THE SHADOWED ONYX: A DIAMOND ESTATES NOVEL (9 page)

Joy shivered as she slipped her arms into the fuzzy pink robe she’d gotten for Christmas the year before. When she’d first seen it, Melanie piped in with a Reese Witherspoon quote from
Legally Blonde
, “Whoever said orange is the new pink was seriously disturbed.” Indeed.

No. Don’t go there. The movie quotes would start filtering through her consciousness. Then Joy would pull out the DVDs and pop one into the player. Probably something like
Steel Magnolias
. Ugh. The scene where Sally Field is at her daughter’s grave and her friends ask her how she’s holding up. “I want to know why! I want to know why Shelby’s life is over!” Sally had screamed with blood-curdling sounds of utter grief.

Ten minutes of a movie like that, and it would be all over from there. A box of tissues and a frozen pizza would be the extent of her Saturday. Yeah. Joy needed to avoid spending her day embroiled in the fictional misery of others at all costs.

Beatrice. Perfect. She’d go hang out with her sweet cousin. Joy fumbled on the nightstand for her cell phone. She touched the icon for messages and typed one to Aunt Sue.

O
K IF
I
COME HANG WITH
B
TODAY
?

The reply beeped within seconds. P
LEASE
. S
HE’D LOVE IT
.

That settled that. G
R
8. G
IMME AN HOUR
. C U
SOON
.

Now to let Mom know.

G
OING TO HANG OUT AT
B
EA’S
. W
ANT ME TO PICK UP DINNER ON MY WAY HOME?

Joy headed to the bathroom. Mom never replied right away, especially on a busy Saturday when, like all good Realtors, they usually had showings back to back all day anywhere between Ogallala and North Platte. At least Mom and Dad got to work together, their different personalities complementing their business. Mom loved paperwork, and Dad could sell diet pills in Ethiopia.

After showering off the sweat from her rough night, Joy used her blow dryer and round brush to smooth her hair. She’d leave it long and straight so Beatrice could play
beauty
, as she called it.

Joy stepped into her most holey jeans. One day the legs would fall right off of them. Until then they’d provide her the comfort, in more ways than one, she longed for. A black tee and her black North Face fleece over it, she was ready to go.

The phone buzzed and vibrated on Joy’s desk. She glanced at the display to find a message from Mom.

L
ET’S EAT AT
H
OKE’S
. 6:00. I
F YOU NEED
$$
FOR THE DAY, THERE’S SOME IN THE DRAWER
.

Cool. One great part of having parents who worked so hard was their guilt made them way more free with their money than other teens’ parents. Little did they know, as much as Joy loved them, she didn’t mind the time alone. At all.

Another text buzzed in. J
OY?
I
T’S
B-B. W
HEN ARE YOU COMING?

R
IGHT NOW
.

“My Joy!” Beatrice grinned her lopsided smile as she jumped from the porch, loped to the driveway, and reached into the open car door to help Joy out by tugging on her arm. Oh, that smile brightened Joy’s day instantly. When Joy finally stood in front of her on the driveway, Bea threw her arms around Joy’s neck and squeezed.

Beatrice wanted nothing from Joy except love and attention in return. Two things Joy was perfectly happy to provide. At least to Beatrice.

“What are we going to do today, Joy?” Beatrice linked arms with her hero, her grin never wavering, as she pulled her toward the house.

“I don’t know. What did you have in mind?” Joy was game for anything.

Beatrice scrunched her face in confusion and tapped her chin. “Hmmm.”

“Well, do you want to go somewhere, or do you want to stay home?”

“I know one thing. I want to get a taco with extra sour cream.” She licked her lips.

Joy should have seen that one coming. “No problem. We can get tacos for lunch.” Good thing she’d pocketed that twenty-dollar bill from Mom’s cash stash in the kitchen. “But what else?”

Bea’s eyes brightened. “Can we go play checkers right now? I have a new one called Trapdoor Checkers. It’s so much fun. The pieces fall through the trapdoors.”

Joy felt her heart rate slowing more and more the longer she was in Beatrice’s presence. God sure knew what He was doing when He gave the world her innocent heart. “Perfect. Let’s go.” Joy smiled and stuck her hand out.

Beatrice grabbed Joy’s hand and practically bounced with excitement all the way to the front door. “I missed you so much.” She glanced behind her as she pulled, grinning.

“I missed you, too.” Joy squeezed her cousin’s hand, embarrassed by her selfishness. She should have thought of Beatrice’s feelings during the past weeks. Of course it had been too long, and Bea simply didn’t understand what might have kept Joy away. She took it as a personal affront … assumed Joy didn’t want to be with her. The thought broke Joy’s heart in two.

“What happened? Why didn’t you come see me for so long?” Beatrice’s lip poked out in a pout.

Be honest. But not too honest. “Like we talked about the other day, I had some hard things happen, and I stayed at home being sad.”

“I’m sorry you were sad. I heard my mom say on the phone that your friend died. I’m very sorry about that.”

“Thank you, sweetie.” Bea had mastered the art of eavesdropping when no one thought she was paying attention or assumed she didn’t understand.

“But I’m here now. I need to have some fun, so I’m just glad to be here with you. Let’s be happy and play some games, and then we’ll go get those tacos. If you win, you can have two.

Deal?”

Beatrice beamed. “Deal.”

“Oh, I almost forgot. I have something for you.” Beatrice pulled Joy to her bedroom, dragged her inside, and shut the door. She pressed her finger to her lips. “Don’t tell anyone. It’s a surprise, okay?”

“I’m not going to say a single word about your surprise.

