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Phoebe filled Chloe in on the brief conversation, even though she probably already pieced together the outcome. Phoebe had no choice but to reclaim the chair and drink her tea, while Chloe did the same with her coffee.
A few minutes later, Phoebe's phone chimed.
"Thanks, Mom," Phoebe said gratefully after jotting the phone number down on a notepad that Chloe had been using to write down theories last night. "How is Dad?"
"How do you think?" Lilith didn't sound too pleased with Kenneth. "Your father is going back to work on Monday. Apparently, I'm driving him crazy. Will you and Chloe be at the apartment? I'll be opening the shop at nine o'clock today."
"I don't think we'll be here, but I can swing by the house later to check on Dad."
"Perfect," Lilith replied with a little less irritation. Phoebe wondered how her mother would react if she was aware that Chloe had overheard the conversation that had taken place in the back room of the yarn shop. "Don't tell him that I asked you to stop by, though. All I will get is grief and a lecture on how he's a grown adult, never mind that he can't remember to take his blood pressure medication."
Phoebe should have disconnected their call, but she needed to know that she hadn't upset her father too much yesterday.
"Mom, is he—"
"Your father is fine, Phoebe." Lilith's tone had taken another edge, this time with resolve. "You're bound to discover things that we might not like, but Jenna was about to go off to college. She was an adult herself, wasn't she?"
"Yeah," Phoebe replied softly in agreement as she stared down at the phone number. "You're right, Mom. Jenna was an adult who made her own choices. We all make choices, but sometimes we forget that they can affect other people."
Lilith remained silent, but Phoebe hadn't expected her mother to blurt out whatever it was that she and Trish had been keeping to themselves. At least, not over the phone.
"I'll see you later, Mom."
Phoebe disconnected the call with her mother. Chloe continued to sip her coffee without saying a word. They had spoken at length last night about what Phoebe's mother and aunt could possibly be hiding, but it probably wasn’t wise to bring it up over the phone.
"You don't think my mother is sick, do you?" Phoebe wasn't sure why that thought had popped into her head, but now it was stuck. "Is that why she has had a change of heart about the investigation?"
"It didn't come across like that to me," Chloe said quietly as she finally lowered her coffee mug. "I think you should ask her outright, Pheebs. I don't mind if you tell her that I overheard her conversation with Trish. We've obviously upset someone by looking into Jenna's death. How many times have we seen someone watching us, only to have that same someone follow you out to your parents' place? We're used to similar situations when we go on the road for the podcast, but this is different. This is personal, and we should have all the facts. Isn't that what Mason told you last night?"
Phoebe shot a sideways glance toward Chloe.
Phoebe had been on the phone with Mason Ward last night. She couldn't even categorize them as being in a relationship. They spoke on the phone maybe three times a week. Some would probably say it was merely a friendship, but she couldn't deny the emotions that washed over her every single time she heard the rich tone of his voice. There would come a time when she would need to decide how far she would allow him into her life. Would he view her differently after she shared the truth with him about being able to see dead people?
"Don't worry," Chloe said with a knowing smile as she pushed herself off the couch. She walked to the kitchen for a refill on her coffee. "I covered my head with a pillow before the commencement of any dirty talk."
Phoebe figured the best course of action was to not respond, so she concentrated on entering Simone's number on the keypad of her phone. After the fourth ring, Phoebe was certain that the call would be sent to voicemail.
However, right before it would have clicked over, a raspy voice answered.
"Hello?" Simone mumbled in confusion. It was evident that she had been asleep.
"Simone, it's Phoebe Burrow. I'm sorry to call so early—"
"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Simone interrupted before an audible yawn. There was a shuffling noise in the background, almost as if Simone was sitting up in bed. "It's my day to sleep in, Burrow."
"I sincerely apologize. It's just that I have an important question to ask you. I was hoping you could give me a quick description of the necklace."
There was another heavy sigh on the other end of the line.
"You're kidding me, right?"
"I'm sorry, I just need to know what it looked like," Phoebe pressed on. "Was it silver, gold, did it have a pendant?"
"It was silver," Simone replied flatly, the sleepiness from her voice being replaced with irritation. "The pendant was a crescent moon. Is that it? Are we done?"
Phoebe's breath caught in her throat. She recalled the dainty silver chain that Jenna had worn the day that she died, along with the little moon charm that had been caught in the fabric of her scarf.
"Yes, that's all I needed, Simone." Phoebe couldn't bring herself to admit that Jenna had stolen Simone's necklace. At least, not yet. The words wouldn't form right at this moment, but Phoebe would eventually need to apologize to the woman. "I appreciate you answering the phone."
