Unfinished Business An Angela Panther Novel (A Chick-lit Paranormal book) (The Angela Panther Series)

by Aspenson, Carolyn Ridder

  I repeated Taylor’s words to her parents, leaving out the part about Emily. She wanted them to know she would always be there and that every time they saw a butterfly, they were seeing her, and then she said she was going back to be with her grandparents and disappeared.

  “I always said she was my little caterpillar and that one day she’d blossom into a beautiful butterfly,” Steve said.

  Chris hugged me, and Steve, while still hesitant, apologized to both Jake and me. We made arrangements to help manage the crowd sure to be at the wake. A teenager should never die, but when they did, the whole city mourned. We all expected the wake to be packed.

  And it was.

  Jake and I were both hesitant to let Emily go to the wake but knew she’d push back if we said no. We knew it would be a double-edged sword and it was. She cried continuously, and after an hour, Jake decided to take her home. I stayed to help direct people in and out. The kids wanted to stay, hang out, and talk about Taylor, but with the help of the funeral home, we were able to keep the crowd contained and the drama to a minimum.

  I never saw Taylor at the wake, but Ma showed up and I watched as she hovered between groups of kids, shaking her head often. I got her attention and gave her the head shrug for follow me and walked into a small office just outside of the visitation room.

  “Are you snooping?”

  “Hell yes, I’m snooping. How are we gonna get the real story if I don’t? It’s not like these kids are gonna tell any adult what really happened, you know.”

  Ma was one smart celestial being. I hadn’t thought of that. “Good point." I saluted her. "Keep up the good work.”

  We both went back to our assigned duties.

  ###

  That night I made Emily a cup of hot cocoa and snuggled with her under her covers.

  “Mom, do you think Taylor is in Heaven?”

  “Yes, honey, I do.”

  “But she was doing something bad when it...when it happened, so what if she’s not?”

  “Em, honey, I don’t think it works that way. Just because Taylor made a mistake doesn’t mean God won’t let her into Heaven.”

  “Yeah, but that was a big mistake, and she didn’t have time to say she was sorry to God.”

  “I think God gives everyone that chance, honey, and I don’t think he expects any of us to be perfect, including you and Taylor. And you know what? She wouldn’t want you to worry about her. She’d want you to be happy and live your life. She’d want you to continue on, for the both of you.”

  “Yeah, she would. She gave me a hard time for not doing drugs, you know, but I just couldn’t. I was too scared. I knew it was wrong.”

  “I’m so proud of you, Em. You made the right choice and I really don’t think Taylor was mad at you. I think maybe she was a little jealous because you were so strong and so smart about it and she wasn’t. Sometimes when we feel jealousy or feel bad about ourselves, it comes out as anger toward other people. Taylor loved you, Em. I think now, if she could, she’d tell you that you did the right thing by saying no.”

  Emily snuggled into me. “I really miss her. I don’t know what I’m gonna do without her.”

  I pulled my daughter into a hug, and squeezed her extra tight. I could feel her crying softly on my shoulder. “Emily, you’re going to be fine, I promise. It’s not going to be easy but I promise you, you’ll be okay. Stay true to yourself, continue to make the right choices, and do it for you and for Taylor. She’d want that. I know she wouldn’t want you to make the mistakes she made, so be strong for the both of you. You have other friends, and in time you’ll connect with someone the way you did with Taylor. Just give yourself some time and you’ll be okay.”

  “I love you, Mom.”

  I swallowed back the lump in my throat. “I know honey. I love you too.”

  Chapter Twenty-two

  The funeral was a somber, sobering event. If tears could flood a cemetery, this one would have been knee deep in water. Chris screamed as they lowered Taylor’s coffin into the ground. I felt helpless and wished I could offer something, anything, to take away that pain.

  I didn’t see Taylor anywhere but I sensed she was close by. I spoke to her quietly, asking her to help her mother find the strength to move forward and a few minutes later saw a butterfly fly past Chris. She saw it too and for a split second, I saw a tiny bit of joy in her expression.

