He thought about that for a moment before he spoke. When he finally did, his tone was soft and caring. That hit me with all the feels, and I realized the magnitude of what he was going through. Brian was dead. His family, his friends, his life, it was all gone for him. Sure, he could see them, but instead of participating in their lives, he only watched as it played out before him. I couldn’t imagine the pain he felt.
“I think you need to do this alone. I don’t know how she’ll react, and I don’t want her to feel any additional pressure.”
I nodded. “The wake is tomorrow. What do you suggest I do?”
“Talk to her tonight.”
I checked the time on my phone. “It’s getting late.”
“Lou’s can get you a to-go box.”
I sighed. “What’s the address?”
* * *
Tim offered to take Mel back to the hotel after they finished eating the pizza I so desperately wanted. He promised to fill her in on our high school and college lives, and I knew Mel would have a field day. I, however, would not because I’d never hear the end of it for sure.
I headed to Brian’s, passing by my youth along the way. Things I’d grown to love, to recall in memories, were gone, replaced with new things for others to enjoy and remember in memories.
I drove by Buffalo Grove High School, which hadn’t changed much on the outside other than the big brick and blue electronic sign. A faint memory nudged at me, and I smiled as I repeated the words from my favorite vice principal, Mr. Schnell. “And remember to get out there and baaaack those bison!”
Ah, the good old days. I made a quick left turn onto Dundee Road and headed into the side entrance to the school parking lot. The rows of Chevy Citations used for driver’s education back in the day were long gone, and I said a quick thank you to Mr. Schnell for standing up for me when I’d had a minor mishap with one of those vehicles.
I shuddered at that memory. I sure hoped they gave up teaching driver’s education with the left foot on the brake. That never worked for me, which was evident from the dent I’d left in one of those parked Citations.
Whoops.
The back of the school hadn’t changed much, at least not that I could recall, but the football field had a bit. In particular, they’d given it a name, though I couldn’t say if it had one when I’d gone there many, many years ago. The school installed a large brick entrance into Grant Blaney Stadium, with the title posted across the top. Just seeing that made my heart happy. Coach Blaney was the football couch everyone loved, and he’d taken the team to the state championships for the win when I was a student, around the same time the Bears won the Super Bowl. My heart and head flooded with memories of nights on those bleachers backing those bison right next to Brian.
I pulled out of the lot and noticed the old 7-Eleven was a Dunkin Donuts instead. I wondered if they had the Slurpee’s like the convenience store. I pressed the button on my Sirius radio for the 80s station and smiled at the timing. “I’ll Melt with You” by Modern English had just started. More memories flooded my brain as I hummed along.
“I think I put this on a mixtape for you.”
“You did. I still have it somewhere in storage, too.”
Brian smiled as he hovered in the seat next to me. “We had some good times.”
“That we did.”
“It’s funny, I don’t remember them well, but I remember knowing they were good, and that I really cared for you.”
I tilted my head toward him. “You just cared for me? Gee, and here I was all these years thinking you were my first love.”
“That’s what I mean. It was just so long ago.”
“Yes, it was. You were a good boyfriend, though. You should know that.”
“I do.” He smiled his cocky, high school boy smile.
“Some things never change.”
He laughed.
I’d put his address into my GPS, but he gave me directions anyway, taking me by a few places from our high school years. We passed the church where Sue planned his mass. Brian quieted as we went by.
“I know it’s hard.”
“I’m not sure that’s the right word. I just didn’t think this was how it would end for me, and I didn’t think it would be this soon.”
“I understand.”
He shrugged. “I don’t really know what I thought would happen though. I don’t think I ever really thought about it in detail. I’m only fifty-one. I’ve got time. Or I thought I did.”
“I think everyone thinks like that.”
He stayed quiet the rest of the short drive.
Brian lived in an older part of Arlington Heights, the town adjacent to Buffalo Grove on its south end, where many of the homes had either been torn down and replaced or redone and enlarged. The houses weren’t cheap back in the 80s, and I suspected they still bordered on the high end of expensive. I parked on the side of the street and stared at the home.
“We had it redone a few years ago. Sue did the plans herself.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“We argued about the color. I wanted the creamy white, but she wanted a soft gray. I pushed hard, and she gave in.” He dipped his head and nodded. “Seems so trivial now.”
My heart hurt for him. “She’ll think of you when she sees it now. It’ll bring her peace.”
“I hope so.”
I white-knuckled the steering wheel, preparing for the worst. “Well, no sense in putting this off any longer, huh?”
I shut off the ignition and climbed out of the car. I shook my arms and did a quick but relaxing breathing exercise hoping that would help keep me calm. I didn’t struggle with giving messages from the dead anymore. I’d long ago stopped that emotional nonsense, but the history with Brian made this one unique in its own way, and frankly, it stressed me out. I didn’t want to blow it for him, and I certainly didn’t want to upset her any more than she already was.
I ambled to the front door, noting the quaint wrap around front porch and old-fashioned style. I didn’t know much about home design, but just from looking at theirs, I knew Sue had a gift, or at least the same taste as me.
