“I won’t keep you,” he said. “I just wanted to say bonjour.”
“Bonjour,” she repeated.
He nodded, then leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Call me anytime and I will come to you. Call me, Harmony.”
She shook her head and tried to push him away. But he was a lot bigger than her and he didn’t budge, not even one inch.
“Je t’aime,” he said and turned on his heel and left.
Harmony watched him go and before she knew it, she had burst into tears. Something in her, quite frankly, wanted to run after him. She wanted to stop him from walking out of her life, which she knew he was doing right then and tell him something. What she wanted to tell him, she didn’t know. She remembered their night of passion and it wasn’t like she’d told Marc. It was hot. And it was bothered and it was sweaty and just plain damned good. They had sex all over the restaurant and all night long. And he hadn’t told anyone. He hadn’t bragged. That stupid waitress had just overheard him saying something to her in the office, alluding to their night of passion and how he wanted a repeat. And then the damage was done. She was one of the main reasons Harmony no longer trusted people. She had claimed to be her friend then she had turned on her the first chance she got. She had ruined her. After that, no one respected her and they probably all thought she had sex with the chef to just get ahead. And that had not been the case at all. She’d had sex with him because he had turned her on. It was that simple.
And then she left the restaurant business with tail tucked between her legs. She’d gone into a deep depression that lasted for months. Marc was concerned but he never let on for a minute that he knew what she was upset about. And, in a way, Harmony didn’t blame him. But he’d known all along.
But after a while, the depression lifted and she turned to face the fact that she had a culinary degree and didn’t want to work in a restaurant any more. Then she got the idea to just start a blog about her love of cooking and food. Why not? People loved to eat and they loved to eat good food. She was even surprised at how well it did. And she was even more surprised that she was able to earn a good living at it. She’d never wanted to be a celebrity of any sort but doing it on the internet gave her the distance she craved while allowing her to do the thing she loved—cook.
Harmony did, in a way, still long for Chef Durand a little. He most certainly wasn’t the love of her life—Marc was—but he was someone she knew she could have developed deep feelings for. It was a longing she felt for him and she knew it was dangerous to her marriage. In a way, Marc’s love had been suffocating her and she knew she’d probably slept with the chef to just show some independence. They’d married young and she’d never really had a boyfriend before him, not a long-term one anyway. She was too picky and she didn’t like anyone getting in her space. And he was the first man to ever give her an orgasm. She hadn’t even known she’d been missing out on them before Marc.
So, yes, her heart belonged to Marc. But part of her had wanted to see what life could be like with someone else. Just for a little while. But she supposed many married women felt that way from time to time but most of them didn’t actually act on it. She’d just taken it a step further than she should have.
Harmony knew Chef Durand was one of the main reasons she had agreed to buy the house in the Hills; he had been the catalyst for the purchase. She wanted a fresh start, something better, a way to get away from her old surroundings, to decrease the chances that they might run into one another. She didn’t want to risk running into him again. She didn’t know if she was that strong. She might not have been. She did know that if she had run into him again, she would have weakened and done something really, really stupid. And she didn’t want to be the victim of her own bad choices.
In a way, buying the house had probably saved their marriage. She was just glad it was all in the open and she could breathe again. As soon as they moved, she knew she’d be back in working order again and she could concentrate on being pregnant and then having the baby and being a mother. She really looked forward to that, too and couldn’t wait to start.
She pushed all thoughts of Chef Durand out of her mind, but not before sending him good vibes. Harmony wasn’t a vindictive person and she truly wished the best for him. The betraying waitress? Not so much and she had been pleased when she’d heard he’d fired her. Good luck to her finding another choice wait position at a restaurant like that. Those weren’t that easy to come by. But she was the one who risked her job by tattling on the boss. Harmony still didn’t understand what kind of fool this girl had been to do that, but people do stupid stuff all the time.
Harmony smiled when she rounded the corner and saw Josephine’s house. It had been a little over a week since she’d dropped by the first time and she hoped it wasn’t awkward when she dropped by again. She really didn’t want to get into any details about her house’s sordid past; she just wanted to sit and talk for a while. That’s all.
As she approached the house, there seemed to be something a little off. Like something was missing. Although the house was in disrepair, it seemed even darker than before. Harmony couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but something was amiss.
Even so, she walked to the front door and rang the doorbell. The sound from it seemed to cry and whine, like the thing needed to be tuned. Harmony shook her head at the piercing sound and waited. And waited. No one came to the door.
“Huh,” she said and adjusted the straps of the bag on her shoulder. Then she knocked on the thick wood door and stood back to stare at it, taking in its unique Spanish detailing. She quite liked it and wondered why she hadn’t noticed it before.
No one came to the door. It seemed as though no one was home. Well, maybe they’d gone out on an errand or something. Harmony, disappointed that no one was home, turned on her heel and started walking down the sidewalk and to the street to leave. Just then, Edith flung the door open, then waved at the departing Harmony.
“Harmony!” she called. “Come back!”
