by Diaz, Debra
If I were her, she mused, I’d be wondering how long to wait before going out with Jonathan, in light of the fact his fiancée had just died a tragic death. And yes, it was tragic, even though Brianna hadn’t been a nice person. She hadn’t deserved what happened to her. Lindsey knew in her heart that Jonathan had been shocked and sorry about her death.
But she didn’t want to think about that. That was one of those “grown-up” things Rachel had been talking about yesterday. Things that were too big to accept all at once. A dim memory came to her of Jonathan and Rachel talking while she’d still been half-asleep, and he’d said something about paying for counseling, if Lindsey needed it.
They didn’t know about Lindsey’s peculiar ability to separate unpleasant events from her thoughts and put them into compartments in her mind. Then she could decide whether she wanted to draw them out and think about them or not – usually not. She’d done that when her grandfather died, and when Rachel’s parents got killed. It wasn’t that she was in denial about things happening, she just chose not to dwell on them.
Yes, Gerard had been a bad man who had decided to kill her because she knew too much. The world was full of bad people who killed other people, sometimes for no reason at all. He hadn’t succeeded—that was the important thing. Besides, the world had a lot of good people, too.
Lindsey knew there would be times when she would remember. But right now she was going to think about the future of Rachel and Jonathan.
So, I’ll give them until October. A Halloween wedding would be fun—just like Arsenic and Old Lace. But hopefully without crazy old ladies poisoning lonesome old gentlemen and burying them in the Panama Canal.
She knew she was being a little presumptuous. Sure, Jonathan and Rachel had a lot of things to work through. It might take a while. Rachel might even say, “Oh, I don’t belong in Jonathan’s world!” But neither did Jonathan, in Lindsey’s opinion. Obviously, he hadn’t been happy. Rachel would be good for him.
Honey began to bark. Lindsey picked her up and put the dog in her lap, where she sat trembling with excitement and straining to see out the window.
“Quite a change from what you’re used to,” Lindsey whispered. “No more hanging out in Kansas, Toto Too.” (She always laughed whenever the Witch of the North said “And Toto, too!”)
Rachel looked at her for a moment, but couldn’t hear what she was saying.
“Everything’s different now. You wait and see.” Lindsey looked back and the house was no longer in view, but she knew she would see it again.
THE END
About the Author
Debra Diaz has worked as a columnist and feature writer for a local newspaper, and between other jobs she has owned and operated a writing service. She has won two regional awards in short-story writing. Born and raised in Memphis, she now resides with her husband and two children near Oxford, Mississippi.
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