Quiet in Her Bones by Singh, Nalini (good e books to read txt) 📗

people from the neighborhood to go up and have a look when the flowers were in bloom.

“Coffee?” she called out.

Leaving the meds in the car, I made my way across the road. Taking my pain to a sympathetic listener.

“Paul will be disappointed you’ve ditched his cane,” she said after kissing me on the cheek. “He was chuffed to see you using it. Was telling me all about it yesterday.”

“Apparently I was trying to run before I could walk,” I said, mimicking Dr. Tawera’s stern tone and unforgiving manner.

“Oh, ouch.” She gave me a gentle hug, her perfume soft and floral. “Come on in. I’ve got just the treat to lift your bad mood.”

I groaned. “I thought I was doing a good job of hiding it.”

Laughing, she touched me on the hand. “I have children, remember? And I’ve known you forever.” She led me up the drive and to the very back of the house, careful to keep things at a pace I could manage. Once we were inside her sprawling kitchen, she pointed to the comfortable couch that sat in one corner, in front of the ­wall-­mounted television.

I’d spent many an hour slouched there as a kid, watching TV or playing on a handheld console while my mother chatted with Diana. Even when I’d moaned at being dragged over, I’d enjoyed it. Diana’s home was ­picture-­perfect except for this one corner she’d created for Mia and ­Beau—­here, things were a little shabby, a little imperfect.

I sank down into the sofa with a sigh, while Diana went around to start the coffee. First, however, she put a full tray of fudge in front of me. “I just made this.” A huge smile.

“You know the way to my heart.”

Laughing, she left me to my addiction.

“Thank you,” I said, after a piece of the rich concoction, “for the big bag you sent over.”

“Oh, Aarav, you never have to thank me.” A soft smile. “You’ll always be Nina’s boy to me, and I’m happy I can give you joy in this small way.” Spooning the ground coffee into the coffee press, she said, “Have you had lunch? It’s after twelve.”

“No, but I had a late breakfast.”

A courier came to the front door just after the water finished boiling, and she went to grab the package. Her expression was drawn when she walked back in, her features tight. “Diana?”

Normally soft lips pressed together, she put the package on the counter. “It’s from Sarah. For Mia’s birthday next week.” She didn’t say anything else until she’d brought over the coffee tray and a plate of cake. “Sarah still emails regularly with the kids, and sends them gifts, but she won’t reply to a single message I send.”

“It’s been a long time.” I didn’t know the origin of the estrangement between the sisters, but I knew it had happened while I was a young teenager. Sarah had been living with Diana and Calvin for a number of years by then.

“I thought she’d forgive me after a while, ­but …” Picking up the press, she poured me a black coffee, and I leaned forward to add the sugar myself. “From when she was a child, she could hold a grudge like no one else. I still wish her happy birthday and merry Christmas every year, and every year, she ignores me.”

“I’m sorry.” According to my memories of her, Sarah had been much younger than Diana, more child than sister.

“Thank you, honey. One thing I’m happy about is that she seems settled into a really nice life. Mia keeps me updated and she says Sarah has a senior job in insurance. She’s thinking of getting married to her ­long-­term boyfriend, and lives in a nice town in the South Island. She’s living the kind of life I always wanted for her.”

She took a sip of her coffee. “I used to worry about the kids trying to bring us together and being knocked ­back—­Mia and Beau can be terribly sweet when they’re not being ­teenagers—­but thankfully, she’s become like a distant relative to them after all this time. They love her, but they don’t really know her.”

Shaking her head, she said, “Enough of that. Have a slice of this ­lemon-­coconut ­cake—­I’m trying a new recipe for a contract with a local boutique restaurant.”

“You’re expanding the business?” She’d always been adamant about being a ­one-­woman show.

“With the kids becoming more independent, I have a bit of time on my hands.” She pushed across a slice of cake. “Anastasia thinks I should relax and go to salons and do some shopping, but can you imagine me living that life?” A ­good-­natured laugh, her beautifully dark blue eyes sparkling. “Have a bite. Tell me what you think.”

“It’s amazing,” I said after all but inhaling half the slice.

“You need feeding up, Aarav. What’ve you been doing to yourself?” With that, she put another slice on my plate.

“Hard living and whiskey. Oh, and a packet of your fudge a week.”

She scowled at me, but her lips were twitching. “You always were charming. That’s what Nina used to call you when you were a toddler. ‘My little charmer.’ ” Her expression softened, grew sad. “I can’t believe she was there all this time. So close to us and so alone.”

Cake suddenly lead in my stomach, I gulped several mouthfuls of the coffee. “Did you see anything that night? The night she disappeared?”

Cupping both hands around her mug, Diana looked inward. “I’ve been thinking about that since you told us the police had found ­Nina—­Calvin and I talked about it afterward. It was stormy, we both remember that.

“Calvin was still at the hospital and I was worrying one of the trees would come down on our house while I was sick and in my housedress, and then a handsome fireman would have to rescue me while I looked like his ­half-­dead maiden aunt.”

The idea of respectable, maternal Diana having fantasies about firemen might’ve struck me as funny at another time. “You had the flu, didn’t you?” When