Chapter 17

Cole slips out of the hole in the earth, dusting off his hands on the butt of his jeans. He’s out of breath from fear and exertion as he stares down into the hole. All we can see at the moment is the arm. Cole stopped digging once we had it uncovered, but I’m positive the rest of the skeleton is there. And, since the note said bodies, I’m assuming there could be more than one.

“We need to call the police,” he says firmly, turning his head to look at me.

I nod. “I know.” My chest feels empty and cold, stretched out like a deflated balloon. All of this anticipation and determination, and now, I’m not sure why I was so determined to find something. There is no sense of accomplishment that comes with this discovery, only devastation and fear.

“They’ll be able to dig the rest of the body up, to tell who it is. They’ll be able to find more if there’s more to find.”

I take in a deep breath. “Um.” Swallow. “How will we… I mean, how will we tell the police we found it? How will we say we knew where to look?” I can’t bear to meet his eyes. Though I knew nothing about this body before today, somehow this feels like my fault. My family, my problem. It feels like I’ve dragged him into it.

“We’ll show them the letters. They may even be able to figure out who’s sending them.”

Again, I nod, but it doesn’t feel like me. It feels like someone else is controlling me. Like I’m a puppet on a string. “Right.”

“We should go to the house and call,” he says, taking a step back. “If we dig any more, they could say we tampered with the crime scene or something.”

“Okay.” But instead of following him, instead of walking in the direction he’s heading, though I know he’s right, I walk toward the dirt pile. I grab my shovel and begin pushing the dirt into the hole with all my strength, covering up everything we’ve just discovered.

“Wait. What are you doing?” He runs forward, grabbing my arms to stop me, but I shove him off.

“Stop! Let me go!” I cry, working harder. Faster. I watch as the snow-white bones disappear beneath the dark soil, as the darkness swallows them whole.

He reaches for the shovel again, trying to stop me. He grabs hold of the shovel, and try as I might to pull it away from him, I can’t get it out of his hand. We’re at an impasse, both of us holding the shovel’s handle with an iron grip. “What are you thinking, B? Talk to me. Tell me why, and I’ll help you. But I need to understand what’s happening.”

I stop at the calm in his tone, staring up at him. I was so worried he’d force me to stop, so worried he wouldn’t listen to me, but it seems he’s prepared to. Perhaps he won’t agree, but at least I can try. My arms burn from exertion, aching like bruises as I turn, releasing the shovel to him.

“I…look, I know it doesn’t make any sense when I’m the one who forced you to help me look for the body, but I don’t want to call the police yet,” I say.

He locks his jaw, looking toward the ground then back to me. When he speaks again, somehow his voice is even gentler. “We…we found a body. We have to report it. We can’t just pretend it didn’t happen.”

“I know.” I put my hands up, pleading my case as I try to make my sudden change of heart make sense to both of us simultaneously. “I know. And we will call the police and tell them everything. I promise you we will. I just…there are three more letters.”

“Bridget, this is a body. An actual human skeleton. Letters or no letters, we can’t just sit on this information. We could be charged with covering up a crime or something.” He’s pleading with me to understand, and I do, but I can’t give up. I have to know the rest.

“I swear to you, we will call the police as soon as we’ve gotten the last letter. It’s just three more letters, three more days. What if the last ones are the most important? What if there are bigger, more terrible secrets than this? I mean, if they’ve already told us about the body and my parents, what else could there be? What if it only gets worse from here? If we call the police now, there’s a chance we might never know what else is out there. If we’d found the body last night and called the police…I might not know the truth about my parents.” My voice cracks, and his face goes soft, suddenly understanding.

“We still don’t know that what they said is the truth. We have no proof Vera was involved in your parents’ accident. It doesn’t make sense to me that she could’ve been. The police never said there was anything suspicious about it.”

My chest tightens, and I stare at him, wanting to say more, to beg him to side with me, but I don’t know if there’s a point. If he wants to call the police, I’ll have to let him and that kills me.

“You really want to wait for the last three letters?”

His words surprise me, filling me with hope as I clutch my hands together in front of my chest. “Three more days,” I tell him. “And then we can tell the police everything. Hand over the letters. We can say it took us that long to find the body. We’ll cover it all back up for now, just in case anyone were to come snooping, and then in three days, we’ll report this. I promise.” I stare down into the hole. “That body has been there a long time, Cole. Three more days won’t hurt anything. Vera is dead and gone. We aren’t saving anyone by turning her in now.”

He looks away, clearly wrestling with what he wants to say. “If she did this, if she hurt someone—killed someone—we can’t protect her. Promise me you understand that. I won’t keep this secret forever. It’s too heavy.”

I touch his arm lightly. “No. I won’t protect her. I promise that’s not what this is about. I owe her nothing. I just want to know everything. That’s it.”

With a tight jaw, he nods, then hands me the shovel back. “Let’s get to work, then.”

We work together to push the dirt back into the ground—much easier than digging in the first place—and pat it down. Cole jumps on top of it, his shoes covered in mud, until the ground is nearly as flat as when we found it, though it’s obviously been recently dug up, the patches of grass intermingling with patches of dirt.

