His Lovely Garden Read online

  “Every time it rains, it rains pennies from heaven,” I sang along to the tune that floated from the speakers. I couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket, but this song…it just made you want to sing along. When it ended, I wiped the moisture from my eyes. Why this song made me cry, I couldn’t say.

  I’m coming, Jess. I’m coming, and I will find you. Don’t be dead. Please, don’t be dead.

  Chapter Four – Avery

  My determination to remain aloof and avoid asking for Reed’s help didn’t last long. I felt sweaty and needed a bath in a major way, and I just couldn’t do it alone. You’ve gotten soft, Avery. Real soft, I reminded myself. As soon as you get out of this cast, you’re going to the gym. Just after you shave that leg. Luckily, Reed was gracious, even modestly flirtatious. Nothing says “I love you” like wrapping your sweetheart’s cast in a garbage bag to keep it from getting wet as she soaks in a tub.

  I really ought to treat this man better.

  “Feeling better, Avery?” he asked as he handed me a couple of towels and retrieved the clothing I asked for. It was a polite question if a little impersonal. There was none of our usual banter.

  “I hate this, you know.” I mopped my face with a towel and handed it to him.

  “Hate what?” After he helped me finish drying off, he tossed my towels in the hamper and handed me my clothing.

  “How we are right now. I wish you would trust me, Reed.”

  He ran his hand through his dark hair, and I almost caught my breath at how handsome my husband was. Forget Hollywood celebrities. Reed Dufresne was the real deal. I’d dated handsome men before. It wasn’t like that was the only reason I married him. I loved Reed. We had a rare chemistry, or at least it was rare for me.

  “Trust works both ways, Avery.” He sat down on the edge of the bed as I finished putting on my underwear. I didn’t say much as I brushed my hair. I’d cut it off not long ago, but it was growing back fast. I was kind of glad.

  “Why shouldn’t we bring Mike in? It’s not like he doesn’t already know our darkest secrets. If anyone knows how to reach Jessica, it would be someone in his field. He has all kinds of equipment and tons of experience.”

  Reed put his hands in his pockets and surveyed me as I slid my tiny diamond earrings into my ears, wheeled over to my vanity and started on my makeup. “Mike is a reality television celebrity,” he said. “As far as I know, there is no diploma given for ghost busting. You’ve hired people before. Would you hire someone with just those credentials? Come on.”

  I put the makeup brush down and eased my chair back around. “I am not proposing we put him on the payroll, but you can’t deny he has a lot of experience with contacting spirits.”

  Reed shook his head. “So you think she’s dead?”

  I wasn’t prepared for that question. I sure didn’t want to believe that or give up hope on finding Jessica alive, but she’d undoubtedly stepped into a different time, or realm, or something. I mean, Reed had seen her video too. He knew what she said she was trying to do, and if I believed her, she’d done it once before.

  “Mike DeLuca doesn’t know what we know. He hasn’t had a ghost follow his family for centuries. He is not a Dufresne. I mean, he knows some of the family history but not all of it. And we’ve had enough scandal as of late. It is time for healing, Avery.”

  “The only people who could help us are gone, Reed. Summer left for another state. Handsome gave his life to free us from Ambrose. Pepper is gone now too. Who do you have in mind?” I wasn’t trying to be unreasonable. I really didn’t have any other clues about how to find Jessica.

  “Those aren’t the only Dufresnes who have special abilities, Avery.” His cryptic smile disturbed me. “We could invite some of the others. Quietly, of course, without the television crew here.”

  “I’m clueless as to who you are suggesting. Care to enlighten me? I’m the new kid on the block, remember?”

  “There’s Dolly Jane and Arnold Lee. And even Danforth. They are just a few of our family members who have special strengths like the kind we need.”

  “Danforth? I had no idea. What does he…never mind. I’m sure I don’t want to know. Do you think they’d be willing to help us? Maybe we could have our own investigation at Sugar Hill before Mike gets here.”

  “Or if we find answers, we wouldn’t even need Mike,” Reed answered hopefully. I couldn’t understand his reluctance. If this was such a great idea, why hadn’t he suggested it before? I decided against asking him. Reed wasn’t the kind of guy who was overly jealous, so I got the feeling that something else was bothering him.