  Emily handled the funeral much better than the wake. She cried, but decided to focus on supporting the people around her, and even sat next to Chris, hugging her during the service. Emily may drive me to the brink of insanity, but she made me proud. She was far too young to have to deal with the emotional responsibility of death yet she handled it better than any adult I knew.

  As we walked to our car, Ma appeared next to Emily and smiled at me. “She’s a good egg. She gets that from our side.”

  I suppressed a giggle and Ma shimmered away.

  Only a select few attended the after funeral luncheon at Taylor’s house. Several kids hung around outside, talking and supporting their friend in their own way, but they never tried to come in, and were surprisingly respectful of the family’s privacy. Brennan and the little snot didn’t show up. I knew Jake was watching for them, and I shuddered at the thought of what he would have done had they made an appearance.

  I helped Chris’s parents put away the food and downed two Diet Cokes in the process. Big mistake. I drove the whole way home having to pee like a racehorse. I decided I would invent something for a pee emergency like this and be rich. As soon as I got home I ran to the bathroom to pee.

  Ma appeared in front of me. “Ah Madone, these kids.”

  “Cheese and rice, Ma, how many times do we have to talk about this? A sign, Ma. Give me a sign. Besides, can’t you see I’m taking care of some personal business here?" I zipped up my skirt.

  “I gave birth to that body, I can sure as hell see it sittin’ on the pot.”

  Couldn’t really argue with that. “Fine. Spill it.”

  “Spill what?”

  “Ma, you snooped at the wake so I know you were snooping at the funeral and you wouldn’t be here if you didn't have something to tell me, so go ahead, spill it.”

  “I don’t know what this world is coming to, Angela. I’m glad I’m dead because one day those kids out there are gonna be running this world and it’s gonna fall apart. They’re not smart, you know. I feel bad for you, you’re gonna have to rely on them to take care of you when you’re old. You’re screwed.”

  I fiddled with my eyelashes in the mirror. “Oh boy, Ma. Who peed in your Frosted Flakes?”

  Ma growled at me. “They had another party, Angela. A pill party, in Taylor’s honor. Can you believe that? But I put a stop to it, I did. No more kids are gonna die on Fran’s watch, that’s for sure.”

  Oh boy.

  “Ma, what did you do?”

  “Why do you always gotta assume I did something bad? Maybe what I did was good. Maybe I saved another kid from killin’ themselves, ya know?”

  “Well, did you?”

  She threw her hands up in the air. “Hell if I know. I can’t watch all of them, all of the time. Pfft. I’m only one celestial being, ya know.”

  “I know mother, trust me, I know.”

  “But I did make sure no one took any pills after I got there. That big bowl of them? It didn’t last long on that table. I feel sort of bad that the table broke. Wasn’t expecting that, actually, but at least the kids got scared off and I don’t think any of them are dead so that’s good.”

  “What do you mean the table broke? And where was this party? Do you know who the kid was that had it?”

  “Madone child, slow down with all the questions. The table, that was an unfortunate mishap, but it was ugly so that’s okay. I’m sure the parents won’t miss it. Who has glass tables in their family room anymore anyway? I thought those went out of style in the ’80s?”

  “Ma, you had a glass table before you moved out of your house.”
>
  “That’s what I’m saying. Only old people kept theirs because we couldn’t afford to buy those new wood ones with the fancy legs like you have. These people? Their house was nice. They had all kinds of expensive stuff. I felt like I was floating in a museum, the stuff was so nice. They could afford a nice wood table. Cherry, maybe, or even pine, but glass? Blech. It was ugly.”

  “Stay on topic, Ma.”

  “Oh, yeah. Sorry. So the table, well, it kind of exploded, but like I said, it was an accident.”

  “Exploded?”

  “Yeah, you see, when a celestial being like myself builds up the energy to move stuff, sometimes that energy misfires and breaks stuff when you just wanted to move it around a little, you know?”

