to all this. Clearly they had forgotten she was in the room. She understood that the Johnsons wouldn’t let Gabe on site but she didn’t understand the shop reference. Was it Mr. Thomas’s shop? Today was Monday. That greedy man didn’t even close the shop when his own mother passed. She so badly wanted to ask Silas questions about what was going on but she held her tongue.
As if he could read her mind, Silas turned and looked at her, holding his hand up for the others to stop talking. He rubbed his jaw and paused a minute before he spoke. “This is nothing to do with you,” he said, leaving no room for argument.
She held her hands up looking at her plate. “I’m just enjoying my biscuits. Trick’s a good cook.” She smiled.
“Come on.” Vince led the men into the library. Silas stayed behind.
“Thank you.” He said. She knew he understood it was eating her insides not to ask a hundred questions.
She shrugged. “I could maybe help you. I could call the Johnsons. Bo might talk to you, even if the others wouldn’t.”
“If I see him, I may shoot him. Every time I hear his name on your lips I hate him a little more.”
“Well, then let me talk to him. Just tell me what to ask and I’ll do it. If Bo has talked to his Pap, he probably knows more than he did when I saw him yesterday.” She knew he wouldn’t want to hear it.
He clenched his jaw. “I don’t want you involved.”
“Can I ask just one ques
tion?”
“No.”
She sighed. “Fine.”
He turned to leave the room.
“I need some clothes.”
“Wear Ava’s,” he said without turning around.
“Silas look at this dress. If you thought those pants were vulgar, this dress is worse. I can hardly move.” She stood for him to take in the full sight of her. “In case you haven’t noticed, I do not have Ava’s body.”
He laughed, “I don’t guess you do.” He rubbed his jaw. “I’ll drive you out there soon. Let me go take care of this first.”
“Silas, I don’t need a babysitter and you don’t have the time for that. I can see you’re busy. I’m not going to go down to that cabin right now without your blessing. Yesterday, I didn’t mean to worry you. I’m not sure I’d be welcome there today anyway. Straight home and back here, I promise.” She conceded to the fact she maybe had not made the best choice yesterday.
Silas rolled his neck. “You’ll call the office when you get back here?”
“Yes.”
“Alright. I’m not sure that you’d be in any danger with these revenuers if you are not near moonshine. I just haven’t figured out their motive and it makes me uneasy.” She couldn’t believe he’d been so honest with her.
“I understand.” She nodded. “I’ll be quick.”
“Good.” Silas wrapped his arms around her quickly and dropped a kiss on her temple before leaving the room.
Chapter Forty-five
The walk home from Ava’s house was refreshing. Even Spotty seemed to dance along the familiar path. It had been months since she’d made the trek alone. It was cold but not painfully so. When she reached her house Spotty darted up the stairs and found his scrap bowl. She was surprised he hadn’t cleaned that out before making his way to Ava’s last night. Glancing at the bowl she noticed something odd. A large piece of raw meat. She hadn’t done that. Perhaps one of the neighbors? It was too strange. She couldn’t convince herself to let him eat it. By the time she had pulled him away from the dish, he’d already consumed half of it. Emmie couldn’t say why but something felt off. She brushed the feeling aside and told herself she was just being a coward.
Rise and Shine (Shine On Series, Book 2) Page 22
