She was so far gone she didn’t hear anything until Abbey woofed and focused on the door. That’s when she realized the pounding came from fists on the door and not the blood in her ears.
“Oh.” She stood up and yanked at her shirt that had twisted around her belly. She walked to the door on shaky legs, rubbing her mouth and struggling to regain some dignity.
In the year Nora lived in the apartment, she could count visitors at her door in the single digits. They’d all been trying to sell her wrapping paper or hoping she’d help fund a grade school field trip or wanting her to buy magazine subscriptions to help an inner-city delinquent on the road to better himself. Maybe this time the cops waited on the other side. They might have found out Petal witnessed Darla’s murder and needed to question her. Or it could be the bad guys that Sylvia supposedly worked for, come to pop a cap in Petal’s brain. In which case, they’d kill everyone in the apartment.
Not overreacting or anything.
Nora slipped the chain on the door and opened it to peek outside. What waited outside trumped whatever fantasy she concocted. She slammed the door, unhooked the chain and swung it open again. She threw herself into waiting arms. “Charlie!”
He hugged her hard, his grizzled face roughing her cheek. “You are sunshine and light and give me reason to live.”
The snow fell in giant white flakes, swirling in the gusts. She drew Charlie inside, out of the storm. She’d missed his forest smell, the gravelly voice, and his strange way of speaking as though he were in a soap opera.
Abbey wagged his whole body in delight to see his old hiking buddy and Cole grinned.
Charlie scratched Abbey’s ears. “You’re a fine fellow. Fine fellow.” He straightened and surveyed the apartment. “Nice crop of corn.”
She hugged him again.
He grinned at her. “In a world of sorrow and pain you are a bright angel of joy.”
Cole grasped Charlie’s hand. “Good to see you, man.”
Charlie’s bright eyes traveled from Cole to Nora. “Awfully good to see you here.”
Nora grasped his cold hand in both of hers. “Why didn’t you call and let me know you were coming?”
His face grew serious. “A wise soldier relies on the element of surprise.” Charlie didn’t often speak in war metaphors. His eyes drooped with weariness.
“Take your coat off and tell me what’s the matter.”
“Element of surprise, is it?” They all whirled around to see Abigail standing in the dining area. Her hair smashed against one side of her head and a dark rim of mascara smudged under one eye. Only a life-threatening emergency would bring Abigail out in in such disarray. “Don’t you mean ambush?”
“Now, Abbie…”
Nora tugged at the neck of Charlie’s army jacket as he shrugged to shed it.
“Don’t you ‘now Abbie’ me.” She pointed at Nora. “Don’t take his jacket. He’s leaving.” Abigail made a chameleon seem consistent. She could go from pothead to Florence Nightingale to a panther all in the course of a few hours.
Charlie gazed at Abigail with sad eyes. “I’ve come to take you home.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you. My home is here now, with my daughter.”
Whoa! Cole and Nora watched like spectators in the Thunderdome.
Charlie stepped toward Abigail. “You are my very breath. My home and my bed are cold and empty without you.”
Nora cringed.
Abigail held her hand up to stop him. “You’ve destroyed whatever home we had together. And as for your bed…”
“Okay, okay.” Nora stepped between the two. She had to stop this talk before she was scarred for life. “I’ll make some tea and we can sit down and discuss this like adults.”
Abigail’s voice rose an octave or three. “He won’t drink anything but beer so unless you have a twelve pack on hand, don’t bother.”
“Hey,” Nora said. “You knew he drank beer when you married him.” Everyone knew Charlie drank beer. He kept the pockets of his army jacket well supplied. Come to think of it, she hadn’t felt any cans when she’d hugged him. Maybe he wisely didn’t drink and drive.
“’The heady party of our love has faded to the painful pounding of a hangover.’” Abigail cast about, probably for paper to record her poetry. The universe would be forever grateful to lose that particular verse. Abigail turned her attention on Nora. Her eyes glistened with tears. “I won’t sit down with you and Charlie together. You always take his side.”
