Annie reached over and took Bella’s hand. “Listen to me. It’s not too late for you to have the life you deserve. You just have to make this the last and final break from him. Time will heal your heart. And someone will come along so wonderful, who wants you so much that you’ll literally look back on this time and marvel that you ever thought he could be the love of your life.”
“When you say it I feel like it could be true.” Bella cocked her head to one side. “But what about you? Why are you alone?”
Annie’s eyes moved across the river to where Drake and Alder still sat in the sun, chatting. “I’ve just been unlucky in love, I guess.” She sighed, finishing her wine. “I just don’t think it’s going to happen for me.”
“But the speech you just gave me?” said Bella, smiling gently. “Shouldn’t that apply to you, too?”
“I’d like to think so, but, like you, I have a hard time believing it.”
This time Bella reached out and squeezed her hand. “Two sisters unlucky in love, that’s us.”
“I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me, too.”
“And that’s not just the wine talking.”
Bella laughed. “Me either.” She finished off her second glass of wine and stood. “I’m going to cool off.”
“Try not to drown.” Annie pointed at her empty glass. “I’m too buzzed to save you.”
“That’s what we have Drake for.”
Drake. Drake Webber with his tan and his shoulders and those blue eyes that made her knees feel weak. Annie picked up her magazine, flipping pages without seeing, feeling tipsy. She hadn’t eaten much lunch, just a few bites of the meat in her sandwich. Not a good idea to drink on an empty stomach, she thought. Too late now. A drop of sweat between her clavicle bones trickled down her chest and between her breasts. Hot. So very hot. She stood and headed towards the water. Everything was fuzzy. The heat off the rocks made little wavering movements in the air. She waded into the water until she could no longer touch the bottom. Then she let herself sink, opening her eyes. The sun was inside the water, illuminating the tiny bubbles made by the movements of her arms and legs. She relaxed, letting herself float there in the deep, her hair all about her. And in her mind, a silent scream. Stop thinking about him. Stop, stop, stop.
Chapter 15
When Drake dropped her off the next afternoon at the restaurant, Otis was not in his usual place near the back door. She couldn’t remember a day in the last year he hadn’t been there. An alarm bell went off inside her head. Was he all right? If Mike came later she’d make sure to ask him if he’d heard anything. Coming inside, she locked the door behind her. She found Lee in her office, working on the computer.
“Did you notice Otis was missing?”
Lee’s forehead wrinkled. “I did. He’ll show up later.”
“Hope he’s all right.”
“Don’t worry. It’s pretty hard to get lost in this town and he’s well-fed here.”
A few minutes later, Otis still on her mind, she tore pieces of bread and tossed them into an olive oil and garlic mix for the evening’s croutons. Despite Lee’s assurances, Annie shivered. Something wasn’t right. She knew it.
She jumped when there was a sudden knock on the back door. Heart pounding, she called out to Lee, “Are you expecting someone?”
Lee’s head popped out of her office. “I bet it’s Mike. Hang on. I’ll answer it.”
Annie picked up a knife, handing it to Lee as she came through the kitchen. “Here. Take this.”
Lee, knife in hand, opened the door a crack. “Oh, good, Mike, it’s just you.” She backed up, bringing the knife to her side, and let him inside.
“Hey now, gals, no reason to be scared. But good for you, being cautious.” Mike took off his cowboy hat and hung it on the wall near the aprons and sweaters the staff kept there during off hours. Behind him was a woman in her fifties, Annie guessed, tall and slender, dressed in perfectly draped white linen slacks and a soft blue cotton blouse. “This is Sharon Fultz,” said Mike. “She’s a friend of Drake’s.”
“Of course,” said Lee. “The retired city planner.”
Sharon held out her hand to Lee, smiling in a way that Annie could only think of as gentle. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She turned to Annie. “And you as well. Drake tells me you’re keeping him from starving. I’m so appreciative.” There were thin lines around her eyes but her skin was remarkably beautiful, alabaster with a touch of pink on her cheeks. “I don’t know if he told you, but my late husband and Drake were very close.”
