She was surrounded by soft sheets, enveloped in his musky scent. She breathed deeply, his fragrance filling her lungs and peace settling in her heart. She was safe.
Carefully, she turned in his embrace, pushing her back against the solid muscle of his chest. Her bum fit neatly against his groin and his arm pulled her close, laying heavily across her stomach, his hand cradling her breast. She felt her muscles relax, the wall of separation between them disappearing until they were breathing as one organism.
A cold breeze tickled her neck and raised the hairs on her arms. She turned quickly. He was standing by the dresser tearing strips of paper into a “puzzle” for her to read later. He looked at her, and then was gone.
She came to awareness quietly, keeping her eyes closed and not moving a muscle. The dream was recurring. The man was gone. If she woke slowly, she could remember his smell. Feel his weight. Feel herself whole again.
The bed shifted under her, and a cold nose pushed against her cheek. A whopping 22 lbs of bouncing fur nuzzled her face, making her squeal with cold.
“Snuggles! Squishy together. Happy!”
“Harper! Your nose is cold!”
Abruptly pulled to the present, Kat opened her eyes to find a puppy snout inches from her own nose. She buried her face in Harper’s fur and sighed, letting go of the deep yearning in her heart in the same way someone living beside a train-track stops noticing the rumbling danger. Always aware in the back of your mind, but tuned out of your immediate consciousness.
Kat turned onto her back and Harper snuggled against her side.
“Squishy snuggles!”
This time Kat shook her head. Was she hearing voices? From where she was lying in the king-size bed, Kat could see her light oak dresser with its angled 3-sided mirror. In the mirror’s reflection the second dresser was visible. Once full of Ryan’s clothes, it now held her off-season assortment of shorts and summer tops.
Her bedroom walls were painted a soft cream, adorned with bright photos of birds and of Harper. She didn’t need to look at the bedside table to see the ebony framed picture of herself and Ryan, faces full of laughter as they posed beside a random cow that had followed them for a while when they were hiking in the Alps. She knew the picture was there. Just as she knew the man was not.
Harper sneezed and nudged Kat with her cold nose. It was time for a walk.
“Walks?”
The phone rang, its loud jangle startling in the soft warmth of snuggly blankets and goofy puppy. Harper started barking, adding to the chaos as Kat stretched towards the night stand, reaching for the phone on its charging station.
“He’s dead Kat!” Kat heard Ellie, her best friend since high school, gasp into the phone.
“Who’s dead? What’s happening? Are you ok?” Kat sat up straight, letting the blankets fall from her shoulder. Harper put her paw on Kat’s shoulder, looking like she too was listening to the phone call.
“Uncle Carl! He died in his kitchen early this morning.” Ellie’s voice was stressed, her words rushing. Kat could hear panic in her voice.
“Oh no! Oh poor Penny, she must be devastated.”
“Kat, I know something wrong went down. I just know it. We’ve had anonymous tips coming into the newspaper. Something is wrong in Middlecove.”
Kat’s heart rate sped up. She’d also noticed. Furtive glances between shop owners. Secret meetings at the Downtown Business Improvement office. Even the Mayor was looking grey. And now she was convinced that she was hearing voices.
“Ellie, are you safe? Do you need me to come get you?”
“I’m ok Kat. I’ve got to go.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Boss is coming by, I can see him in the hallway. Meet me at Sugar Bees this aft?”
“I’ll be there.”
She pressed end on the call and sat still, absorbing the news. Uncle Carl was dead. She had known him, and his quick smile, her whole life.
Aunt Penny and Uncle Carl weren’t actually close relatives to anyone in Middlecove. They had moved to town shortly after their wedding over 50 years ago, and had opened a sweets and tea store on the main street. Their shop, Candy and Comfort, was a favourite destination for locals and visitors alike. The shelves brimmed with assorted loose-leaf teas and imported candy, all of them stored in antique metal or glass canisters with air tight lids.
Everyone called them Aunt and Uncle. Carl was quick to hand out a treat to all the children, and Penny was just as fast with her scowl. Penny’s judging gossip, and Carl’s genuine enthusiasm for life, had become part of the bedrock of Middlecove.
Kat stood up, resolved to find out more about Carl’s death.
“Let’s get outside and meet the cold, Miss. Puppy. Off you go!”
“Walks!”
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