by Willow Rose
"Uhhh, that sounds awesome. What's it about?" Melissa said.
"Serial killers. I signed a contract with a big publishing house to write about the minds of some of the most notorious serial killers in US history. You know, seen from a profiler's perspective."
"Nice," Dawn said.
I shrugged and looked at the boxes still surrounding us. "If I can ever get to it. Between unpacking and taking care of the kids, I don't really have much time."
"It'll come," Melissa said. "Speaking of gruesome murders, did you hear about Jenna's daughter?"
I nodded. Dawn did too. "Awful," she said. "Can you imagine? Going through a divorce and then this? She must be devastated. That girl was her entire life. She homeschooled her and everything, so she could focus on her surfing. Jenna took her to competitions every freakin' weekend."
"And she was good. We haven't seen anyone like her since Kelly," Melissa said. "At least that's what they say. I have never surfed myself, so I really don't know much about it."
"It's truly awful," Dawn said. "I mean, who would want to harm Sophie Williams? We all freakin' loved her. She could draw quite the crowd when she surfed by the pier—such a talent. It's a shame. It's going to crush so many around here."
"I feel for her mother," Melissa said. "Can you imagine losing your daughter like that? I hope they catch the bastard and do the same to him. But until then, I, for one, am keeping a close eye on my children. I bet the dad did it, though."
"Why do you say that?" I asked.
"They went through a custody battle. But not because of the girl. He wanted part of her money. You know her sponsorships, her prize money and so on. That girl was made of pure gold. She's made a ton of commercials and has modeled for all kinds of stuff, like those expensive watches and sports drinks. They say the girl is good for almost five hundred thousand already, and they predicted she would go on to make millions once she got a little older. He wasn't going to let all that money go without a fight. It got ugly and was in all the papers. The media loved the stuff. They were all over it."
"But why would he kill her if he wanted the money?" I asked. "She's not going to make him anything now."
"To get back at his ex? So she wouldn't get anything either. I don't know. You're the expert here. You tell me."
"You were there, weren't you?" Dawn asked. "When she was found. Mrs. Hannigan from down my street said she saw you…and Matt."
Melissa gave me a look. "You were hanging out with Matt?"
I shook my head. "Not exactly hanging out. I happened to be in the area when the woman who found her came running into the street. I actually almost hit her with my car. Then I called Matt. I knew he was on the case. That's all there is to that story."
"I bet you and Matt are going to solve the case together," Dawn said.
"And then live happily ever after," Melissa added. They laughed and clinked glasses.
"Dream on," I said. "I am not exactly looking to hook up with anyone right now. I’m in the middle of a divorce, in case you didn't notice. Kind of brokenhearted right now."
"It's always been you two," Melissa said, completely ignoring what I had said. "Remember how he used to run after you in pre-school? He got himself in so much trouble because he kissed you once. The teachers had to have his parents come in and everything."
"I don't remember that," I said.
"Well, you were four," Melissa said. "I just have a freakishly good memory. At least when it comes to stuff like this. He also gave you a ring once, I recall. On the playground at the school."
"That, I remember," I said. "I also remember giving it back to him in fifth grade because I thought he had grown to be rude and annoying."
"But you dated in high school. You can't have forgotten that," Dawn said.
I sighed and leaned back in my chair. "Only a few times. We were best friends. I didn't want to ruin that."
"I think he saved himself for you. Waited for you to come back," Melissa said.
"You're such a romantic," Dawn said. "He just couldn't find anyone as good as her. You ruined him."
"Either way, he's single and has loved you forever. It doesn’t get any more romantic than that," Melissa said, her eyes swimming.
I threw a spoonful of the whipped cream at her, and she ducked. Then we laughed. Her smile created dimples in her round cheeks. Hearing them both laugh like that made me remember how much I loved hanging out with them. Being back with them felt more like home than D.C. ever did for fifteen years.
