by Viva Fox
Elizabeth was pleased that the men seemed to know what they were doing. She’d heard too many times of women getting ripped off by contractors. In this case, she couldn’t imagine that it would happen. Philip had known her grandmother for years. He’d taken care of the house for years. He’d never rip off one of her family members.
Elizabeth let the men handle the hard stuff. She set to spraying the wallpaper so she could start tearing it down. She found that it wasn’t terrible work. You could get long strips off in one pull. She found that satisfying. Slowly, the walls beneath began to become visible.
She’d gotten a good bit done when she heard a voice calling to her. Moving into the kitchen where the men were working, she found Rick standing at the door.
“What is it?”
“Did you know this was here?” Rick was pointing. Elizabeth suddenly realized what it was. A door was open. But there had been no door there earlier.
“What on earth-?”
“Looks like it’s the door to the cellar. Connects into the servants’ stairs.” Philip was leaning in the doorway, looking up. Elizabeth looked. Sure enough, a twisting staircase led up and out of sight.
“But my grandmother never said anything about it.”
“She probably didn’t know.” Philip explained. “She might have had an idea of it. But we just got the latch uncovered.”
“Good thing.” Daniel was leaning against the counter. “Anyone could have come walking in here.”
“Daniel.” Philip shot a harsh look over his shoulder. Daniel ignored his father.
“It’s true. Those stairs connect down to the basement. Probably an outside door somewhere. Anyone could have walked in.”
“There’s no need to scare her.” Rick gave his brother a harsher look than their father had done.
“I’m not trying to scare her.” Daniel wiped his hands on his pants. “I’m trying to be honest.” He turned, walking outside. Rick glared after him for a moment.
“Sorry about that.” He apologized to Elizabeth.
“No one could have gotten that door open,” Philip offered. “The latch appeared to be stuck good.” Elizabeth forced on a tight smile.
“Of course. I didn’t imagine that someone would just come walking in. I mean, this is a safe town, right?”
“Of course. And I’m right outside all night.” Philip’s warm voice and smile made her feel better. Elizabeth nodded.
“That’s what I thought. I better get back to my wallpaper.”
She left the men in the kitchen. She gave the wallpaper precisely another half hour of work before she decided that she was getting nowhere. Looking outside, she decided to walk onto the grounds.
The house wasn’t on a lot of ground, but they’d saved the outbuildings. The barn had been torn down years before. Now there was only a shed, the two small houses, a chicken coop and the well. Elizabeth went to sit on the edge of the well. It looked deep. She studied the stone walls where they disappeared into blackness. Anything could fall down there.
“Anyone call you Lizzie?” A man’s voice startled her. Elizabeth turned, finding Daniel crossing the grass to her.
“No.” Elizabeth felt a bit awkward. “Why do you ask?” Daniel shrugged.
“Just asking. The only Lizzie that I ever think of is Lizzie Borden. You know, ‘Lizzie Borden took an axe?’”
“I’m familiar.” The man was just plain strange. Elizabeth couldn’t believe the difference in the two brothers. Daniel watched her.
“Just a kids’ song.” He glanced back to the house. “You know, Fall River isn’t too far from here. They turned Lizzie’s house into a bed and breakfast too.”
“Good to know.” Elizabeth replied blandly.
“They never proved Lizzie did anything. It was the O.J. of her time.” Daniel waited for a response. Elizabeth didn’t have one. Why this stranger was discussing axe murderers with her she didn’t know.
“Why would you mention someone coming into the house?” Their earlier conversation still unnerved her a bit. Not that she wasn’t already. Last night was still hanging in her mind.
“Woman alone…you can never be too careful.” Daniel started towards the house. “Bad things happen in small towns too.”
He went back into the house, leaving her alone. Despite the warm sun, Elizabeth felt a chill. She was not a fan of Daniel’s. Not at all.
