Silverweed Read online

  “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to piss you off. I love you and hate seeing you like this. I just want you to stop being so hard on yourself. That’s all.”

  His eyes filled with tears as he turned away. “You don’t understand.”

  “I understand she used old wives’ tales to keep you in line.”

  “Everything she told me is real,” he whispered. “I know you don’t believe me, don’t believe any of it, but it’s all true. I found a letter addressed to me in her things.”

  She groaned. “What did it say?”

  Diesel turned around and his face twitched slightly, and his lips were a cold shade of purple.

  “Come on.” She linked her arm in his and slowly walked him toward the house. Whatever his lunatic mom wrote could wait until they were warmly inside. “I have an idea. Why don’t we get away for a while?”

  “I can’t leave. I have to take care of Gran.”

  She figured that would be his answer, but she was ready. “You’re in charge of the money, right? Granny needs to be taken care of 24/7. You can’t do that and go to college. She needs to be in a place with nurses and people who can make sure she eats and bathes.”

  As they neared the house, the back door opened. A lady with a strong family resemblance, but citified in her button-down blouse and business slacks, smiled at them. “Dinner’s ready,” she said and went back inside.

  Scarlet said, “The aunt, I presume. I met the cousin earlier.”

  “Aiden,” Diesel mumbled. “Seems like a fun guy.”

  “Well, I think he’s pretty cute,” she said as she walked ahead of him and inside the house. Perhaps she had found some fuel to help flame his desire to leave.

  They found everyone sitting at the formal dining room table, including Granny. The food was set out, family style, which was something Scarlet had never experienced at the Anderson’s house.

  Diesel introduced Scarlet as his girlfriend and Granny rolled her eyes, of course. But Scarlet didn’t care. Her body jittered with excitement because somebody had gone upstairs and helped Granny downstairs. Somebody who wasn’t Diesel.

  Before, she had worried that the family might add to the problem, but now, she couldn’t stop thinking Diesel’s cousin and aunt were the perfect solution. Diesel didn’t even have to find a nursing home for Granny. They could leave soon, like now.

  “We don’t usually sit in here,” Granny said, breaking the silence. Her hair was pinned up in a bun, and she wore one of her standard over-sized gowns. The funeral was the only time Scarlet had ever seen Granny wear anything else. She had been a real spectacle in her huge black hat with veil and all.

  “It’s fine, Gran,” Diesel said. “Thanks for dinner, Aunt Lucy.”

  “It’s too early for dinner,” Granny grumbled. “Who has dinner at such a ridiculous hour?”

  “Why thank you, Diesel,” Lucy said.

  Scarlet smiled. Yep, the best thing to do with the old woman was to ignore her insults.

  Lucy cleared her throat. “I have something I would like to discuss as a family.”

  “The chicken is overdone,” Granny said. “Augustus, will you get me some more water to wash it down?”

  Scarlet didn’t mind when Diesel jumped up and ran to the kitchen because knowing he wouldn’t be at Granny’s beck and call for much longer brought peace and happiness.

  “Everything tastes delicious,” Scarlet said.

  “Thanks. This is actually Granny’s fried chicken recipe.”

  Granny said, “I don’t think you marinated it long enough.”

  Lucy sighed. “Maybe not.”

  “I’m going in for seconds,” Aiden said, using the serving fork to stab a piece of chicken from the plate in the middle of the table.

  “I wouldn’t do that,” Granny said.

  “Oh, I’m sorry.” Aiden held up the thigh, offering it to her. “Did you want it?”

  Granny squinted and licked her lips. “If you take the last piece of food from a serving tray, you will never marry.”

  Aiden glanced at his mom, who gave a slight shrug. He put the chicken back on the plate.

  Amused, Scarlet grabbed the chicken with her hand. “Well,” she said, taking a huge bite, “if you ask me, marriage is overrated.”

