A quick shower and I was in bed by midnight. The ceiling fan made a clicking noise as the blades turned, something I’d have to fix. I’d rented an apartment on the third floor so I could leave my windows open at night. The sounds here were foreign. No sirens, no cars passing under my window, no arguing or yelling from groups of kids out on the streets at a time when they should be tucked into their beds.
An owl somewhere nearby was asking,Hoo? Hoo? Hoo?That was pretty cool. A strong breeze rustled the needles of what I’d been told were eastern white pines. I grinned and closed my eyes, hoping I’d been successful in leaving my ghost behind, the one who’d paid me nightly visits back in Chicago.
An hour later I turned onto my stomach, put my pillow over my head, and cussed out that damned owl that wouldn’t shut up. This nature business was going to take some getting used to. Since I was determined to adjust to my new environment, I didn’t get up and close the window.
I was finally drifting off when Christine decided to pop in.I was hoping I’d left you behind.
She laughed, a sound I’d once loved hearing.Nice try, Dy. I can find you anywhere.
My therapist told me that I wasn’t going crazy having these conversations with my dead wife. That was a relief, believe me. He said when I was ready to let her go, I would stop hearing her voice in my head. I’d sure as hell hoped starting over somewhere far from our familiar haunts would do the trick. Obviously not. During the day I hardly thought of her anymore or what she’d done. Nights were a bitch, though.
She’d been a beautiful woman—ash-blonde hair, sapphire-blue eyes, and a perfect body that I’d worshipped many nights—and she’d caught my attention the first time I saw her. I’d thought she was my forever. I was sure as hell wrong on that one.
Ah, Dylan, don’t be so mean. You love me. I know you do.
I did once, but I got over you.
Did you really?
I refused to answer because I had a rule about lying to myself. I hoped I was. Prayed I was, but if she was still in my head… I squeezed my eyes tight, shutting out her sapphire-blue ones.
She didn’t show up as often as she had after everything had happened, but I hadn’t been able to put her to rest even though almost two years had passed. It was starting to piss me off. I understood it was because of how the end came, and I carried a ton of guilt that I hadn’t grasped how desperate and depressed she was. I’m a cop, trained to recognize desperation in people. My rage at what she’d done had blinded me, though, and I’d turned a deaf ear to her threats.
My therapist said I’m not responsible for the actions of others, but that’s damn easy for him to say when it wasn’t his wife who put a gun—my gun—in her mouth and pulled the trigger.
To quiet Christine’s voice, I visualized a red-haired, green-eyed, feisty bartender. That did the trick because my wife faded away, and I drifted off thinking of Red.
5
~ Jenny ~
Because I’d blockedChad’s number, it wouldn’t surprise me if he showed up since it was a Saturday and he was off. I threw on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, grabbed my straw hat, my camera, a cooler, and hightailed it out of here. It was still an hour before I was supposed to pick up Autumn, so I went ahead and made a stop at the grocery store. I knew what she liked, and by the time I was done, I figured I had about twice what we could eat.
After loading the sandwiches, cheese packages, and bottled waters into the cooler, I headed over to Autumn’s. Although I was twenty minutes early, she was ready to go.
“It’s been too long since we’ve done this,” she said as we drove onto the entrance for the Parkway.
“Well, if a certain someone wasn’t too busy planning her wedding…” I looked pointedly at her.
“Yeah, well, who knew there would be so much to do? We should have just eloped.”
I glanced at my friend. “And give up wearing that amazing wedding dress? I don’t think so.” With her honey-blonde hair, blue eyes, and the toned body she’d dieted and exercised like a fiend to achieve, she was going to be a beautiful bride.
“Too late now, I guess, since all the invitations have gone out.” She leaned over and eyed my speedometer. “You better slow down. I heard they’re cracking down on speeding on the Parkway.”
“No fun.” But I eased off the gas. The only thing I didn’t like about driving the Blue Ridge Parkway was the slow speed limit. My car was a four-year-old silver Mustang GT, and she liked to run. Okay, truth was, I liked to go fast. Probably not the best car for mountain roads with their sharp curves, not giving me much opportunity to test her limits, but I loved her. I should probably sell her before I left, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. My dad could take care of her while I was gone. Actually I think he was looking forward to getting his hands on my Mustang.
We were having unusually warm fall weather, and it looked like others had the same idea. I found a parking spot in the almost full gravel lot, locked the doors, and then we hiked down to the bottom of the falls, our totes slung over our shoulders and the cooler between us.
At the end of the easy path down, the space opened up to a large round pool of crystal-clear water. The waterfall wasn’t the biggest in the area, but it was high enough so that the falls cascaded over the rocks and boulders, noisily crashing when it reached the bottom.
People had claimed their spots with coolers and towels. Some were playing in the pool—which I knew from experience was icy cold—while others were basking in the sun. We spied a flat boulder with no one nearby and headed for it.
“I can’t believe how warm it is for October,” Autumn said as we spread out our towels.
“Yeah, we’re going to have a late leaf turning this year.” The sun was warm on my face, but the cool water flowing around our rock kept me from overheating.
For a few minutes we talked about Autumn and Brian’s wedding and what things she had left to do. She was getting married the second Saturday in December, and that would be here before we knew it.