“They worked together. Isn’t that right?” asked Annie, shaking Sharon’s hand, which was warm and soft.
“Yes. My husband was Drake’s first boss. His mentor really. They adored one another.”
“I’m sorry to hear of your husband’s passing,” said Annie, choosing her words carefully.
“Thank you. It’s been five years now so one adjusts, despite your misgivings at the time, into a new life.”
“The same is true for divorce,” said Mike. “You think you won’t get through and then you do.”
“I lost my husband,” said Lee to Sharon. “Suicide, quite unexpectedly. I thought I’d never love again. But I was wrong.”
“Redemption despite loss,” said Sharon, smiling. “This is a good thing.”
“Yes,” said Lee, returning the smile. “Very much so.”
“Did you just arrive?” asked Annie.
“Last night, actually,” said Sharon. “I’m staying at Linus’s lovely inn. He’s such a doll. I used to frequent the restaurant he managed in Belltown years ago. Isn’t it a small world?”
“It is,” said Lee. “I bet we were there at the same time once or twice. I practically used to live there.” She glanced upwards, shaking her head slightly. “Seems like a million years ago now.”
“Well, yes,” said Sharon. “From what Linus tells me, you’ve both transformed your lives completely.”
“We have,” Lee said. “This town has a way of doing that to you.” She paused, glancing over at Mike. “It’s something in the water here. Not the drinking water but the water we swim in. The river has some kind of magical powers or something.”
Mike, nodding his head, put his arm around Lee’s slender shoulders. “This girl brought a whole new life to this town when she came here. Riversong was her vision. It was the first step to making this town thrive again. But we still have a long ways to go.”
“Well, let’s get to work then, shall we?” asked Sharon.
“You got it.” Mike nodded towards the dining room. “You girls all right with us using a table to talk through some plans?”
“Of course,” said Lee. “It’s at least an hour before anyone else will get here.”
“Are you hungry, Sharon?” asked Annie.
“I am, actually. Although that basket of scones was absolutely delicious this morning. Do you make those here?”
“We do,” said Annie. “Billy does, that is. My assistant chef. I’ve taught him everything I know.”
“How wonderful,” said Sharon, her green eyes warm. “This is the best thing we can do for another person, passing on our knowledge to them. And also admitting when the student surpasses the teacher.”
This Sharon is special, thought Annie. She glanced over at Lee, who was also gazing at Sharon with a look of adoration. And Mike? He had an entirely different expression than she’d ever seen on his face before. Was he smitten?
“Sharon, do you think you could adopt Lee and me? We’re both orphans and need a mother,” said Annie.
Sharon smiled wide, revealing small straight teeth, and then laughed. “I happen to be looking for a couple of daughters.”
“Do you have children?” asked Lee.
A shadow passed over Sharon’s face. “I never did. We wanted to. Very much. But it just never happened.” She looked over at Annie. “Drake tells me your son is a sweet little boy. I can’t wait to meet him.”
Annie flush
ed with pleasure. “Oh, well, I think so, of course.”
“And Lee’s little Ellie-Rose is the light of all our lives,” said Mike. “Little red-headed spitfire like her mommy.”
Lee smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear. “I’m afraid she’s going to cause us all a lot of trouble in the future. Her daddy worries himself sick.”
“No way. That little girl’s watched like a hawk by all of us. A boy lays a hand on her and we’ll sic Cindi on him,” said Mike, laughing.
As if on cue, they heard a key in the back door and in came Cindi, wearing a miniskirt, a tank top, and high sandals, her mass of chemically altered hair piled in a loose bun. “Hey y’all. We having a party in here or what?” She looked over at Sharon. “Who’s this beauty?”
Sharon blushed and held out her hand. “Sharon Fultz. I’m here to help with some city planning.”
