Page 62 of They Say a Girl Died Here

75

She had to be home for when Mom left for work, but she couldn’t resist a detour to the school. The kids were getting out, and Anna stayed on the other side of the street, half-hidden behind a tree, watching as Caroline bounced through the doors, her rolling weekend bag trundling behind her, her face glowing and excited, in a huddle with her new best friends.

Holly linked her arm in Callie’s and Anna could see her baby sister almost burst with the joy of it. Goodbye, Adelaide. There’s a new girl in town. Middle school dynamics were harsh, but Anna only cared about how Caroline was doing, and watching her wave goodbyes and laugh with other kids as the core four girls headed to Holly’s mom’s SUV, Anna was glad Caroline was on track to be one of the popular kids. And she was going to be beautiful. No amount of sabotage from Anna could ever change that.

Seeing Caroline so happy as she disappeared into the car gave Anna a surprising quiet calm. Maybe she’d see her again and maybe she wouldn’t, but whatever happened, Callie would be okay eventually. She had too much natural sunshine to let any clouds, however dark, keep her in shadow too long, and she was tough. She’d make Mom see the sunshine too.

Anna was about to kick the scooter off when her phone buzzed. She thought it might be Todd apologizing for the other deputy, but it was Melissa messaging. You wanna do something tonight? I could come over?

Anna could think of nothing she’d like more than to drink and smoke with Melissa and pretend everything she believed was simply a crazy dream, but this wasn’t Melissa’s fight. No can do, she messaged back. I’m on Grandma duty.

I could come after she’s asleep?

Sorry, I’ve got a massive headache. I’m being lame. Tomorrow?

There was a pause. Maybe hurt feelings. Adult friendships weren’t so different from teenage ones.

Sure. Feel better.

Tomorrow. There would be a tomorrow. She kicked the scooter into action and rode through the honey heat. There had to be.

76

The air was filled with thunder flies and by the time Anna got home her skin itched all over. The clouds overhead sank lower to the ground as the day’s heat faded into a languid sweat, and she thought her head might pop with the pressure as she headed into the house, her thoughts tick-ticking around in circles.

“Good, you’re back.” Mom was ready to leave, finishing a coffee in the kitchen. She grabbed her bag and car keys. “Grandma’s not great. You’re going to need to sit with her if you can.”

“No problem.” Anna surprised herself with how perky she sounded.

“There’s spaghetti for dinner. You just need to heat the sauce and boil the pasta.”

“I’ll do it now. I know Grandma likes to eat early.”

“Perfect, if she can get to bed soon, she might get some sleep.”

Anna followed her mom back into the hallway, partly wanting to reach for her hand like she’d have done as a little girl, to find safety and security in it, to pull her back, to tell her something bad was going to happen and could she please make it better. Mom’s eyes were red around the edges from lack of sleep, no doubt worrying about her eldest daughter as much as her mother. There was no way Anna could tell her about any of this.

“I’ll be back around six in the morning.”

“Okay. Have a good shift. Don’t let them work you too hard.”

Mom was at the door, but she turned around, surprised by the affection in Anna’s voice. She smiled, her face immediately more youthful. Anna felt a sting of guilt. Had she really been so terrible that one nice comment could have such an effect?

“Thanks. And thanks for looking after Grandma.”

“She looks after me too.” More than you know, Mom.

“That’s a lovely way of seeing it.”

Anna waved Mom off, glad that if this was going to be the end, it would be a nice memory for Mom to have. It was almost a relief that there was only Grandma left in the house. Anna bolted the door and slid the chain on and after putting the spaghetti on to cook, she locked all the windows. They could stifle and sweat inside, but the windows were staying closed. No one was getting in the house easily.

She took two large knives from the kitchen and hid one behind the decorative bowl on the hall table and the other in her bedroom, wishing that Mom owned at least a handgun like everyone else around here, but Mom had seen too much damage done by guns in too many emergency rooms over the years to ever buy one. The knives were going to have to do.

Grandma managed to feed herself, even though she did call Anna Claire and ask when George was getting back from work. Anna played along as she forced a few mouthfuls into her tight throat and said that Dad was having dinner with a client, and that seemed to work and the old woman settled into silence again, trapped somewhere in the past, as the sun finally began to set.

Once they’d finished eating, Anna helped Grandma into her nightclothes and put her in front of the TV. She stared out at the burnished gold that fought here and there through the clouds. She couldn’t stop thinking about Pastor Keene. Now that her initial anxiety and excitement had calmed, Anna was getting a few niggling doubts.

When they’d talked in the church, he’d been so open and told her so much. Shared how close he had been to both girls. Why would he have done that if he didn’t want any fresh attention on himself? And there was something else too. Alexa had said that Bonnie met her secret lover at the dental clinic after it was closed. Surely that was riskier than meeting in the church. Any of the staff could come back. The church at least had a private office and the pastor controlled when the main doors were open or locked. It didn’t make sense. She was getting a bad feeling that she’d gotten it all wrong.