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She spins on her heel, rotating a full circle and giggling all the while. If something is funny, I am not sure what it is. Then she says, “You’re not Ashley.”
I take several strides in her direction, but she’s quick. “Hey! Did you hear me? I said—where are your parents?”
She reaches the rose bushes, where she tries to pluck a rose, and suddenly her little face freezes. She goes from all smiles to sheer terror in an instant. “Serves you right,” I say.
She looks at me and then at the blood streaming down her finger and that does it. I have no doubt her wails can be heard for miles.
“Jesus, Ruth,” Johnny says, flinging the porch door open. He strides across the lawn in a rather comical way. “What the hell?”
“She picked a rose.” I look down at the little girl. “And roses have thorns.”
She only cries louder. The entirety of her chubby face turns the color of the blood running from her hand onto my lawn.
Johnny crouches down, meeting her at eye level. He speaks in a calm manner; his voice soothes even me and it’s like I don’t even know who this man is. “Where’s your mommy?”
The little girl points to the cherry laurel shrubs that separate our property from the house next door. Johnny takes her hand in his and inspects the cut. “Ruth, go get a Band-Aid.”
“You go get a Band-Aid.”
He’s about to argue when a woman emerges from the bushes. “Lily!” She’s taking deep strides in our direction, and she’s out of breath. “Oh my God, Lily!”
When the woman reaches us, she drops to her knees. “You can’t go running off like that.”
The little girl’s sobs come in frantic bursts. Then just as quickly as the rain came and went this morning, she stops. She holds her finger up for her mother to see.
“Oh honey,” the mother says. “What have you done?”
“Only destroyed several of my flowerbeds,” I say, and I can tell by the way she looks at me that isn’t the answer she expected.
“Ruth,” Johnny coughs.
“I’m sorry,” the woman says to my brother. “I was on a call and I thought she was playing in her room.”
“Nope,” I say. “Not unless her room looks like my garden.”
The woman pushes up to a standing position and extends her hand. “I’m Alice.” She pats the girl’s head. “And this is Lily. We’re renting the house next door for the summer, and this is not how we planned to meet the neighbors.” She pauses, just long enough to smile. “And we’re both terribly sorry for the inconvenience.”
I am not expecting this response, and I don’t know what to say. No one is this kind on purpose. Except in Jester Falls. When they have something to hide.
“It’s no trouble,” Johnny tells her. “No trouble at all.” He too pulls himself up to a standing position, so we’re all just standing there face to face, unsure of what to say. “You’ll have to forgive my sister for being brash. She doesn’t mean it.”
“Yes, I do.”
Johnny is looking at Alice, and Alice is looking at Lily, and Lily is looking at me.
“You must be one of those women my daddy is always talking about,” the little girl says. Her mother’s eyes widen and her mouth falls open. The little girl sniggers. “The nasty kind.”
Johnny snorts. The girl peers at me with a blank expression. Her mother looks mortified.
I do a double-take. “The what?”
“I’m so sorry,” the woman says before she takes her daughter by her non-bleeding hand and practically drags her across the yard. “Come on. We’d better get this cleaned up.”
When the two of them reach the cherry laurels, the woman stops and looks back.
Johnny offers a wave and his signature grin. “Don’t even think about it. She’s wearing a wedding band,” I say under my breath.
He shrugs. “So? What’s that got to do with me?”
