We both wiped our tears away just as my mom walked through the patio doors. "Good morning, girls," she sing-songed. She was fully dressed, coiffed, and looking like she'd been awake for hours. She came over and kissed me on my cheek, bringing her face close to mine and gazing at me with a smile on her face for a good ten seconds. Her powdery, floral scent wafted all around me. I couldn't help but smile back at her, my mood lifting just a little. "What?" I asked.
"You!" she said, pinching my cheek. "You bring joy to my day. And you're so gorgeous, even with bed head." She grinned.
Molly snorted. "Well, gee, what am I? Chopped liver here?"
"Oh," my mom said, standing and clapping her hands together. "You're gorgeous, too. I'm just used to you." She went over and kissed Molly and pinched her cheek as well. She plopped down in a chair next to me and said, "I have so much to do before the party."
I bit my lip. "Do you really think your friends will be discreet?" I asked. "I mean, these people can definitely be trusted not to go to the police, right? Until we're ready?"
My mom's eyes widened. "Oh yes. I've sworn them all to secrecy for now. They know exactly how much I've suffered, and now how much you've suffered, too. They would never." She paused, looking concerned. "But Eden, we'll have to tell the police you're back at some point, my darling. They'll want to close the case, investigate and whatever it is they do in situations like this."
I worried my brow, nodding. "You can't get in trouble for not telling them right away, can you?"
Molly cut in, "I can't think of any law you're breaking, no, and I highly doubt they'd do anything about it anyway. How would that look? Anyone in their right mind will understand." She glanced at Carolyn who was nodding. "Still, you can't live with it hanging over your head. The sooner you get the whole hoopla over with, the sooner you can move on with your life."
I frowned again, nodding. "Hoopla," I whispered.
"Oh yes, it will be a media circus. You have to be prepared for that." Carolyn frowned slightly. As I studied her face, sympathy filled me. If anyone was familiar with a media circus, it was her I imagined.
I nodded again, even more determined now to put off going to the police. Police. As always, just the word alone had fear skittering down my spine. A captive to fear.
"Well anyway," Carolyn said brightly, "we can talk about all that after the party. We'll make a decision together.”
I smiled, but I was still a little concerned. "Okay. So speaking of this party, I thought you said it was a very small intimate group of friends?"
"Oh, it is, just twenty. But my garden parties are infamous, so I have a reputation to uphold." She winked. "Plus, since it will be chilly, there's more to do. Heat lamps, twinkle lights . . . It's going to be beautiful. It will be like making up for all the birthday parties I didn't get to throw for you."
I laughed softly. "Okay." I started to stand and Molly and my mom did, too. "I'm going to go in and take a shower," I said.
"All right. I've laid your outfit out on your bed," my mom said as I turned away. I turned back.
"Outfit?"
"For the party."
I heard Molly groan and my eyes darted to her. She widened them slightly as if to say that Carolyn had really lost her mind. What could it really hurt though? I turned back to my mom and smiled. "Thanks, how nice of you," I said.
Her expression brightened and she smiled, clapping her hands together.
"Eden," Molly called. "It was so nice talking to you." She smiled warmly if not a little sadly.
I gave her a small smile back. "You, too, Molly," I said.
I went back upstairs to my room trying my best not to gasp out in horrified shock when I saw the sheer, light pink, sleeveless dress with the huge flower at the neckline. I held the hanger up, my eyes widening as the flower seemed to grow before my very eyes. Well.
I laid it back down on my bed, a feeling of rebellion coursing through my body. This is not the same, I reminded myself, picturing a white, lace dress. This is not the same. I hung the dress up in my closet and closed the door firmly behind me.
CHAPTER FOUR
Eden
I scrolled through the Internet page in front of me, taking a few notes here and there when something seemed important, but mostly reading the content and pausing when I needed to digest something. The information filled my mind, blocking out everything else and bringing with it a peace I craved, at least for the moment.
A knock sounded at my door, startling me slightly. I snapped my laptop closed. No one would understand this—certainly not my mother. Molly peeked in and smiled at me, closing the door behind her.
"You know what you need?" she asked.
I breathed out a laugh as I sat my laptop aside. "So many things, I don't even know where to begin."
She laughed a soft laugh, too. "No really. You need a night out."
I shook my head, leaning back on the pillows behind me where I sat on my bed. "Oh no, no. I don't do bars. And I don't even have an ID anyway."
"I'm not going to a bar. I'm meeting a couple friends from school and we're going to see this local artist who’s been getting a ton of buzz here."
I picked up my laptop and stood up to put it on my desk under the window. "An artist?" Molly was a junior at The Art Institute and studied Fashion Marketing and she had plans with her classmates often.