Peach Pies and Alibis (34 page)

Ella Mae whispered for her mother to come home. She repeated her entreaty over and
over again until sleep came and coaxed her into silence.

Sunlight woke her. It warmed the heavy wool blanket someone had laid over her and
burnished her hair a fiery auburn when she lifted her head off a pillow. Wondering
who had made her so comfortable in the night, she looked around,
feeling groggy and slightly hung over even though she had had only one cup of wine.

Hearing the sound of footsteps on the gravel, Ella Mae tensed, but then Chewy appeared
around the corner of a boxwood bush and barked out a cheerful greeting.

He was followed not by Reban or one of Ella Mae’s aunts, but surprisingly by Suzy
Bacchus. She carried two large mugs and wore a tentative smile.

“Hi,” she said. “I thought you might want some coffee. It’s oil-spill strong.”

Ella Mae let out a laugh. “Sounds like Reba’s. I call hers the Exxon brew.” She accepted
the mug and invited Suzy to sit on the bench beside her.

“Your aunts told me you slept out here,” Suzy said after a long moment of silence
in which both women sipped their coffee and watched Chewy paw at a beetle scuttling
over the dirt. “I can see why. It’s beautiful.”

Confused, Ella Mae looked at her. “Beautiful? The roses are frozen. All the colors
have leaked out. It’s totally depressing.”

Suzy shook her head. “Really, they’re glorious. Come and see.”

Ella Mae followed her friend to another section of the garden and gasped. The roses
were as bright and vibrant as a kindergartner’s finger painting. Hovering above the
plump, robust flowers were hundreds of butterflies. The garden was populated by a
dozen species, and at once, Ella Mae knew that her creatures had been tending to her
mother’s roses since dawn. She sent them a silent thank-you; her aching heart healed
a fraction by the sight of the restored garden.

“Can you get over the scents?” Suzy inhaled deeply. “Vanilla, honey, caramelized sugar,
a summer rain, the first frost. Everywhere I walk I smell something different.”

Bending over a cluster of flowers in a cheerful yellow hue, Ella Mae drew in a breath
and smiled. “These remind
me of the beach. Hot sand under my feet, the sun on my shoulders, and a wind carrying
salt from the ocean.” She brushed a petal with her fingertips. “My mother isn’t gone.
She’s still here.”

Suzy nodded. “I’m glad you’re feeling better about what happened. I don’t think I
could be as strong.” She turned away to examine a lilac-colored rose.

“It was really nice of you to check on me,” Ella Mae said.

“Hey, I’m your friend and you’ve been through hell. Your mother became the Lady, and
a Shadow Child’s been plotting to kill you for months. Just the thought of it gives
me the chills.” She rubbed her arms. “Reba told everyone about the murders last night.
How Maurelle gave Melissa and Freda contaminated cheese to throw suspicion on the
Shermans. How she used her spider tattoos to poison her victims, making them more
susceptible to the
Listeria
. And she nearly succeeded in murdering Reba and Tilda.”

Ella Mae shook her head. “It’s been a nightmare, but at least I can talk to you about
everything. Who else would believe that a pie shop waitress was an assassin pretending
to have skin cancer in order to keep her enchanted spider tattoos covered?”

The two women began to laugh. Standing under the warm sun amid her mother’s roses,
Ella Mae knew that she would endure. Perhaps, she’d even learn to flourish like this
garden. Life would never be the same, but she would not surrender to grief. Her mother
wouldn’t want that for her.

“I wonder if they’ll send another Shadow Child,” Ella Mae said as she and Suzy passed
a rosebush covered with crimson blooms. “Maurelle made it pretty clear that her kind
was out to destroy our sacred groves. She claimed responsibility for having a North
Carolina grove turned into a subdivision.”

Suzy’s green eyes grew dark with anger. “That was ours.” Clenching her fists, she
kicked a large chunk of gravel, sending it scuttling across the path. “This is awful.
As if things
weren’t tough enough for us already. We can’t have kids without some earth-shattering
sacrifice, we need to renew our magic every year, and we have to keep our identities
and abilities secret. On top of all that, the Shadow Children want to obliterate the
few sanctuaries we have left.” Her hand flew over her mouth. “I’m sorry, Ella Mae.
The last thing you need to hear is my griping.”

“Actually, it’s refreshing,” Ella Mae said. “And I feel the same way. Sometimes I
think what we are is a rare and wonderful gift. Other times, it seems like a curse.
Right now, I’d trade every ounce of magic I have to get my mother back. Since that’s
not possible, I plan to do something else to change our future for the better. I’m
going to be my mother’s voice, and I refuse to let anything happen to our grove or
to our people. My days of being a victim are over.”

Raising her coffee cup, Suzy said, “I’ll drink to that.”

Ella Mae and Suzy gently touched the rims of their mugs together and then drank down
the last of Reba’s strong brew. Afterward, they continued walking toward the house.
Occasionally, a butterfly would land on the wreath of roses on Ella Mae’s head, and
Suzy would identify it by name. “A zebra swallowtail is hitching a ride and a tawny
emperor is coming in for a landing. Glad I flipped through that book on the moths
and butterflies of North America a few months ago. It could prove useful, since I’m
going to be hanging out with the Queen of the Butterflies.”

The word “queen” resonated in Ella Mae’s memory. “Both Maurelle and Opal Gaynor called
me the Clover Queen. Have you ever heard that before?”

Suzy furrowed her brow. “No. Did they say anything else?”

“A woman of our kind is supposed to be able to break Merlin’s curse. She’s supposed
to be born on the spring equinox and to come to magic later in life.”

“You’ve got the second requirement down. What about the first?”

