Charm and Perfection
By LuAnn K. Edwards
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A text from my daughter, Jenny Monroe, read: Turn on Channel 17. Now!
I glanced at Blake Conner in his cute chef’s apron while he fried bacon. We’d made plans after our New Year’s engagement party the day before to have breakfast together. He stopped by my condo at 6:15 a.m. and brought me to his house. Because this was Wednesday, we planned to go to the office after breakfast.
“Jenny texted me to watch the news. Sounds important.” I slipped out of my shoes and rushed to turn on the television in the great room.
I gasped and covered my mouth with my hand. Eliza’s dead? Radnor Lake? I paused the remote, and it slipped from my hand.
The day before, toward the end of our party, Eliza arrived uninvited and insisted she see me. We spoke for a few minutes. She left angry. Hateful.
I sat on the sofa. How could she be dead? I jumped up. Oh my! I may have been the last person to see her alive. I twisted to hurry back to the kitchen and saw Blake rushing toward me.
He touched my arm, his voice edged with concern. “Keedryn, are you okay? What happened? What did Jenny want you to watch?”
Unable to speak, I picked up the remote, rewound the news story, and hit play. The news anchor repeated, “The body of the woman pulled from Radnor Lake last night has been identified as Eliza Walker, age forty-five. A resident of Franklin, she appeared to have drowned. Police are investigating.”
Blake took a seat next to me on the couch. He removed the remote from my hand and pulled me close. “Drowned? Her daughter must be devastated.”
I rested my head on his shoulder. “Poor Cindy.”
“Police are probably investigating whether this was an accident or murder.”
“Murder?” I raised my head and brought my hand to my neck. “Why did you say that? She’s not one of my favorite people, but why would someone kill her?”
“Don’t you suppose she may have gained a few enemies along the way? Look what she did to my family.”
Blake referred to recent information exposed that implied Eliza had lied to his deceased wife, Cheryl, which caused her to fall into deep depression.
I jumped up, spun to face him, and groaned. “What if the police think I killed her?”
He cocked his head. “Why would they think that?”
“She came here last night . . . near the end of our party . . . after 4:30. She demanded to talk with me. To tell me I made a horrible mistake.”
“Eliza was here? Why didn’t you tell me?” He rose and placed his hands on my shoulders.
“I couldn’t find you. After she left, I didn’t want to ruin our evening by discussing her.” I pulled away and paced. When I stopped, I gazed at Blake. “I’m concerned about Allison. She became irate when she saw Eliza leave. I’ve never seen Allison so upset. What if—?”
“Allison? You’re accusing my Allison? Of revenge? My daughter wouldn’t do that.” His face turned red. I had witnessed his anger less than two weeks earlier. Again, aimed at me. I hope he’ll listen to reason this time and give me a chance to explain.
“Blake.” I drew my eyebrows together. “Not what I meant.”
He glared at me and bolted to the kitchen.
I followed and spoke to his back. “Listen to me. I have nothing but love in my heart for your family.”
He grabbed his jacket from a hook near the door that led to the garage and spoke in a spiteful tone. “How could you accuse her?” He shook his head and stepped out the door.
I rushed toward him. “Let me explain.”
He wheeled around. Faced me. His forehead creased. Eyes narrowed. “You don’t need to explain anything. I understand what you meant. We didn’t think this engagement through. At least I didn’t. You just saved me from a huge mistake.” He turned, mumbled something I couldn’t make out, and slammed the door in my face.
~
My legs felt like lead. Did he say, “We didn’t think this engagement through?” I forced myself to open the door and hurried into the garage. Too late. The front of a black Ford 150 backed out from its parking space and down the driveway. The garage door lowered.
I raised my hands in the air and grimaced.
What did he expect me to do? Leave my ring on the kitchen counter? Drive to the office? Finish my two-week notice? Evaporate from his life? I didn’t have a car. Now I’m stuck here. Waiting on Blake to return home. A man who doesn’t want me.
I reached into my pants pocket for my phone to call Jenny to rescue me, but it wasn’t there. Must have left it inside.
I whirled back to the door to return to the warm house. Locked. The door had a keyless entry pad, but I didn’t know the code. I rubbed my arms. I wore a long sleeve blouse but wished I hadn’t slipped off my shoes earlier. My socks offered little warmth.
Instead of my focus being on Blake and our relationship, I needed to consider my well-being. How long would I need to stay in the garage? I craved warmth. I scanned the largest and neatest garage I’d ever seen. Upper and lower light blue cabinets lined the wall behind me with a counter in between. Three bicycles were mounted on the far wall. I assumed at least two had not been ridden in the past several years. A large SUV sat in front of me in the garage’s third parking spot.
Maybe one of the cabinets holds a house key? I peeked into each one but found nothing. I rested my hand on top of my head and looked at Blake’s SUV.