Page 184 of Wicked Little Darling

All I could do was sit there and say, “Okay.”

I watched him slowly walk Val from the room, an uncomfortable itch of anxiety swarming beneath my skin. I tugged at the hem of my sweater, staring at the door they’d gone through. Some people stared and whispered, but most people were too absorbed in their own little bubbles to notice.

When I finally dragged my eyes from the door and turned my attention back to the remaining two family members, that distressing buzz of unease only intensified.

Everett was still on his phone, looking at god knew what, and Evelyn was?—

Evelyn was watching me.

Her light brown eyes shone in the light, pupils very obviously dilated.

How different would things have been had her son not died? How different would all their lives have been if their family was whole and not this broken mess it had become?

They never would’ve adopted Dakota, though. He wouldn’t be here now, I never would’ve met him…

I smiled at her, and when she smiled back, my heart started to race.

I wondered how someone who looked halfway decent could have spawned someone as horrible as Everett.

I felt bad for her. And then I felt bad for feeling bad for her, as if pitying her was an unkindness.

She made me think of my dad and how the grief of losing a wife and daughter had changed him. How one person’s sorrow could have such a horrible, long-lasting impact on so many other lives.

It was no wonder Dakota hated being around his family. There was this overwhelming disconnectedness between all of them that was heavy and uncomfortable and felt impossible to fix.

I wanted to go after Dakota, to be with him and Val, to make sure Val was okay, but he’d told me to stay here.

Still, I needed a break, no matter how small.

“Um, where’s the restroom?” I set my napkin on the table and glanced at Evelyn, then Everett.

Evelyn said nothing, and her son gave me a strange look, then smiled and pointed toward a hall to the left. I really hated his smile. “Down that corridor, then turn right. It’s the first door on the left.”

“Thanks,” I said, this pit of unease in my stomach deepening. That had been almost too easy.

I got up and followed his directions, hoping it wouldn’t actually lead me to a snake pit or something. Knowing him, I wouldn’t be surprised if it did.

I walked slowly since I doubted Dakota would be back anytime soon. The floors were a polished hardwood that gleamed in the light, and every window I passed had these ridiculously heavy drapes with tasseled ropes tied around the middle. Ornate vases and glassware sat atop side tables and hutches placed at seemingly deliberate intervals, and I had the strongest urge to pick up one of those ugly vases and hurl it at the wall. To destroy all these fake niceties that meant absolutely nothing.

This whole entire week I was feeling all out of sorts. This awful, impending sense of doom had settled across my shoulders and seeped into my lungs like a toxic cloud, making it hard to breathe.

I was trying to act like everything was fine, but I thought maybe I wasn’t fooling Dakota very well. He always seemed to see right through my lies.

Had he seen through the biggest one of all? Wouldn’t he have said something if he had? He wasn’t the type to let things go without a word. He had no qualms about pointing out the most uncomfortable details he picked up, so if he knew about my spying, he’d have said something.

Right?

I rounded the corner, pulled the first door on the left open and stepped inside.

The door slammed shut behind me, and it took me a long moment to realize I was just standing here in the dark. So lost in my own head I was barely aware of my surroundings.

“Shit,” I whispered, reaching my hands out to feel for the wall so I could find the light switch. My foot banged into something on the ground, and it made a tinny noise that echoed loudly.

Way too loudly for this to be just a small bathroom.

I held my hands in front of me, trying to feel for the wall, and when I finally found it, I slid my hands all around for a switch.

When I didn’t find a switch, I turned back to the door I’d come through, guided by the sliver of light at the bottom. I grabbed the handle, but it didn’t turn.