by Ginny Baird
“Perry.”
“That’s a nice name.”
“It’s a name, Mom. Just a name.”
“Right.”
“So is Nathan.”
“Argh!” Elizabeth leapt to her feet and hugged her girl. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too.”
“We’re going to get through this, you know. This transition. Together.”
“I know,” Claire said, hugging her back.
Elizabeth awoke with a jolt to a wailing sound. What was that awful cry that sounded like a tortured soul in the night? She clutched the covers to her chest and blinked hard, trying to make out her hazy surroundings. The room came into focus, a haunting glow from a full moon streaking through the window. She’d been so whipped from her day, Elizabeth had forgotten to draw the blinds. She’d slipped into her pajamas in the bathroom, brushed her teeth, and hit the hay like an exhausted farmhand after a tough day. It couldn’t have taken her more than five minutes to fall asleep, and her slumber had been deep. Miles deep, until this murky awakening… Something screeched again, its sound ravaging the darkness. Her bedroom door flew open, and Claire raced inside.
“Mom! Did you hear it?” Claire’s face was ashen in the moonlight, panic registering in her eyes.
Elizabeth gathered her wits, trying to calm her daughter. “There has to be some logical—”
Reeeoowww! It hollered again, and Claire leapt onto her bed. “What is it?” Claire beseeched as Elizabeth wrapped her in her arms.
“I don’t—”
There was the sound of glass breaking and a strange commotion in the house next door. Elizabeth and Claire tentatively rose from the bed, holding hands.
“It came from over there,” Claire said, staring out the window. The ancient Victorian stood silent in haunting shadows. Claire squeezed her hand tight. Time was a vacuum as they watched and waited, hearing nothing more as the minutes stretched on.
“I’m calling Nathan,” Elizabeth finally said.
“Good idea,” Claire replied without loosening her grip.
Twenty minutes later, Nathan returned to their door with a flashlight. “I think I’ve found your ghost,” he said, holding a large tabby cat in one arm.
“What?” Elizabeth asked in shock. For the ten minutes he’d been in there, she’d been a knot of nerves, not knowing what he might find. Not knowing if he’d get hurt. Fearing he might not return at all.
“You poor baby.” Claire extended her arms toward the kitty, and Nathan passed him over. “Were you in there all alone?”
“He apparently got into some trouble,” Nathan said. “Knocked a mirror off a dresser and broke it clear to pieces.”
“That’s bad luck,” Elizabeth responded.
“Cats have nine lives,” Nathan returned with a wry smile.
Elizabeth pondered the cat, now purring loudly in Claire’s arms as she scratched him under the chin. “I don’t understand. How did he get in there?”
“There’s an old basement window that keeps coming loose. Critters crawl in from time to time.”
“Some girls at school said old Mrs. Fenton had a cat.”
“Don’t let those urban legends scare you,” Nathan said. “Nothing but nonsense.”
“What urban legends?” Elizabeth wanted to know.
“I’ll tell you later.” Claire lifted the cat toward her chin, nuzzling him closer. “Can we keep him?”
She glanced at Nathan. “He’s probably got a home.”
“Might at that,” Nathan said. “I’ll ask around.”
“In the meantime?” Claire pleaded.
The cat purred louder as if granting his assent.
“Only for the night,” Elizabeth acquiesced. “Until Nathan checks around.”
Claire’s cheeks glowed bright pink. “Thanks, Mom!” Then she scurried off with the cat, presumably to pour him a bowl of milk.
“I want to thank you for coming by,” Elizabeth said to Nathan when it was just the two of them. “I didn’t know what to do. I mean, who else to call.”
“You did the right thing,” Nathan told her. “In fact, it made Martha’s night. It’s the second call she’s gotten all month!”
“Who was the first one from?”
“Confidential. Police business.”
“Of course.”
“Though I can likely predict that third call.”
“Oh?”
A slow grin spread across his handsome face. “It’s coming from 312 Oak Street.”
