by Raven Snow
Rowen wasn’t sure what to make of this. Were the Woodwards really alive? Was that even possible? After what she and Norman had seen, it just seemed so unlikely. “How’s their health?” she asked.
“As well as can be expected, I guess,” said Liam with a shrug. “They’re getting up there in years.”
“They like it in Florida?” asked Peony, obviously thinking nothing of any of this.
“I suppose so,” said Liam. “We would prefer they lived closer, but it can’t really be helped.”
“I can’t imagine my mother moving to Florida,” said Peony. “I can’t even imagine her moving into another house. She loves that house.”
“It was too big for them,” said Liam. “They just couldn’t keep it up anymore.”
“It’s a really pretty house, though,” said Peony. “I’m surprised they didn’t leave it to you or your brother.”
Liam shrugged. “We both live alone. Neither of us need a house that big.”
“That could change,” said Peony. “What if you get married someday?”
Rowen gave Peony a light kick in the shin. She was coming on a little strong. Not that Liam seemed too put off by it as he said, “I guess I’ll just have to find a new place to start a family home in, huh?”
Rowen’s phone rang, and she fished it from her purse. It was Ben. She turned away from the table and answered it. “Hey,” she said, a bit puzzled as to why he was calling her at such an odd hour.
“It’s Ben,” said Ben, as if she didn’t already know. “Are you somewhere you can talk?” he asked.
Rowen looked across the table, where Peony and Liam were both staring at her. “Not really,” she said. “One second.” Rowen covered the receiver with her hand and stood. “I’ve gotta take this,” she said, excusing herself. “I’ll be right back.” She headed outside, and once she was on the sidewalk, she uncovered the phone. “What’s up?”
“You wanted me to call you if I found anything that might be of interest to you on the haunted shed front, right?” asked Ben.
“It’s not necessarily haunted,” said Rowen. “I mean I think the ghosts have already moved on.”
“Whatever,” said Ben. “Look, I picked up Danny Woodward earlier. He was drunk.”
“His brother already told me,” said Rowen, a bit disappointed. For a second there, she had been hoping he had something good for her. “You called him, and he picked Danny up. Was there more to it?”
“Well, we didn’t have to call him, for starters,” said Ben. He kept his voice low. He was probably in his office, but he likely didn’t want his men to know he was relaying information to someone over the phone. That wouldn’t be very professional. “We picked him up at his brother’s office. Some of his coworkers called us. It’s owned by the city, so they don’t exactly take threats lightly over there.”
“He was at his brother’s office?” Rowen was surprised to hear that. “Why would he lie about that?”
“Maybe it was embarrassing,” said Ben. “From the sound of it, he was throwing a lot of accusations at him.”
“What kind of accusations?” asked Rowen. She glanced back into the restaurant to make sure Liam was still seated at the table with her cousin.
“Not much that I heard. I wasn’t the one who made the arrest. I only had a word with him after the fact, and he had sobered up a bit by then.” Ben hesitated as if considering. “To hear my men tell it, he said something about being sick of−I don’t know. Something. It was vague. His brother came down to bail him out. He apologized on his behalf. He made some excuses for him, said he’s been on edge for a while. He has some personal problems going on in his life. You know. The usual.”
“Did they say anything to each other after that?” asked Rowen.
“Yeah,” said Ben. “I walked them both out. They didn’t say anything right in front of me, but I heard them arguing at the car. It sounded like they were fighting over who had to go to Florida, I think it was.”
“Liam is going to Florida,” said Rowen. “He said he had to go visit his parents.” Rowen considered that for a moment. “I’m not crazy, right? This is weird, isn’t it? There’s something going on here.”
“I don’t know,” said Ben. “So far, this just feels a lot like we’re being nosy about things that aren’t any of our business.”
“But it could be something, right?” All of this was beginning to take its toll. With all this snooping, she couldn’t help but feel a little unhinged lately.
