A Spell of Rowans by Byrd Nash

Author:Byrd Nash [Nash, Byrd]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rook and Castle Press

Twenty-Two

The next morning I awoke to the sound of rain. It wasn’t until I rolled out of bed that I realized the sound of water pounding the window was a crew power-washing the house.

When Greg Easton had left, Reed had taken a shower while I read a book. He’d insisted on bunking downstairs on Mother’s uncomfortable antique couch. The whole thing should have been funny, but it hadn’t been.

As my stomach growled, I looked at the bedside clock. It was almost noon. I dressed and brushed my hair, pulling it back into a workable ponytail. My shoes were downstairs. Mother didn’t allow shoes upstairs and it was hard to break old habits.

Like I expected, Reed was in the kitchen. But instead of preparing a meal, he was pulling everything out of the cabinets.

“How much of this do you want to keep?”

I looked at the stacks he had made.

“You can dump all the food. Well, not the salt and pepper. I imagine that’s okay, but my mother hasn’t been here in about six months. I’ll go grocery shopping today. Keep some plates and glasses we can use. I’ll trash or donate the rest.”

He went back to his chore of sorting, his back to me. The muscles in his neck, above his shirt collar, were taut.

After Mr. Easton’s visit, the evening had soured, and we didn’t return to the easy companionship we had been enjoying. That’s the reality of letting people into your life. Messy emotions.

Thinking of last night’s dinner, I took the foil box out of the fridge. Eating the leftovers cold, I watched Reed work his way through all the kitchen cabinets. The counters became full, so he started stacking plates, saucers, and teacups on the dining room table. There looked to be at least five sets of dish patterns.

I dumped the empty container into the trash. Washing my hands, I told him, “You need to go see your dad. Or was that an empty threat about your mother’s grave?”

He threw a glass jar of spaghetti sauce into the trash bag so hard it broke. “Are you telling me to make up with my father?”

“Look, I get it. He acted like an ass. It hurts. But he couldn’t deal with your mom dying.”

Here I was defending Greg Easton! That was the problem with being an empath. You absorbed so much of another you started seeing their side.

I tried again. “You’re a man now. Maybe you can get through to him. Tell him what happened to Victor. I don’t want to be there when you do, but maybe that will help you two mend fences. See if he’s ready to listen to the truth.”

Reed’s mouth was a thin line, and the area around his lips was white, but his cheeks were flushed. He came over and put his hands on my shoulders, holding me in place while he looked down, meeting me eye-to-eye.

“You haven’t thought this thing through, Vic. Revealing what happened to your father is going to open a big can of worms.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.