“It’s time for you to go get ready for bed, sweetie,” I said. “You can sleep in my room if you want.”
“Mom,” he said in exasperation, as if the concept was over my head. “If I sleep in your room there won’t be anyone for the ghost to talk to. I have to be in my room.”
I shrugged. “Okay, then. Go for it.”
“Can I come down to say goodnight to Rob?”
I ruffled his hair. “Of course you can.”
Once he’d come down and said his goodnights, I was left alone with Rob. “Can I get you another beer?”
“Sure,” he said, and followed me into the kitchen.
He leaned against the counter, sipping his beer and watching me. Now what? Why had I offered him another beer?
I cleared my throat. “I don’t want to keep you. It was great of you to install the camera in TJ’s room, but you don’t have to hang around.”
“Do you want me to go?”
I didn’t answer.
“What were you thinking about earlier, during dinner?” he asked tentatively, maybe concerned that he was invading my privacy. “I mean, if you don’t mind my asking. It just seemed . . . heavy, I guess.”
I glanced at him, his gaze steady on mine. I hesitated, and cleared my throat again. “To be honest, the sight of you and TJ bonding . . . it scared me.”
He looked confused.
“Sorry for being blunt, but TJ’s been through enough . . . loss . . . in his life. I don’t want to risk him getting hurt like that again.”
“Have I done something—”
“No, it’s not something you did. It’s me, working through the complex issues that you have to work through when your husband dies.” He didn’t respond and, after a moment, I said, “I’m trying to manage my concerns, my fears. I apologize if I’m giving mixed signals.”
“No apology necessary. Do you want me to—”
“No. If you mean do I want you to back off. I don’t know what I want, but it’s good for TJ to have a man to look up to. Just so long as you understand that I’m not looking for anything from you. I’m not ready for . . . whatever.”
“Duly noted.” He sipped his beer. “We can be friends, though, can’t we?”
“Of course. I consider you a friend. I want you for a friend.”
“Good, because otherwise it would be awkward if I rushed over in the middle of the night because your Alexa mouthed off.”
I laughed, the tension easing. “Let’s go sit down.”
The beer tasted good. Normally, I’m a wino, in only the best sense of the word, but I could appreciate a cold beer under the right circumstances. I settled back in the couch and sipped my beer, wondering what my intentions were. I glanced at Rob, letting my gaze linger until he noticed. Caught, I took a gulp too fast and choked on it. My embarrassment had to be written all over my face, but he pretended not to notice. Score a point for him.
“So,” I said.
“So,” he replied. Waiting for me to signal the direction to take.
“I guess I—”
“It’s getting late—”
We both spoke at once, and I said, “Sorry. You were saying?”
“Just, if you want me to go is all. I know it’s probably late for you.”
“Kind of. Besides, you might have to get up in the middle of the night, so you should probably try to get to bed early.”
He laughed. “This should be interesting.” He set his empty bottle on the coffee table and stood. “Thanks for dinner. It was great.”
“You helped make it that way.”
“No, you did all the hard stuff,” he protested with a smile. “I had fun tonight.”
“Me, too. We’ll have to do it again sometime.”
“That would be nice.”
I walked him to the front door. He turned to face me and paused, and I wondered if he meant to kiss me, but he dipped his head and said “Good night,” and was gone.
And I was left with a stomach full of butterflies and heart full of confused disappointment.
Chapter 20
O
R
ob texted first thing the next morning to see if I’d noticed anything. I hadn’t, but we couldn’t rule out that maybe whatever activity had occurred hadn’t awakened TJ, so Rob offered to stop by after work to go over the video with me. Since I wasn’t confident that I understood how the nanny cam worked, it made sense for him to come show me how to do it. At least, that’s what I told myself.
I texted that he should come over and I would order a pizza. I didn’t want to give him the idea that dinner together was going to be a regular thing, but if he was going to go out of his way for us, it was only fair for me to feed him. Pizza was a good compromise. Uncluttered.
I felt lighthearted, and energetic. After getting home from dropping TJ off at camp, I put on a pair of shorts and tank top and laced up my running shoes and headed out the backdoor for a run. I ran for an hour, juggling thoughts ranging from grief to anticipation. I briefly flirted with the idea of a me-and-Rob, but topped that thought with a resolve to maintain an appropriate distance from him. Because . . . it was just too soon.
Later, after picking TJ up, we stopped at Molly’s and picked up a chocolate cream pie for dessert. In spite of vowing that this was only going to be a casual get-together to go over the camera footage, I couldn’t help the urge to do something special.
—
“He’s here,” TJ called from the living room. I came out from the kitchen in time to see my son open the door and the affectionate way Rob ruffled his hair. To be honest, my heart skipped a beat.
“Beer or wine?” I asked as Rob and TJ plopped down on the couch. “Beer for me, Mom,” TJ said with what I’m sure he thought was a wicked grin, and I responded with a motherly frown.
“I’ll second that,” Rob said.
“Aw, Mom,” TJ said when he saw the glass of milk I brought out for him. “Why can’t I have something good to drink like you guys?”
“Your other choice is flavored water. Does that sound better?”
