Page 46 of Paper Ghosts

Outside there was a perfumy scent of woodsmoke in the air. She realized now she should have packed a coat, but there had been a heat wave in Phoenix, the kind Bailey loved but locals all seemed to scorn, when she’d gotten on the plane yesterday. She’d forgotten how curiously chilly autumn mornings could get here, chillier than anywhere else in the North Carolina’s Piedmont, as if Hen Town had its own atmosphere.

Once on the sidewalk, she slowed to a stop in front of their closest neighbors, the Tillburys. She put her hands into the kangaroo pocket of her sweatshirt and stared at the house. It was no longer green, but a very, very pale shade of pink, something she hadn’t noticed when she’d arrived last night. The color should have looked ridiculous, but actually suited the Victorian style, and she loved it even more.

The front door suddenly opened and Bailey started walking again, not wanting to be seen.

Then she heard, “If it isn’t Bailey Wester.”

She turned to see a very attractive, dark-haired woman wearing a bright red scarf and a long leather coat. She walked down the steps, and the closer she came, the more familiar she seemed. Bailey realized who she was with an uncomfortable jolt.

“Smeller?”

Tasha’s eyes narrowed. “No one calls me that anymore.”

Bailey put her hand to her mouth, mortified. “That was awful. I’m sorry.”

She wiggled her fingers at Bailey, calling attention to an impressive diamond ring. “I’m Tasha Tillbury now. I married Gary.”

It wasn’t the fact that Gary was older than Tug that gave Bailey pause. It was that the only witness to the worst thing Bailey had ever done now lived next door.

Well, if this was punishment, she accepted it. She had never been held accountable for deliberately hitting Clutch that night. Or for making Tasha complicit. He had survived, but she lived every day with the fact that she never would have gone back to check if he’d needed help. She was aware her life could be remarkably easy now—she had enough money and a dad who loved her—but she still deliberately created little punishments for herself, denying forms of happiness, in hopes the universe was keeping score.

“I called after I left,” Bailey said. “Did you get the message? I apologized for ever putting you in that position.”

There was a tiny change to Tasha’s mood that caused a vibration in the air around her. She did not want to talk about Clutch. “Gary and I were so sorry to hear about your grandmother,” she said. “Home care isn’t easy. Your dad has had his hands full. But I guess you felt comfortable enough leaving him to take a stroll. Don’t catch a cold, now.”

She got into a black Range Rover parked at the curb and drove away.

Ten minutes later, Bailey reached downtown. She was greeted by a tarnished marker embedded into the sidewalk, the first in a series of sidewalk markers giving local history for tourists to follow as they walked. This one read: Hen Town was built on what was once the largest chicken farm in the state of North Carolina, called Wester’s Blue Eggs because it was the only color their hens would lay. The Wester family sold the land, and a community was formed. Hen Town is named in their honor.

She went first to the drugstore called the Rx Roost and bought the bleach kit. Then she went to Mother Hen’s Frozen Tea, but they weren’t open yet, so she got in line next door for coffee. The Java Chicken had all manner of Hen Town–themed coffee on the menu, one with egg foam, another that was chicken-and-waffle flavored, and it was always full of tourists.

When she finally got her cup, she sat on one of the benches facing the courthouse, where the turning leaves of the sugar maples looked like green apples with candy glaze being poured over them. She watched construction workers on the scaffolding for a while. Hen Town was in the middle of nowhere, so lodging for tourists was scare. Having a hotel downtown was going to be a game-changer.

She did a double take when she noticed Tasha standing with Gary Tillbury. He was a friendly, handsome man, but the only thing Bailey clearly remembered about having him as a neighbor was that he gave out full-sized candy bars on Halloween. They both had on yellow hard hats and were talking to the construction foreman.

So this was their project.

Watching them, she realized how happy Tasha looked, happier than Bailey had probably ever seen her. And there wasn’t a doubt in Bailey’s mind that she deserved it.

She finished her coffee and left before Tasha saw her.

CHAPTER TWENTY

“Hey, sweetheart,” Tug said when Bailey found him in the kitchen. He was focused on stirring something that smelled sharp and savory, like beef and chilies.

She set her bag from the drugstore on the butcher-block island and took a seat on a stool. “You never mentioned Tasha Keller moved next door.”

“It happened about four years ago. She asks about you sometimes, but you never ask about her, so I didn’t want to bring it up.”

“She married Gary Tillbury? Isn’t he old enough to be her dad?”

“It raised a few eyebrows, but they’re good together. And he was a big help with her mother. She couldn’t have done it alone.”

“Did something happen to Pam?”

Tug turned from the sizzling contents of the pan and wiped his hands on his half apron. “Pam went downhill after Tasha left for college. Tasha never confirmed it, but I suspect Pam was self-medicating. Barry Gilford had to let her go from his insurance agency, then she had a bad car accident. Among other things, she sustained a brain injury. She had to do a lot of work to get herself back physically. But mentally?” He shook his head. “Tasha had to drop out to care for her, then she met Gary. Until just a few months ago, Pam lived with them. She’s still so young and physically able that she was sneaking outside more and more. They usually found her in our yard, saying she was protecting the Wester House from robbers.”

“That’s terrible.” Bailey shook her head. “Poor Pam. Poor Tasha. College was supposed to be her way out.”