There Was an Old Woman: A Novel of Suspense by Hallie Ephron

Author:Hallie Ephron [Ephron, Hallie]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2013-04-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-three

Brian arrived the next morning, hours earlier than Mina expected him. She was still eating her breakfast and reading the paper.

“You remembered I was coming, didn’t you?” he said. “You’re up to looking at residences?”

Of course she did. Of course she was. She took a drink of tea, scraped up a last mouthful of oatmeal, and walked the dishes to the sink.

“I’ve arranged for us to see a few places.” He read from a piece of paper. “Pelham Manor. Golden Oaks—”

She took the paper from him and adjusted her glasses. “I can read, for heaven’s sake.”

He had four addresses written down. Pelham Manor was where Annabelle had spent her final days. Golden Oaks was also in the Bronx. Briarfield Gardens was on Saw Mill River Road, over into Westchester. The fourth place she’d never heard of. Visiting four in a single day seemed awfully ambitious.

She handed him back the paper. “Have you eaten? Can I get you anything?”

“I’m fine.” He looked at his watch. “We’ve got to step on it, Aunt Mina. They’re expecting us at Pelham Manor in thirty minutes.”

Mina folded the newspaper, slapped it down on the table, and stood. “All right then. I’ll be ready in a minute.”

She closed herself in the bathroom, even though she didn’t need to go. Then she sat on the closed toilet seat trying to calm herself. She’d thought she’d be fine, visiting old age homes. But she wasn’t. She did not want to leave her house. Her neighborhood. Her marsh. Besides, she was nowhere near that far gone. Or am I? she wondered as she stared down at the backs of her hands, the veins popping beneath skin that was shriveled like loose latex.

“Aunt Mina, you haven’t forgotten I’m out here waiting for you, have you?”

“Not yet.” Mina reached back and flushed the toilet.

“Do you need any help?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” She stood and checked her face in the mirror, relaxing the frown lines as much as she still could and smoothing her chins. She splashed her face with warm water and dried it.

From the other side of the door, Brian called, his voice sounding more urgent, “I’ll go start the car and meet you—”

She banged out of the bathroom. “Don’t bother. I’ll drive.” She found her purse sitting on the placemat in the kitchen, snagged her cane, and stumped out the door. Immediately she realized it had started to rain again. She should have picked up an umbrella, but she’d be damned if she was going to go back for it now.

She waited until Brian got in the car and had shut the door, too, before releasing the brake and slamming the car into drive. Let him sulk. He’d been doing that since he was three years old, whenever things didn’t go precisely his way. Once on the street she accelerated, holding on to the wheel to pull herself up a little taller to see over the steering wheel. Had she shrunk more? With relief, she noticed a cushion from the seat was on the floor.

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