WOW! Women on Writing Presents
Down a Bad Road by Regina Buttner
Read an interview with the author @ The Muffin
Jealousy can be deadly.
Longtime bachelor Ron Burley has a rule against messing around with married women in his rural upstate New York town, but sassy, lovely Lavender has convinced him to break it. Their steamy affair sets someone off, but it isn’t Lavender’s clueless husband-it’s Marta, Burley’s clingy childhood friend and ex-lover.
Marta knows Burley is on the verge of going broke, so she secretly tries to lure him with a lucrative job offer and some enticing fringe benefits. Although he’s sorely tempted, Burley’s afraid to trust Marta due to the sketchy circumstances surrounding their bitter breakup years ago; but this might be his only chance to get back at her for what she did.
Suspicious of her boyfriend’s romantic history, Lavender visits a psychic for a tarot card reading in a creepy cabin in the Adirondack woods. Watch your back, the psychic warns her. Burley and Marta aren’t the innocent people they’re pretending to be. Someone’s out for revenge, and this love triangle could turn deadly.
Lavender took a bottle of white wine out of the fridge, poured herself a big glass over ice, and dialed the psychic’s number. “Thanks for agreeing to do this over the phone,” she said when Penelope answered. “I was afraid to go out with that snowstorm coming.”
“Phone readings aren’t ideal, but I’ll do my best,” Penelope said. “I see you texted me some photos. Is that the new boyfriend you told me about the last time you were here?”
“Yes!” Lavender’s voice bubbled with happiness. “That’s Ron Burley. He’s actually my fiancé now, he proposed to me this morning. Got down on one knee and everything.” Holding her left hand up to catch the fading afternoon light, she admired her sparkly new engagement ring. The princess cut diamond was gorgeous. Burley must have blown the last of his savings on it, hoping to impress her with his devotion. Well, it had certainly worked.
“You’ve filed for divorce then, I take it?” Penelope said, like the prim old granny that she was.
“Of course I did. Clint and I split up months ago. Anyway, I sent you those photos because—”
“Hold on, don’t tell me anything else,” Penelope said. “I’m feeling something coming through from his image. Give me a few seconds to concentrate.”
Lavender drank more wine and tapped her periwinkle fingernails on her glass, wondering what kind of flowers to put in her wedding bouquet. Tulips would be nice, or maybe a big bunch of peonies in different shades of pink.
“Hmmm,” Penelope said after a moment.
Lavender shook herself from her flowery daydream. “What is it?”
“You told me once before that your ex-husband had a temper,” Penelope said, “but this man may be even worse.”
Lavender giggled, already buzzed from the wine. “That’s ridiculous! Burley’s the sweetest, most laidback guy you’ll ever meet. I’ve never even heard him raise his voice.”
“Just you wait,” Penelope said darkly. “He’s going to explode one of these days.”
“Yeah, right.” Lavender twisted a lock of her long blonde hair around her forefinger. “I seriously doubt it. Never mind that, anyway. I have an important question about him and the woman in the second photo I sent. Her name is Marta.”
Penelope made a grumbling sound in her throat. “This is why I try to avoid phone readings, especially when it’s a complicated situation like this one.”
Lavender frowned. “What do you mean, complicated?”
Penelope hesitated before answering. “There’s a lot more to this than you realize. I’d much rather sit down with you in person, it would be easier to explain things that way.”
Lavender huffed in annoyance. Why couldn’t the damn woman spit it out? “What’s there to explain? Marta was a childhood friend of Burley’s, they grew up together. All I want to know is if there was ever anything romantic between them.”
“Wait a second while I study her picture.” There was a moment of silence, then Penelope spoke again: “He’s definitely not in love with her.”
“Obviously not, since he wants to marry me. Besides, Marta’s dead now.”
“Dead?” Penelope said. “I don’t think so.”
Lavender choked on her wine. “Yes, she is!” she sputtered. “She literally died of cancer a few days ago.” And not a moment too soon.
Penelope chuckled. “Who told you that?”
“Burley did.”
“I’m not so sure his information is accurate. There’s an aura surrounding Marta’s image, and the color is a vivid green. Green symbolizes life and strength.”
Lavender gasped. “But wait, how is that even possible?”
“I don’t know, I’m just telling you what I see. There’s also a gray area within her inner aura, which is often a sign of fear or paranoia. My sense is that she’s alive and her body is perfectly healthy. It’s her mind that’s sick.”
The wine glass clanged against the coffee table as Lavender sat up straight. Was Penelope out of her freaking mind? “But I’m certain Marta’s dead!” she said. “Burley told me so this morning. You must be confusing her with someone else.”
