Under the Willows

by Pamela McCord

  Once again, he had seemed to shrug off the events of the prior night. He looked carefree and happy as he waved goodbye to his friends and hopped in the car.

  “Let’s pick up a pizza on the way home,” I said, unable to face cooking.

  “Yeah!” Pizza. His favorite food. At least someone still liked me.

  It was a quiet evening. I was still under a cloud from my meeting with Rob, surprised at how much it upset me. But not really. No one wants to be attacked for something they didn’t do.

  We were done with the pizza when Rob texted, asking if he could call me. I didn’t respond. What was there to talk about?

  Chapter 17

  O

  I

  sent TJ up to get ready for bed around eight thirty. A glass of wine was what I wanted. Something to take the edge off, maybe help me think more clearly about what to do about bedtime. I poured a glass of chardonnay and carried it to the living room, picked up my Kindle and sipped the wine.

  A knock on the door startled me. I wasn’t expecting anyone and it was after dark. I cautiously flipped on the porch light and peeked out the side window, taken aback to see Rob standing there.

  I felt a flash of anger, but took a deep breath and opened the door. A glare was the only greeting I had for him.

  He shuffled his feet and looked somber. “Look. I’m sorry. I owe you an apology.”

  “Fine,” I said. “Apology accepted.” I started to close the door.

  He put his hand out, an unmistakable plea in his gray eyes. “Wait. Can we talk?”

  I didn’t want him in my house. I didn’t want to listen to anything he had to say. “Why? Why should we talk? You obviously don’t believe anything I have to say.”

  “That’s not true. You caught me off guard. It just seemed so preposterous what you were telling me that—”

  “Well, my story hasn’t changed. It’s still preposterous, so let’s agree on that and let it go. Now, if you don’t mind . . .” I expected him to step back from the door so I could close it, but instead he stepped forward, his hand still on the door.

  “I was wrong. I’m sorry. Please. Can I come in?”

  “How did you know where I live?” I asked, fixing him with a hard glare.

  “I’m a cop. Besides, I knew you lived in Kate’s house.”

  I heard the sound of TJ’s feet coming down the stairs and a moment later he appeared at my side, looking at the stranger at the door. “Who’s this?”

  “I’m a friend of your mom’s,” Rob said. “You must be TJ.” He extended his hand.

  “Cool,” TJ said, accepting the handshake.

  I gave an exasperated sigh. “TJ, this is Rob Porter. He was just leaving.”

  Rob’s eyes reflected his disappointment. “Yeah. Good to meet you, bud.” He glanced at me in frustration. “Okay. Sorry to bother you.”

  “Mom, he doesn’t have to leave just because I’m here. You can have friends over. You never have friends over.”

  I felt my cheeks redden. I closed my eyes for a moment to regroup, and breathed out. “Fine,” I said through gritted teeth. “Rob, would you like to come in?”

  He flashed a half smile and stepped around me. I closed the door and indicated the living room. When he was seated on the couch, I asked, “Can I get you anything?”

  “What are you having?”

  I picked up my glass of wine to carry to the kitchen. I would need a refill for this. “I have white wine. Is that okay?”

  “That would be nice.”

  When I came back with the glasses of chardonnay, Rob and TJ were deep in conversation.

  “Mom, he’s a detective!” TJ said, a wide smile on his face.

  “I know, sweetie.”

  “Are you here because of our ghosts?” he asked Rob.

  Rob looked at me to gauge my reaction. When I said nothing, he said, “You have more than one?”

  “I’m not sure. The first one said her name was Emma, but then she said there was a Marilee with her.”

  “Were you scared?”

  “Oh, no. Mom was, though.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  TJ regaled Rob with his experiences with the ghost, which I tolerated for a short while. My insides were churning and I had to work at keeping a smile on my face. For TJ’s benefit.

  After fifteen minutes, I told TJ it was time for bed. “Should I—”

  “You can sleep in my room if you want,” I said.

  “Oh, Mom. I’m not scared of any ghosts.”

  “I didn’t say you were. I might be, though.”