“We should get inside and clean up,” he says, holding out his hand for mine.

Without thinking, I slip it into his palm. Both our hands are dry and caked with dirt, but somehow, it doesn’t bother me. We’re in this together in every way that counts.

Cole stares down at our hands, his body stiff. It’s only then that I realize he’d been waiting for me to hand him my shovel, not take his hand.

A wave of ice crashes over me as I pull my hand away, replacing it with the shovel in his. “Sorry about that. I’m just…tired.”

“Yeah. Don’t worry about it.” He turns, directing us back to the house. With a hint of a smile, he adds, “There are worse things you could’ve put in my hand.”

“For example?” My face is the temperature of the sun, scalding and melting off my bones. What the hell was I thinking?

He hums, thinking. “Mayonnaise, for one.”

“You don’t like mayonnaise?”

He laughs. “Not in my hand.”

I’m grateful for the way he’s eased the tension, even if my face is still burning.

“Also, a live rat.”

“Dead one’s okay, though?” I quip.

“I’d prefer no rats be put into my hands, thanks.”

“Noted.”

He bumps my arm with his, and his smile warms me to my core. I hope I’m telling him thank you without words as I stare at him, so appreciative of what he’s doing.

We put the shovels away, and when we reach the front yard, we stop in our tracks at the sight waiting for us. I squint my eyes in the sun, trying to make sense of it. Three women are making their way up the drive.

It clicks for me all at once when I realize who they are. I’d nearly forgotten about the neighbors.

Once their faces come into clearer view, I recognize them from their visit a few days ago. I haven’t returned their casserole dishes or thanked them for being so kind, but still, my body bristles at their intrusion. Something about the women bothers me, but I can’t put my finger on what it is.

And if you look up ‘bad timing’ online, I’m convinced you’d find a photo of us at this moment. The two of us, caked in dirt, looking guilty as sin, with a literal skeleton in our backyard.

Jane waves at us with a hand over her head. “Well, hello there.” She’s wearing a black skirt and plain white T-shirt, looking positively sleek.

The woman behind her, Lily, has on a paisley dress, her wild gray hair blowing in every direction. “You’ve got a little mud on you”—she pats the air in the direction of our heads down to our toes—“er, well, sort of everywhere.”

“Everything alright?” Jane asks when they get closer, her blue eyes studying us carefully, taking in our ragged appearances.

“Yeah,” I say, thinking quickly. “We’re redoing the flower garden. Most of the plants were dying, and I know how much Vera loved that space, so we’ve been working on revamping it.”

Jane’s eyes dart toward the backyard, though she can’t see anything from here. “Yes, she did love that garden. I’m surprised to hear everything died. It was so pretty the last time we were out there.”

“Make sure you plant some zinnias and snapdragons,” Cate adds. “Those were her favorite. Oh, and dahlias.”

“And hydrangeas,” Lily says. “Foxglove, oleander, and azaleas.”

“We’ll make you a list,” Jane tells me. “We’ve got plenty at our houses too, so we’re happy to help you get started with a few cuttings and seeds.”

“Thank you.” I scratch near my eye, where a speck of mud seems to be drying my skin out. “We’d appreciate that. It’s all pretty new to us.”

Jane clasps her hands in front of her chest. “Well, we just wanted to come by and see how you two were holding up. Have you gotten to try any of the casseroles we brought over?”

“One of them,” I tell her. “And we’ll probably have the other tonight, actually. Thank you again for bringing them. I’ll be sure to return your dishes and bag once I’ve washed everything.”

She waves off the suggestion. “Trust me, I have plenty where those came from. There’s no rush. Is there anything we can do for you? Some cleaning maybe? Or distraction? We’re going to see a play in town later and would love for you to join us.”

“Oh, um,” I say, wincing. “We really appreciate the offer, but I have work to catch up on, and we’re still trying to do things little by little around here. It’s so kind of you, though.”

“Once we get the house all set up to our liking, we’ll have you lovely ladies over for dinner,” Cole says, his voice dripping with charm. “How does that sound?”

“You trying to poison us, Cole Warner?” Cate asks, flashing him a wide grin.

“You know I’d never.”

“We’ll let you take the first bite,” Lily says skeptically.

I’m starting to warm up to her.

Jane sighs. “Okay, well, we don’t want to be a bother, but let’s not be strangers, alright? Vera was a very good friend to us, and I know it would be important to her that we take good care of you.” Her eyes linger on me. “We’re just down the street if you need anything, and our phone numbers are on the fridge.”

“Cole has them, too,” Cate says.

“Right,” Jane agrees. “So, if you need anything, know our door is open. Day or night.”

“Most of us don’t sleep well anyway,” Lily says. “Unless there’s a full moon.” She winks.

“We really—” Before I can finish my sentence, we’re interrupted by the sound of the gate opening at the end of the driveway and a black Mercedes pulling up toward the house.

