Chapter 18: Chapter 18
Courtney, later that night, rapped lightly on Serena's bedroom door across the hall. She poked her head into the soft pink room and found Serena on the bed with a pile of tissues. Her eyes were red and her nose pink.
Courtney closed the door behind her and sat next to her friend on the crimson and white quilted spread. "What's going on?"
Serena shook her head violently, causing her dark curls to bounce and tears to spill into her lap. "I was just worrying about what to say to Jake tomorrow." She wiped her nose. "Before we even started dating all those years ago, he was my friend. It broke his heart when I left and now I'm back, only to tell him"
Courtney let her words hang as she traced the swirl pattern of Serena's quilt with her finger. "I would just tell him the truth."
Serena smiled half-heartedly as she reached for a tissue on the nightstand. "I know, but it's hard trying to figure out his reaction to me coming home and to this. He never understood why I left. He blamed himself. It wasn't him at all, and I could never make him get that. We haven't spoken in like three years."
A late summer breeze blew Serena's white sheer curtains from their spot against the window seat. A row of porcelain dolls watched over them from a shelf. There were no sounds but the crickets chirping and Serena's breathing.
But the voices, the memories, in Courtney's head, were loud. "He'll forgive you." She looked back at Serena to find her expression blank. "He has no choice, and he'll be upset, but not for the reasons you think. He'll forgive you."
"God, I hope you're right." Serena searched Courtney's face for untruth, knowing she wouldn't find any. Sadly, she didn't think Courtney even knew how to lie. "Did you need something?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt." Courtney stilled her hands and bit her lip. "It's just, well, we're going to church tomorrow and I've never been to church. I don't know what to wear."
"God doesn't care what you look like." The troubled expression didn't leave her friend's face, though. "I usually wear a light sundress." She rose and moved toward the closet. "I'll find one in here for you. Monday, before we go to Austin's store, we'll go shopping for some clothes for you. You hardly have anything. A woman should have a plethora of clothes." She chuckled as she fished through her closet.
"I don't have much money..."
"Oh, don't worry about that." She dismissed that with a wave of her hand. "Hey, what will I need it for, anyway?"
Serena twisted around. A haze of tears swam in Courtney's eyes. Crap. "I'm sorry, that was...bad humor. Austin and I both have a lot of money from the insurance after Mom and Dad's accident. Neither of us knows what to do with it." But Serena didn't think Courtney would be any more comfortable with a handout than she was around strangers. "We'll talk with Austin tomorrow," she amended. "He could probably use help at his store if you're concerned about money."
"Okay."
"When I'm done with that mural, probably by next weekend, he'll reopen. You could waitress at the coffee counter or work the register in the gift shop."
"Okay," Courtney replied again, appearing to feel better.
Serena resumed fishing through the closet. "Ah, here we go. This will fit you." She held up a light blue sundress with white daisies. "It goes with your complexion too. You can keep it. I never wear it."
Courtney started to say thank you when Serena whirled around to the closet again. "You'll need shoes. Let's see." She rummaged through a shelf. "Here we go. My white sandals should work. I had many compliments about my legs while wearing these babies."
Courtney chuckled. "That was you, though. I'll just look like... like me."
Serena raised her brows as she shut her closet door. "Woman, I've told you, you are beautiful." Serena read disbelief on her face, so she added, "Haven't you noticed the way Austin looks at you?"
"No," she mumbled, with apparent confusion.
Serena fixed a slight smile on her face. "You will." No sense in frightening her more, so Serena let the topic drop. She plopped down on her bed and crossed her legs. "After church, we'll come back here and have lunch. I'll tell Jake...what's going on. Austin said he'd walk you through Grams' garden while I talk with him."
Courtney nodded and, acting as if she'd been dismissed, paced to the door, eyeing her new dress. After pausing with her hand on the knob for a few moments, she turned. "It really will be okay. With Jake, I mean."
Courtney lay on her bed, thinking about this church they would be going to and how many ways she could embarrass herself. Her body had grown used to her sleeping schedule years ago, but tonight she was craving the solace of dreaming. She groaned and looked at her clock again on the nightstand. How could it only be two in the morning? She rolled onto her back and draped her arm over her face.
Frustrated, she listened to the sounds of the crickets quietly chirping and tried to make her body relax. Wind chimes tinkled off in the distance andlaughter? Was thatchildren laughing? She rose and adjusted the ankle-length white nightgown Serena had given her while her clothes were being washed and made her way to the double French doors. She had left them open, enjoying the smells of summer.
Barefoot, she stepped out onto the balcony and gazed over the back of Gram's estate. Weeping willows lined the horizon, and running through the center of the yard was a path, surrounded by flowers and bushes that danced when the breeze picked up again, taking the hem of her nightgown with it. Water fountains and other statues lay peacefully in the night, guarding the beauty. A porch light was on by the brick house off to the left, where oaks encased the property. Beyond them, she could barely make out a red barn.
There it was again, that laughter.
Her eyes scanned the yard, squinting through the dark shadows to figure out where the laughter was coming from. It was so faint, like it clung to the breeze and lived off it. She glanced to her right to see if Austin's doors were ajar, to see if he heard it too, but his doors weren't open, and his light was off. She hadn't heard him come up from the library while she laid awake, so she determined he was still locked away in there downstairs.
She eyed the gardens again. Curiosity getting the better of her, she edged away from the balcony and headed out of her room.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone