Under the Willows

by Pamela McCord

  “I’m so sorry,” I said, surprised. “That was close. I almost spilled my mocha all over you.”

  A hint of red tinged his face as he dropped his hands. “Are you okay? Ms. Harris, isn’t it?” He smiled sheepishly. “Nice to see you again.”

  “I’m glad you can say that after I almost ran you down.”

  “I’m still alive and not covered in coffee,” he laughed.

  “That’s only thanks to your lightning-quick reflexes.”

  “Do you have to rush off? Why don’t you join me for coffee?”

  I hesitated, uncomfortable at the thought of being alone with him. Before I could answer, he said, “It looks nice on you.”

  “Excuse me?”

  My puzzled expression led him to add, “The pendant. It looks nice.”

  “Oh.” My hand flew to my neck, my fingers closing around the necklace for a moment. “Thank you. I got this chain at your shop, too. It’s perfect.”

  He indicated a table and raised his eyebrows.

  “I, uh, I really can’t. I need to run a few errands before I meet a friend for lunch.”

  Was it my imagination that he looked disappointed? “I better run. It was nice almost running into you.”

  A smile highlighted the laugh lines around his eyes. “Maybe next time.”

  “Yeah, maybe,” I said, turning away. After a few steps I felt the urge to look back. When I did, he was watching me. Embarrassment at having been caught as I turned to look heated my skin, and I wondered if he was as embarrassed to be caught as I was?

  It wouldn’t be right, I argued with myself about whether I should have stayed. He’s not Tom.

  Of course he’s not. I’m not looking for another Tom. I was irritated with myself at not being able to put Rob out of my mind. I shook my head to clear it and to remind myself that there wasn’t room in my life for a complication like Rob Porter.

  I sipped my mocha, troubled that I’d given one thought to Rob, a man I’d barely met, and so soon after losing Tom. Guilt rushed over me. I knew I shouldn’t feel guilty for thinking about another man. I even knew that Tom wouldn’t expect, or want, me to stay alone for the rest of my life, but the feeling of uneasiness was real. It made me want to run home and crawl under the covers and shut out the world.

  I texted Jen that I couldn’t meet her for lunch after all, then got in my car and headed for home. I had to be alone to think. To sort out the confusing thoughts that a few innocent words with Rob Porter had caused.

  —

  “Alexa, set an alarm for four this afternoon,” I said when I walked into my bedroom.

  Alarm set for 4 p.m. today.

  I contemplated the tall black cylinder that housed the computer-generated voice that answered to its name. “Alexa, can you cry?”

  Boo hoo. Oh, wait, boo ya.

  I gave a short laugh. Of course she can’t cry.

  I plopped down on my bed, then rolled onto my side and curled into a ball, my hands fisted at my eyes. I’m sorry, Tom. I miss you so much. I’ll never forget you; I’ll never get over you. I’m sorry, Tom.

  I let the tears fall, saying over and over how sorry I was, how lonely I was, how everything would never be all right again. But the guilt stayed.

  I must have dozed off, because I jumped when I heard Alexa’s insistent buzz/hum thing.

  “Alexa, stop the alarm.”

  After a big stretch to wake all the way up, I wandered into the bathroom to splash water on my face before I left to pick up TJ.

  I passed Jane’s Special Coffee on the way to the Methodist church parking lot, and found myself glancing at the door. He remembered my name. I wonder if that means—

  Stop, I commanded myself. You don’t care about Rob Porter. He probably remembers the names of all his customers. You don’t need to think about Rob Porter. But I glanced at my guilty face in the rearview mirror. Stop.

  Chapter 8

  O

  J

  en was already waiting at Molly’s Pie House when I arrived the next day. As we followed the hostess toward our table, I noticed a MISSING CHILD flyer tacked to the hostess stand. A picture of a little girl with big eyes stared at me. My heart ached at the thought of what her mother must be going through.

  “Did you see that flyer about the little girl?” I asked Jen as I sat down opposite her. “How awful for that family.”

  “I know. She’s been missing for a few weeks. The police don’t have any idea what happened to her.”