What is it?”

Beatrice dove onto the floor and scrambled as she reached for something under her bed. “Got it.” She stood up and handed Joy the sheet of construction paper with crayons and stickers and glitter all over it.

“Look, look.” Beatrice pointed a stubby finger at a stick figure kneeling by a bed. “That’s you praying. Look up here.” She pointed above Joy to what looked to be an angel, as evidenced by the halo and the wings.

“This is great, Bea. But the angel looks mad. Why is she mad?”

“It’s a he. Angels are boys. Turn the paper over and you’ll see why he’s mad.”

On the flip side of the paper, Joy found a stick figure standing with her hands on her hips and a book on the floor. There were two devil-looking people standing behind her.

“This is you. This is a demon, and this is a demon. Oh, and this is the Bible on the floor.”

Joy flipped the page back over. So that’s what was going on in Bea’s mind. “So the angel’s mad because of the demons or because of the Bible on the floor?”

“No, the angel is mad that you looked at the demons.” Beatrice shrugged.

Joy stared at the paper. Was she worried because of her own fears, or did Beatrice truly have some special connection to the spirit world?

Bea was a mind reader; that had to be it. Joy felt so exposed. “How did you think of this? What do you want to say to me with this picture?”

Beatrice shrugged again. “I don’t know. Let’s play checkers.”

Subject closed.

Joy steered her Bug into the driveway and hopped out, leaving it running. A quick stop at home to run a comb through her hair and brush her teeth before meeting Mom and Dad for dinner. She took the front porch steps two at a time and bounded through the unlocked front door, flipping on every light she passed on her way to the bathroom.

A quick glance in the mirror. Oh man. She looked ghostly. A little makeup wouldn’t hurt if she didn’t want to scare animals and little children. Joy riffled through her makeup pouch searching for the bronzer. A little bit dusted across her cheeks and forehead would take the paste out of her skin. She added some blush to pink her cheeks and a few swipes of mascara to open up her eyes so she wouldn’t look like she hadn’t slept in weeks … even though she
hadn’t
slept in weeks.

Joy stared into her eyes as she brushed her teeth. Wait. That sounded like a chime. She turned the water off and cocked her ear toward the door. Was it the doorbell? It chimed again. Yep.

She jogged down the hall. Who could it be? Not anyone they knew well. Mom’s open-door policy meant come on in. None of that doorbell nonsense. Joy looked through the peephole. Oh great. Investigator what’s-his-name, the guy who’d asked her all the questions after … well,
after
.

Joy opened the door, but not wide enough to be considered welcoming. “Hi. Can I help you with something, officer?”

Was he going to blindside her with more questions? Please not tonight.

“Hello, um …”—he glanced at the paper in his hand—“Joy.”

Kind of rude he couldn’t have checked out her name before ringing her doorbell. Whatever. “Yeah, I’m on my way out. What can I do for you?” She should be nicer to him. It wasn’t his fault, after all. But he was a reminder. One she could easily do without.

“That’s fine. I won’t keep you. I just wanted to let you know that we’re closing the investigation on Melanie Phillips’s death, and I wanted to return your personal effects to you.” He handed her a plastic bag full of things confiscated from the scene. Joy instantly recognized most of the things in the bag, including half of a best friend necklace and the suicide note Melanie had addressed to Joy.

Joy shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. She’d deal with those things later.

“Thanks, officer.” What was protocol for something like this?

He nodded, shifting uncomfortably. His body straining toward his vehicle. “I’m really sorry about your loss. Truly.” Joy nodded.
Me, too
. “Thanks.”

“Well I’ll leave you to your plans. You can trust you won’t be seeing me show up on your doorstep anymore.”

Thank the Lord for small favors. Or the universe? Maybe she should be thanking the universe.

The little car tucked neatly into a parking space right outside of Hoke’s. Joy hopped out and walked under the yellow neon signs out front to enter the retro diner.

“Hey, there. Haven’t seen you in here in a while.” Pat, the redheaded waitress, flicked a dishtowel at Joy with a grin.

Joy tried to smile. “Hey. I know. It has been awhile. But I’m in the mood for a great burger.”

The waitress’s happy face faded. That always happened when people gave even a moment’s thought to why Joy hadn’t been around lately. Wonder how long that would go on? She sure didn’t like to be a mood killer everywhere she went.

“My mom and dad here yet?” Joy looked around the dining room, hoping to avoid the twenty questions.

Pat pointed to the back. “In the booth.”

“Oh, I see them. Thanks.” Joy followed the wood paneling to the rear of the restaurant and slid into the empty side of the booth. “Hey guys.”

“Hey love.” Dad grinned. “We’re ready to order, so go ahead and decide. Then we’ll catch up.”

The rumbling from Joy’s stomach insisted on a burger, fries, and a shake. An appetite like that would be perfect for dispelling any kind of fear her parents might have about her health and nutrition.

“What can I get you folks?” Pat poised her pen above her notepad and waited. Mom ordered her usual salad, then the waitress turned to Joy.

“I’ll have a cheeseburger, extra pickles, and an order of cheese fries.” How many times had she and Melanie shared a plate of fries?

“I’ll have the same.” Dad folded up his menu. “Chocolate shakes all around, too.”

Mom laughed and held up her hand. “Oh, not for me. Diet Coke, please.”

Pat scooped up the menus. “I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

Could Melanie actually be with them there at Hoke’s?

Almost like when little kids had imaginary friends. But, in this case, the invisible friend wasn’t imaginary. Joy scooted to the right a few inches. Logically, she knew she wasn’t sitting on Melanie, but … still.