It was after five when the men were finishing up. Elizabeth had gone upstairs to rearrange some of her clothes, as well as think about what she wanted for dinner. She’d been eating out since coming to town, and it was getting tiresome. But Philip had promised to install her stove as soon as it was delivered, so hopefully it wouldn’t be much longer.
“Hey,” there was a soft knock on the door. Elizabeth turned to see Rick in the hallway. “Sorry for being so forward.”
“Oh please,” Elizabeth gestured around her. “There’s hardly anything you shouldn’t see up here. Besides it’s not even my bedroom…since I’ll be living in guest house out back.”
She felt like she was babbling, but he didn’t seem to care.
“Well good.” Rick took a step forward. “I was going to run home and clean up, but I thought maybe you might want to grab some dinner with me.”
He was asking her out? It was entirely too good to be true. Elizabeth felt the pang of butterflies in her stomach. Rick grinned at her.
“I wasn’t thinking much. Not that this town has a ton to offer. You like bar food? There’s a place not far away that has great burgers.” Elizabeth finally let her smile spread across her face.
“I think that sounds wonderful.”
“Great.” She thought she imagined that Rick’s smile was getting bigger. “How long do you need? I can be back in an hour.”
“That’s perfect”.
Rick nodded, “Then I’ll be back.”
Elizabeth reminded herself that she was too old to be giddy over a man asking her out. But she was just that. Instead, she hushed the little voice and reminded herself that if a man had her this excited it had to be good.
She showered while deciding what to wear. He’d said a bar, so she wouldn’t go any more than jeans. She rummaged through the few clothes she had, finally settling on a blue denim shirt and some dark jeans. It was still cool at night, so she found one of the pairs of brown boots she’d packed in case of bad weather. She put those on and deemed herself ready.
She’d just headed downstairs with her purse when she heard a noise on the front porch. A heavy thud immediately followed it. Elizabeth frowned. The noise annoyed more than frightened her. Squaring her shoulders, Elizabeth yanked open the door.
She had expected a stray cat, maybe a raccoon at the most. But that wasn’t what she found. Instead, a large rock sat on the porch. It appeared to have been dropped there rather than thrown. It had a piece of paper attached to it with gray duct tape. Elizabeth reached for it. Scrawled on the paper in large, childish print were the words
Look In Back
Elizabeth was annoyed. If this was someone’s type of joke, she was not entertained. She was entirely too old to handle ‘harass the new person in town’. She was not going to give someone the satisfaction.
Just as she was about to slam the door shut, she heard something hit hard enough on the back door to rattle the glass pane. It wasn’t quite a knock, more of a splat. It sounded wet, heavy. Now Elizabeth froze.
She was more frightened now. She stood rigid for a moment. Her blood thrummed in her ears. Elizabeth slowly let out her breath.
Now she had to go and see.
Elizabeth inched down the hallway to the back of the house. Something was running down the glass. Biting her lip, Elizabeth pulled open the door. A scream instantly rose in her throat and she stepped back.
Blood was streaming down the door. On the concrete stoop were the remnants of….something. Elizabeth couldn’t identify it. She noticed bits of fur sticking in the disgusting mess.
“Elizabeth!” The voice was
accompanied by the sounds of feet thudding through the house. Suddenly Rick was behind her. His hands were gripping her upper arms. He made a sound of disgust, pulling her away from it.
“What the hell?”
“I….” Elizabeth closed her eyes. Her stomach rolled. “The note…” Rick was pulling the paper out of her hand.
“What kind of sick bastard would do this?” He was staring at the mess on the ground. Elizabeth took a deep breath, easing her eyes open.
“What…what was it?”
“Doesn’t matter.” Rick turned her away from the mess. “Go sit down. I’ll clean it up.”
Elizabeth listened to the sounds of the clean up as she sat on the stairs. Her head rested on her knees. She wondered just what someone was trying to pull. She didn’t know anyone in this town. Her grandmother still had friends in town, but she couldn’t imagine that a group of eighty-year olds were capable of anything like this.