“When a spirit crosses over to the afterworld, messages do occasionally get mixed up,” Penelope said. “This is an art, you know, not a science. But the vibrations coming from this woman’s photo are very strong, which means her soul is still dwelling on the earth plane, and I believe it’s entwined in some way with your fiancé’s”
Auras? Vibrations? Earth plane? Lavender screwed up her face in bafflement. Maybe consulting a psychic hadn’t been the best idea after all, and she should have listened to her friend Shayna, who had told her to trust her gut. Despite what Penelope seemed to be implying about Burley’s trustworthiness, Lavender had no doubt that he was a good, honest man who would never, ever lie to her. Raising her hand, she gazed at her ring again. Judging by the size of the glittering rock, her darling, hardworking Burley was absolutely gaga for her.
Enough of this nonsense! The purpose of the consultation with Penelope was to put her concerns about Burley and Marta to rest, not to go off on this preposterous Marta’s-got-a-green-aura tangent.
“All right, whatever,” Lavender said. “Let’s assume Marta’s dead, okay? Since that’s what Burley told me. So what I’m really asking you is if they were ever involved in a sexual relationship.”
“Let me look at that last picture you sent,” Penelope said.
The third photo was a candid shot of Burley and Marta, slow dancing at their high school prom. When Lavender had found it in a box of Burley’s mementos while snooping through his trailer while he was at work one day, the intimacy of the embrace had ignited a burst of jealousy in her. She knew a stupid twenty-year-old prom pic shouldn’t have any bearing on their wedding plans—but what if Burley still had feelings for Marta? Sometimes old flames were the hardest to extinguish.
“Well?” Lavender said impatiently. “What do you think?”
Penelope seemed to be choosing her words with care. “Uh, yes, their relationship did become sexual on a few occasions in the past.”
“How far in the past? When did it start?”
“Oh, it started back when they were teenagers, but it didn’t go anywhere at that time. He wasn’t into her the way she was into him. It was a classic case of unrequited love. But—”
“Oh, thank goodness!” Lavender exclaimed with a gush of relief. “I just knew she didn’t mean anything to him.” A high school crush, whoopee. No more worries there. As far as Burley’s feelings for Marta went, it was only about the money she’d dangled in front of him for so long, like a treat held out to an eager dog. Lavender pinched the phone between her ear and shoulder, topped off her wine, and took a triumphant gulp.
There was one other thing, though. “Penelope,” she said. “What did you mean about Marta’s mind being sick?”
Penelope made the grumbling sound again. “That’s what I was talking about when I said it was complicated. Whether this woman is dead or not, you need to understand that she may be dangerous.”
Lavender snorted. “How can a dead person be dangerous?”
Penelope sighed. “It’s hard to explain, the message I’m getting isn’t quite clear. This storm that’s about to dump on us has thrown my chakras out of balance. It happens sometimes, when the atmospheric pressure is in flux.”
What in the hell were chakras? Lavender chewed the remnants of her peach-flavored gloss from her lower lip. This was a whole lot of crazy talk.
“The best I can make of it,” Penelope went on, “is that Ron’s safety is at risk somehow, and this woman may have something to do with it.”
Fear jolted Lavender. At this very moment, Burley was driving down to Pennsylvania, to pay his final respects to Marta.
“When was the last time you spoke to him?” Penelope said.
“This morning. After he asked me to marry him, he said he needed to get on the road—” Lavender’s voice rose, on the verge of hysteria. “Are you serious, Penelope? You really think he’s in danger?”
“Yes, I believe so, and you may be, too. You need to be careful.”
Holy crap! Lavender’s insides twisted with fear. Had Burley lied about Marta’s death? But why would he do that when he was smitten with her? She’d divorced her husband to be with him! She wanted to believe that Penelope’s strange ramblings were completely mistaken, but what if they weren’t, and something bad was about to happen? Either way, she had to get hold of Burley. Now.
“I have to go, Penelope,” Lavender said. She hung up without saying goodbye and dialed Burley’s number, but the call wouldn’t go through. Clutching the phone in her trembling hands, she stared out the living room window as the wind picked up and the swirling snow began to come down harder.
You can read more about the book (and read a preview!) by going to: https://www.amazon.com/Down-Bad-Road-Regina-Buttner-ebook/dp/B0BSN7F7KT.
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Regina is a registered nurse-turned-writer who was raised in beautiful upstate New York, where she spent many happy years exploring the winding back roads and scenic hiking trails of the Adirondack mountain region. She recently traded the snowy northern winters for the tropical breezes of the Sunshine State, where her favorite pastimes are kayaking among the mangroves, strolling the gorgeous beaches, and attempting to teach tricks to her boisterous corgi.
Learn more on Regina’s website or follow her on Instagram, Facebook, Goodreads or BookBub
