The House on Main Street

by Shirlee McCoy

  “You are a dumb-ass, Tess. That’s the problem,” she muttered as she swiped more paint onto the wall.

  Outside, wind chimes rang, the sound eerie and haunting in the silent house. The stairs creaked, and she swore she heard fabric rustling behind her. Another creak. Another rustle of fabric.

  Dear God in heaven! Someone was behind her!

  She could feel eyes boring into the back of her head. Was it Miriam Riley, coming back from the grave to haunt the woman who’d torn down the wallpaper she’d put up a hundred years ago? Or worse . . . a murderer, stealthily moving toward Tess, a knife clutched in his gloved hand?

  Creak!

  She swung around, flinging paint across the banister, the stairs, and the huge tabby cat that stood on the third step.

  “Margrave! What are you doing in here?” she hollered, her hand shaking as she wiped paint spatter from the woodwork. She tried to wipe specks of cream from Margrave’s fur, but he wanted none of it, swatting her hand away and walking past her like he was royalty.

  “You’re an outdoor cat, remember?” She opened the front door, and he took his good old time walking through it. Either Gertrude or Alex had let him in. She’d have to have a talk with them when they got home. The last thing she wanted was cat hair in the fresh paint or claw marks on the furniture and antiques.

  She glanced down the hall at the boxes she and Gertrude had stacked near the kitchen doorway. Keepers. She’d been surprised at how much of the stuff that had been piled into the house was usable. At first, she’d been too blinded by grief to see anything but junk, but days of working through the mess had cleared her vision. Sure, there’d been tons of trash, but there was also a lot of potential.

  She liked to think that was Emily’s doing. That maybe she and her sister weren’t quite as different as she’d always thought.

  Thought?

  Tess had just proven how alike they were. Or at least that they were both really good at hurting people they cared about.

  “Idiot,” she mumbled one last time.

  It took an hour to finish the first coat of paint. When she did, the gloomy hall had been transformed into something that was nearly charming. Another coat of paint and a refinished floor, and she’d be able to hang the artwork she’d salvaged from This-N-That and from the shed behind the house. Price tags in the corners and a streamlined display along each wall. The old church pew that sat in the parlor against one wall and the intricate sideboard she’d found in the kitchen against the other—she could picture it all clearly in her mind, and she couldn’t deny the little thrill of excitement it brought.

  Her cell phone rang, and she answered. “Hello?”

  “Tess?” Cade responded, and her hand tightened on the phone, her stomach churning with a million things she wanted to say. Needed to say.

  “I’m glad you called. I still feel—”

  “I don’t know how else to say this except bluntly. Gertrude’s been in an accident.”

  Her mouth went dry, her ears rang. She needed to sit, but she didn’t think she could find the floor.

  “Tess? You still there?”

  “I . . . yes,” she whispered, so, so scared of what he was about to say. “What happened?”

  “She fell down the church steps, and it looks like she broke her leg. An ambulance is transporting her to Apple Valley General Hospital.”

  “Her leg?” she repeated.

  “Yes. It was an obvious break, but the EMT doesn’t think she broke anything else. They’ll be doing X-rays at the hospital, of course. Alex and I are following the ambulance there. Do you want me to swing by and pick you up?”

  “No, I’ll meet you there.” She didn’t want Gertrude to be at the hospital alone. Not even for a second.

  “Take your time and drive carefully,” he said, and she could hear the warmth in his voice, the concern. “The last thing your family needs is another accident.” He disconnected, and Tess sprinted upstairs.

  She threw on clean jeans and the first clean shirt she could find, ran outside, and realized that she needed car keys.

  “Shit! Shit, shit, shit!” she muttered as she raced back into the house and dug through the drawer where Gertrude kept spare keys. She finally snagged the one to the Pontiac, nearly killing herself in her rush to get outside again.

