Lethal in Lavender

by Sarah Hualde

  “Yeah, a funeral for a cat.”

  “Show some respect.” From her position, Lydia felt Ethan suppress a chuckle at Kat’s discomfort. She knew if she looked up tiny laugh lines would garnish his otherwise solemn face. She hugged his arm tighter and released a happy sigh.

  Olive walked up the pebbled path. A somber and embarrassed Henry followed her. He carried a wooden box in his arms with Dandelion flowers painted on the cover.

  On the front porch, Averie exited the Inn. She watched the odd gathering with a curious eyebrow raised. Berna followed her, pointing and gesturing. Averie’s face glittered with empathy. She had two funerals to plan.

  Lydia watched them talk, remembering the day before. Averie visited with Lydia. Lydia’s house was still a wreck from Maven’s attack. The slider was repaired but the bedroom doors rested on the living room floor. Ivy scrubbed down the master bathroom, but Lydia still didn't use it. She swore she could smell blood whenever she turned on the shower. They met at 3 Alarm Coffee.

  At a private booth Averie let her heart thoughts pour out over coffee. Averie was giving up tea. Lydia didn't blame her. She despised tea. She believed Averie was bright to rethink her habit.

  Her cousin used her dependence on tea to calm her anxiety to fuel it. Maven took to her mortar and pestle and ground Datura seeds and leaves into Averie’s nighttime tea. Averie believed she’d been ingesting the poison for at least six months before coming to the Hive.

  “That’s when I had these dreams. Dreams about a shadowy man trying to reach me. He stalked me and hunted me at night. I thought I was losing my mind. No, worse. I thought I was dying. I believed it was an old injury from the accident. However, now, I think it was Shane's energy trying to find mine." Her eyes lowered at her own words.

  Lydia knew she was reliving the wreck from a new and accurate perspective. Averie was experiencing it as the first time her cousin tried to murder her.

  “But it didn’t kill me. It made me crazy. That must have made Maven so angry. It explains a lot about her mood during the time.” Averie almost grinned at her memories.

  "It's okay to remember her the way you saw her. You know the truth, and it's horrible. But you don't have to dwell in it."

  “How? How do I get passed this? How do I get over losing my best friend and cousin and a husband I forgot I had? How do I deal with my closest companion killing that husband and trying to kill me? How do I ever trust anyone ever again?”

  Averie’s head sunk to the table. She wrapped her arms around her pink hair and wept. She poured out her sorrow until there was no breath left within her. Lydia reached out her hand and laid it atop her bubblegum locks.

  “Do you mind if I pray?” she said.

  Averie peeked out from behind an elbow. “I’m not sure what I believe, anymore. Does that matter?”

  “Not at all. I believe, and I know our God is listening, and He's already working on the situation."

  "You really do think that, don't you?"

  “With everything I am.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  "That's a good question." Lydia wrapped her fingers around her coffee mug. "He makes me sure. He builds my faith in steps. He takes me through things, re-centers me when I falter and walks me through the things I fear. When love is offered that passionately, it's impossible to do anything other than trust in it.”

  Averie slumped in the booth. She rubbed her eyes until they reddened. She swigged her coffee. Her face wrinkled at the bitterness. Averie drummed her nails on the tabletop and against her mug before reaching out a hand to Lydia's. Lydia received it with gladness and prayed with an earnest hope over this new acquaintance.

  The ladies sat for hours discussing Averie's plans. Averie intended to sell her apartment and start over. She contacted Shane Mon's family and introduced herself. Shocked at his death but delighted that he found his bride. They invited her to stay with them, so they could mourn together. She agreed and would spend her first month of widowhood with Shane’s family.

  "Strange, that the first good chance I get to know my husband is after he's gone. My heart aches for him, but my mind doesn't remember him. It's bewildering."

  Lydia could only agree and listen. The two parted on friendly terms. Lydia invited her to call, email, or visit her whenever she could and as often as she wanted. “I will keep praying for you. You will always have someone watching over you.”

  Averie didn’t roll her eyes or laugh as the dying Maven had done. She absorbed and pondered Lydia’s words and marinated her heart with hope.

  From the cat funeral, Lydia could see Averie still wearing the face she’d left the diner wearing. Her lips arched down in sadness for Olive and her deceased pet. A hollow fretful confusion washed her countenance and weighted Averie’s steps as she walked to the waiting car. She paused at the car door and turned back offering a soft wave to Lydia and her friends. Lydia gifted her with a smile of encouragement and waved back. Then Averie left. Lydia snuggled back into the shoulder of her steadfast husband.