“Well, sure. Holy shit, we’re so happy you’re here,” said Cindi. “Now, I’m Cindi with an ‘i’ and the bartender here. I’ve been around these parts for longer than I care to admit so you just let me know what you need. Heck, any little thing, and I’ll get it for you. Especially if it’s a cocktail of some kind. Not a thing I don’t know how to make after doing this job for two years.”
“People come from three towns over for a taste of one of her hand-shaken margaritas,” said Mike.
“Well, it’s just fresh lime juice, that’s all,” said Cindi, sounding uncharacteristically humble. “And my homemade simple syrup. But shoot, I can’t tell all my secrets.”
“All right, we can’t gab all day with you beautiful ladies,” said Mike. “Sharon and I have a town to transform.”
Annie turned to Mike. “Let me fix you guys a plate of something from the refrigerator. Maybe some cheese and salami and fresh bread. Does that sound good?”
“Can’t think of anything better,” said Mike. But as he said it, his eyes never left Sharon’s face for a moment. She’s cast a spell on us, thought Annie. This was going to get interesting.
Chapter 16
Two days later, while Annie was making breakfast and watching Drake tend his roses, Mike called on her cell phone. “Have you seen the paper this morning?” he asked.
“I never read the paper,” she said, chuckling. “Except the police blotter for laughs sometimes.”
She expected Mike to laugh but instead she was met with silence. After a moment, he spoke, his voice apprehensive. “Sweetie, I’m afraid I have some bad news. They found Otis’s body floating down the river.”
Otis. Otis was dead? Trembling, she leaned against the counter for support. “How?”
“Gunshot wound to the head, according to the paper. I went over to talk to Fred right away. They’re pretty sure it was a homicide.”
“But why would anyone kill Otis?” Unless it was somehow connected with Marco? Had Otis been trying to defend her and got in the way somehow? She sank to the floor, leaning against the cabinets. The thought that Marco had done this was too awful to comprehend or even utter out loud.
“Annie, I know you were soft on him. I’m sorry,” said Mike.
“We have to bury him properly. We owe him that much at least.”
“Of course we will. We take care of our own here.”
Between the two of them, Annie and Mike arranged a burial in the town’s cemetery. They knew nothing of Otis’s family, his birthdate, or even his last name. The tombstone would read, simply, “Otis. Friend. RIP.” They chose a gravesite near a mature maple tree, shaded for much of the day. “I just hated thinking of how hot he must have been in the summer,” Annie said to Mike. “Maybe he’ll feel cool here.” Maybe he’ll finally be at peace.
She thought of his mother then. Was she still alive? Surely she didn’t know where her son had spent the last twenty years of his life. For the first time, she imagined what was probably a frantic search arranged by his family after he disappeared from campus all those years ago. How she wished she’d thought to ask him his last name when he was alive. She’d been so careless. If only she’d been a better neighbor to a fellow citizen. Surely he deserved better than this.
All day she walked around in a trance, cooking on autopilot, coming out of it only to help Mike plan the graveside service. She could not rid her mind of the thought that Marco was somehow connected with his death. Even so, she didn’t utter her suspicions to another soul, afraid to say it out loud and make it feel more real.
They buried him on a Monday. At least a hundred people came to pay their respects at the service, conducted by the Methodist minister under the shade of the maple. This surprised Annie, but Mike explained to her that Otis was such a local figure, walking through town in his long dark coat and beard, that seeing him was something one had come to expect in a town where not much happened. She learned, as people got up to speak, that no one knew much about him except that he never harmed another living creature. Many expressed regret that they hadn’t tried to do more for him. But Annie knew it had been her job to do so. Had she gotten him killed instead?
Her eyes scanned the crowd, hoping Drake would show. Of course he wouldn’t come. He wasn’t part of this community. He didn’t want to be. Yet, it still hurt that he hadn’t come for her sake, knowing what Otis meant to her. Drake isn’t your real friend, she told herself. There is nothing between you. Why do you expect things from men they can’t possibly give?
