Authors: Marianne Spitzer
“A loan shark, you borrowed money from a loan shark? I should break your legs.”
“At least he’s not after me anymore,” said Garret. His smug look angered Daniel.
“Nancy’s brother is, and it seems as if he is the worst of two evils.”
“He’s nuts,” said Nancy.
“I assumed that. He killed Ben. You need to deal with him and soon. If the sheriff figures this out, he’ll hold you as an accessory.”
“I know," said Garret, “but I can’t until I find Bulk so I can keep him safe.”
“Bulk’s in a good place. He had a serious breakdown after Ben’s
funeral and was committed to Oaklin’s psychiatric ward. He’s regressed to high school memories. He doesn’t remember anything that’s happened. He thinks he’s still dating Carolyn.”
“Wow, that’s bad, but maybe a good thing, too.”
“Exactly, now it’s your turn to do what’s right before we all get killed. I have lied for you, found a place for you to hide and Annamarie sat in a jail cell protecting us. You have two days to fix this. I’ll be back on Sunday morning, and if you haven’t taken care of things, I’m going to the sheriff.”
“Okay, okay,” yelled Garret. “Leave me alone. I’ll take care of it.”
“You better or I will,” Daniel threatened. He stood up and headed back toward the pines. He knew it was time to see Annamarie, and that also meant going to her parents’ house. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to face her dad.
***
Daniel knocked apprehensively on the front door. When it opened, Daniel said, “Hi Mr. Schneider,” trying to sound friendly.
Theo silently glared at Daniel, and Annamarie’s mom saved the day again by pushing past her husband. “Hi Daniel, come in. Annamarie’s in the living room.”
Daniel sheepishly walked past Theo and into the living room. She was in his arms in a second, hanging on for dear life.
Her dad
stated, “Annamarie’s not leaving here tonight. You’re welcome to stay in the guest room.”
“Guest room?” Annamarie said.
Her mom laughed, “Theo they’re married. He can sleep in Annamarie’s room.”
Theo scowled at him, as if Daniel was going to sprout horns any minute.
“Thank you sir,” said Daniel. “I appreciate being able to stay.”
Daniel asked Annamarie if she’d spoken to Steve.
“He was here and I told him everything. I think Steve knew Ben was murdered before I mentioned it.”
“That could be,” Daniel said. “Everything is adding up to it. The sheriff isn’t a stupid man. Speaking of the sheriff, I have something he should know. Is Steve at home or the station? I’d prefer to talk to him.”
“I spoke to Deb earlier, and while we were talking, he came home. I assume he’s still there.”
“I’m going to call him and tell him about Bulk. You can listen.”
When Steve was on the line, Daniel explained about Bulk but kept his promise to Carolyn, not telling Steve how he found out. Daniel knew if the sheriff had any idea Carolyn had information, he would harass her the way he had Annamarie. He didn’t want that to happen.
Annamarie and Daniel sat and discussed the things they could with her parents until it was time for bed. Theo said he had to go into work early.
“Besides,” he said, “tomorrow’s Friday. I need to pick up my paycheck.”
“Friday,” groaned Daniel. “We have an important meeting at work tomorrow morning. I better call my father and let him know where I am before he calls our house and then the sheriff.”
When Daniel was through, they all said goodnight and headed for bed.
***
Walking into her bedroom, Daniel began to laugh. “You expect me to sleep in that?” He pointed to her twin-size canopy bed covered with pink ruffles and light green fuzzy pillows.
She snuggled up next to him teasing, “Are you such an old married man you need more room than this to sleep with your wife?”
“Want me to show you?” Daniel said.
“Not here with my parents in the room right below us. Are you crazy?” She whispered and they both collapsed on the bed, stifling their laughter.
***
They woke to the smell of coffee and bacon. “Breakfast,” Daniel exclaimed. “I’m starving!”
Annamarie put on her robe, Daniel dressing in the same clothes he arrived in. They headed downstairs towards the kitchen.
Her mom was humming while she made breakfast.
“Sit,” Paula said. “You’re just in time.” She placed waffles, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and cinnamon toast on the table.
Daniel devoured breakfast as if he’d not eaten for a week. “You make the best breakfasts in the world, Mrs. Schneider,” Daniel said between bites. He glanced at Annamarie and added, “Except for Annamarie, of course.”
Her mom laughed. “Good save, young man, but Annamarie never cared for cooking. When the two of you became engaged, I knew I had to teach her what I could in six short months. I think she caught on fairly well.”
“Yes, she did,” agreed Daniel. “She’s an excellent cook.”
Breakfast finished, Annamarie informed Daniel she was going to take a bath. He reminded her he had a meeting at the office and had to go home to shower and change into a suit. His father would have a fit if he arrived in jeans and a t-shirt. Giggling at the thought of George’s face, she told Daniel he had three clean suits in the front hall closet at home. They kissed, and she headed off for her bath.
Paula looked at Daniel and asked, “Do you have a minute or two before you leave?”
“Sure,” said Daniel and sat back down.
She began, “I want you to know that I like you, Daniel. Theo may sound gruff, but he doesn’t hate you. He’s worried Annamarie could get hurt.”
Daniel hugged his mother-in-law, assuring her he wouldn’t do anything to upset Annamarie’s dad, and hurried off to prepare for his meeting.
***
Sitting in a warm bath water wasn’t relaxing Annamarie. She never enjoyed baths and wished she was home where she could shower.
Finishing her bath, she dressed in brown stretch pants and a button-down print blouse. She put her hair up in the giant hair rollers. Fortunately, her mom had a hair dryer large enough to accommodate the rollers, or it would take hours for her hair to dry.
Annamarie turned on the hair dryer. It was loud enough she could barely hear her own thoughts, and that was a good thing.
