Page 12 of Home Tears

“How come?”

Kate closed her mouth as her eyes darted between the two. She edged back a step.

“Dani.”

“Jake.”

“Come on.” He now laughed. “What are you—are you serious? You and Jonah? Jonah Bannon?”

Jake had no right commenting or speculating on her love life. He’d been a part and played his part well, but he was out. He’d been out for a long, long time. He had no place passing judgment, no matter what was the truth.

She lifted her chin up. “Maybe.”

He went still. “Are you serious?”

Kate commented out of the side of her mouth, “I think you should be asking yourself why you care so much.”

“Kate.” Jake shot her a glare, and it shut her up.

Dani sighed. She was suddenly done with this conversation. Jake was jealous, but that was old news. He’d been jealous in high school too, and there’d been no basis for it then. She loved him, completely and whole-heartedly, and seeing him yesterday took her back there. It’d been brief, but hearing that same shit from him now, she was over it.

She was grateful to him for one thing, and that was realizing she truly was over what they had. She could safely answer Mae’s questions if she was going to get Jake back. She didn’t want him. Julia was welcome to him, but as for the rest of her aunt’s questions: Dani still wasn’t ready to admit them even to herself.

Her sister had been buried. She had been clothed, prayed upon, and blessed. She had been put into the earth’s dirt. It was something that Dani was beyond familiar with. Feeling the same emptiness that haunted her at night, she heaved a deep breath and shook her head clear. She couldn’t expel the shiver that ran down her back, putting the hairs on her neck straight up.

“Hello?”

Startled, Dani jumped and cursed.

“Sorry.” Jonah poked his head through the open door.

Dani realized that she’d forgotten to shut it. After leaving town, she went to the cemetery. She hadn’t planned on going, but she found herself parking along the gravel driveway. That was as far as she got, though. She stared at the set of tombstones where she guessed Erica was buried. She would’ve been put next to their mom’s grave. And sitting there a full thirty minutes, Dani couldn’t make herself get out. When she got back to the cabin, she couldn’t remember what she did for the rest of the afternoon. She remembered making coffee, and with a jerk, she was still standing in her kitchen.

Her coffee was cold now.

“What time is it?”

He checked his watch. “It’s about six-ish. You were going to let me drive the car, remember?”

“Oh, yeah.” She frowned. “I, uh…sorry. I was just…” She pushed away from the counter and dumped the coffee into the sink. “I got busy and forgot all about tonight.”

“That’s okay.” He produced a package from behind his back. “Two steaks. I wasn’t sure if you went back in the store for them after this morning, so I did.”

“Thank you.”

“Yeah.” Jonah nodded and moved to her side. “Do you want to spice those up? I’ll go and light the grill.”

He was out the door as her hand came up to take the steaks from him. He’d already placed them on the counter, and she could hear him removing the cover from the grill outside.

Her mother once told her that spices attracted the best magic. They each had their own purpose. Garlic protected the soul against invading temptations. Oregano protected against cynicism. Parsley protected against old age. Her mother would go down the list, and Dani would sit there, mesmerized by everything her mother told her. She remembered lying in bed that night, and as she would look up at the ceiling, all the spices danced above her. They each twinkled, protecting her against the world.

Dani believed that for the longest time.

As she took the steaks out of the wrappings and placed them on a plate, Dani perused Aunt Mae’s old spice rack. Her eyes fell on the ginger, and for a moment, her fingers lingered. She knew the truth by now.

There was no magic.

There was no protection.

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