  “No, Ma. I don’t know. I’m not a celestial being, and I can’t make things move without using body parts so I need a little more detail, and please, be specific.” I could feel the stress building in my shoulders. I feared that by the time she finished telling me what happened, I’d look like the hunchback of Notre Dame.

  “Chillax, Ang. I was being specific. Like I said, I accidently blew up the table instead of tossing the pill bowl in the air. So it scared the kids a little when the table glass went flying in pieces all over the place. They all ran out and that poor Evan boy, the one who had the party, he was screaming his lungs out when that table went flying like that. I gotta admit it was pretty darn funny to watch. Little snot, trying to make the girls take two and three pills at a time. If I weren’t such a good celestial being, I’d have tossed him flat on his ass because let me tell you. He deserved it.”

  “Evan? As in Evan Barnes?”

  “How should I know? All I know is he kept running around saying, his first name like he was talking to himself. Evan wants you to take another pill, honey. Evan wants to know if you’re having fun. It was creepy, if you ask me.”

  “Ma, can you describe the front of the house? Were there big white columns outside the front?”

  “Yup, and it was all fancy schmancy inside, like these people had money and wanted everyone to know it. I think it was tacky, but I’m no interior whatchamacallit. I just know what’s ugly and what’s not, and it was ugly.”

  “Holy crap, Ma. That’s the Evan Barnes’s house. Evan Barnes is on the school board. And his kid is having pill parties? Wow. This kid is a big deal at school. He’s the student council president and the quarterback for the football team. Em had a crush on him all last year. He’s going to be a senior. If this ever gets out, it will destroy his future.”

  “The kid owns the house?”

  My mother, always listening, never paying attention. “No, Mother, his father, Evan senior owns the house and if this gets out about his son, it’s going to destroy him, too.”

  “So maybe it should come out, then, huh?”

  I shook my head.

  “What? Like I can say anything anyway. What do you think I’m gonna do, write it on a wall at the school with a used lipstick or something? I can’t hold anything yet. So it’s up to you, Angela. You gotta stop being so goody two shoes and do something about this.”

  “I’m not a goody two shoes, Ma.”

  “Ah, yeah, you are, and you’re a little boring, honey. It’s nothing personal; you get it from your dad.”

  “Dad. Oh, crap. I need to call him. I haven’t checked on him since Taylor died.”

  “Your dad’s okay. I just checked on him.”

  I smiled; relieved to know Ma was keeping track of Dad.

  “What are you going to do about these parties, Angela? Something has to be done before another kid dies.”

  “Ma, I have my own children to watch after and it’s not my responsibility to babysit everyone else’s kids. They have parents, and if those parents can’t keep them safe, how do you expect me to?”

  “That’s my girl. Stayin’ out of other people’s business, even if it means a kid can die.”

  “Ma, stop it. What am I supposed to do, tell Evan Barnes that my dead mother snuck into his house while his kid had a party, broke a table and saved the kids from possible death? And oh, be careful because their kid does drugs?” Ma rubbed her transparent chin. “You got a point.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “But you gotta do something, Ang.”

  “Okay. You're right. Something needs to be done, but I don’t know what that is. Let me think about it a little. But right now, I want to call and check on Dad, okay?”

  “You should.”

  “I thought you said he was fine, Ma?”

  “Angela, he’s old and he’s in poor health, but he’s still breathing, so that’s good, right? But over all, he’s not well, Ang. You know that.”

  I pulled my cell phone off of my waistband and called my father.

  “He’s sleeping in his chair,” Helen said.

  “How’s he doing?”

  “Okay, I guess. Still not eating much, though.”

  “How’s his breathing? Is it any worse?”

  “It’s about the same. He’s sleeping more now. He has trouble sleeping at night. It’s harder for him to lie down because of the coughing.”

  “Poor Dad. Do you want me to come out again?”

  “Angela, you’re welcome to come out any time you want, but I don’t think you need to right now. I promise, if he gets worse, I’ll let you know.”

  “Okay, I’d appreciate it.”

  We talked more, and I filled her in on Taylor and how her death impacted Emily. Dad never woke up, but Helen promised to tell him I called and give him my love.