Her mom knocked on the table to get her attention, and said Daniel was on the phone. Worried about why he’d be calling she picked up the receiver. He wanted to let her know he was home, and had checked out the entire house. As far as he could tell no one had been there or tried to break in. Annamarie was relieved.
“I’ll call you from the office, so you don’t worry. When I’m ready to leave the office, I’ll call again. I think it’s safe for us to be home. I refuse to spend another night in your pink nightmare.”
She laughed, “I’ll see you later.”
She finished drying her hair, and then brushed it out into the long, soft waves Daniel always loved. She was trying her best to deal with all that had gone on. It was hard to believe scarcely a week ago everything was normal. Now nothing was the same.
Her mom was engrossed in one of her soap operas. Annamarie went up to her old room trying to remember what life was like when the only thing to worry about was what she was going to wear. Looking around, she had to agree there was an enormous amount of pink in the room. Maybe that’s why she only owned one pink sweater now. Pink must remind her of childhood, but being an adult wasn’t what she expected.
***
Daniel arrived shortly after lunch. They both hugged Paula and Annamarie told her not to worry. They were going to be all right. She wasn’t sure her mom believed it, but she smiled as they left.
On the drive home, Daniel told her the meeting went well, and his father told him to go home and be back in the office Monday morning. A long weekend sounded perfect. Daniel promised he wouldn’t take off again if Garret called. He said Garret had enough supplies, and would be okay. No one was going to find them out on his grandfather’s property. They would be safe there.
Daniel pulled into their driveway, and while he was getting her suitcase, Annamarie picked up the mail from the mail-box. She walked into the house and tossed the mail on the table.
Daniel noticed a catalog for flowering plants. He held it up and asked, “What’s this for?”
“Christmas.”
“Annamarie, its August.”
“I know, but they sell plants grandpa would love to have. I wasn’t sure what he’d like for Christmas, and I sent for this magazine a month ago. They have a cool program where you order plants or bulbs, and they ship them when it’s the right time to plant them in your area. You get a birthday or Christmas card with the picture of the plant and details on when it’ll arrive. I’m going to get a big box, fill it with tons of tissue paper, put the card in the middle, wrap it, and put on a huge bow.”
Daniel was laughing by this time. “No one does that for grandfather.”
“That’s because you’re all stuffy and call him father and grandfather. He asked me to call him grandpa. I never had a grandpa to spoil before, so this year for Christmas I’m going all out.”
Having a grandpa made her so happy she felt guilty for enjoying life after they had recently lost Ben.
Daniel said she should go ahead with her plans because he couldn’t wait to see the looks on his parents’ faces. Besides, he thought his grandfather would be more than pleased.
While Daniel mowed the lawn and puttered around in the garage, Annamarie straightened up the house, put some potatoes and eggs on the stove to boil and did some laundry.
Daniel came in covered with grass and smelling like motor oil. “I need another shower.”
She nodded in agreement. While he showered, she chopped the eggs and cut the potatoes into small cubes. She put them back into the refrigerator to finish cooling. Then diced an onion and mixed a dressing made with mayonnaise, yellow mustard and herbs.
Daniel walked in and said happily, “Annamarie’s famous potato salad, yum.”
“Thanks,” she replied smiling. “There are burgers in the refrigerator. If you start the grill, I’ll finish the potato salad.”
Daniel must have been hungry because he was out the door in a flash. She picked up a second onion, and sliced it for the burgers, and also decided to slice a tomato because it was difficult to get Daniel to eat any vegetables. They also had the half watermelon her mom insisted they take with them. A picnic at home was what they needed.
When Daniel came in to get the burgers, he asked, “We have cheese, don’t we?”
“Don’t we always?”
“You’re perfect.”
That made her smile, and she prayed this was the beginning of their lives returning to normal. She mixed the potato salad and carried it out to the picnic table. Daniel said the burgers were ready for the cheese, and he grabbed the pickles and mustard along with the cheese. She put paper plates, cups, napkins, and silverware on a tray along with the tomatoes, onions, burger buns and a pitcher of iced tea. They could get the watermelon later. She carried the tray outside in time to see Daniel take the burgers off the grill.
“Ketchup!” he cried running back into the house to get it.
They sat at a picnic table and enjoyed their at-home picnic. It was a beautiful evening, and with the weekend a day away, she felt they’d have some peace, which they desperately needed. They had a lighthearted conversation about everything and nothing, avoiding sad subjects and remembered happy moments from the past.
She mentioned grandpa told her that he was excited about great-grandchildren calling him great-grandpa. Annamarie thought Daniel was going to choke on a piece of watermelon when he tried to eat and say “children” at the same time. The situation was obviously more funny than serious, and she told Daniel not to worry. It was grandpa that was in a hurry for children and not her.
Daniel said, “Don’t get me wrong, baby. I want children someday, but we just got married.”
“I agree. Don’t worry.” Trying to reassure him, “I don’t see children in our future for a few years. Grandpa will have to wait.”
They sat outside and talked for quite a while until the mosquitoes chased them inside. Daniel helped her do the dishes and put everything away. It was still early, and she asked him if he wanted to watch TV.
He grinned at her and said, “Because we’re not having children for a few years, it’s not going to stop us from practicing, is it?”
She hit him with a kitchen towel and chased him into the bedroom. Tumbling into bed, they spent a blissful night as newlyweds and slept soundly until the sound of a ringing phone woke Annamarie.
***
“I’ll get it,” she said while she stumbled into the living room.
Daniel lay in bed wondering who was calling, thinking maybe he should’ve
answered it.
Annamarie answered cheerfully, “Hello.”
She listened for a moment and felt the breath leave her chest. When she found it again, she screamed, dropped the phone, and fell to her knees. Daniel was there at her side in an instant with all sorts of thoughts running through his mind.