Mark of the Wiseman (The Wiseman Series Book 1)

by Hightower, R. Caresse

  William chuckled. “Agnes.”

  “Every couple of days, it’s something else.” She ticked the items off on her fingers. “She said she was going to write a children’s book, redesign the entire first floor, take a flower arranging class, and draw a collection of domestic art. Yes, she said domestic art, which I guess is why she wanted to draw me. You might want to warn the landscapers and the pool man if she’s still doing this come springtime.”

  “She’s just having fun.”

  “Okay. So see if you think this is fun,” Agnes said. “As of this morning, during our two-hour trip to Whole Foods, Mrs. Wiseman announced that this is now a vegan household. You can kiss your fish tacos, stuffed chicken, and filet mignon goodbye.”

  Agnes shooed William out of the way to unpack more bags. William found Eve in her closet, rearranging all of her clothes by color.

  “We’re vegan now?”

  “Mmm-hmm. We need to detox, you know?” She was working on the yellow section and hung up a canary cardigan and a gold pair of slacks. “We’ll do it for six months and then we can slowly re-introduce sustainable fish.”

  “So what about Thanksgiving and Christmas?”

  “Tofurky,” she declared.

  “I’m not eating that.”

  “Do you even know what it is?”

  “No, but it sounds like something I’m not going to eat.”

  “You’ll like it.” She kissed him and starting gathering shoes.

  He stopped her. “How about we fire up the Jacuzzi after dinner tonight? I think you need to relax.”

  “Let’s do it tomorrow. Agnes and I are measuring for new curtains downstairs tonight.”

  William laughed and shook his head. “Okay. I’m going to my study for a while.”

  “Okay,” Eve said, not looking at him. “Love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  He walked through the path Agnes made toward the door and sat in his study. He found the little, felt moon from the mobile on the table by the sofa. One of his colleagues had given them a small copper statue of a kokopelli, a bow-backed, flute-playing fertility deity. William didn’t really believe a statue could help Eve have children, but the feathery tines protruding from its head were a convenient place from which to hang his newly discovered moon. William poked at it and watched the crescent sway. His phone rang.

  “The director of New Life Cryobank got back to me this morning.” It was Dr. Chang. “She seems agreeable.”

  “Is that the one in Georgia?”

  “Yes. She asked for a scope of work, so I’m starting on that now.”

  “What are you going to tell her?”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll make it sound legitimate. I’ll copy you.”

  William poked at the moon again. “It didn’t go so well with Penelope.”

  “She said no?”

  “She’s scared of going back to prison, plus she made it clear that she thinks the idea is extreme.”

  “Well…”

  “I just need her help, not her opinion.”

  “So do you want me to continue to pursue New Life? Even without Penelope, I think we could still try it. I mean, how can you shelf the project now? It could be world changing.”

  “I’m not trying to change the world, Fai. Remember?”

  Dr. Chang did not respond.

  “Chang?”

  “Yes, I know that, but don’t you want to see if it is possible? You are doing it for Eve, right?”

  “We could go over Penelope’s proposal again. I saw a few crude blueprints when I was doing preliminary research. Let’s meet and just see how feasible it’ll be without Penelope.” William flicked the kokopelli with his finger. Ting! “Let’s hold off on that email to New Life for a couple days.”

  William said goodbye and hung up.

  That night, he woke up suddenly. As was his habit, he reached out for Eve, but only found a flimsy, cool sheet. He felt around in the dimness, rubbing his hand along her side of the bed. He looked over toward the bathroom, expecting to see light peeking out from under the door. It was dark and the door was ajar.

  “Eve?”

  He put on his slippers, walked out to the hallway, and listened. He checked the kitchen, but the room was dark and still. She wasn’t in the living room or sitting room. William even checked the garage to make sure her car was still there. As he headed back to their bedroom, he heard rustling on the third floor.

  He found Eve in the nursery. Her back was to him and she was standing in front of the crib, sliding her fingertips along the railing.

  “Evie, are you okay?”