“Yes, it does,” he said, putting up his hand to block any attempt I might make to hand him the milk. “I want the orange one.”
I set the beer in front of Rob. “I’ll be right back. His highness isn’t happy.”
Walking away, I heard TJ say, “Should I go get the nanny cam?”
“No need. The video streams on my phone. We’ll look at it when your mom comes back.”
I carried my beer into the living room, but before I could sit down the doorbell rang. “That will be the pizza,” I said, reaching in my pocket for the twenty I’d slipped in. Rob started to stand, but I said, “I’ll get it.”
“Eat first or watch video first?” Rob asked.
“The pizza’s hot. I think we should take advantage and eat it now.”
Rob followed me into the kitchen and I handed him paper plates and napkins. His hand brushed mine, and I involuntarily said “Oh” and pulled my hand away.
“I’m sorry,” he said, clearly befuddled.
“It’s okay,” I said quickly. “It just startled me.” I was immediately embarrassed by my overreaction.
He pretended nothing had happened, which made me more ashamed. What did I think I was, a prize men were drooling over? I seemed to take every opportunity to view Rob’s simplest actions through the lens of his trying to hit on me. He’d always been a perfect gentleman around me, apologizing for things he didn’t even do. Poor guy. What must he think of me?
TJ was bouncing up and down on the couch, impatient that it was taking so long to watch the footage from the nanny cam. I told him we’d watch while we ate pizza and served up a piece to each of us.
Rob gobbled his first piece of pizza, then wiped his hands on a napkin and started the video. “There may not be anything to see,” he said. “TJ, you didn’t wake up during the night and didn’t remember hearing the voices, so it’s possibl
e last night was a dud. Let’s watch and see.”
He turned out to be right. He fast-forwarded the video, stopping at intervals to listen, but there was nothing.
TJ was disappointed, and kept an eye on the real-time video while we finished eating. I carried the paper plates and pizza box into the kitchen, asking over my shoulder whether Rob wanted another beer.
“I’ll get us both one,” he said, following me into the kitchen.
I pulled the chocolate cream pie out of the refrigerator and he smiled in anticipation. I showed him where to find the dessert plates while I cut slices for each of us.
“Mom!”
“I’ll be there in a minute,” I called out.
“You have to come now, Mom!”
Rob and I exchanged glances and headed back to the living room.
“Look,” TJ said, pointing at the screen.
Before we had a chance to see what TJ was looking at, we heard the sound of crying.
“What the—” Rob said, taking the phone from TJ.
I leaned over his shoulder to see, a shiver running down my back. The bedroom curtains were fluttering, even though the window was closed.
“Maybe we can get it to talk to us,” TJ said, “Let’s go see.” The three of us dashed for the stairs.
Outside the bedroom door, I held a finger to my lips. “We don’t want to scare it away.”
“We don’t want to scare a ghost,” Rob said with a wry grin. “Okay. Got it.”
Rob stared in awe at the Dot, as the sobbing grew in volume. When we were all in the room, the door slammed shut of its own volition behind us.
“Mom?” TJ said, his eyes big.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” I said, pulling him into a hug.
I breathed deeply. “Are you there?” Nothing but sobbing. “Emma? Is that you?”
The sudden chill had us peering around the room. Whatever breeze had ruffled the curtains in the video picked up speed, and my hair flew around my face.
“Emma. Talk to us.” I had to raise my voice over the sound of the wind.
The sobbing stopped and an eerie Help us emanated from the Dot.
“Emma? We want to help you, but we don’t know how. Talk to us.”
Help us, the child’s voice said.
“Where are you? Can you tell us so we can find you?”
Nothing answered for such a long time I thought it must have gone. Then, I don’t know.
“Emma, there are three of us here who want to help you. I’m Kelly, TJ is my son and Rob is our friend. Will you talk to us?”
The wind howled up to and through the ceiling and the door flew open. The cold seeped from the room and all was quiet. We sat on TJ’s bed for twenty minutes, but there was no more activity. Disappointed, we trudged back to the living room.
“Oh. The pie,” I said, suddenly remembering that I’d left it sitting out on the kitchen counter.
“It’ll still taste good,” Rob said. “No matter what condition it’s in.”
“Thanks, you optimist,” I said with a laugh. “I’ll check on it.”
The pie was a little soft and droopy, but I doubted that would put any of us off, so I carried the plates to the living room and handed them out.
I took a bite and savored the creamy chocolate and whipped cream, then fixed a glare on Rob. “So, what do you think now?”
He swallowed the bite he’d just put in his mouth. “I don’t know what the hell to think. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“It wasn’t scary when you were there,” TJ said.
“You weren’t scared?” Rob asked with a grin. “Because I sure was.”
“Nope. I thought it was cool.” TJ’s smile filled his whole face.
Rob looked at me. “Well, I don’t know about you, but that really freaked me out. You seem to be okay with it.”
“Don’t forget, I’ve been through this a few times. And, to be honest, it was a lot less scary because you were there.” I nodded toward TJ, who was engrossed in watching the nanny cam footage on Rob’s phone. “And I’m pretty sure the same can be said for him.”
