Georgia laughed. “Horns? So? It’s a forest.” She rolled her eyes. “Oh God. That legend?”
“I think they believe it. Sometimes I wonder too . . . I used to . . . see things.”
Georgia let out a small huff of breath. “We need to forget the things we saw at Lilith House. The things we experienced there. Isn’t that the whole point?”
He regarded her for a moment, finally nodding. “Yeah. Yeah, it is.” He owed her that, that and so much more. He leaned forward, kissing her forehead, letting his lips linger there. He heard her let out a small sigh and then he stepped away. “See you later.”
“Bye, Cam.”
Camden stepped out of Georgia’s house, jogging down the steps, the vision of Scarlett Lattimore’s face as she’d laughed in the shade of the gazebo filling his mind.
CHAPTER TEN
Downtown Farrow struck Scarlett as both sleepy and old-fashioned, as though both pace and time had slowed at some point in the recent past and the rest of the world, having not received the same memo, had continued to speed right on by. Although there were several large estates that looked to feature every modern amenity including swimming pools and basketball courts, sprinkled on a hill overlooking the town, the rest of Farrow was completely at odds. Scarlett drove down Main Street, noting the quaint ice cream parlor with outdoor seating, the theater with the hand-lettered marquee, and the white, domed bandstand at its center.
There was a sense of charm in Farrow, but to Scarlett, the small town situated in a valley between two mountains also gave off a strange feeling, possibly because such a vital example of a modern urban landscape existed less than two hours away.
However, despite the odd feeling, there were plenty of examples that modern life was very much being lived there. Cars and trucks were parked in the spaces along Main Street, people were out walking dogs and simply strolling the neighborhoods, and the bells rang from the church tower as Scarlett pulled up in front of the white steepled building with the emerald-green doors. The parking lot was mostly full, and a few stragglers hurried toward the short set of steps.
“Ready?” she asked Haddie as she got out of the car and went around to open the back where her daughter sat strapped into her booster seat.
Haddie nodded as she unbuckled, stepping down from the car, her gaze moving between the church and the cemetery behind it and to the left, her expression morphing quickly from concern to placid and back again. “Are you okay?” she asked, taking Haddie’s hand.
“Yes,” Haddie said. “Lots of things happened here. Good and bad.”
Scarlett glanced at the church. Haddie said these kinds of things sometimes and she never knew what to make of it. She’d asked her to explain what she meant dozens of times, but the questions always seemed to cause Haddie to withdraw. So rather than pointing them out and making Haddie feel self-conscious, she’d learned to take them in stride, labeling them “Haddie-isms” that maybe someday her little girl would have the vocabulary to describe to her. Or maybe not. Maybe she’d simply outgrow this phase, the same way other children eventually left their imaginary friends behind. “Yes,” Scarlett confirmed. “That’s a good way to describe a church.” They began walking toward the door, Scarlett spotting a sign that said, Office, with an arrow pointing toward the back of the building. She stepped onto the path that led there. “Joyful occasions take place in churches like weddings and baptisms, but people also gather in churches for sad events like funerals and memorial services.”
Scarlett saw Haddie nod her head from her peripheral vision as she pulled open the door on the back of the building with a small placard that told her she was in the right place. They entered a back stairwell and followed it down, stepping into a wide-open area, stacks of folding chairs and tables against the far wall next to a darkened hallway, and a basic kitchen area to their right. The smell brought back memories of school events after hours. There was a room off to the side with a large picture window where you could observe children playing, the muffled sounds of their laughter echoing through the glass.
Scarlett squeezed Haddie’s hand and walked to the door, rapping on it. When it swung open, an older woman with close-cropped gray hair and a wide smile stood there. “Hi,” she said, looking between Scarlett and Haddie.
Scarlett smiled. “Hi, my name is Scarlett Lattimore, and this is Haddie. We’re new in town, and I was hoping someone here would have some information about locating childcare for my daughter? It would only be on an as-needed basis.”
The woman nodded and opened the door wider. “Oh yes. I’m Ruth. Come on in. This is the childcare room that’s only open during services. But I’m sure Sister Madge could help you. She knows everyone in the community. Let me give her a call.”
“Thank you.”
Ruth picked up a phone on the wall by the windows that faced the cemetery and Scarlett nudged Haddie as they waited, nodding toward the bookshelf and encouraging her to check it out. Haddie walked slowly to it, picking up a book as Ruth came back. “Sister Madge lives on site, and has her own office-slash-residence right behind the church. If you go back out the way you came and follow the path in that direction, you won’t be able to miss it.”
“Great. I appreciate it.” She glanced over at Haddie who had opened the book in her hands and already seemed engaged. A little girl sitting nearby looked up and Scarlett noticed that her eyes were strangely spaced, one slightly larger and higher than the other. The child lowered her head, going back to the bead maze she was playing with.
“Haddie’s welcome to stay here with the other children while you speak with Sister Madge,” Ruth said.
“Oh, okay . . . well, that would be good. I’ll only be a few minutes, I’m sure.”
“Haddie?” she called to her daughter, who looked back at her. “I’m going to be back in a few minutes okay?”
Haddie looked slightly unsure, but nodded. “Okay, Mommy.”
Scarlett thanked Ruth and headed back outside, taking the cement path to the back of the church where she immediately spotted a very small white house. She walked to it, knocking on the glass pained portion of the door, and turned the knob, pushing it open when a pleasant voice singsonged from within, “Come in.”
Scarlett stepped directly into a front office, featuring a sitting area off to the side.
An older nun stood up from where she’d been sitting at her desk, smiling kindly at Scarlett. “Well, hello. Scarlett Lattimore, right? How wonderful to welcome a new family to our community.” She brought her hands together in front of her face in a silent, singular clap.
Scarlett walked forward, extending her hand. Sister Madge took it, her skin cold and smooth, her fingers as delicate as a bird’s wings. “Thank you,” Scarlett said, letting go and taking a seat at the leather chair in front of the desk. “We’re so happy to be here.”
“Where in Farrow are you living, dear?”
“We’re actually outside town, at the old Lilith House?”
Sister Madge’s expression did something funny, but it was so fleeting that Scarlett wondered if she’d imagined it. The old woman smiled broadly. “Isn’t that wonderful? I daresay I never thought the old girl would see life again. I must hear all about what you and your husband plan to do with it.”