A former school bookkeeper in town, Audrey was matter-of-fact. “What can go wrong? If a few of them end up looking more like pigs than badgers, there’s no harm. But they won’t. We have some brilliant crafty types here.”
Felicity was both pleased and relieved to leave the project in Audrey’s capable hands.
The badgers settled, she returned home, enjoying the cooler, dryer air as she grabbed a bottle of wine and went out to the deck, taking one last look at Gabe’s puppy video.
* * *
In the morning, Felicity drove into Amherst for supplies for her badger seamstresses. Although not that far from Knights Bridge, the busy, upscale college town and her smaller, quieter hometown were in many ways a world apart. She dropped the supplies off at Audrey Frost’s apartment at Rivendell. “Don’t you worry about a thing,” Audrey said. “We have hundreds of years of sewing experience in this place. Go on, now. Leave the Badgers of Middle Branch to us.”
Felicity headed out, relieved that Audrey was in charge of the badgers. She made a detour to Carriage Hill on her way home. Jessica and Olivia were sitting in chairs outside on the terrace and were comparing their experiences with morning sickness. They reiterated their confidence in their grandmother and her abilities to sew and organize the making of the badgers. “Grace has arthritis in her hands and can’t hand-sew,” Olivia added, referring to Dylan’s grandmother. “But she’s game to do whatever she can. They’ll have a blast.”
When Felicity headed home after a quick stop at the country store in the village, she found herself restless and out of sorts. She couldn’t explain why—or maybe she didn’t want to delve into why.
She peeked into the room where Gabe had stayed and sighed. “Yeah,” she whispered. “He’s why you can’t sit still.”
She headed out to the deck, the cool, dry breeze seeming to bring with it an urge to tell Gabe about her day. This restlessness, nostalgia, loneliness—whatever it was—had to pass.
She was relieved when her phone rang, and she saw Kylie’s number on her screen. A distraction. Good. She assumed it was about the upcoming party, but Kylie started by assuring her it wasn’t about work. “Russ and I are heading to Smith’s for a quick bite,” she said. “Join us?”
Felicity seized the chance to get out with friends. “I’d love to. I’ll be ready.”
Fifteen minutes later, they picked her up. As they drove along the river into the village, Felicity sensed herself beginning to relax, feeling more at ease in Knights Bridge now than she had growing up here. She’d made the right decision in returning. It was home.
* * *
Felicity invited Russ and Kylie in when they dropped her off at her house after a friendly, largely work-free dinner. She and Kylie had wine, but Russ stuck to water. He wanted to take a look at her “security setup.”
“I just want to do due diligence,” he said.
Felicity pointed to the doors to her deck. “I did lock them. My ‘security setup’ consists of regular locks, no alarm system, no weapons outside of the knife drawer and things like my old softball bat. I did have my badgers couple, but I gave them to Audrey Frost as prototypes.”
Russ didn’t laugh at her remark about badgers, but Kylie smiled.
“Good cell service?” Russ asked.
“Most of the time. I don’t have a panic room or anything like that, either.”
“Any windowless room where you could lock yourself against an intruder while you waited for police?”
“No, except for a closet.”
“Does it lock?”
“I never noticed. Probably not.” Felicity shook her head. “Russ, this is Knights Bridge.”
“I’d ask the same questions anywhere. It’s just an assessment. I’m not saying you need a panic room. You just need a plan. Your closest neighbor isn’t exactly within shouting distance.”
“A mile,” Felicity said. “I’m in good shape. I can run if necessary.”
“Stay close to the road if you ever do need to run. Don’t head down to the river. It’s too isolated, and if you’re caught down there—” He stopped midsentence. “Never mind. The place has decent passive security. You might consider an active alarm system.”
“Are you and Kylie installing one at your house?”
“No,” Kylie said. “No Kevlar vests in the front closet, either.”
Russ went out through the sliders to check the deck and the approach to the house from the river. Felicity stood by the slider and watched him. “He’s thorough,” she said to Kylie.
“It’s not you or this Nadia woman,” Kylie said. “It’s just the way he operates.”
“I hope he doesn’t feel as if he needs to be my protector or bodyguard or anything. I’m fine, but if I do run into trouble, I know what to do. Please don’t worry about me.”
Kylie nodded. “Of course. It’s good practice for Russ, too. Things are usually so quiet around here, he can keep his skills sharp.”
Felicity doubted Russ’s skills had dulled, but she appreciated Kylie’s gesture. He rejoined them, and they went outside to the driveway together. “I’m more likely to run into trouble with an exposed tree root or an irritated red squirrel than a crazed stalker,” Felicity said. “But thanks for taking a look.”
Russ smiled as he pulled open the passenger door. “Suspicious tree root on the path down to the river.”
Felicity laughed. “Have to mind those tree roots.”
She waited for him and Kylie to pull out of the driveway and start down the country road toward Moss Hill before she went back inside.
She checked her voice mail, texts, email and social media sites, but all was well. Nothing from Nadia, or from Gabe for that matter. Felicity debated texting him but resisted. Instead she walked down to the river and watched the ducks swimming on the opposite bank.
