“You don’t think something happened to him, do you? He was so adamant about making it to a week and he was literally one day away from reaching his goal.”
“I’m sure he’s fine. Have you gone to his house?”
“I don’t know where he lives. We hardly knew each other.”
His face lit up with relief and he chuckled. “Well, why didn’t you tell me that? He’s probably at home right now as we speak.”
I tried to force a smile out. “You’re probably right.”
“Would it make you feel better if I swung by his place?”
This time I didn’t need to force a smile. “You could do that?”
“Yeah, sure. I can’t break in or anything, but I can give his door a knock.”
“That would be great, thanks. But if you could do me a favor, don’t let him know I’ve been asking around about him. I don’t want to come off weird.”
“You’re just concerned, but he won’t hear it from me.”
“Thanks.”
It made me feel a little bit better knowing that finding out what happened to Joe was no longer all in my hands, especially when I didn’t even know the guy’s dang last name. I wasn’t too helpful in a search without that.
I went home to wait for Owen that night, but after an hour, he was a no show. I checked my wristwatch a dozen times, and each time I began convincing myself that he and Joe ran off together because I smelt funny. What were the odds that I hung out with two people in this entire neighborhood, and they both disappeared on the same day?
I didn’t feel entitled to go banging on Joe’s door (and on top of that I didn’t know where he lived), but I felt comfortable enough to do it to Owen’s. I asked Grandma the directions to his house and, after a few minutes, she managed to squeeze out some helpful tips.
I got into my Bug and drove to Owen’s.
I knew right away I had gotten to the right place because I saw Molly peeking out through the blinds repeatedly like I was some kind of intruder. She made me wait on the front step for two minutes before she answered.
“What are you doing here?” she asked. Her voice was even-tempered, so I couldn’t make out if she was happy to see me or annoyed. It was leaning more toward the latter.
“Is Owen here?”
She looked at me cautiously, and slightly disapprovingly, with her face smooshed in the cracks of the barely open front door. “Yeah, why?” It was amazing that this was the same girl hugging me the day before.
“He never came over to help me paint.”
“Oh,” she said, and then opened the door wider. I was expecting her to be hiding because she was in a pair of embarrassing pajamas, but no, she was fully dressed. Molly simply didn’t want to let me in. “He’s in the backyard.”
I took that as my cue to leave her alone and went around to the back of the house. Owen was chopping up pieces of wood and throwing them into a pile when I approached.
“There you are,” I said.
He looked surprised to see me. “Oh, hey there.”
“Are you all right? You never came over.”
“I was feeling a little under the weather,” he apologized.
My eyes went to the hard day’s work he had before him. “You always chop wood when you’re sick?”
“I got better. And believe it or not, but this does make me feel better.”
That was a new one. “I knocked at your door first and your sister told me you were back here.”
“I figured.”
“I didn’t want you thinking I’m like one of those annoying sitcom neighbors that just show up in your living room whether you want them to or not.”
Owen smirked. “I appreciate the courtesy, but I already know you wouldn’t do that. It’s not possible with Molly guarding the door.”
“Yeah, what’s up with that? She looked like she wanted to murder me.”
“She’s just not into visitors. If someone comes over, she wants to know the time, the date, what to prepare for a meal, or even their favorite fragrance, so she can buy it in candle form and light it.”
“Wow. Can’t ever accuse the girl of not being prepared.”
“That’s for sure.”
“Talking about me?” And just like that, Molly appeared behind me like she had teleportation abilities. She just stood there with her hands neatly folded together and big smile on her face. It was like the woman at the door had been replaced with a smiley porcelain doll. It was weird.
“We were talking about the auction,” Owen lied to her.
“What timing,” she responded with a smile and looked to me. “I was about to ask you when you’d like to set up an interview.”
“Interview?”
“We have to read off facts about you to make a desirable offer to anyone who’d like a date with you. It’s a silly form, but it’s for fun and the questions are all made to make you look good.”
“I can do it now.”
Molly looked past me and toward Owen, but I wasn’t quick enough to see the look on Owen’s face. They were definitely communicating without letting me in on it.
“How about tomorrow?” she asked.
I didn’t know what I was interrupting, so I agreed. “Sounds good.”
“All right, you can come over tomorrow then. But be early, okay?”
“I will.”
Molly grinned and then skipped away.
I turned my body toward Owen and said, “How about we take tomorrow off? That way you can get better and we can get a full night’s sleep.”
“I told you, I already feel better.”
“I know. Heck, maybe it’s just me who needs a break.”
He nodded. “If that’s what you want.”
“Just make sure we keep in contact. I don’t want you disappearing like Joe.”
His blue eyes narrowed inquisitively. “What are you talking about?”
“Joe, from the woods, has seemingly vanished.”
“Vanished?” he asked with a tiny chuckle.
“All I found were his shoes and the remains of the rope.”
“That’s weird.”
“You’re telling me.”
“He probably got fed up with sleeping in the woods without anyone even noticing.”
“That’s what Deputy Wilson said.”
“You got the cops in on this?”