“But this is 312 Oak Street.”
“Exactly,” Nathan said, pinning her in place with his gaze.
Elizabeth felt her body warm from head to toe. “Why, Sheriff,” she flirted, “are you angling to get asked to dinner again?”
“Might be.”
“What’s your Friday like?”
“I believe I could work in an opening. That is, if you don’t mind my being on call.”
“I suspect the sheriff is always on call.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Then, it’s a date.” The moment the words flew from her mouth, Elizabeth kicked herself a billion times. A date? Elizabeth? Really? “An engagement, I mean. An agreement to have supper.”
Nathan tipped his hat with a smile. “If that means you’re cooking, I accept.”
A few nights later, Nathan sat across the kitchen table from his sister, Belle, and her girl, Melody, as they all ate sloppy joes. “Appreciate you having me over.”
“We like having you over,” Belle said with sincere blue eyes. “Besides…” She rolled her gaze toward her daughter. “You’re a good influence around here.”
Nathan set down his sandwich, picking up his sister’s cue. “You behaving yourself at school?”
The girl’s face fell, but she didn’t answer.
“Melody got detention again.”
Nathan addressed his niece, unable to mask his disappointment. “Oh, hon, really?”
“It wasn’t my fault!”
“Don’t go blaming Joy,” Belle said sternly. “She told the principal that shaving creaming the girls’ locker room was your idea.”
“Easy for her to say.”
Nathan evenly met her gaze. “You’ve got to stop getting yourself into mischief, Melody Anne. And start acting like a grown lady. You’re practically sixteen now.”
Melody huffed and dabbed her mouth with her napkin. “Can I be excused now?” she asked her mom.
Belle sternly addressed her child. “Your uncle’s talking to you.”
“Yeah? What’s he gonna do? Throw me in jail?”
“Melody!” Belle tried to stop her daughter as she sprang from the table.
“It’s all right,” Nathan said softly. “Let her go.”
“But I can’t let her talk to you like that.”
Nathan sadly shook his head, sorry for Belle and the trials Melody put her through. “I’ll have a chat with her later.”
After he’d helped Belle tidy the kitchen, Nathan rapped at Melody’s door.
“Go away!” she yelled through it.
“You’re not in trouble, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Nathan called back.
He heard padded footfalls, then Melody’s door cracked open. She stared at him with suspicion. “Why not?”
“Because I know you didn’t mean to.”
“The locker room?”
“Be disrespectful.”
Melody heaved a sigh, and suddenly appeared fragile, like the angelic seven-year-old she used to be before her world went sour. “I’m sorry, Uncle Nathan.”
“Everything passes, you know?”
“What do you mean?”
“The hard times, Melody Anne.” He drew a breath, then released it. “I know it’s not easy being fifteen. I was that age once myself. And I know it especially hasn’t been easy on you…for a lot of reasons. But that doesn’t mean you have to take it out on everyone else.”
She hung her head, but he could tell she was listenin
g.
“Your mom loves you a good deal. And listen up, kiddo. Your uncle here loves you too. You’ve got two great folks in your corner. That’s more than a lot of people can say these days, you know.”
She raised a hand to wipe her cheek, and Nathan suspected she was crying. “But why did he have to do it? Why?” When she raised her gaze to his, her eyes were bleary. “I begged him not to go, really I did. But he just picked up his suitcase and—”
Nathan pulled her into his arms as she broke down. “There, there,” he said, gently patting her back. “I know.”
She gripped him tightly, sobbing against his chest and Nathan’s heart split in two. He didn’t know how Belle’s ex had been heartless enough to do it, but somehow he had. Up and walked out on his perfectly decent wife and child. None of them ever knew why. And nobody knew where he’d gone. Those were the sticking points. “But you listen up, little girl. There is one guy here who’s never going to leave you, you hear?”
Tears streamed down her cheeks and her chin trembled. “Swear to God?”
