Page 10 of Bone’s Choice

Worked for me.

Dead people didn’t give a shit what they were buried in. Their families sure as hell did. And the Grave Prowlers were happy to take their money.

I rolled around the slight bend in the road, and Ma’s house came into view.

So did something that hadn’t been there the last time I’d driven by.

A dark SUV was parked in the driveway next door with a small, enclosed trailer hooked to the back.

I slowed slightly as I passed. Well, shit. Apparently, somebody had moved in.

Ma had mentioned a couple weeks ago that Deedra had died.

I’d known Deedra, though I couldn’t say I’d known her well. She’d lived next to Ma for years but mostly kept to herself. I’d cut her grass a few times when I was already doing Ma’s and shoveled her driveway after a couple of bad snowstorms. Beyond that, our conversations had mostly been waves from across the yard.

I hadn’t even known she was sick.

Ma said she’d found out from somebody in town that Deedra had passed, and after that, I hadn’t thought much about it.

Looked like somebody had gotten the house.

I pulled into Ma’s driveway and parked beside her car. I killed the engine, dropped the kickstand, and climbed off.

“Ma?” I called as I opened the front door. Nothing. I stepped inside and shut the door behind me. “Ma?” Still nothing.

I pushed my sunglasses onto the top of my head and looked around. The living room was empty. TV off. No music coming from the kitchen. No sound upstairs. “What the hell?”

I’d told her I’d stop by today, though I hadn’t given her a time. That usually didn’t matter. Sundays were one of the few days she didn’t have ten different things going on.

I walked into the kitchen. Empty, her purse sitting on the counter with her keys beside it.

I glanced through the window over the sink. Her car was definitely still in the driveway.

“Ma?” No answer.

I opened the refrigerator because I was there and grabbed a bottle of water. Priorities. I twisted off the cap, took a drink, and looked through the back window.

Maybe she was in her garden. The woman could spend half a damn day screwing around with plants and somehow call it relaxing.

I headed for the back door and stepped outside. “Ma?”

Nothing.

I walked across the patio and looked toward the garden. Empty. Her gloves were sitting on the little bench beside the raised beds, but she wasn’t anywhere around them.

I frowned. Where the fuck?

Laughter drifted around the side of the house and then I heard my mother’s voice. I couldn’t make out what she said, but I knew the sound well enough.

I shook my head. Of course, the new neighbor. Ma couldn’t leave well enough alone if her life depended on it.

I headed around the side of the house, bottle of water still in my hand, and I saw Ma first. She was standing near the SUV in the driveway next door, one hand braced on the side of it while she talked.

Then I saw the woman with her and my steps slowed.

Well, hello, neighbor. She had her back partially to me, but I could see more than enough.

Jean shorts. White T-shirt. Black Converse. Nothing special, except somehow it all looked pretty fucking special on her. Her dark hair was piled on top of her head in a messy knot that looked like it was barely hanging on. A few pieces had escaped and hung around her face.