by Day, Laura
“Can I go see my room?” Cate asked and Marie nodded and let go of her daughter’s hand. She felt the immediate emptiness when Cate was gone, but she needed to let go a little. She hadn’t escaped Austin just to lock Cate up. Her daughter had spent enough time living in fear.
“We were so glad when we got your résumé,” Ingrid said as they both watched Cate run to the smaller bedroom. “I was worried we were never going to find a trustworthy candidate to live in our old house.”
“I’m really grateful for the opportunity,” Marie answered. “You have no idea what this means to me.”
Ingrid nodded and looked at Marie from the corner of her eye. “It was surprising that you could start so early. We figured it would take months to find someone who could move to town.”
Marie said nothing. She looked down and traced a scratch in the floor with her shoe.
“Don’t you worry, dear,” the other woman said, putting her hand on Marie’s shoulder. “Sometimes you need a change of pace and Harksburg’s the perfect place for starting over. We’re a good town and we look out for each other here. You don’t need to worry or feel unsafe. You’re part of the Harksburg family now and you're part of my family. I love this old house, so you better get used to seeing me around.”
“I’m really glad to hear that,” Marie said with a smile as she heard Cate running around her new bedroom. She took a deep breath, and looked around at the apartment. She was already fixing it up her mind. She would add white curtains and there would always be fresh flowers on the dining room table. She was going to cover the walls with pictures of Cate and her drawings. She was going to make it her own.
Chapter Five
He jogged to the gym. It was four miles from his mother’s house making it a perfect warm-up run for someone in as good shape as Axel was. With a kiss on the cheek and a promise he would be back soon, Axel left her and took off down the street. His headphones were pounding punk rock into his ears and his pace matched the rhythm of his music. His heels slammed into the dirt on every downbeat.
A mile in, he stopped for fifty push-ups. Two miles in he stopped for fifty squats. By the time he was on Main Street his heart was pounding steadily and sweat was gathering on his face and chest.
“Axel! Axel!” The voice was loud enough that he could hear it over his music and it had that tone of someone who would not be ignored. With a sigh Axel stopped and removed his headphones turning around to face Ingrid Michele’s.
“Morning, Ingrid,” he said. “How’s the historical society today?” He should have known better than to stop. Ingrid was like a dog with a bone when it came to certain things. To his own chagrin Ingrid had talked Axel into buying a bench in the town’s square. He had been guiled and bullied into buying it. There were relentless phone calls from Ingrid who knew every trick in the manipulation book. He had at least been able to put his mother’s name on it instead of his own. Now that he had stopped and acknowledged her presence, whatever it was she wanted, he would inevitably have to give her.
“Everything at the historical society is wonderful,” she said giving a little skip as she hurried up to him. She was wearing yoga pants and a sweater, out for her daily speed walk no doubt. Axel slowed down so he was walking next to her. Ingrid’s speed walking matched up with Axel’s normal pace and he fell into step beside her as she pumped her arms and continued to move.
“You find someone to live in that creepy house?”
“It’s not creepy,” Ingrid chided him.
“Didn’t a lot of people die in that house?”
“Back in the old days it was normal for people to die at home. People passed peacefully in their beds in that home. It was perfectly normal and we should be so lucky.”
“So who is living there?”
“A lovely young woman named Marie. She just moved here from Arizona with her very sweet young daughter and I think she’s going to fit in just fine. You’ll have to meet her soon. She doesn’t know anyone in town and I don’t want her to be lonely.”
“I’m sure she won’t be lonely in this town. There’s never a moment’s peace here. Everybody knows everybody and you can’t do anything without running into someone you know.”
“Well now, things are different for you, Axel. You’re our town celebrity and everyone knows you. But she’s just a nice girl. I’m sure she’ll be able blend right in.”
“Let’s hope so, for her sake.”
“We’re going to have the annual fundraiser soon. I’m sure I can depend on you to buy some tickets.” It wasn’t a question. “I’ll talk to your mother about it.”
There it was. Axel’s mother was a sucker for any history, especially the Hawks family. The Hawk patriarch, the founder of the town, was from Ireland and his mother claimed a special attachment to the man. She was on the historical society board, which basically meant Axel was, too.
“Great talking to you, Ingrid,” Axel said and with a nod he took off on a jog down the lane leaving Ingrid behind. He would have to find some way to get out of the fundraiser. Those historical society functions were so boring. Tickets were a hundred bucks a pop and all it got was a cheap dinner in a hotel ballroom. The same forty people came every year. They gave each other awards for things like Member of the Year, Best Volunteer, but really it was given to whoever donated the most. His mother had never won and it broke her heart every year to see statues go to someone else. .
He jogged past the brightly lit windows of his gym and saw rows of treadmills filled with early morning gym goers. He went into the entrance and waved at the trainer sitting at the desk as he made his way downstairs to the boxing gym.