“Cross my heart and hope to die.”
Belle walked in, quickly surmising the scene and wrapped her arms around them. “We’re family,” she told them both, “and family sticks together.”
Nathan held them tighter. “Yes, we do.”
Later, on the front porch, Belle told him, “I want to thank you for that in there. It really helped. Having you around always helps.”
“I’m glad to be here when I can. I just wish I could do more.”
“You do plenty.” She shared a weary smile. “You doing anything on Friday? They’re having Harvest Night at the orchard, and I thought I’d take Melody.”
Nathan knew Harvest Night was a good time, complete with hayrides and hot apple cider, but this Friday he had plans. “Love to, but some other time.”
Belle curiously eyed her brother. “Got something else going on?”
“I might.”
“Something involving that pretty brunette you introduced me to?”
“You women are so suspicious.” But when he turned his back, Nathan’s lips parted in a grin.
“I want to hear all about it!” Belle called after him.
He strolled off, breaking into a bright whistle.
“I’m serious! Saturday! Over coffee!”
Nathan held up a hand in a wave but kept on walking. Spilling to Belle after his night at Elizabeth’s? Like that was going to happen. It wasn’t such a big deal anyway. He was just going for dinner with the two of them, Elizabeth and Claire. It wasn’t like he had a date. Not that he’d know what to do with one if he had it. Nathan mentally tried to calculate the last time he’d been out with an eligible woman. An eligible woman he felt attracted to, and who hadn’t been one of Belle’s or Martha’s set-ups. But his mind grew foggy and he couldn’t think that far back. Especially since all he was eager to do now was look ahead. The day after tomorrow, he’d be sitting down to supper with the Jennings. He didn’t know why, but there was an unexpected lift in his heart just at the thought.
Chapter Four
By the time Friday came, Elizabeth was a ball of nerves. All she was making was chili, for heaven’s sakes. Yet she’d already burned a batch of corn muffins and had nearly tossed the salad onto the floor.
“Want me to help with that?” Claire asked, watching her dump her burned disasters from the muffin tin into the waste bin. “I can make the next batch if you’d like.”
Elizabeth tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Claire helping out would be good. That would give her a few minutes to take a breather and freshen up before Nathan got here. “Do you mind?”
Claire warmly patted her back. “Nope. You go on upstairs and make yourself hot.”
“Claire!”
“You’re not telling me you haven’t thought about what to wear?”
“Well, I…” Elizabeth glanced down at her cut-off shorts and T-shirt. It had been another warm, Indian-summer afternoon, and she’d become overheated working in the small kitchen. “Probably not this, right?”
“Probably not that,” Claire agreed. “At least put on something not torn.”
“These aren’t torn! They’re cut-offs!” Elizabeth set a hand on her hip. “Besides, you wear clothes with tears in them all the time.”
“I’m fifteen.”
“Point taken.”
Phantom sauntered into the room and wrapped his way around Claire’s legs. She’d named the cat the night they’d found him and didn’t seem ready to lose him anytime soon. From the cat’s loud, humming purrs, the feeling was mutual.
“Looks like somebody’s hungry,” Elizabeth said as Claire bent down to stroke him.
“Yeah, this somebody’s hungry all the time.”
“Maybe trying to make up for being so skinny.”
“Poor baby,” Claire said, scooping him into her arms. “That right? Nobody used to feed you?”
She glanced at Elizabeth, who was turning to make her way upstairs. “You know what those mean girls said?”
“Which mean girls?”
“Melody and Joy at school.”
“No.”
“They said that Phantom here was old Mrs. Fenton’s cat, come back from the wild after hiding out in the woods all this time.”
“Well, maybe he is.”
“They said he left because he ate her.”
“What?”
“Mrs. Fenton.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“I know.” Claire scratched Phantom under his chin, and he purred louder. “But do you think this is really her cat? The one she used to keep?”