Nora stammered. “What side?”
Abigail ignored her and shot back at Charlie. “Are you so immune to your effect on women?”
Charlie? He didn’t stand more than five feet, eight. He smelled of pine forest and beer and wore baggy-butted jeans and a faded plaid shirt. He had a kind and gentle nature like a benevolent dwarf in a Disney movie. He was Nora’s dear friend but she’d never thought of him as romantic. Using the word sexy in the same sentence as Charlie would be a stretch.
“Can’t we talk about it?” Charlie asked.
“No. No. And no. You ruined our wonderful love with your thoughtless, selfish ways.”
Nora knew Charlie to be one of the most caring and considerate people in the world. “Come on, let Charlie explain.”
With all four of them standing in the apartment it felt as crowded as a Japanese commuter train at rush hour. And at least as uncomfortable.
Abigail tossed her head back. “You!” She shot a finger at Nora. “I would think after what you went through with that philandering husband of yours, you’d understand.”
Nora tried again. “Charlie wouldn’t cheat on you.”
“See? I told you. You’re taking his side and you haven’t even heard the facts. Fine.”
Charlie started, “I’m not—”
Abigail whirled around. “As far as I’m concerned, you deserve each other. I’m through with both of you.” Abigail stomped down the hallway and into her room. It surprised Nora that Abigail didn’t slam the door. She probably did that out of consideration for Petal.
Nora exhaled and said to Charlie. “I have to ask. Did you have an affair?”
Sorrow wafted around him like flies on a corpse. “No.”
Nora pulled out a chair at the table and sank into it. Cole and Charlie followed her. “Then what is she talking about?”
Abbey sat next to Charlie and rested his muzzle on Charlie’s lap.
Charlie stared down the hall and petted Abbey. His face grew rigid. “I would walk across hot coals for your mother. I would chase the great white whale to please her. I would rope the wind, cage the man in the moon. I would…”
Nora rested a hand on his. “Okay. But what did you do?”
He focused on Nora. “I gave up beer.”
Those were the last words she expected from Charlie.
Cole’s chair creaked as he sat back acting as astonished as Nora felt. “That’s a pretty big deal.”
Charlie nodded. “I thought she wanted me to.”
“What does giving up beer have to do with you having an affair?” The connection didn’t seem obvious to Nora.
Charlie went back to staring down the hallway. “I had a little trouble giving it up cold turkey so I went to someone the VA paid for.”
“A therapist?” Cole asked.
“Yep. A pretty young thing about your age.” Charlie propped his elbow on the table and leaned his face against his hand.
Nora stood and slipped around to the kitchen. She spoke over the counter bar. “Good for you. Did she help you?” Nora filled her tea kettle and set it on a burner.
Charlie lifted his head to answer her. “Oh, sure. She helped me a whole lot. But she had me start going to meetings.”
Cole nodded. “AA meetings.” A gust rattled the patio slider.
Abbey placed a paw on Charlie’s knee as if commiserating. “And they helped. So I went to them every day. And I quit.”
“That’s great. Was Abigail happy?”
He
turned his sad eyes to Nora. “If she noticed she never said a word.”
Nora leaned over the counter. “Ouch. Did you ask her about it?”
Charlie stroked Abbey’s paw. “She had other things on her mind. She wanted to know where I went every day. I lied and told her I went to the forest, like I always do.”
“Why didn’t you tell her the truth?” She pulled out three heavy mugs.
“I was ashamed I couldn’t quit on my own.”
Nora grabbed a few boxes of tea bags from her cupboard. She caught Cole’s eye and started tossing them to him. “So you kept going to meetings and lying, and she knew you were lying.”
He shrugged. “I guess so. She followed me.”
She brought the mugs around and placed them on the table. “And she saw you went to a meeting right? So why does she think you were having an affair?”
