Darkness at the Edge of Town (Iris Ballard #2)(46)

“That’s terrible,” Britt said.

I hung my head again. “I keep thinking about her lately. It’s silly, but I’ve always felt a kinship to horses. I just, I’d like to be able to ride again. Be around them. Is that weird?”

“Not at all,” said Helen.

“I thought about buying one, but I only got two million in the settlement, and—”

“Two million?” Nessa asked, eyes bugging out. “As in dollars?”

“Yeah, and it has to last me until I die, so having a horse isn’t financially prudent right now, but I keep thinking about it. It’ll eat almost a quarter of my settlement, but maybe you’re right about trusting my instincts. I did research already and I found one in Niagaraville.” I started fitting the crust in the pie tin. “I don’t know.”

Come on, ladies. Come on…

“O.M.G. That’s so weird. We have a horse at The Apex,” Nessa finally said.

Booyah! I immediately perked up. “You do?”

“Yeah. It came with the farm, which is in Niagaraville,” Helen said. “But no one knows how to ride him.”

“I-I-I could teach you all,” I lied. I’d never even been anywhere near a horse.

“That’d be fantastic,” Nessa said.



“I’ve always wanted to ride a horse,” Britt added.

“Cool.” And since we were on the subject of the farm…“Do you guys like living there?”

“It was tough at first, especially working in the fields,” Britt said.

“Is it completely self-sufficient? Suppose it would have to be. Niagaraville’s pretty isolated.”

“We try to be. All the foods at the grocery store are full of pesticides and hormones,” Nessa said.

“How many acres is it?” I asked as I started filling in the blackberries for the pie.

“I don’t know. At least fifty,” Helen said. “Why?”

Fuck. I grimaced. “I’m doing it again, aren’t I?”

“What?” Nessa asked.

“Asking too many questions. I do that when I’m kind of nervous,” I said, shrinking in on myself. “In school I was really shy and never talked to anyone; then my husband told me the best way to make people feel good about themselves is to ask questions. Of course, then he told me I turned conversations into the Spanish Inquisition. I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about,” Helen said. “Having an inquisitive mind is a glorious thing. It should never be stifled. The only way to learn sometimes is to ask.”

I looked up at Helen and half-smiled. “Are you sure you won’t adopt me?”

She chuckled and squeezed my arm.

I’d pushed the envelope as far as I could with the trio, so I kept my mouth shut as I finished the pie and just listened as they talked about the upcoming seminars in Pittsburgh and Grove City. About five minutes later, a door closed somewhere in the house. One minute after that, Megan, a beautiful African American woman, and Paul all strolled into the kitchen. Megan’s face lit up, but Paul’s grew as bright as a Las Vegas night. I blushed, really blushed, as our previous conversation came back to me. I looked away.



“Carol!” Megan said. “How are you? How are you feeling?”

“Much better, thanks,” I said. “I’m never eating Chinese again.” I glanced over at Paul. His starstruck eyes were glued to me. “Hi…Paul,” I said with a nervous smile.

“Carol’s been helping with dinner,” Helen said.

“I just hope I don’t poison you with my cooking,” I said meekly.

“Oh! You owe yourself two positive traits for your put-down,” Britt said.

“Okay. I’m clever and…uh…”

“You’re beautiful. Inside and out,” Paul finished for me. “Just as you are.”

I smiled at him, and he smiled back. Even if it was a line, it was nice to hear.

“How long until dinner?” Megan asked.

“About an hour,” Helen answered. “How was outreach today?”

“Five maybes,” Paul said. “Twenty more took fliers.”

“Why don’t you guys go hop in the showers? You reek,” Helen said.

“Standing in the hundred-degree heat does that,” Megan said. She looked at her sweaty friends. “You two go first.”

“Thanks,” the African American woman said. “Keisha okay?”



“She’s great, Chantal,” Nessa said.

Paul shot me another seductive smirk. “I’ll just be in the shower, then, if anyone wants me.” He winked at me before walking out of the kitchen with Chantal.

I gazed down in embarrassment. Two years was definitely too long. Megan stepped beside me and whispered, “You’re blushing, you know.”

“No I’m not. It’s just hot in here.”

“Then let’s get you out of here,” she whispered before looking at Helen. “Mind if I steal Carol from you?”

“Only if we fight to the death,” Helen responded with a smirk.

Megan fake-glared before locking her arm in mine. “Come on. The air-conditioning actually sort of works upstairs.” After I grabbed my purse, Megan led me toward one of the living rooms and up the stairs. “Some days I absolutely hate ambassador duty. Not only is it a trillion degrees outside, but someone actually yelled at us today. Called us cultish brainwashed parasites. I wanted to kick him in the balls.”