Read Online Laid to Rest (A Darcy Sweet Cozy Mystery Book 18) by K.J. Emrick - Free Book Online
Authors: K.J. Emrick
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“See? I’ve already told you.”
Reaching out with a shaky hand, Darcy touched her aunt’s shoulder. So real, in the dream. She could feel the soft fabric of her long black dress, she could see the kindness and love in Millie’s eyes. They’d had so little time together before death had claimed her. There were times when Darcy felt like…that she was…
“I can’t do this alone,” she said, putting words to her troubled thoughts. “It’s too hard. It’s too much. Just when I think everything was coming together in my life, something else crashes over me. I can’t do this one, Millie. Not alone.”
Her aunt stood up from her seat to give her niece a warm hug. “My dear. You’re not alone. You’ve never been alone. I’ve never left you. When I couldn’t stay with you anymore I still watched over you from this side of things. You have Smudge to watch over you, too. He’s such a good cat. You have Jon, and Grace, and so many friends. So many. Even people you don’t fully understand, like Sean Fitzwallis. New friends too, like Ellen. You were a little hard on her, weren’t you?”
Darcy stepped back with an embarrassed frown. “I’ll talk to Ellen. I promise. But Millie, I still have so many questions, and you might be the only one who can answer them. Where’s Smudge? How did you die? Why is the beehive journal so important? What do the parts say that are ruined? Millie, please…”
The old woman’s ghost, the dream of her, shook her head and went back to the table. She picked up one of the books and pressed it into Darcy’s hands .
The Forgotten Land of Deseret.
“I’ve already told you,” she repeated, and Darcy felt frustration building in her again.
Clenching the book so hard that her knuckles turned white, she opened her mouth for a deep breath, about to shout the questions at her aunt all over again.
As if that would help.
Leaning forward, the angry words fell away. The seatbelt locked her in place as their car came to a stop in their own driveway.
“Hey,” Jon said to her, “I’m glad you slept a little.” He kept the engine running but turned off the headlights, plunging them into darkness. The sun had set. Night was on them.
“Turn them back on,” she said, her voice tight, “please.” She sat very rigid, suddenly afraid of what might be out there in the dark. There was light from the house, coming through the windows to cast a glow over the lawn and the trees waving in the gentle night breezes. It wasn’t enough.
Darcy didn’t breathe easy until he’d snapped the headlights back on. It had been a long time since she’d been afraid of the dark. Afraid of what might lurk in the shadows or go bump in the night.
Someone had taken Smudge, and nothing was right with the world. Bad things lurked in the dark, and time was not her friend.
Over a year ago now, Grace’s husband Aaron had been kidnapped. It had been his bad luck to walk into the middle of a bank robbery. They’d found him in time, before the robbers had done any permanent physical harm to him, but it had taken him a very long time to get over it. Grace had taken longer to find her way back to normal.
Darcy had felt something similar, too, during that investigation. She was feeling it again now. Worry. Fear. A tangle of emotions that combined into sour jelly in her stomach.
“Where were you?” Jon asked her after a moment of silence had passed between them. “Just now, I mean, when you fell asleep. You were dreaming.”
“I was talking to my aunt…” She looked down at her hands, still held tight and stiff like she was holding onto the book Millie had handed her. The book about Deseret. It wouldn’t have surprised her to find the book right there, carried over from the dream…
Stranger things had happened.
“If you’re looking for the journal it’s still on the backseat,” Jon told
Reaching out with a shaky hand, Darcy touched her aunt’s shoulder. So real, in the dream. She could feel the soft fabric of her long black dress, she could see the kindness and love in Millie’s eyes. They’d had so little time together before death had claimed her. There were times when Darcy felt like…that she was…
“I can’t do this alone,” she said, putting words to her troubled thoughts. “It’s too hard. It’s too much. Just when I think everything was coming together in my life, something else crashes over me. I can’t do this one, Millie. Not alone.”
Her aunt stood up from her seat to give her niece a warm hug. “My dear. You’re not alone. You’ve never been alone. I’ve never left you. When I couldn’t stay with you anymore I still watched over you from this side of things. You have Smudge to watch over you, too. He’s such a good cat. You have Jon, and Grace, and so many friends. So many. Even people you don’t fully understand, like Sean Fitzwallis. New friends too, like Ellen. You were a little hard on her, weren’t you?”
Darcy stepped back with an embarrassed frown. “I’ll talk to Ellen. I promise. But Millie, I still have so many questions, and you might be the only one who can answer them. Where’s Smudge? How did you die? Why is the beehive journal so important? What do the parts say that are ruined? Millie, please…”
The old woman’s ghost, the dream of her, shook her head and went back to the table. She picked up one of the books and pressed it into Darcy’s hands .
The Forgotten Land of Deseret.
“I’ve already told you,” she repeated, and Darcy felt frustration building in her again.
Clenching the book so hard that her knuckles turned white, she opened her mouth for a deep breath, about to shout the questions at her aunt all over again.
As if that would help.
Leaning forward, the angry words fell away. The seatbelt locked her in place as their car came to a stop in their own driveway.
“Hey,” Jon said to her, “I’m glad you slept a little.” He kept the engine running but turned off the headlights, plunging them into darkness. The sun had set. Night was on them.
“Turn them back on,” she said, her voice tight, “please.” She sat very rigid, suddenly afraid of what might be out there in the dark. There was light from the house, coming through the windows to cast a glow over the lawn and the trees waving in the gentle night breezes. It wasn’t enough.
Darcy didn’t breathe easy until he’d snapped the headlights back on. It had been a long time since she’d been afraid of the dark. Afraid of what might lurk in the shadows or go bump in the night.
Someone had taken Smudge, and nothing was right with the world. Bad things lurked in the dark, and time was not her friend.
Over a year ago now, Grace’s husband Aaron had been kidnapped. It had been his bad luck to walk into the middle of a bank robbery. They’d found him in time, before the robbers had done any permanent physical harm to him, but it had taken him a very long time to get over it. Grace had taken longer to find her way back to normal.
Darcy had felt something similar, too, during that investigation. She was feeling it again now. Worry. Fear. A tangle of emotions that combined into sour jelly in her stomach.
“Where were you?” Jon asked her after a moment of silence had passed between them. “Just now, I mean, when you fell asleep. You were dreaming.”
“I was talking to my aunt…” She looked down at her hands, still held tight and stiff like she was holding onto the book Millie had handed her. The book about Deseret. It wouldn’t have surprised her to find the book right there, carried over from the dream…
Stranger things had happened.
“If you’re looking for the journal it’s still on the backseat,” Jon told
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