“It could be,” said Ben. “Or it could be nothing. Could be it’s something way more innocent. What if their folks had an episode at the house or something? You know how folks can get when they’re aging. Not everyone makes it to old age with their good health intact. Maybe something happened and they want to keep that on the down-low.”
“All right, but yesterday, I got a shady letter,” said Rowen. She was going to keep that to herself, but she couldn’t have Ben thinking she was crazy.
“What did the letter say?” asked Ben.
“That there was something under the floorboards in the attic,” she replied. As far as cryptic letters went, that struck her as a pretty impressive one.
“Was there anything under the floorboards in the attic?” asked Ben.
“Not really,” Rowen admitted. “Some old costume jewelry.”
“Strange. It could be someone messing with you,” said Ben.
Rowen didn’t believe that. “Maybe,” she said. She thanked Ben for the information, hung up, and headed back inside. Peony and Liam were deep in conversation. They hardly looked up when Rowen sat down at the table. “Sorry that took so long,” she said. “Work stuff.”
Liam looked up at her with a smile. “No problem,” he said. “The waitress came by. I picked up the check.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” Rowen said, already digging in her purse for cash to pay him back.
“It’s no problem.” Liam stood. “We can do this again sometime. Maybe another interview to see how the marathon went? You can get me back then. I need to get going now, though. Gotta pack and all.” He smiled at Peony. “I’ll see you later.”
“See ya,” said Peony. There was a smile on her face as she watched him go.
“See you later?” Rowen repeated, once Liam was out of earshot. “I thought he was leaving town tonight.”
Peony bit her bottom lip. She looked across at Rowen like she had some kind of wonderful secret she didn’t quite want to tell. “I might have done something a little impulsive.”
Rowen stared. Peony wasn’t about to say what she thought she was about to say, was she? “What?” she asked Rowen.
“Well, while you were gone, I got a little bold.” Peony looked down at the table. She nudged at the wrapper from her straw, clearly reluctant to meet Rowen’s gaze. “I told him I liked him. Which sounds super lame, right? I mean, what is this, high school? You don’t just tell people you like them.
Rowen tried not to groan aloud. “What did he say?” she asked.
“He just sorta laughed at first,” said Peony. “And I was embarrassed, but he said he thought that was really cute. He said he thought I was cute.”
Knowing what she knew (or, at least, what she thought she knew) Rowen didn’t like where this was going. “That does sound a lot like high school,” she muttered.
If Peony heard that last crack, she ignored it. “So, I guess we’re dating now. He mentioned that it was a shame he was leaving tonight right at the start of…our relationship. I mentioned I’d never been to Florida, and well, one thing led to another.”
“No,” said Rowen. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “That’s too fast. That’s way too fast.”
“We’ll have separate rooms,” said Peony. “And it’ll only be for the weekend. He has to come straight back for work.”
Work, that was a good point. “We need you at work,” said Rowen. They didn’t, but she was hoping Peony didn’t know that.
“Can’t you get
along without me for a weekend?” Peony asked, frowning. “Look, I know it’s fast, but I’m really excited about this. I’m a grown woman, Rowen. Can’t you let me have this?”
“This isn’t something a grown woman does,” she grumbled. “This is something a rebellious teen does. This is…This is just a horrible idea.”
Peony sat up a little straighter in her chair, and Rowen could tell that she had crossed a line. Peony might be a sweet girl, but she was starting to get offended. “He’s a nice guy,” she said, speaking firmly. “So, I want to do something a little spontaneous. So what? I have the money right now. I have the time, if Willow will cover for me—which I’m sure she will. You can’t keep me from doing this. I’m not sure why you’d want to. It’s not like I’m going to do anything stupid.”
Rowen took a deep breath. She could see she wasn’t going to talk Peony out of this. The only choice she had was to just come clean. “There’s something I need to tell you,” Rowen said, lowering her voice.