  Granny glared at her but didn’t say anything. Her ugly attitude was nothing new to Scarlet. When Scarlet had first met Granny, she tried to win her over, but Diesel’s mom had already gotten to her, so Scarlet quit trying. She even stopped ignoring the comments the Anderson women made about how girls these days were so shameless. At first, Scarlet confronted them by saying things like “Excuse me? Are you talking about me?” That eventually led to her wearing short, tight clothes and kissing Diesel in front of them. Diesel hated the tug-of-war, but they started it.

  Scarlet winked at Aiden.

  Aiden grinned before taking a bite of his mashed potatoes.

  Diesel came back into the room with a glass of water and placed it in front of Granny.

  Scarlet jumped up before Diesel had a chance to sit back down. “Stellar dinner, really. I’m so stuffed.”

  “I have some family business I wanted to talk about,” Lucy said.

  “Sorry but we gotta jet.” Scarlet grabbed Diesel’s hand, dragging him out of the dining room and upstairs to his room, not answering any of his questions.

  Once inside his room, she went to his closet, found a backpack, and began pulling clothes off hangers.

  “Scarlet! Stop! What the hell are you doing?”

  Next, she went to his chest-of-drawers, adding his underwear and socks to the bag.

  “Answer me!”

  “This is your chance. Don’t you see? Let them do it. Let them take care of her. If you stay here, they’re going to leave, and you’ll be stuck here, forever. Granny is probably going to outlive you, too. Do you want to be stuck here forever?”

  “No, but the letter.”

  She stared at him. “Diesel, your mom …” She stopped and rethought her words. The last thing she wanted to do was put him back in defense mode. So instead, she inhaled and exhaled a couple of times, smiled, and said, “I mean, your aunt and cousin are not going to leave a helpless old lady by herself. They’re nice, normal people. You’ll be leaving Granny in very capable hands. They can take better care of her than you. This is good because now you don’t have to put her in a home. You’ll be leaving her with family. With her daughter.”

  “I’ve already paid for the first semester.”

  She fought the twinge of guilt. Maybe asking Diesel to leave after he had been accepted to Notre Dame wasn’t fair; he had been so thrilled. But this was an opportunity they couldn’t pass up. “Get a refund. I’m sure other universities have just as good biochemistry departments. You didn’t even look to see what else is out there. You don’t have to settle with what is close to home anymore. We’ll use the money you got from your mom to get us started.”

  “I’m happy with Notre Dame.”

  “And wherever you pick is fine with me, as long as it’s not in Indiana. I’ll homeschool and get a job. I only have the one semester left, and then I’ll go to college with you.” She wasn’t sure if she wanted to go to college. She had dreams of being an actress and figured she’d coax Diesel into settling in New York or California. But that was for a future conversation. “I’m doing this for us. Don’t you love me, Diesel? Don’t you want to be with me? Alone with me? Wouldn’t it be great if it was just us? We can start a whole new life away from this nowhere town. Away from all the heartache.”

  He huffed a couple of times but nothing dramatic; he seemed to be thinking it over. “Okay,” he finally muttered. “Maybe I could use some time to clear my head.”

  She squealed and jumped into his arms. She gave him a series of tiny kisses before squealing again. “Okay. I have to stop by my house and get a couple of things.” She grabbed the backpack and threw it to Diesel, and he caught it.

  After they walked out of the room and into th
e hall, Diesel said, “I need to get something from the kitchen first.”

  When he glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, Scarlet knew it had something to do with his mother.

  “Whatever,” she said. “Just hurry.”

  All the cabinet doors were wide open in the kitchen. “Your aunt’s a bit of a slob.” Scarlet went to close one of the doors.

  Diesel put his hand on hers, stopping her. “I opened those yesterday.”

  She wanted to ask why, and why his aunt hadn’t shut them while she cooked dinner, but instead she put her hands up and backed away.

  Diesel rummaged through a couple of drawers, finally bringing out a piece of paper. He walked through the kitchen and into the dining room. Scarlet followed.

  Placing the paper on the table in front of Lucy, Diesel said, “Make these muffins every day for Gran. Don’t forget because she must have them. Do you understand?”