  “Okay, I can sleep in your room if you want me to.” I could tell he didn’t want Rob to think he was afraid, and I’d given him an out. His relief was palpable. He stuck his hand out to Rob. “Glad to meet you.”

  “Me, too, buddy.”

  Finally, Rob and I were alone. Emotions were tumbling over themselves in my head. Hurt was probably the most prevalent, slightly overshadowing anger and disappointment. I picked up my wine and took a sip, and then a bigger one, and stared at the glass.

  “Kelly.” He said it softly, as if trying to penetrate the fog of anger I’m sure he suspected cloaked me.

  “You could run a background check on me, you know. See if I—”

  “Stop it.” He set his glass down on the coffee table, probably harder than he’d intended. I was surprised it didn’t break. “I’ve said I’m sorry. I meant it. I was out of line. Can we put it behind us or do you plan to hold a grudge forever?”

  “I’m sorry if I don’t just bounce back after my integrity is questioned.”

  “And I wouldn’t expect you to. You’re right. Maybe it’s too much to forgive.” He stood. “Do you want me to go?”

  “Yes.” I hesitated. “No.” He stood looking at me. “No,” I said again.

  He sat down on the couch next to me, his arms resting on his knees, head down. “So,” he said, “what now?”

  “As you can see, I’m not the only one who heard the ghost.”

  “You have a brave boy there.”

  “I do. But he shouldn’t have to be.”

  “The thing about Marilee threw me off and I overreacted. We’re working hard to find her and I just didn’t expect you to say what you did. I mean, it seemed so impossible that a ghost would . . . would . . . mention Marilee.” He spread his hands helplessly, trying to convey to me the reason for his reaction.

  I studied him for a moment, and felt my anger lessen. “I guess I understand. Maybe I overreacted, too. But you have to admit . . . Never mind. I accept your apology.” I picked up my wineglass, and set it down again. “Do you think the fact that the ghost mentioned her means Marilee is dead?”

  “God, I hope not. But it’s a sobering thought.”

  “Do you know who Emma might be?”

  He didn’t answer right away. He scratched his head, and ran his fingers through his hair. “No, but I can check whether any other children are missing. The fact that I’m not aware of any could mean that it’s been several years since something like that happened.”

  “Do you want to see TJ’s room, see if anything jumps out at you?” I laughed softly. “I don’t mean that in the literal sense.”

  He gave a crooked smile. “Okay.” He took a gulp of his wine and left the glass on the coffee table.

  “Of course, probably nothing will happen,” I said as I led him up the stairs.

  “Probably, but it can’t hurt to check things out.”

  I stuck my head in TJ’s room. As I’d hoped, he’d chosen to sleep in my room. “Here you go,” I said, stepping aside to let Rob enter.

  He glanced around the room, his eyes finally settling on the Dot. “Is that the famous Alexa?” he asked, noting the blue light that indicated Alexa was listening.

  “Yes.” I sat down on TJ’s bed. Rob sat beside me, watching to see if I had a problem with that.

  I looked at him, finger to my lips, and asked
Alexa, “Is anyone here?”

  No answer. I tried again after a moment. “Emma? Are you here?”

  We sat silently for several minutes but there was no response from the Dot.

  “Alexa, is anyone with you?”

  Hmm. I don’t know that one, said the voice.

  “Does that sound like what you heard last night?”

  “No. That’s Alexa’s normal speaking voice. I don’t think Emma’s here right now.”

  Rob picked up the unit and looked it over carefully, checking the cord plugged into the wall behind the dresser, and inspected the windows and floorboards. He turned to me and shrugged. “I don’t see anything abnormal.”

  “I didn’t either. I would’ve been surprised if you found anything. It’s too weird to be just a frayed cord or open window. Sorry I can’t show you what happened. It seems the ghosts are quiet tonight.”

  “When does the activity usually happen?”

  “In the middle of the night. Probably after three.”

  “Then we’re just too early. Do you want me to stick around? I could—”

  “I don’t think that would be a good idea. Besides, it doesn’t happen every night so it might be a waste of your time.”

