Ink and Shadows(Secret, Book, & Scone Society #4)(21)

Hester and Nora wanted iced cider, but Sheldon accepted her offer. Ten minutes later, they met June in the picnic area.

“It’s about time you showed up,” she said. “I practically had to lie down on this table to stop other people from sitting here.”

Sheldon made a big show of cleaning off the place in front of him, which earned him an elbow in the ribs from June. When he could breathe again, he examined his burger. “I’ve never had a spicy Tex-Mex double stack, but I feel like living dangerously tonight. What’d you get, Hester?”

“The black and blue. It’s so good.” Hester took a monster-sized bite and grinned.

Nora was too busy devouring her cheeseburger to talk. She only came up for air when Sheldon offered her some waffle fries. As she reached for the ketchup bottle on the end of the table, she noticed two figures sitting on a bench near the children’s playground.

“Hey,” Nora said. “Don’t look now, but Bren’s on the far side of the park. She’s sitting on a bench, talking to a guy. I can’t see his face. It’s just shadow.”

Sheldon, who was on Nora’s right, clicked his tongue. “Oh, Bren. Methinks that’s not a cigarette.”

Hester swiveled around to take a look. “Is it a joint?”

“Bren’s holding a roach clip, so survey says yes,” said Sheldon.

June sighed. “I wonder if Celeste knows.”

“She told Andrews that Bren might be in trouble,” Nora said. “So I guess she knows.”

As Hester took out her phone to report the sighting to her boyfriend, June’s forehead creased with worry. “Bren’s a young woman, on her own, sitting as far away from the crowd as she can get, smoking weed with a strange man. Can she really be that reckless?”

“Reckless enough to share her drugs. The man just took a hit,” said Nora. “I still can’t see his face, but he blew smoke back at Bren.”

Hester waved her phone in the air. “Jasper hasn’t replied to my text yet, so I think we should keep watching her.”

Sheldon arched a brow. “Why? Bren’s a grown woman. She’s not missing. She’s not in danger.” Looking at June, he softened his tone. “I sympathize with Celeste. Of course, I do. But is the right move to narc on Bren for smoking a joint? Is that who we are?”

“It’s not the joint,” Nora said. “You didn’t see her last Friday night. The way she dropped on the sidewalk—it was scary. She might need help.”

“She probably did something stupid that night, just like she’s doing something stupid now. We all make mistakes when we’re young,” said Sheldon. “That girl’s as cuddly as a cactus. She wears black, has a bunch of facial piercings, and is permanently ticked off. Maybe she doesn’t like it here. Maybe she doesn’t want to bake magic muffins. If we want to help, we should listen to Bren’s story. Who died and made us the hall monitors, anyway?”

Before anyone could reply, June pointed at someone in the crowd. “Estella and Jack are headed this way. Can I wave them over, Nora, or are you two still fake fighting?”

Nora didn’t hear the question because she was too distracted by what was happening across the park. Bren had grabbed hold of the man’s hand, and even from a distance, Nora could feel the desperation in the young woman’s grip.

The man shot to his feet, shaking off Bren’s hand in the process. The bottom of his right arm entered the streetlight’s sphere, and Nora caught a glimpse of sinewy muscle and a line of tattooed symbols marching from elbow to wrist. The man uncurled a Nosferatu-like finger and stabbed the air in front of Bren’s face. There was authority in the gesture. And quite possibly, menace.

Bren stiffened as if she’d been struck. Then, she reached out, clearly pleading with the man. Unmoved, he turned away and melted into the darkness behind the swing set.

“Be right back,” Nora told her friends.

She jogged over leaf-covered grass and mulch beds to where Bren sat, staring into the distance with the moist-eyed longing of a dog missing its owner.

Nora sat down at the far end of the bench and said, “Hey.”

Like the flip of a switch, Bren’s face went blank. She shoved a hand into her black hoodie and came up with a fresh joint and a plastic lighter.

“A sheriff’s deputy stopped by Soothe this afternoon,” Nora said. “Your mom’s worried, so she asked him to keep an eye out for you. He knows you’re here.”

“Good for him.” Bren lit the joint.

“I saw you talking to that guy. You seemed upset, so I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Bren glared at her. “What’s your deal? I keep telling you to leave me alone.”

Nora saw the anger in the young woman’s eyes. She knew that behind the anger, there must be hurt.

“It can’t have been easy—moving here. Opening the shop,” Nora said gently. “You and your mom haven’t gotten the warmest welcome, either.”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass about the people in this town. I won’t be here long.” Bren blew a stream of smoke into the sky. “I’ll sell muffins and jewelry until I have what I need. After that, I’m gone. So focus your neighborly concern on my mom. I don’t need it, and I don’t want it.”