Hiding Places by EJ Post

Author:EJ Post
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9798988592334
Publisher: BDA Publishing

Ten.

Her confidence improved, if only slightly, upon waking that morning. She’d already faced everyone once, and now that she knew to keep an arm’s distance from Maryann, today might be a little easier. Maryann was a religious woman from the South, and there was no way she would hit her again in a church. Ellie wasn’t mad. She understood. Maryann had lost a child, someone she’d loved for thirty-two years, in a way that was somehow both preventable and unbelievable. Ellie understood that the grief was infinite.

Ellie eased into her kitchen for the first time and made herself a cup of coffee. She walked around the house, giving herself a tour like she hadn’t lived there for the last four years. The warm mug in her hands dulled the heartache as she sat down in the dining room, looking around the room where they’d had dinner together each night. She remembered one evening she had experimented with a new Thai recipe. Not realizing how spicy the chiles were, she’d added a full pepper to the dish. She and Tom had become red and sweaty looking at each other across the table, laughing. They’d spent the next half hour pacing, flushed and nauseated, then laid on the floor in misery together. Ellie had never seen a face that red before as they recovered on the creaky boards with a bag of Wonder Bread between them. When the heat finally died down, they’d laughed for ages and eventually had ice cream for dinner instead.

She toured the back porch where they’d relaxed on weekend mornings and had their coffee. Just last month, they’d enjoyed a quiet Saturday morning. The weather was gloomy, soaked in a late summer fog, and the whole morning had been so still. Until a rabbit rocketed onto the porch, skittering across Ellie’s bare feet, and diving off the other side. She was so startled that she’d dropped her coffee, the mug shattering on the weather-worn boards. Tom had spent the rest of the day relentlessly teasing her, dancing around the yard impersonating Elmer Fudd, searching for more rabbits. It became his favorite bit for weeks.

The old wooden staircase creaked as she ascended to explore the bedrooms they’d hoped to fill one day, one of which was currently Tom’s office. Occasionally, he would stay up all night, crunching numbers for work and making plans. He didn’t have to work so late, but he’d loved problem-solving, just like she did. Ellie would visit late in the night and stand in the doorway in her pajamas, watching the lines in his face wax and wane as he’d calculated the numbers. Tom wouldn’t even look up, but he’d always say the same thing: I just need to figure out one more thing.

One bedroom was mostly empty, containing some workout gear on the floor, a nursery chair Ellie had found at a thrift store, and a bookshelf. She tried to mentally erase the plans she’d made for the room, but looking around made it more difficult.

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