Obsession Falls(4)

The family room had a fireplace with a flat screen TV mounted above it and a sectional covered with throw pillows in various shades of beige and light blue. The room didn’t look like it was used very much. Mom had never been a big TV or movie watcher. She probably only went in there to dust around the photos and nick-knacks on the mantle and shelves.

And then there was the wall of Audrey.

I’d graduated from high school well over a decade ago, but it was still there. An entire wall of me.

I moved closer as Max kept sniffing. In the center was one of my senior pictures. I had no idea what was going on with my hair back then, with the zig-zag part and flipped out ends. Surrounding the photo were awards I’d received, everything from my sixth-grade student of the year certificate, to my varsity letters in cheer and track, to the plaque from my stint as Pinecrest’s Junior Miss.

The valedictorian medal I’d worn at graduation hung from a wooden peg and the console table beneath held more photos, mostly milestones from my high school years. Scowling, I picked up the photo from my senior prom. My ex-boyfriend, Colin Greaves, smirked back at me, dressed in his rented tux with a pink bow tie to match my dress.

“I saw Colin the other day,” Mom said, her tone thick with the underpinnings of juicy gossip.

“Oh?” I set the photo down.

“He looked great, of course. He’s thinking about running for city council.”

“Good for him.”

“Your dad would have been thrilled.”

“I’m sure he would have.”

“Although, I hear he and Lorelei have been going through a rough patch.”

“Oh, no,” I said, my eyebrows knitting together with concern. I walked back to the kitchen and took a seat at one of the island stools and prompted Max to lie down. Thankfully, he actually obeyed. “That’s too bad.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say it’s surprising.” She pushed a mug of tea toward me. “Everyone knows he rushed off to marry her too quickly.”

I could hear what my mom wasn’t saying. He rushed off to marry her after you dumped him. So it’s your fault.

Granted, he had started dating Lorelei almost immediately after our breakup and they’d gotten married just a few months later. I wasn’t angry about that now, but it had stung at the time. We’d dated for five years—from our senior year of high school until after I graduated from college—so you’d think he might have needed some time before moving on.

But, unlike my mother who’d never really forgiven me for breaking up with him, I was over it.

“I hope they’re okay,” I said, and I meant it. I didn’t harbor any ill will against Colin. I was glad it wasn’t me who’d married him, but I didn’t want anything bad to happen to him.

Mom shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s probably for the best that they don’t have kids. Maybe they need counseling. Although I’m not sure if a counselor could fix the fact that he married the wrong woman.”

Time to change the subject before she got into how I’d been the right woman and I should have married him because look at me now, in my thirties and single. “So I start my new job on Monday.”

She smiled. “The smartest thing they ever did was hire you.”

“Thanks. I’m just glad someone finally did.”

I wasn’t so sure about this job but beggars can’t be choosers. After applying to just about everything I could find, I’d answered the posting for the Tilikum Tribune mostly out of desperation. I’d never worked for a newspaper, but I did have a degree in journalism. To my amazement, they’d called me for an interview and offered me the job on the spot.

Employment problem solved. But I’d been living almost seven hours away, in Boise, for the last several years. Working for a small-town newspaper wasn’t a remote sort of job, so it meant packing up and moving.

Tilikum wasn’t Pinecrest, but it was close enough. This whole region, from Pinecrest to Tilikum to Echo Creek, all fell under the umbrella of “hometown” in my eyes. And not in a cute, nostalgic way that made moving back a warm and fuzzy experience. In an I-never-wanted-to-live-here-again way that made me feel like a big, fat failure.

But it was fine. This job was a means to an end—a way to get back on my feet. I’d keep looking for another one—preferably at least five or six hours away—and make the best of it until then.

Without warning, Max jumped to his feet. He took off at a dead run and the leash slid right out of my hand.

“Max!” I scrambled off the stool and went after him. “Max, come!”

Spoiler alert: he didn’t listen.

I ran to the living room with my mom close behind and found Max trying to stuff his entire head into the two-inch gap below the couch. His face popped up for a second, just long enough to let out a bark, and he was back at it again, shoving his nose under the couch.

“Max, get out of there.”

“Oh, no,” Mom said. “Duchess.”

“That must be it. He saw your cat.”

“Don’t you let him hurt my baby.”

“He won’t hurt her. He wants to play.”

Max barked again.

“Audrey, he’ll eat her!”

“He won’t eat her.” At least I hoped he wouldn’t. “That’s his play bark.”