Chasing Manhattan

by John Gray

  “You go first, just you,” she said to Gavin. He pulled out seven new letters: D, M, P, E, E, C, O.

  Chase then grabbed a handful of tiles from the cloth sack and placed them down on her wooden rack: A, P, E, L, Y, B, L. If you took out the Y and P you had BELLA. Again.

  More silence as Chase stared at the name, trying to convince herself this was just an incredible coincidence.

  Finally she said, “It’s a fluke. Just a fluke. That’s all it is.”

  Gavin was the one who looked wonderstruck now, not saying a word.

  With that she grabbed up the letters in her fist are threw them back into the bag aggressively.

  “Are we done?” Gavin asked. Chase didn’t answer. Instead, she began to shake up the tiles again, this time for a good twenty seconds. Her shaking of the small bag got even more aggressive, bordering on angry, as she shook and shook some more.

  When it didn’t look as if she’d ever stop, Gavin put his hand over hers and said, “I think you got it, hon.” His voice sounded a bit concerned now.

  Then she handed the bag back to Gavin, saying, “Shake it more.”

  Gavin was starting to think this was silly, saying, “I’m sure they’re mixed up enough …”

  “Shake it!” she said, more insistently.

  Gavin did as instructed, then tentatively handed the bag back to Chase. She looked at Scooter, who was still watching silently, then met Gavin’s gaze, as she, very slowly, pulled just five letters out this time. One by one, she placed the five she picked, face down on the floor so she could not see the letters. They both stared at the five blank tiles, wondering what might be hiding on the other side. There are exactly 100 tiles in a normal Scrabble game; they had 99. The odds of pulling out the precise five you want had to be a million to one, maybe more. She knew it and Gavin certainly knew it.

  With that Chase smiled and said, “Oh, to heck with it. I have to know.” She then turned over the five tiles and the letters were, in exact order, B E L L A.

  Chase jumped back as if she were ten years old, playing with a Ouija board, and the game just said “Hello.”

  She wasn’t sure if she should be scared or excited, only saying, “What the … Gavin.”

  Chase began pacing around the room in a circle, trying to make sense of what was happening. The church windows back in Manchester were something only she could see, but this, what in God’s name was this?

  Gavin didn’t seem upset. He just sat on the floor and stared as if he were solving a puzzle. He took his right index finger and rubbed the letters one by one, spelling out the name. He then looked up at Chase and said, “We’re asking the wrong question.”

  Chase shot back a look and raised her voice: “WHAT?”

  Gavin then replied, “We’re both asking what is going on. But that’s not the right question.”

  Chase leaned in with a look that said, So, what is the right question?

  Then Gavin gave it to her: “Who is Bella?

  Chase sat back down on the floor, grabbing Scooter and pulling him close as if she needed a hug at the moment. “I, um, I …” She stared at the letters. “I have no clue.”

  Gavin stood up, now asking more questions quickly. “Think. Childhood friend? Someone from college? Someone you met in New York City?”

  Chase thought as hard as she could. “I don’t know anyone by that name.”

  Gavin then very methodically picked up the letters and place them back in the bag, put the bag and board back in the box, and led Chase by the hand, out of the room.

  “Where are we going? she asked.

  Gavin didn’t answer, instead taking Chase into the kitchen, where he silently opened a bottle of Merlot that was resting on a small wrought iron rack on the granite countertop.

  He poured two healthy glasses and began, “Let me say this first, because I know we’re both thinking it. What happened in Vermont, might be happening here.”

  Chase took a sip of her wine and said, “But that was church windows; this is a silly game.”

  Gavin paced the kitchen now like a detective piecing a crime together. “True, but Manchester started with Scooter barking at windows. Here, he barks at those board games and then literally pulls down the one we just played.”

  Chase followed along said, “Right, but still …”

  Gavin continued. “Then you get the same letters four times. All the same name. FOUR TIMES, Chase?”

  Chase thought a moment, then said, “So let’s say you’re right, this, whatever it is, IS happening again. I don’t know a Bella, so what am I supposed to do with this … information?”