  Dying wouldn’t do Gertrude any good. It wouldn’t do Tess any good, either. She kept her speed to just a little above the limit as she navigated Main Street, turned onto Twelfth Avenue, and made her way to the edge of town. The hospital was there, housed in what had once been an institution for tuberculosis patients. The old building had been expanded in the 1950s when the town had been at the zenith of its population growth, old brick and newer brick merging to create a gothic-looking facade.

  Tessa drove to the back and parked near the emergency entrance. Cade’s truck was a few spaces away. Thank God he’d been with Gertrude and Alex when the accident happened.

  She headed across the parking lot, cold wind biting through her shirt. In her mad dash to get to the hospital, she’d forgotten her coat. Not good when the temperature was hovering just below freezing.

  The emergency room lobby was nearly empty, just a few people sitting in chairs, reading newspapers or sipping coffee from carryout cups. Every one of them watched as Tessa made her way to the information desk. She probably knew them all, but she was too worried about Gertrude to stop for chats.

  “Can I help you?” The receptionist looked up from her computer and smiled. She looked to be about twenty, her skin flawless, her hair short and trendy.

  “My aunt was brought in by ambulance a few minutes ago. Gertrude McKenzie?”

  “Hold on.” She typed something into the computer. “Let me see if she’s in the system yet. Yes. She’s in room nine. You can go on back.” She gestured to a door behind her desk, and Tessa walked through it.

  The hallway split to the left and right, and she pivoted, not sure which way to go until she heard a very loud, very familiar voice.

  She couldn’t hear the words, but she knew Gertrude’s I’m-pissed-off-and-I’m-going-to-kill-someone voice.

  She hurried to the right, following the sound until she reached room nine. She braced herself and opened the door.

  Cade was standing next to the hospital bed, his hand on the back of his neck, his back to Tess. He glanced over his shoulder as she walked in, offering a smile that didn’t quite make its way to his eyes.

  Was he still angry?

  Did it matter?

  Yes. Damn it! It did. But she had to deal with Gertrude before she could deal with apologies.

  “Hey, Gertrude, how are you feeling?” she asked, moving into the room and offering Alex a smile.

  He was too busy staring at Gertrude as if she were some strange and exotic creature to notice.

  “How does it look like I’m feeling?” Gertrude growled, her eyes flashing with green fire. There was blood on her left cheek and a huge blue lump on her forehead. Her left leg was elevated, but she looked like she was ready to come off the bed swinging.

  “You look like you’re feeling a lot better than I expected you to be.” Tess touched her wrinkled hand.

  “I feel like crap, kid. Thanks to that good-for-nothing Zimmerman Beck!” She nearly spat.

  “What about Zimmerman?” Tess glanced at Cade, and he shrugged.

  “She wants me to arrest him for assault.”

  “Because he pushed me down the stairs. Devil’s spawn!”

  “Gertrude,” Cade said calmly, “Zim was talking to the reverend when you fell. He was nowhere near you.”

  “I don’t care what he says—”

  “It’s not just what he’s saying. At least a dozen other people told me the same thing.”

  “Then how did I fall? Explain that to me, young man, because we all know that I have never ever fallen in my life!”

  “You slipped on some ice.”

  “If that’s what happened, I’d remember it,” Gertrude insisted, but
she looked a bit confused, her eyes losing some of their fire.

  “Do you remember Zim pushing you?”

  “I remember him telling me that the building was probably going to fall in on everyone if I walked into the church, and I remember me calling him a jackass.”

  “That was all before the service began,” Cade whispered in Tessa’s ear. “They exchanged a few other choice words after it.”

  “I can hear you, Cade.” Gertrude scowled, but her eyelids were drooping and she seemed to have lost most of her fight.

  “You bumped your head pretty hard, Gertrude.” Tess lifted Gertrude’s hand. It was cool and dry, the skin thin and splotched with age. “Your memory may be a little jumbled.”

  “Go ahead. Take his side.” Gertrude yanked her hand away.

  “I’m not taking sides. I’m just saying that—”

  The door opened and a nurse walked in, her salt-and-pepper hair pulled back from a plain face. “Ms. McKenzie, we’re going to wheel you down for an MRI. The doctor wants to make sure that there’s nothing going on besides a broken leg.”

