Ashes to ashes, p.2
Ashes to Ashes, page 2
Maybe Evan would be lucky for a change. Maybe.
Chapter two
Evan watched the girls hug their friend Alanna farewell and tucked the last suitcase into the back of her car. The twins were identical, but to look at them now you’d never know it. Harper had dark hair to her waist with a blue streak down one side and eyes the same hazel hue as Emery and Evan. Hayden had hazel eyes, but her hair was shaved on both sides and short curls from the front to the back, all of it dyed bright pink with neon green tips. Where Harper wore leggings and a long sweater, Hayden wore ripped jeans and a hoodie over an old band t-shirt Evan remembered Emery wearing as a teen.
Harper paused to give Evan a hug before she got into the car while Hayden just slid into the back seat and pulled out her phone.
Evan gave a wave to Alanna and her mother, Maggie. “I’ll call you later, Maggie. Thank you,” then got behind the wheel and started up the car.
“Are you two hungry? I didn’t get a chance to grab breakfast this morning. We can go to the diner if you like?” Evan asked.
“We had coffee and a bagel a couple of hours ago, but I could eat,” Harper said.
“How about you, Hayden?” Evan asked.
Silence came from the back seat, and Harper just shrugged. “Let’s go to the diner. I don’t know if I’m ready to go back to the house yet anyway. I kinda want to work up to it.”
“It was weird for me, yesterday. I can’t imagine what it’s like for you two. We’ll do whatever we need to, to help you guys feel comfortable,” Evan said.
“You could just leave us alone. We’re practically adults,” Hayden grumbled from the back.
“Yeah, well, legally that’s not an option. You’re not considered adults until you’re eighteen and even then, your moms had paperwork in place until you hit twenty-one. Sorry, luv,” Evan replied.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Harper said. “I’m not ready to figure everything out on my own yet.”
“Well, that’s you, not me,” Hayden replied.
“Please, ladies. Let’s not fight already, okay? This is going to be an adjustment for all of us. I’ve never been a parent before, and this is a big change for me, too. My goal is to make sure you two graduate high school and get into college – and have a home base,” Evan said.
“You’re not our mother,” Hayden said.
Evan took a breath and let it out slow. “No, I’m not. I’m your Auntie Vee. But I’m also your legal guardian now.”
Both girls fell silent until Evan parked the car outside the diner. She turned in her seat to look back at Hayden. “I know this much. I love both of you, and we’re family. No matter what, we’ve got each other. Let’s go inside and get some food and talk, okay?”
Evan got out and once they were all settled in a booth, she put her phone on vibrate and lay it face down on the table. “Let’s start with putting the phones down and having a conversation.”
Harper put hers down, but Hayden delayed until Evan opened her mouth to say something else – then she put the phone down. A server came over and they gave their orders and waited until three mugs of coffee had been poured before Harper spoke up.
“You said you’d be back a week after the funeral. It’s been almost two. What took so long?”
“I called you guys and told you I needed a couple of extra days. Changing jobs and packing up my place and handling everything was a little more complex than I expected,” Evan replied.
Harper turned to Hayden. “Did she call and tell you?”
“Maybe,” Hayden said.
Harper shook her head and looked back at Evan. “Sorry, Auntie V. Hayden didn’t bother sharing that information with me. I had wondered if maybe you didn’t want to be here and that’s why it took you so long.”
“Not cool, Hayden,” Evan said, then turned to Harper. “Is this where I saw myself a month ago? No. But when our folks died within weeks of each other, Uncle Joey was there for Em and I. Family is there for family. No matter what. I’m sorry it took me longer than I expected, but I’m here now.”
“See? I told you she didn’t want to be here,” Hayden said to Harper.
“That’s not what I sai…” Evan started to say when Harper interrupted her.
“Do you know how hard it would be for me to go on if I lost you?” Harper said to Hayden. “Tell me, would you be able to just jump right in and move on with life if you lost me?”