The air in the basement was different than upstairs. Upstairs was bright and friendly. It was filled with young hipsters in expensive working gear on complicated machines. The basement was darker. There were no amateurs down here. There were professional boxers and their trainers working out in every corner. The uneven rhythms of fists hitting mats and pads echoed in the air around him. The air was fresh, something he demanded. Fresh air pumped in and the temperature kept at a comfortable seventy-two degrees.
Axel jogged down the stairs and found his trainer and the manager of his gym standing and waiting for him. Hayden Walker had been Axel’s best friend since the ninth grade. They had done everything together. They had both taken up boxing in school, but Axel was the one to stick with it. Hayden just couldn’t keep up. He was slower and shorter. He had trouble recovering from a hit and eventually he quit. But he had learned enough in that time to become a damn good trainer and now he spent his time helping Axel. After his first big win Axel finally made enough to officially hire Hayden as his coach. When Axel bought the gym, he made Hayden the manager.
“You’re late,” Hayden said as Axel took the last step down onto the floor.
“Sorry, got held up on the way in,” Axel said. “What’s new?”
“The match-ups came in for the Northeast Supreme Belt.”
“When?”
“About two minutes ago.”
Axel and Hayden stepped into the office and closed the door behind them. Axel’s heart was pounding and it wasn’t from the run. He didn’t let it show, though. He kept his face blank doing his best to ignore the emotions roiling inside of him. Hayden pulled up the website for the fight and they scanned until they reached Axel’s name.
“It’s on the twelfth, which we knew. And you’ll be fighting Danny Castellano.”
Axel saw the image of his opponent on the screen. He saw Danny’s blocky face, his nose that bore the marks of being broken more than once, his short dark hair. He knew the guy. He had fought Danny before. He was good. Small, but wiry and fast. The guy could take a punch and he could give one.
“We’re gonna have to improve your footwork,” Hayden said, shaking his head. “You can beat this kid, but we’ll need to train hard. For the next two months this fight is the only thing you think about. Your head needs to be in the game. Is your head right?” Hayden demanded.
> “Yeah, I got this,” Axel said. He nodded at the screen. He could do this. He could beat Castellano. He would focus and train and, in two months, he was going to take home the belt and his entire life was going to change. Hayden was right. He needed to keep his mental game in tact; he needed to keep his head clear. But that wouldn’t be too hard. He was back in his hometown with only the historical society fundraiser to distract him. There were no late night parties with models, no hundred-dollar-a-plate sushi dinners, just the diner and the arcade. There was nothing else he wanted to do other than train.
“I’m gonna put together a training regiment and a meal plan for you. For the next two months we are hardcore training. No coffee, no booze, no junk food, no late nights, no women, there is only the gym for you.” Axel nodded. He wasn’t going to argue. “We train eight hours a day. Two hours cardio, two hours weightlifting, three in the ring, and then an hour for recovery.”
Hayden kept rambling away at his list while Axel nodded, but he wasn’t listening. He could hear the roar of the crowd; he could see that belt sitting on his mantle. He could taste the five hundred thousand dollars he was going to win. He had been out of the ring for almost three months, but he had been on a winning streak. He had knocked out his last three opponents. He was ready for the fight; he was ready to get back to it.
Axel cracked his knuckles in anticipation. “We’re gonna hit the big time, Hayden,” he said with a shake of his head. “No more cheap flights for us. This is how we get to the big times. This is the next step in my career.”
“But, first, we have to win,” Hayden reminded him.
Chapter Six
“Are you nervous?” Marie asked as she squeezed Cate’s hand.
“Nope,” Cate answered cheerfully as she took a little skip. That made one of them. Marie was nervous as hell. Cate had never been to daycare before. Back in Arizona, Austin had refused the very idea. Marie had been a stay at home mom, what would be the point of daycare? He had scoffed and then threatened her that she should never bring it up again.
Cate was “desperate for school,” as she called it. She loved playing with other kids and had been excited about it ever since Marie had told her she would finally get to go. It was also out of necessity, Marie did need to actually work at the museum, so Cate would need to be at daycare at least part time. But this was harder than she had thought. She couldn’t remember the last time she had gone a full day without her daughter. What if Austin had been following them and was just waiting for the perfect opportunity to grab Cate and take her away?
Marie looked around her, searching for anyone suspicious or familiar. But there were only a few people in the street and one car driving past. She was acting paranoid. Austin had no idea where she was. He couldn’t get her. He wasn’t going to find her. She had done everything. She had left her cellphone and credit cards on the table with her short note: I’m not coming back; don’t look for me. That was all it said.
She had traded her black SUV in for cash. From Arizona they had taken a bus for five hours to Phoenix where she bought another car, in cash. From there she had just gone. No one knew where she was and she had left no trail for Austin to follow. Her only fear was that Austin would go to the cops about Cate, but Marie was hopeful he wouldn’t do that. He was private security and he hated the police. He would want to find Marie himself and she was hoping with no trail to follow he would get bored and eventually let her go.
