Death by Bridle

Author:Abigail Keam [Keam, Abigail]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, Usernet, C429, Kat, Extratorrents
ISBN: 9781467517355
Publisher: Worker Bee Press
Published: 2012-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

19

An owl hooting at the morning sun rising over the eastern ridge woke me up. I groggily climbed out of bed and let the rambunctious kittens out to meet their mother, who had taken to nighttime hunting. She would surely have a treat for them. It was okay as long as none of my songbirds were part of the cache.

My left leg was throbbing. I reached under my nightgown and pulled off my pain patch while calling for Jake on the baby intercom.

He didn’t come.

Irritated, I stumbled into his bedroom and turned on the light switch. His bed was neatly made and the dresser was cleared of his possessions. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I remembered that he was gone.

Plopping down on the side of the bed, I reached for the pillow and deeply inhaled. It still retained remnants of Jake’s smell. I realized why I hadn’t washed the sheets yet. This was the last physical contact I had of him.

“Excuse me,” said Mrs. Todd, poking in her head.

“That’s all right. Come on in.”

Mrs. Todd, in her night robe, entered the room and sat in a corner chair. “I didn’t mean to intrude, but I heard you get up. Just wanted to check on you.” She pulled her robe tightly while crossing her legs. “You know honey, this is none of my business, but you can’t live in this house alone. At least not for the time being.”

I nodded miserably. “I’ve got seven more months of therapy left. I guess the worst thing is that I’m afraid of falling and not being able to crawl to a phone.”

Mrs. Todd smiled. “I have the same fear. I’ve got a bad hip, but my baby calls me twice a day.” She leaned forward, whispering. “I have a secret dream that we’ll buy a house together. I could be a big help with Lincoln but Shaneika values her privacy, so I guess that won’t happen.” She gave a deep, rich chuckle. “I remember not wanting my mother around too.”

I looked away not really wanting to face that we were two lonely women. I didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t want to accept it. My bottom lip started to quiver.

She continued. “Now I’m too old to find another man, but you have time still.” She cocked her head. “Shaneika told me about this Jake fellow and how he quickly disappeared. She said you’ve acted funny ever since.”

I bitterly laughed. “I loved my husband very much and for most of our marriage we were in synch. You know what I mean?”

Mrs. Todd nodded.

“We liked the same movies, same food, voted for the same political party, and had similar goals. We were married for twenty-eight years and twenty of those years were fabulous. You couldn’t have asked for a better partner. Maybe there were problems and I just looked the other way. I don’t really know except that I was happy for the most part.

“Now Jake and I have nothing in common. We can’t even agree on what TV show to watch, but I ache for Jake the way I never ached for my husband.

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