  “I’ve already asked Mike to come, Reed. He’s on the way, but he won’t be here until tomorrow.”

  “Let’s at least try. Dolly Jane is already at Sugar Hill. Her family came up this week. Danforth will come too if his matrone asks him to; I can relay that message for you. Arnold Lee, though…I’m not really sure about Lucas allowing that. Not after what happened with Alice Marie. They’re in the middle of a divorce and a tough custody battle. You’ll have to make that call. Maybe you could offer to help.”

  “I have offered a number of times, but I can try again.” I chewed my lip and thought about Reed’s proposal. Lucas was in a difficult situation, but he was a Dufresne now. He’d have to step up to the plate when called upon. We were family. “I will give him a call. Can’t hurt to ask. I’m going to call Summer too. She should know about this.”

  “All right. Sounds like a plan. Let’s go eat, and then we can rally the troops.” Reed squatted down beside me. “I love you, Avery. I hope you know that.”

  “Yes, I do know that. I never doubted it.” We kissed, and then my husband patiently eased my chair through the bedroom door and pushed me down the hall. As we passed the large mirror in the hallway, I frowned at my reflection. The bath didn’t help much. I looked a hot mess in my cast and unfinished makeup. I smiled at Reed’s handsome reflection and he smiled back.

  Only the reflection had shifted, and the man smiling back at me wasn’t Reed anymore.

  Chapter Five – Arnold Lee

  Daddy picked up the phone and walked into the living room to talk to the caller. Arnold Lee didn’t know why he bothered doing that. Grandpa’s house was very small, and Arnold Lee could hear everything from his spot at the kitchen table. Unless his father went upstairs. He could hear less if Daddy went up there, but he didn’t bother trying to listen to his conversation. He wasn’t going to be nosy, and the lady’s song still played in his head. He wasn’t woozy anymore and could hear perfectly.

  Humming her tune, Arnold Lee opened the new box of crayons and enjoyed the smell. He closed his eyes and smiled. He also had a new drawing pad and lots of magnets for hanging his art on the refrigerator. His father bought him all these things when he got out of the hospital. Arnold Lee continued to hum to himself as he drew his latest masterpiece. He knew exactly what he wanted to draw. He reached for the brown crayon and drew himself and his grandfather standing by the long black car. He used the blue crayon for his grandfather’s hat, and he colored one on his head too just for fun. Wouldn’t it be neat if they both had hats? He drew his grandfather waving at him and put a smile on his face with a red crayon. He missed Grandpa. He liked riding in his special car. It had a radio in the back seat and a little refrigerator with tiny bottles of water. Arnold Lee really liked that.

  Try as he might, he couldn’t ignore his father’s phone conversation. Daddy was mad at someone, but it didn’t sound like his mother calling. His parents were getting a d-i-v-o-r-c-e. That’s what Daddy told their friend Larry. Arnold Lee guessed it was extra bad if you had to spell it, but he knew how to spell and also how to count to a thousand. He was pretty smart. And he knew what divorce meant too. He tried not to think about it too much. He had too much to draw, too many songs to learn.

  As the lady sang, he continued to draw. His creation was almost finished. He grabbed a green crayon for the grass and trees, but the picture felt incomplete. Like he was missing
something or someone.

  He closed his eyes and waited. It would come to him. He would know how to fix this. He held his breath and counted to ten. Ah, yes! That’s who was missing. Jessie, with the big, sad eyes. He put her face at the corner of the picture, like she was photo-bombing Arnold Lee and his grandfather. Yeah, that’s what they called it when you snuck in a picture and you weren’t invited. He didn’t like the paleness of her skin. She had always been pale, but now she was paler. And her lips were thin, like she was thirsty or something.

  The lady sang about the pennies, so he penciled them in. He had to use a pencil or else the pennies would look like brown blobs of snow. Luckily, he had one and a blue pen too.

  “He doesn’t know anything, Avery. I’m sorry.” Daddy hung up the phone and poured himself a glass of tea. Arnold Lee had Kool-Aid, but he was focused now, entirely focused on getting this right. Daddy opened his checkbook and calculator. He tapped on the little black machine a few times and wrote in his checkbook. After a few minutes, both Arnold Lee and his father had completed their tasks. “What do you have there, son?” he asked as he scooted closer. “Another masterpiece, I see.”

