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"You haven't been to see Jenna in years."
Phoebe tensed, not wanting to start the evening off on a bad note when it was going to end on an even worse one. Chloe appeared to have sensed the change in the air, as well. She slowly lowered the yarn and crochet hook until both rested on the kitchen table.
Phoebe observed her mother reach over the stovetop and flick off the oven. The garlic bread remained uncooked on the sheet pan. Her mom purposely picked up a dish towel from the counter and methodically wiped her hands.
"Let's get this over with, Phoebe. I imagine that everyone in town already knows about your little meeting with the chief today. What folklore or urban legend are you investigating now?"
Lilith turned around, her gaze flickering between Phoebe and Chloe.
"On second thought, don’t answer that question right now. Why don't we go into the living room so we can include your father? Then maybe we'll still have appetites left for dinner."
Phoebe closed her eyes, realizing her mother assumed this was about some new case for their podcast. Lilith had no idea her own daughter's death was now in the spotlight.
Without a word, Lilith walked out of the kitchen.
"Looks like it's go-time, Pheebs." Chloe pushed back the chair, abandoning her new hobby. "It's not like we can turn back now."
"Don't I know it," Phoebe said before taking a long, healthy drink of her beer. The malt beverage did nothing to soothe her nerves. "They're going to hate me."
"Only for a short time." Chloe walked around the table and hooked her hand through Phoebe's arm in support. "When we discover what really happened that day, your parents will finally be able to heal."
"I was talking about them hating me for lying to them, Chloe." Phoebe set the bottle of beer on the counter before slowly walking toward the archway. "Eleven years’ worth of lies."
"Oh. That little detail," Chloe murmured as they walked out of the kitchen. "That might be a bigger hurdle, but don't worry…I won't let them put you in a straitjacket."
Chloe's intention had been to get Phoebe to laugh, but it stuck in her throat as they entered the living room. Lilith was already sitting on the couch, her legs crossed with one swinging rather rapidly. Her impatience was more than evident. As for Phoebe's dad, he had removed his reading glasses and folded them so that they rested on top of his tablet in his lap.
"Well, go on then," Lilith urged with clipped words. "Tell us what ghost or haunting has captured your imagination this time."
Phoebe couldn't bring herself to sit down. She should have brought her beer with her, and for a brief second, she thought about returning to the kitchen. Chloe's slight tug was the only thing that kept Phoebe near the fireplace.
"You both know how much I love you, right?"
Lilith stopped swinging her leg.
Phoebe's heartbeat accelerated, and the palms of her hands began to perspire. She wiped them on her jeans.
"Is it hot in here?" Phoebe asked to buy some time. Her throat was constricting, and the words wouldn't come. “This is a pretty nice-sized fire, Dad.”
"I can't take this," Chloe suddenly blurted out as she took the last few steps so that she was standing in front of the fireplace, as well. "Phoebe lied to you when she was eighteen years old. She can still see Jenna. Her spirit, I mean. Pheebs just didn't want to spend the rest of her life being sent to psychiatrists."
Lilith and Kenneth both appeared too stunned to react to Chloe’s announcement. Phoebe wasn’t even sure how to respond, because she was overcome with a mixture of disbelief and gratitude.
"I should probably mention that I had a near-death experience when I was a teenager," Chloe added with a sheepish expression. Phoebe should have stopped her after the comment about the psychiatrist. "It occurred on the same day that Jenna was murdered at the pond. She was standing right before me. She told me that it wasn't my time to go…or cross over…or whatever it is that souls do. All I remember is that Jenna said Phoebe would need me. At the time, I thought it was all some type of dream or hallucination. Then? A couple of years later, I met Pheebs in college. It all began to make sense. Jenna is the reason that we became friends."
Chloe's words were like pebbles being dropped into puddles of silence.
Kenneth's reading glasses slipped off the tablet to the area rug with a muffled thump. Lilith's face had drained of color a while ago, but now her lips parted soundlessly. Phoebe hated that their anger and grief over losing Jenna would now be brought to the surface again. If there had been a way to investigate Jenna’s death without them knowing, Phoebe would have done so in a heartbeat.
"Murder?" Lilith slowly uncrossed her legs before inching forward on the cushion. Chloe wisely stepped to the side, giving Phoebe the floor. "Is that what your meeting with Chief Bennett was about this morning? Are you trying to convince him that Jenna's death wasn't some tragic accident that basically ruined our lives?"
"Lilith," Kenneth warned his wife as he set his tablet down on the side table next to his chair. He understood how these family discussions usually ended, but Phoebe desperately needed this one to end differently. "I believe our focus needs to be on Phoebe right now."
Kenneth leaned forward to pick up his reading glasses. It was as if he were attempting to buy himself some time to come to terms with what he had just heard from Chloe.
"I’m sorry, Pheebs," Chloe whispered, wincing in reaction to the outcome. “I just couldn’t stand seeing you torture yourself anymore.”
“It’s okay,” Phoebe said softly as she tried her best to steady her nerves. She decided to address her father's concern first. "It's true that I lied to you both eleven years ago when I said I couldn't see Jenna anymore. It's also true that I've continued to see her ghost…spirit…presence, whatever you want to call it, since then."
