Free She's Gone: A Novel by Joye Emmens

that looked like a gathering place. Deidre called it the parlor. Out of the corner of her eye, Jolie noticed a built-in bookcase jammed with books. They followed Deidre up the stairs.
    “You’ll be the third couple on this floor,” Deidre said. She had a soft voice and her long brown hair fell loosely around her shoulders. “Michael and I have a room here, and Dawn and Anthony have the other bedroom.”
    Deidre showed them the large shared bathroom. “Try out the lavender soap I made,” she said.
    Jolie picked up a bar of soap and inhaled as she looked at the shower and large claw foot bath tub. Luxury, pure luxury. Deidre gathered a set of well-worn sheets and towels from a linen closet and lead them to a room down the hall. She placed them on the bed.
    “Welcome to the Big Yellow House. Make yourselves at home,” she said. “You’ll meet the rest at dinner.”
    The large room was sparsely furnished with a bed, curtains with large blue flowers, a small writing desk, and two chairs. Jolie went to one of the large windows and peered out. She could see the park across the street and people on the paths and in the gazebo. A house, a room, a bed, a hot shower, a real bathroom, and maybe some real food. Yes, welcome to the Big Yellow House. It would be fine—temporarily.
    After making the bed, Jolie went down the hall to take a shower. The hot water and lavender soap melted into her pores. She scrubbed off the ranch layer by layer. The wood smoke and goat smell that always lingered flowed down the drain. She washed her hair three times and combed it out in front the mirror, another luxury. Her cornflower blue eyes stared back at her. She had her father’s eyes. Her brothers took after her mom.
    She floated back to their room. “Your turn.” She smiled wide at Will. “I’ll never take hot running water for granted again.” He kissed her and headed down the hall to the bathroom.
    Jolie unpacked their clothes. All of the clothes she’d bought with her best friend Zoe in vintage clothing shops she had never unpacked at the ranch. They were so out of place in the wilderness. She dressed in a silk blouse and black velvet pants. Will returned from the shower, his long hair sleek and shiny. He, too, was thinner. His face more chiseled and darkly tanned. Will put his arms around her. “You smell like a flower.” He stroked her hair. “And you feel like silk.” Her blonde strands glowed from months in the sun.
    They descended the stairs to the parlor to meet the rest of the group. “Wow,” Bill said, looking at Jolie. “You clean up good.”
    Heat rose to her face, and she caught the glance Maddy shot Bill. He stroked his mustache and smiled. Jolie was painfully aware that everyone’s eyes were on her.
    Kerrie and Peter announced dinner, and the group filed into the dining room. There were eight couples and a single woman with a five-year-old son living at the Big Yellow House. The long wooden table was laden with multiple casserole dishes of vegetarian lasagna, bowls of green salad, and loaves of homemade bread. The group sat on benches and chairs, no two alike, and passed the food around. Deidre toasted the cooks and their effort.
    Over dinner Bill told Will and Jolie more about their new society. “We’re a large family that shares everything with each other. I’m sick of mainstream society that allows poverty amid the enormous wealth in America.”
    “We’re all equal here. Our possessions do not define us,” Peter said.
    The dinner conversation turned to the two-day encounter session the group was planning.
    “We’ve been together for a year now, and we need to hash out our differences and conflicts,” Bill said. “We need to share our innermost feelings.”
    “A professional psychologist, one of Bill’s college classmates, has his own counseling practice. He’s leading the two-day session,” Michael said.
    “He’s fascinated with our experiment, so he is donating his time,” Bill added.
    An