  “Fine.” Gertrude closed her eyes as the nurse rolled her out. Tessa followed them to the door, watching as they made their way down the hall.

  “I hope she’s okay,” she said mostly to herself, and was surprised when Cade’s hands slid around her waist, resting low on her stomach, his breath tickling her hair.

  “She’s too ornery to be anything else,” he said, his voice gravely and gruff, and so very nice.

  She turned, because she had to, because there was really nothing else she wanted to do. She rested her head against his chest, soaking in his solid warmth. “Thanks for calling me, Cade.”

  “What else would I have done?”

  “Had someone else take care of my crazy family?”

  “You know better than that, Tess.” His words rumbled under her ear, mixing with the solid thump of his heart.

  “I do, and I hope you know that I am so, so sorry for what I said earlier. I am the biggest idiot in the world.”

  “You’re more of a pint-size one.” He cupped her face and looked into her eyes, smiling a little. “And I probably overreacted. My ex hated Apple Valley. She loved to call the people who lived in it small-town hicks. Hearing you say that . . . just brought up a lot of old stuff.”

  “That makes me feel even worse.”

  “Don’t. It’s done, and we’re both too mature to make it into something bigger than it is.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, his hand drifting to the middle of her back, and she thought she’d be happy to stand in his arms forever.

  “Can we go find Gertrude?” Alex asked, bumping against Tessa’s side as he tried to walk into the hall.

  It was enough to break the spell Cade had woven, and she broke away, putting her hand on Alex’s shoulder to keep him from walking into the hall. “She’ll be back soon. How about we get something to eat while we’re waiting?”

  “No,” Alex said simply, retreating to his seat.

  “Aren’t you hungry?” she tried again, but he ignored her, his foot tapping the floor, his fingers playing a rhythm on his thigh.

  “He’ll be fine, Tess. Once they bring Gertrude back, I’ll go get him a snack.” Cade dropped into one of the chairs, stretching his long legs out and crossing them at the ankles. He looked tired, his eyes shadowed, his hair just a little ruffled. She wanted to smooth it down. She clenched her fists to keep from doing it.

  “Did you see her fall?” she asked.

  Cade shook his head. “I was still in the church with Alex. We were looking at the piano. It’s a nice one. Isn’t it, buddy?”

  “Yes.” Alex’s fingers were still tapping his thigh.

  “Reverend Fisher is like Ida. Really big into history,” Cade continued. “He says the piano has been there since the church was built.”

  “Hmm-hmmm.” Tess glanced into the hall. Were they done with the X-rays? Was there something more serious going on? A brain hemorrhage? Internal bleeding?

  “You know,” Cade said, snagging her hand and tugging her to his side. “You’re not making it easy to distract you.”

  “Is that what you’re trying to do?”

  “Have you ever heard me talk town history or antiques before?”

  “No.” She looked into his dark blue eyes and thought that was really the only distraction she needed. No words. No chatter about antique pianos. Just Cade’s eyes, his dimple. Him. “I thought maybe my love of all things old was starting to rub off on you.”

  “There’s that, too,” he murmured, yanking her into his lap.

  “Hey!” she protested, the word dying as his lips covered hers, his hand sliding along her abdomen, his fingers splayed there.

  And, God, it felt good.

  “There.” He set her back on her feet, and she was happy to see that she wasn’t the only one breathing hard. “How’s that for a distraction?”

  “Um . . . wow?”

  He laughed, and Alex looked up from the floor just long enough to smile. Had he been watching?

  “Knock-knock,” someone called from outside the door. Next thing Tessa knew, the room was filled with people. She tried to count heads, but there were too many bodies crowded into too small a space to keep track.

  She backed up, tripped over Cade’s outstretched legs, and nearly fell into his lap again. Her hand landed on his very firm, very muscular thigh, and heat shot straight into her belly. Oh, man! She was in trouble. Really, really big trouble.

  “Careful,” he murmured, and she wasn’t sure if he was talking about her nearly falling into his lap or the lust that was probably oozing out of every one of her pores.

