Autumn Calling by T. Lynne Tolles Page B

realized I could do that, so maybe I’m the twit after
all.”
    Tori laughed again, but this time Summer had
a good laugh too. “I’m glad. It’s about time you have a little
affection in your life. I’m tired of feeling guilty every time Nick
plants one on me in front of you.”
    “Thanks for worrying, but it doesn’t bother
me. I’m thrilled to see you so happy. When do you think you will be
moving?”
    “Three weeks or so. It depends when the
paperwork goes through on the Mausoleum.”
    “I think it’s cool how Nick’s buying the
place. He seems pretty jazzed about it.”
    “He is, though I wish he had more of an
eight to five type job. But it seems to suit him, and I think it’s
a way better idea than that hair-brained scheme he and Jackson came
up with for them buying a van and working as a traveling blood
bank. Guys can be so weird sometimes.”
    “You said it.”
    “Has Ms. Midnight gotten out of her funk
yet?”
    “She seems to be coming around. As long as I
avoid the subject of my parents and my evil twin.”
    “Evil twin?”
    “Well that’s how the Midnight’s seem to
describer her. As far as I can tell we’re just fraternal twins. Oh,
I forgot to tell you! Daniel told me what happened to my mother,
grandmother, and Aunt Myrtle.”
    “I thought he refused to tell you about
that—some angel hogwash.”
    “He did, but I told him every time I brought
up the subject with Aunt Myrtle, she’d go loopy on me, and Morti
isn’t the most pleasant to have a conversation with.”
    “You’re telling me.”
    “So, with my options limited, I asked him if
he would tell me, and he did.”
    “Wow, he has changed.”
    “I know, right? Speaking of Morti, we better
head over or he’ll be all in a tizzy about us being late.”
    “No kidding,” Tori agreed and looked at her
watch.
    * * *
    After lessons ended and Tori left, Summer
worked on pulling weeds from the garden. The little bit of rain the
night before made the task easy. The soil was rich with organic
matter and petrichor. For those who love the dirt and all of Mother
Nature’s wonders, there is no better smell. Summer breathed in the
aroma and savored it. The rain made nature’s rototillers, worms,
come closer to the surface to partake in its life-giving
bounty.
    She made good progress, not realizing how
long she’d been pulling weeds and loosening the earth around the
base of the thankful herbs. The sky faded to the glorious pinks,
purples, and oranges of sunset. Sully lay on his back, legs limp
and napping in the coolness of the early evening as Summer gathered
the weed pile and her tools to call it a day.
    After depositing the weeds in the trash and
the tools back in the shed, she washed her hands of the hardened
earth under the garden hose. She heard the crack of a branch. She
turned with a jerk in the direction of the snap and saw the man
she’d seen a few days ago, who she assumed Sully had run off.
    “Hey,” she shouted at the trespasser. “This
is private property.”
    The man scurried in surprised panic at the
sight of her.
    “Sully. Go get him,” she said to the lazy
hellhound. He lifted his head in acknowledgement of her command,
glanced at the man, then laid his head down in teen defiance.
    “You know, Sully, you’re being quite a poop
these days.”
    By now the man was well out of sight and
Summer assumed he was well on his way to wherever it was he was off
to, so there was no purpose to search for him. She closed the shed.
She noticed when she did so that the door didn’t quite shut. She
looked down at where it seemed to be hanging up to find that Sully
had chewed or clawed at the bottom corner so badly that the boards
were mangled and splintered every which way. Now that she looked at
the door with more scrutiny, it was practically off its hinges due
to the hellhound’s assault upon it.
    “Bad dog,” she said and then mumbled to
herself, knowing he didn’t give a hoot as to what she was saying.
She headed back to