would receive. Even she found her own story hard to believe. She saved the document and closed her computer. There was no use troubling the Ouroboros Society with what most people would see as the heartsick ravings of a seventeen-year-old girl.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Haven’s business had gone belly-up. Fourteen prom dresses had been returned—though most were in better condition than Morgan Murphy’s. Fitting appointments were canceled one by one, and Haven and Beau found themselves saddled with fifteen hundred dollars’ worth of silk, satin, and sequins. They saved one pretty pale-blue chiffon dress as a thank-you gift for Leah Frizzell, and the rest they packed away in the Decker attic. The profits that Beau and Haven had been counting on disappeared overnight. The thought that she was responsible for losing Beau’s tuition money made Haven feel sick to her stomach.
With Imogene Snively monitoring her every move, Haven stayed home. And she had no desire to leave. She couldn’t face the hatred and anger that had been simmering in the souls of people she’d known her entire life. Even Dr. Tidmore had turned against her. Haven’s teachers sent homework assignments, which she dutifully finished. Exams were completed under her grandmother’s eye while Mae Moore puttered around the house, trying to act as if her daughter had been afflicted with nothing more than a bad cold.
Prom night passed with a never-ending round of honks and yeeha s from the town below. Then the students of Blue Mountain began preparing for graduation while Haven watched summer arrive from her bedroom window. The mountains shed their delicate blooms and transformed into impenetrable jungles. Kudzu vines swallowed a telephone pole at the edge of town. Thunderstorms blitzed the valley most evenings, sending the gas station kids scuttling for shelter.
Haven tried her best to push the past aside. Whatever Constance’s mystery was, it could wait until she was out from under her grandmother’s thumb. Solving it wasn’t worth spending ten months in a mental institution. But this time the past couldn’t be forgotten. Every night when Haven fell asleep, Ethan came to her. It was as if he refused to let her go. Haven dreamed of his nights with Constance in the little white cottage on the cobblestone lane, and it was like some missing part of herself had been restored. She woke each morning with the feeling of his hands on her body. The smell of his skin lingered, and she burned with desire until the dreams finally faded.
Terrified that another vision might arrive in front of her grandmother, Haven spent her days in bed with the boy who was haunting her. She began waking only to eat, and her mother started to fret. So when Beau finally arrived to lure Haven out of the house, Mae was happy to lead him straight up the stairs to her daughter’s bedroom.
“What are you doing here?” Haven asked sleepily as her mother stepped aside to let Beau in. “Skipping school?”
“Let’s go. We’re taking a little field trip,” Beau announced. “I’ve got my dad’s truck, and your grandmother’s spending the day at the beauty parlor.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” Haven pulled the sheet up over her head. “I’m still half naked, and I have a paper to finish for Miss Henderson.”
“Your paper can wait,” Beau insisted. “You gotta get a little exercise, or you’re going to turn into a big blob of saggy flesh.”
“Gee, thanks.” Haven knew she’d gained a little weight. Her mother baked as though home-cooked meals might be the answer to all her daughter’s problems.
“And make sure you bring your bathing suit.”
She pulled the sheet down to her neck and scowled at the boy. “After you just called me ‘a blob of saggy flesh’ ?”
“I’m not taking no for an answer.” Beau waited with his arms crossed for Haven to move and stomped one foot when she didn’t. “Go on, get cracking! We’re going up to Eden Falls. It’s noon on
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Haven’s business had gone belly-up. Fourteen prom dresses had been returned—though most were in better condition than Morgan Murphy’s. Fitting appointments were canceled one by one, and Haven and Beau found themselves saddled with fifteen hundred dollars’ worth of silk, satin, and sequins. They saved one pretty pale-blue chiffon dress as a thank-you gift for Leah Frizzell, and the rest they packed away in the Decker attic. The profits that Beau and Haven had been counting on disappeared overnight. The thought that she was responsible for losing Beau’s tuition money made Haven feel sick to her stomach.
With Imogene Snively monitoring her every move, Haven stayed home. And she had no desire to leave. She couldn’t face the hatred and anger that had been simmering in the souls of people she’d known her entire life. Even Dr. Tidmore had turned against her. Haven’s teachers sent homework assignments, which she dutifully finished. Exams were completed under her grandmother’s eye while Mae Moore puttered around the house, trying to act as if her daughter had been afflicted with nothing more than a bad cold.
Prom night passed with a never-ending round of honks and yeeha s from the town below. Then the students of Blue Mountain began preparing for graduation while Haven watched summer arrive from her bedroom window. The mountains shed their delicate blooms and transformed into impenetrable jungles. Kudzu vines swallowed a telephone pole at the edge of town. Thunderstorms blitzed the valley most evenings, sending the gas station kids scuttling for shelter.
Haven tried her best to push the past aside. Whatever Constance’s mystery was, it could wait until she was out from under her grandmother’s thumb. Solving it wasn’t worth spending ten months in a mental institution. But this time the past couldn’t be forgotten. Every night when Haven fell asleep, Ethan came to her. It was as if he refused to let her go. Haven dreamed of his nights with Constance in the little white cottage on the cobblestone lane, and it was like some missing part of herself had been restored. She woke each morning with the feeling of his hands on her body. The smell of his skin lingered, and she burned with desire until the dreams finally faded.
Terrified that another vision might arrive in front of her grandmother, Haven spent her days in bed with the boy who was haunting her. She began waking only to eat, and her mother started to fret. So when Beau finally arrived to lure Haven out of the house, Mae was happy to lead him straight up the stairs to her daughter’s bedroom.
“What are you doing here?” Haven asked sleepily as her mother stepped aside to let Beau in. “Skipping school?”
“Let’s go. We’re taking a little field trip,” Beau announced. “I’ve got my dad’s truck, and your grandmother’s spending the day at the beauty parlor.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” Haven pulled the sheet up over her head. “I’m still half naked, and I have a paper to finish for Miss Henderson.”
“Your paper can wait,” Beau insisted. “You gotta get a little exercise, or you’re going to turn into a big blob of saggy flesh.”
“Gee, thanks.” Haven knew she’d gained a little weight. Her mother baked as though home-cooked meals might be the answer to all her daughter’s problems.
“And make sure you bring your bathing suit.”
She pulled the sheet down to her neck and scowled at the boy. “After you just called me ‘a blob of saggy flesh’ ?”
“I’m not taking no for an answer.” Beau waited with his arms crossed for Haven to move and stomped one foot when she didn’t. “Go on, get cracking! We’re going up to Eden Falls. It’s noon on
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