The chaos from the HOA meeting had barely settled when something strange started happening in Hawthorne Grove. At first, it was just a rumor. A whisper. A suggestion. But by the time Sawyer noticed it for herself, there was no denying it—something was happening.
It started with Cheryl, of course. The woman couldn’t mind her own business if it was nailed to the ground. “Sawyer, you’re not gonna believe this,” she said one morning, practically bursting through Sawyer’s front door, her face wide-eyed. “You need to come see this. Now.”
Sawyer didn’t ask for details; she could tell Cheryl wasn’t about to stop until she’d dragged her into whatever spectacle she’d stumbled upon. Cheryl had that look—the kind that said, “I’m about to tell you something that’ll change your life.” Which, in Cheryl’s world, meant nothing at all, or at least, something trivial, like a broken mailbox or another pie dispute.
“What’s going on?” Sawyer asked, trying to hide her amusement as she followed Cheryl down the street.
“It’s the lot at the bottom of the hill on Goodman Way,” Cheryl said, barely able to contain herself. “You know the one next to Maya’s house? The empty lot? It’s—well, you’ve gotta see it for yourself.”
Sawyer raised an eyebrow. “What, somebody put up a garden? You’re acting like it’s some kind of crime scene.”
Cheryl’s eyes were gleaming. “No, it’s not a garden. It’s—well, it’s something else.”
When they reached the lot, Sawyer paused. The space was no longer empty. In its place, a wild mix of vibrant flowers, ivy, and overgrown vines had suddenly appeared. No one had planted it, at least not that anyone could recall. It wasn’t just random, either. The plants were arranged in a deliberate pattern, as if someone had carefully designed a maze.
Sawyer glanced at Cheryl, who was standing with her hands on her hips, her eyes scanning the strange little plot of land. “You see it, right?” Cheryl asked, voice low. “It wasn’t here last week.”
“Or even yesterday…. I walked the boys down here just yesterday! How did all this get here? Was there a landscaper in the ‘hood last night?” Sawyer muttered. It didn’t look like an ordinary garden—it looked like a strange, overgrown labyrinth, creeping toward Maya’s house as if trying to hide something.
“What are you getting at?” Sawyer asked, finally turning to face Cheryl, who was still staring at the garden.
Cheryl bit her lip. “You don’t think this is weird? There’s been nothing on this lot for years. And now, out of nowhere, it’s… this?”
Sawyer stepped closer to the garden, her eyes narrowing. “So what? Somebody’s having a little fun with some flowers?”
“Maybe,” Cheryl said, her voice trembling slightly. “But this isn’t just a garden. It’s… it’s different. Don’t you think?”
Before Sawyer could respond, a voice interrupted. “What’s going on here?”
It was Maya, stepping out from the side of her house, her gaze flicking toward the overgrown lot. She didn’t seem shocked, didn’t seem to care one way or another. But Sawyer couldn’t shake the feeling that Maya was too calm about it, almost as if she’d been expecting it.
“I thought you might know something about this,” Cheryl blurted, taking a step toward Maya.
Maya looked over the garden, then back at the two of them, her face a mask of indifference. “No. I don’t know who planted it. But if you ask me, it’s been long enough for that lot to be used for something.”
Sawyer studied Maya for a moment, trying to read her expression, but it was like looking at a stone wall. Was she hiding something? She just moved here… that must be why she was so uninterested in the sudden, strange appearance of the garden?
“Maybe we should all just let it be,” Maya added, turning her gaze to Cheryl. “Not everything has to be a mystery.”
Sawyer wasn’t convinced. Something about the way Maya said it—the way she barely flinched—made Sawyer think she was covering something up. A secret? A warning? Whatever it was, Sawyer didn’t trust it.
But before she could question her further, a loud noise interrupted. A car door slammed, followed by a string of shouting voices. Nathan was storming down the street, holding a clipboard, his face flushed with anger.
“Did you see this?” he shouted, pointing toward the garden. “What the hell is going on here?”
Sawyer exchanged a glance with Cheryl. The mystery was just beginning.