  “Okay. I just thought . . . I mean, I guess I should let you get back to doing whatever you were doing before I showed up. Sorry to drop in on you.”

  “Yeah, it’s been a difficult day.”

  He followed me back down the stairs. “Let me know if anything happens tonight?”

  “Sure. I’ll see you later.” I walked him to the door and closed it behind him.

  Then I sank down on the couch and picked up my half-empty wine glass. He came to my house. Even though I had been angry, it felt good to have someone care enough to make an effort to apologize, especially knowing how upset I was. An inkling of guilt tried to weasel its way into my brain, but I had the presence of mind to refuse to let it in. I have nothing to feel guilty about. Although, if I was being honest, he was starting to grow on me. And if I was being really honest, I’d felt an attraction to him the first time I met him.

  I downed the rest of my chardonnay, rinsed out the glasses and put them in the dishwasher. Looking toward the stairs, I wondered whether I should spend the night in TJ’s room. Maybe I’d had just enough wine to do it.

  I checked on TJ, who was sound asleep in my room, and took my things into the bathroom to get ready for bed, then stood at the door of TJ’s room. I took a deep breath and stepped inside. Nothing was out of place and there was no sound coming from Alexa. I sat on the edge of the bed. “Hello?” I stared at the Dot, willing it to answer. Of course, it didn’t. “Emma?” After five minutes, I turned off the lamp and climbed under the covers, leaving the bedroom door standing open, just in case.

  Sunshine woke me up. I stretched languorously, my eyes flying open as I remembered where I was. I sat up and slid my feet to the floor. Everything was normal. I was both relieved and disappointed. Now I had no reason to contact Rob.

  Chapter 18

  O

  I

  t turned out that I didn’t need a reason. He called me.

  “I did some digging when I got to work this morning,” he said. “I did find an Emma. Emma Corning went missing eight years ago. She was five years old. Her body was never found.”

  “Really? Poor little girl.” I let out a breath. “But, is it even possible, you know, that she’s talking through my Alexa? This freaks me out.”

  “It kinda freaks me out, too.”

  “What do we do about it?”

  “We can hope she’s still connected to the Alexa. We need to see if she can help us find her.”

  “So, you want me to sleep in TJ’s room every night?”

  “I hadn’t got that far, but that’s not a bad idea,” he said. “Unless . . . you want me to.”

  “You can’t spend the night in my house. It wouldn’t be right. To quote you, I hardly know you.”

  “Can you please forget I said that?”

  “Well, you did apologize. I guess I might be able to let it go.

  “Could you? That would be great.” He was silent for a moment. “What about, maybe we could set up a nanny cam in TJ’s room.”

  “Do you think that would work?”

  “I don’t know, but it might be worth a try.”

  “Let’s do it then.”

  “I’ll pick something up and bring it over tonight. If that’s okay with you.”

  “Sure.” A thought popped into my mind and I blurted it out before I could stop myself. “You should plan to stay for dinner.”

  I could almost hear him smile through the phone.

  “That would be great. I’ll come over around six. Is that okay?”

  “Can you make it five? I don’t want it to be a late night for TJ.”

  “Sure.”

  “Great. I look forward to seeing you.”

  Hanging up, I felt a warm flush at the audacity of my actions. At least, it was audacious to me. I looked toward the ceiling. “Is it okay with you, Tom?” The twinge of guilt I hadn’t allowed last night slithered around the edges of my mind. I know it’s okay with Tom. He’d want me to be happy. Of course, then I had to chastise myself that I was jumping the gun. It was only dinner.

  But I couldn’t help feeling nervous that dinner might not be perfect.

  Chapter 19

  O

  R

  ob seemed like a steak guy, and I could make a great steak. I did the shopping and most of the prep before I picked TJ up from the Methodist parking lot.

  “Really, Mom?” TJ’s eyes lit up when I told him Rob was coming to dinner.

  “You don’t mind?”

  “No, Mom. He’s so cool. Maybe tonight Emma will talk to him.”