Sunflower Daycare was possibly the most cheerful place on earth. The walls were painted a soft yellow and there were several different little playrooms where children ran around, amusing themselves with dolls and trains. Marie opened the door and the full sound of a dozen kids laughing filled her ears. She couldn’t help but be happy in a place like this.
“Hello! You must be Marie and Cate,” said a cheerful looking young woman behind the counter. She came around and knelt down to smile at Cate who gave her a shy little wave. “Are you ready for your first day?”
You can do this, Marie said as she looked through the window. This was for the best, both for her and for Cate. So why was it so hard to walk away? Cate was already sitting in a circle with another girl putting a Lego castle together. She was having fun and the daycare workers knew not to let anyone else take her home. Marie felt tears brimming in her eyes, but she blinked them back. She was not going to cry. Today was a happy day; Cate was finally getting to play with other kids and Marie was going to get to do whatever she wanted.
She met Austin when she was fifteen and she had been with him ever since. They had broken up a dozen times during high school, but they always got back together. He would break her heart and then come back on his knees begging for a second chance the next day. Then in their senior year she found out she was pregnant. She always tried to be careful, but Austin had a tendency to forget. He claimed the condom was uncomfortable and he promised he would pull out.
She was glad for their mistake. It gave her Cate. But, still, she couldn’t help but dream about what her life could have been like if one of those breakups with Austin had stuck. If she hadn’t had Cate at seventeen, if she had gone off to college instead – her life could have been completely different.
Standing on the street she looked up and down trying to figure out where to go. Across the street was a little coffee shop. Marie walked across the street and into the dimly lit and warm shop. A handful of people sat in front of laptops typing away and Marie went up to the counter and ordered.
She ordered a vanilla latte and sipped it as she walked down the street. Austin had never allowed her to order an expensive espresso drink. He told her they were a stupid waste of money and she should just put more milk and sugar in her coffee. It was the way Austin controlled the little things that had really set her off. Somehow the bigger things were easier to forget. The violent fights had been rare enough that she could blame them on a bad day. But then he started digging in on little things and telling her what she couldn’t have. Her coffee order, the way she liked her meat cooked, the temperature in the house, if she liked them one way and Austin liked another, they would always end up going with Austin’s choice. She wouldn’t want to fight with him so she would back off and let him win and before she knew it she was doing anything to keep him happy.
How had it happened? She could never remember the first time had had hit her. He had always been a little mean and rough. But he always apologized, and she thought that meant something. Plus, she was so lonely. In high school she lived with her miserable maiden aunt and her five cats. Austin was her savior. He treated her nicely and took her out on fancy dates and defended her and held her hand and in all of that she forgot how he could be violent and cruel. She told herself it was just a phase and things would get better. But it never got better. He was always pushing her and he only grew meaner and more violent as the years passed.
She walked passed the gym and peered inside. She had never belonged to a gym before. Austin refused to pay for one. Her dream from the other night came rushing back to her. She could feel the rope against her skin and the touch of the man whose face she could no longer recall. She had never thought of the gym as a sexy place before, but the world was her oyster now.
She wasn’t brave enough to walk in. All those lithe people expertly working out on their machines intimidated her and she hurried by. She strolled back to the museum and let herself in through the back door. Ingrid was sitting behind the computer with a pair of reading glasses perched on her nose.
“Welcome back. How was the daycare?”
“Lovely,” Marie admitted. “I hope she’s not having too much fun,” she whispered quietly.
“Oh, she’ll have a great time, but she’ll still want her mom when the day’s over,” Ingrid said. “I was just sitting here and putting together the budget for our annual fundraiser.”
“A party at the mansion, that sounds wonderful,” Marie said turning to the other woman. She could imagine it in her mind. The halls strung with lights, waiters in
black ties and suits, women in fancy dresses sipping champagne and talking over the elegantly painted portraits.
“Well, we have it down at the Holiday Inn. You would, of course, be invited.”
“Oh,” Marie said, the note of disappointment clear in her voice.
“Something wrong? You don’t sound happy.”
“It’s just...This is such a pretty house and it’s big enough to hold a big party. It just seems like a shame to have this big, beautiful house and then have a fundraiser at some hotel ballroom. I mean, is the hotel historical or nice in any way?”
“Well...no,” Ingrid said after a moment. “And attendance has been shrinking these last few years.”
“I just think a fundraiser should be something fun and interesting that people want to go to. Otherwise it’s a chore. The goal is to raise money and happy people are generally more likely to part with it,” Marie turned around to see Ingrid staring at her. Ingrid’s reading glasses were pushed down her nose and she was looking at Marie over them with a pencil in one hand. Marie looked down at the floor feeling suddenly self-conscious. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly eyes glued to the floor. “I shouldn’t have-”