Dark Days (The Childe Series, #2) (16 page)
“Hey Cat, long time no see!” Max called out as he ran downstairs, interrupting their conversation.
“I think I’m going to go lie down for a bit. It was lovely seeing you, Cat. Please don’t be a stranger,” Casey sighed heavily as she made her way upstairs to her bedroom.
“Sure thing, Mrs. Brewer. Take care of yourself,” Cat replied as Max put his hand on her shoulder.
“Just between us,” Max whispered, “I’m really worried about Mom. She refuses to do anything the doctor recommends. And she swears she sees Linda every night. I feel she’s losing it. And with her saying that she sees Linda all the time, it makes things harder for all of us. She needs to get out of the house, but won’t. Could you ask your mom if she’ll plan a ladies night out or something?”
“Sure, I’ll talk to her when I get home,” she replied after seeing the desperation on his face.
“I really do miss her,” he said sadly while looking at the picture of Linda his mom had straightened earlier.
“Yeah, me too,” Cat replied.
“Mom, I look, ridiculous! Tell me again why I have to wear this flower hat thing?” Cat moaned while adjusting the frilly purple flower pot hat that sat on her head.
“It’s our new and unique way of advertising the store, plus it looks wonderful on you,” Rachel said with a smile. “Julie doesn’t seem to have a problem wearing it,” she stated, pointing at Julie, who was ringing up a customer. Cat adjusted the hat again as it seemed to want to take a nosedive every five seconds.
“Mom, I know I said I’d help out around the store for the rest of summer, but I never signed up for crazy hats. Plus, what if someone walks in who knows me? I’ll be the laughing stock of Astoria High.”
“Oh, stop being so dramatic, Cat. You only have two weeks left of summer, just go with the flow of life, and embrace the flower hat,” she replied while placing the flower pot hat on her own head. “Now hurry along, we’ve got a busy day ahead of us, and there’s no time to dawdle,” she said, shooing Cat toward one of the registers. Rachel watched as Cat walked away, happy that things were finally getting back to
normal
. “I won’t cry,” she mumbled to herself as a tear ran down her cheek, and quickly made her way to the back of the store so no one would notice.
Covered in potting soil and animal excrement, aka fertilizer, Cat and Julie loaded the flower van after closing time. Business had been booming for
Florals by Rach
. Of course, it did help being the only floral shop in town.
Cat climbed into the driver’s side of the van, as Julie hesitantly got into the passenger’s side and buckled in. “Cat, are you sure you’re ready to drive this beast?” Julie asked with concern in her voice.
“Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?” she replied, starting the engine.
“I don’t know, maybe because this van is twice as big as your Jeep and you-”
“Oh Julie, you worry too much. I can handle this, it’s just like riding a bike...a really, really big bike.”
“Yeah, but Cat, you still fall off your bike.” Cat rolled her eyes, put the van into drive, and took off down the road.
Rounding the bend that led to Nehalem Avenue, a completely bare tree caught Cat’s eye. All of the trees around it were full of life, their branches covered in colorful leaves. This one tree though, was dark and muted. No sign of life.
Hmmm, that’s odd
, Cat thought to herself as she suddenly smelled the strong odor of cinnamon coming in from the open van window.
Her
attention quickly shot back to the road, “Cat, watch out!” Julie yelled as they barreled toward a huge semi-truck. Quickly turning the wheel, she barely missed the truck. Cat slammed on the brakes, breathing heavily.
“You okay, Julie?” she asked apologetically.
Julie laughed nervously. “Yeah, I’m alright. That was a close call.” Cat poked her head out of the window and looked back at the large green truck. The words
International Movers
were written on the side.
“Hey, it looks like we have new neighbors,” Cat announced.
“That would have been a great welcoming, crashing into their moving truck,” Julie said while giggling. “I wonder where they’re from?”
Cat noticed a young dark-skinned girl, who looked to be about her age, walking from the house toward the moving truck. “It seems like we’ll also be getting a new addition to our school this year,” Cat said with a smile as she continued up the street to her house.
Buzz...buzz. “
Hey, Julie, can you get my phone? It’s vibrating in the cup holder up front,” Cat asked as she gathered several potted plants from the back of the van.
Julie picked up the phone, “Cat, it’s your mom. Do you want me to answer it?”
“Yeah, I kind of have my hands full at the moment,” she groaned, struggling to carry all of the plants to the front door.
“Hello Mrs. Colvin, uh huh, yeah, I can tell her for you. Alright, well, I guess we’ll see you in a little bit then.” Just as Julie hung up the phone, she was startled by a crash near the front door. Cat had dropped one of the plants, breaking the pot, and spilled the soil all over the porch. “What happened?” Julie hid her grin, as she realized what Cat had done.