“No, not really. I just asked him to keep an ear out.”
“Oh,” he responded, sounding a little relieved. He probably thought I was going to get arrested for wasting the deputy’s time or something. They were always sitting around in their cars, so I didn’t think I was interrupting much of anything they were doing.
It was warped of me, but now that Priscilla had told me that story about Owen being out of control drunk, it did cross my mind that maybe he wasn’t really sick, but just hungover. I didn’t know if this was a common occurrence with him.
“So, uh, a little birdy told me this story about you and Max,” I said cautiously. I didn’t want there to be any weirdness between us. I wanted to get it out of the way so I wasn’t constantly thinking about it. It wasn’t any of my damn business, and Owen definitely didn’t owe me an explanation, but gossip was such an ugly thing and I really thought he deserved to tell me his side of the story. It was only fair.
“Would this bird happen to be drowning in makeup?”
I frowned, realizing there was no protecting Priscilla. “I’m sorry to bring it up, but we were talking and I casually asked if you guys had an issue with each other. I didn’t expect this big story, and I know I have no right to ask. I don’t want to be one of those girls that’s talking about people behind their back. Maybe you don’t consider me a friend, but I do you, and I don’t want to know things about you that I’m not hearing straight from your mouth.”
I expected him to be pissed, but he smiled. Through all that, I think the mention of him being my friend was what got through to him. “What was the story she told you?”
�
��That you tried to beat Max up at a bar.” I didn’t have the guts to throw in that he was drunk off his ass.
“Well, yeah, then she told you the truth.”
His nonchalant telling of the truth surprised me. “That kind of blows my mind, if I’m being honest. You don’t strike me as the barroom brawler type.”
“I’m not, but when you have a sister sitting at home crying her eyes out every night, certain things sprawl out of you that you wouldn’t expect.”
Owen’s protectiveness of her was admirable. “You’re a really good brother.”
He shrugged it off. “I did what I felt was necessary. He used her and threw her to the side, and I was raised to not treat women that way. Especially good women like Molly. I know a lot of people think she’s annoying or weird even, but she’s been good to me our whole lives. Always taking care of me, always by my side. Most guys would kill to be married to someone like that.”
“So, what happened? He’s just a dick who couldn’t deal?”
Owen groaned. “I’ll admit my sister can be overwhelming, but he didn’t have to dump her the way he did.”
“Did he at least do it in person?”
“Yeah, I’ll give the jerk that. Didn’t make it easier for her, though. To have to go through what we did and then that on top of it. It was cruel.”
“My grandma always said that if a relationship can’t handle a little drama then it was never meant to be in the first place. All the best stories and movies have a dramatic halfway point, but the ending is usually satisfactory. That’s how I see it, at least. If your relationship wouldn’t make an exciting movie, it’s not worth it.”
“Did you really just compare dating to the movies?”
“Yes, Owen. Yes, I did.”
He had a good laugh at me. “Sometimes, I wonder what I did here without you.”
“Now, that is the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me.” And it was. I had to fight the urge to pinch Owen’s cheeks and give him a big fat kiss. “Or did you say that because you’re drunk? You’re totally drunk right now, aren’t you?”
“I promise that’s not a regular thing,” he responded bashfully.
“I’m just messing with you, Owen. But hey, how about I get out of here so you can go back to whatever it was you were doing?”
He looked to his pile of wood and scoffed. “Fun, fun.”
I jumped back into my Bug and headed home while Owen waved goodbye to me. I was in a pretty good mood until I got far from Owen’s house, and suddenly, the Joe situation took over my mind. I couldn’t believe how much it was bothering me.
I had to drive extra slow that night because I nearly ran two deer over who were meandering down the roads near where the men were chopping down trees. Deep into the evening and they were still hard at work, pounding their machines away and dropping trees from right to left. It didn’t feel legal for them to be working so late at night when people were gearing up for bed.
In the parking lot of the community park, I spotted a deputy’s vehicle and pulled in alongside it. I knew it had to be Deputy Jason Wilson because he patrolled this area more than anyone. I put my car into park and got out so I could talk to him about Joe. Deputy Wilson was obviously very busy because he was on his cellphone talking to some other guy and writing down notes. I just wanted a quick moment of his time and I’d be gone.
“You have a second?” I whispered, trying my best not to come off rude. But I guess interrupting a conversation was kind of rude any way you tried to spin it.
“Just a moment,” he told the man on the other end and lowered his phone down to his chin. I was pleasantly surprised he didn’t ignore me. “Is there something I can do for you?” he asked me.
“I promise I won’t bug you anymore, but I was curious if you talked to Joe.”
“You know, I did go to his house.”
“And?”
“He wasn’t home,” he casually answered. My heart sank a little, fearing what his absence meant. The man on the other line started talking again and Deputy Wilson gestured his hand at me to let me know he had to take this call and then went back to his conversation.
I wandered away from the vehicle quietly, a little perplexed at what to think. Poor Joe had been out there, fearing some unknown entity, and now he was nowhere to be seen. I didn’t want to think the worst, but my mind couldn’t help but go there.
