Jon shook his head.
“Leila, construction and demolition of that mansion is set to happen on Friday,” Jon said solemnly. “Today is Wednesday. Even with this additional push from you and the club to turn up that endangered mouse, even with the backing of the museum and scientists, it’ll take weeks to prove anything unless the evidence is right in front of the developers’ faces. Or, even better, in the press.”
“So nothing we do matters,” Leila said bluntly, adjusting her itchy wig.
“Well, no, that’s not really what I said,” Jon continued. “If you can find evidence of the mice in the park, we can save it. People from the academy were there all day today, though, as were a few people from Mr. De La Costa’s office—”
“What!” Sarika shouted.
“Okay. The two of you need to understand something about him and his people,” Jon said calmly. “They aren’t the enemy in all of this. They really aren’t. There’s no proof of that mouse. They have been searching for months and haven’t turned up a thing. With this renewed interest, especially with the museum jumping in, they’re back at it, but it’s only going to go on for so long. If they don’t find anything, well, there isn’t much we can do, and they’ll tear it all down to make room for the amphitheater construction.
“But it isn’t all bad!” Jon exclaimed. “I heard they are going to have a greenhouse by the theater, which is going to harbor rare, native plants that need to be reintroduced to Pennsylvania and the countryside. Trees that have died out or plants that are in danger, like wildflowers. You’d be surprised how many plants are in danger. It might be good for the city, considering what’s going on.”
Leila resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
The irony of it all was so thick, it was almost painful.
Destroying a grove with magical creatures that sustained the entire region to build a greenhouse to save a few rare plants and animals who would end up dying anyway.
Leila stood up and pushed her chair in. Her head still pounded with a dull ache from her bike accident, and she still felt a bit woozy from all the drugs at the hospital. She held her balance, pressing against the chair.
“So,” Leila said, exhaling. “Two days to find the animals.”
“Yes, but remember—” Jon started.
“No guarantees,” Leila finished flatly. “You don’t have to tell me that, Jon.” She laughed. “I’ve been dealing with a whole life of no guarantees since I was born.” She turned to Sarika. “To the grove? Call up Landon?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Sarika shrugged. “I mean, if we’re going to help them find any proof, it’ll have to be—”
A soft sob echoed through the kitchen. Sarika’s eyes went wide for a moment, and then she caught Leila’s eye and bit her lip. She moved her chin slightly to tell Leila to turn around.
Lisabeth had her head in her hands, her elbows on the kitchen table and her face buried in her palms. Jon reached over and took one of her hands and she looked up at him, her face glistening with tears and her eyes already red. When she looked at Leila, her face turned up in pain and she closed her eyes. Liz turned her face back down at the table.
“Liz, what—” Leila started.
Lisabeth held up a hand at her, shaking it dismissively.
“I’m fine, it’s fine,” she muttered. She wiped at her face and sniffled loudly, clearing her throat. “Just, you know, happy you’re okay.” Jon cocked his head to the side and looked at Lisabeth with a warm expression, his smile soft and his eyes glistening. He wiped another tear off her face, and turned to Leila, his eyebrows up.
His expression said You know what this is really about.
You know.
“I’m . . . no,” Leila said, taking a step towards Lisabeth and Jon. “No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. The ‘no guarantees’ stuff.”
“Oh, no, darling it’s not about that,” Lisabeth started, sniffling. Jon still had that look.
“But it is . . . you don’t have to, you know, be all careful with what you say around me, when most of the time I’m not careful about what I say around you. It’s just been a hard few days, is all. I mean, I have a wig on right now, you guys.”
“I just . . .” Lisabeth looked up at Jon, and Leila could see her squeezing his hands, their hands shaking together. “I just try so hard. I do.” She pressed her face into her hands again, and Jon reached across the table to rub her shoulder.
“I just want to be a good mom,” Lisabeth choked out.
“Oh, Liz . . .” Jon said. He wrapped his arms around her from behind her chair, and she snuggled her head into his forearms.
Leila could feel the anxiety rushing through her, the pressure in her chest.
“Do something,” Sarika whispered.
Leila took a careful step towards Jon and Liz, and then another.
The urge to turn and run out of the room, to escape through the house and out the door, to hide someplace, any place other than here, was almost overwhelming.
The voice.
The dryad’s voice in the woods.
It didn’t come. She didn’t speak. Karayea didn’t insert herself into the moment, or insist that she was her mother. If there was ever a moment to dispute this, to chime in, to actually say something that wasn’t just her asking for something from Leila, this would be the time. The time to say no. It’s me. I’m your mother.
But she wasn’t.
And she hadn’t been for a long time.
Leila took another step and opened her arms. She could feel them shaking as she reached out, and gingerly wrapped them around Liz, wedging her right arm between her and Jon. Liz turned away from her husband’s arms and wrapped her arms around Leila, pulling her tightly.
“I just love you so much,” Lisabeth said. “When your hair fell out, and the bike accident, my heart, my heart stopped.”
Leila’s heart raced, her breath came in quick bursts.
“I . . .”
And the wall broke. For the woman who wouldn’t stop trying, no matter how much Leila pushed back. No matter what passive aggressive remarks she made, or how many dinners she blew off to go out with her friends, to hide in the coffee shop or sulk in the gardens. No matter how often these past few weeks she closed her eyes, listening to the whispers of the woman who called her daughter on the wind, the woman who gave birth to her was most certainly not her mother.
“I love you, too,” Leila whispered.
Lisabeth looked up at Leila and a smile beamed over her face, still slick with tears. Leila’s lip quivered. She glanced out the kitchen window at Major Willow in the yard. Not all the leaves had fallen yet. She wasn’t willing to give up. She was still fighting.
Leila looked back to Lisabeth, and exhaled.
“Mom.”
XXVI
“Mouse trap?”
“Check.”
“Bait for the trap?”
“Also check.”
“A kiss for me, a literally magical creature?”
“Che—”
“I swear to God, I am not hanging out with you two anymore!” Sarika shouted as Leila walked down the long, wooden path towards the mansion with Landon. He carried two glass aquariums under his arms, with small planks of wood inside that clattered about as they walked, perfect for making simple ramps into the tanks. A jar of peanut butter rolled back and forth with each step, making soft thunk sounds against the glass panes.
Leila walked next to him, her hands feeling strangely empty without his. He leaned over, despite the crazy amount of materials in his arms, and kissed her on the cheek.
“Check.”
“Has the world ended yet?” Sarika asked as they continued forward. “Maybe let’s stop this quest. Let it all just fade away. I’ve done what I need to do in this life.”