“Thank you, Jasper.” I looked into his lake blue eyes. “I see that you are doing very well. Business must be brisk.”
“Yes, we’ve diversified and it’s been very lucrative. One can’t stand still in the way of progress.”
“But what about the simplistic approach you embraced when Trey first arrived?” I looked at Trey, who was giving me a wide-eyed signal to stop. Iris squirmed beside him. “Where you wanted to live a self-sustaining life, free of society’s encumbrances? Now you have electricity, computers, TV, and a riding lawn tractor.”
“Ah, well, people change. Philosophies change.” He shrugged and walked to the end of the table, folding his arms across his chest. “It was getting a little tedious to work this place primarily on people power. We’re all much happier now, aren’t we?” He directed his gaze to Trey and Iris, who both nodded but said nothing.
“But how have you diversified to generate so much more income?” I realized that this question was on the verge of being impolite, but my son was living here and I wanted to know what was going on.
Jasper frowned. “Oh, increasing our crop variety and expanding the market.”
“And don’t forget the meditation sessions,” Trey blurted out. “You charge a lot for them, too, right?”
Iris nervously twisted a lock of her pale hair. Jasper turned in the direction of the new building. “Ah yes, the meditation sessions. They’ve proved to be very profitable.” He reached his arm toward Iris and Trey. “Come, you two. The movie will be starting soon.”
Iris stood. Putting her hand on Trey’s shoulder, she said, “Let’s go. The Hunger Games DVD arrived today.” Turning to me, she said, “You don’t mind if he goes, do you? We’ve been waiting for ages to watch this movie.”
Jasper’s blue eyes twinkled. “You see? Happier.”
I glanced at Trey, who was obviously experiencing a series of emotions in response to this interchange. But the way he looked at Iris told me where he wanted to be. “Not at all,” I said. “You go ahead. I need to drive down before it gets completely dark anyway.”
“Thanks, Mom. And thanks for supper. It was awesome.” Trey gave me a hearty hug. “Don’t worry about me,” he whispered in my ear, and then turned to Iris and held out his hand. She took it and together they followed Jasper. Trey looked over his shoulder once more in order to flash me a grin.
“Enjoy the movie!” I called and gathered the supper things. As I watched the threesome walk off toward the meditation center, I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of “meditation” went on in that cream-colored building. My maternal instincts were telling me that whatever it was did not bode well for my son.
Chapter 9
UPON RETURNING TO MY COTTAGE ON WALDEN WOODS Circle, I lit a fire in the living room, poured myself a glass of merlot, and turned on my laptop. The undercurrent of anxiety and discomfort I’d sensed throughout the co-op had left me feeling unsettled. I had entrusted my son, the most important person in my life, to Jasper Gyles and the other adults running the co-op, and I worried that I’d made a grave mistake. Trey might have been content with life on Red Fox Mountain up until this point, but I wasn’t sure either of us could be happy knowing the co-op’s leader changed philosophies like Mister Rogers had once changed his shoes.
There was something particularly disturbing in Iris’s body language, too. She’d always been such a free spirit, but tonight I’d seen her practically attached at the hip to Trey. He’d been chasing her all summer, and though she’d always been friendly to him, she hadn’t encouraged his advances. Why did she suddenly want him by her side? I pictured the many small touches I’d witnessed in the short time I’d visited and wondered if Iris had been trying to reassure Trey or herself. Was she frightened? And if so, of what?
Troubled to be presented with another mystery when Melissa’s murder was yet unsolved, I was determined to figure out what was going on at the co-op. What was the connection between money and meditation? To me, they were an odd combination.