time it was a great relief. She leaned back into his arms
and let him hug her tightly.
Paige could feel his cell phone
vibrating in his pocket. She knew he was ignoring it. “You better
get that.”
“ I’ll call them back.
You’re more important,” he whispered as he leaned forward and
kissed her neck softly.
“ Why do you put up with
me?” she asked him as she slowly turned toward him.
“ Because I have to,” he
smiled and started kissing her ear. She whimpered softly as his
lips made their way from her ear to her neck, his hands running up
and down her arms. She let herself go in his caress, wanting to
melt away with him. Feeling herself drift away in the sensations,
she turned toward him to let him kiss her lips. His kiss was soft
and gentle.
Paige opened her eyes and glanced back
out of the window. She could see someone standing in the shadows
behind the trees. She jumped and ran toward the window.
“ What is it?” David asked
as he stood behind her.
“ There, in the trees,” she
pointed. “There was a man, standing there.
I didn’t see where he went, but it
looked like he was watching us.”
“ I don’t see anyone,”
David said as he looked across the yard.
“ Whoever it was is gone
now and I’m sure he couldn’t see in through the window in this
light.”
“ I’m going out to find
him,” Paige started toward the door.
“ Paige, wait. There’s no
one there.” David grabbed her arm, keeping her from running
outside.
Paige whirled about on her heals. “He
was there. I saw him!” she screamed at him.
“ I believe you but he’s
not there now. It’s okay,” he rubbed her shoulders, trying to calm
her down.
“ You’re right,” Paige
forced a smile and stepped away from him.
“ I’m sorry. I didn’t mean
to yell.”
“ That’s okay, Paige,
really,” he pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her
head. “Sit down and drink your coffee.”
Reluctantly, she obeyed, not taking
her eyes off of the tree line.
Nothing else seemed amiss.
The birds were still in search of seed and the squirrel was brave
enough to come back out and forage below. “I must be seeing things,” she
thought to herself as she picked the coffee back up to take another
drink. Instead of a sip, she downed the entire cup.
Chapter 6
The next three days passed quickly.
Paige stayed with Sarah at Aileen’s.
She busied herself helping Aileen care
for Sarah, cooking meals, and forcing her to eat them. They made
all of the funeral arrangements with only nods of agreement from
Sarah who hardly spoke a word and rarely acknowledged anyone who
was speaking to her. It was obvious that she was just simply
functioning and was getting worse by the day.
Paige wondered if she should suggest
to Aileen that Sarah needed counseling. She thought about talking
to the therapist who had helped her so much over the past year.
Paige was sure he could help.
As Paige cleared the table from lunch
she remembered when Sarah had found her husband. She was adamant
that someone broke into the house and strangled Anthony even though
there was no sign of a break in. Nothing was taken from the house
and there was not a shred of DNA evidence to be found. There was
only their son, Richard. Sarah told Paige on several occasions that
Anthony argued with Richie about the drugs and alcohol. Some of the
arguments became violent enough that things were thrown and items
around the house were broken but they never actually hit each
other. Sarah believed with all of her heart that neither of them
would ever hurt the other physically.
When Paige questioned
Richie, he didn’t seem upset about his father’s death. He even
claimed to be in the house at the time of the murder but said that
he didn’t hear or see anything. “ How could
he in the state he was in?” Paige thought
to herself remembering that he was totally
inebriated that night. She thought about how sad it was that the
sweet little freckled face boy had become so
Alana Hart, Lauren Lashley