by Becky Durfee
“Indeed,” Jenny agreed. “You are a resourceful one.”
“I ran a magazine. If I wasn’t resourceful, I’d have been out of business.”
“True. Oh, I nearly forgot. I’m supposed to tell you that some detectives from the police department are going to be coming by to ask you some questions about Steve. They let me be the one to tell you about finding Steve’s remains, but they do want to ask you about his family and about his disappearance.”
“The disappearance I can help them with. His family? Not so much,” Elanor admitted. Then she added, “Are any of the detectives good looking?”
Jenny laughed. “I’m not sure which ones will be coming. You’ll have to tell me.”
“I’m sure I’ll find them good looking, provided they’re male and under the age of seventy. My standards are quite low these days.”
The women giggled like teenagers. At times it was easy for Jenny to forget that Elanor was two generations older than she, but the paleness of her skin and her frail stature, which seemed to grow weaker with each visit, served as unwelcome reminders. Jenny genuinely wished she had met Elanor earlier in her life and could have spent more time with her. The thought of losing such a cherished friend was becoming increasingly more difficult to bear, although she knew for Elanor the end would actually be welcome.
After a short while, Jenny staged her exit, eager to go home and get some decent sleep after such an exhausting day. The ride home was shortened by swirling thoughts of domestic arguments, ash-spreading, and aptly timed messages from beyond. At home she found herself with very little energy left for confrontation, so she avoided Greg and headed upstairs to bed.
“Hello?” Jenny hoped her voice sounded nonchalant as she answered the phone, masking her excitement about talking to Zack. With Greg working mere feet away from her, she didn’t want to appear too eager.
“Hi, Jenny? It’s Zack Larrabee.”
“Hi, how are you?”
“I’m doing great. I’ve got a little information here you might like to know.”
Jenny’s pulse quickened. “That’s fantastic.”
“I got a photograph of Arthur, so it might be better if we met in person somewhere.”
Jenny liked that idea, although she was sure Greg would have been a lot less thrilled about it if he knew. She glanced in her husband’s direction, feeling horribly transparent, and declared, “Sure. Where would you like to meet?”
Greg looked up from his work for a second, meeting Jenny’s gaze, and then shook his head disapprovingly as he went back to work. He didn’t even know she was arranging to meet an eligible bachelor; she couldn’t imagine how upset he would have been if he had known the full truth.
“I’m actually kind of hungry. There’s a sub shop a few doors down from Larrabee Homes. Do you want to meet there and grab a bite?”
Ordinarily Jenny would have declined out of respect for her marriage, but she had very little of that left. “Perfect. I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes?”
“Great. See you there.”
As much as she would have liked to just walk out the door, Jenny felt as if she owed Greg an explanation. “I’m meeting with the folks at Larrabee and Sons Custom Homes. They’re going to give me some information about who worked on the construction crew with Steve right before he died.”
“Okay, bye,” Greg said coldly.
Perhaps Greg didn’t realize his immature behavior only made Zack seem more appealing in Jenny’s mind. Zack appreciated her psychic ability. He bragged about his sister’s knack for baking. He was personable. Greg, on the other hand, had been nothing but a big, fat pain in the ass lately. The scales were definitely tipping in Zack’s favor.
Jenny grabbed her keys and headed out the door, eager to have a pleasant lunch and see a first-hand picture of Arthur Larrabee. She recalled the image of the gray-haired man from her vision, making sure she’d be able to recognize him once she saw the picture. The visual was easy to conjure up; that was a face she wouldn’t soon forget.
She found the sub shop rather easily, but Zack wasn’t there when she arrived. She checked the time; she had been perfectly punctual. She waited at the shop for what seemed like an eternity, unsure of whether to be angry or worried, until Zack pulled into the parking lot almost fifteen minutes late.
“Hey,” he said immediately. “Sorry. I got held up.” He was dressed in a tie-dye shirt and khaki shorts, fueling Jenny’s suspicion that he didn’t belong in a dress shirt and tie.
