Page 62 of Eldritch

As he led the way out of the cellar, she heard another voice in her head. It was the tone she was used to dogging her.

Sybil, you are a coward. Such a coward. You lied again. Told a fib.

Once up top, she closed and locked the cellar door and stepped away from it.

“Well, that’s done. Thank you so much,” she said.

“My pleasure.” His eyes held genuine warmth. “I’ll update Clarice. Are we still on for this evening at the diner?”

“Of course.”

“Is six still good?”

“What about five? I’m always starving by then.”

He glanced at his watch. “Perfect. Works for me.”

Letisha came down the stairs right then. “Done already? That was pretty quick.”

Doug grinned as Letisha walked up to them. “Wasn’t too complicated. I’ll see myself out. Later.”

When the front door closed, and he was out of earshot, Letisha thew Sybil one of those grins Sybil’s grandfather used to call “shit eating.”

“So?” Letisha asked as her smile widened.

Sybil’s face heated. “So how are you?” Sybil asked. “You look much better.”

“Thank God. I’m way behind. Don’t change the subject, though.”

“What subject?”

“I saw how you looked at Doug as he left.” Letisha’s grin widened. “I don’t blame you. He’s hot.”

“I wasn’t looking at him in a special way.”

“Liar. You want to eat him up.”

Sybil rolled her gaze. “You’re full of crap.”

“Fair enough.”

Sybil knew she needed to tell Letisha about her father. “Hey, I need to tell you about my father.”

Letisha’s brows lowered, clear concern registering in her eyes. Sybil rarely talked about him.“Okay What about him?”

Sybil gave her the down and dirty about her conversation with her mother and saw her friend’s expression run from surprised to perturbed.

“I can’t believe your mom doesn’t get how you feel about your sperm donor,” Letisha said. “Are you going to tell Maria and Pauline about this later?”

Sybil rubbed her left arm, unsettled. “Probably. Better for them to know the lay of the land. I mean, why not.”

Letisha gently pressed Sybil’s right shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay. If you want to hash it over more later, I’m here for you.”

Tears welled in Sybil’s eyes for a moment, but she ruthlessly pushed them back. She didn’t have time for waterworks. “I appreciate it.”

Letisha cleared her throat. “Good. Hey, there’s something else before I forget. I went to check on Maria because I hadn’t seen her in a while. She wasn’t in her room, and there was an empty bottle of whisky on her bedstand, of all places.”

“I’m right here.” Maria walked from the direction of the office, her expression perturbed.

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