Peony’s angry expression eased a bit. Suddenly, she looked a bit nervous. “What?” she asked, moving her chair in a little closer.
“There’s something…” Rowen trailed off, not quite sure how to word it. “There’s something sinister going on at my new place. There’s this horrible energy in the shed. You can come see for yourself if you don’t believe me.”
“Why wouldn’t I believe you?” asked Peony. “There’s a bad energy in your new shed. What does that have to do with Liam?”
“It used to be his place, remember?” prompted Rowen.
Peony only shrugged. “It was his parents’ place, you mean. He only lived there when he was a kid.”
Rowen nodded. “It was his parents’ place. It was their family home. It had been their family home for a few generations, like the house you live in now.”
Peony shrugged. She didn’t seem to have any idea as to where this was going. “What does that have to do with Liam?” she asked again. “His parents decided to move to Florida, and he decided to sell the house. I don’t see the problem.”
Rowen decided to just come out with it. “I’m not sure his parents actually moved to Florida.” Peony just stared, so Rowen continued. “I think something might have happened to them.”
Peony made a face, pushing her chair back from the table in disgust. “Rowen.” She said her name like she was disappointed in her.
Rowen was surprised, honestly. She wasn’t sure she had ever given Peony any reason to doubt her on matters like this. She wasn’t really one to overreact about things. “I’m not saying he murdered anyone.”
“Of course he didn’t murder anyone!” Peony snapped, which earned her a few odd looks from nearby tables. She quickly lowered her voice again. “You know he has a brother who’s a criminal. I’m not sure why you’re so sure he’s the one who did anything wrong.”
“It could be Danny,” Rowen said quickly. “I don’t know for sure who it was. All I’m asking is that you don’t go on any vacations with one of them until I figure this out.”
“I’ve spent time with Liam,” Peony said. “I know him. He’s a good guy.”
“You can’t possibly know him that well. It hasn’t been all that long.” Rowen knew that had been a mistake as soon as she said it. “Look, Peony, I’m sorry. Date him. Just hold off on the romantic getaways until I have more information, okay?”
Peony stood, grabbing her purse. “I think you’re just looking for a mystery. I’m going with him. That’s all there is to it.” She stormed from the restaurant then, leaving Rowen alone.
Of course, Rowen found her waiting at the car. It seemed she had forgotten they had driven here together when storming out. The ride home was a tense one as Rowen tried mentioning the mystery letter and what Ben had heard. She left out the parts about Ben being uncertain as to whether she had a mystery on her hands or not. Still, Peony didn’t want to hear any of it. As soon as she was at Rowen’s place, she was back at her car and driving away. Rowen couldn’t help but feel like she had screwed up in just about the worst possible way.
Chapter Eleven
Rowen tried to stop Peony in a few last ditch efforts. She called Willow and mentioned the gist of what was going on. Unfortunately, Willow was pleased by the news. Any efforts to tell her of her fears were met with incessant babbling about how she had hoped for something like this. Time was in short supply, so Rowen hung up on her and called Tina instead.
Tina was even worse. Rowen had failed to take into account just how immature Peony and those closest to her were. None of them wanted to think about negative repercussions. They were too focused on Peony landing her crush. They weren’t looking at the big picture.
Rowen tried calling Peony one last time, but there was no answer. Either she was ignoring Rowen’s calls, or she had gotten on the plane already. Defeated, Rowen called her husband. He picked up, at least. “Hey, babe. I was trying to call you.”
“I screwed up,” said Rowen miserably. “I screwed up big time.”
Eric heaved a sigh, like he had been afraid of something like this. “What happened?” he asked.
Rowen told him everything. She told him about dinner and about Peony’s stubbornness. “I pushed her too hard,” she concluded. “It was my fault for encouraging her to go after the guy to begin with. I mean, I didn’t encourage her necessarily, but I didn’t stop it either.” Rowen groaned, thinking back. “Maybe I did encourage her some.”