  “Do you know her?”

  “I know her parents, although not well. Her name’s Marilee Harmon. I think she’s six.”

  “I hope somebody finds her, and I hope it’s not too late.”

  The server stopped to get our beverage order and, since we knew the menu backward and forward, we ordered our lunch at the same time.

  “I’m sorry I cancelled yesterday. I was feeling under the weather.” Though Jen and I have been developing a strong friendship, I wasn’t ready to share the complexities of my jumbled emotions. She didn’t need to know that ‘under the weather’ was code for ‘emotional meltdown.’

  “Are you okay today?”

  “Yeah, it was nothing. Oh, I meant to tell you about the weird thing that happened at my house.”

  “What weird thing?”

  “TJ claims that Alexa is talking to him.”

  “Well, that’s what Alexa does,” Jen said, a teasing glimmer in her eye as she popped a French fry into her mouth.

  “No, I mean, he said she was crying. It’s happened twice and freaked him out.”

  “Honestly, it kind of freaks me out, too. What did you do?”

  “I told him that Alexa can’t cry. I’m not sure he believed me.”

  “Do you believe him?”

  I sighed. “It doesn’t make any sense, but it sure seems like he thinks it happened. And my necklace.” I fingered the pendant. “It was in his bedroom, but he said he hadn’t touched it. I’m sure I left it on my dresser before I went to bed. Nobody’s in that house but the two of us. So . . . weird, huh?”

  “Gotta admit it’s strange. I guess you have to wait to see if it happens again, unless you want to sit up and watch Alexa all night.”

  “He said she also said, ‘Help us.’”

  “That gives me chills.”

  “Me, too.” I fought against the shiver running up my back. “I’m sure it’s nothing. I doubt it’ll happen again.”

  “Maybe you have a ghost.”

  An uneasy and forced laugh escaped me. “I’m pretty sure my house isn’t haunted.”

  Chapter 9

  O

  “I

  have plans for Saturday night. I accepted after Jen assured me I could trust Megan, the babysitter she recommended. She said you’ll love her because she’s a ton of fun.”

  It would be the first time I had left TJ alone since we moved to town, and I was concerned he’d be unhappy.

  “Jen’s having a little dinner party . . . a barbeque . . . and she invited me. You don’t mind if I go, do you, TJ?”

  “No, Mom. It’s fine if you go have fun. You don’t have a cool camp to go to.”

  I smiled and gave him a hug. My little man.

  —

  Jen and I had been friends for more than a month and I hadn’t met her fiancé, Jason, yet, so I looked forward to Saturday. Thankfully, it was going to be a casual barbeque and I could dress comfortably in my favorite jeans, a nice pair that looked just a little bit upscale, and a lightweight summer top that went great with the jeans.

  Jen said she didn’t want me to bring anything since all of the food and drinks were being taken care of by Jason and her. When I said I wouldn’t feel right showing up without bringing anything, she agreed I could bring TJ’s favorite chocolate chip cookies. I think the real reason she relented was because she was afraid TJ wouldn’t be thrilled about me leaving him with a babysitter and figured fresh-baked cookies might
offset his disappointment.

  After dinner and the getting-ready-for-bed routines were out of the way, I bid TJ goodnight with a hug and a kiss before he trudged up the stairs to his room. Later, as I passed his partially open bedroom door, I heard him say, “Alexa, tell me a bedtime story.”

  I smiled. TJ learned early on that she could tell a variety of stories and, he’d often request an Alexa one once he was in bed with the covers pulled up to his chin. I stopped and poked my head in to say goodnight before heading for my own room.

  —

  Whimpering woke me around three. I sat up and listened but didn’t hear anything more, so I slipped back down under the covers and closed my eyes. Until I heard a loud “Mom.”

  I swung my feet off the bed and slipped on a robe before I headed for his room. As I opened my mouth to speak, I heard crying. “Honey?” I said, sticking my head in the door. One more sob stopped me, and then another. I could swear it came from the Alexa Dot. I looked at TJ and he pointed at it. I walked slowly past the Dot, not taking my eyes off it.