Harmony turned and smiled at her but her smile disappeared as soon as she saw Edith’s face. She looked weary and her eyes were red-rimmed like she’d been crying for days. “What is it?” Harmony asked, feeling a deep concern for her.
“Oh, come in,” she said and motioned Harmony into the house. “I’ll tell you in here.”
“Tell me what?” Harmony asked and looked at her with curiosity.
“Just come in,” she said.
Harmony nodded and hurried into the house then followed Edith into the gigantic living room which was furnished with furniture that looked like it was from the forties—all silk curtains, two green velvet couches facing one another and Persian rugs strewn about.
“Sit down, Harmony, sit down,” Edith said and waved at a couch. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“Oh, no, I’m fine,” Harmony said and smiled at her. “I just thought I’d drop by for a visit and bring some more pies.”
Edith gave her a small smile and sat down on the other couch opposite Harmony. She sighed and put her hands on her knees, then slid them up, then back nervously. “Well, there’s no other way to say this. Josephine is dead.”
Harmony’s jaw dropped and she immediately felt tears spring into her eyes so quickly they stung. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “But I was just here… She was fine. What happened?”
“Oh, honey, she was old,” Edith said. “But it hit me like a ton of bricks, too.” She nodded. “Let me get you a tissue.” She looked around and spotted a box of tissues on the baby grand piano, got up, retrieved them and handed Harmony the box.
Harmony took the box, grabbed a tissue out of it and blotted her eyes. She looked up at Edith. “She was so nice and sweet.”
“Well… I don’t know about sweet…” Edith stopped talking then walked over to the couch and sat down again, facing Harmony. “Yeah, I guess she could be sweet in her own way. But don’t cry, Harmony. She lived a good, good life,
that woman.”
Harmony cried harder. It’s like the tears just flowed and she could do nothing to stop them. It might have been the pregnancy hormones or it might have been the lost of a very promising friendship. She didn’t know. Maybe it was both. “I’m sorry I didn’t come by sooner,” she said through her tears. “But I… Well, I found out I’m pregnant. I wasn’t going to say anything because it’s still so early, you know. But I was just caught up with all that, making doctor’s appointments and stuff.”
“Well, how wonderful!” Edith exclaimed. “A baby! I am so happy for you!”
Harmony nodded. “My husband and I… Well, we always wanted one and I’d just always put it on the backburner but it just happened.”
“Well, congratulations,” Edith said. “Josephine would have been tickled for you.”
“That’s nice for you to say that,” Harmony said. “Did they have a funeral?”
“No, no,” Edith said. “She didn’t want one. She was cremated.”
Harmony felt a deep stab in her heart at that. There was really nothing left of Josephine now. She was really gone. Though she didn’t know her all that well, Harmony had really connected with her and she didn’t do that with many people. She had so looked forward to talking with her again and listening to her stories. She felt terrible about Josephine’s passing. She prayed she was in Heaven.
“Nothing much left to say, is there?” Edith said softly.
“How did she die?” Harmony asked.
“She got lucky, if you can call it that,” Edith said. “She went up to bed one night… Well, I usually stay up and watch TV and she would stay up for a while, then she’d get tired and go on up. I usually checked on her before I went to sleep myself. Anyway, she went upstairs like always and when I checked on her later, she was stone cold. She had died in her sleep.”
Harmony cried more and then blew her nose a little. “I’m sorry, Edith, that you lost her.”
“I am, too,” Edith said. “Though she drove me crazy, I did love her. She was like one of those crazy old aunts everyone has and they love because they’re so eccentric. She was like that.”
Harmony nodded that she understood. However, she personally didn’t have any crazy old aunts. She looked around the room, thinking that she should probably be going. She didn’t want to bother Edith. She could tell she was really grieving. She started to stand as she said, “I guess I’ll go then.”
Edith waved her hand. “Oh, sit down, I need to tell you something else,” she said.
Harmony sat back down and nodded for her to continue.
“I don’t know how to say this but I was shocked, to say the least,” she said and stared Harmony in the eye. “But Josephine left you this house.”
“What?” Harmony said, shaking her head in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“She willed you this house,” Edith said.
“That’s not possible,” Harmony said. “I didn’t even really know her. I mean, I liked her and enjoyed her company, but we only met once. I mean, I was hoping we could become really good friends, but I didn’t think we were there yet.”
“Well, she liked you and she didn’t like many people,” Edith said. “Liked you enough to leave you this house.”
“Is this a joke?” Harmony asked. “Why would she do that?”
“Harmony, you know why,” she said.
“Why?”
“She was scared for you,” she said. “After you left, she sort of got a little crazy, talking about that house of yours. Which, just let me tell you, I think is all bullshit. But that’s just the way Josephine was.”
Harmony nodded but didn’t say anything.
“And she got it into her head that you were in danger,” she said. “She kept at me to call you and tell you to leave and come down here and stay with us. Well, I wasn’t going to do that. That was crazy! And she could be crazy, just let me tell you.”
Harmony nodded then looked away and stared at what looked like a very old Italian sculpture of Cupid on the fireplace mantel. She stared back at Edith.
