Just Another Maniac Monday

by Jennie Marts

  DEDICATION

  This book is dedicated to

  Todd, Tyler and Nick

  My family, my joy, my loves

  Thanks for always believing in my dreams!

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Edna Allen grumbled as she pushed her ancient bones off the sofa and crossed the living room, her slippered feet slapping the floor with each step. Mondays were her lazy days, and even though it was close to noon, she was still in her pajamas and quite engrossed in her morning shows. Whoever was ringing her doorbell was interrupting the spinning of the prize wheel.

  Her mind was busy calculating the difference between the current value of a vacuum cleaner versus a washing machine when she absently opened the front door. The remote control slipped from her hand and hit the floor as she took in the sight on her front stoop. Holding a red rose in one hand and a small dog tucked into the crook of his arm stood a ghost.

  He looked like a man, but the man he resembled was dead. He had died a long time ago. Or maybe she was dead. Maybe she had stroked out between the bonus round and the Showcase Showdown and this was heaven. Maybe heaven was really just watching game shows in your pajamas all day and having the love of your life appear suddenly on your doorstep.

  Except she didn’t feel dead. As a matter of fact, she could feel her heart beating strong and quick, threatening to pound free of her sunken chest.

  And he sure didn’t look dead. In fact, he looked pretty good in a gray three-piece suit, his skin tanned and his once blond hair now pure white. Beyond his shoulder, Edna could see old Mr. Ferguson mowing his lawn and she knew there was no way that old coot would ever make it into heaven, so either she was still alive or there was a worse alternative.

  If she was still alive, then Johnny Collins was really standing on her doorstep.

  A hundred memories flooded her mind. She had dreamt of this moment a thousand times. She’d planned a hundred scenarios of what she would do. What she would say. But none of those clever thoughts came to mind as she opened her mouth to speak. “What in the Sam-Hill are you doing here?”

  The ghost chuckled softly, the familiar twinkle in his crystal blue eyes. “You haven’t changed a bit, Eddy.”

  Edna’s knees threatened to buckle at the familiar nickname that only one man had ever called her. “Of course I’ve changed. And more than a bit. The last time you saw me, I was a young girl. Now I’m an old woman. It’s been almost sixty years since you’ve seen me.”

  “It feels like yesterday,” he said. “You look as beautiful as the first day I met you.”

  Heat warmed her cheeks as she took in the sight of the first man she had ever loved. He stood around six feet tall and was well dressed. A satin square of royal-blue handkerchief poked from his breast pocket and the color matched his eyes. The eyes that had looked into hers and pledged to love her until the day he died. And she thought he had.

  She blinked, tears filling her eyes. “Johnny? Is it really you?”

  He nodded, a slow bob of his head, never taking his eyes off of hers. “Yes, it’s me. I’m really here.”

  Choking back the emotion welling in her throat, she shook her head in wonder. “I thought you were dead.”

  “I know. That’s what I wanted everyone to think.” His expression turned deeply sad for just a moment, then the charming smile returned as he tipped his head. “Are you going to invite me in?”

  Edna wiped at the stray tear on her face and narrowed her eyes. “I haven’t decided yet.”

  She nodded at the small dog under his arm. He was a cute little guy with big brown eyes and brown and white spotted fur. She recognized the breed as a Jack Russell terrier, but only because the dog looked similar to the one on Frasier. “What’s with the dog?”

  He looked down at the pup and laughed. “I’m not sure. He found me a year or so ago and adopted me. No matter where I go, I can’t seem to shake him.”

  She took a step back and motioned for him to come inside. Reaching out her hand, she brushed his arm as he passed. He felt real. And the moist slobber, where the dog had licked her outstretched hand, was definitely real.

  The man walked into the center of the room and set the dog on the hardwood floor. Edna’s home was a sprawling ranch style with a full basement. The living room was large, with a hallway leading to three bedrooms. A tall archway led into a generous-sized kitchen with a big center island separating the cooking area from the dining area. An antique china hutch sat against the wall behind a round farmhouse table with chairs for six.

  Depending on where you stood, you could see between the living room and kitchen. Edna had her television placed against the wall so if she were standing at the kitchen counter, she’d still see her shows. She had to turn the volume up loud enough for the neighbors to hear it, but she didn’t give two hoots what the neighbors thought.

  Her decorating style was a cross between country and kitschy, combining antique memorabilia with modern appliances. She loved bright colors and daringly mixed different patterns, crossing polka-dots with plaids. Edna knew what she liked. So what if it was a little outdated and probably too cluttered; it was home.

  She watched the little dog run in front of the couch and into the kitchen, where he stopped to sniff at the kitchen table. He finished his sniff then turned, raised his leg, and peed on the table leg. Sitting down, he looked to his master as if expecting a treat for his actions.

  Edna also looked at his master. She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?”

  He smiled and shrugged. “Sorry. The silly mutt never listens to me. Hand me a paper towel, and I’ll wipe it up.” He set the rose gingerly on the table, then leaned down to the dog. “I told you to behave. Remember, this is why I had you go outside before we rang the doorbell.”