“Ok,” Rick appeared in the hallway. He was wiping off his hands on a paper towel. “Dead rabbit is exterminated. You still feel up for dinner?”
Elizabeth stared at him. If he was joking, she didn’t find it funny. Rick apparently sensed it. He smiled awkwardly.
“Sorry, bad choice of words. If you don’t want to go out tonight I’ll understand, but I think that you should. You need to get out of here for a bit.”
“Who would do such a thing?” Elizabeth got to her feet. “And why?” Rick shrugged.
“I have no idea. We’re not a town who is known for this kind of crazy.”
“If this is someone’s idea of a hazing, I’m not entertained.” Elizabeth followed him to a bright blue truck that was parked on the street. He opened her door for her.
“Honestly, I can’t imagine anyone in town doing this.” He closed the door and went around getting into the driver’s side. Elizabeth leaned back in the seat, taking a deep breath. She knew he was right. It was better for her to get out rather than sit in the house thinking about what had happened.
Rick started the engine. He pulled the truck onto the street, immediately pausing on a red light.
“I don’t know how much you’ve seen of this town,” he changed the subject, “but it doesn’t have a very happening nightlife. Now you like cafes and coffee shops, it’s got those.”
“I’ve noticed.” Elizabeth was calmed by the change in topic. “I did walk down to a couple.” Rick started through the now green light.
“I'm partial to Mocha Bean myself. You can smell it before you hit it.”
They kept up the small talk as they drove a few more blocks. Rick pulled the truck into a corner parking lot. He got out, immediately coming around to open her door again. Elizabeth decided that she could get used to this treatment. Her ex had never been much of the gentleman type. This was a refreshing change.
It was truly a bar in every sense. It was dimly lit with a pool table settled behind a half wall on the far right side. An older model jukebox sat in one corner. The bar was a dark mahogany with cheaply covered stools in a line beside it. The wide open space between it and the door was dotted with small black iron tables in clusters of one or two with two or four chairs around them. Elizabeth was surprised to notice that most of them were full. She hadn’t expected such a crowd in a small town.
Rick lead her to a table near the wall. She settled into one of the chairs. The room smelled like fried food and beer. It was comforting after the nasty incident at the house.
Rick produced two menus from the metal holder on the table. He offered one to her. She took it, perusing the bar foods.
“I recommend the pretzels and beer cheese for a starter. How’s that sound?”
“Perfect.” Elizabeth was hungrier than she realized. She thought everything on the menu looked good.
A waitress came. She knew Rick immediately. He introduced Elizabeth. She was not surprised. If there weren’t many places in a small town to grab a beer she figured that the regulars were everywhere.
Rick’s ordering felt like a scene from a movie. It wasn’t in another language, or fancy, but he quickly rattled off beers, pretzels and cheese. The waitress appeared again with a basket of pretzels and their beers. Elizabeth took a sip of her beer. It was cold and delicious. She closed her eyes in satisfaction.
“Nothing beats a cold beer after a long day, huh?” Rick reached out to tap his bottle against hers. “What should we drink to?”
“How about fewer dead animals?” The comment made him laugh.
“Ok, something with a few less visuals. Or at least more pleasant ones. How about, to new friends and new towns with new beginnings?”
“I’ll drink to that.” Elizabeth clinked her bottle against his. They drank in silence for a few minutes.
“So, aside from any dead animals, how do you like the house?”
“It’s gorgeous.” Elizabeth ate a pretzel. “Did you know my grandmother well?” Rick nodded, swallowing his beer.
“Yeah, I brought her over to the place a few times. She liked to check on it, make sure the place was still standing.” He chuckled. “I’m not entirely sure she believed that my dad would keep it going.”
“I always visited when I was kid. It was such a cool house to a child.” Elizabeth had to smile at the memory. She had been one of those kids who loved going to grandma’s house. The house had felt so big, it had been an adventure.