  “Yep. I think so,” Arnold Lee answered. He slid the picture toward his father and sipped his red drink. His mother never let him have red Kool-Aid. He sure did like it even if it did make his tummy feel extra excited sometimes.

  His father stared at the picture and put his finger over Grandpa’s face. “Is that your grandfather, Arnold Lee? Does he visit you?”

  “No, but I can see him in that picture. I think he’s busy. He has a lot to do now.”

  “What about her? Who is this?” Arnold Lee stared at him. He felt a little disappointed that his father didn’t know who that was. Was his drawing that bad? “Did you hear me, son? Who is this?”

  What should he say? His mother had warned him about telling people about the things he saw, and he didn’t actually see Jessie. Not in person, like his father or that kid in the shower at the hospital.

  “You don’t have to hide anything from me, son. I can take the truth. Tell me the truth, Arnold Lee. I won’t punish you.”

  “Okay, Daddy. That’s my friend Jessie. You know her.”

  His father caught his breath and rubbed his hand over his mouth. He sometimes did that when he was nervous about something, like when his favorite football team played a championship game on television. “Can you see Jessica? It’s real important. Tell me.”

  “Not all the time. She just kind of pops up when I draw. I won’t be thinking about her, but there she is…and she wants to be in my pictures. She likes them.”

  “I’m sure she does. Let me see them, please.”

  “Okay,” Arnold Lee answered. He ran upstairs and grabbed his stack of secret pictures. He put them in front of his father and stood nervously beside him. “She is in a lot of pictures. I am not in trouble, right?”

  “No, no trouble.” His father wasn’t listening, though. He was shuffling through the pictures. There was Jessie in a big dress at a dance, dancing with an invisible man. In another picture, she was running and a man was chasing her. Arnold Lee did not know the man, but he was sure he was going to hurt her.

  “Arnold Lee, I have something important to ask you. You can say no if you want to. I won’t be mad.”

  He didn’t know what else to say except, “Okay, Daddy.”

  “You know Jessica is missing. Avery wants to find her, and she thinks you can help. Do you think you can do that?”

  Arnold Lee scratched his head. “How can I help?” Had they forgotten he was just a kid? Grown-ups never asked kids to help them. This must be really bad for Jessie.

  “I’m not really sure, but Avery wants us to come to Sugar Hill this afternoon. Maybe we can search for clues and you can show her your artwork. If you want to.”

  Arnold Lee smiled proudly at that idea. “I want to find Jessie. Nobody should be lost forever.”

  “You have to promise me, Arnold Lee. You can’t tell your mother about this. You can’t. She won’t understand, and she’ll try to fix you by giving you medicine again. She might even take you back to that crazy preacher. Promise me you won’t tell her anything. I can’t lose you, son.”

  Arnold Lee didn’t like lying to people, especially his mother, who always seemed to know when he did. He felt as if the weight of the whole world rested on his shoulders, but he would try for Daddy. And for Jessie. And as his father had explained before, it wasn’t quite lying. It was just not telling everything.

  “What do we do?” Arnold Lee asked as he leaned forward in his seat.

  His father rubbed the condensation off his tea glass with his finger. He never put ice in his drinks, but that tea was pretty cold. Arnold Lee learned about con-den-sa-tion from his science teacher, Mrs. Milford. She was big into science, except for bugs. She did not like bugs. Daddy looked worried and unhappy but more unhappy than worried.

  “What is it, Daddy?”

  “I don’t know, Arnold Lee. Just a feeling I have.” He picked up Arnold Lee’s picture and touched the faces again. “Hey, where am I in this picture? Don’t I get a hat too?”

  “No. But you have to wear boots. You’ll need some boots, I think. And some work clothes so your good clothes don’t get dirty.”

  Daddy’s smile disappeared. Suddenly, he hugged Arnold Lee. He hugged him tight. He sobbed once but didn’t actually cry. Arnold Lee was glad about that. He didn’t like seeing anyone cry, much less his big strong father.

  They didn’t talk any more about it, just hugged for a minute before Daddy went to make his phone call. Arnold Lee figured that was good enough. Hugs were much better than words.