Abbey dropped his paw and closed his eyes, still leaning into Charlie. “Because the day she followed me was a big test day. I met my therapist at a bar downtown and she ordered a beer. I had a club soda, which is a poor substitute, by the way. We stayed there for a few rounds so I could get a feel for what it was like to say no.”
“And Abigail saw you,” Cole said.
“That would be my guess.”
Nora brought the kettle from the kitchen. “You didn’t talk to her?”
Charlie’s chin fell to his chest. “I didn’t know she was there. When I got home, her bags were packed and she was gone.”
“So tell her now.” Nora picked an Earl Gray tea bag for Charlie, dropped it in his cup and poured the water.
He wrapped a hand around the mug. “Nope.”
Oh no. Charlie needed to make up to Abigail, and the sooner the better. If not, Nora would be stuck living with her in perpetuity. “You have to talk to her, tell her the truth.”
Cole chose orange flavored black tea and steeped it in his mug.
Charlie stared at his tea. “Don’t you see, sweet child? If she doesn’t have faith in me, there’s really nothing for us.”
Cole stared down the hall. “Does it feel cold to you?”
Nora noticed the chill. She stood and started down the hallway to investigate a draft. Cole followed.
She opened her bedroom door expecting to find Petal curled up on her bed. Instead, the bed held nothing but a pile of rumpled blankets. The curtains billowed with the storm blowing in the open window.
38
Nora raced to the window and scanned the balcony that ran along the second floor of the building. Most of the well-lit parking lot was visible from that vantage point. Snow accumulated where it caught in ridges and tiny drifts. The wind grabbed the bent screen and banged against the building. Nora slammed the window closed.
“Is she out there?” Cole asked.
Charlie appeared uncharacteristically rattled. “She ran from me? Why would she have to steal into the frigid night to escape from me. My Abigail angel.”
Abigail answered from behind him. “I haven’t gone anywhere, you old fool. It’s Petal who’s jumped ship.”
“Thank the morning star you’re safe,” Charlie said. “Who is Petal?”
Abigail now wore one of her velour jogging suits with matching jacket. She’d repaired her hair and makeup. “How long has she been gone? What did you do to her?”
Nora snapped on a bedside lamp but it did little to illuminate the room. She made her way around the rustic log footboard of the bed and squeezed past Abigail to check the closet. “I didn’t do anything. Last I knew, you were napping together.”
“Humph.” Abigail watched Nora as she closed the closet door and scanned the small space between the matching log night stand and the wall, then turned and focused on the corner by the dresser. “You need a bigger bedroom. Or smaller furniture. Or both, would be my opinion. That rustic decor is…”
Nora glared at her.
Abigail sounded disdainful. “I suppose you think Petal running off is my fault, as you think everything is my fault.”
Nora held back a retort. She wished she had more light in the dim room.
Cole squinted out the window. “Why would she take off?” He pulled down the mini blinds.
Now that she looked at her room through others’ eyes, it did feel over furnished and generic. She’d only hung a couple of prints she’d found at Target and the comforter and curtains were a solid shade of light blue. All of it serviceable because, she admitted, not much exciting happened in her bedroom these days. Her eyes strayed to Cole and she blushed.
Abigail knew where to place the blame. “She’s scared to death Sylvia or someone else is going to kill her. And along comes Charlie. He storms into our home. I’m sure she heard his angry voice and fled for her life.”
They all stared at Abigail for a moment then Cole said quietly, “Charlie didn’t sound threatening to me.”
Nora ran a hand through her hair. “Doesn’t matter what set her off. She’s gone.”
“Who is Petal?” Charlie asked again.
Cole started for the door. “Come on. I’ll explain while we’ll search outside.”
Charlie reluctantly followed Cole out the door, his eyes still pleading with Abigail.
Abigail slammed her hands on her hips. “We should go after Petal. She’s had very rough life.”
Nora didn’t want to get involved with Petal. It was okay to let her stay the night, to feed her and listen to stories and to tuck her into bed. But Nora wasn’t responsible for every stray that wandered into her path. “What did Petal tell you?”
