Page 68 of When Cardinals Appear

Glaring at my phone, I threw off the covers. Why did I look at it? I’d successfully avoided it most of the time, picking it up only when the buzzing got incessant. With an irritated growl, I climbed out of bed and turned the phone off before shoving it into a box. There. I wouldn’t be disturbed again.

Since I was already awake, I wandered downstairs to the kitchen. It must have been the middle of the night because the house was dark. I tiptoed around the creaky spots on the floor, which I’d memorized during other late-night forages for food. I opened the cabinet doors slowly to avoid the slightest whine of the hinges. A box of toaster pastries sat near the front. That sounded more appetizing than crackers. I gritted my teeth when the metallic wrapping rustled in my hands as I tore the package. After putting the pastries on a paper towel, I crept back up the stairs to my room and quietly shut the door.

I made it through one pastry before I lost my appetite, and I wished I’d thought to get some fresh water. The glass by my bed had been there for a while, possibly days, and tasted stale. But I gulped it down anyway. Then I slid back under the covers and fell into a restless sleep.

The bed shifted, and I startled awake. A gentle hand, warm, soft, and familiar, caressed my hair. I smiled, still half-asleep, and reached up to grab the hand but instead touched my own cheek. Outside my window, a bird chirped. An image of a red cardinal with black freckles near its beak flashed through my mind, but before I could make sense of it, sleep found me again.

“Lanie.” A gentle, familiar voice whispered my name. A hand shook my shoulder. “Lanie, it’s time to wake up.”

I opened my eyes and rolled over, taking in the angular features of my future sister-in-law’s face. Rose was smiling, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Worry lines creased her forehead.

“Rose,” I croaked. I cleared my throat. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to convince you to get out of this bed.” When I went to roll over again, Rose grabbed my shoulder and shook it with more force. “No, Lanie. Not this time. Get up. Now!”

Shocked, I stared up at her. “What’s your problem?”

“You’ve been in this bed for a week. Whatever is wrong, whatever has happened, you need to snap out of it.”

“You wouldn’t understand,” I moaned as I buried my face in the pillow.

“Then you’re going to have to make me understand.” Rose yanked the covers off the bed, and I curled into a ball to escape the sudden cold air. “You’re going to get out of this bed, you’re going to take a shower—a real one with actual soap—and then you’re going to go downstairs. Your brother and father are waiting for you.”

After briefly considering mutiny, I dragged myself out of bed. I wasn’t sure if it was the thought of a hot shower to escape the cold after Rose had so rudely ripped away my blankets or if it was my fear of what Rose might do next that drove me to obey. But the moment I was in the shower, I regretted not fighting back. For some reason, the water always helped me to think, and that was the last thing I wanted to do.

When I returned to my room, the curtains had been pushed back, and sunlight was streaming in. Birds chirped outside the window, and I could feel winter losing its grip on Cedar Haven. The promise of warmer days and fresh flowers brought a soft smile to my face. There were still piles of boxes stacked on the floor, and the simple furnishings my father had set up were a stark reminder of the life I had left behind. Dad had moved a few times since he and Mom divorced, and his latest house was much smaller than the one I’d shared with him my last semester of high school.

Voices drifted up from below, and I steeled myself to face the firing squad, a.k.a. my family. My behavior over the last... days? Weeks? I had no idea, but however long I’d spent shut in my room had led to the lovely intervention I was walking into. I took a deep breath and descended the stairs.

“Lanie,” Rose cooed as she stood to embrace me as if she hadn’t just dragged me out of bed. “It’s so good to see you vertical.”

Her words caught me off guard, and I laughed in spite of myself. The sound of my laughter quieted the rest of the room as everyone stared at me.

“Why don’t you sit here?” Steven pulled a chair out for me. The kitchen was small, with a round table in the center surrounded by five wooden chairs. A little window overlooking the backyard was over the sink. The walls were bare except for a cow calendar Steven had given Dad as a Christmas present. My father didn’t do much decorating. He preferred simplicity to style.

I glanced around at the familiar faces of my family. Steven’s hazel eyes were clouded with concern, while Dad’s thick eyebrows were pulled down in a perpetual frown. Rose kept a smile on her face, though it looked a little strained.

“How are you feeling?” Dad asked, leaning back in his chair.

“Better,” I said, my voice still hoarse from disuse. “I didn’t mean to worry you.” I dropped my gaze to the table. “It’s just… a lot happened over a short period of time.” My breath hitched in my throat as I fought back tears. “The house selling, Nate’s secret, breaking up with James…”

“You broke up with James?” Steven’s eyes widened. With a quick glance at Rose, who conveniently looked away, he grabbed my arm. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Like I said, everything happened so fast.” After taking a deep breath, I told the whole story. How James had shown up unexpectedly at the Valentine’s dance and I’d subsequently broken up with him. How I’d received the job offer and decided to accept it, but then when I met with Nate for lunch, he told me about Mom and spilled the beans on the clandestine dinner. I glared at Steven and Dad, who, for their part, had the decency to at least look guilty. The more I talked, the more the ache in my chest eased, and my shoulders lifted as if a weight had been removed.

“Once the house sold, I suddenly found myself with a lot of free time. I couldn’t go back to California yet because we still have the probate hearings, but there wasn’t much for me to do here either. And I had a lot to process.” With my head in my hands, I stared at the table. “Mom not only broke up my relationship, but then she also didn’t even have the decency to tell me.”

For the first time since our awful lunch, my heart went out to Nate. Clearly, we needed to talk. It wasn’t his fault he’d been dragged into my mother’s drama, though the fact that he’d gone along with her hurt more than I was ready to admit.

My head shot up. “How is Nate?”

They exchanged glances. Finally, Steven spoke. “He’s fine. But he’s not what’s important right now.”

“What about the house? Is there anything I need to do to prepare for the sale?”

Steven shook his head. “Everything is on schedule.” He exchanged another look with my father. “But there is a matter you need to settle soon.”

“You said you received an offer from the local school,” Dad said. “But you haven’t given them an answer yet.”

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