Thou shalt not stuff pictures
of thy husband down the garbage disposal.
 I made a mental note to add this to my list of personal commandments. I’d
put it right after ‘Thou shalt not eat more than two pints of ice cream
in one night’ and just before ‘Thou shalt never wear the correct size
jeans.’ Priorities and all.
I opened the cabinet under the sink and stared at the root of my problem. My newest
commandment wasn’t a result of sudden regret at the loss of the photos.
Instead it came from the fact that by stuffing pictures of the two-timing weasel
down the disposal I had caused the sink to clog.
Little Kodak bits of my husband’s head floated around the sink’s stainless
steel basin. I found an odd sense of peace seeing Kevin Quinn drowning—even
one dimensionally—but I couldn’t risk Riley seeing the pieces. I fished
them out and shoved them in the trashcan.
I stared at the stack of prints I’d yet to destroy and picked up the top
one. It had been taken soon after I met Kevin. I’d been twenty-one and fresh
out of college when Officer Kevin Quinn pulled me over for speeding. Being somewhat
desperate—since I’d already gotten two tickets in the previous six
months—I faked being sick. I still remember with startling clarity the mad
dash I’d made toward the tree line, where I’d given a fair imitation
of that Exorcist girl—without the head spinning of course.
Officer Kevin let me off, but later that night showed up at the off-campus apartment
I’d shared with my cousin Ana with a pot of chicken soup.
Looking back, I should’ve taken the ticket.
We looked so disgustingly happy in the picture I was holding.
Kevin, the weasel, hadn’t changed much in the last eight years, at least
physically. He was still one sexy piece o’ man. Six foot, three inches.
Short, jet-black wavy hair. Clear green eyes. And a smile that made my knees go
all spongy.
He’d been eight years older than me, a widower with a seven-year-old son
and a boatload of baggage, but when he looked at me with those vivid green bedroom
eyes, smiled that mischievous smile—I’d never had a prayer of escaping,
heart intact.
Okay, I admit it. I hadn’t wanted to—until recently.
I looked down at my younger, naïve self. My mother liked to think all her
kids looked like movie stars. According to Mom, my younger sister Maria was the
spitting image of Grace Kelly. My older brother Peter? George Clooney. And amazingly,
there was some resemblance in a slightly out-of-focus way.
Mom, however, never specified who I looked like—she just kept telling me
I had a face for the movies. Which left me wondering if I had more in common with
that Exorcist girl than just that incident with Kevin.
But I didn’t think so. Or at least I hoped not.
Unlike my sister, I’d never be movie-star gorgeous. She was French baguette
where I leaned toward…pumpernickel. But I’d never minded. My heart-shaped
face had its own unique charm I’ve grown fond of during our twenty-nine
years of cohabitation.
As I looked at the picture, I realized I hadn’t changed much since I met
Kevin either. My shoulder-length brown hair was still styled in that same nondescript
bob. My lips were still too full, my smile too wide. Though they could pass for
brown most of the time, my eyes remained a dark muddy green, but nowadays they
had tiny lines creasing their corners.
Kevin had said I was beautiful.
And I’d believed him.
Until two days ago.
Sighing, I split the photo in two. Tucking my half into my robe pocket, I dunked
Kevin’s half into the full sink, enjoying it almost as much as I would dipping
a Krispy Kreme into hot chocolate. As I tried to figure out what to do about the
sink full of water, the phone rang.
I checked the clock. It was early.
“Hello?” I said with an edge to my voice that was sure to frighten
any telemarketers.
“Nina?”
Didn’t sound like a telemarketer, and although the female voice sounded
oddly familiar, I couldn’t place it.
“Yes.” My tone still warned that I was in no mood to buy a time-share
in Costa Rica.
“It’s Bridget,” she said. “Tim and I got your message
and your card. Thank you.”
My mouth dropped open. I’d called and left a message on her machine the
other day, but I hadn’t expected her to call me back. Not for a while, at
any rate. Not with all she had going on.
I wrapped the phone cord around my finger. “I was so sorry to hear about
Joe.”
Bridget’s father-in-law, Joe Sandowski—“Farmer Joe,” as
I used to affectionately call him—was found dead in one of his cornfields
early last week. Ordinarily the death of a man as old as Joe wouldn’t raise
a plucked eyebrow, but apparently, according to the local paper, there had been something (which was never specified and left inquiring minds wanting
to know) found at the scene that indicated his death had been anything but natural.
“Thanks,” Bridget said. “We’re sorry too.”
An irrepressible sadness tightened my throat. Although I hadn’t seen Joe
Sandowski in years, he’d played a pivotal role in my life. His love for
the outdoors had rubbed off on me to the point where I’d gone to college
for landscape design.
Soon after graduating I opened my own run-of-the-mill landscaping business which,
through a quirky twist of fate, two years ago morphed into what it was now: Taken
By Surprise, Garden Designs. TBS was one of a kind in this area of Ohio,
in the country really. We specialized in surprise garden makeovers. In and out
in a day, hard work mixed with more than a little chaos, and in the end, a very
happy customer.
My job was extremely gratifying, fun and rewarding. And I’d have none if
it if it weren’t for Farmer Joe.
I’d wanted to go to his funeral, to pay my respects to a man who’d
shaped my life—even if he hadn’t known it—but the paper had
specified a closed ceremony and I hadn’t wanted to intrude. I sent one of
Hallmark’s finest to Bridget and Tim instead—a poor substitute, I
know, but what else could I do?
“Nina, do you think we could get together?”
“I-uh—” Bridget Sandowski had been my friend since she shared
her purple grapes with me in kindergarten. We’d been joined at the hip until
she met Tim, her future husband, our freshman year of high school. Even then,
we’d remained close. It wasn’t until she and Tim went off to Stanford
that we started to lose touch with each other. However, it was one of those friendships
that was set in stone, despite the fact that we didn’t see each other more
than twice a year. At most.
“Of course. Has something happened? Is this about Joe’s death?”
There was a slight hesitation before she spoke, and her tone turned serious. “Nina,
I’d rather not discuss it on the phone.”
Maybe Bridget thought I’d have inside information about Joe’s case
since I happened to be married to Freedom’s lead homicide investigator.
Unfortunately, my inside track with the police department had been road-blocked
when I kicked Kevin out of the house. And I didn’t think my landscaping
skills would do her any good at this time in her life.
My curiosity piqued, I said, “Lucky for you it’s my day off. When
and where do you want to meet?”
“As soon as possible. And anywhere is fine.”
I eyed the soggy picture of Kevin and the water dripping off my counter. “I
have a few things to take care of here, but I can meet you at Gus’s, say
eleven?”
“I’ll be there.”
I hung up the phone, not sure what to make of Bridget’s tone. Something
in it raised the hairs on the back of my neck.
|top| |