“Well, no, but…” Hayden started and Harper kept going. Evan just sat back and sipped her coffee.
“She lost her sister, Hayden. We lost both of our moms, but she lost her sister. All three of us lost people important to us. Now we’re it. The three of us are the last of the Wylders. Quit being a dick to Auntie V when none of this is her fault and she’s doing the best she can.”
Hayden gave a half-hearted shrug and slid down in the seat to stare out the window under the blinds. She didn’t say anything.
“We started school on Monday,” Harper said. “Honestly, I couldn’t take sitting around Alanna’s house any longer, and it’s our junior year. I wanted to do something.”
“That’s fine,” Evan said. “I do have to go to the school tomorrow and give them some paperwork from the courthouse. I can drive you both tomorrow if you want?”
“Alanna’s brother, Liam, has been driving us. He said he’d swing by and pick us up so we can avoid the bus,” Harper replied.
Evan bit her tongue. She wanted to ask if Liam was a good driver, how old was he, did he text and drive – but she kept her questions to herself. She could ask Maggie tomorrow at school. Liam and Alanna were Maggie’s kids and she was the head administrator at the high school.
“I’d rather go with Liam,” Hayden said.
“As long as he’s safe, I’m okay with that,” Evan said as their food was delivered. She took a few bites and paused as she realized both girls were watching her. “What?”
Harper’s voice cracked a little, but she forced a smile. “You separate your food on your plate just like Mum did. I never noticed it before.”
Hayden gave a nod. “And you put your toast on a napkin like her, too. Mama used to tease her about it all the time.”
“And you both wrinkle your noses just like Em did,” Evan said. “I think that’s a good thing, when we see stuff in others that reminds us of the people not with us. It keeps them alive in a way.”
“Yeah,” Harper said, voice soft. Hayden didn’t say a thing, just started to eat.
When they got back to the house, the girls helped carry their luggage in and Evan took the mail out of the mailbox. She went into the office and put the mail on the desk, then sat down to sort through it.
Harper paused in the open doorway when she saw Evan seated there. “Oh, that was weird. For a minute I thought it was Mum.”
“I’m sorry,” Evan said. “I’m still sorting out the household finances and making sure bills get paid. A lot of that information is on Em’s computer.”
“No, it’s fine. It just caught me off guard. Is it okay if I go into the Moms’ room?” Harper asked.
“Yeah, of course. I just couldn’t stand seeing it empty, so I closed the door.”
“Hayden and I wanted to get a sweater or sweatshirt or something for each of us,” Harper explained.
“The clothes are all still in there. I had the jewelry put in the safe deposit box, but that’s the only thing that’s missing. I worried about leaving the house empty and someone stealing it, so I did that before I went back to DC.”
“I’m glad you had the place cleaned and all, too. That helps. I know Hayden’s being a jerk, but…”
“Hey, we’re all going to process this differently. I’m sure I’ll deal with things you two won’t understand – but we’re all here together and we’ll get through this. I love you guys, okay?”
“Love you too, Auntie V. I’m going to go do homework in the kitchen and make some hot cocoa. Want some?”
“No, I’m good, but thanks. You go do what you need to do.”
Evan watched as Harper went towards the kitchen, then turned back to the pile of mail on the desk. Junk mail went into the recycling bin, a couple of notices were put in the basket on the desk, and condolence cards were opened and put in a small stack for the girls to go through when they were ready. Most of the bills were all handled online and with automatic payments, but there were still one or two that sent paper notifications. Evan checked that they’d been paid, then found where Emery filed them in the left-hand drawer of her desk.
“You shouldn’t be in here,” Hayden spat at her from the doorway.
Evan sighed. “I have to be in here, to pay bills and get work done. If you’d rather I shut the door so you guys don’t see me sitting at her desk, I can do that.”
