Chapter 22: Hello Kitty
Sprawled out on the plush leather chaise in the corner of my office, I swore at my phone. Thanks to a text from the hubby, I missed my shot at the eight ball.
“Call me” That was the message so important it might cost me the game. He’d gotten me hooked on this game months ago when it was easy to get the rings, just had to win so many games and poof you had a ring. Then they changed to a trophy system. Win get trophies, lose they took them away. Getting a ring now was like trying to pay off a high interest credit card by only making minimum payments. I’d been trying to get my champion ring in Jakarta for a month. Two more wins to victory. If he cost me this game, he wasn’t going to like what I called him. Seconds later, my opponent potted the eight ball and now I needed three wins to get my ring. With a growl, my finger punched the button to call hubby dearest.
“You cost me my Jakarta ring.” My tone no doubt conveyed that I was unhappy, and he was going to pay for his interference.
“Like those are hard to get. I’ve got two.” Apparently, I hadn’t married an intelligent man. What did that say about me that it took me almost twenty years to figure that out?
“No, you don’t. You have one.” I knew that for a fact, I’d just stalked his profile to make sure I still had more rings total than him. He gave a knowing snicker.
“I got a call from Mrs. Myer-Hutton.”
That name mixed with his taunting tone made my teeth snap together. It was pointless to ask but, I had to try. “So, you are going to be late for dinner?”
An evil chuckle came across my phone. “No baby, YOU are going to be late for dinner. You know she thinks I’m useless.”
“But she likes you more!” We went back and forth for a few more minutes before I accepted my fate.
“Fine! I’ll deal with the old bat. You better have a decent dinner waiting for me. “
“I’ll buy you a burger or nachos. If you are a really good girl, I’ll even buy you a drink.” The amusement in his tone meant I had forgotten something. I pulled the phone away from my face and the date made me swear again. “See you tonight Beautiful.”
He hung up before I could talk my way out of going anywhere tonight. Man, my lunch break had been being so relaxing. Nothing like a call from the ball and chain to ruin it. Grumpily I returned to my desk and lost myself in work until it was time to leave for my evening of torture.
After fighting traffic for over an hour I pulled up in front of a Tudor style house in Keller. I hated this house. Don’t get me wrong, it was gorgeous. It had the steep gabled roof and elaborate windows and doors that made it look like it belonged in the English countryside. It was the nutty old bat that owned it that had me looking for comfort in a frozen coffee from Dutch Bros and scone from Starbucks. Her hearing was obviously still keen; she opened the heavy wooden front door to stare at me as I washed the last bite down. I sent a fervent prayer for patience skyward and got out of the jeep with a smile.
“Good evening Mrs. Myer-Hutton.” The woman had to be at least seventy. Her nearly shoulder length white hair was perfectly styled for a fifty’s movie. Her lime sparkly pantsuit whispered as she raised her arm to look at the fancy gold watch on her wrist.
“You are late. Your darling husband said you would be here nearly twenty minutes ago.” She admonished me in a sharp tone full of accusation. So, it begins. Our relationship soured after a few visits when she made some snide comment about how I clearly wanted to be a man and wear the pants in my marriage. My response that we were happily married and only wore pants if we had to was apparently disrespectful.
“I apologize. Starbucks had a long line.” Since she was a client of Jesse’s firm, I had to try to maintain a level of professionalism. She sneered when I said Starbucks. Not sure what her problem with it was, didn’t care. “So, what’s been happening around here?”
Without speaking, she led me through the sparsely decorated entryway then turned left into the parlor and gestured for me to sit in the antique club chair. I swear she brought me in here because she knew the paintings on the wall creeped me out. They were poorly drawn portraits of her family members that she had made herself over the years. Either she couldn’t draw, or all of her family had lopsided eyes.
“The activity started exactly nine days ago.” She looked towards the door that led to the kitchen as she launched into her tale.
Nine days ago, was her sixtieth wedding anniversary. She went into the kitchen to make her anniversary breakfast consisting of eggs benedict served on Belgium waffles. While pouring the batter onto the iron, she felt a cold breath on the back of her neck. Startled, she spun around to see nothing behind her. When the waffles were cooking, she began making the sauce for the eggs. Everything was normal until she turned on the blender. The top flew off the top causing the blender to overflow onto the counter. Simultaneously, all the lights flickered in the kitchen.
“Lenny?” She called out hoping her beloved late husband was visiting her on their anniversary. There was no response. Unnerved, she returned to preparing her breakfast, feeling eyes watching her from the nook. Once the food was ready, she carried her meal to the formal dining room where she and Lenny had always taken their anniversary meals. Lenny’s chair at the head of the dark heavy table felt cooler than normal. Again, she called out for Lenny with no response. Wondering if she was losing her mind, she settled at the table to eat her eggs with Nat King Cole playing on the record player, just as she had ever since Lenny had died nearly ten years ago.
Not wanting to focus on the odd incidents, she spent the day out with her daughter and grandkids. That night when she returned, the door flew open when she unlocked it. “Hello?”