  I might think Rob was cool, too.

  The old house had a brick patio in the back with a grill. I hadn’t used it yet but I’d dumped out the charcoal residue and scrubbed the grill. I found a bag of briquettes in the garage. The steaks were seasoned and sitting on the kitchen counter, corn on the cob was boiling on the stove and I was just starting to toss a Caesar salad when Rob arrived, right on time.

  TJ greeted him with a big grin and led him into the kitchen. I offered him a beer and told him to relax while I finished. He offered to grill the steaks for me, but I told him I had it covered.

  “Steak is one of my specialties,” I said. “But you could finish tossing the salad for me if you wanted to.”

  “Sure,” he said with a smile, and rubbed his hands together. “Whatever you need.”

  I had TJ set the table on the screened-in porch.

  From the patio, I could hear him chattering to Rob. Rob had explained about the nanny cam and TJ was excited. He insisted he wanted to sleep in his own room so he wouldn’t miss anything. He had many questions about what would happen if anything happened. I did, too.

  Rob lavished compliments on me for grilling the steaks to perfection.

  TJ piped up with, “My mom cooks everything great!”

  A warm flush of embarrassment crept up my cheeks. I protested, but was pleased, and secretly pleased that Rob liked my dinner.

  As we sat around the table on the porch, it almost felt like a family. And that scared me. I couldn’t afford feelings like that. I’d lost too much. I didn’t want something else to lose. Me and TJ. That was all I needed.

  The fear that had flared in my brain slipped away as I settled into the conversation and sipped a beer. And watched TJ’s full-on hero-worship. I couldn’t decide whether or not it was a good thing to let TJ grow attached. The what-ifs stoked my fear again as I watched the interplay between the two of them, wondering what it would do to TJ if Rob . . . didn’t stick around.

  “Kelly?” Rob’s voice brought me back to the real world. “Are you okay?”

  I managed a small laugh. “Sure. Why?”

  “You looked so deep in thought.”

>   “I guess I was. Sorry.” I quickly took a gulp of my beer. I pasted on a smile and said, “Anybody want dessert?” Without waiting for an answer, I picked up my empty plate and stacked TJ’s and Rob’s on top, then carried them to the kitchen. I dished up three bowls of vanilla ice cream and drizzled chocolate sauce on top, spritzed on whipped cream, set them on a tray and carried it out to the porch.

  “Greatest dinner ever!” TJ said enthusiastically.

  I shook my head, a wry smile on my face. You can’t protect him from everything.

  After the ice cream bowls were rinsed and added to the dishwasher, I found Rob and TJ huddled over a shopping bag. I arrived in time to see Rob pull a medium-sized teddy bear out of the bag.

  “It was between a bear and a clown,” he said. “And clowns are scary, aren’t they?”

  “They sure are,” TJ responded. “I like the bear.”

  “Then let’s go set it up.”

  TJ took the stairs two at a time while Rob and I followed at a more leisurely pace. Rob set the bear on the bedside table, its lens directed at the Alexa. He ushered us out of the room and back downstairs.

  “May I?” he asked me, indicating my phone. I handed it to him and he downloaded the app for the camera on my phone. “I could put it on my phone, too, if you want?”

  That gave me pause, but it made sense. “Sure. Go ahead. Now we just have to wait.”

  Rob looked at TJ. “If the ghost should show up, be sure not to let it know there’s a camera. It should be a secret. Because, if it turns out there isn’t really a ghost, we don’t want to tip anyone off that we’re collecting evidence.”

  “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.” I could tell TJ was excited to be in on the potential sting operation. “Mom doesn’t want me to tell anyone about our ghosts, either. I wish I could tell my friends.”

  Rob glanced at me. “I think your mom’s right. Are you okay with keeping that secret, too?”

  TJ shrugged. “I guess.”

  Rob squeezed his shoulder and smiled at him. “It’ll be our secret then, just between the three of us.”

  “Cool,” TJ said, his eyes bright at the thought of being part of a conspiracy with Rob.