'Are you going to be okay in there alone?' The friendly smile was back.
'I have Barney.'
He laughed. 'Yeah, great watchdog.' He reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a business card. 'Take my number and call me if you need anything.'
I nodded and watched him drive away before I went inside.
Barney was waiting by the door, sitting at attention. When he saw me he wagged his tail, but his heart wasn't in it. He kept looking past me to the front door.
I went into the kitchen and put on the kettle. After a few minutes Barney came in, looked around, and walked over to me. His head was up, but his tail was hanging low between his legs.
'I know, love.' I patted his head. 'Believe me, she wants to come home just as much as you want her here.'
I made some tea, cut myself a piece of cake, and sat at the table, then realized I was too tired to eat. I offered Barney a dog biscuit, but he just sniffed at it and lay at my feet.
My eyes were starting to close, and the effort to open them again seemed pointless. I left the tea half- finished, the cake untouched, and headed up to bed. The stairs creaked as I walked up, and the entire second floor was dark. There were no streetlights by my grandmother's house, so without a full moon, there was no light outside. And it was quiet. Not even crickets were doing whatever crickets do to make that noise.
Barney settled on the floor and I crawled in underneath the pin-wheel quilt that covered the bed. I reached my hand out, turned off the light on the bedside table, and lay back. I stared off into space for a while, waiting to go to sleep. Then… something. It sounded like someone at the front door. The sleepiness of just a minute before was gone. I sat up and listened. Quiet. I looked over at a sleeping Barney and was comforted for a moment that he hadn't been alarmed, until I remembered he couldn't have heard anything. I lay down again, but I made sure to face the bedroom door. Just in case. Minutes passed. I started to close my eyes when there was a definite noise, like a door flying open, but it seemed to be coming from the kitchen this time. I had locked the doors, hadn't I? I couldn't remember if I had locked up. Every muscle tensed and I froze.
I turned on the bedroom light. If someone was in the house, he'd know that he'd been heard. I threw a pillow at Barney, who raised a sleepy head in my direction.
'Get up,' I whispered. 'Go downstairs.'
Barney got up and started wagging his tail. He lay his head on the bed next to me because he clearly believed that I had woken him up to pet him. You had to admire his optimism.
I got up slowly, shaking with each step, and walked to the door of the bedroom. I couldn't hear anything but wind and rain.
Now I really missed my cell phone. I could walk to my grandmother's bedroom, where I thought she had a phone, but if I called the police and it was nothing, then everyone in town would be telling the hilarious story tomorrow.
But I couldn't just stand there shaking all night. My grandmother wouldn't. I grabbed Barney's collar and we headed to the top of the stairs. If someone was going to kill me, he was going to kill me standing up. I wasn't going to be found cowering by my bed so everyone could say 'poor thing, first she gets dumped and then she dies alone and scared.' No, they were going to say 'poor thing, first she gets dumped and then she dies stupidly fighting off an intruder.'
Barney walked beside me as we slowly descended the stairs. He couldn't hear what I was listening for, but he knew I was scared, and that was enough for him to stick close. Together we made it into the downstairs hall, turning on every light I could find. My grandmother didn't have much in the way of weapons, so I grabbed an umbrella out of the stand and walked into the kitchen.
I turned on the light. The back door was open.
The room was empty. Barney walked lazily over to his bowl and started picking at the last of his dinner. Even a deaf dog would sense danger, right?
I grabbed a knife from the counter to replace my pathetic umbrella weapon and slammed the kitchen door shut, locking it tight.
Walking back out into the hallway and toward the living room, I saw no one. I opened all the closets, checked all the doors and windows, turned on all the lights.
Had it just been the wind?
Barney found me standing by the front door and looked at me with sleepy eyes. I knew what he was thinking, and he was right, probably. I had forgotten to lock the kitchen door and a strong wind blew it open. Still, I left the lights on downstairs while Barney and I headed back up.
CHAPTER 13
The next morning, a loud car horn woke me before the alarm or Mother Nature had a chance to. I walked over to the window ready to scream at whoever was making that racket. A red-haired woman in jeans and a bright blue sweater stood in the driveway next to a truck with a medicine bottle logo on the side.
'Bernie?' I yelled. 'What are you doing?'
'Hey there, sweetie,' she yelled back. 'I brought you breakfast.'
As annoyed as I was by the early morning intrusion, she had brought food, so I lumbered downstairs, followed by an equally sleepy Barney, and let her in.
'You didn't have to do that,' I said as I took the plate of Danishes off her hands.
'Oh, I just did it as an excuse to check on you, dear,' she said, smiling. 'Did you sleep okay or did this spooky old house get to you?'
As we sat in the kitchen with Danishes and coffee, I told her about the creepy noises and the total darkness that kept me from getting a good night's sleep. I did not mention that I had hoped to sleep in a little-a plan she had spoiled.
'I think Eleanor's crazy to keep this place all by herself, but crazy in a good way, you know?' Bernie laughed heartily. 'After my first husband died, I moved into a small apartment with the kids. And after my divorce, I moved in with a friend. Couldn't live alone in a place like this.'
'How many husbands have you had?' I asked, probably impolitely.
'Three, so far,' she laughed again. 'Three husbands, two fiances that didn't make the cut, and more lovers than I can remember. Which is a shame, since they would be very good memories.'
'I guess I have some catching up to do.'
'Best way over a broken heart is a romance,' she said as she leaned back in her chair. 'But guessing by the interest you've generated, you may already have figured that out for yourself.'
Interest? I blushed, then realized what she must have meant. 'No. Marc just drove me to the hospital.'
She waved me off. 'Marc is a lovely distraction. But he's not a romance. There's a darkness around that boy.'
'I sensed that he wasn't well liked by some of the women in the club.'
She smiled. 'He's not well liked by some, too well liked by others, but everyone can choose their own friends.' She poured herself the last of the coffee. 'Make a fresh pot dear,' she ordered, which I did without argument.
She watched me, smiling. 'The girls laugh at me, but I'm a bit of a psychic,' she said. 'I sense things.'
'Like what?'
'I don't think you've seen the last of your wayward fiance.'
'No, I haven't. He'll be at work tomorrow.'
'That's not what I meant.'
I laughed. 'Bernie, I hope you're right. I think.'
She finished her coffee and got up. 'Just be careful, Nell. Make sure you keep your eyes open.' She smiled at me, then turned away. 'Tell Eleanor I'll be by later.'
Though the game plan was that I would spend the morning at the hospital, I knew I had to make one stop first. The car keys that were so elusive the night before were now hanging on a hook by the back door. Didn't I look there yesterday? I tried to remember, but it was all a frightening blur. It didn't matter now. I grabbed them