My shoulders tense at the sight of Zach stepping out of his car, his perfectly coiffed head of shiny, blond hair coming into view before his face.

“Friend of yours?” Lily asks under her breath.

“No,” Cole says.

“He’s Vera’s grandson and a realtor. He wants us to sell the house,” I say at the same time.

“You’re not going to do it, are you?” Jane asks, clearly horrified.

“No,” I tell her. “I don’t plan on selling the house any time soon.”

“Greetings, cousin,” Zach calls, his voice uncomfortably formal as he stalks across the yard. He pulls his sunglasses up from his eyes, surveying us carefully. “Been playing in the mud, have we?”

“Zach,” I mutter. “Edna told us you’re not having much luck with your lawyer trying to steal the house from us.”

“More like take back what’s rightfully ours,” he says. Dropping his dark glasses back over his eyes, he digs into his pocket and pulls out his phone. “Since the legal way is going to be such a headache, Mom and I want to make you an offer on the place. Three times more than it’s worth based on my already generous comps. What do you say?” He turns the phone around so I can see the number Aunt Jenn has texted him. It’s likely not a quarter of what Vera left them, but it’s still a ridiculous amount of money.

Every eye in the vicinity is on me, though this decision isn’t solely mine. To my surprise, when I look at Cole, he’s waiting to hear my answer too.

I don’t have to think about it. “I’ve already told you I don’t want to sell this place.” More so now than ever before, I’m positive about that. Even if I wasn’t furious with how Zach and Aunt Jenn are handling this, we can’t let them find what’s in the backyard until we decide what to do about it. “That hasn’t changed.”

His brows pinch together. “You’re being ridiculous. Don’t let your stubbornness cause you to make a stupid decision. You need the money. We both know you do. Vera didn’t leave you a dime. Let us help you. It’s what family does.”

The word family stings like a slap to the face. Zach isn’t foolish. I’m the little girl who didn’t have a family, and he thinks he can use that against me now, prod at my bruises until I give in, but it won’t work.

“You heard the girl,” Lily says, moving to step in front of me. Her voice has taken on the tone of a mother who’s at her wit’s end. She juts her chin up. “Go on now. Vera left the house to Bridget for a reason. It’s hers. She wouldn’t want it sold to someone else—anyone else. This house meant too much to her.”

“Look, lady, I have no idea who you are, but this is between me and Bridget?—”

“And she’s already given an answer.” Lily is a full head shorter than Zach, but from the way she’s looking at him, you’d never know it. She’s formidable. It’s the only way I know to describe her. She’s the type of woman you could easily trick young children into believing is a witch, both because of the wild, wiry gray hair framing her face and because she is clearly the type of person to get things done.

I see why Vera must’ve liked her.

“We won’t make this generous of an offer again,” Zach says, still staring at Lily, though he’s clearly talking to me.

“Would you look at that, ladies?” She pulls back with a wry grin, winking at Jane. “Here I thought we were the old ones, but this little peacock is clearly hard of hearing.”

“She said she’s not interested. She’s staying. So you should be leaving,” Jane says, her voice stony. She’s equally terrifying, and I can practically picture her pouncing on him, thumping him on the head. I can’t explain it, but she just has that look about her. The mental image nearly makes me smile. “Now.”

Cate moves to stand next to her so the three of them form a wall in front of us, and my heart swells.

Zach looks around them, peering at me, and shakes his head. “Don’t let your pride screw you, Bridget. You can’t even afford to keep this house from caving in, and we all know it. This money could change your life.”

Lily moves into his line of sight and plasters a sugar-sweet smile on her rosy lips. “I don’t think you’re hearing me. If you say another word to her, I’m going to call the police.”

“Already on it,” Cate says, pulling a phone out of the pocket of her yoga pants.

“Go, Zach,” I say. “Leave. I’m not interested, and I won’t change my mind.”

He scoffs, swatting a hand in our direction as he walks away and back to his car, his shoulders swaying, head held high. Now I understand why Jane called him a peacock.

As he disappears back down the drive, the women turn back to look at us.

“Thank you,” I say softly. “Really. I hate that you had to see that.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. We’ve been around a long time, honey. We’ve all seen much worse than him. This house meant everything to Vera, Bridget. You know that.” Lily’s eyes are so serious, it’s painful. “Promise me you won’t give it to that man. Promise me you’ll keep it.”

“I don’t plan to leave,” I say. “Or sell. Cole and I will likely split it like a vacation home.”

The women exchange unreadable glances, then Lily turns toward the house again with a sad smile. “Well, we wish you could be our neighbor permanently, but I think she’d like knowing you’re here in whatever way you can be.”

I want to tell her she’s wrong—clearly. That I was just the only choice she had when she was looking for someone to leave the house to. But I don’t want to sully her memory of Vera, so I say nothing.

“You should change the passcode to the gate, by the way,” Jane says. “So you don’t have to worry about him coming back.”

Intrigued, I study her. “Actually, do you know how to do that?”

She gives me a prize-winning smile. “I most certainly do.”