The Evensong by Lindsay Payton Read Free Book Online

breeze.
    Beyond the window, instead of an extension of the roof as I expected, there was a garden taking up the small space. Stranger smiled at my reaction and used the steps to get out the window. It was a little bit of a tight fit for him since he was fairly tall, but I climbed through with ease after him.
    We stood in the narrow path between the plants though there was hardly enough space for one person to stand. I was almost pressed against his chest, his chin right above my head. I leaned back as far as I could even if I felt like I might fall over into the mess of basil behind me.
    “I’m worried I might kill everything,” Stranger said, laughing. I could feel the laughter in his chest, and the vibration of his voice made me try to take another step back.
    “Well, it gets plenty of water on its own,” I replied, noticing the puddles of rainwater on the floor.
    “Right, right,” he said. “Don’t you have to sing to plants to make them grow better?”
    He was looking down at me for an answer, and I determinedly examined the rose bush a few feet away. “I’m not sure. I have a friend who’s a genius with plants. She’d know, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard her singing to her plants.”
    “Yeah? Maybe she can nurse them if I fail,” he said. He started to walk forward, almost knocking me over. He held my arm for balance until he passed, and I stood in place, watching him as he maneuvered through the plants. I felt cold as soon as he was gone, and the faint, refreshing smell of rain faded away. I looked up at the sky, wondering if that was the cause of the scent, but it didn’t seem like it now. Glancing at Stranger, I paused, wondering if my next question would be too prying.
    “So . . . your parents, are they—”
    “Dead, yeah,” he replied, sitting on the edge of the roof. “It’s been about, oh—seven years now.”
    “Seven?” I repeated, carefully walking towards him.
    “Yeah.” He didn’t elaborate, and I decided I shouldn’t pry further.
    I sat beside him on the roof, my feet dangling off. The trees of the swamp were to the left, almost within reach. The sounds and smells were drifting up close, and I envied Stranger immediately.
    “Can I ask about yours?” he asked, staring straight ahead at the horizon.
    My throat clenched at the question. The real answer was too complicated, and much too revealing. There was no way I could tell the truth.
    “They died when I was really young, and I lived with my aunt for a little bit,” I replied. “When I got too out of hand, my aunt brought me to Rene.”
    “Did she know her?”
    “Sort of—not really.” I was running out of an idea for an explanation, and with Stranger’s gaze on me, I felt pressured. It seemed like he might know the truth just by looking at me.
    “It’s a long story,” I said. “It’s hard to talk about.”
    “Sorry—I didn’t mean to pry,” he apologized.
    “It’s okay, I asked first.”
    He smiled wanly and fingered a strand of his hair, still looking out at the horizon. Something had changed about him, but he bounced back a few minutes later, launching into a new set of questions about me.
    We sat on the roof for a long time, but I hardly noticed the minutes ticking by. I was able to find out more about him, though it wasn’t too much. Most of what I’d heard was true. He was twenty-three, and he had lived in multiple places since he moved away from home in Seattle. After his parents died, he went down the West Coast, staying in California for a while and moving through Arizona and New Mexico. He’d been almost everywhere, and I admired him for his adamant travel.
    “I got bored so easily,” he had explained. “Stayed in one place too long and I felt like I was going nuts.”
    He was the first heir that was written on the will of his great uncle. He said he’d only met him once, so it was just as much of a surprise to him when he heard about the house. But what he remembered of the place