Crimson Frost by JP McLean

Author:JP McLean
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: WindStorm Press

Loneliness crept up on Charlotte. She felt Oliver’s absence at mealtimes, wishing she could hear about his day. Some days she found herself staring out the front window and realized she’d been watching for his bike.

Ash insisted on vetting potential renters, and Charlotte had no trouble finding interested applicants. A thirty-five-year-old doctoral student finally passed Ash’s scrutiny. Wren was working on her dissertation, which was due before the December break. A petite woman, slight in build and with fine features, Wren resembled her namesake. She was polite, shy even, but resolute. All she needed from Charlotte, she insisted, was internet access, a quiet environment, and somewhere to park her Jeep. Though she normally loved to cook, she was on a tight deadline and would have no time for shared meals. She asked for some space in the pantry and fridge, and promised to clean up after herself. She assured Charlotte and Ash that she would be too busy with her studies to be entertaining anyone. She asked for a lock on her door and moved in the following week.

It felt strange to have someone she didn’t know in the house. Charlotte found herself listening for footsteps and tracking Wren’s comings and goings. If she saw her, she’d cough out a hi, and wave from her place at the dining room table. Wren would return a startled smile. True to her word, she was completely self-sufficient.

Charlotte left Oliver’s bedroom door open and often stopped to peer inside. The birthday card from their mother was still propped on his dresser. Did he miss her, too?

The November rains settled in. Oliver’s support payment hit her bank account and Luther didn’t ask for it. Charlotte wondered if maybe he really had changed, and she’d been wrong about him. She transferred fifty dollars into Oliver’s account. They each got fifty dollars a month that they didn’t have to account for. Fifty dollars to blow on anything at all. She smiled thinking that Oliver would probably spend it going to the movies with Jeremy.

When she was out in the car, she’d find an excuse to loop by Luther’s trailer park and watch for Oliver. The curtains were always closed tight if his bike was under the lean-to in the driveway. She felt a twinge of guilt for living in a bigger home in a better neighbourhood.

Charlotte had taken to texting Oliver regularly. How was he? How was school? Did he need anything? Warmer clothes? He mostly ignored her, but once in a while he’d text back. Usually to rub her face in some concert he’d been to or another day at the track, but Charlotte was simply happy to hear from him.

She hadn’t told him about renting out their mother’s room for fear the extra money coming in might provoke Luther into asking her for Oliver’s half of the monthly insurance payment.

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