We all had our own unique gifts, that was for sure.
I rang the doorbell and waited. When I heard soft steps heading toward the door, I stepped back. The light flipped on, and the door opened.
“Oh.”
Brian snorted. “That’s a lot better than I thought you’d get.”
I bit my lip. “Hi. I’m—”
“I know who you are. We met at the reunion, remember?”
I nodded. “I’m sorry to just show up like this, but I—”
She stepped outside and closed the door behind her. She crossed her arms over her chest and stood rigid, her eyes steadied on mine, and her voice cold as ice. “I appreciate you coming here, but this is highly inappropriate. My husband just died.”
I took in a deep breath and held it, hoping Brian would offer some kind of suggestion on what to do, on how to handle his grieving wife, but he didn’t. “I know, and I’m sorry, but I believe it’s important.”
She dipped her head back and sighed. When she made eye contact, I saw the sadness and the pain in her face. Her puffy eyes and red nose were dead giveaways, no pun intended, but her paleness spoke volumes. She moved toward the side of the porch and sat in a wicker chair. “Sit.”
Sue wasn’t overly friendly, but I cut her a break, given her circumstances. I doubt I would have handled someone like me with such strength. “Thank you.”
“Did you really help solve those murders?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
I steadied myself for a quick but detailed explanation. I didn’t want to overwhelm her or make her think I wasn’t the real thing. “Some people have strong intuition. Others have a feeling about what’s going to happen, and some, like me, can see those of us who’re stuck between life and death.”
“You believe in that?”
“I didn’t think much about it
either way I guess, not before my mother died I mean. After she passed, I was forced to see things differently.”
“Oh.”
“I have a message from Brian, and I’ll be honest, this is extremely uncomfortable for me. I cannot imagine how it must be for you.”
She smiled a bit. “It’s pretty uncomfortable.”
“And weird, right? It’s bizarre.”
“Very bizarre.”
Brian laughed.
“How can I be sure you’re not just making this up?” Her tone was less rude and more apprehensive.
“For starters, he knows you found me on the internet.”
She blinked. “Did he tell you that?”
I nodded.
Her eyes searched the dimly lit porch. “Is he here?”
I nodded again. “He can hear you.”
A single tear fell down her cheek, but she didn’t wipe it away. “Oh.”
“Please, tell her to get the handles from the boat. Bradley can’t have access to them.”
“What’s he going to do, get up in the middle of the night and go for a solitary boat ride and ski at the same time?”
“What?” she asked.
It’s Brian. He’s worried about your son. He’s scared Bradley’s going to be hurt.”
She shook her head. “What?” She held her hand to her mouth. “How? Does he know?”
“He doesn’t know for sure, but he’s concerned.”
“Does he know what happened to him, how he died?”
“Tell her I know the handle flew up and hit me. That’s all she needs to know for now.”
I repeated what he’d said.
“Yes, it hit him in the neck. They don’t think he felt it.”
“I don’t think I did.”
“He didn’t.”
She cried. “I saw it happen. I knew something was wrong right away. Bradley, he saw it, too. I don’t know if we’ll ever get that image out of our heads.”
“You will, eventually.” I wasn’t sure that was true. I still hadn’t lost the image of my father dying, and I wasn’t even there was it happened.
“Why is he worried about Bradley? I don’t understand.”
“Bradley gets angry and does things. He doesn’t think first. I don’t want him trying to ski and something happening to him, too.”
“He’s concerned he’ll do something careless because he’s in pain.”
She dropped her head into the palms of her hands. “That sounds like Bradley. I can’t believe this is happening.”
I breathed out of my nose. “You can. I know it’s hard, but you can.”
“I don’t understand any of this.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. Brian just needs you to keep an eye on your son. I know it’s hard right now, but he’s worried about him.”
“He wants Dan to take him out tomorrow morning. He wants to ski. Said it will make him feel closer to his dad.”
“No.” Brian’s face showed complete panic. “You can’t let him go. Sue, please.”
“He doesn’t want him to go. He’s saying it’s important.”
“I…I guess I can call Dan.”
“No, she can’t do that either. We’ll take care of it. Just tell her to say something convincing to get Bradley to stay home.”
I let her know what he wanted, but Brian rushed me out of there so fast I didn’t have time to make sure she truly understood.
“Brad’s not going to listen to her, not when he’s upset. We have to go to the boat. We need those handles.”
“Um, how do you expect to do that?”
“I’ll get you in. I can’t let anything happen to my son.”
* * *
“Awesome, I love boats.”
“We’re not doing this for fun.”
Mel golf clapped. “I know, that’s what makes it awesome.” She skipped to the hotel room’s bathroom and then bolted back out again. “Oh, I have the perfect outfit for this, too. And, I brought something for you.”
I didn’t want to know, but I knew that didn’t matter. She tugged a black sweatshirt from her bag and tossed it to me. “I brought it in case we had to do something fun. Hey, skunks don’t like water, do they?”
“You’re funny.”
“Just checking.”