  He stood, tugging her to his side, his hand resting lightly on her waist. At least a dozen pairs of eyes dropped to that hand, and Tessa could almost hear the silent questions.

  She scanned the crowd, finally spotting a few familiar faces. “Reverend. Natalie,” she said. “It’s so nice of you to come check on Gertrude.”

  “It’s the least we could do,” the reverend replied. “She fell going down our stairs, after all. I feel terrible about it, Tess. Just terrible. I threw salt down before the service and scraped snow off the stairs, but I should have had someone check again before the service ended. It would have saved your aunt from a lot of pain.”

  “It was an accident. No one is to blame,” she said, trying to reassure him.

  “How is Gertrude?” Natalie asked.

  “They took her to radiology. We’ll know more once she’s out.”

  “Hopefully it’s only her leg.” Jethro worried aloud, his long, narrow face filled with concern. “I’ve arranged for all her hospital and doctor bills to be sent to me. The church insurance should cover most of the cost of her treatment. Natalie and I will cover the rest.”

  “Reverend—”

  “Jethro,” he said.

  “That isn’t necessary. Gertrude and I can take care of the medical bills and any therapy she needs.”

  “That could be a pretty penny.” Ida Cunningham eased between two rather large blue-haired ladies. “And your family has already had so many expenses, Tess. This is no time to be stubborn or proud.”

  “It’s also not the time to discuss private matters, Gran,” Cade interrupted.

  “You’re right, of course,” Ida replied, her church suit pristine, her hair perfectly in place. She smiled at Tessa. “I’m sorry, Tess. We’ve overstepped our bounds.”

  “It’s okay,” she said, and surprisingly, she meant it. There were a lot of things she didn’t like about Apple Valley. Gossips and busybodies and a nightlife about as lively as seniors at home on Saturday night, but the people cared. That was something she hadn’t realized as a kid, or something she’d ignored because she’d been too busy wishing she were somewhere else.

  “Folks!” someone called from the back of the crowd. “We can only have three people in the room at a time. You’re going to have to clear out.”

  A nurse shoved her
way through the group. Wide hipped and broad shouldered, she had silver hair scraped back from a pretty face and a frown that was scary enough to send half the crowd running. The other half trickled out one by one, murmuring good wishes and promises of prayers.

  Jethro, Natalie, and Ida walked out last, hovering in the doorway as the nurse glowered.

  “Everyone must go,” she pronounced, like a queen demanding that heads roll.

  “We’re leaving. Thank you,” Ida responded, more graciously than Tess would have.

  “Would you like us to bring Alex home with us, Tess? It might be better for him to be there,” Natalie offered, her gaze on Alex. He sat exactly where he’d been since Tess had kept him from leaving the room, his head hanging low as he studied the floor.

  “I’m afraid he’ll wander off again, and he really prefers familiar places. I’m not sure he’d be comfortable at your house.” And she wasn’t sure she’d be comfortable letting him go.

  “We can take him to your place, and we’ll watch him every minute,” Natalie offered.

  “People,” the nurse barked. “You can’t congregate here to discuss plans. Three people. That is all we allow. Three of you need to leave. Now!”

  “Okay.” Alex stood, brushing his hands up and down his coat sleeves.

  “Alex, not you.” Tess grabbed his arm before he could walk out the door.

  “Nat,” Jethro said, “why don’t you and Ida take Alex to get a little snack in the cafeteria? Tess, Cade, and I can discuss plans while you’re gone. Is that okay with you, Tessa?”

  “Sure. Just . . . keep an eye on him.”

  “We will.” Natalie smiled like she’d just won the lottery and took Alex’s hand, talking to him quietly as she and Ida headed down the hall.

  “Well, that’s better,” the nurse said. “Ms. McKenzie should be back from radiology shortly. Make sure the room is still quiet when she gets here.”

  She bustled away, and Jethro turned to Tessa with a smile. “Well, now that Nurse Ratched is gone, why don’t you tell me what you want Alex to do, Tess?”