Ella Mae pointed at a large rosebush forming a semicircle around a birdbath. Its flowers
had a cotton candy pink in the center and its edges were trimmed with a translucent
white. “This bush was planted right before my mom went into labor and bloomed right
after I was born. It’s called the Ella Mae rose, but my mother also referred to it
as the First Blush of Spring rose.”

“Because you were born on the spring equinox,” Suzy said, her gaze locked on the roses.
“Boy, I wish I could tell you more about this Clover Queen business. And yet, I hear
you have quite a remarkable library in your house.” Her eyes were glinting. “I’d bring
you coffee every morning if I could take a peek at those books.”

Ella Mae smiled. “You don’t have to bring me a thing. I’d be grateful for your help.
I need to find out more about this queen. It might save our kind. I don’t want us
to be victims again. Any of us.” She touched Suzy on the arm. “Let’s start tonight.
We could share a bottle of wine, order a pizza, and do some research? What do you
say?”

Again, Suzy seemed to hesitate. “Do you remember what I told you about my gift? That
I remember anything I’ve read?”

Sensing that Suzy had something important to tell her, Ella Mae stopped under a wrought-iron
trellis covered by a tangle of mango-colored roses releasing a sweet, citrusy scent.
“Sure.”

“The reason I came here this morning was to tell you that I once read about an object
that would supposedly release the Lady of the Ash forever. In other words, we wouldn’t
need a Lady anymore. The elders could work together to make decisions for our people
and no one would have to sacrifice themselves to keep us magically charged.” She touched
the point of a thorn with her index finger and a bright bead of red blood appeared
on her skin. She examined it thoughtfully. “I’m too much of a newcomer to have
raised the subject with the elders, and honestly, the whole thing sounds pretty insane,
even to me. But after I saw your face last night, I knew I had to at least tell you
about the legend.”

Ella Mae grabbed Suzy by the hand. “Oh, please! I’d do anything to set her free!”

“I only read about a reference to it, unfortunately. The legend says that the spell
can be broken using a powerful object called the Flower of Life. It’s supposed to
grow at the bottom of an enchanted lake and can only be reached after surviving great
peril. That’s all I know.” Suzy sounded deeply disappointed. “While we’re looking
for info on the Clover Queen, we should keep an eye out for allusions to this magic
flower.”

Hope bloomed inside Ella Mae. She could feel it chasing away the cold despair she’d
felt the night before. “You and I are going to be spending a lot of time together,”
she told Suzy with a smile and released her hand.

“That’s fine by me,” Suzy said. “I’ll bring Jasmine to hang out with Chewy, and you
and I will sit around eating and drinking and reading until we’ve either saved the
world or turned into reclusive, overweight alcoholics.”

Ella Mae shook her head. “Can’t do that. In fact, after I say good morning to Reba
and my aunts, I’m heading out for a long run. If I’m going to take on the Shadow Children
and face untold perils trying to set free my mother from the ash tree, then I need
to be in the best shape of my life.”

“I’ll be the bookish sidekick, if you don’t mind. I only run when I hear an ice cream
truck,” Suzy said and linked her arm through Ella Mae’s. “I have one more question
for you.”

“Yes?”

“Does Reba cook when she’s upset?”

Nodding, Ella Mae sniffed the air. Now that they were so close to the main house,
she could detect the scents of bacon, toast, buttery biscuits, and fried eggs overpowering
the perfume of the roses. “I hope you’re hungry. She’s probably made enough food for
an entire football team. In fact, she may have invited an entire football team for
breakfast. Reba has all kinds of healthy appetites.”

Suzy looked amused. “She and I are going to get along splendidly.”

After her run, Ella Mae tidied the guest cottage and then took Chewy down to the lake
for a game of catch. When he finally grew tired and settled down under a bush for
a nap, Ella Mae walked to the end of the dock and sat with her feet dangling in the
cool water.

Autumn had painted the trees surrounding the lake in gold, orange, and cranberry.
The hues reflected in the water’s flat surface, creating an ocean of color. Ella Mae
drank in the sight and planned to describe it to her mother when she visited the grove
after lunch. She could work on the week’s menu while telling her mother what she’d
learned from Suzy.

The figure of a man suddenly appeared on the path descending to the lake, and Ella
Mae immediately put aside thoughts of her mother, Clover Queens, and magical flowers.
Hugh waved and, tucking a small basket under his arm, jogged down the slope.

Ella Mae watched his approach with a pang of bittersweet longing. He was not of her
kind. She could never reveal her true self to him. And yet, she couldn’t picture a
future without him. Somehow, they were tied together.

“How’s the water?” Hugh called from the other end of the dock. Chewy darted over to
say hello, and Hugh scratched the little terrier behind the ears and then patted him
on the flank. Chewy’s tail wagged feverishly, and he licked Hugh’s hand before returning
to his place in the shade.

“The water’s perfect,” Ella Mae beckoned for him to join her. “Come on in.”

She was dazzled by the brightness of his smile and the glint of gold in his hair.
As he strode toward her with the easy confidence of a warrior, she was once again
struck by how magnificent he was. How Beautiful. A chiseled marble statue of a Greek
god come to life. But even Hugh’s powerful arms and strong shoulders couldn’t endure
the weight of her secret burdens.

“This is a nice surprise,” she said as he sat down.

Kicking off his shoes, he rolled up his jeans and plunged his feet into the lake.
Tilting his face up to the sun, he sighed in contentment. “I went to the hospital
before I came here,” he said. “Rumor has it that Reba checked herself out last night.
Hope she wasn’t wearing one of those gowns that don’t cover your backside.”