  The reception for Dandelion included coffee cake, fruit, noodle salad, and sweet tea. The Everett family didn’t dawdle. Ethan and Lydia retreated to their house to shut the world out even if they didn’t have a bedroom door to lock behind them.

  *****

  Emily and Ivy chatted in the Everett driveway. Scout on her hip Ivy’s face was not pleased. Emily’s grin twinkled with mischief.

  The Everett’s walked slowly passed the girls. Lydia cautioned Ethan to avoid engaging the teens in conversation. She knew a friend fight when she saw one.

  “You’re so selfish and full of yourself!” Emily said. Ignorance fueled venom dripped off every word.

  “Emily, I’ve been there. Please, don’t do this.” Ivy said.

  “When you get over yourself, perhaps we can hang out. Until then stay out of my business!” Emily spun on her high heels and clunked down the drive to an awaiting green car. She slid into the passenger seat. The driver leaned across her and waved a smug farewell to Ivy. He then, peeled away and smoked his tires down the street.

  Lydia put an arm around Ivy and led her inside, following Ethan. “She will get herself in trouble.”

  “Probably,” Lydia said.

  "I've tried to warn her and be her friend and beg her back to safety, but she won't listen. She won't hear me!" Ivy patted Scout's feathery hair and tried to keep her worried voice cheerful. "I don't know what to do."

  “We’ll just have to keep praying?”

  “Will that be enough?”

  "Jesus is more than enough." Lydia kissed Ivy's cheek and Scout's head. Lydia closed the door and locked it behind her. There would be no true rest. No naps for any woman over a year old would happen today. Exhausted, Lydia couldn't make herself resent the disruption to her plans. There was only one race she was running to win. She wanted not only to cross the finish line, victorious; she wanted to take others with her.

  *****

  Many months later an email surprised Lydia. She called Ivy over to watch its attached video.

  “Hello,” Averie greeted in her normal cheery and calm fashion. Brown regrowth let way to her pink curls. “It’s been a long time since I’ve made a video. I’m sorry if I’ve kept you waiting. This video goes out to my littlest fan, Scout. It's a new sort of video for me, and I hope you like it…

  John 1- In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…

  Shivers shot up Lydia’s neck and rumbled down the skin of her arms. She rocked herself back and forth and hugged Ivy.

  “Answered prayers,” She said over and over under her breath. Ivy clapped and danced behind Lydia’s office chair.

  Averie's sweet voice read scripture for thirty minutes. Page turning and tapping mixed with the rhythm of her voice. A deep sorrow thickened her words, but a tender joy lit up her face. She ended her video, her green eyes glinting at the camera. A crooked but hopeful smile radiated through the screen.

  "Goodnight
, my little Stardusts, and God bless you.”

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  So many people help with a book. My family graces me with time and patience. (Mostly patience) My coffee date friends and computer screen friends offer encouragement for all my battles. My Betas read and re-read and read again. Then there’s my street team. They get the word out and keep me in check. Don’t forget all my homeschool mamas and late night coffee moms who show up, listen to me ramble, and choose to stick around.

  Then there are the book clubs and anonymous reviewers and those who pin and post about these books. Everyone is so important and everyone makes my work better. Thank you all.

  Thanks, especially, to those who pray for me. I grow in skill, strength, and stick-to-it-ness as you ask our Father to support me and guide me. Thank you. Your gift is not unseen or unfelt.

  Finally, thank you God for the gift of imagination and thank You for joining me in every sprint and every edit. Please guide me and help these feeble works bring You glory. It’s all Yours, anyway. Thank You.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Sarah lives in California, in a home that brings her happiness and hay fever. She has a husband who cooks, a son who stop animates, a daughter who loves animals, a dog that follows her everywhere, and a turtle who scowls at her condescendingly. She enjoys writing new adventures for her imaginary friends and is thrilled when friends in real life enjoy reading her work. She loves God, loves her family, and loves freshly brewed coffee with a side of pastry. She is currently crocheting a blanket for her friend’s newborn. Only God knows if she’ll finish it before he graduates.

  Here’s where you can find her:

  YouTube: Sarah Hualde

  Facebook: Late Night Coffee Moms

  www.latenightcoffeemoms.com

  If you enjoyed your time in Honey Pot please consider leaving a review. Thanks in advance!

  Adventures in Honey Pot Began in…

  Join Lydia, Kat, and Flora

  as they search for a missing

  teen all while hunting down

  the meaning of Christmas.

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