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In addition to the basics, I grabbed a pair of slippers and a robe and even started shoving chips and candy bars and snacks into the cart. It didn’t matter if she hadn’t asked for that stuff, she was getting just about everything in the store. Joy didn’t comment about me going overboard, mostly because she was used to me going overboard after so many years as friends. I just didn’t want to miss anything. Sometimes you got into a situation where someone said, “I wish we had a Phillips head screwdriver” and I’d be there with a set of screwdrivers that had been hanging out in my trunk for just that situation.
“Okay, that’s everything,” Joy said, steering me toward the cash registers. I pulled every trashy magazine off the rack and added them too. Lark was probably going to need a distraction, even though Joy was already bringing her books. Joy had stopped me before I’d headed to the toy section to grab some board games, but I had gotten a deck of cards at least.
I shoved Joy out of the way and used my card before she could stop me.
“I’m sending you money right now,” she said, pulling out her phone. A few seconds later, I had a notification that Joy had sent me half of the total. I grumbled as we took the bags out to the car and put them in the back.
Joy ignored me as we drove to Layne’s. It was a short trip, and there were lots of cars in the driveway when we got there.
Joy and I headed to the guest house and found a ton of people already there, including Liam, Layne’s brother, and his girlfriend, Gwen. Liam was also Lark’s boss at the coffee shop, so that was sweet that he’d come to offer support.
“We come bearing gifts,” Joy said, smiling as we walked in, weighed down by all the crap we’d bought.
My eyes went immediately to Lark, who was sitting on the couch and staring off into space. I’d never seen her eyes so blank before. I had no idea what she was going through, but if it was me, I’d probably want a few less people staring at me.
“Thank you so much,” Layne said, coming over and taking some of the bags from Joy and looking through them.
“Hey, how are you doing?” Joy said with a soft voice, sitting down next to Lark.
“I’m fucking great,” Lark said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead with her hand. “I’m sorry. I’m just… Fuck.”
“It’s okay,” Joy said. “It’s a lot to process.”
She got up and I knew it was my turn to say something, but I couldn’t find the right words.
“There’s magazines in there,” I said, and then realized that was definitely not the right thing to say. “And gum. And chocolate, if you need it.”
Lark actually looked up and met my eyes.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
“You’re welcome,” I said.
“I’m going to make some tea,” Honor said. She’d been typing on her phone, probably dealing with the administrative side of things.
“Do they know yet what happened?” Joy asked Layne.
She shook her head. “No, they still need to do an investigation, but everything is pointing to old or bad wiring. Lorna had some random electrician fiddle around years ago and who knows what the hell he did.”
Lorna was the owner of the chicken house and lived next door. She was about a thousand years old, but still completely with it.
“Her house was okay, thank goodness,” Layne said. “It just so happened that one of the volunteer firefighters had dropped by to get some eggs from Lorna.”
“Wow, talk about right place right time,” Joy said. Layne nodded.
“I know.”
They chatted about this and that, but I was too busy looking at Lark. She still seemed completely zoned out. All I wanted to do was tell everyone to leave and put her to bed with some sleep aids so she could just knock herself out for a day or so.
Liam and Gwen left, saying that Lark shouldn’t worry about her job, and then Honor came in to ask me and Joy if we were staying.
“I think we should ask Lark if she wants us to,” I blurted out.
She glanced up at the sound of her name.
“Whatever,” she said, closing her eyes.
I pulled Joy aside. “I think we should let her rest. She’s clearly exhausted.”