When Mel discovered her ex-husband was having an affair, she was on a mission to validate her questions by following him and the woman. As her best friend, I went along, and one night when we’d gone to where the woman lived it was too dark for my old eyes, and I ended up the victim of a skunk spray.
Just thinking about it brought the smell forefront in my nasal passages.
“Here.” She threw a pair of black leggings at my head. “These too.”
“It’s sixty degrees out. I’ll melt in this stuff.”
“But you’ll sleep in a nice hotel room and not the city jail.”
“There is that.” I stepped out of my clothes and into hers.
Mel seductively removed her top, revealing a black work out bra as she pulled the top slowly over her head. She shook her hips back and forth.
“He’s not here.”
She yanked the top off the rest of the way. “Oh. That’s too bad. I thought it was funny.”
“You’re a dork.”
“Hey, he can view the merchandise. He just can’t buy it.”
“I’m sure Aaron would be thrilled to hear you say that.”
“You kidding? If there was a hot girl ghost standing around and he knew it, he’d probably take it all off for her, too.”
I laughed. “My mother would pay to see that in a heartbeat, so don’t give her any ideas.”
“Oh, I’m so going to make him do that.”
“Good grief.”
* * *
Brian floated near my car. “Matching outfits. Cute.”
“Shut up.”
“What’d he say?” Mel asked.
“He said these outfits are stupid.”
“Hey, that’s not what I said.”
“He so did not say that.”
“How would you know?”
“Because no adult man says stupid.”
“She’s right.”
“Shut it.”
“Who?” they both asked.
“Both of you.”
We got into the car. “Where am I going exactly?”
“Fox Lake.”
Fox Lake was one of the Chain O’Lakes, a group of lakes connected by the Fox River, and while I’d spent a lot of time on several of the lakes when I was young, I hadn’t been there in forever, and I couldn’t exactly say how to get to any of them. “Fox. Okay.” I typed it into my GPS and hit start.
“I’m so excited. We get to go on an adventure. We haven’t done that in forever.”
“And I thank God for that daily.” My head throbbed, a definite sign we were getting in over our heads.
“So, what’s the plan? We break in, grab the goods, and go?”
Brian nodded. “Tell her, yes.”
“No.”
“Then what’s the plan?” Mel asked.
I’d meant that for Brian, but my answer worked for both of them.
I followed the directions on my GPS as I cleared the air. “We’re going to see if we can get inside the boat or into wherever the handles are stored, and if we can’t, we’ll figure out what to do next, but we are not breaking into anyone’s boat.”
“There she goes, being a fuddy dud again,” Ma said. She’d shimmered into the backseat with Brian.
“Mrs. Richter, nice to see you,” Brian said.
Ma liked Brian back in the day. “You too. Sorry, you croaked.”
“Yeah, me, too.”
I shook my head. “Ma, I told you not to come here.”
“I’m not going to let my kid break into a boat without me. You think I’m nuts, missing out on all the fun?”
“We’re not going to break into a boat.”
She elbowed Brian, but her arm went right through him. I
caught a glimpse of it in my rearview mirror. “Oh, sorry about that. I forgot you’re a newbie.”
I rolled my eyes. Mel wanted to know what was going on, so I said it was my mother just being her typical self.
She flipped on the 80s station on my satellite radio and laughed when Madonna’s voice bellowed from the speakers. She sang along as she bopped up and down in the seat.
Ma groaned. “I never liked that girl’s voice. Too whiny for me, like a teenager.”
I played translator, for lack of a better term, and repeated what she’d said so Mel could know, too.
“Definitely not like a virgin,” Mel said, laughing as she did.
“I see what you did there,” I said. I shook my head.
“What? It was funny and on the mark.”
“If you say so.”
She rotated and smiled toward the backseat. “Was she always this stuffy?”
Both Brian and my mother said yes.
“They said no,” I lied.
We arrived at the marina to a gated and locked entrance without a soul around.
“Well, looks like we’re not getting in,” I said. I shifted into reverse and backed away from the gate.
Brian pointed behind him. “There’s a small offsite parking area up on the right after you exit the marina. You can park there, and we’ll cut through the small woods behind it.”
I wasn’t thrilled with any of that, not a single bit. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” I considered the area with a careful eye. There wasn’t a streetlight or house light in sight, and no entrance, or path, or anything I could make out near the woods. “No, I’m sure it’s not a good idea.”
“It’ll be fine,” Mel said.
“Don’t be a scaredy cat,” Ma said.
“I can guide you. I’ve had to park here before,” Brian said.
“There’s no path and a lot of natural growth.”
“There’s a path, you just can’t see it.”
“Because it’s pitch black out.”
Mel sighed. “Come on. We’re here to help this guy. Let’s just do it.”
She was right, and every time she was, it annoyed me. “Fine.” I shut off the car and stuffed the key fob into the pocket of my jeans, thankful for the black attire she’d brought.
Ma and Brian floated ahead of us. “There are a few spots where you’ll have to watch yourself, but mostly it’s just shrubs.”
The Favor Page 4