  Edna stepped into the kitchen and pulled several paper towels from the roll under the counter. Handing them to Johnny, she silently watched as he bent to wipe up the mess and deposit the soiled towels in the trash can.

  Anyone who knew Edna would never describe her as silent. Ever. She always had a comment or a piece of advice to add to any conversation. But for the first time in a long time, she was at a loss for words. It was as if the arrival of this man, this memory from her past, stirred up so many emotions that there was no room for words.

  Standing at the counter, her feelings tumbled inside of her like a load of laundry in the dryer. A load with a tennis shoe mixed inside that clunked and thunked against the barrel with every rotation. The soaring joy of seeing him again mixed with a deep sadness of the last six decades she had missed out on. The shock of his being alive blended with the awe of seeing his face again. Of being able to look in his eyes and hear his low rumble of laughter.

  But the shoe still thunked through the exciting tumble of emotions. The heavy shoe filled with the dull thud of anger. Anger at his letting all these years go by without telling her he was alive. And inside the anger, a tiny flutter of fear swirled. Fear that maybe he hadn’t really loved her at all.


  Her thoughts raged with a million questions she wanted to ask. How can you still be alive? Where have you been? Why didn’t you come back sooner? Why are you back now?

  Multiple questions flooded her mind, but her heart only had one. Why did you leave me?

  But she didn’t ask any of these questions. Instead, she stood silently watching him, feeling surreal as she wondered how the love of her life had just walked through her door and was now cleaning dog pee up off the floor.

  He seemed quite at home in her kitchen, crossing to the sink and turning on the water. She watched him squirt liquid soap into his cupped palm and rub his hands together, forming a soapy lather. His hands were good hands, strong hands, the hands of a working man. Edna remembered the feel of those hands sliding across her body as if it were yesterday.

  How could he be here? Alive and well, washing his hands in her sink and using her favorite blue-checked towel to dry them. She gestured to the living room and followed him in.

  He sat on one end of the sofa and the little dog jumped up and stretched out across his lap, looking at Edna with an adorable expression of “sorry I peed on your floor, but don’t you think I’m so darn cute?”

  Johnny patted the dog on his head and chuckled. “He does grow on you. His name is Havoc.”

  “I can see why.” Picking up a small pillow, Edna eased herself onto the chair across from him. She held the pillow in her lap, feeling awkward, as if she suddenly forgot how to sit in a chair, as if her arms and legs were separate from her body and she didn’t quite know what to do with them.

  “Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet.” He settled back into the sofa and smiled at Edna. “So, how have you been?”

  Really? Edna lifted the small pillow and threw it at him. The pillow bounced off the sofa, missing its intended target and fell to the floor. Havoc jumped off the couch, growling, and attacked the pillow, gripping the corner in his teeth and shaking it back and forth.

  The man looked shocked and slightly amused. “What was that for?”

  Edna shrugged. “It is called a throw pillow.”

  “But why did you throw it at me?”

  “Why wouldn’t I throw it at you? Because I’m shocked that you’re here. And mad that you let me think you were dead all these years.” Her voice faltered and her anger slipped into disbelief. “Or maybe just to prove that you’re real. Or that I’m not dreaming.” She pinched her arm. “Nope. Not dreaming.”

  “I can assure you that you are awake, and I am very much alive and real.”

  Edna sank back into the chair. “How can you be? The Johnny Collins I knew died a long time ago. I went to his funeral.” She choked back the emotion welling in her throat. “Is it really you, Johnny?” she whispered.

  His blue eyes filled with tears and he nodded. “It’s really me, Eddy. I can’t tell you how sorry I am to have put you through that.” He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. “It’s been a long time since anyone’s called me Johnny. I just go by John now.”

  Edna shook her head, the pain of the memories bubbling to the surface in anger and resentment. How much she’d loved him, the plans they’d made, the agony of sitting at his funeral, feeling left behind and knowing she’d never see his face again.

  Yet, here he was. He had left her, but it seemed now to have been his choice. “John. Johnny. John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. I don’t give two hoots what name you go by. What are you doing here? And how could you have let me believe you were dead?”

  Before he could answer, a knock sounded and they heard the back door of the house open. Edna’s neighbor Sunny Vale walked in from the kitchen carrying a measuring cup. “I need to borrow an egg, Edna. I was in the mood for chocolate chip cookies but don’t have all the ingredients.”

  Sunny stopped as she spied Edna’s unexpected visitor sitting on the sofa. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you had company.”

  Edna and Sunny had been neighbors for years and made up two of the five members of the Pleasant Valley Page Turners book club. The women were a close-knit group, though different in age and temperament.

  Sunny, Maggie, and Cassie were in their thirties and had been roommates in college. Cassie’s seventeen-year-old niece, Piper, had joined the group earlier that summer when her mom deserted her and left her on her aunt’s doorstep. Though Edna, in her early eighties, was the oldest member of the group, her spirit was perhaps the youngest, and she liked to keep them all in stitches with her quirky comments and crazy adventures.