  Always.

  Chapter Six – Avery

  “This isn’t the first time someone has disappeared from Sugar Hill,” Danforth’s voice boomed through the empty ballroom. He was so loud he didn’t need a microphone. God, I disliked this man. He’d been such a jerk in the past, especially to Pepper and during that whole thing with Bray. But he’d been repentant, and Reed had advised me about keeping my friends close and my enemies closer. Somehow, Danforth and I had managed to work together, but it was still difficult to trust him. I expected loyalty in every relationship, and when someone proved untrustworthy, I didn’t usually give them a second chance. I wasn’t convinced Danforth was going to be any help to us at all, but for Reed, I would go on a little faith.

  I shivered at remembering the weird reflection in the mirror at Thorn Hill. Surely that had been a trick of the light. Your pain medication. Anything but a ghost.

  “Nope. Not the first,” he repeated proudly. As usual, Danforth sported one of his rumpled Matlock suits, and today he appeared a touch flushed around the nose and cheeks. He did like the occasional nip of bourbon. Kind of early for that, though, wasn’t it?

  “Are you referring to Regina Dufresne and her mother? I’d say their disappearance has been solved.” If I sounded like a smartass, it was all right. I meant to. “I think we know Arthur Dufresne walled them up. He left them to die in the most horrible way possible.”

  Danforth snapped back, “That was a little before my time and yours too, Avery. We really have no idea who put them there.”

  I shook my head prepared to argue when Reed touched my shoulder. Did he really want to get involved in this skirmish? Before I could say another word, Dolly Jane walked in. How old was she now? Kids these days looked way older than they actually were. She wore her hair straight, as was the fashion, and had on fitted blue jeans and a cute polka-dot top. She barely limped at all.

  “Hey, Dolly. Your mother can join us too if she wants to.”

  “She’s busy at the moment. We’re heading back home in just a little while. But we’ll be back for the holidays. Try not to miss me.” Her backpack purse plunked on the ground, and she sat in the chair opposite me. She took out her cell phone and began tapping on it.

  “I’ll try,” I joked back.

  “Have you talked to Aunt Summer recently?”
Dolly Jane asked. She ignored Danforth, who snorted like he had something to say but wisely chose not to say it.

  “I left her a message earlier but haven’t heard anything. Have you?”

  “No.” Dolly Jane shook her head, making her hair shimmer. “If you do talk to her, tell her to call me.” She finished her text or whatever it was and shoved her phone in her shiny purse.

  “Okay,” I replied, trying not to feel like I’d been passed over for cool “Aunt” Summer. Dolly Jane was technically our cousin, but the age difference made it appropriate for her to think of us as her aunts. “Hey, Lucas! Arnold Lee! Glad you could make it.”

  Arnold Lee headed our way with a big grin. He had a stack of artwork in his hands, and I could tell he was dying to show me what he had created. He was such a sweet boy. He reminded me so much of his grandfather, who had been one of a kind. Like Handsome, Arnold Lee lived in his own world and was quite happy there.

  Like Jessica, too.

  “Wow. Look at these beautiful pictures. You’re really turning into a regular Picasso, Arnold Lee.” I couldn’t help but notice an odd character in each of these pictures, a familiar-looking young woman with large eyes and thin arms. Her green dress and pink lips were captivating. “Is this…who is this, Arnold Lee?” Better not to put words in his mouth. Let him tell me.

  “Jessie,” the boy answered. He sounded kind of hurt that I didn’t immediately recognize her.

  “I knew that. I was just teasing you. What is she doing here, Arnold Lee? Lying down on a bed? And this one. Ooh, I like this one. Tell me about this one.” A black shadow hovered behind her, and a dark hand reached for her shoulder. Her cartoon face had no smile, and her lips looked as if she was going to scream. It could be just his imagination. Right?

  “I’m not sure. That’s just what I saw. She doesn’t talk much.”

  I glanced at Reed, who was also studying the pictures. We passed them around, and everyone took a seat in the circle of chairs Reed had arranged in the center of the ballroom. He had been careful to put them around the spot where Jessica had disappeared. “Arnold Lee, thank you for sharing these beautiful pictures. It really means a lot. Are you going to let me keep one?”