“Oh, I’m just a klutz. Mom’s going to flip,” Cat murmured while sweeping the soil into a pile with her hands.
Julie chuckled. “I’m sure she’ll understand. She still might lecture you though on how you should make multiple trips instead of one.”
“Let’s just clean it up before she gets home.”
“Oh, and she wants us to put the casserole that’s in the refrigerator in the oven for dinner.”
“Hello, is anyone home?” Sam announced as he entered the house.
“Hey Dad, glad you’re here. I just preheated the oven, so could you please put in the casserole when it beeps? Oh, for about 30 minutes or so should do. Thanks, Dad, you’re the best.” Cat gave Sam a peck on his cheek and then she and Julie disappeared out the front door.
“Welcome home, Dad. How was your day? Oh, Cat, thanks for asking, it was wonderful. Sure, I’ll put the casserole in the oven. I’m good for something, right?” Sam mumbled to himself, making his way to the kitchen.
Outside, Cat and Julie both grumbled as they saw Maude Roberts standing by Cat’s car. “Hey, you two,” she called out as she waved to them. She then yanked on Fredricka's leash, who was busy trying to dig a hole in the yard. “Your dad was in a bit of a hurry, tried to catch him before he went inside. For his age, he moves rather quickly. Anyway, have you noticed the moving truck down the street? It seems we have new neighbors.” Leaning in closer Maude’s voice lowered, “I didn’t see any signs of a mother figure, but there is an older man and a young boy. The strange thing is, there’s also a young girl who has a really, really dark tan, if you know what I mean. They must be one of those progressive families I’ve heard so much about. Not that I’m discriminatory or anything, no sirree, I’m equal about everyone.”
Yeah, you talk equally about everyone,
Cat thought. “We’re just on our way to welcome them to the neighborhood.”
“I’d come with you girls, but I have to start dinner. Do come over after you visit with them and we’ll have a little chat, shall we?”
Julie and Cat nodded their heads and took off down the street trying to hold back their laughter. “Yeah, like we’d really go over and purposefully have a chat with
her
. Not in this lifetime,” Cat whispered to Julie.
“Maybe we should wait for the rest of our group before we go and meet the neighbors.” Julie slowed down and then stood still.
“Like that wouldn’t be totally overwhelming. Matt would probably say something inappropriate, and Amanda would smack him for it. Elle would probably be so nervous, she’d immediately ask to use their bathroom. No, I think we should go by ourselves and then report back to the group.”
“Okay, maybe you’re right.”
“Hey look, what is that thing in their front yard? That looks like one of those wooden training dummies. You know, like they use in karate,” Cat explained after seeing the confused look on Julie’s face.
“Don’t you think it’s a little weird that they have one of those?”
“And Matt having a blow-up clown punching bag isn’t?” Cat commented.
As the moving men were closing the back door of the truck, a tall, good-looking older man stood off to the side holding a clipboard, flipping the pages quickly as his pen flew over them. “Thank you, gentlemen,” the man said with a distinct British accent, handing the clipboard over to one of the men. “It looks like we’re all set here.” The three men jumped into the truck and pulled away from the curb.
Julie and Cat crossed the road and were met by the greenest eyes that either one of them had ever seen. His hair was short and wavy with a mixture of colors from blonde to brown. He smiled when he noticed them. “Well, hello, young ladies, are you what they call the Welcome Wagon?”
Cat grinned, “I guess you could call us that. We’re your neighbors up the street,” she said, and then introduced herself and Julie.
“The name’s Gerard McNeil, and it’s a pleasure to meet you. Oh look, here comes my eldest now. Duffie, come and meet our neighbors, Cat and Julie,” he called out. “If my guess is correct you’re all about the same age.” Julie and Cat watched as a girl matching Maude’s description walked toward them. Her smile was friendly. Her beautiful black hair bounced with every step she took, and her long legs helped make short work of her journey to meet them. However, the girl’s brown eyes were guarded.
“Nice to meet ya,” Duffie said in her distinct British accent.
“Why don’t we all go inside and have some refreshments. I find myself feeling a little parched,” Gerard stated, walking toward the front door. Julie and Cat followed them into the foyer and found themselves surrounded by boxes.
“It’ll take us a little while to get this place in order, but I know it’ll get done. Right, Duffie?” Duffie nodded.
Looking into the dining room, Cat saw numerous plates full with cakes, pies, muffins, and other random desserts. “Duffie, what’s with all the baked goods? They look delicious,” Cat asked gesturing toward the dining room table.