“No, I don’t want you in her space at all,” Hayden’s voice rose as she came into the office and grabbed Evan’s arm. “You can’t be in her chair, you can’t touch her things…”
Evan got to her feet and just pulled Hayden into her arms. Hayden struggled a bit, but Evan held her tight. “Shh, I’ve got you, Denny. I’ve got you.”
Harper slid to a stop in the doorway, but Evan gave a slight shake of her head and a smile.
Harper nodded in reply and backed away as Evan led Hayden towards the loveseat and pulled her down to sit and snuggle. She could feel Hayden’s tears soaking her blouse as she rubbed the girl’s back. “I’m sorry, Denny. I know, all of this just fucking sucks. It really does. I wish I could just wave a magic wand and have Em and Darra back here and hugging you both instead of me, but that’s not how life works. I have a hole in my heart, too. It’s not the same as you and Harper, but it’s there.”She sat back and brushed the tears from Hayden’s cheeks. “I remember how lost I felt when our parents were gone and Uncle Joe brought us to his place to live. I didn’t know how to fit into his world, and Emery and I didn’t have our friends, our house, nothing was the same. I don’t know if having everything the same is better for you guys or not, but if you want stuff changed, we can talk about it, okay?”
“Joey moved you guys from Eastbrook to Haven, right?” Hayden asked.
“Yeah. I was ten and Emery was thirteen. It was rough. He’d never married or had kids, so this bachelor who owned his own auto shop suddenly had two little girls to raise. He did the best he could, and he loved us to pieces, even though he’d lost his twin, our dad.”
“There are lots of twins in the family, huh?”
“Yeah. My mom was the youngest, but there was a set of twins older than her. Dad and Joe were twins. Emery had a twin brother, but he died shortly after they were born. Lots of twins,” Evan said.
“Lots of death in the family too,” Hayden whispered.
“True. Your grampa Jonah died in a car accident and grandma Ellen had already been in hospice for cancer and she died about three weeks later, never knowing he had gone first,” Evan said.
“Then your uncle Joe died just before you graduated high school, right?” Hayden asked.
“Yeah, he had a heart attack in his shop two days before graduation. I had already finished school, we were just waiting for the ceremony.”
“And you didn’t go, did you?”
“Nope. My diploma showed up in the mail. Emery and I met with the lawyers and sold the shop for enough for us both to go to college.”
“But Mum didn’t go to college, right?” Harper asked from the doorway.
I patted the other side of me and she came to snuggle in so I had one on each side. “No, she didn’t. She and Darra had just got an apartment together, so we sold the house and I moved in with them for a few months before I went to school.” I fudged the timeline a bit because there were some things these two didn’t ever need to know.
“Anyway, they ended up having you two and Em sold her first couple of books and things took off for her so she decided to take her share and buy this house. They fixed it up and settled in, and I ended up at Harvard and then at Quantico. I wish I’d come back more than I did.”
“But we loved going to see you instead. I’d rather spend time in DC than hanging around here,” Hayden said.
“So are you still an FBI agent?” Harper asked.
“I am, but I’m going to focus on the analysis and data side of some cases for a while. You guys need me and I don’t need to be out on the streets when I’m distracted. I’ll go back to being on the streets at some point, but not right now.”
Hayden looked around the office, then turned to Harper. “We need to make this room into Auntie V’s office and not Mum’s.”
“You’re right, we do. Even if we just pack up some of the knickknacks and rearrange the furniture, it’d help,” Harper said.
“Woah, girls. Are you sure?” Evan asked.
“We’re sure,” they said in unison. Harper left the room and came back with a couple of boxes and some packing paper. They started to take down the ceramic ashtrays and vases and packed them into boxes marked ‘Harper’ and ‘Hayden’.
Evan went into the kitchen and made a cup of coffee and let them work. This kind of thing was part of the process, or so her therapist had told her. She went back to stand in the doorway and watch them sort and pack.