  She nodded, but didn’t turn around.

  “What are you doing?”

  She shrugged.

  “Do you want me to make some tea?”

  She touched her face. “No.”

  He didn’t know what to do. Give her some privacy? Try to get her back downstairs?

  He walked over and hugged her from behind, wrapping his hands around her middle. He felt warm tears land on his forearm as he rested his cheek on her shoulder.

  “I’m sorry, Evie.”

  “I’m trying, Will.” Her breath was ragged as she clasped both of his hands with hers. “It’s so hard.”

  “I know,” William whispered. “I’m right here.”

  He felt her convulse with sobs and they both stood there staring into the empty crib. After a while, when she was settled, William tugged at her gently. “Come on. Let’s get back to bed.”

  William sat in Dr. Chang’s office with a handful of papers. “I’ve got to do something.”

  “Eve hasn’t improved?” Dr. Chang asked.

  “Not at all.” He rubbed his tired eyes. “It’s almost every day now. She runs herself ragged in the daytime, then I find her in the middle of the night, almost in a sleepwalking state. She’s exhausted, I’m exhausted, and Agnes is exhausted.”

  Dr. Chang took off his glasses and cleaned them. “Have you thought about medication?”

  “Yeah. I’m waiting for her doctor to call me back,” William put his elbows on his knees and looked down at Penelope’s proposal, “but sedatives or sleep aids can’t really fix this.”

  Dr. Chang eyed the papers. “So what do you want to do?”

  “I want to go forward with the tank.”

  Dr. Chang’s lips stretched over his small teeth. “Good.”

  “Darcy said your schedule is free until ten. Can we go over this now? I have some documentation about the tank she saw in Tokyo.”

  “Of course.”

  “I think we can do this. We just need an engineer and a believable story… and embryos.”

  “I can call New Life again and I’ve already drafted documentation that looks legitimate. All you need to find is an engineer. It won’t be hard. People are knocking down the door to work with you.”

  “Let’s go over equipment, supplies and timeline.”

  “Where are we going to do this?” Dr. Chang asked.

  “I have a place in mind. It’s not too far away and it’s private.” William handed Dr. Chang some pages of blueprints and descriptions. “Okay, let’s start with equipment today and work our way through for the next few weeks. I’ll find an engineer after the new year.”

  Agnes found William in his study.

  “I finally convinced your wife to go to her Junior League meeting this afternoon. When she came back, she said she was skipping Thanksgiving. Skipping Thanksgiving.” Agnes flung her hands in the air. “She can’t skip Thanksgiving! I’ve been preparing all day for tomorrow’s dinner - with real meat, thank you - and now she says she decided not to come. How can she not come? It’s in her house!”

  William patted Agnes’s arm. “I’ll talk to her.”

  She looked dubious.

  William walked into his bedroom and loosened his tie. Eve was draped on her chaise. Without opening her eyes, she said, “I didn’t say I wasn’t going to dinner.”

  William smiled and kicked off his shoes. “So
why is Agnes up in arms?”

  She sat up. “I just said I didn’t know how long I could sit at the table.”

  “Why?”

  “Everyone knows about the miscarriage, Will. They’re going to want to talk about it, try to make me feel better. They don’t mean any harm, but I don’t want to discuss any of this tomorrow, you know?”

  William did understand, but she seemed overly agitated.

  “Did something happen at your meeting today?”

  She exhaled loudly.

  “Tell me,” he said.

  “Everyone there is either pregnant or has children.”

  “Surely not everyone, Evie.”

  “All the married ones. Mary Elizabeth came in - I told you she’s expecting - and everyone started asking her what theme she picked for the nursery. Mary Elizabeth started talking, but when she saw me, she stopped and changed the subject to how cold the weather was. Then she told me my sweater was pretty.”

  “Mary Elizabeth was just trying to be sensitive.”

  “I know and I appreciated it, but it was so embarrassing. The way they all looked at me like ‘poor Eve’. It was humiliating.” She shrugged. “I felt like I was spoiling the fun for Mary Elizabeth. I didn’t know how to act. I just sat there smiling like a crazy person.”

