Read Online Lemon Pies and Little White Lies by Ellery Adams - Free Book Online
Authors: Ellery Adams
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a glass of wine into the library while Reba went off in search of whiskey.
The lights in the library were blazing and a stack of books and scrolls waited on the large mahogany table in the center of the room. Ella Mae’s mother sat on the leather sofa with a pile of loose documents on her lap. She wasn’t looking at them; she was staring into the middle distance, as if lost in a memory.
Ella Mae stumbled upon her in this state more and more often. Even though her mother told her not to worry, she found it disconcerting.
“It’s almost like a dream state,” her mother said a week ago. “I’ve always been in tune with plants and flowers, but my bond to the natural world is far stronger now. Even though you separated my body from the ash tree, I amsomehow still connected to it. Those roots ran deep. Very, very deep.”
Ella Mae realized that it had been foolish to hope that everything would go back to normal after she’d freed her mother. Even before her mother had volunteered to become the Lady of the Ash, she’d been taciturn. Now, she rarely spoke. Her dark hair had gone silver, she no longer needed reading glasses, and she fell into one of her “lapses” several times a day. It was as if she were listening to music that no one else could hear.
Setting her glass on the table, Ella Mae quietly moved to her mother’s side and touched her shoulder. “I’m here,” she whispered.
Her mother blinked. “Good. I laid out what I could find on groups of our kind combining forces, but there must be more information than this. Is Suzy coming over?”
“No, she has a date. Reba will keep me company.” Ella Mae noted the bags under her mother’s eyes. “Why don’t you turn in early tonight?”
Her mother smiled. “Do I look that bad?”
Ella Mae shook her head. “You’re more beautiful than ever.”
It was true. The LeFaye sisters were famed for their beauty. Though no longer young women, they still possessed radiant skin, lustrous hair, and captivating pewter-gray eyes. Adelaide LeFaye, the tallest of the four sisters, had always had the bearing of a queen. To Ella Mae, her mother’s regal air hadn’t diminished, but she’d become a bit of a recluse. She seldom left Partridge Hill, preferring to spend most of her time in the garden. She’d sit for hours among the plants, her hands turning the soil as she hummed the same melody to the roses and the rest of the budding flowers.
Her mother straightened the documents in her lap and handed them to Ella Mae. “I don’t think I’ll get much sleeptonight knowing what’s happening in Scotland, but I’ll try. I’ll open the windows.” Her voice sounded distant. “That way, I can smell the phlox and Solomon’s seal blossoms. And if I gaze at the sky long enough, the stars look like clusters of white rue anemone petals growing in rich, black soil.”
Reba entered the room and, after studying Adelaide’s weary face, ushered her upstairs to bed.
When Reba returned, she took a gulp of whiskey and sat at the table across from Ella Mae. “Her senses don’t turn off like ours do. It’s like part of her is always tuned in to the natural world. Even when she sleeps.”
“I know. She feels things and they influence her mood, but she can’t put those feelings into words. They’re too intangible, like a dream you can’t remember no matter how hard you try.” Ella Mae stroked the supple cover of a book bound in vellum. “Some days she’s perfectly normal, but there are moments when I barely recognize her. I feel like I didn’t really save her. Only part of her.”
“She said it would take time,” Reba reminded Ella Mae, and then gestured at the stack of reading material. “So will this. Just look at all these books. This is not my forte.”
“Luckily, it’s mine!” declared a voice from the doorway.
“Suzy?” Ella Mae smiled in surprise and delight. “Aren’t you supposed to be with Aiden?”
Suzy shrugged. “I met him for a drink, but
The lights in the library were blazing and a stack of books and scrolls waited on the large mahogany table in the center of the room. Ella Mae’s mother sat on the leather sofa with a pile of loose documents on her lap. She wasn’t looking at them; she was staring into the middle distance, as if lost in a memory.
Ella Mae stumbled upon her in this state more and more often. Even though her mother told her not to worry, she found it disconcerting.
“It’s almost like a dream state,” her mother said a week ago. “I’ve always been in tune with plants and flowers, but my bond to the natural world is far stronger now. Even though you separated my body from the ash tree, I amsomehow still connected to it. Those roots ran deep. Very, very deep.”
Ella Mae realized that it had been foolish to hope that everything would go back to normal after she’d freed her mother. Even before her mother had volunteered to become the Lady of the Ash, she’d been taciturn. Now, she rarely spoke. Her dark hair had gone silver, she no longer needed reading glasses, and she fell into one of her “lapses” several times a day. It was as if she were listening to music that no one else could hear.
Setting her glass on the table, Ella Mae quietly moved to her mother’s side and touched her shoulder. “I’m here,” she whispered.
Her mother blinked. “Good. I laid out what I could find on groups of our kind combining forces, but there must be more information than this. Is Suzy coming over?”
“No, she has a date. Reba will keep me company.” Ella Mae noted the bags under her mother’s eyes. “Why don’t you turn in early tonight?”
Her mother smiled. “Do I look that bad?”
Ella Mae shook her head. “You’re more beautiful than ever.”
It was true. The LeFaye sisters were famed for their beauty. Though no longer young women, they still possessed radiant skin, lustrous hair, and captivating pewter-gray eyes. Adelaide LeFaye, the tallest of the four sisters, had always had the bearing of a queen. To Ella Mae, her mother’s regal air hadn’t diminished, but she’d become a bit of a recluse. She seldom left Partridge Hill, preferring to spend most of her time in the garden. She’d sit for hours among the plants, her hands turning the soil as she hummed the same melody to the roses and the rest of the budding flowers.
Her mother straightened the documents in her lap and handed them to Ella Mae. “I don’t think I’ll get much sleeptonight knowing what’s happening in Scotland, but I’ll try. I’ll open the windows.” Her voice sounded distant. “That way, I can smell the phlox and Solomon’s seal blossoms. And if I gaze at the sky long enough, the stars look like clusters of white rue anemone petals growing in rich, black soil.”
Reba entered the room and, after studying Adelaide’s weary face, ushered her upstairs to bed.
When Reba returned, she took a gulp of whiskey and sat at the table across from Ella Mae. “Her senses don’t turn off like ours do. It’s like part of her is always tuned in to the natural world. Even when she sleeps.”
“I know. She feels things and they influence her mood, but she can’t put those feelings into words. They’re too intangible, like a dream you can’t remember no matter how hard you try.” Ella Mae stroked the supple cover of a book bound in vellum. “Some days she’s perfectly normal, but there are moments when I barely recognize her. I feel like I didn’t really save her. Only part of her.”
“She said it would take time,” Reba reminded Ella Mae, and then gestured at the stack of reading material. “So will this. Just look at all these books. This is not my forte.”
“Luckily, it’s mine!” declared a voice from the doorway.
“Suzy?” Ella Mae smiled in surprise and delight. “Aren’t you supposed to be with Aiden?”
Suzy shrugged. “I met him for a drink, but
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