“We’re police officers, not housekeepers,” the last officer said, closing the door behind him.
Alexandra shot Mr. Tallow a pointed look. “We’ll be in my room while you gather Ines’s things.”
“I didn’t mean to say—”
Alexandra cut him off. “I’m sorry, but youdidmean to say it. Ines was brilliant and quick on the uptake. She told me we had that in common, so I know you meant it. I’ll leave you to it.”
I admired her so much. My temper boiled and there was no way I’d have stayed half as calm as she had. It took a special kind of grit to stand up to a close friend’s father, and she did it with cool patience.
It took us the better part of an hour to get her room back to normal after the search. Mr. and Mrs. Tallow wandered in and out of the apartment, first taking boxes, and then taking four large trash bags of items out to their car. Every time they passed by, tears slid down Alexandra’s face. She tried to hide it from me, but I was hyper-focused on her.
I moved to close the door. She rushed to my side, grabbed my wrist, and silently shook her head.
That didn’t make sense to me, but she pulled me back to the bed and we sat down.
“It’s strange, but I’d rather know when they’re done. If you close the door, I’m not going to know,” she whispered.
I nodded, and realized it would be better if I kept count of how many trips they made. The cops didn’t specify that we couldn’t remove anything from the apartment, but the Tallows taking so many items right after an official search could be misconstrued.
Mrs. Tallow came to Alexandra’s door. “We’re finished.”
Alexandra hurried to the door. “Are you sure?”
Mrs. Tallow nodded.
Lex grabbed her hand. “I mean, if you need anything else, I’m more than happy to get it to you.”
With a very wan smile, Mrs. Tallow shook her head. “No, but thank you. We took all her clothing and the items from her desk and nightstand.” She paused for a deep breath that hitched.
Alexandra’s breathing stuttered, and I fought against pulling her into my arms.
Mrs. Tallow squared her shoulders. “We’re waiting on a mover to call us back, but tomorrow or the next day, there will be someone coming for the furniture. The landlord knows, so if you aren’t here, he’ll let them in. I hated the idea of blindsiding you.”
Alexandra pulled in a deep breath through her nose, blinked, and two large tears traced a path down her cheeks.
“Thanks for the heads-up,” I said, edging in close to Alexandra’s back.
Mrs. Tallow nodded at me, then looked at Lex. “I… there’s no easy way to say this, but we decided against any sort of services. I wish the circumstances were different, Alexandra.”
I hadn’t realized she still held Mrs. Tallow’s hand until Lex squeezed it again. “Thank you for letting me know. I’m incredibly sorry for your loss.”
Tears filmed over Mrs. Tallow’s eyes, but didn’t fall over. She gave Lex’s hand a squeeze, nodded, and left.
I hustled us both to Alexandra’s bed, shifted her around to face me, and settled in the bed so she was on top of me. “Let it out, baby.”
She cried, but she seemed to cut it short like last week.
I stroked her back. “We all process shit differently, but are you holding back on me?”
She lifted her head, her brows furrowed. “No. Not really. We should probably lock the door.”
“I’ll handle that,” I said, rolling us both gently to the side.
Saturday morning, Lex and I were doctoring our coffee. Her stomach growled and her eyes filled with embarrassment. “Sorry, I’m getting hungry. Not sure if I have any food worth eating in the fridge. We can go somewhere and grab breakfast. I’m glad we hit the bookstore yesterday instead of the supermarket.”
“Why?”
Her lips quirked with skepticism. “After yesterday, I have a feeling I’ll need a free schedule today.”