Chapter 15
We talked for hours. I called for pizza, and we ate with the children while laughing loudly and sharing fond memories and catching me up on everyone in town. I quickly learned that Melissa's husband, Steve, had been diagnosed with MS a couple of years ago, and was fighting the symptoms that grew more and more persistent each day. Meanwhile, Dawn still hadn't settled down with anyone yet.
There was a honk from a car outside, and Dawn's face lit up. "That's Phillip."
"Phillip?" I asked.
"Her latest boyfriend," Melissa said with a deep sigh.
"What?" Dawn asked. "He's cute."
"He's a firefighter," Melissa said as Dawn rushed to the door and waved for him to come in.
"He's more than that," Dawn said. "He's the captain. Here he comes."
Melissa rolled her eyes. Phillip came to the door, and Dawn grabbed his hand. "I want you to meet someone," she said.
Phillip smiled and approached me, holding out his hand. "You must be Eva Rae Thomas."
"I am."
"I live right down the street from you. Two houses down. I’ve heard a lot about you," he said.
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, well, people talk; you know."
"They sure do," I said.
"Phillip came to town two years ago from Daytona Beach," Dawn said, still holding his hand in hers.
"I see, and how do you find it here?" I asked.
He smiled. "Hot and humid. Listen, we should get going. It's late, and I have to be at the station early tomorrow."
Dawn gave me a hug and told me how happy she was that I was back before they left. Melissa shook her head.
"What? You don't like him?" I asked.
"He's too perfect; you know?"
I chuckled. "How can anyone be too perfect?"
"He just is. You should see his house. Everything is so neat. And clean. Dawn says he cleans all the time when he's not working."
"Does he have any children?" I asked and grabbed another piece of the pie that Dawn had left behind.
"A daughter," she said. "Recently divorced. According to Dawn, he is perfect. But a guy like him is bound to have a few skeletons in his closet, am I right? Nobody is that perfect. I mean, did you see his body? You can practically count the muscles through his shirt. It's too much."
"I take it you're not a fan of them dating," I said and poured us some more wine. The kids were too quiet upstairs, and I had to get Alex to bed soon but hanging out with my friends made me feel better than I had in a very long time. Even before Chad told me he was leaving me. I was beginning to realize I hadn't been happy for years. It wasn't just the divorce; this had started way earlier.
"I don't know," Melissa said. "I’m happy for her, but I just hope he treats her right, you know? She has a way of picking them."
I bit my lip, remembering her with Tim who she had dated right after high school. I also remembered the bruises she was trying covering up with heavy make-up when I met up with her when coming back for winter break from college. My guess was he wasn't the only one she had found who had been abusive to her. Just like her dad had been when we were growing up.
"She had cancer, you know?"
I shook my head, almost choking on my wine. "No. I didn't."
"Ovaries," she said. "Had it all removed down there. Can never have children."
I sighed and leaned back in my chair. My friends had been through so much while I had been gone, and I had no idea. They had needed me, and I hadn't be
en there for them. Just like I hadn't been there for my family. I had been busy saving others, yes, but at what cost?
As I said goodbye to Melissa, who needed to get home to the kids and Steve, I couldn't stop thinking about that poor girl Sophie and her mother, Jenna. I wondered if Matt would get any sleep at all tonight. I, for one, knew the images of the poor girl lying in that sleeping bag were going to haunt me for a very long time.
Chapter 16
"I don't want to wear that!"
Alex growled and pulled off his pants that I had just helped him put on.
"No, Alex," I said, then looked at the clock on the stove. We only had ten minutes before the bus would be here. We had overslept, and I hadn't made lunches yet.
Olivia came rushing down the stairs, then grabbed the milk and poured some on a bowl of cereal. She had headphones in her ears, and they were playing very loudly while she ate and put on shoes at the same time.
"Why are you up already?" I asked. She stared at me like she didn't understand. I signaled for her to pull out the headphones, then repeated the question.
