Софи Келли - Paws Аnd Effect

“Is she okay?” I asked.

He exhaled, his breath stirring my hair. “She’s upset about Travis and a little embarrassed that you found out about the two of us that way, but she’s okay.”

We rocked slowly back and forth in silence.

“It was Dani who made the oatmeal with the plaster of Paris, not you, wasn’t it?” I said.

He laughed softly in the darkness. “How did you know?”

I laid my head against his shoulder. “Because you’re more careful than that and I don’t think that’s a quality that’s just happened since you graduated.”

He kissed the top of my head.

“And I was watching Dani,” I continued. “She was embarrassed. I could see it in her face.”

“I came out of the tent and she was sitting on a rock next to the camp stove holding this big pot of oatmeal, which was more like a big pot of concrete.”

I stretched up intending to kiss the line of his jaw, but he turned his head and I ended up kissing the side of his mouth instead.

“Umm, what was that for?” he asked. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“That’s for being so kind to Dani—then and now.”

He put his other arm around me. “She’s a good person, Kathleen. Things haven’t always gone so well for her.”

As it got darker I could see the first stars overhead. “You mean Travis,” I said.

“I thought he was past it all, I really did,” Marcus said. “I haven’t spoken to him since graduation and all he said to me then was that he was never going to forgive me.” He shifted on the seat of the swing so he was facing me. “I’m sorry Travis dropped all of that on you and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about them.”

“I have to admit, it didn’t sound like you—sneaking around with someone else’s girlfriend, I mean.”

“I’m not trying to make excuses,” he said. “But Dani did try to break it off with him. And for the record, the compromising situation Travis caught us in was me—without a shirt—kissing her just outside her dorm room. We weren’t in bed together.”

“I don’t understand,” I said, trying not to sound judgmental. I didn’t see why Dani couldn’t have ended things with Travis before she got involved with Marcus. “What do you mean she tried?”

Marcus made a face. “Travis was—still is, as far as I can tell—extremely persistent.”

“You’re saying he wouldn’t take no for an answer.” I leaned back and the swing began to sway gently back and forth again.

“Now I realize that’s a sign of a very controlling person. We’d call it obsessive or harassment. But back then . . . And it didn’t help that Dani’s family was crazy about Travis. They put a lot of pressure on her to try to work things out.” He blew out a breath. “We were kids. It . . . uh . . . it was complicated.”

There was more to what had happened between him and Dani. My instinct wasn’t wrong. “What do you mean by complicated?” I asked.

Marcus’s cell phone rang then. “Hang on,” he said. He leaned sideways and reached for his phone on the small table next to the swing. The only thing he said was, “Hello.” He listened and then his body went rigid. I saw him nod even though the person on the other end of the call couldn’t see the movement. “I’ll be right there,” he said finally, ending the call.

But he didn’t move. He just sat there, one hand still holding the phone.

I touched his shoulder. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

He turned his head toward me and cleared his throat before he spoke. Even so, his voice was husky with emotion. “That was Hope,” he said.

Hope Lind was also a detective with the Mayville Heights Police Department.

“It’s . . . it’s Dani. She fell off an embankment out by Long Lake.”

“Are they taking her to the hospital in Red Wing or going to Minneapolis?” I wondered if John knew yet. And what about Travis?

Marcus shook his head. And then I knew. I didn’t need to see his face. I could see it in the slump of his shoulders and the way his hands just hung between his knees. “No,” he said. “She’s . . . she’s dead.”

4

Marcus left to meet Hope, and I drove home. Before I got into the truck I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a hug. “I’m so, so sorry about Dani,” I said. “If you need me call or just come by. It doesn’t matter how late it is.”

He nodded. “Drive carefully.”

I did drive home just a little more attentively, thinking how fragile life can be. I barely knew Dani but I had liked what I did know. As I headed around the house to the back door I stopped to look up at the stars overhead and hoped that wherever Dani was now she was at peace.

Marcus showed up just after six a.m. I’d had a restless night. I was leaning against the counter waiting for the coffee when he tapped on the back door. He had dark circles like sooty smudges under his eyes and he needed a shave. The half smile he gave me didn’t make it anywhere near his blue eyes. He propped an elbow on the table and leaned his head on his hand. I got a cup of coffee and set it next to him.

“Thanks,” he said.

I sat next to him at the table. “Could I get you some breakfast?”

He put a hand over mine. “Just sit with me for a bit.”

We sat like that for maybe a couple of minutes and then Marcus said, “I have to tell John.” He stared down at the table. “And I have to find Travis.”

“I’m coming with you,” I said. “Maybe John will know where he is.”

“You don’t have to come,” Marcus said.

“I’m coming,” I repeated. He gave my hand a squeeze.

I scrambled eggs with the last sausage patty I’d gotten from Burtis Chapman and served them with toasted English muffins and more coffee. Marcus ate every bite on his plate but I think I could have cooked the eggs shells and toasted the bag the muffins had been in and he wouldn’t have noticed.

“Hope’s taking the lead on this one,” he said, pushing his plate back and folding his hands around his cup. “I just thought it would be easier for everyone if I was the one who broke the news to John and Travis.” He shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong.”

“No, you’re not.” I put my arms around him. “I liked Dani. I’m sorry I didn’t get to know her better. Would you, maybe later, tell me more about her?”

He nodded. “I’d like that. I think maybe the two of you would have been friends.”

“I’m sorry we didn’t get the chance,” I said, and even though I’d barely known Dani I had to swallow down a sudden lump in my throat.

I went upstairs to finish getting ready for work, leaving Marcus with Hercules, who had been sitting next to his chair in silent sympathy from the moment he’d arrived. When I came back down Marcus was talking to the cat in a low voice, not the first time I’d seen that kind of thing happen.

“John is staying out at the Bluebird Motel,” I said.

Marcus slipped something to Hercules, trying to be surreptitious about it. I let it pass. I could get a hint of the unmistakable aroma of stinky crackers and I knew one or two wouldn’t hurt the little tuxedo cat.

“I texted Maggie,” I continued. “She was planning on taking John out to Wisteria Hill. Don’t worry, I didn’t tell her why I was asking.”

Marcus pulled a hand over the back of his neck. “Thanks. Hope is looking for Travis.” He got to his feet.

“Are you ready?” I asked.

“No,” he said. I linked my fingers though his and we left anyway.

A red SUV was parked in front of John’s room at the Bluebird Motel. There was a rental company sticker in the top right corner of the windshield. The tailgate was open, which told me that John was up, getting ready to start his day. Marcus knocked on the door and then lifted my hand and kissed it before letting it go.