“You washed up at the willow tree on your property. When Ry found you, he dragged you to his hickory, but you had no blood left. There was no power for him to take,” Ashton explains.
I saw this too. It is all coming back clearer now that sleepdoesn’t plague my mind. How could I live so blindly, and how could my friends let me? I try to absorb what Ashton says next.
“But the poweryouhad over him cracked his ego and his heart. He was so broken he cursed himself to never feel anything for you again, which obviously didn’t work completely, given the situation we find ourselves in today.”
Oh, but this is new. So, he does have a heart.
“Your mother wept more than I ever saw. It tore all of us up. It did every time.” Lollie explains, twirling the ring on her finger. Old habits die hard.
“OK, but why would you let me go back there? To the house where this all happened?” I ask.
“Free will, Jade,” Aston explains. “You are mortal. It is the one thing we can’t control. We can try to dissuade or persuade you, but in the end, it’s your choice.” It can’t be that easy, can it? “If we told you before you were ready, it would’ve caused more harm than good—that is, if you even believed us. Ry knows this. He saw an opportunity when the groundskeeper passed to get you back to that house.”
Ashton breaks, then adds, “the groundskeeper who is of no relation to you at all. Just some sorry soul they trapped to do their bidding, while they hunted you down.”
30
BROKEN ESTATE
RACINE 1978
After that, my time only consisted of being at my shop. Lollie and Ash would come by and see if I needed anything, but mostly, gave me my much-needed space. My only true company was from Carya, my forever feline companion whose name will never change. She was the only one not deceiving me, after all.
Even the birds put me on edge—they always had, but now I know why. And so, Carya really is the only one I can depend on in the end. Imagine that. Named by my subconscious, forever linking me to my promised and everything he represents without either of us having a clue.
It had been months since the truth seeped into me like that of encroaching rot seeping into a carcass the crows circle on the street—unwelcome and slowly taking over my whole being. My visions and dreams have faded, thankfully. But I entered a catatonic state of life, and didn’t want to know any more of the truth. That was until Cher called my shop.
Her breathless voice over the phone told me the estate was in shambles. Apparently, it had stormed repeatedly since I left. Cher, coming to check on me, saw I was gone and decided to keep an eye on it.
How she got the number of the shop, I do not know. I had no plans of going back to that place. But my bones ached with the sensation that I was yet again not making decisions of my own. Once again, fear and stagnation were calling the shots. I didn’t want that, and my soul started to spark to life again.
“You must come back, Jade. Don’t let your beautiful estate suffer. It’s absolutely broken without you. Plus, I miss you.” It was with those words that something in me snapped. I felt betrayed by two men, but I was betraying myself by hiding my worth and not living where I truly felt was my home.
My mother’s words came to me then about finding my worth and owning my power. Cher’s call rekindled something within that made me feel like I had a whole life ahead of me, as well as decisions to make.
I found myself again in a déjà vu like moment of packing up Carya, a few clothing items, some cherry brandy, and the fated jade ring that I couldn’t take off. I left a note on the table for Lollie and Ashton telling them I’m sorry I had to leave without a goodbye, but I needed to fix this.
The car my uncle left me, who apparently wasn’t even my uncle for that matter, sat patiently waiting for me to make my next move. So, I left—back to the estate that had changed everything.
Hours of driving and quite a few clove breaks later, a guilty pleasure that is now turning more into a habit, get me to my destination. I slept in the car at a rest stop, Carya curled up in my lap, before I made it the rest of the way, but I made it back.
Finally, I pull up to the house, anticipation digging its claws into my gut. The estate looks unremarkable. Nothing has changed that I can see from where I stare up through the front windshield.
Cher is waiting for me on the porch. She had insisted on camping out when I told her I would be on my way, and from the looks of it—she did exactly that. Her dramatic embrace greets me like a long-lostfriend, which isn’t that uncharacteristic of her personality. But somehow, this feels truer than most.
“I need to show you something,” she exclaims. “And before you say anything, yes, the house is actually fine, but it has been storming, so I wasn’t completely lying.” So I was right in my assumption that the house looked just the same as I had left it.
“So what, you lied because you missed me?” I say, taken aback that she would lie to me and that she is so good at it, just like everyone else. But her telling me the house was falling apart was not the real reason I drove back, and I know that. The reason is deeper. The reason—a man I numbed myself not to think about these last few months.
“Well, actually my full name is Cherry, and that’s another part of my intentions in getting you back here. But I have something to show you first.” She says like it’s no big deal, leading me up to the front door of the estate.
That is when it dawns on me. Cherry. Like the tree. Ihaveseen her before. Rarely, but I saw her there. I'm about to say something when she interrupts.
“Wait, please,” she pleads. “Just open the door and let me show you what I think you need to see.” And I do. Something in her eyes seems so desperate, but not in a scary way that I’ve come accustomed to with the other tree Beings that lurk around this town.
As we walk into the house, I let Carya free to wander and follow Cher, or Cherry, I guess it is. For the sake of my sanity, she will stay Cher to me. She leads me up the stairs and up to the attic, as if she knows this house like the back of her hand.
Once in the attic, she pulls a small door open I must have overlooked when I was too preoccupied clearing stuff out with Ry. He invades my thoughts again, awakening them to the feelings that remain unresolved.
