One afternoon, her doorbell rang, and she gasped with fear. She checked the closed-circuit security camera and noticed a small bouquet of flowers on the doorstep. She thought it could be a trick, so she left them there. She figured Hector would bring them inside the porch later that day.
The next afternoon, she noticed that Jackson didn’t come by to play with Buddy. She didn’t know if she should call Colleen or not. She didn’t want to be a busybody, but Buddy was pacing the yard. She decided to call—something she rarely did. She went up to her office, Googled Colleen Haywood, and found her phone number. Luckily, they had a landline, but that was pretty standard for Hibbing. It was a rural town with not a whole lot of good cell service. She picked up one of her burner phones and dialed.
A hesitant “Hello” came in response. It was Jackson. “Hey, Jackson. This is Buddy’s mom. How are you doing?”
Jackson hesitated. He didn’t know what to make of this unfamiliar voice over the phone. “Hhh . . . hello?”
Ellie repeated. “Hey, Jackson. This is Ellie Bowman. You know, the lady who owns Buddy, the dog.” She wasn’t used to speaking to people she actually knew, except for Kara and her mom. Most of the interaction she had with people was for work, over an Internet connection—one computer talking to another.
“Oh, hi. Let me go get my mom.” Jackson quickly put the phone down and yelled for his mother. “Mom! It’s that lady down the street. Buddy’s owner.” He sounded a bit unhinged.
Ellie could hear footsteps moving closer to the phone.
“Yes?” Colleen sounded a bit terse. “What can I do for you?”
“Hi. I was just checking on Jackson. Buddy has been pacing the yard. Is everything OK?”
“Well, to be perfectly honest, Jackson’s feelings were hurt when he saw you left the flowers on the front porch. He wrote a note thanking you for letting him play with Buddy. He didn’t think he was welcome anymore.”
“Oh my gosh! I am so sorry! I had no idea!” Ellie was mortified that she had hurt the little guy’s feelings.
“Yes, well, when he was leaving for school this morning, he saw that they were still there on the front porch. He said he rang the bell yesterday when he left them.”
“I am so sorry. I was up in my loft on a tech call for several hours and forgot about the doorbell. Ellie was getting particularly good at lying and covering her tracks. In fact, she was almost a genius at it by that point. “That was so sweet and kind of him. May I apologize to him, please?”
Ellie heard Colleen hand the phone over to Jackson, and whisper, “She wants to apologize. Here.”
“Hello?” Jackson was still uncertain.
“Jackson. Thank you for the flowers. I apologize for not picking them up. I was working upstairs when the doorbell rang, and I was on the computer with a client for a few hours. By the time I finished the session, I had completely forgotten that the doorbell rang. Can you please forgive me? I know Buddy missed you today.”
“Oh, sure, Ms. Bowman. That’s OK. I kinda felt a little goofy after I left them.”
“Oh, no, you were not at all goofy. That was truly kind.” Ellie smiled into the phone.
“So is it OK if I visit with Buddy today? I finished my homework.”
“If your mom says it’s OK with her, then it’s OK with me. I’m sure Buddy will be happy to see you.”
“OK. Here’s my mom.” Jackson handed the phone to his mother.
“Hi, Colleen. I am really sorry for this mix-up. If it’s not too late, Jackson is more than welcome to play with Buddy today.”
“We’re having dinner in about an hour, so I guess it’s OK for him to come over.”
Ellie hesitated for a moment. “Are you all right?” She then grimaced, feeling as if she had overstepped.
“As good as I can be.” Colleen sighed. “We’re hanging in there.”
A moment of silence fell between the two women. For some reason, each of them seemed to know how the other was feeling.
“Good. Again, I’m sorry about all this. I hope it doesn’t deter Jackson from future random acts of kindness.”
“Letting him play with Buddy is also kind. Have a good evening.”
Chapter Four
Ellie lived a very routine life in spite of never leaving the house. Each morning, she would get up, make her coffee, let Buddy out, feed Percy, change his litter, let Buddy back in, feed Buddy. Then she would spend twenty minutes on the treadmill in the second bedroom. After her workout, she would take a shower, wrap her hair in a towel, and fix some breakfast. It was usually a toasted English muffin smeared with butter and a piece of melon, if it was in season. Once she finished her light breakfast, she would put on a fresh pair of yoga pants and a hoodie and finish drying her hair. Then it was up to the loft and begin working.
The loft looked like a mini NASA space center, with multiple computers, phone lines, and gaming devices. That’s how she had met Hector. Online gaming. Before her seclusion. Her screen name was Firefly, and she was one of the best at Fortnite and Minecraft, beating some of the most highly skilled players across the globe. When they were not playing, she and Hector would exchange ideas for creating new games. Eventually,
