Free The Widow's Walk by Carole Ann Moleti Page B

before to clean windows, but never with all that mud. I tried to hold it steady.” She put her hands over her eyes and started crying again.
    “Was she wearing the dress?” Mike already knew the answer.
    Mae shook off the tears, the cultured voice. “I think ya should talk to her about all the details, Michael.”
    “Oh, I’ll do that, but . . .”
    “What’re we goin’ to do? This place is cursed.” Kevin pounded the wall.
    “I think we need to put it on the market. But she refuses to move.” This hardly seemed the time to bring up the subject.
    Pained expressions flashed across both their faces.
    He ignored it. “I have to get her out of here. I have to get out of here.”
    Eddie sat in his play yard, silent, staring at the three of them like he knew what they were saying. Mike picked him up and blew a raspberry on his belly. He grinned at his father, then reached for Mae. The baby snuggled into her arms.
    Poor kid, what must he be thinking about the adults around him in such a state? “You both stay with the baby and let me go to the hospital.”
    Kevin frowned like he had a lot on his mind. “I just had this terrible memory, of standin’ near the barn regrettin’ that we hadn’t done more. This time, we have to be strong and do something.”
    This incident had loosed an entire mausoleum.
    Eddie whimpered.
    Mae snuggled and soothed him. “Poor tyke. Wore himself out cryin’ while this was all going on. After a nap at this time, he’ll be up most of the night. Let me give him somethin’ to eat and a bath to try and settle him down.”
    “I’m going to the hospital.” Mike headed out. And he’d been looking forward to an evening of reconciliation.
    He smelled the dress before he saw it, rolled into a ball behind the porch swing. Even outside, it reeked of death. Jared froze Mike in another place, another time: A warm summer evening, sipping lemonade.
    “ I’ve dispatched Paul to purchase Smooch and the geldings back from the livery pool. Ruddy is lonely, like her mistress.”
    “You’ve put everything right, have you not, Jared?” 
    His hands slid down her arms and joined near the small of her back. “I fell in love watching you with those horses. I know how hard it is to lose your true love. It takes time, and I’ll wait patiently to see you smile again.”
    Sobs came from the depths of her soul. “I want to know what happened. I want to talk to Edward one last time.”
    “I can’t bring Edward back.” Jared held her until she quieted, turning his face away from hers, respecting the boundaries that had never been crossed. He dropped his arms and brushed the tears from her cheeks. “You’re safe, Elisabeth. And Edward can rest in peace.”
    I was too much a man of honor to take advantage of her emotional fragility. I walked away and went to bed alone. Elisabeth walked into the bay looking for her dead husband.
    Spiders of jealousy crept over Mike as he watched Mae and Kevin through the window, each with an arm wrapped around the other, Eddie snuggled in between. If only the ghosts haunting he and Liz’s were as well adjusted.
    He’d have to make it so. Mike went back inside and snatched the keys to Liz’s Bimmer. He slammed the front door, then the car door. Gravel pinged on the barn like a spray of bullets.
    The hand on the big clock ticked. And ticked. And ticked. Liz waited. No word from the doctors on the x-rays and MRI. No word from Mike. Or Mae. Or Kevin. No one wanted to face her.
    The magnet tracing over the knee had made it feel better for a while, but now that was wearing off. A burning pain seared through her leg like it was being torn off. Her ankle throbbed under the ice pack and ace bandage. Her toes were purple. The scratches on her face stung. But she was damn lucky, mortified, and dug in so deep by lying to everyone, including herself, she’d never climb out of the pit.
    He’ll come to me again. I’ll hold him, talk to him, introduce him to his son .
    Liz