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A couple hours later, she woke to Gideon sitting on the side of the bed, brow furrowed and jaw clenched.
“Plum, darling. You’ve more guests.”
“Okay… Why do you look upset? It’s not Helen, is it?”
Gideon cracked a smile and shook his head. “No.”
The church secretary hadn’t been by to see her, which was fine. She didn’t expect the woman to visit since Helen was one of the members of the congregation who gossiped about her and clearly didn’t approve. Gideon had seemed annoyed though, even though she knew he and Helen were far from besties.
“It’s Dustin and Andy.”
“Oh. Well, that’s nice.”
Dustin had come by a few days ago with some food and some cosmetics, and she’d reassured him she’d pay him and Andy for the hours they were supposed to be working for as long as she could and she’d want them both to come back as soon as she could re-open.
Gideon made a non-committal noise and she side-eyed him as she pulled on her satin and feather robe. Dustin would definitely appreciate it.
When it was friends from Hive she let Gideon carry her downstairs, and maybe if it had been just Dustin she would’ve allowed it because her being toted around like a princess would’ve cracked him up. She didn’t know Andy well, though, so Gideon only hovered over her as she made her clunky way down the stairs with her cast.
Dustin and Andy were milling by the doorway when she finally made it down to the sitting room and she tried to put on a happy face. It was tiring to see visitors but mostly she liked it and she didn’t want them to feel like they were imposing.
“Hello, boys,” she intoned with a flip of the robe’s feathered hem.
She expected them to laugh or at least smile but both Dustin and Andy looked at her like they’d been dragged into the principal’s office. What for? Yes, she was their boss but she was by no means a disciplinarian.
Plum sat heavily on the couch—balancing on one foot so as not to put weight on her ankle. That kind of pain just wasn’t her idea of a good time. Usually this was Gideon’s cue to ask if guests wanted anything—tea, water, some of the baked goods people had been bringing over. But he stood at the edge of the couch, thick arms across his chest. What in the hell was going on?
“Um, what’s up, guys? I mean, thanks for coming by but this doesn’t exactly feel like a social call. Don’t tell me your checks bounced or something. I swear—”
She hadn’t had any trouble with her accounts since she dealt with everything online and could just log in, but having something else go wrong would just be the cherry on top of this terrible sundae.
Dustin shook his head.
“Nah, boss, nothing like that. We have something to tell you and…”
“Not we,” Andy interrupted, his usually pale face growing ruddy. “Me. I have something to tell you. Dustin didn’t have anything to do with it. It’s all my fault. I…I’m the one who did it. I’m the one who started the fire.”
Plum felt as though her brain had tripped or stuttered. She couldn’t grasp what Andy had said. It didn’t make any sense.
“Not on purpose, I swear. I…” Andy huffed and put the heels of his hands to his eyes. When he took them away again, she could see how stressed and haunted he looked. “I’d been staying with Dustin since I got out but I started feeling so bad about being in his apartment all the time. So I lied and told him I got a place.”
Dustin had his arms crossed over his chest, his weight on one hip as he glared at his cousin who looked like he wanted to shrivel up and die.
“Really I was sleeping in my car, and I… A few times I stayed at the shop after lock-up or came back after closing to make some food. That night I was there and I thought you wouldn’t be back until morning. When you got home, I scrambled to leave so you wouldn’t find out. And I must’ve…I must’ve not turned the stove off all the way, dropped a dishrag on it or something. I am so, so sorry. I’m so grateful to you for giving me a chance and I…”
Andy kept talking but Plum couldn’t hear him anymore. Or if she could, she couldn’t understand him. She felt like she was under water or in one of those big plastic bubbles. Everything was blurred out and muted.
“Get out,” she said quietly, and then louder when it was clear no one had heard her. “Get out.”
“Plum, darling—”
She shook her head and stood, wincing at the pain in her ankle.
“It was an accident, I get it. And I don’t want—I’m not going to—”
Plum sighed and tried to string together a few words that made any kind of sense.
“I’ll do my best not to get you in trouble, Andy, but I just can’t right now. I need some time, I need some space. I just can’t.”