“It’s all right,” said Eric. “There’s no use in beating yourself up over all this. You did what you could. Maybe you came on strong, but it’s not like being any less blunt with her would have changed her mind. Peony and her sister have always been pretty impulsive. I don’t know if you’ve noticed being their cousin and all.”
Rowen leaned against the arm of the sofa and considered what he had said. “I guess,” she sighed.
“And I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Eric added. “Even if this Liam guy is your killer, it’s not like he’s some ruthless murderer. He’s not going to murder your cousin just because he can. If I were him, I’d try to win her over. If I thought you were against me, I’d try to turn her against you.”
“Warn me if I ever get on your bad side,” said Rowen. “But thanks. That makes me feel a little better, I guess.” A cousin that hated her was way better than a dead one. It did take a load off having someone who knew the whole story reasoning that Peony would be fine. “I still don’t like it.”
“Look on the bright side,” said Eric.
Rowen pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. She could feel a headache coming on. “There is no bright side to this.”
“Sure, there is,” said Eric. “I mean, it’d be better if this hadn’t happened, yeah. But now you’ll know if the parents are really alive.”
“Unless he makes some excuse,” said Rowen. “He could just as easily tell her to have fun at the beach without him or something. He disappears for a few hours, takes care of what business he’s really there for, and she’s none the wiser.”
“Except you already told her everything you suspect,” Eric pointed out. “Peony might be impulsive, but she’s not stupid. I’m sure she doesn’t think you were lying about this stuff out of spite. If he’s acting apprehensive, she’s going to be suspicious.”
That was a good point. “This right here is why I married you.” Rowen wished he was here with her right now, but even hundreds of miles away, he was a treasure. Speaking of him being hundreds of miles away— “Is everything all right where you are?” She hadn’t actually spoken with him since just after he landed.
Eric didn’t answer at first. He made a noncommittal noise that was, well, worrying, honestly. “I’m still headed home on schedule,” he said.
Rowen wasn’t sure she liked where this was going. That he had to preface it with something like that wasn’t encouraging. “What is it?” she asked. “Just tell me.”
“My parents are leaving me the business,” he said, letting
the words hang there and speak for themselves.
“Oh,” said Rowen, unsure of what else to say to that. “That’s…That’s, uh…” She trailed off. “Good?” she ventured.
“I don’t know,” Eric admitted. “I guess I always knew that the business would go to my brother and I; I just didn’t think it would be this soon. I guess I thought my parents weren’t going to retire until the day they died. It seems like such a part of who they are.”
“What about David?” asked Rowen. She knew he had left the family business a while back.
“That’s a weird one,” said Eric. “I told them I’d have to talk with him about it. I always figured he would come back before they handed over the reins. Of course, I also thought that was a long way off too.”
“So, you haven’t told him yet?” Rowen gathered.
“I’m going to do it in person,” said Eric. “My parents don’t want him running things. They think he’s unreliable.”
“Well, he is,” said Rowen.
“Yeah, but he’s still family.” Eric groaned. “This whole thing is a mess.”
“I’m sorry,” Rowen offered. “Things don’t seem to be going great for either of us.”
“Things are still all right on my end,” said Eric. “I’m not sure how I could necessarily call this bad news. It’s just unexpected. I’ll, uh…I’ll sort it out. Don’t worry about it.”
That wouldn’t be a problem. Rowen had plenty to worry about aside from this. “Give me a call if anything comes up.”
“You too,” said Eric. They said their goodbyes, and Rowen hung up. The breaking news of Eric taking over the family business aside, Rowen did feel a bit better about everything. Hopefully it would last.
Aunt Lydia called early the next morning for help at the store. It wasn’t nearly as early as the last time she had called asking for help. It was still earlier than Rowen would have liked to be awake. Of course, once she was awake, there was no getting back to sleep. She had far too much on her mind right now.