  “Your sister will be here tomorrow. Aren’t you excited about that?”

  “Of course, and I love spending time with my nephews, but it’s the same thing all over again. Inevitably, Marissa will complain about how hard it is to keep up with four children. Then she’ll say something like ‘be glad you don’t have to do this.’ Then she’ll apologize and I’ll feel guilty. She shouldn’t have to apologize for having kids.”

  William sat at the foot of the chaise and lifted Eve’s legs onto his lap. “I’m going to fix this for you.”

  She looked tired. “Stop saying that.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s not true.”

  “You doubt me?”

  He could tell she struggled with an answer.

  “You can’t cure everything.” She patted his leg. “No matter how determined you are.”

  “We’ll see.”

  She tilted her head to the side and shrugged.

  “We’re going to have a great time tomorrow,” he said. “We have to. If you leave dinner early, there’s a high probability that Agnes may maul me. How do you feel about having a disfigured husband?”

  Eve seemed to consider that, then gave him a smile. “Of course I’ll stay. I was just frustrated when I spoke to her earlier.”

  “I love you, Evie.”

  “I know. I love you, too.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  William’s heart was full of joy. The dining table was laden with fragrant dishes and wine, surrounded by William, Eve, Eve’s parents, Anthony and Ruth, and Marissa and her husband, Warren, their four sons, and Demetri, a family friend and a professor at Biltmore.

  “Agnes, sit down,” Eve said. “You’ve barely eaten.”

  “I’ll eat in a minute.”

  “We’re almost done. Sit!”

  Agnes flapped her hand. “Let me get the desserts. Then, I’ll sit.”

  Jace, Marissa and Warren’s nine-year-old, perked up. “Ooo! What’s for dessert?”

  “Well,” Agnes said. “We have lemon pound cake, apple pie and sweet potato pie and ice cream.”

  “And ice cream? Oh my gosh!” Jace yelled. He wriggled in his seat. “I want apple pie and lots of ice cream!”

  Agnes laughed. “Okay!”

  “Mom,” their seven-year-old said, “can we eat our dessert in the living room?”

  “Of course,” Marissa said. “Go ahead.”

  The boys took off toward the big flat screen.

  “Agnes,” Marissa snapped her fingers twice, “take the boys their dessert. I’d like sweet potato pie. And ice cream.”

  William cringed. Eve and Marissa had grown up in a privileged home. Eve managed to stay relatively humble. Marissa, however, went the other way.

  “Um,” Demetri said quickly. “I’m going to hang out with the boys. Make sure they don’t kill each other. Agnes, let me help you.”

  Agnes glared at Marissa before following Demetri into the kitchen.

  Eve frowned. “Marissa?”

  “What?”

  “Be nice,” Ruth said.

  “What?” Anthony asked loudly.

  Ruth leaned onto the armrest of his wheelchair. “It’s Marissa!” she shouted.

  “Still got that bee in her bonnet?” he shouted.

  “Yes!” she shouted.

  “I do not have a bee in my bonnet,” Marissa said.

  Anthony ate his last spoonful of mashed potatoes. “These are some good potatoes.”

  Marissa rolled her eyes.

  “We talked about this before,” Eve said. “I would like for you to be nicer to Agnes, please.”

  “What is the big deal?” Marissa asked. “She’s the help. She’s supposed to help.”

  “And she does, but you don’t have to use that tone. We consider her family.”

  Marissa laughed. “Okay,” she said flatly.

  Demetri hastened past the table with a tray of desserts. Agnes rolled out a small cart and parked it next to the wall. She picked up the sweet potato pie and held it so close to Marissa’s face, William held his breath.

  “Your pie,” Agnes said through clenched teeth.

  Just one flick of the wrist and Marissa would be wearing those smashed sweet potatoes like a facial mask. With admirable restraint, especially for Agnes, she put the pie down gently. She then picked up the half-pint of vanilla ice cream.