Where the heck did Joe go?
CHAPTER FOUR
My laptop was set up on the only desk Grandma had in her house, which was pushed up against two of the living room windows. I had been uploading some of the pictures I took of the birds and trying to pick out my favorites, but I kept getting interrupted by the obnoxious buzzing noises of these bumblebees outside the window. For some reason or another they insisted on throwing their bodies up against the screen and making the most distracting humming noise imaginable.
I grabbed a bottle of my perfume and sprayed it at the bee through the screen and watched him immediately fly away. “There, now you smell good. Go find yourself a mate. And then eat him.”
“What are you doing, dear?” Grandma asked as she came up to me from behind my chair.
“Looking at some photos. You like?”
“Very pretty.”
“Thought I’d do a little bit of this stuff, since Owen and I are taking a break from working on the house today. His sister wants me to do this interview for the dating thing she’s throwing, so I have to go over there in a bit.”
“I’d volunteer, dear, but I wouldn’t want to give you more competition.”
“I appreciate it.”
“If I can give you any tip on grabbing the men’s attention, it’s wear red lipstick. No woman’s makeup ritual is complete until she has her sexiest shade of red lipstick.”
“I actually didn’t pack any.”
She gasped. “You’ll have to borrow mine.”
“What are you doing with sexy red lipstick, Grandma?”
“Your grandpa is dead. Not me.”
I involuntarily laughed. “How scandalous, Grandma.”
“Is this your camera?” she asked, lifting it up in her hands and scanning the black exterior with her eyes, flipping it around like it weighed barely anything. I cringed as she tossed it back and forth between each hand, always on the brink of dropping it. If that thing crashed to the ground and broke, I think my brain would go along with it.
“Be careful there, Grandma.” I had both my hands up high, ready to catch it if it fell.
“Oh, don’t be such a worrier, dear.” The flash of my camera suddenly went off and practically blinded her, and her eyes bugged out and her pupils shrunk, and she had this odd, I-just-sucked-on-a-lemon disgusted face.
“See, this is what I mean,” I said and gingerly took the camera from her hands. “You all right there?”
“I’m seeing blinking dots, dear. Is this normal?”
“Well, at least you’re seeing something.”
“I don’t like it. Why would man create such a horrible light?”
“It’s not meant to go directly into the eyeball.”
“When I was young, technology was much simpler. You had your TV and your radio. Life didn’t need to get more complicated than that.”
“If not for this camera, I wouldn’t have a job.”
“You could always work at a radio station.”
“Doing what? Have you heard me talk, Grandma? I’m not exactly filled with grace and ease. Last time I was told to speak in public, I embarrassed myself so bad I may as well have been in my underwear.”
“Maybe they should have been in their underwear,” she said with a wink.
“Oh, Grandma...”
I popped my camera’s memory card out from the computer, pocketed it, and headed out the door to Owen’s house. It was a lot later than Molly had told me, but I got caught up in my photography, and Grandma insisted I cook her ten different types of grilled cheese sandwiches before I left.
Molly looked s
uper agitated with me. I hadn’t even walked up the driveway and she already had the door hanging open, her head popped out, her foot tapping furiously. God, she looked just like my mother. “Where have you been?” She sounded like her, too.
“Sorry. I’m not that late, am I?” I asked as I walked up the pathway to her door.
“Two hours to be exact.”
“My grandma had me do some stuff, sorry.”
“Whatever. Just get in here.”
Great, I got moody Molly.
As soon as I stepped inside, I could smell all these plants and lavender candles. She had sprayed this place down with every scent imaginable, I swear. Must have been because she didn’t know what scent I liked, and instead of going for one and being wrong, she tried them all.
In the windowsill, she had candle after candle, most unopened. It looked like she was stocking up for the end of the world.
“It smells...” I wanted to say nice, lovely, pleasant, welcoming, something, but the aroma was so mixed and confusing I didn’t know what to say, so I finished with, “in here.”
She stared at me quietly, like she was registering the fact that I didn’t really give her a compliment.
“Where’s Owen?” I asked. I was kind of hoping he’d be here so we didn’t have to endure an awkward evening.
“Out. Now sit.” She directed me to their tiny living room, and I sat down on a couch with floral print. Molly sat across from me in a rocking chair with a knitted blanket hanging off the back. In between us was a small coffee table with a giant pink doily tucked beneath three lavender candles—all lit. “Comfortable?” she asked.
Ironically, I was in the midst of pulling a stuffed animal out from beneath my butt; a white bunny with button eyes. The couch was covered in them. It was terrible, but my mind did go into what it must be like to date someone like this. Did she smother Max with stuffed rabbits till he finally snapped and dumped her?
“Cozy place,” I commented. I meant it, too. It felt like a child’s bedroom. Not my taste, exactly, but very, very cozy indeed.
“I have some exciting news,” Molly announced, her eyes bright and alive, and she had this look on her face like she was expecting me to hop up and down with anticipation.
Lunar Rampage (Lunar Rampage Series Book 1) Page 7