  Lucy frowned and shook her head.

  “Just do it,” he said and glanced at Aiden.

  Next, he hugged Granny. “I’m sorry. This is for the best.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’ll call you later, Gran.”

  Scarlet followed Diesel out of the room. Even though she heard Lucy behind them asking them to wait, they hurried through the front door without looking back.

  Chapter 3

  Take These Goodies to Your Grandmother

  Aiden and Lucy stared out the window in the foyer, watching as the little red car and the white Neon sped up the driveway to the road.

  “Did they just leave leave?” Aiden asked.

  Lucy exhaled and let go of the heavy drapes, letting them fall back in place. “Looks like it.”

  “At least, I don’t have to worry about him murdering me in my sleep.”

  “What?”

  “Never mind. What did he give you?”

  She handed the piece of wrinkled and stained paper to Aiden. “Some sort of muffin recipe.”

  He read it, “Silverweed Muffins. Give to Mother every evening before sunset.”

  “It really says sunset?”

  “Yes. Yes, it does.”

  “Lucille!” They heard Granny calling from the dining room.

  “Well,” she said. “Why don’t you take her upstairs, and I’ll make the muffins.”

  “Oh no! You take her upstairs, and I’ll go make these.”

  “Lucille!”

  “And do the dishes,” he added with a high-browed smile. “Hey, while you have her alone, why don’t you go ahead and ask about living with us. It’s not like she has much choice, now. None of us do.”

  Lucy scratched her head and frowned. “I think I should wait until the morning in case Diesel comes back tonight. Besides, I hate to take her, without telling him. I’ll get his number and call him in the morning and then talk to Granny. We have a lot to do with the house and everything.”

  Aiden figured they had to stay the night anyway, so what was the difference. “Right,” he said, making sure his voice had plenty of angst. “I’ll go make the muffins.”

  “Lucille!” Granny called.

  “One more thing,” his mom said sweetly. “All the cabinets and drawers are open in the kitchen.”

  He waited on the explanation.

  “I’m pretty sure it is supposed to help the soul leave the house as soon as possible. You know, Rose’s soul.”

  Aiden’s head hurt. “Okay, I’ll leave them open. We wouldn’t want her soul hanging around … unless, of course, it’s going to help with the dishes.”

  Lucy shook her head and she seemed to relax a little. Aiden thought she might even smile, but then they heard Granny call again.

  Lucy sighed. “I’d better get in there before she tries to get up on her on.” She headed back into the dining room.

  Aiden knew this was a turning point in their lives. Nothing was ever going to be the same again. His mom and Granny’s relationship was so thin, he didn’t know how long it would take for Granny to be cordial or for his mom to feel at ease around her own mother. Maybe never.

  He read the recipe as he hurried through the living room, instead of the dining room, to get to the kitchen.

  The cozy kitchen was still warm from dinner. The cabinets matched the grayish-brown, large-planked wood floor. The sink held one large, white basin, and the countertop was well-worn butcher block. Despite the unusualness of all the open doors and drawers, he actually felt more comfortable than he had since they’d arrived.

  He waited until his mom and Granny left the dining room and then cleared the table, placing all the dirty dishes on the drain board. He searched for a dishwasher. After a few minutes, he grudgingly, accepted there wasn’t one.

  Thirty-minutes later, after he’d cleaned all the dishes, he read the recipe again.

  Silverweed Muffins

  2 c flour

  ½ c sugar

  1 tbsp. baking powder

  2 eggs

  1 c milk

  ¼ c vegetable oil

  ¼ c Silverweed leaves

  “Silverweed Leaves? What the heck is that?”

  A spacious pantry, located by the kitchen doorway, was lined with jars of cucumbers, cabbage, jam, and peppers, plus some other Mason jars filled with flour-looking, powdery stuff. Plenty of jars were stuffed with dried herbs: basil, rosemary, oregano, and marjoram but no silverweed. After checking through them once again, he gave up and searched the cabinets in the kitchen, and then the refrigerator, before checking the freezer.