  Gavin took his seat again. “That I don’t know. But I don’t think you can ignore it.”

  Chase squeezed his strong hand, and they both sat quietly, sipping their wine.

  That’s when a thought came to Gavin. “Can I ask, what were you doing or thinking about right before Scooter started up with the barking?”

  Chase thought a moment, trying to dial back her memory, then said, “I watched you dance, BADLY, I might add, around the kitchen while you made us dinner. We went to the library to look at books, the roses came, I placed one on the rock wall, and then he started barking.”

  Gavin paused, then asked, “Right, but were you thinking about anything in particular?”

  Chase took another drink of her wine and said, “Not really. I mean, I was wondering why we’re putting roses on rock walls, and about …” She paused then, her face changing as if something had just occurred to her.

  “What?” Gavin asked.

  Chase replied, “Charlie, that little girl we met. I’ve been thinking about her since we met her and wondering how I can help her.”

  Gavin saw her wine glass was nearly empty, so he poured her more, topping off his as well.

  “Maybe that’s it. Maybe that’s what this is about.” Gavin said in a supportive tone.

  Chase looked at the wine in her glass and thought quietly a moment. Then she said, “So if I want to help Charlie, I keep my eye out for someone named Bella?”

  Scooter walked into the kitchen now and sat between them. Gavin reached down to pet him and said, “I think so. Maybe. I don’t know.”

  Gavin snapped his fingers then. “You said she had no friends at school. Maybe there’s a girl named Bella who is going to be Charlie’s friend and she just needs to meet her.”

  Chase nodded, but then observed, “But what does that have to do with me? Why tell me? I have nothing to do with her school.”

  Gavin shrugged his shoulders, realizing Chase had made a good point.

  As the two of them sat, trying to sort this out in their minds, Chase’s phone rang. It was a number she didn’t recognize.

  “Probably spam,” Gavin said.

  Chase was about to reject the call when she noticed it was a 212 area code, New York City.

  She hit the green button to answer and put it on speaker.

  “Hello, Chase, are you there?” It sounded like an older woman, her voice shaky and thin.

  “This is Chase, can I help you?” she replied.

  Then, “Chase, this is Delores Wainright. We met at the Fur-Ever Java, the café.”

  Chase lit up now. “Oh, yes, hello, Ms. Wainright.”

  There was a smile now, returning in the voice over the phone. “You can call me Delores. I’m calling, Chase, because, well, do you remember that purple ribbon you put around Penelope’s neck, the rescue puppy?”

  Chase looked at Gavin with joy in her eyes. “Yes, of course.”

  Delores replied, “Well, I’m taking the ribbon off and replacing it with a Chanel collar. Tomorrow.”

  Chase replied, “So what you’re telling me is, you are …?”

  Delores, “Yes, Chase. I’m adopting her. She’s my Christmas tree.”

  Chase stood up, holding the phone. “Oh, that’s wonderful. I’m so happy for both of you, Ms., I mean, Delores.”

  Delores replied, “The woman from the shelter is bringing me the paperw
ork right to the café tomorrow at noon. I’d love to see you.”

  Chase thought a moment and said, “I’m flattered, Delores, but I’m about an hour outside the city now, and I have my hands pretty full here.”

  Delores pleaded, “Chase? This puppy changed my life, and that only happened because of you. Please come.”

  Gavin shot Chase a look that said, Babe, you gotta go! to which Chase nodded yes and said, “I wouldn’t miss it for the world, Delores. I’ll see you at noon.”

  After a long hug ended their long day, Gavin made the short drive to his friend’s home, promising to be back first thing in the morning.

  A strong north wind shook the tree outside the bedroom where Chase turned in for the night, causing a lone branch to reach out and tap the glass on the tightly closed window. It was surprisingly loud and distracting. Still, all that scratching wasn’t the reason Chase lay awake for hours. You could thank a board game and five letters for her sleepless night. As she stared at the ceiling of Briarcliff Manor, Chase could hear Scooter at the bottom of the bed snoring away. And why not? His work, at least for now, was done.

