“I’ll do my best, but if you really want all your questions answered, you need to listen to everything. Everything. Okay?”
“I’ll try,” Caleb whined. “We don’t have much longer before we’re in town. You don’t plan to sit in a parking lot and tell me, do you? If you’re gonna do that, why don’t you just take me to the cafe first. We can have coffee at least.”
“I thought you wanted to go to Billy’s first?”
“I did, but Billy can wait. I just can’t have him find me in town without seeing him first. I do like my job.”
“Fine. I’ll drop you off at Billy’s and wait for you at the cafe, but don’t take too long, please. The fog rolls in earlier by the day.”
“Okay, Ma. Thanks.”
Jennifer stopped at the small auto repair shop and let Caleb out before pulling into the cafe parking lot. She was surprised to find the cafe almost empty. All her life, the cafe had always been a hubbub of activity, the one place where you could go to find out anything you wanted to know, including local news, the weather, and most important of all, the town gossip. It was decorated in gentle blues and soft shades of gray. Booths lined the walls, and small square tables with four rounded, cushioned chairs filled the floor between the booths. A small counter held four stools with white backs and spun side to side as you sat. The Millers had done a great job with the place.
“Good morning!” Everly greeted Jennifer. “Seat yourself, and I’ll be right with you.”
“Thank you,” Jennifer said.
Everly brought a mug and filled it with coffee. “You’re Caleb’s mom, aren’t you?”
She’d seen Jennifer in the cafe many times but had never associated her with Caleb until then. She saw who Caleb got his good looks from. Jennifer really was as beautiful as Caleb said she was.
“I am. You can leave a second mug. He’ll be in shortly.”
“Oh great! We’ve missed him around here,” Everly said, a little too excited. She hoped Jennifer didn’t catch it.
Jennifer smiled. She caught Everly’s excitement. “Are you good friends with Caleb?”
“I suppose you could say that. He’s a regular, and his absence has been noticed. I heard he was in an accident?”
Jennifer fixed her coffee before she answered. “Yes, but he’s healing. Mostly some bruised ribs from his chest hitting his steering wheel, and a slight concussion from hitting his head on the windshield. His truck got the worst of it, unfortunately.”
“That is sad. I really liked his truck. He did a lot of work on it.”
“That he did. I’m sure he’ll find another jalopy to fix up soon. Caleb’s always had wheels at his disposal. That’s probably what he’s talking to Billy about now.”
“Mrs. Archer?” Everly hesitated.
“No missus, just Jennifer, please,” Jennifer corrected her. No one had ever called her Mrs. Archer. That was a title reserved for her mother. She had never married, just raised Caleb on her own.
“Jennifer, before Caleb gets here, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”
Jennifer’s eyebrows rose, but curiosity won out. “Okay, go for it.”
“Caleb mentioned his father disappeared. Do you really think the lady in white took him?” Everly asked boldly.
Jennifer scowled. She didn’t like the fact that Caleb had spilled his family history to an outsider. Everly may have lived in Rickdale for several years, but she was still an outsider.
Everly noticed Jennifer’s displeasure. “Never mind. It’s personal, and I shouldn’t have brought it up.” Everly walked away before Jennifer could answer, which didn’t make Jennifer any happier. Caleb came through the door before she could call Everly back, and she decided to drop it for now.
“Back here, Caleb,” Jennifer called, waving.
Caleb slid into the booth across from her. Everly brought him a fresh cup of coffee, shot Jennifer a guilty look and took off without saying anything more.
“What did you do to Everly?” Caleb asked. “The air is thicker than maple syrup in here.”
“I didn’t do anything.” She sipped her coffee and swallowed. “Where do you get off telling strangers about our private family history?”
“What do you mean? Everly isn’t a stranger. Just because she wasn’t born here doesn’t make her a stranger any more than Duke. Would you call Duke a stranger?”
Jennifer frowned. Caleb had probably told Duke everything, too. “When it comes to personal and private family history, yes, Outsiders have always been on a need-to-know basis, and a native’s personal history is not something they need to know, period. Why would you tell either of them anything about us?”
Caleb’s face turned red. He had never really talked to Duke about his family, but he had often spilled his thoughts to Everly. There was just something about her that made him open up.
Jennifer noticed his blush. “Are you embarrassed you got caught, or is it something else?”
Caleb scratched his head. He didn’t know where to begin explaining himself to his mother, especially where Everly could overhear. “I don’t want to talk about it. You’re supposed to be answering all my questions, not interrogating me,” he quipped.
Jennifer huffed. “We will table this conversation for now, but we will have it later. Got it?”
“Yeah, yeah, Ma. I get it. My coffee is getting cold. Spill it.”
Jennifer bit her lip hard enough to hurt. She hated it when he talked to her like she was his friend instead of his parent, but she’d let it slide that time. She had more important things to say.
“You’ve heard the original story, right?”
“About the night she died? Yeah. Sounds sketchy. I totally think her husband did it.”
“That’s irrelevant to my story, but yes, most of us believe that. There was never any proof, though. I could never imagine loving someone like that—an abusive man like Harlan was said to be. I’ve no doubt it had everything to do with her babies and less to do with him. But, in the end, she didn’t save them, either.”
“Ma, you’re off topic,” Caleb said. “What has that got to do with now? She died sixty years ago. Her grave is in the big cemetery by Ricker’s Creek. Ghosts don’t exist.”
“We aren’t talking about a ghost here. This is something else—a malevolent being set on revenge. A revenge no one knows the answer for. Why is she taking her revenge out on the innocent men of Rickdale? They had nothing to do with her death then, and definitely nothing to do with it now.”
“Explain to me why you think my dad fell victim to this...this...being. Tell me why you choose to believe this fairy tale over accepting the fact that he ran out on you.”
“Your father and I were in love. We were young, but we were really happy. He had no reason to skip town on me.”
“You’re young and pregnant. Sorry, but that would scare a lot of guys I know, even those who are responsible human beings.”
Jennifer licked her lips. “He- he didn’t know. I didn’t even know until after he disappeared. That’s why I’m so sure he didn’t run out on me. There was no reason for him to run. We had plans; we were building a future together. Everything he wanted, I was okay with. You won’t understand until you’re in love yourself, Caleb, so you’ll just have to trust me on this.”