“That’s okay,” Jenny said. “It happens to the best of us.” While she said it was okay, she had to admit Zack was substantially less attractive than he’d been just twenty minutes earlier.
Zack pulled a manila envelope out of his passenger seat and approached the shop’s entrance with it tucked under his arm. Jenny eyed the package with excitement; this was the information she’d been waiting for. She couldn’t wait to go back and provide confirmation to Elanor, granting her the peace she so desperately longed for before she passed.
Jenny remained patient as the two ordered their sandwiches, eventually taking a seat in a booth by a window. “I bet you’re excited to see this,” Zack said, opening up the envelope.
Jenny nodded with wide eyes. “Excited isn’t the word.”
“Well, I’ll start with the picture of Arthur.” He handed Jenny a paper copy of an old black-and-white photo. When she flipped the page around to face her, her jaw hit the ground.
“Oh my God,” Jenny said. “This isn’t him.”
Chapter 15
“What do you mean it isn’t him?” Zack asked.
“It isn’t him. It’s not the guy from my vision.” She rubbed her hand down her face, squeezing her chin at the bottom. “Are you sure this is a picture of Arthur?”
“Positive. It had his name and the date written on the back of the original. My dad even verified it was him.”
Jenny placed her head in her hands, suddenly developing a headache. “I had given her answers.” Again, Jenny was really talking to herself, but doing so out loud.
“Uh-oh. You told her that Arthur had done it?”
“Yup,” Jenny let out a loud exhale. “I guess I should have waited until I had proof. I was just so excited.”
“Well, I also have the name of the foreman of the crew, if that’ll help. I couldn’t get a list of all the workers, but we do keep records of whose team it was.”
Jenny’s spirits picked back up. “Who was it?”
Zack looked at the notes on his paper. “It says here that the foreman of the crew was Brian Larrabee.”
Jenny looked at Zack in disbelief. “Who is Brian?”
Zack smiled proudly. “I didn’t know, so I took the liberty of doing a little research. He was Arthur’s brother.”
“Do you have a picture of him?”
Zack’s pride disappeared. “No.”
“And you have no idea who could have been working on his crew?”
“No.”
Jenny thought silently for a moment. “Could you possibly get a picture of Brian?”
“I could try.”
That would have to be good enough for now, Jenny surmised. Disappointed, she thought about taking a bite of her sandwich, but her appetite had vanished. She held her tray out to Zack. “You want this? I can’t eat.”
“I’ll never turn down food. You sure you don’t want it?”
“Positive. Although, if that picture had been of the guy from my vision, I’d have probably gone back for seconds.”
Zack took the sandwich off of her tray and placed it on his own. “So are you going to tell Elanor that you were wrong? Or are you just going to let her believe what she believes?”
Jenny deliberated to no avail. “I don’t know. What do you think I should do?”
“I’d leave it be,” Zack said, wasting no time on Jenny’s sandwich. “No sense upsetting her if she’s at peace.”
“I do agree with that, on one hand,” Jenny said, “But on the other
hand you’ve got to know Elanor. She’s a straight-shooter. She’d be furious with me if she knew I was hiding the truth.”
Zack grunted as he swallowed. “That is a tough one. I’m glad I’m not in your shoes.” He flashed that smile of his, instantly knocking Jenny’s stress level down a few notches.
Enjoying the brief moment of levity, Jenny decided to perpetuate it. “So, do you like working for your family’s business?”
“In a word? No.”
“Really?” Jenny replied. “That answer surprises me.”
“Did I act like I liked my job when you met with me?”
Jenny thought back to their first encounter. “You didn’t act like you hated it.”
“Then I’m a good actor.”
Jenny smiled. “Then why do you do it?”
