Анна Керн - A Paw-sible Theory

“Yes, but it’s really important to them to use original materials as much as possible.”

“Did I tell you that I met the former owner, before the house went up for sale?” Alyx asked.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“She told me that she started the story about the house being haunted. She did it as an advertising gimmick. The story appeared in one of those special sections the paper puts out every so often and the ghost story became part of the history of the house. It never died and she never confessed that she made it up. Just out of curiosity, I asked her if the lie bothered her.

“She said she didn’t see why it should since no one could positively say there wasn’t a ghost in the house. She said that she did experience some strange things––little things disappearing and then reappearing in strange places and doors opening on their own. She also said that the psychic who came to investigate definitely felt a strange presence in the house. So her point was that maybe there is and maybe there isn’t. Who’s to say?”

Alyx took a bite of her muffin and smiled. “Have the new owners seen any ghosts, yet?”

Maggie laughed. “Betty told me a funny story the other day. She said she surprised her husband at work one night and practically scared him out of his skin.

He was working in the kitchen and didn’t hear her come in. All of a sudden, he saw this huge shadow on the wall. She said he froze to the spot and visibly jumped when she called his name.”

The picture of the big tattooed man jumping in fright obviously made the two women laugh.

“Maggie, I’m sorry all this has fallen on your shoulders. Hopefully, I’ll be able to come back to work tomorrow or the next day, at least for a few hours anyway.”

“You just take your time. I spoke to Charvette and Bernice and they are glad to work the extra hours.”

They finished their coffee. Maggie got up to clear the table and continued, “Those two have been so cooperative taking on extra work and more hours, I was thinking about a bonus for them at the end of year. What do you say?”

“I think that’s a great idea.”

Maggie put the cups in the dishwasher, covered the leftover muffins, and got ready to leave.

Alyx shivered and wrapped her arms around her waist. “It’s just starting to sink in that someone tried to hurt me, if not kill me, and I guess I’m feeling a little vulnerable.”

“Did something else happen today? Did Bob say something to upset you?”

“It wasn’t so much what he said, it was the memories he evoked.”

“If you want to talk about it, I have time to listen.”

“I’ve told you most of it already.”

“I’m getting older; I may have forgotten some of it, so tell me again so you can expunge it from your mind.”

“I don’t think I ever told you the details of the night Bob told me he didn’t love me anymore and wanted a divorce––the memory, and the aftermath are too painful to recall.”

“Time spent with cats is never wasted .”

––May Sarton

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE: Unpleasant Memories

“Talking with Bob this morning brought back unpleasant memories and coupled with all the bad news, I felt like I was suffocating. The beach always has a calming effect on me, so I dressed and drove to the Inlet Beach. I strolled along the shore and let the painful memories buried a long time ago haunt me for the last time.

“I was so naive back then, I never saw it coming. I truly believed my marriage was solid. We hardly ever argued. Bob was always where he said he would be, and when he wasn’t at work, he was with me. I never had a reason to distrust him, yet thinking back, there were a couple of things that happened that should have alerted me, had I not been lulled into a false sense of security. For instance, the strange earring I found on the passenger seat of his car. I could hardly speak when I asked him about it. He was so sure of me, that he didn’t even bother to make up a lie. He said he didn’t know where it came from, leaving me to draw my own conclusion.

“I rationalized that it could have belonged to a co-worker whom he might have had lunch with. It seemed perfectly innocent––I wasn’t worried. Then there was the time he didn’t come home from work one night. After he called to say he was going to be late, I didn’t hear from him for the rest of the night. Frantic, by the time I finally reached him at work the next morning, he calmly explained that he had spent the night working on a crashed computer program for a client and just wasn’t able to call. I let it go for the simple reason I wanted to believe my marriage was solid.

“Then one night, I woke in the early hours of the morning and I was alone in bed. The kitchen light was on, and I went to see if anything was wrong. Bob had been acting restless, and I wondered what was going on. He was sitting on a bar stool at the counter, one hand holding his head, the other holding a lit cigarette. I stood behind him and put my arms around him.

“He loosened my arms and turned to look at me, his soulful eyes begging for pity. ‘I don’t love you anymore. I want a divorce.’ I heard the words but didn’t know what they meant.

‘“I want a divorce,’ he repeated. The words sliced through me to the core. The beautiful, deep blue eyes that warmed my heart had just turned it to ashes. It felt like a nightmare but I knew that it was real.

‘“I...don’t...understand,’ I stammered.

“In an angry tone, he said, ‘What’s there to understand?’ Then, he lowered his voice to almost a whisper, ‘I don’t love you anymore, I’ve met someone else––she’s my soul mate.’

“I wondered why he was angry since I wasn’t the one breaking up the marriage.

“I went back to bed, and curled up on my side of the king-size bed and tried not to think, but the same thoughts kept coming up. What gave him the right to change two people’s lives, alter our future––the future I’d depended on for the past eleven years? How did meeting your soul mate negate the promises, the plans, the commitments made to another?

“The next morning, I got up and made breakfast as usual. Everything was the same and nothing was the same. Bob broke Ethan’s heart when he told Ethan that he was leaving. He moved out a week later, oblivious to the path of destruction he left behind, leaving me to deal with the damage. But that was a long time ago.

“Anyway, this morning, after a short walk on the beach, I sat on one of the rocks used to form the Inlet jetty––behind me, man’s imperfect creation, God’s perfect creation in front of me, the blue expanse of the sky meeting the green water of the ocean. The waves lapping at my feet, the rhythm of the pounding surf, the smell of the ocean, the precise formation of the seagulls’ flight overhead brought peace to my soul and, after a while, I felt the anxiety begin to melt away until I picked up my towel and headed for the car.

“Then I saw a man I knew when some tourists stopped me to ask directions to the Inlet Lighthouse. I tried my best to avoid him, but he must have picked up his pace and there I was face to face with Dan Ramsey.

‘Well, I see you’re back among the living,’ he said.

I answered, ‘Sorry to disappoint you; I was never near death, just sleeping.’

‘You’d better be careful, young lady, someone might get serious next time.’ He turned his back and headed for the surf.

I didn’t want him to know how that had shaken me up and I said, ‘You be careful too, Dan. I hear the rip current is pretty strong today.’”

“I think that’s exactly what he intended to do, Alyx,” replied Maggie, “shake you up. Tell David Hunter about it; see what he thinks, and talk to your brother about it too. I know he wants to help. Of course, if it will make you feel better, I can come and stay with you, or you can stay with me. I know you don’t like my sleek modern style––no antiques or shabby furniture in my condo but it does have a view of the ocean just across the street.”