Page 88 of Where the Roses Bloom

“Wasn’t hard,” the woman replied. “I could feel the energy.”

Yeah…she didn’t sound much like an exorcist either. More like some two-bit psychic.

Delilah turned toward the porch. “Everyone, this is June Fontenot.”

June offered a little wave, then her eyes darted uptoward the front door. She wasn’t looking at us; she was looking at Silas, who had just appeared in the doorway. I peered at him, watching as he blushed despite himself.

I hadn’t seen him react like that to a girl since Amelia.

Well…that wassomething, wasn’t it?

June turned her attention solely to me and Willow, then, the porch steps groaning lightly under her boots as she climbed. She had a backpack slung over her shoulder, but she didn’t much look like someone preparing for spiritual warfare; she looked more like she was about to marry us or somethin’, smiling at Willow.

“You must be Willow,” she said, extending her hand.

Willow nodded, reaching out to take it. “That’s me.”

“And you’re Rhett?”

I raised a brow. “Delilah give you the rundown?”

“Yeah,” she said. “But even so…I could have guessed. There’s something hangin’ over you both.”

Willow stiffened. “You can feel it too?”

“I can,” June said gently. “He’s really woven himself in here in a short period of time, hasn’t he?”

Willow nodded. “What do we do?”

June tilted her head, studying the house. “Let’s start by getting a lay of the land. Delilah said she did some things to prepare…that’ll help.”

“So the house reeking of lemon peel serves a purpose?” I joked.

June huffed out a laugh. “Better that than toxic ex.”

We spentthe next hour showing June around the house, Willow’s hand gripped tight in mine, June leading the way. She moved through each room like we were on a real estate tour, commenting on little design choices, antiquefurniture. At one point, she stopped just to brush her fingers across a framed photo of me, my brothers, and Delilah with Hazel, then she smiled over at me.

“She really loved you kids,” June said.

Seemed like an obvious enough conclusion, but it still gave me the creeps—just a little.

“She did,” I said, throat a little tight. “She raised all five of us after our parents died, plus Delilah every so often. Never complained once, just…did what needed to be done.”

June nodded. “You know she’s still here, right? Not like your new guest, not stuck—just watching because she enjoys seeing you grow.”

Willow’s fingers twitched, her free hand absently rising to rest on her lower belly.

I wondered if Hazel already knew.

We moved through the rest of the house in silence, June occasionally humming under her breath, the melody sometimes morphing into a hymn. Silas trailed all three of us while Delilah, Beau, and Whit chatted down in the kitchen, Milo tuckered out from barking at ghosts all morning.

When we reached the bedroom upstairs—our bedroom—June paused and frowned.

“There’s a lot of energy concentrated here,” she said. “Do you feel that? It’s just a couple degrees colder.”

“This is uh…where we sleep,” I offered. “Our room.”

June laughed softly. “I get the feeling you’re doing a lot more than sleeping here.”