"I have A-OK club today before school," she growled at me. "I told you Friday that I joined this club for volunteer hours. You should know this by now, Mom."
I stared at her but didn't want to ask what A-OK club was since I had a feeling I had asked before.
"Okay," I said. "And what time are you out today?"
Olivia sighed deeply, then grabbed her backpack. "I have volleyball practice. It's Monday, Mom. You know this."
"Volleyball, check. I got it."
Olivia stared at me.
"What?"
"Lunch?" she said.
"Shoot!" I replied. "I'll give you money."
Olivia rolled her eyes and walked away. "Never mind. I already have money."
Then she left. My eyes fell on Alex standing by the fridge. He had no pants on. They were lying on the floor in front of him.
"Alex!"
"It's Monday," his sister said coming down the stairs. She picked up his pants and folded them. "On Mondays, he always wears his Star Wars pants."
"What?" I asked.
Christine shrugged. "It's been like that since Kindergarten. You really should know this, Mom. Dad would always make sure his pants were washed and ready for him."
"And since I haven't done the laundry this weekend, they aren’t. I see."
"I want my pants," Alex yelled and stomped his feet. I sighed deeply. "Well, you can't have them. They're dirty."
On that response, Alex threw himself on the floor in a regular fit of rage. I felt so worn out, so exhausted, I didn't know what to do. Christine sighed, then disappeared up the stairs. She came down holding his red Star Wars pants featuring Darth Vader on the right leg and Chewbacca on the left.
"Here. Wear them even if they stink," she said and threw the pants at the boy.
Alex grabbed them happily and put them on. I looked at my daughter with gratefulness. She grabbed the milk jug standing on the counter, then shook it.
"Really? We're out of milk…again?"
I stared at her. "What? How is that possible? How are we out of milk already? I just bought this yesterday? How did you kids drink a gallon of milk in less than twenty-four hours?"
Christine sighed. "Really, Mom? It's our fault now? Maybe next time you should buy some more."
I exhaled. The girl was right. I should get better at planning ahead.
"All right. I'll buy two gallons today. Until then, can you just eat it with no milk, please? After that, I'll drive you both to school since I just saw the bus drive past our house."
Chapter 17
I didn't go back home after dropping off the kids. Instead, I continued through my neighborhood and stopped at a house two streets down. The Williams were new in town, or at least they hadn't been there back when I used to live here. But I knew they had moved into old Mrs. Robinson's house after she died ten years ago.
I walked up the driveway holding a box of chocolates I had bought at the gas station in my hand. I rang the doorbell.
It took a little while before Jenna opened the door. Her eyes were bulging and red. She looked like she hadn't slept in a year. I smiled compassionately, then handed her the chocolates.
"I thought I had to at least bring something."
"You and everyone else," she said, then opened the door, so I could see all the flowers and covered pans with food in them. "Come on in."
I followed her inside. The house was dark and had a musty smell to it. We walked to her kitchen, and she put the chocolates down. There was hardly room on the counter for all the food.
"I don't know why everyone seems to think lasagna is what you need when you lose your child," she said. "I can't fit it all my fridge. Please, take one home with you."
"How are you?" I asked.
"How am I? Well…I guess…at least, I finally got closure, right? That's what they all tell me. But I didn't want closure. I wanted my daughter back. I want to hold her in my arms. I want to be down on that beach watching her surf. I want to drive her to North Carolina this weekend for the nationals."
I sighed. "It must be tough. I can't even imagine."
Jenna grabbed a photo of Sophie from the fridge and looked at it. "This was her first time surfing. She stood up on her first try. Look at her face. She was so happy. I never could get her out of the water ever since. She lived and breathed for that sport. It was her everything. I wanted her to have that dream come true. To be able to live off of what she loved."
"I can't blame you," I said. "It’s great when they find something they're passionate about. You want to encourage them. I think all mothers would."