  “And your ice cream,” Agnes said. She let go of the carton a foot above the table, which jolted the forks and knives on the china plates. Bam! Clatter!

  “What?” Anthony shouted.

  “Nothing!” Ruth pointed to the ice cream carton. “It was the ice cream!”

  “Oh!”

  Agnes and Marissa stared at one another for a moment.

  “I believe I’ll eat in the den,” Agnes said quietly.

  “Yes,” Marissa said, not breaking eye contact, “maybe you should.”

  Agnes said something under her breath and left the room.

  “You need to apologize to her,” Eve said.

  “For what?” Marissa replied.

  “Because I’m asking you to.”

  Marissa pursed her lips and started slicing the pie. “I might do it… later.”

  “So even after we saw The Help, you’re still going to treat her like that and eat the pie?” Eve asked, referencing a movie where a snooty woman who treated a maid poorly ended up with something… extra in her chocolate pie.

  Marissa was still holding up her slice with the pie cutter. She eyed it, then put it down. “I just wanted ice cream anyway.”

  William laughed, kissed Eve, and got up to get cake. Warren told a joke and William guffawed. “Where’d you hear that, Warren?”

  “One of our neighbors, I think,” Warren said.

  “Was it Lacy?” Marissa asked.

  Warren immediately stopped smiling. “We just had a nice dinner. Do we have to do this now?”

  “Do what?” Marissa’s attempt at looking innocent was thinly veiled. “You told Will you heard it from a neighbor. I was just asking who.”

  “No, it wasn’t Lacy.”

  “Oh,” Marissa said. “Since you talk to her so much, I just thought that maybe you two were exchanging little jokes now.”

  “I barely see the woman.”

  “You two seem to have a great time at the bus stop.”

  “Our kids go to the same school, Marissa. What do you want me to do? Be rude and ignore her while we wait?”

  Marissa shrugged.

  “I see your bitch-itis is flaring up again,” Eve said, picking up the slice of sweet potato pie and placing it in front of Marissa.

  Marissa looked at the pie, then at Eve, and pushed the plate away. Eve push
ed it back.

  “I helped Agnes with all of the desserts,” she said. “The pie is fine.”

  Marissa pressed her lips together.

  Eve placed a fork beside the plate. “Agnes has been in that kitchen for two days. You owe her an apology.”

  Marissa made a sound as if the very thought were killing her. “Uhhhh. Fine.” She stood up. “I’m going, I’m going.”

  Eve smiled as Marissa walked by her. “You are awful.”

  Marissa cracked a smile and winked. “I know.”

  “Did she say switch-itis?” Anthony shouted.

  “Bitch-itis,” Ruth yelled. “It’s what the young people say when someone is being mean!”

  “Oh!”

  “Mom!” Eve said.

  “What, dear? That is what you said, wasn’t it?” Ruth asked.

  Warren and William burst into laughter. William was glad Eve seemed to be enjoying herself. There was a brief moment at the beginning of dinner when Ruth asked Eve how she was feeling, but the moment passed quickly.

  The phone rang.

  “I’ll get it,” William said.

  He took the call in a guest bedroom since everyone was yelling so Anthony could hear.

  “Hello?”

  The voice on the other end was quiet. “William?”

  “Yes?”

  “It’s Penelope.”

  William closed the bedroom door. “Hi.”

  “Hi.” She paused. “Are you still interested in… what we talked about?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ve changed my mind. I’ll do it.”

  William’s heart raced. “That’s great. What made you change your mind?”

  “Well, for one, my family is celebrating Thanksgiving, without me.”

  “Wow.”

  “I just want to get out of here, and to do that, I need money.”

  “Of course.”

  “Plus, I feel bad about what I said.” She exhaled loudly. “I think I may have unfairly projected my feelings onto you. Just because I can’t have a baby right now doesn’t mean I should prevent you from having one, however you want to do it.”

  “You have no idea what this means. Thank you so much.” William’s eyes started to water as he heard Eve’s voice from the dining room. “What do we need to do? Fai and I can order any equipment you need.”