“Because I’m a Larrabee. And I have a penis.” He took a drink through his straw. “In my family, as soon as a boy sprouts his first pimple, they put a hammer in his hand. He swings that around until he turns 25, and then they take it back out of his hand and give him some sort of managerial job. That’s how it goes. I just happened to get a desk job, probably because I sucked at carpentry. Or perhaps because I’m so good looking I attract customers.” He posed like a model.
“Oh, it has to be the latter,” Jenny said jokingly.
“Definitely.” Zack agreed.
“If you hate it, why don’t you do something different?”
“Because I’m a Larrabee.” He smiled. “And I have a penis. Haven’t we been through this?”
“Umm,” Jenny began, “last I checked this was America. You have the right to pick your own career.”
“Not in my family.”
“What are they going to do to you? Disown you?”
Zack looked intently at Jenny. “That’s exactly what they would do.”
“That sucks.”
“To be fair,” he continued, “I’d probably hate any job I had. I hate work in general.” Zack was no longer attractive to Jenny. “The good part about my job is that it isn’t nine to five. My hours vary, which gives me a little bit of freedom that most people don’t have.”
“I get that. I’m a teacher, so I have summers off.”
“I thought you were a psychic.”
“Being psychic doesn’t pay the bills.”
“Touché.” He tipped his soda cup in her direction. “But it’s still very cool.”
Jenny enjoyed the small talk as Zack finished both of his sandwiches. She was actually relieved her attraction toward him had subsided; that could have only led to trouble. He did, however, seem like a fun guy to have as a friend, and she was glad that she met him.
As they gathered up their trash and headed for the door, Zack agreed to investigate Brian a little more and report his findings back to Jenny. She hoped that would bring some answers, but she was becoming discouraged. This mystery certainly wasn’t as cut and dry as it had seemed.
As she drove home, she considered how ridiculous it was that Zack worked a job he didn’t like simply because his family expected him to. The solution seemed obvious to Jenny--tell the family he doesn’t want to be in the construction business and find a different job. If the family didn’t like it, too bad. They’d have to get over it.
However, there was Jenny, the queen of the hypocrites, heading home to a renovation project she didn’t enjoy and a husband who didn’t respect her opinion. To an outsider, her solution would probably have been equally as simple. Get out. Move on. Find a new place and be happy. But she had taken a vow. She had financial commitments. Neither she nor Greg could afford that house by themselves, and nobody would buy it looking the way it did. She suddenly gained more sympathy for Zack’s situation. She was sure it, too, was more complicated than it appeared on the surface.
Jenny marveled at how much she resembled Steve’s description of ‘most people.’ She was mechanically going through life, unhappily doing what she was supposed to, feeling like she had very few choices at this point. Despite Steve’s nomadic lifestyle, perhaps he had been one of the luckiest people in the world. At least he had controlled his own destiny, albeit for a short time.
Jenny also developed an even greater respect for Elanor, who was brave enough to take the leap that she and Zack seemingly couldn’t. Although, Jenny did have to stop and give herself credit for how far she’d come already. Maybe she wasn’t exactly where she wanted to be yet, but she was definitely a different person than she’d been back in Kentucky.
“Kentucky,” she said out loud, forgetting her pledge to stop talking to herself. The following morning Greg was scheduled to leave for his bachelor party weekend. Jenny felt the weight of the world lift off of her shoulders.
After her lunch with Zack, Jenny spent eight straight hours working on the house, stopping only to grab a quick bite for dinner. She had to admit they were making good progress. Soon enough they would be on the cosmetic work and Jenny would like the renovation process a whole lot better.
Having worked ridiculously hard for most of the day, Jenny was exhausted come evening. She showered off the sweat and dirt of the day, put on her pajamas, and climbed mercifully into bed.
Soon she found herself flying. Water was below her, whizzing by at breakneck speed. She approached the water’s edge and hovered there, seeing a young couple on a blanket. The image was blurry, as if she was seeing it through water. The woman was blond; the young man had dark hair. She could hear their voices but couldn’t make out the words. The man got on one knee, holding out an offering to the woman. Jenny flew closer, circling—hoping. “Please don’t,” Jenny felt herself say. “Please don’t do this.”