“She grew up poor and her mother is ill. She has an aunt who, apparently, is well off. But she won’t help with Petal’s mother. I think she has some resentment issues with the aunt and she ought to see a therapist. If you don’t take care of these negative feelings they can fester—”
“Mother!”
Abigail smoothed her jacket. “For heaven’s sake, Nora, she worships you because she thinks you’ve been so kind to her and frankly, you barely notice her.”
“Notice her? She’s living in my home!”
“At my invitation.”
“Thank you for finally giving me the sister I always wanted. Maybe we can play Monopoly and read Teen magazine together.”
Abigail lasered a withering shot at Nora, creating instant guilt. “What’s happened to you? You used to be generous and kind and giving. Now you’re locked up like a clam, holding back all your love lest it wither in the salty waves of life.” She pulled her notebook from her pocket, uncapped her special pen, and scribbled.
Out of nervous energy, Nora pulled the comforter up and straightened the bed. “You’re nuts.”
“Is that so? I remember a little girl who always included the most forlorn and ostracized child on the playground.”
“That was only because no one else would play with me.” Nora plumped a pillow and tossed it onto the bed.
Abigail tsked. “That’s not true. You were always the leader and the most popular.”
“Whatever.” Nora didn’t like this conversation.
“This’s why you’re so unhappy these days.” Abigail was rolling on the Nora-improvement wagon and there was no stopping her.
Nora walked out of the bedroom. “I’m not unhappy.”
Abigail followed. “Of course you are. You can’t hide it from me.”
“How could I hide anything from you? You’re living in my back pocket.” Nora stopped in the middle of the living room, not knowing what to do. She stomped to the kitchen and leaned on the counter.
“I know you’re refusing to let yourself care about Petal because of what happened to Heather.” Abigail paused in the kitchen doorway.
Nora froze. They said time would heal but after a year, it still felt like an open wound.
Abigail took out her chisel and hammered away on Nora’s heart. “You push Cole away with both hands. Just because Scott betrayed you.”
“Enough!” Nora brushed past Abigail.
Abigail watched Nora pace
into the living room again. “You need Petal as much as she needs you.”
Nora walked to a corn plant and held a broad leaf. She wanted to be left alone to take care of Abbey and herself.
Snow swirled outside the window. Petal didn’t have a coat. Nora spun around and searched the side of the couch where Petal had curled up. Petal’s Chacos peeked from beneath the blanket. No shoes, either. Damn it.
Abigail nudged her. “It’s a nasty night out there.”
“I don’t know where she would have gone.”
Abigail considered. “She talked about wanting to stop Sylvia.”
“Do you think she’d go to the Trust?”
Abigail shook her head. “I think she’d go to Sylvia’s house.”
“I wonder where that is.”
Abigail grinned. “I know.”
“How do you know?”
Abigail rolled her eyes. “There’s this thing called the Google. You might have heard of it.”
“Why…?”
“I was curious.” Abigail defended herself. “It’s a swanky neighborhood. When Berle and I lived here it wasn’t much but since then, they’ve scraped off most of the older homes and built new. It’s where the people with money live. We’ll GPS it.”
Abigail grabbed her phone from the corner of the counter bar. “Got it. Let’s go.” She opened the coat closet by the front door. “I didn’t bring a causal cold-weather coat.” Abigail slipped into Nora’s newest, warmest down coat. Of course Abigail would commandeer that coat and leave Nora digging in the closet for a lighter-weight, beat-up version.
They headed out the door to Nora’s Jeep. Abbey bounded toward them across the parking lot enjoying the snowy evening. Abigail opened her door and before she could climb in Abbey scrambled into the passenger seat. Abigail waved him into the back.
“Nora, wait.” Cole jogged from the end of the parking lot.
Nora walked to her side of the Jeep and watched him approach.
“Where’re you going?” His breath puffed in a white stream.
“To find Petal.” Her fingers tingled in the cold.
The Nora Abbott Mystery series Box Set Page 50