  The book club had been through a lot that summer, and Sunny, true to her name, kept a cheery disposition and didn’t let life get her down. She was an elementary school teacher and had recently found the love of her life. His name was Jake. He loved her dog, had abs to die for, and conveniently lived in the house between hers and Edna’s.

  Sunny looked from the rose sitting on the table to the man in the three-piece suit and raised her eyebrows at Edna. “Am I interrupting?”

  Edna shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. Even if I said yes, you wouldn’t leave.”

  Sunny laughed. “No, you’re probably right.” She approached the man on the couch, stooping to pet Havoc before she held her hand out. “Hi, I’m Sunny.”

  He took her hand in his. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sunny. I’m John Collins. I know Edna from a long time ago, when we were practically kids.”

  Sunny plopped onto the sofa next to John, and Havoc jumped into her lap. “Oh, that’s so sweet. How fun for you two to see each other again.”

  Edna harrumphed. “Yeah, it’s been a real barrel of laughs so far.”

  “Hey, I saw the story about Zoey in the news,” Sunny said. “They had a picture of her, and she looked gorgeous.”

  “Yeah, I saw that too. Her mother called and told me she might show up on the TV.” Edna turned to John. “Zoey is my granddaughter. She works as an accountant for some fancy-dancy firm up in Denver and just found some incriminating evidence during a routine audit. She’s evidently exposed them for a big money-laundering scheme and ended up in the news.”

  “How’s she doing?” Sunny asked. “It seems like she’s getting a lot of press over this thing.”

  Edna shrugged, the drama of her granddaughter seeming trivial compared to the appearance of John. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to her, so I don’t really know how big of a deal it is.”

  “I’m sure you’ll hear about it soon enough.” Sunny waved a hand in John’s direction. “Edna’s really close with her granddaughter.”

  “That’s good,” John said. “Family can mean everything to some people.”

  Hmm. What was that supposed to mean? Edna considered asking him but didn’t want to get into their history in front of Sunny.

  Instead, she nodded to the measuring cup in her neighbor’s hands. “Why do you have a measuring cup if you want to borrow an egg? Exactly which ingredients do you not have for these chocolate chip cookies?”

  “Well, after I mixed in the butter and the sugar, I realized I was out of brown sugar and short an egg. And I’m not sure I have enough vanilla.”

  Edna laughed. This was not the first time she had played this game. “And…?”

  Sunny grinned. “And I may need to borrow a bag of chocolate chips. But I have everything else.”

  Edna pushed up from the sofa. She crossed to the pantry and pulled the ingredients on Sunny’s list from the cupboard as she listened to her neighbor and John talk.

  “So, how long are you here for?” Sunny asked.

  “That’s a good question. My plans are flexible right now.”

  “Where are you staying?”

  “At the Travel Inn out on the highway.”

  “Well, that’s ridiculous. You should stay here. Edna’s got plenty of room.”

  The bottle of vanilla slipped from Edna’s fingers and crashed to the floor at the suggestion that he stay here. She stood frozen in place, her heart racing at the idea of Johnny being in the same house, under the same roof.

>   Sunny jumped from the sofa to help her with the broken bottle, shooing away the dog who was trying to lick up the spilled vanilla. “Are you all right? What happened?”

  Edna shook her head. “Of course I’m fine. Just lost my grip.” She turned back to the cupboard, hoping Sunny wouldn’t notice the tremble in her hand. “I think I’ve got a new bottle in here somewhere.”

  John came into the kitchen, grabbing some paper towels and bringing the waste basket to Sunny.

  Edna thought he was getting quite adept at cleaning up messes in her house. If only he could have cleaned up the mess he started that summer, so long ago. “I’m sure the Travel Inn is nice.”

  “Nonsense,” Sunny said. “Edna loves having company. She’s been complaining all summer that no one has come to visit her.”

  John looked at Edna. “Is that right, Eddy? Were you hoping for some company?”

  Sunny covered her heart with her hands. “Eddy? Oh, my gosh, that is so cute.”

  “Yeah, it’s adorable,” Edna said. “And I haven’t been complaining about anything. I don’t complain.”

  Sunny arched an eyebrow at her friend, but wisely remained silent.

  “I don’t want to impose. I think I’ve already surprised Eddy enough today just by showing up.”

  Sunny waved her hand. “Nonsense. Edna is the most hospitable person I know. I’m sure she’d love to have you stay with her. Wouldn’t you, Edna?”

  No way in hell did she want Johnny Collins staying at her house. No. Not a chance. Absolutely not. “Sure, I guess that would be fine. If he wants to.”

  John smiled at Edna and nodded. “It’s settled then. I’ll go get my things and be back this evening. Around six, is that all right?”

  “Sure, why not?” Edna shrugged. “Six would be great. But sixty years ago would have been better.”

  Sunny gave her a quizzical look.

  Edna sighed. “Six is fine. That’ll give Sunny and I enough time to make up the bed in the guest room and clean up around here. Right, Sunny?” You got me into this mess, you little troublemaker, you’re darn sure stickin’ it out with me.