After a moment the man gathered his belongings and stormed off. Jenny felt flooded with relief.
The woman sat alone. Jenny hovered near, feeling peace--unity. “Don’t worry,” ran through Jenny as she tried to provide the woman with invisible comfort. “You’re not alone. I’m here. I’m waiting for you. As long as you don’t leave me, we’ll have eternity. Just don’t leave me.”
Jenny felt a demented blend of guilt and happiness. Love, she knew, didn’t mean wishing loneliness on the other person. But Jenny was enlightened. She knew how it could be. They could be together forever, if only the woman could remain unattached during this lifetime.
Jenny would just have to make sure the woman didn’t fall in love again.
Jenny sat up with a gasp. She looked around, happy to discover that she was no longer a floating entity, but rather alive and whole in her own bed. She lowered her shoulders as she relaxed, realizing what had just happened. In her visions she’d always had Steve’s perspective, and this was no different.
Now she just knew what the viewpoint looked like from the other side.
Chapter 16
By the time Jenny woke up in the morning, Greg was putting the finishing touches on his packing.
She rolled over groggily. “Hey. What time are you heading out of here?”
“Soon,” he said. “I just have a few more things to collect and I’ll be on my way.” He closed a drawer. “So what are you planning to do today?”
“Well, I’m going to start with a trip to Maple Estates.” Jenny saw no point in lying anymore.
“I should have known.”
He disgusted her. Feeling the desire to be away from him, she got out of bed and headed toward the bathroom. “Do you have what you need from in here? I want to shower, but I can wait if you’re not done.”
“No, I’m good. Go ahead and shower.”
Jenny walked into the bathroom. No kiss goodbye. No hug. No I love you. Things had certainly changed in the past few weeks.
Jenny showered slowly despite her eagerness to get to Maple Estates. She wanted to be sure Greg was gone by the time she was done, so she took far more time than necessary. Her plan had worked; when she emerged from the shower, Greg’s car was already gone from the driveway.
Her mood immediately escalated. The black cloud that hung over the house had lifted, a
nd the broken-down shit-hole they lived in actually didn’t seem quite so bad. Maybe the animosity she’d felt toward the house had less to do with the crumbling walls and more to do with the man who inhabited them.
Feeling more free than she had in ages, Jenny hummed as she fixed herself breakfast. Three whole days, she thought. Three whole days without feeling the need to explain her every move. This was the best she had felt in ages.
When Jenny finished up her breakfast, she delighted in leaving the dirty dishes in the sink. “I’m going to do that later,” she said as she exaggeratedly turned up her nose and walked away. With a quick brush of her teeth, she grabbed her purse and headed out the door. She sang off key to the radio for the entire length of the ride, making up words to the songs she didn’t know. The levity made the ride seem shorter than usual, and before she knew it the sign for Maple Estates appeared before her. Once through the double doors, she practically skipped down to Elanor’s room but was taken aback when she walked through the doorway.
Elanor looked markedly more ill than she ever had before. She was lying flat on the bed, tubes still in her nose, color drained from her face. Jenny froze for a moment, wondering if Elanor had actually passed away without anyone knowing it yet. Slowly she took several steps closer, eventually finding that Elanor was, in fact, breathing and was merely asleep.
Jenny covered her heart with her hands, bowing her head and taking a few silent gasps of relief. Once she gathered her composure, she sat in the recliner, patiently waiting for Elanor to wake up. Within a few minutes Elanor opened her eyes, at first unaware that Jenny was even there.
“Good morning, sleepy head,” Jenny said.
“Oh!” Elanor exclaimed with a start. After a weak laugh she added, “I didn’t see you there.”
“Surprise!” Jenny waved her hands in the air.
“Surprise indeed.” Elanor’s eyes twinkled. “I just nearly shit my pants.” Even though her health was declining, her spunk remained unaffected. Jenny was surely going to miss her friend.