  He stared at the dozens of freezer bags of frozen leaves with the word “silverweed” penned on them in black marker. He pulled a bag out and opened it. The leaves were long, thin, and green with a silvery white tint, and they smelled like fresh cut grass.

  He read the handwritten directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil leaves for 30 seconds. Dice and add to the remaining ingredients. Stir.

  “All right.” He turned the knob on the oven, hearing it whoosh on and got a brief whiff of gas. Next, he boiled the leaves as directed and then followed the rest of recipe.

  By the time he had poured the batter into the muffin pan, his mom walked into the kitchen. “How’s it going?”

  “I’m almost ready to put them in the oven.”

  “Good. She asked for them.”

  “Has the sun set?”

  They both snickered.

  “Not yet. Good thing I made a ridiculously early dinner.”

  “Right.” He placed the muffins inside the oven.

  Lucy leaned against the counter. “She’s upset about Diesel leaving.”

  “That’s understandable.”

  “She’s worried he won’t come back. I hope this doesn’t cause her to get sick.” She picked up the plastic bag with leftover leaves. “What’s this?”

  “Silverweed. They went into the muffins.” Aiden shrugged.

  She frowned, doubtfully. “Are you sure they go in there?”

  After he handed her the recipe, she read over it. “Huh. Maybe it’s like medicine. Rose is … was holistic. This reminds me that I need to find Mother’s doctor’s number and find out what medicine she takes and whatnot. Hey, why don’t you go on to the guest room and get settled in. It’s on the other side of the foyer, first door down the hallway. I put your bags and some fresh sheets in there.”

  “Thanks.”

  “There is no central heat, but there’s a space heater. I turned it on but it’s old, so it might take a few minutes to heat up. Now go on. I’ve got these.” She nodded toward the oven.

  In the guest room, which was freezing, the wind whistled through invisible openings around a window that faced the driveway. Although it was dusk, and the glass was hazed over in old dirt, he could still make out the trees as they swayed.

  After a moment, he explored the room. He glanced inside the closet and opened the top drawer of the dresser that had dozens of mismatched socks. He tried to open a file cabinet, but it was locked. Just as well, he thought. He wasn’
t usually this nosy, but he felt so uncomfortable, he didn’t want any surprises.

  He inhaled a long breath, releasing it through sputtering lips, as he sat on the pink and light blue handmade quilt that covered the white-iron bed. He checked his phone to see if Summer had called, wondering how she’d reacted after arriving at his house only to find that he had left on a trip with his mom without telling her. Well, since she hadn’t texted, he gathered that was the end of that. He placed his phone on the nightstand.

  He pulled the folded notebook out of his coat pocket and flipped through the pages, stopping when he found the poem he had written while on the airplane:

  It was the only way; I had to be nasty and cold.

  I feel as if I’ve lost myself and lost all control.

  I had to make certain my betrayal wasn’t discreet.

  My heart hated, but my head decided deceit.

  Trembling lips and heavy breaths did unfold.

  Heat and anger caused the hurt hate to grow.

  Freckled cheeks, soft vanilla hair, so sweet

  Turned sour, wounded, ultimately beat

  It was the only way…

  I had no other choice but to be so brutally cold.

  She wouldn’t have understood anything but bold.

  But afterwards something burned when I watched her weep.

  I didn’t mean to make the wound so bloody and deep.

  Now Summer thinks I’m horrible, dirty, and low.

  Wasn’t it the only way?

  Aiden threw the notebook across the room and balled up his fists over his eyes. Was this regret? Now was a fine time to rethink his decision.

  After graduation, he wanted to leave Texas to travel around the country, perhaps even the world. However, his plans didn’t fit into Summer’s dream, the future she had talked about since they had met. She wanted to get married and have three kids, live in the country and raise chickens and cows and every other animal on the planet. Lately, she had even been planning Aiden’s path: go to Texas A&M and then work for her dad.