  “See? I told you, Mom,” he whispered.

  I didn’t know what to think. The Alexa was silent, but I knew I’d heard it crying, the same as TJ had heard several times before.

  “What’s it doing, Mom?” TJ looked at me for an answer I didn’t have. Instead, I crossed to the dresser where the Dot was sitting. Waiting?

  “Alexa, what—” I stopped when I saw my pendant draped at the base of the unit. Glancing over my shoulder, I said, “TJ, what’s my necklace doing in here? Did you take it?”

  “No, Mom. And I didn’t take it before, either.”

  I wanted to believe him. There was nothing about my little boy that indicated he was lying to me. He’d never told more than a little fib before. Why would he now?

  “I don’t know what’s going on, honey, but it’s okay. You need to go back to bed.” My mind was spinning, but I didn’t want TJ to be any more freaked out than he already was.

  “Will you stay with me?”

  I sat on the end of the bed, unable to take my eyes off Alexa. Giving TJ a small smile, I said, “You can sleep in my room tonight.”

  —

  Come morning, I was reluctant to open my eyes. The troubling events of the previous night replayed in my mind. TJ would have questions for which I didn’t have answers.

  He came downstairs as I was stacking pancakes on a plate for him. I could feel his eyes on me and gave him what I thought was a reassuring smile as I poured syrup over the stack.

  “Mom, does Alexa talk to everybody like that?” The look in his trusting eyes tore at my heart.

  “I don’t know, honey, but we’ll figure it out.”

  He bent his head as he cut a bite from the stack of pancakes.

  “TJ, I don’t think you should talk to people about this, okay? I mean, they might not understand.”

  “Mom, I don’t understand.”

  “Neither do I, sweetie. That’s why I want to keep it between us for now, okay? Hurry up and finish so we can get you to camp.”

  “But what about Kevin and Mike? Can I tell them?”

  I considered it a moment. “I’d rather you didn’t. At least for now. I don’t know how they’d take it, and they’d probably tell their parents, and pretty soon it would be all over town. So, can you not tell them, please?”

  He nodded slowly, but I could see the disappointment on his face.

  I dropped him off, and did a little marketing. Once back home, I stood in the kitchen staring at my to-do list. My mind kept wandering back to the night before. Abandoning my list, I went up to TJ’s room and stood watching Alexa. I picked it up, examined it and saw nothing unusual. I returned it to the dresser and sank down on TJ’s bed. It had been so weird.

  The doorbell disturbed my reverie, and I tromped down the stairs and opened the front door.

  “Kelly Harris?” a youngish man asked.

  “Yes. Can I help you?”

  He handed me an envelope. “You’ve been served.”

  He turned and walked away before I could think quickly enough to say anything. I stood there dumbfounded, my eyes following him as he climbed into a faded maroon Toyota Corolla and drove away.

  I carried the envelope into the kitchen and poured myself a cup of strong coffee before sitting down at the kitchen table. Taking a deep breath, I opened the letter and read over it. “My God, I’m being sued,” I said out loud. The plaintiff was one of Tom’s cousins, Tara Edley. What the Hell?

  She wanted the house. My house. I stared into my coffee for a few minutes, not believing the turn of events. I took a sip and set the mug down. What was that lawyer’s name? The estate lawyer who’d notified Tom about his inheritance? Jeff something. Tilting my head, I searched my memory. I’d looked over the papers from his office when Tom first learned about the house he would get from his grandmother’s estate. Jeff Silver. That was it. Now all I had to do was look for the paperwork regarding the inheritance.

  It only took five minutes. Thanks to Tom’s keen sense of organization, his files were neatly packed in boxes which I’d stacked in one of the empty bedrooms. If I hadn’t been stressed out over the lawsuit, I might have patted myself on the back for having been careful when I moved Tom’s important papers instead of shoving them willy-nilly in the garage. I was able to find the separate file he had set up for his grandmother’s will fairly quickly.