  CHAPTER 16

  The Missing “B”

  Sound traveled far in Chase’s new home. She learned this when she was awoken by a loud knocking on the front door downstairs.

  “Coming,” she shouted to this unseen alarm clock.

  After bouncing down the stairs she put her hand on the doorknob and realized it wasn’t wise to just open it blindly, so she called out, “Who is it?”

  A woman’s voice she didn’t recognize said something back, but the door was so thick it muffled the sound, and Chase couldn’t make it out.

  She opened the door just a crack to find an older woman standing there holding a small metal carrier with two quarts of milk in glass bottles and a dozen eggs.

  “Welcome to the neighborhood,” the woman said with a smile.

  She was wearing a simple blue house dress with a floral pattern and a white bow that tied in the front. Chase was still half asleep, but as she opened the door, she remembered well what had happened the night before while she was playing Scrabble and said without thinking, “If you tell me your name is Bella I may jump out of my shoes.”

  The woman had a kind face and appeared to be in her sixties. Looking down at Chase’s feet, she said, “But you’re not wearing shoes, dear.”

  Chase glanced down and realized she was barefoot.

  Before she could respond, the woman handed her the milk and eggs and said, “I’m from Miller’s Market, just around the bend. We work with a local farm and deliver items to homes in Briarcliff. The previous owner had us come by once a week, and I wasn’t sure if you needed anything, but I thought, Helen, why not just bring something over and say hello. My treat.”

  Chase rubbed the sleep from her eyes and said, “I caught about half of that. But … your name is Helen, not Bella?”

  Helen replied, “Nope. Helen. Who is Bella?”

  Chase pointed at the delivery woman in the pretty dress and said, “That’s the million-dollar question, Helen.”

  Chase then turned her head and said, “I wonder if Gavin is here yet? And where’s Scooter?”

  Helen replied, “If those names belong to a good-looking man and a cute dog, I think they’re around back. I saw them when I came up the drive. This old bird still has twenty-twenty vision.”

  Chase was feeling more awake now, and said, “Thank you, Helen, for the four-one-one on my boyfriend, and the dairy.”

  Helen smiled and played along, replying, “Ten-four, good buddy.”

  Chase closed the door and was walking toward the back of the house when Gavin met her halfway with Scooter at his side. He looked adorable, wearing black sweatpants and a long sleeve white t-shirt.

  “How long you been here, babe?” Chase asked, giving him a soft peck on the lips.

  “’Bout an hour or so. I was out back looking at nothing,” he answered.

  Chase scratched her scalp, trying to wake up, and asked, “Looking at nothing, what does that mean?”

  Gavin turned and pointed toward the back of the mansion and said, “I mean nothing, as in the rock wall where you left that yellow rose last night is empty. The rose is gone.”

  Chase’s eyes went wider. “You’re kidding me?”

  “Would I kid you? Well, maybe I would, but not about this. It’s gone.”

  Chase believed Gavin, but still she walked into the kitchen and looked out the window toward the wall to see for herself. She turned back to him and said, “So, board games that talk to us and flowers that vanish. Fantastic. You know, when I told you at Spark’s restaurant in Manhattan I was ready for a new adventure, I didn’t mean this.”

  Gavin hugged her now. “I hear ya, but as you saw in Manchester, sometimes you don’t get to choose the mischief this world brings you.”

  “Who was the lady at the front door?” Gavin wondered.

  “Free milk and eggs,” Chase replied. Seeing Gavin’s confused look, she added, “Don’t ask me, they’re just friendly folks around here, I guess.”

  Chase then observed, “How did you let Scooter out?”

  Gavin pointed, “Back door was unlocked. I didn’t think you’d mind, and I didn’t want to wake you.”

  Just then Chase’s phone, which was charging on the marble island in the kitchen, buzzed, indicating it had a text. Chase picked it up and said one word, “Matthew.”

  Gavin replied, “Your driver? What’s up with him?”

  Chase said, “He’s on his way. I’ve only been out of the city two days and he’s feeling neglected, and so I told him he could drive us into Manhattan today.”

  Gavin thought a moment and then said, “Oh that’s right, the nice lady is adopting that dog. You want me to come with you?”

