Tom hung up without saying goodbye or that he loved her.
Carla’s whole body wilted as she surveyed her overpolished surroundings. As she peered out of the window, the skies over Paris looked lemony and faded.
Aaron sidled into the room. “Well, that seemed to go well,” he said, performing an exaggerated shrug.
Carla threw the cushion at his head.
“Hey. I was just saying.”
“I need to leave for England. I want to go home,” she said.
“Okay. Sure.” He paused. “I actually have some urgent business there...”
“Aaron,” she warned. “I need to be with my family, be with Tom. I want to get married without any more problems.”
“You’re also pregnant and we’re going to the same place, so doesn’t it make sense to travel together?” When she didn’t answer, Aaron tried again. “Come on, Carla. Can’t we agree on one little thing, just this once? Will it really hurt us so badly?”
Despite fighting against it, Carla found a small smile. She was tired and didn’t want to face wandering around Charles de Gaulle Airport on her own. “Okay, then, I agree,” she said. “Let’s go back home.”
Twenty-Eight
Crows
Despite all of Carla’s efforts, and the physical and mental exhaustion from the past couple of weeks, she could not fall asleep on the plane back to England. She was glad Aaron was seated at the front of the aircraft, so they didn’t have to converse.
Questions whirled nonstop in her head. What was going to happen when she saw Tom? When exactly would he arrive home? Their wedding was only eight days away and Carla wanted to make sure everything was going to be perfect from now on. She would get her nails done, source blankets, perhaps even make her own sugared almonds as a gift for guests to take away from the reception. She would catch up with friends and visit the house she and Tom were going to move into. The more she could involve her fiancé in her plans, the closer they could become again. They could put all this behind them.
The flight from Paris to Manchester took only ninety minutes, and in that short space of time, the golden light of France fell away to the misty gray of the English skies.
She met up with Aaron again after they’d disembarked. He claimed Lucinda’s bungalow was on the way to his office, so they took a taxi together away from the airport.
In the back seat of the cab, Carla clamped her knees around her backpack as they sped along the highway. Her thoughts zoned out as Aaron remarked on the drizzly weather, how it was cold for late May and about some of the properties he was developing in England. He eventually realized her attention was elsewhere and they sat together staring ahead, watching as the road signs counted down the miles until they reached Lucinda’s place.
The taxi turned a corner and Carla leaned forward when she saw a small group of people gathered on the pavement outside the bungalow. When she recognized several of her relatives in dark clothing, her heart started to race. “What’s going on?” she said, feeling something acidic rising in her throat.
“It doesn’t look like a garden party,” Aaron commented, straining his neck for a better look. “I’ll get out with you, to see.”
He paid the driver, and Carla exited the car, her bones stiffening as she drew closer to the members of her family. They nodded slightly when they saw her, their faces somber and their eyes filled with sadness.
A wave of alarm hit Carla. “Gran?” she said, thinking how Lucinda had tried to hide her hospital letter. She shouted it even louder. “Gran?” Her knees threatened to give way as she looked frantically around her. Aaron took her arm to help prop her up.
Carla struggled to focus on individual faces, wanting only to see Lucinda’s gray hair and olive eyes. When she spotted an extravagant plume of black feathers heading in her direction, she sidestepped her way around a group of her cousins. “What’s happened?” she asked Mimi, panic continuing to bubble up inside her. “Where’s Gran?”
Mimi dabbed a tear from her eye with a gray lace handkerchief. She was dressed in a black satin Victorian-style dress that reached the floor. “Oh, darling. Lucinda went to the hospital and...and...” She stumbled over her words and hung her head.
Carla gripped Aaron’s shoulder to steady herself. “Oh god, no.”
He was solid beside her. “I’m so sorry,” he said under his breath.
Someone took hold of Mimi’s arm and tugged her away before Carla could ask her anything else.
She screwed her eyes shut, praying this wasn’t really happening. People all around her were murmuring about hexes, bad luck and omens, their low whispers sounding like chants. Carla wanted to yell at them to shut up. She should never have left her gran, shouldn’t have gone chasing around overseas, should never have doubted her and Tom. Her tears came thick and fast, streaming down her face and wetting the ends of her hair.
Her relatives swarmed around the lawn until Carla saw the crowd part, letting someone through. Carla stared at the ground, overwhelmed by sorrow. But then she saw a small flash of color. A pair of shoes grew closer, and she could make out that they were embroidered moccasins. Carla’s gaze crept tentatively up the person’s body, taking in their generous curves and a paisley headscarf. She almost crumpled to her hands and knees when she saw her gran standing before her.
Carla let out a gasp of relief and her tears fell even harder. “Gran.”
“Thank goodness you’re here, honey,” Lucinda said, circling her arms around Carla’s back and holding her tightly. “I’ve just got back from the hospital.”
Carla held her tightly, too, burying her face into her shoulder. “Are you okay? I thought that you’d...gone.”
She stopped when she saw Mimi heading back toward them. “Sorry I was whisked away, darling,” she said. “I was going to tell you that Lucinda has been at the hospital with Jess and Evelyn.” She swallowed and pressed a hand to her neck.
Carla looked all around her again, this time trying to locate her sister. There was still a sense of dread in the pit of her stomach. “Why? What’s happened? Why is everyone wearing black?”
“It’s all so absolutely dreadful,” Mimi said. “Bertrand and Evelyn were at the library yesterday afternoon, choosing books together. They were discussing their next knitting project when he complained about feeling dizzy. Evelyn made sure he sat down and went to get him a glass of water. It only took a couple of minutes, but she returned to find him slumped forward at the table. Evelyn yelled for help, but it was too late. Bertrand had already passed. Evelyn is beside herself, absolutely devastated. We all are. Our family curse has claimed yet another—”
Carla raised a palm to stop Mimi’s next words. “Please don’t say that,” she said firmly.
Mimi pressed her scarlet lips together and nodded. “Jess is with Evelyn at the funeral home right now, talking about arrangements.”
“Evelyn insisted on doing it straightaway,” Lucinda told Carla. “Bertrand didn’t have any other family she’s aware of and Evelyn wants to keep busy. Our extended family has turned up to help.” She paused and glanced over at Aaron, who was talking to one of Carla’s cousins. “What’s he doing here?”
“Don’t worry, he’s with me,” Carla said. “We traveled back from Paris together and were pulling up in a taxi when we saw a crowd.”
Lucinda raised a questioning eyebrow. “Paris?”
“It’s okay, Gran. Everything’s fine. Aaron’s actually been really helpful. I’ll tell you more about it later.”