"Only now, I can't help thinking I made a mistake. I should never have pushed this life on her. It was too early. She could have waited. Maybe the killer wouldn't have targeted her. She was in the public eye, you know? It can be dangerous. Someone stalks her or thinks he's her father or something like that."
"Someone stalked her?" I asked.
Jenna nodded. "Last year. This guy started writing messages on her Facebook profile. She has it for sponsor reasons, but I’m the one who manages it. We found out he was at her contests and had been watching her for a long time. At one of them down in Melbourne Beach, he showed up with flowers that he gave her. The card said something nasty about him not being able to wait until she was his. We had the police on it. Gave him a restraining order."
"Has he been questioned?" I asked.
"I sure hope so. But they don't tell me anything. All I can do is just sit here and wait for more bad news. I’m not sure I can take anymore, you know? I just want to see him be put away, so he won't hurt anyone else."
"Who was he, the stalker?" I asked.
"He lived in Rockledge, I think. The creepiest part was I had seen him at so many of the contests. He was always cheering Sophie on and taking pictures, but I just assumed he was one of the photographers. There are so many of them that hang out down there. I just never realized he was only taking pictures of my daughter. The police said he had his computer filled with them. They also told me it wasn't unusual with a child like her being in the spotlight the way she was. That was when I started getting nervous for her."
I nodded, then spotted a picture of Sophie with her dad holding a surfboard between them.
"What about her father?" I asked. "I understand there was trouble during the divorce?"
Jenna scoffed. "You can say that again. The bastard tried to take me for half of Sophie's money. But the money isn't mine. It’s hers. I’ve put it away for her college education. That was actually part of why I divorced him. He was obsessed with her career and making money off of her. I kept telling him she was our daughter and she was allowed to have a childhood, but he believed she had to perfect her game constantly and he pushed her way too hard. He would come home in the middle of the day and take her surfing if there was the least bump on the ocean, even if she was having friends over or was in the middle of her schoolwork. She loved
surfing, so it wouldn't make her mad, but he would stay out there for hours with her, yelling at her till she got one maneuver right. Sometimes she would be so exhausted she couldn't even eat when she came home, and she would wake up at night screaming, having nightmares about losing a final. She was so afraid of disappointing him that it was hurting her. He would always yell at her if she came in from a heat and he didn't think she had done well enough. I couldn't get him to stop and, finally, I threw him out. My parents bought the house for us, so I could stay here while he had to go live in some condo. He never forgave me. And then…well, as soon as I threw the D-word out there, I don't know what happened to him. I didn't recognize him anymore. It was like he became someone completely different. At one point, he even tried to turn Sophie against me, telling her I was crazy, and I was the one trying to push her, so I could make money off of her. It was all a mess."
I nodded again, remembering how Chad had changed overnight, how the man that I loved suddenly had turned into my worst enemy, and I had seen hatred in his eyes where there had once been love. A love that had brought us three wonderful children.
"You think he could hurt Sophie?" I asked. "I know it’s hard to imagine about a man you once loved."
She threw out her hands, a tear escaping her eye. "I don't know, to be honest. I feel like I don't even know him anymore."
Chapter 18
She was late for the bus, again, and just as she ran out of the condominium and into the street, she spotted it passing her.
"Shoot!"
Maddie bit her lip, not knowing what to do now. That bus was her only means of transportation. She looked back up at the window to her condo, wondering if she should just stay home. But she had missed so much school lately that she risked being held back again. Nine days were all they could be absent in a semester if they didn't have a doctor's note. And she never did. Her mom couldn't afford to take her to the doctor.
Maybe I could walk to school?
Maddie looked down the street. It wasn't that far, was it? She would be late, yes, but at least she would be there. A tardy was hardly as bad as a day of absence. She looked down at her shoes, where her big toe was peeking out from a hole in the right one. She wondered if the shoes would last for that long of a walk. Her mom would get so angry with her if she had to buy her new shoes already. They cost a fortune, even though they were from a thrift store. And that was money she could have used on food and rent.