  Luckily, the lawyer was local and I was able to make an appointment for Monday. Thinking about the lawsuit weighing on me over the weekend made my stomach clench. I felt crappy about the whole thing.

  Chapter 10

  O

  I

  ’d promised TJ he could help me make cookies for the barbeque on Saturday morning. I left my rings and necklace upstairs on my dresser and put on an old T-shirt and an apron to avoid getting cookie dough all over me. I let him measure ingredients, stir the sweet mixture and lick the beaters, and told him he could watch TV while the cookies baked. He popped into the kitchen pretty quickly after they came out of the oven. I couldn’t blame him. The smell was hard to resist for me, too.

  I sat down with him and we both had two cookies and a glass of milk before I cleaned up the kitchen.

  I almost changed my mind about going to Jen’s barbeque, but decided I could fret with a glass of wine at a party as well as I could with a glass of wine sitting by myself in the front room of my house. My house.

  —

  I showed up at Jen’s Saturday afternoon with cookies and a case of beer. The front door opened before I had to juggle the cookies and beer to knock.

  A handsome dark-haired man I recognized from the pictures on Jen’s phone grinned at me. “You must be Kelly.” He noticed the case of beer and said, “Let me get that for you. Come on in. Everyone’s out back.”

  “Thanks. It was getting heavy.” I smiled at the warm welcome I saw in his eyes.

  I followed him into the kitchen, where he set the beer on the counter, then took the plate of cookies from me and set it down as well. Sticking out his hand, he said, “I’m Jason, Jen’s fiancé.”

  He nodded toward the patio doors and I thanked him again and made my way toward the small group gathered in deck chairs.

  Jen noticed me and waved. Other heads turned. One of those heads was Rob Porter’s.

  He smiled and stood to grab a chair, pulling it into the group area and raising his eyebrows to inquire whether I would join him.

  I blinked and shuddered inside, feeling unsure for a heartbeat, then made an imperceptible shake of my head to get back in the game, and smiled back.

  Jason appeared at my back to find out what he could get me to drink. I asked for a white wine and took the seat Rob had offered. At first, nervous, I scolded myself that I was a big girl and a little social interaction wouldn’t kill me.

  “We keep running into each other, don’t we?” he said.

  “We do,” I agreed with a smile, feeling a
warm blush and hoping it didn’t show on my face.

  Jason strolled back, handing me a glass of wine and one to Jen before he sat down next to her. I enjoyed watching her eyes twinkle when she looked at her fiancé. Until that twinkle morphed into an inquisitive spark when she turned her attention to Rob and me.

  “So, how do you two know each other?”

  Taken aback, I opened my mouth but nothing immediately came out. Rob seemed to take it in stride. He sipped his beer and said, “Kelly came into the shop to ogle the antique rocking horse in the window.”

  “I know that rocking horse,” Jen said. “She always wants to stop and see it.”

  “I do not,” I protested with a grin. “I admit I like it, but TJ’s too old for a rocking horse.” I turned to Rob. “I don’t ogle either.”

  He laughed. “You might as well admit it. You want it for yourself.”

  “I think you’re right, Rob,” Jen said.

  Being a gracious hostess, she let me off the hook and introduced me to the other couple, her neighbors from next door. Randy and Georgie Baker were older, maybe in their late 40s. Georgie had brilliant red hair that clouded around her face, held back on one side by a barrette. Randy was stocky and muscular, with thick brownish silver hair. He seemed jovial and extended a large hand to shake mine. I liked both of them immediately.

  Maybe noticing my reticence, Rob didn’t laser in on me. My nerves started to come under control as I sipped my chardonnay, although I was always aware of him sitting to my right.

  When Jason nodded toward the barbeque, Rob stood and walked over to join him. Rob poked at the charcoals with a long fork while Jason went inside, returning with a platter of burger patties and hot dogs. I couldn’t help myself. My eyes were drawn to Rob. I took a gulp of my wine to still the guilty warning voice telling me too soon, too soon. My mouth tightened and I sighed. I know it’s too soon. I’m still in love with Tom and that’s not going to change.