I took another bite, taking a moment to appreciate the rich, smooth chocolate. “We have to figure out what to do next. It seems to want to talk to us.”
Rob raked his fingers through his hair but didn’t say anything right away. Finally, he said, “We need to ask questions. It seemed impossible before that any of it was real, but now I’ve seen it for myself. And, implausible or not, Emma might know something about Marilee.”
“Yeah, she might. Now what?”
“So now . . . how do you feel about a slumber party?”
Chapter 21
O
“A
what?” His suggestion took me by surprise. My brain swirled with all the implications.
“It might be important to be vigilant. What if Emma comes back? We should be there to question her. With Marilee’s life on the line, I think we should try.” He looked embarrassed. “I know this is probably uncomfortable for you, so, if it makes you feel better, I can just wait for you to call me.”
“It’s not that. Well, okay, maybe it is that, but I suppose you’re right.” I smiled. “Should you deputize me or something?”
“Funny.”
“We could pull a couple of chairs in there. It will be a long night and the more comfortable we can be the better.”
Rob followed me out of the kitchen. TJ was still holding Rob’s phone, but his attention had switched over to the Disney Channel. He glanced up when we approached.
He held out the phone to Rob. “Nothing happened.” There was no mistaking the disappointment on his face.
“Too bad, sweetie,” I said. “If it makes you feel any better, we’re all going to sleep in your room tonight in case Emma comes back.”
“You mean Rob, too?”
“Yes. It was Rob’s idea to have a slumber party.”
“What’s a slumber party?”
“It’s usually a few teenage girls spending the night together, watching videos and making fudge and talking about boys.”
TJ looked at me with a look questioning why anyone would think that was fun.
“We won’t be talking about boys at our slumber party,” I said.
“Can we still make fudge?”
“Yeah, can we?” Rob piped in.
“Maybe not fudge,” I said. “I do, however, have brownie mix. Will that do?”
“Yeah!” TJ said.
I smacked my forehead with the heel of my palm. “I don’t know why I suggested that. We just had chocolate cream pie not even an hour ago.”
Rob grinned. “Special circumstances,” he said and winked at me.
“Okay, but not for at least an hour. Your teeth are going to fall out from all that chocolate.”
TJ rubbed his hands together gleefully. “It will be worth it.”
I pulled him in for a hug. “You guys go scout around to find comfortable chairs to sit in while we stay up all night, okay?”
TJ shot up. “I know just the chair.” He turned to Rob. “Mom has this cool chair in her room. It rocks. I have a rocking chair in my room but it’s all wood and not comfortable like Mom’s. Hers has cushions. It’s kinda big. Can you help me move it?”
“Sure. Lead the way.”
I insisted Rob use the chair from my room. Despite his protests, I’d take the wooden rocker. I wanted him to be comfortable, since he was sacrificing his entire night for us. Blankets and pillows would make the wooden rocker fine for me, and TJ could have his bed. I expected he’d be nodding off before too long anyway.
I followed the boys into my room. Rob couldn’t miss the picture of me and Tom, arms around each other, which was prominently displayed. He glanced at me for a moment.
“That’s my dad,” TJ said.
“I thought it must be,” Rob said solemnly, and gently ruffled TJ’s hair before making a beeline for the chair i
n the corner.
—
I was running through a forest. Someone was crying and I needed to find them. Wet branches slapped me in the face and I vaulted over fallen logs until I tripped and had to crawl on my hands and knees. The crying was so close, morphing into to a plea: Help meeee. “I’m coming,” I said, struggling to get the words out, each seeming cast in sludge.
The sudden icy temperature snapped me out of my dream. Sobs came from Alexa, and I saw Rob jump to his feet.
“It’s starting,” he said.
“I dozed off. I’m sorry,” I said.
“It’s 3 a.m. You get a pass. It’s freezing in here.”
Cold settled on the room like a blanket of ice, and TJ bolted upright. “Mom?”
“It’s okay, sweetie. We’re here. I think Emma’s here, too.”
I approached the Dot, and sat on the end of TJ’s bed. I glanced at Rob and TJ, and said, “Emma, we’re here to help you. Can you talk to us?”
The wait seemed interminable. “Mom, when’s she going to answer?”
“I hope soon.”
If it hadn’t been that the room was still freezing, I might have thought we were out of luck. I hugged my arms around my body to warm up.
The sobbing started again.
“Emma, please talk to us. We can’t help you if we don’t know where you are or what you’re dealing with.” I glanced at Rob. “You can trust us.”
It’s scary here.
Rob sat beside me on the end of the bed and put his hand over mine. I felt a tingle, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on his touch.
“Emma, it’s Rob. I’m a policeman and I really want to find you. Can you tell us where you are?”
I don’t know.
He squared his shoulders. “Is anyone with you, Emma?”
Yes.
It seemed for a moment she wouldn’t say more, but then she said the name we dreaded hearing, Marilee.
I could see by the stark expression on his face that he was afraid of what that meant.
“Emma, is Marilee . . . still alive?” I asked.
She is.
I closed my eyes for a fraction of a second to gather courage for my next question, barely able to get the words out. “Are you?”
Under the Willows Page 9
