by R. L. Naquin
“Mom, please. Just go talk to him. He loves you. And Otis and Lita miss you, too.”
Her expression softened. “I miss them, too. But I’m not going back. If you really insist, then tell him when you see him that I’m fine here.” She paused and bit her lip. “And tell him I’m so sorry.”
I wanted to shake her. But I’d told Hades I wouldn’t try to force her into anything, and I wouldn’t. “Alright. I’ll tell him. But I hope you’ll think about at least visiting sometime, even if it’s only to see Otis and Lita. They’ve been very kind to me.”
She nodded. “They have big hearts.”
“They gave me a room in the mansion. I don’t have to stay in the dorm anymore when I go back.” I took a sip of my juice.
She gritted her teeth. “That’s very sweet of them.”
We sat in silence while I thought about our life together when I was growing up. All the moving around made sense, now. Mom’s affinity to all things green and growing. Her insistence that we always eat foods from nature rather than anything processed—she had no idea how poorly I ate when she wasn’t around.
It all made sense knowing who she really was and what she was running from. There was only one real mystery left. “Mom? Who’s Terry?”
She blinked. “I completely forgot she was out there.”
“Who is she?”
The voice from the doorway behind me was soft and wistful. “I’m your grandmother, dear.”
“Demeter.” The word came out of me as a breathless whisper.
She nodded. “Come to my farm with us, Wynter. I want my family all together. I’ve waited such a long time.” Her expression was filled with yearning and a touch of anguish.
I knew her story, at least as it was told today. Hades had kidnapped Persephone and dragged her to the Underworld to be his bride. Demeter, Persephone’s mother and goddess of the harvest, fought to get her daughter back. When Zeus refused to help her, she held the entire human race hostage by not letting anything grow. Zeus agreed to make Hades give Persephone back, except for the amount of months equal to the pomegranate seeds she’d eaten. Demeter was an all-or-nothing kind of goddess, so continued to throw a fit three months out of the year.
Which was how winter began.
The meaning of my name hit me. I was horrified.
I frowned at Demeter. “I’m not going with you. And neither is she.”
Mom patted my hand. “Shh. Don’t raise your voice to your grandmama.”
“Mom, promise me you won’t put the house up for sale, at least. Can you do that much for me?”
She nodded. “Yes, baby. I can do that much.” She brushed a few loose hairs from her brow and smiled.
“Ridiculous. You don’t need to rattle around in this big clunky place alone. I have plenty of space.” Demeter folded her arms across her chest. “Just sell it and be done with it. Then we can all come home.” Her face was rigid, her jaw clamped in stubborn refusal to compromise. “All of us.”
I opened my mouth to argue, then snapped it shut. Arguing with her hadn’t helped Hades thousands of years ago. It wouldn’t help me now.
“Mother, there’s no harm in leaving it vacant.” Mom smiled at me. “I could always sign it over to Wynter.”
I didn’t want her house, especially to live in it. I liked my apartment. But at least she’d agreed not to sell it.
Now that I knew Terry was actually the goddess Demeter, it put her in a different perspective for me. Like Mom and I, Demeter’s hair was blonde—so we got that from her. Her hair was a darker shade, more of a warm honey color. The gray I’d noted last time I’d seen her was gone. She wore a baggy sweater and shapeless skirt, as if trying to hide extra pounds, but now that I knew what I was looking for, I could see she’d been trying to avoid standing out as a graceful, lithe goddess.
She narrowed her eyes at me. “What are you looking at?”
I raised an eyebrow at her defensiveness. “I was looking for family similarities. And differences.”
She made a harrumphing sound and returned her attention to Mom. “Dear, why don’t you get a suitcase together? Nothing needs to be decided today. Come back with me and sleep on it.”
My mom looked from me to her mother and back again. “How long are you staying, Wynter?”