  Chase hugged him again and said, “I’d love the company. Maybe we can walk in Central Park afterward. Looks like a nice day.”

  Gavin then replied, a bit sarcastically, “Yeah, maybe we can call out the name BELLA and see if anyone answers.”

  The two of them ate, and Chase then showered and dressed, making sure to be ready by 11 a.m. for Matthew’s pick-up. Chase wanted to show Matthew her new place, but she didn’t want to miss Delores getting her puppy, so they hopped in the backseat of his shiny BMW and away they went.

  They made it to the café in 53 minutes flat, perfect timing to grab another cup of coffee and watch the official adoption. As Gavin pushed open the café’s front door, they both heard, “Shingles. I’m pretty sure it’s shingles.”

  It was Deb, her short red hair spiked up in all directions, ignoring the customers standing at the counter and talking to her open laptop computer again.

  Raylan came out of the kitchen with some clean cups on a tray and said, “I thought you got the shingles shot. And flu shot and pneumonia, and about a dozen others earlier this year.”

  Deb considered what he said and replied, “You know, I think you’re right.”

  Chase noticed Bonnie, the woman from the book club, was sitting at a table by herself, pretending to read some novel. Chase knew she was pretending because she saw how often she looked up from the book to watch Raylan doing his chores. Interesting, Chase thought to herself.

  Gavin, who loved to tease Deb, couldn’t resist yelling across the café, “It could be skittles, not shingles, Deb.”

  She looked up, recognizing Chase’s boyfriend, and said, “Don’t you be messin’ with me today, Gavin.”

  He held up three fingers and said, “Scout’s honor, my uncle had them once. Look it up. It’s a real thing.”

  Deb started typing into her computer, “Skittles, you called it?”

  Gavin gave Chase a look, and she was ready to smack him for doing this again, as he continued, “Yeah, Skittles. There’s more than one type. They come in different colors.”

  Deb kept clicking with the mouse and suddenly looked up with fire in her eyes. “Skittles are a candy, you idiot.”

  As a dozen or
so customers in the café laughed out loud, Gavin responded, “Oh, wait. You might be right.”

  Deb closed the laptop hard and asked out loud, “When am I gonna stop falling for your nonsense?”

  Gavin went over and did something he’d never done before, giving Deb a big hug and said, “I hope never.”

  Deb harbored a secret crush on Gavin, like half the women in Manhattan and Vermont, and started to blush.

  Just then Oscar, the kind man who collected bottles for the poor and occasionally helped with the dogs, came in from the side door with Penelope on a leash, looking all groomed and perfect.

  “I just gave her a bath, brushed her out, and clipped her nails. Our little girl is ready for her forever home,” he announced.

  He spotted Chase and said, “Oh, hey, Chase. How are you?”

  Chase smiled and said, “Good, Oscar, I’m here for the lady of the hour. Where is she?”

  As if on cue, the door clanged open and Delores Wainright came in, wearing a brand-new beige Burberry pantsuit she’d bought special for the day, saying with joy, “There’s my girl.”

  Chase smiled and turned toward Delores, when Gavin said, “I think she’s talking to the dog, hon.”

  She was, of course, crossing the room to give Penelope a hug.

  “She’s gorgeous. Oscar, let me give you a tip?” Delores said.

  Oscar backed away, and replied, “No ma’am. No tips. I was happy to do it.”

  Delores, Chase, and Gavin all took a seat at the same table in the center of the café, waiting for the woman from the shelter to arrive and give the paperwork to Delores.

  Raylan told Deb to take a short break, as Oscar crossed the room to take the café’s other shelter dog, Ella, out for her walk. He realized she was curled up in a ball, leaning against the wall, sound asleep.

  “I guess I’ll let her finish her nap,” Oscar said, as he picked up a magazine someone had left on one of the tables and started thumbing through it.

  Just then a young woman with curly hair, big hoop earrings, and a pink dress bounced into the café with a small brown envelope in her hand, scanned the room and asked, “Is Delores here?”

  Delores raised her hand and said, “Right here. You must be Crystal, from the shelter?”