Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 81831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
“That’s okay,” I say, torn between joy and fear that this still won’t be enough. Love can be mutual and real and still logistically impossible. But I’m not ready to give up on us yet, not by a long shot. “We’ll talk it through. Get creative. Be willing to make compromises. If we want to make this work badly enough, we’ll find a way. We’re both smart people. Especially you.”
She huffs out a soft laugh. “Yeah? I don’t feel very smart lately. I feel like I’m running on empty, and the brain fog is real.”
“Then we’ll have a lazy day.” I hug her closer, my heart aching with happiness when she lets me. “Hell, a lazy weekend. We’ll just watch movies and eat and play in the snow with Chase and get rested up for the road ahead.”
She winces. “He won’t be able to sled now that the sledding hill is a crime scene.”
“There are other hills, better ones. I have a secret sledding spot not far from Gram’s house. Nora and I would go there all the time when we were kids. We could take Chase there to sled instead.”
“I want to go there, Mama,” a sleepy voice says from the door to the bedroom. “And I want to sled with Awin.”
I turn to smile at him. “Aw, I would love to, bud. But I’ll have to take a rain check. Guys with messed up shoulders can’t sled. But I can cheer you on and stick carrot noses in all the snowmen. We should make at least four or five.” I glance toward Mel before adding in a stage whisper, “The more carrots we use up, the fewer we have to eat.”
Chase toddles across the room, his stuffed rabbit under one arm. “I wike cawwots, but not as much as sausage.”
Mel returns to the stove. “Then good news for you—the sausage is almost done. How about toast? Do you want one piece or two?”
Chase pulls in a breath, but he’s interrupted by a knock at the door. His eyes widen. “Who’s that, Mama?”
“That’s the police,” she says with a smile as she guides the skillet to a cool burner. “They need to check something out in the backyard. But it’s nothing to worry about. Have some strawberries with Aaron, and I’ll be right back to finish up breakfast.”
“Okay.” Chase takes my hand, holding tight to two fingers as Mel grabs her coat and steps out onto the front porch. When she’s gone, he looks up at me with calm eyes and asks, “It’s about the little girl, isn’t it? They’re going to get the bad guy who was mean to her?”
Catching chills for the hundredth time, I nod. “Yeah, I think so.”
“Good,” Chase says with a smile. “Then she’ll be happy and can rest.” He yawns. “Can I watch Sesame Street while I have my strawbabies?”
“You sure can,” I say, looking forward to the creep-banishing power of children’s television. I get Chase set up on the floor in front of the TV with Elmo, Big Bird, and a bowl of berries. Mel returns about twenty minutes later and we finish cooking breakfast like it’s just another day and there aren’t cops unearthing a body behind our house.
The rest of the morning passes in a similar blend of peace and chaos. More police show up, then an ambulance, then even more cops in plain clothes and a man Melissa tells me is the new medical examiner. But inside, it’s all food and toys and giggles as we pull up another of Chase’s favorite movies—Toy Story 2—and watch it under the covers on the couch.
By noon, the police have departed, leaving crime scene tape around the now-empty hole under the apple tree and the house is…emptier than it was before.
“Is it just me or do you think the G-H-O-S-T is…” Mel makes a flitting motion with her hand toward the ceiling.
I nod. “I think so. Getting the peace she deserves, I hope.”
“She is,” Chase says, making Mel and I both shift our gazes sharply between us, where he’s snuggled up with his bunny. “She said goodbye while I was coming back from the potty. She went to be with her mommy.”
Mel hugs him closer, kissing his cheek. “That’s great news, and I have even better news. I think it’s time to go sledding.”
“Yay!” Chase squirms out from under the covers and hops off the couch. “Come on, Awin, let’s go!”
“Just let me get my sweater on.” I stand as he runs toward the bedroom.
“You need your snowsuit,” Mel calls after him. She rises beside me, adding in a voice for my ears only, “Maybe we can stay here, at least another night or two. It doesn’t feel weird anymore.”
Gazing down into her face, I shake my head. “No, it doesn’t. Not weird at all.”