That was an excellent question. Hades hadn’t said when he expected me back. That could mean I needed to be back in the morning, I had the weekend to sort this out, or that I shouldn’t come back until Mom came with me. We should’ve discussed it. That left me to make the decision myself—which may have been his intention all along.
“I have to be back for work Monday morning.” I gave Demeter a sickly sweet smile. “So, I could actually stay here for the next three or four days.”
Mom clapped her hands. “Wonderful! I’ll tell Shona we’re still discussing it and send her away.”
Demeter waved her hand. “I already did that when I realized what was going on in here.” She gave me a pointed, irritated look, then moved her gaze to my head. “I don’t understand why you would cut your hair so short.” She touched the spiky ends of my pixie cut, her nose wrinkling in disapproval. “From now on, I’d like to see you grow it out. This is far too severe.”
I ran my hand over my head self-consciously. “I don’t like it long. It’s too much work.”
She clucked her tongue. “Beauty is worth the effort, dear.”
I had to make an effort not to roll my eyes so I didn’t come across as a petulant teenager.
“I think it’s adorable,” Mom said. “Wynter’s always had a certain quirky style.”
Demeter scowled. “We’ll see.”
I didn’t argue. Instead, I turned on my heel and stalked to the front door.
Mom trailed after me. “Wynter, come back, sweetheart. She didn’t mean it.”
I flung the door open. “I’m not going anywhere. I just need to get my plant out of the car.”
If I were staying for any length of time, Phyllis needed to come out of the stuffy car. But more than that, I needed her for moral support. Demeter was likely to pick at me as long as she was there. Phyllis would back me up.
I stomped down the walkway to the street. The BMW was gone now that the Shona had left. Of course, the goddess of the harvest would drive a Prius. It was more environmentally friendly.
Phyllis was surprised to see me so soon. “You’re done already?”
I made a face. “Yes and no. Mom’s mind is fine, but now we have to battle for the rest of her. I need your moral support in there. My grandmother is a difficult woman. I feel like we’re going to war.” I wiggled her pot from where I’d wedged it between the front seats for security.
“Demeter’s in there with her? That complicates things.” She reached out a branch and patted my hand. “I’ve got your back, Wynter. Don’t you worry.”
I truly hoped she did. I’d never felt so out of my league in my life.
~*~
After an awkward family dinner and numerous attempts to convince Mom and me to stay at the farm, Demeter finally went home and left us alone.
She gave Mom a tender kiss on the forehead at the door. “Now, you call me the minute you’re ready, okay? I’ll let the two of you spend some time together, but then I’ll be back.” She turned to me and wrapped me in an awkward hug. “I’m looking forward to getting to know you better, Wynter. I think we have more in common than you think.”
When the door closed behind her, a weight on my chest lifted, and I felt like I could breathe properly for the first time in hours.
Mom wove her fingers through mine. “She’s gruff, but believe it or not, I think she actually likes you.”
I tilted my head and pressed my cheek against her shoulder. “I don’t see how that’s possible. I’m not sure I even like me when she’s around.”
She stroked my hair. “You’re lovely and perfect.” She planted a kiss on my head. “And your hair suits you.”
“She could let it grow out a little.
” Phyllis sat in the window watching Demeter pull out of the driveway. “And maybe she could stop bleaching it and let it go back to its natural color.”
My cheeks grew hot. I’d been lightening my hair for so many years, I’d forgotten how close my real color was to my grandmother’s. “I’m not changing my hair. Talk about something else.”
Mom brightened. “Yes. Let’s talk about what I’ve missed. Are you really a Muse, now? Tell me all about it. Who’s in charge, now? Do they still use those bubbles to inspire people?” She paused, then clapped her hands. “You get to be invisible sometimes, don’t you?”
I told her everything she’d missed. I barely stopped talking the whole night. Whenever I told her something a little less believable, Phyllis was there to back me up.
“How does a person fall into a chocolate fountain?” Mom’s face was pink from laughing so hard at my dating horror stories.