“We probably passed each other in town and never knew it.” Rick was watching her with a comfortable smile on his face. Elizabeth realized that she really did like him. He was a good, decent man-not to mention handsome. She could allow herself to settle down with someone like him.
Their food came. She had ordered a traditional burger with the basics: lettuce, tomato, pickles and onions. He’d ordered barbeque wings. They split an order of fries.
“So,” Elizabeth was feeling better after two beers, “being a local, tell me if there’s some deep, dark secret which would be drawing someone to harass my house.” Rick chuckled.
“Well, I don’t know any local legends require the death of a rabbit.” Even that made her smile, despite the nastiness of the memory.
“No, of course not, but is it like…some sort of fabled house?”
Rick picked up another wing. He took a bite, chewed. He seemed to be thinking.
“Pretty much every house in this town has some type of legend.” He shrugged. “It’s an old town. It has a history. It’s nothing spectacular.”
“Your brother brought up the Lizzie Borden House in Fall River.” Elizabeth looked at him over her beer. Rick rolled his eyes.
“That’s Danny. He likes the dark humor.” Despite her good mood, Elizabeth felt a sudden chill. She wondered just what Rick meant by ‘dark humor.’
He must have picked up on what he said because he waved his hand.
“Daniel is harmless, Elizabeth. He just likes television shows featuring demons and hauntings. I’m sure he’s got a huge list on the history of your house.”
“So it does have a history.” Elizabeth caught him. Rick rolled his eyes.
“Like I said, yours has the same history as every house in this town. It was built by a local business man where he raised his family. A couple of people in his family died in the house during a measles outbreak. I don’t know if that really means a haunting. Your grandmother always laughed off the idea of ghosts.”
That sounded like the grandmother that she knew. Her grandmother would never have given into any type of local legend. And she certainly wouldn’t have been scared of one. Her grandmother was the type of woman who chased mice out of the house with a broom and ran over snakes with a lawn mower. The thought of a dead man roaming the halls of her home would have just been an interesting dinner tale.
“Well, if there are supposedly ghosts it’ll be good for business.” Elizabeth shrugged as she put her bottle down.
“Now that I agree with,” Rick nodded. “People love that stuff. They come out of the woodwork for it. Hey, maybe you could even ge
t the place on the local ghost tour.”
“There’s a ghost tour?”
“Only in October. It’s run by the historical society. But people come. Like I said, people love that stuff. Everyone seems to like to hear the stories.”
“Do you?” Elizabeth gave him a coy smile.
“Why?” Rick leaned in a bit closer to her. “Do you have one to tell me?”
They chatted more. Elizabeth knew that they were flirting. She had no problem with it. She tried to remember the last time that she had flirted with a man, or that one had flirted with her. She found that she could not.
Rick drove her home. He walked her up the porch to her front door. Just like any good gentleman would have done.
“Do you want me to check over the house?” He nodded towards the dimly lit windows.
“No, why?” After a few beers, the concept seemed ludicrous. Sober it probably would have been a more rational suggestion. Rick shrugged his broad shoulders.
“No reason.” He leaned in to her. His lips brushed hers ever so slightly. Elizabeth felt her entire body tingle at the sensation.
It might just be alcohol, she thought to herself. He may not know what he’s doing.
Rick smiled at her as he stepped back.
“I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”
“You mean here? In my house?” Elizabeth winked as she unlocked the door. “I’ll be here.” Rick laughed.
“Goodnight, Elizabeth.”
As the alcohol started to wear off, she wondered if she had been too much. She was paranoid now. Should she call him? Text him?
No, it was late. And then she realized she hadn’t put his number into her phone. She still had it written on a business card which she’d taped to a cabinet. Should she go down and shoot a quick text?
No, of course she shouldn’t. But she should put his number into her phone. Not for any romantic reason, that was just silly. It was good business to have one’s employee in their phone. She was sure that anyone would agree. What if she needed to get in touch with him for some reason? Yes, she finally rationalized to herself, she needed to have Rick’s number in her phone.