“Mrs. Fenton? I don’t know. Nathan said her cat ran off more than five years ago. That was before he came to Blayton, so he couldn’t say for sure. He did ask around, though. Nobody in town seems to be missing a big, hungry tabby.”
Just then the doorbell rang.
“Oh no!” Elizabeth cried as panicked gripped her. “What time is it?”
“Five till seven.”
“I can’t believe he’s early!”
“Go on,” Claire urged. “Run upstairs and change, and I’ll let him in.”
“But what about the muffins?”
“He can help,” Claire said brightly.
Nathan stood on the front porch tapping his boot tip against a wooden board. It felt good to be out of his uniform and in a flannel shirt and jeans. Even if he was still on call, he didn’t technically have to dress the part. Especially when the most likely emergency would be somebody’s cat getting stuck up a tree.
He hoped he hadn’t been overly presumptuous in bringing the apple cake. But, hey, if Elizabeth didn’t want to serve it for dinner, she could save it for breakfast tomorrow. Nathan felt a tad guilty about finagling his way into an invitation. Then again, hadn’t Elizabeth been the one to hint she’d ask him over initially?
He glanced over at the Fenton place, where two worn rockers creaked in the wind against darkened windows. They did lend the house a creepy air. Nathan would need to talk to Mr. Robeson about having them removed. He’d mentioned it to the realtor once before, but Robeson had insisted they gave the property a homey feel, “real down-home country-like.” Now that Nathan was viewing the scene at twilight, he could understand why Elizabeth and Claire had been spooked about moving in next door. You couldn’t find a more fitting poster child for a haunted house. Especially in October.
A sunny face appeared in the window glass beside the front door, then Claire pulled it open with a grin. “You baked for us again?”
Nathan pursed his lips a beat, hoping he hadn’t made a misstep. “Apple cake. I hope you don’t mind. I had an overabundance of apples.”
“You get them from the Riley’s?” she asked, letting him in.
“Their orchard, that’s right.”
Claire relieved him of the apple cake and led him toward the kitchen. For the life of him, Nathan thought he smelled something burning. “Mom will be happy you brought this. She
loves apple everything!”
Nathan’s face warmed, feeling he’d made a score. Claire was a good kid, and pretty mature for her age, from what he’d seen. “Maybe you know Perry? His uncle runs the orchard.”
Her cheeks took on a pink hue. “He’s in my grade at school.”
“That’s right. Along with my niece, Melody.”
“Melody’s your niece?” Claire asked with undisguised shock.
“I’m afraid so. And her friend Joy is my secretary’s daughter.”
“Small town.” Claire peeled back the tinfoil wrapping the apple cake and took a whiff. “Mmm. We’ll have to have this for dessert.”
“Only if Elizabeth agrees.”
“Agrees to what?” she asked from the threshold. Nathan turned to find Elizabeth standing at the entrance to the kitchen. She was prettier than ever, dressed in jeans and a light blue sweater to ward off the evening’s chill. While the days here still heated up a bit, by nightfall they tended to cool down. Nathan was glad that fall was coming. Many folks greeted it with chagrin, feeling it marked the end of summer. But for Nathan fall was always full of possibilities: crisp air and new beginnings. This year in particular, it seemed things might finally change for him. And Nathan had waited forever for that change to come.
“Well, hello,” he told her. “You look nice.”
“Thanks, you too. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you out of uniform.”
“He brought us apple cake,” Claire said happily.
“Did you now?” Elizabeth met Nathan’s gaze, and he felt his heart go ka-chunk. “That was sweet.”
“It was the least I could do,” he told her. “Considering I practically asked myself over.”
Elizabeth laughed, and it was like music to his ears. “Oh, I think I was aiming to ask you anyway.”
Claire studied them a moment before asking, “Should I start the new muffins now?”
Nathan’s brow rose.
Elizabeth blushed. “I kind of burned the first batch.”
“No matter,” he said breezily. “We can skip the bread if you’d like. We’ve got apple cake for dessert.”