Phyllis’s branches shivered with her own laughter. “I have no idea how she did it, but I can vouch for how she looked when she came home. She had graham cracker crumbs stuck to the back of her hair, and a mini marshmallow in one ear.”
Mom gasped and crumpled over, her sides shaking. “She doesn’t even like marshmallows. Wynter, what were you planning to do with it?”
I tried to keep my face serious and feign offense. “I can’t believe you’re both laughing at me. That was a terrible night.”
Phyllis snorted. “You’ve had so many horrible nights. I can’t believe you still date at all after the whole Freddy episode.”
Mom sat up and dried her eyes, still grinning. “What happened with Freddy? I thought you broke up with him months ago.”
I had. But Freddy had been working at Mt. Olympus in the Dreams and Nightmares department the whole time we’d been dating. When I started working there, he’d used his departmental mojo to look like a completely different person, then proceeded to date me with a brand new name and face. And when I stopped dating that persona, too, he kind of got ugly and sabotaged my clients into nearly failing to complete their tasks.
Could I pick them or what?
“I really don’t understand how we could have missed the clues,” Phyllis said. “It’s not a big jump from Freddy to Rick. And he knew things about you.” Her leaves shuddered. “Breaking up with him was a good move. Twice.”
Mom sobered and took my hand. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you through all that.”
I brushed a strand of hair from her eyes. “It’s okay. I’m just glad you’re okay now.”
Her lips smiled, but her eyes looked away. “Yes. Well. I suppose I’ve been hiding for long enough.” She sighed. “And I’m a little tired, truth be told. Reality has hit me pretty hard. I think I’m going to call it a night.”
She hugged me and left the room, her shoulders sagging.
I cradled Phyllis in my arms to take her to my room. “Do you think she’ll be alright?”
Phyllis patted my hand. “She’s a goddess, sweetheart. They’re always alright in the end.”
Chapter 19
Mom had a huge breakfast ready for me when I got up. And to my surprise, the news that she wanted me to go back to the Underworld.
“You said it yourself. You have a contract. If you insist on going back, then I want you to get it over with so you can come home for good. I don’t want to give him any reason to keep you longer.”
Hades really hadn’t struck me as that manipulative, but she was the one who’d been married to him for eons.
“You promise not to sell the house or move away while I’m gone?”
She waved her hand in dismissal. “I’m not going anywhere. Mother was always overprotective of me, and she found me at my weakest.” She smoothed my hair with her palm. “But you pulled me out of it. I’m fine now.”
I took a bite of toast and thought about what she’d said. “She found you? So, she didn’t know where you were either?”
She shook her head. “I ran without telling anyone. It’s been just you and me for twenty-four years. Nobody knew where we were.”
I debated whether to tell her what I knew, but we were finally telling each other everything. “He always knew where we were, Mom. He was watching out for us the whole time.”
She stared at me without blinking. “He was?”
I nodded. “That’s what he told me.”
She dropped into the chair across the table. “I don’t know what to say. Somehow, that makes me even more ashamed.”
I sipped my juice and let her process this new information.
Her face was screwed up in concentration as she folded and unfolded a cloth napkin. I could almost see the gears turning behind her eyes while she considered her next move.
After awhile, she sighed and put down the napkin—now in the shape of a floppy origami flower. “I’m not ready to go back, Wynter. But I still think you need to go fulfill your contract. Tell him…tell him I’m sorry.”
I’d been defending Hades, saying he had been nice to me and that he wasn’t angry with her. I hoped I wasn’t wrong.
Otherwise, I was about to face the full wrath of the Lord of the Dead. The thought was terrifying.
~*~
When I walked into Hades’ office around noon on Friday, his expression of surprise and expectant delight broke my heart.
I held my hand out to keep him from leaping out of his chair. “She didn’t come back with me.”
His look of disappointment nearly did me in.
