Into the Garden (Wildflowers 5)

"How do you know who's right and who's wrong for you?" I asked.

They both looked at me.

"You'll know," Star said. "By the time we're finished with you:'

They laughed again. I smiled and thought, I've got real friends, finally, and ironically, all because Geraldine died and left me alone. Was it wrong for something so good to come from something so bad? I was too nervous to care and maybe that was the biggest mistake of all.

9 Skeletons Out of the Closet

The telephone was ringing when we entered the house. I was holding open the door so the girls could carry in all the boxes, but I managed to get to the phone in time. The girls hurried to gather around me, anxious to hear who was calling. Was it the bank again?

"Hello?" I said, looking at them. After a moment I swallowed hard and said, "Just a minute, Doctor Marlowe."

I put my hand over the mouthpiece.

"She wants to talk to Geraldine. What will I do? What should I say?"

"Tell her your mother said she has nothing to

say to her," Jade dictated. "Go on," she urged, "and

make it sound truthful."

I took a breath and did what she suggested. "I'm sorry, but she won't come to the phone,

Doctor Marlowe. She has nothing to say to you." That wasn't really a lie, I thought. She has

nothing to say to anyone.

"She's not doing the right thing, Cathy. You

need your follow-up visit. There are too many loose ends," Doctor Marlowe insisted. She sounded like she wasn't going to be satisfied until she spoke to

Geraldine.

"I'll speak to her about it, Doctor Marlowe," I

promised, "and call you as soon as I can."

"You know I'm right, Cathy. We should do

what's best for you." I thought she was going to end

the conversation but then at the last minute she spoke

again. "I understand you had some sort of an

accident?"

"I'm fine," I said, maybe too quickly because

there was a long pause.

"Have you seen or heard from the other girls?"

she asked. The tone of her voice suggested that she

already knew the answer.