Full Moon Fiancé

The Teaspoon Plot

After all, she reminded herself as she continued to plan, almost no one knew the Westerly house better than she did. She and Joshua had grown up exploring the weird, scary crawlspaces and attic storage. The sprawling mansion, originally built in the 1800s, had plenty of space for young imaginations to run wild.

As the night crept up on her and the room grew dark, mirroring the outside, Diana didn’t move to turn on any lights. The large, almost full moon hung low in the sky and reflected light off the bay. Light slipped in through the c***k under the door as well, and every so often Diana heard the sound of the floorboards creak outside her room. She assumed it was the sound of Trevor and James, shifting slightly in their neverending vigil outside her door.

She had no idea what time it was when she decided to put her plan into action, but the flickering of the light on the lawn from the living room below had gone out and the house was quiet.

She stood up, her legs feeling a little shaky under her from sitting all day, so she breathed in deeply to center herself. When she felt more steady, she walked to the door and opened it, peering out gently.

To her surprise, it wasn’t Trevor and James who greeted her. Instead, the slightly owlish face of the town’s police chief looked back at her, standing against the wall opposite the door. His dark eyes were slightly obscured behind thick framed glasses, and his hair had slight grey streaks in it. In his hands, he was holding a book.

“Um,” Diana didn’t know what to say.

“Diana,” said Police Chief Evan Bernard.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. “I mean, what… I…” she still struggled to put her thoughts together.

“Should we skip the part where you ask me why I’m here and what’s going on?” he said, raising an eyebrow. “I think you know as well as I do that I can’t say much.”

“But you’re… a cop! You can’t just hold me hostage here!”

The police chief looked at her with some amount of pity in his eyes. It infuriated her. But she tried to stay calm.

“I just wanted some tea before bed,” she said sweetly.

“I can’t leave my post here,” Chief Bernard replied. “You know that, of course.”

“You could come down to the kitchen with me,” suggested Diana, smiling at him. “That way you’re still guarding me from… whatever it is the Westerlys don’t want me to do, and I can get my tea. I really can’t sleep without it,” she said with a slight pout.

Chief Bernard looked at her for a moment without speaking, then sighed. He pulled a bookmark out of the pocket of his shirt and stuck it into the book, which he closed and placed on a decor table nearby.

“Fine,” he said. “Just be quiet,” he added. “Everyone is asleep.”

She smiled at him. “What time is it?” she asked, as she walked past him down the hall. She heard him push off the wall behind her and follow her. She tried to keep her steps quiet as she walked down the hall toward the stairs.

“Nearly midnight,” came the soft voice of the police chief from behind her. “I assumed you were asleep.”

“I told you,” Diana replied, “I can’t sleep when I don’t have my nighttime tea. But there’s nothing to do in that room, really. Some books. They took the television out for some reason, even.”

“I’ll ask if they can put one back in for you,” he said. Diana tossed a smile at him over her shoulder, a sincere one this time. Chief Bernard was a soft-spoken man, and always had been, the perfect cop for a sleepy town where nothing of note ever really happened. She had liked him once, before Joshua’s fake death, before her world had ended. It was so very like him to offer to try to get her a television when he was holding her hostage against her will. Harmless, useless, well-meaning, and mildly infuriating were all words she would use to describe him.

She went down the hall toward the kitchen, Chief Bernard still following. This time, she didn’t sneak, though she still took the time to avoid the creaking floorboards. The kitchen was dark now, unlike before, and felt strangely unfamiliar when she flicked on the bright lights, illuminating the light blue walls and shiny Italian tiles that lined the floor.

“Hurry up,” said the police chief. He leaned against a countertop, keeping a careful eye on Diana as she moved reflexively to the stove. A pretty, ornate, bright yellow kettle sat on the stove, and Diana filled it up with water. While she waited for it to boil, she cast an eye around the room. The stainless steel appliances all glistened around the room. The grey marble countertops, which were Italian just like the floor tiles, had little veins of blue stone winding through it. She traced it with a single delicate fingertip.

After a minute, she looked over at Chief Bernard. He had his arms crossed, but he looked bored. Diana took the opportunity to rove the kitchen, her eyes searching.

She had a feeling that whatever the Westerlys might be hiding, she might be able to figure out where to find it.

Trying to carefully watch his face without staring, she moved toward the living room, keeping a casual gait and pretending to look at the various decorations that hung on the walls.

“This is new,” she mused, pointing to a wall sculpture that looked like wind frozen in brass.

“Hmm,” said Chief Bernard, utterly noncommittal.

Diana moved back toward him, heading in a lackadaisical manner toward the back hall which would lead to the library and the music room.

She suppressed a smile when she saw Chief Bernard’s lips contract slightly, pressing into a thin line as his eyes narrowed.

Interesting, she thought to herself. So, the library, maybe. Before she had time to ponder that information, the tea kettle began to whistle. Diana turned sharply back, as if she wanted nothing more than to enjoy a relaxing cup of tea.

“Do you want some?” she asked innocently, hoping he would.

“Ah, sure, do they have ginger tea? Helps my digestion,” the chief said.

Diana smiled and nodded, reaching casually into the cupboard and pulling out a box of ginger tea bags. She placed on in a mug, then poured the hot water over it, leaving it to steep. While it did so, she pulled another box from the cabinet, a box of chamomile tea for herself.

“Oh, my,” she said, gasping as several boxes clattered out of the shelf and spilled around the countertops and floor. “Sorry!” she added, as Chief Bernard jumped slightly. She scrambled to grab all the boxes back up, and as she did so, she also fumbled to grab a small pill case that had fallen out from its hiding spot behind the sweeteners. Chief Bernard didn’t notice as she slipped the case expertly into the palm of her hand and popped it open, removing one small pill.

When she straightened up, she put everything back where she had found it.

She let her own chamomile tea simmer as she removed the teabag from the ginger tea, using a spoon to mask the gentle sound of a pill hitting the water.

“Here you go,” she said, handing the cup over to Chief Bernard.

She sipped her own tea nonchalantly while watching the police chief, hoping that Anna Westerly wouldn’t notice one of her anxiety pills had gone missing.