“I see.” He folded his hands on his desk and pointed with his chin. “Take a seat. Tell me.”
I settled into the soft leather. I’d been rehearsing what I would say the whole way here, but my planned words had disappeared when I saw his face. “Well, she’s okay, now that she’s had the pomegranate seeds.” I smiled at the memory of staying up late talking to her. “She’s great. I haven’t seen her like that—I mean really rooted in reality—for a long time.”
“But?”
“I don’t know. Something’s still wrong, I think. She wouldn’t come out and say it. She said she’s not ready to come back, but that I should because I had a contract.”
He frowned. “Interesting.”
“Oh. And I found out who this Terry person is.”
“She’s your grandmother.” His jawed tightened.
“You knew?”
“I figured it out.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe she found her. I’ve spent most of your life throwing her off the scent. She should’ve been looking in New Mexico, right now.”
“Well, she hasn’t given up on getting Mom to live with her on some farm somewhere. But now that Mom’s mind is healed, she’s promised me she won’t go anywhere, at least for now.”
A bitter laugh escaped from Hades. “She’s not healed, Wynter.”
“What? No. She is. She’s fine.”
“For now. But I told you, this was a temporary fix to wake her up and bring her home. She’ll fade again, and fairly quickly.”
“Well, I’ll take more pomegranate seeds back with me. I can keep giving them to her until she finally figures out whatever she’s working on and comes back.”
His eyes were filled with sadness. “That was a one-off to bring her to her senses so she’d come home. She needs to come back and get some ambrosia, or she’ll lose her mind completely. If that happens, no amount of magical food will ever bring her back to us. She won’t know either of us.”
A chill ran down my back, and I shuddered. He’d tried to tell me this before, but it hadn’t sunk in. “How long do we have?”
“I don’t know. You’ll have to keep close tabs on her.” He paused and gave me a stern look. “When I tell you to call your mother, you really need to do it, okay?”
I nodded. “Okay.”
“The minute she sounds odd, we have to act.”
I frowned. “Why aren’t we doing something right now, if it’s so dangerous for her?”
His mouth curled up on one side. “Contrary to what the sto
ries say, I’ve never forced your mother to do anything. That’s all propaganda your grandmother spread to make me look bad. Give your mother a little time with her memories intact. Maybe she’ll come home on her own.”
“You think she will?”
He leaned back in his chair and laced his hands across his chest. “She has before. We have to hope she will again.”
~*~
I’d only been in the Underworld for a few weeks, but now everything felt different. Everywhere I went, I pictured my mother there. At the office, I wondered how often she used to come in to bring her husband his lunch. Outside, I imagined everything greener and healthier in her presence.
And at the mansion, where Phyllis and I were now expected to sleep, the ghost of my mother danced up and down the stairs—not to mention the photos and paintings of her on nearly every wall.
I had a million questions. Had my mom been a member of the Hags of the Underworld book club? Did she have a job? Who were her friends?
I tried to ask Lita and Otis, but they brushed me off.
“I’m sorry, honey. I have to run to the store. Otis is out of butter.” Lita rushed out of the room.
“My pie for tomorrow night is burning,” Otis said. “Haven’t had a big family dinner to make in a long time. I’m a little out of practice. Come to the kitchen when you’re hungry. I’m afraid tonight it’s just leftovers, but I’ll find you something.” He shuffled away, leaving me alone in the front entryway.
I considered going upstairs to my room and chatting with Phyllis. Funny how having a home didn’t make much difference in how I spent my evenings.
There was one difference, though. Now I had a golf cart of my own. I didn't have to walk to town.
Wondering if I should tell someone where I was going, I left the mansion and drove to the small town center. House of Nyx didn’t appear to be too busy yet. It was early for the Friday night crowd. It wouldn’t hurt to have one drink, then go back to the mansion.
I parked the cart and hopped out, smoothing the creases in my black skirt and plucking at the red blouse I still wore from work. Probably should have changed, first.