She took a sip of her coffee and reached across the table to take his hands in hers.
“There was absolutely no appeal in the world outside Rickdale for either of us. Everything we wanted was right here. Shane was good with his hands, just like you. He planned to open his own shop—a jack of all trades type of shop. He had just signed the contract for the loan the day before he disappeared. We're talking about a guy with serious plans for his future, who had done everything in his power to make them work. It was all independent of our feelings for each other. Everything he did was for himself. He wouldn’t have just skipped town using Mae’s return as an excuse. He just wouldn’t.” She took a deep breath as emotions overwhelmed her. A tear escaped from her eye and landed in her coffee with a plop.
Everly hovered nearby with the coffeepot, and Jennifer signaled for more. With her cup refilled and Everly out of earshot, she continued.
“Do I have proof he was one of her victims? No. But there’s never proof. They just disappear into thin air, their cars left behind, sometimes with the engines still running. It all starts with the thick fog, which rolled in a few days before the anniversary of her death, just like now. Then young men just started disappearing, one by one, just like now, until the night of her anniversary when several disappeared at once, your dad being one of them. They’d pick her up and drive her to her house—that old, abandoned shack they demolished a few years ago—and never be seen again.” Jennifer paused again, her breath hitching.
“I know this part. Aunt Kacie once told me about her encounter with the lady in white. I still think it’s just a bullshit ghost story, though. But, if Aunt Kacie picked her up, how come she didn’t disappear, too? How come she survived to tell the story?”
Jennifer nodded. She sipped her coffee and considered her answer.
“I’ve asked myself that same question many times. My only answer for that is that no females disappeared when she returned. It was only men, young men, men the same age as she was when she died. This is why we believe it was revenge. Somehow, a young man—or maybe even several men—must have done something to Mae when she was alive, and whatever it was, it caused her to kill herself. That’s all I’ve got. And now, this year, we have the full moon to deal with, too.”
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
Everly had moved in close enough to catch bits and pieces of their conversation, so when Jennifer mentioned the full moon, she stopped what she was doing to listen.
“It has to do with everything. Everything spirit related is stronger during the full moon. This means Mae will be even stronger than she was thirty years ago, and I honestly don’t believe any man will be safe, regardless of his age. Isn’t it odd that Garvey, a thirty-year-old man, and Ash, a twenty-two-year-old man, are both missing? Ash’s age makes more sense, but I have a feeling if we went door to door, we’d find a few more that wouldn’t get answered, and there’d be no explanation for their disappearance either. Don’t even get me started on the sudden appearance of the strange drifter,” she finished.
Chapter Nine
“So, what are we supposed to do? If you’re so convinced she’s coming, and people are disappearing without picking her up, how do we protect ourselves?” Caleb still didn’t believe it all, but his morbid curiosity made him ask more questions. The answers were entertaining if nothing else. The lengths his mom went to deny his dad ran out on her amazed him.
“You don’t go in the fog. You stay inside where the fog can’t get to you, and you definitely do not pick up any hitchhikers. There’s nothing else you can really do,” Jennifer answered. She drained her cup and rose. “I need to get the shopping done, and we need to get back home before dusk, when the fog starts rolling in. Whether you believe or not, I do, and since I’m your ride, that’s all that matters.” Jennifer turned back to Caleb. “Are you getting anything to eat?”
“No. I’m still full from breakfast.”
“Okay. I’ll pay the check. And son, if you care about Everly so much to tell her our secret sins, I suggest you tell her how you feel before it’s too late.”
Caleb thought about his mom’s words. Everly had a long-time boyfriend, though, so he didn’t know how well she would receive his affections, if at all. No, he’d have to go slow and feel things out before he laid his heart on the line. He grabbed his cup and moved to his normal seat at the counter, offering Everly the biggest smile he could muster.
“Hi,” he said, somewhat shyly.
Everly turned at the sound of his voice and leaned against the counter.
“Hi back. How are you feeling?” she answered without missing a beat.
“I’m really sore. Steering wheels do more damage than you’d expect, and my truck got totaled in the process.”
“Your mom mentioned that! I’m so sorry. That was such a beautiful truck. And your mom? I can definitely see the beauty queen. You’ve been missed around here, especially with Garvey disappearing and all. I feel so....guilty about his disappearance.”
Caleb’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why? You had nothing to do with it.”
She sniffed. “That’s not entirely true. We had drinks at the bar, and I should have insisted on driving him to his car afterwards, but I didn’t.”
“The bar is across the street. You can see the sign from here. Don’t feel bad. If Garvey didn’t accept your offer of a ride, then it’s his own fault. If he’d been drinking, he probably figured the air would sober him up enough before he drove home. Really.”
“He hadn’t had that much to drink. I think maybe two beers, three tops.”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s not your fault, so stop blaming yourself.” He changed the subject. “Did you know they think I hit someone when I crashed? Some unidentifiable guy. According to the sheriff, his face was ripped clean off. How does that happen?”
“Well,” Everly paused. Lots of images ran through her mind, and she shuddered. She’d watched plenty of horror movies, but the thought of someone’s face actually really getting peeled off made her squirm. “There are a lot of ways it could happen. A piece of metal can fly off an eighteen-wheeler and decapitate a man, so why can’t a hot engine block melt a face?”
Caleb shook his head and chuckled. He’d never imagined Everly had such a dark mind. “But that’s only possible if the man was leaning against the tree when I hit it. And in that case, his head would be smashed rather than his face gone.”
A couple of people came into the cafe and sat down at the back. Everly left Caleb alone long enough to serve them, then wandered back to his side.
“Who’s running the kitchen these days?” Caleb asked.
“Edna and Jim have been splitting shifts. They are reluctant to replace Garvey until they know what happened to him.” She sighed. Sadness touched her eyes. “I don’t get it. I mean, he’s a good guy and all, but he wasn’t anything special as far as managers go.” Her eyes studied the counter. “I just feel responsible for him since he only went to the bar to answer my questions, anyway. He wouldn’t be missing now if I’d never opened my mouth.”