She’d come with Tommy and after it was all over, they walked together towards his truck. “There’s nothing you could’ve done. You were kind to him, Annie, and made his life more comfortable these last several years in a way most people couldn’t.”
“I can’t stop thinking how scared he must have been.”
“I know. Me, too,” said Tommy. “I just hope whoever did this, did it quick.”
Annie shivered. The awful, nagging guilt returned, coursing through her bloodstream like a sudden illness. Had she done this to him?
Then, she saw him. He was two hundred or so yards away, behind a large fir near the edge of the cemetery. Marco. Or perhaps it was just a shadow? She grabbed Tommy’s arm. “Do you see that?”
Tommy went still. “What?”
She pointed towards the tree. “Behind that fir. I thought I saw someone.”
“You mean Marco?”
“Yes.”
Tommy set off running, his long legs fast. Annie watched, grasping the collar of her blouse between damp fingers. When Tommy reached the large tree, he stopped, leaning down and picking something up from the ground. It appeared to be an envelope. Then he went farther into the thicket of trees. She saw him looking around but, apparently seeing nothing, he headed back towards her.
“He was there, Annie. I just don’t know how he got away without us seeing him.”
“What is it?” She indicated the envelope in his hand.
He held it up in the light. Her name was scrawled across the front. It was Marco’s handwriting, childlike and small; she would remember it anywhere. “Do you want me to open it?” asked Tommy.
She nodded, unable to speak for the hammering sound between her ears.
Tommy spoke quietly, through clenched teeth. “I’m here, bitch. I know your every move. It’s only a matter of time.”
At Drake’s that night, after she put Alder to bed, she drifted into the kitchen. She wasn’t hungry. But wine? Yes, wine was something that might ease this sad and anxious feeling she couldn’t shake. Dull the pain and guilt and fear, she thought. Just for a moment. Finding a bottle of white wine in the refrigerator, she opened it and poured a large glass, wondering absently where Bella and Drake were. She went out to the front room and curled up in her usual corner on the longer of the two couches, drinking and watching the evening dim to twilight. The wine was gone before she knew it. She poured herself another.
But now she was restless. She paced in front of the big windows. She’d never been at the house without Drake. The thought of the forbidden rooms kept barging into her mind. Were they locked? She was certain they wer
e. Without a concrete plan, she wandered down the hallway, stopping at the door next to Alder’s room. Glancing behind her, she tried the door handle. To her surprise, it opened. She hesitated. Should she go inside? What would she find? Would it frighten her?
But these were not the questions to ask. She’d promised Drake. She could not break a promise to a man who’d been so kind. She let go of the doorknob and went back to the front room.
The second glass of wine was almost gone when she heard a car pull into the driveway and the front door open moments later. It was Drake, dressed in black pants and a short-sleeved, silky looking shirt. He was holding a black suit jacket in his hand.
“Hey there,” he said. “Everything okay?”
“I’m drinking,” she said, too loudly, holding up her glass.
“I can see that.” He looked around the room. “Where’s your partner in crime?”
“I don’t know. No one was here when I got back. Where were you?” The wine made her bold enough to ask.
“I took a drive, knowing it was your night off and you wouldn’t need me.”
“To where?”
“Just a couple of back roads.”
She looked at him carefully. There was something different about him tonight. The usual sadness mixed with something she couldn’t name. “That’s not like you. To go out of the house, I mean.”
He smiled, sitting in his usual spot on the other couch. “Felt like listening to music in my car and looking at the scenery, I guess.”
Was he restless, as she had been tonight? Was this the difference in his face?
“I think that’s progress.” She was feeling drunk suddenly. That’s how it was, she thought, the drunk just creeps in from one moment to the next.
“Progress?” He shook his head, his eyes on her. “I’m not sure me going for a drive indicates progress.”
“Want wine?”
The River Valley Series Page 42