inability to break eye contact, to move on?
âOur company is going to be doing some landscaping on the street,â he added. âSo if youâre interested in getting a bid for your yardââhe reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a business cardââweâll give you or any of the other neighbors a ten-percent discount.â
She couldnât afford a landscaper, no matter what kind of deal he gave her, yet she took his card anyway, fingered the embossed lettering.
âMom!â Danny yelled again, this time louder and more insistent.
âIâm coming.â Her words gave the proper response, but her feet seemed to be uncooperative.
âKeep us in mind,â he said.
She nodded, afraid sheâd be keeping the landscaper in mind longer than she ought to, and forced herself to head back to the house.
Shake it off, she told herself as she reached her front porch.
Danny stepped aside to allow her in.
Still, for some crazy reason, just as she started past the threshold, she stole one last peek over her shoulder, only to see that the landscaper hadnât moved either, that his eyes were still on her.
Â
Amy had no more than returned the photograph of Ellie and Harold back to the mantel and started back to the kitchen when the doorbell rang.
Had Maria had a change of heart about the tea?
Oddly enough, Amy hoped so. She returned to the living room and answered the door only to find a tall, dark-haired man on the stoop. He appeared to be Latino, with soft brown eyes and a shy smile.
âMrs. Masterson?â he asked.
She nodded.
âIâm Eddie with Gonzales Landscaping. I was asked to come by and look at the yard so that we can give the owner an estimate for cleaning things up around here.â
âOh, good.â She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. âIt definitely needs some work.â
âDo you have any dogs I should be aware of?â
âNo, I donât.â At least, not at this house.
âIs there anything specific in the yard that needs to be trimmed? Anything youâre especially concerned about?â
âActually, Iâve only done a cursory walk-through of the yard, so I canât really say. I know thereâs a rose garden in back, and itâs in bad shape. Other than that, the lawn needs to be mowed and edged, the trees and bushes need to be trimmed.â
âIf you donât mind, Mrs. Masterson, Iâll take a look around.â
âNo, not at all. But call me Amy.â
âAll right.â As he stepped off the porch, she closed the door and returned to the kitchen, where she opened the pantry, threw out all the open containers of food, and boxed up the rest. She found an unopened bag of Kitty Delight, although she hadnât seen any other sign of a cat. Rather than pack it up with the food items, she left it on a shelf to deal with later.
After washing down the shelves, she started on the drawers, then scoured the counters.
Near the telephone, which no longer had a dial tone, she found a pink steno pad with several notations written in pencil:
Soup kitchen Friday. Vera will pick me up.
Tell Joey the washing machine is broken again.
760-555-1493âDaniel Delacourtâtomorrow afternoon here.
Dr. Ryleyânew medication not working.
Odd, she thought. It wasnât the typical list, like the items she needed from the grocery store. It appeared that Ellie was keeping notes for herself, jotting down things she didnât want to forget.
Had she known her mind was failing?
Again, the doorbell rang. Amy wasnât sure how much time had passed. Fifteen or twenty minutes, she supposed.
Assuming the landscaper had finished checking out the yard and wanted to tell her he was leaving, she made her way back to the entry and swung open the door only to find her ex-husband and her daughter on the stoop.
âBrandon,â was all she could say.
âWhatâs