“Besides I didn’t have your phone number, so how could I call?” Edith asked. “But I guess I could have gone to your house and asked you to drop by and assuage her anxiety about the whole situation. But I didn’t because she was getting very agitated about your situation. I had to make sure that she didn’t get too excited. The day after you dropped by, she got me to get her lawyer on the phone and she told him to will the house to you. I couldn’t believe it. He dropped by and asked if she was sure and she said she was.”
“Wow,” Harmony said. She didn’t know what to think. But this thought kept popping up: Was my house so bad that it would scare an old woman into giving me her house just to make me leave it? That thought was what scared her the most and she wondered briefly what else Josephine had known about the house. She’d be willing to bet she knew a lot more than she’d divulged that day.
“So, she signed the papers and he left,” she said. “She was always doing stuff like that, changing her will. I thought she’d call him the next day and change it back or something. But she didn’t. I told her that her nephews were going to be angry that she did that and she said, and I quote, ‘I don’t give a damn. I’ll be dead so what will it matter to me?’ That’s what she said.”
“I don’t know what to say, Edith,” Harmony said. “Did Josephine say anything else?”
She nodded. “She said a lot, most of which I ignored because she did ramble on so much that it would make me nuts. But I distinctly remember her saying something like that girl needs to get out of that house and I am going to leave her mine,” she said, then bitterly, “Not that the thought of leaving the house to her faithful housekeeper who’s been working for her for twenty years ever occurred to her.”
“I’m sorry,” Harmony said, feeling really bad.
She shrugged. “It’s okay. Listen, I ain’t fancy enough to live up here. What am I going to do with a house like this? It would take a small fortune to fix it up and make it livable again. And to run it.”
“Well, I can’t take it,” Harmony said.
“Why? It’s yours! All if it! The house, the land, that God-awful pool out back and the furniture. And there are two old fancy cars in the garage that don’t work. Might be able to sell them to a car collector or something and help with the place.”
Harmony smiled at her thinking about it, but still not believing any of this was happening. She didn’t want the house, not really. In fact, if she had her druthers, she would go home, pack a few bags and leave Marc a note on the kitchen counter: “I am moving back home. If you want me, you will find me there.” And in her heart of hearts, that’s what she wanted, to simply return home, back to the South. She could live with her parents for a while until she found a place of her own.
Just then, it occurred to her that she could do that. She could just leave. Leave it all. She had some money saved, she knew her way home and her baby was safe and sound in her belly for now. All she had to do was buy a plane ticket and head home. Let Marc deal with all this. It was his big idea to purchase that house in the first place.
“I won’t take your house,” Harmony said and smiled at Edith. “I’ll just meet with that lawyer and sign it over to you.”
“Did I not make myself clear?” Edith said, shaking her head. “I do not want this house. I hate this house! It’s so big and I don’t want the responsibility for running it. And don’t get me started on everything that needs repairing. A lot of stuff is either broken or worn out in this old house, Harmony, just let me say.”
“But I feel bad that she gave it to me,” Harmony said, pleading with her eyes. “We’d just met.”
“That’s fate,” Edith said. “Don’t mess with fate. Besides, she did leave me a big bucket of cash, so I ain’t complaining, girl, not one bit.”
“Oh,” Harmony said and understood everything now. At least Edith hadn’t been forgotten.
&nb
sp; “Don’t worry about me,” Edith said. “Listen, a young woman like you could do wonders with this place. And raise your baby here, too.”
“So, you think I should move, too?” Harmony asked.
“From the way Josephine was talking, it would be a smart move,” she said. “No pun intended. Sell the other house and move in here. What’s the big deal?”
Harmony nodded and looked around the living room, wondering what it would look like if it had a fresh coat of paint on the walls and was de-cluttered a bit. She closed her eyes for a moment and imagined her baby toddling around this room in bare feet and then falling on the rug. She imagined him or her grabbing onto an ornament on the Christmas tree they would put up in the corner by the fireplace. She imagined her and Marc on the couch reading Dr. Seuss to the baby. She imagined… She imagined a home for the three of them.
She opened her eyes and smiled at Edith. Edith smiled back.
“I’ll be moving out soon, Harmony,” Edith said. “But if you do move in here and you ever need a baby sitter for that baby, call me, would you? I love babies. Always have.”
“I will,” Harmony said. “But you have to give me your number.”
“Yeah, I wished I’d exchanged numbers with you that day,” she said. “I should have and told you to stop back by. You could have found the time, couldn’t you?”
“I could have and I would have,” Harmony said earnestly. “Most definitely.”
* * * * *
Harmony was still distraught when Marc came home later. He found her curled into a ball on the couch staring into space.
“What’s wrong?” he asked and sat down beside her, looking concerned.
She sighed and wiped at her eyes, which were red and dry from all the crying. “Josephine died.”
He stared at her as if he didn’t know exactly who she was talking about.
“The old lady I visited last week?” Harmony said. “She lived in that old house?”
The House in the Hills Page 17