“We’re going to leave the books and some of the pictures. We each picked out what ones we wanted in our space and packed up the stuff we wanted to save. How about we move this cabinet over there and the credenza down here and put the desk in front of it like it is now, but it’ll be sideways to the French doors and you can still have the view…” Harper started and Hayden finished with, “…and we can put the loveseat and table over here and change out those ugly curtains.”
“Let’s do it,” Evan replied. She honestly didn’t care how the room was laid out if it helped the girls process everything. They shoved and laughed and crawled around on the floor to swap cords and outlets, and Hayden wrapped one of the drapes around her and pranced down the length of the room as if she were on a runway.
“Who are you, Scarlett O’Hara?” Evan asked.
“Who’s that?” Harper asked Evan.
“Oh, girls. We’re watching an old movie tonight and getting Chinese food. I need to fix your lack of pop culture references,” Evan said.
“Get extra egg rolls. Hayden always steals mine,” Harper said.
Containers of Chinese food were scattered across the coffee table and one twin was tucked under each arm as Evan watched the local newscast start up. The volume was low as both girls were asleep, but Evan heard the report of a body found along one of the auxiliary interstate highways.
“Identification of the victim is being withheld pending notification of the next of kin. The Massachusetts State Police are asking all young women to be alert to their surroundings and avoid risky situations involving strangers.”
“Well, that’s bullshit,” Evan grumbled. She carefully untangled herself from the girls and got up to find her phone. She sent a text to Derek, her partner until a couple of weeks ago, and asked if he could find out more about the murder. The phone rang and she answered it as she ducked into the kitchen.
“I texted for a reason, goober.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be focusing on data and analysis? How are you, anyway? Are you doing okay?” Derek replied.
“As well as could be expected, I guess. Picked up the girls today and we’re…adjusting.”
“And you’ve got another week before you need to log in and let people know you’re alive. Don’t get involved in something you don’t need to be worrying about.”
“I’m curious. They gave a warning to ‘young women’. As you know, I’m now responsible for two such creatures. I’d rather know if I have to teach them to shoot or not.”
“You should teach them anyway, but I hear you. I’ll see what I can find out and will send you what I get. Do you have any contacts with the local LEOs?”
“Yes and no. I’d rather avoid tangling with the locals if I can avoid it.”
“Sounds like there’s a story there, sweetpea. I’ll get it out of you eventually.”
“Don’t hold your breath, Derek. Anyway, appreciate you checking in and I look forward to seeing what you find. Thanks, m’friend.”
“You’re most welcome, partner. Check your email in the morning. Don’t be a stranger, ya hear me?”
“I hear you, D. Stay safe out there.” The call disconnected and Evan smiled. She missed Derek and it was good to hear his voice.
The girls needed to get to bed so they could get to school in the morning. Guess it was time to do that pseudo-parenting thing again. Her life was so weird.
Chapter three
Evan felt rather accomplished as she sat at the desk with her second cup of coffee. The girls had been up and fed and got their ride with Liam and Alanna, and Evan had showered and put on clothes. Now she sat at the desk with her laptop open so she could check her email before she went to the school to turn in paperwork. Not seeing an email from Derek yet, she opened up the local news page and scanned for the story of the murder. Nothing. Somehow, they’d already moved on? No, that didn’t make sense. Not with the murder of a young female. Stirring up fear was one of the first things the mainstream media loved, to get more clicks and interactions. A young girl found dead was prime click bait. Yet, here was the page with no story at all.
“I’m going to have to call Derek again,” Evan grumbled as she got to her feet and found her shoes. She collected the folder of paperwork for the school and got on the road.
“Good morning, Evan,” Maggie said as she stepped into the office at the high school.
“Morning, Maggie. Thank you again for keeping the girls for so long,” Evan replied.
“Hush. I was glad to do it. They’re good kids and no trouble,” Maggie said. “What’s this you’ve got for me?”
“I brought the paperwork from the courthouse that shows I’m their guardian. The estate lawyer said I had to bring it by first thing this morning just in case anything happened. This way, the girls would be covered.”