  ###

  Later that evening, with Josh at a friend’s and Em begrudgingly at the subdivision pool, Jake and I had some time to ourselves and decided that eighty-seven degrees was the perfect temperature to burn a plastic tub full of old bills in the fire pit. Ten years worth of bills, actually. Instead of having sex. Clearly the honeymoon was over...years ago.

  “Frick, it’s hot out here,” I complained.

  “Why did we keep all of this?”

  “Because you promised to buy a shredder two years ago.”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  I smiled. My phone dinged, notifying me of a text from Mel.

  “OMG,” she texted. “The Girl Scouts have a new Crunch Bar cookie. I just bought three boxes. I’m going to be huge. What am I saying? I’m already huge.”

  “You are not huge.”

  “You’re supposed to say that.”

  “Don’t eat them.”

  “What? I can’t not eat them. I bought them. It wouldn’t be right to waste the money.”

  “Why did you buy them? I thought you were trying to lose weight?”

  “I’m always trying to lose weight. And I had to buy them. We were required to sell three boxes.”

  “And you couldn’t sell them?”

  “I did sell them, to myself.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “I wish they would suck, but...OMG! They’re almost better than the Thin Mints.”

  “Nothing is better than Thin Mints. Not even sex. With Ryan Reynolds.”

  “Sex with the dudes from Heartbreak Ridge would be better than sex with Ryan Reynolds. Why didn’t you ever tell me about them?”

  “I don’t know who they are. Never saw the movie.”

  “Good. Then they’re MINE. You can have Ryan, I get them.”

  “Who are they?”

  “Not telling. You’ll Google them and steal them from me.”

  “I can Google the movie, ya know.”

  “Still mine,” she texted.

  “You’re selfish.”

  “Duh. I have PMS. That’s why I’m eating a box of Girl Scout Cookies.”

  “Three boxes of Girl Scout Cookies. Damn Eve. She screwed us women for life.”

  “I know!”

  “We could write books about how she screwed us, ya know.” I texted back.

  “You could. I’d just provide creative input.”

  “Good point. But seriously, had Eve eaten an onion we woul
dn’t be in this position. Vegetables would be our downfall instead of sweets.”

  “Eve’s a beyotch.”

  “Damn straight.”

  “But maybe it would have turned Adam off so much we’d have been forced to become lesbians. Eek,” Mel texted.

  “But if calories didn’t count, I might be willing to play for that team.”

  “You’re a calorie whore.”

  “The pot callin’ the kettle black.”

  “I hate Eve.”

  “Me, too.”

  Mel and me, we texted about the important stuff.

  “Gotta go. Jake and I are burning old bills and he wants to bond. I’m sweating my ass off and it’s making me cranky, and he wants to bond. Should turn out well for both of us. Later.”

  “What’s she saying now?

  “We were discussing world peace. We’re close to a solution. Once we have the kinks ironed out, I’ll fill you in.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “Hey, Ma told me that Evan Barnes had one of those pill parties. Apparently they did it in honor of Taylor.”

  “Evan Barnes?”

  “Yes, Jake. Evan Barnes.”

  “Do we know him?”

  “He’s the one Em had a crush on all year. The football player? Remember? His dad is on the school board.”

  “No.”

  I shook my head, knowing it was pointless to try to jog his memory. “You’re missing the point, honey. The party was to honor Taylor. They had a pill party to honor a child who died from the drugs taken at one of those parties. What the hell is that about?”

  “It’s what stupid teenagers who don’t have fully developed frontal lobes yet do, Ang.”

  “Well if they keep this crap up, they won’t live long enough to know better.”

  “How’d you find out about it?”

  “Really?”

  “Oh, yeah. Fran the invisible spy.”

  “Hey, don’t blame me. I didn’t send her. I can’t help it if she’s out snooping. In fact, I think it’s a great idea. Something needs to be done about these parties or someone else is going to lose a child.”

  He nodded. "Was Em there?”

  “No, thank God, but we still have to do something about this, Jake. These parties are dangerous, you know that.”