CHAPTER 8
Lainey had gotten Vivian off to school and was standing in the doorway of her bedroom trying to channel HGTV. If I were an interior designer who understood Feng Shui, what would I do with this room?
Her phone buzzed. It was Cora. “Hey Sis, what’s up?”
“You sound chipper this fine Friday morning. Are you on your way to work?”
“Actually, no. I have today off. But I plan to carpe diem.”
“Seize the day. Okay, I like it! How’d you get a three-day weekend?” Cora asked.
“I worked a Saturday a couple of weeks ago because they were short staffed. To even out my hours, they gave me today off. But you’ll be happy to know I’m taking your advice.”
“Um...I give you advice all the time. Which nugget of wisdom are you referring to?”
“I’m going to redo my bedroom this weekend, and I’m starting today.”
“Really? What made you pull the trigger?”
“I was talking to Robert on the phone the other night and...”
“Hold up. So, you’re still talking to him?”
“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?” Lainey felt she’d come across more defensive than she’d meant to.
“Because, Lain, the last time I talked to you, you sounded like a fish out of water and acted like you were giving up this whole dating thing.”
Lainey leaned against the doorjamb and switched the phone to her other ear. “Well, I kind of had a serious conversation with him about his intentions and ...”
“What? You’ve only met the guy! I can’t believe you cornered him like that!”
“Cora, before you chastise me, the conversation ended on a good note, and we’ve talked again since then.
He called me Wednesday night, and we had a pleasant conversation.
Plus, the safe thing is, Robert’s tied up for the next ten weeks at his job.
I probably won’t have an opportunity to see him, so we’re just talking. ”
“What do you mean, the safe thing is?”
“I can get to know him without being ... you know ... distracted.”
Cora burst out laughing. “You mean you don’t trust yourself to keep your hands off him.” She continued laughing, and Lainey had to pull the phone away from her ear.
“Ha ha, have your laugh. But we really are getting to know each other through the phone.”
Cora calmed her humor. “Sorry, I’m thrilled for you. I haven’t seen you smitten like this before. You really like this guy, don’t you?”
“Jury’s still out, but I enjoy talking with him.”
“Jury’s still out? Yeah. Okay. You’re not fooling me. You like him. So you’re doing the bedroom reset I suggested? Good.”
“I think I’m going to repaint the walls.” Lainey stepped into the room and surveyed the space.
“What color?”
“I don’t know, maybe a lavender or a light green?”
“Green. Lavender is too girly. You want to stick with a neutral palette. I doubt Robert will want to sleep in a lavender room, but if the lights are off, he probably won’t notice till morning anyway,” Cora chuckled.
“Would you stop it? This is for me! And nobody is staying the night!”
“How did talking to Robert the other night make you want to do this?”
“At some point, it had gotten late, and we both commented on how we‘d moved to our bedrooms from where we’d first started the conversation.”
“How long were you on the phone with him?”
Lainey sighed, “Two hours, thirteen minutes. I looked at the call log time when I hung up.”
Cora broke into a ridiculous laugh again. And again, Lainey pulled the phone away to save her eardrum.
“You ARE smitten!” Cora giggled. “He must really like you. No man is staying on the phone that long with someone he’s not in to.”
“Anyway, I’m sitting here, talking to another man in a room that doesn’t feel like my room. I want it to feel like my space. Not a space I shared with Geoff.”
“I’m pulling into work now. I gotta go. But I’m really happy for you. Text me some pics when you can. I’d like to see.”
“Sure, I’ll send some after I get the walls painted.”
“No, I meant of Robert when you get him in there with his shirt off,” Cora cackled. “I’m joking. Yes, send me pics of the new wall color. Gotta go. Bye.”
* * *
Lainey picked out a calming light green for the walls at the hardware store. She also ordered a new white feather down comforter and bamboo shades for the windows online. The delivery would take only two days.
She’d found a picture of a bedroom in a beach villa online and used it for inspiration. She also picked up a palm plant and placed it near a window in the bedroom.
On Saturday morning, she spread plastic over the floor and went to work. While Viv ate her lunch and watched a cartoon, Lainey had only one more wall to paint when the doorbell chimed.
She carefully laid the roller down and looked out the side window. An older woman was standing on her front porch.
“Can I help you?” Lainey asked when she opened the door.
The lady was wearing a sun visor, capris and tennis shoes. Lainey wondered if she’d lost her dog. “Hi,” she smiled. “Is this where Geoff Wickham lived?”
Lainey was confused. Lived? She obviously knew Geoff had died.
Who was this lady? Lainey looked back at Vivian, who was absorbed in her cartoon and PB&J sandwich.
But not knowing what this interaction would entail, she stepped onto the porch and closed the door behind her. “Yes. I’m his wife...or was his wife.”
The lady’s smile softened. “I’m sorry to bother you. But my name is Jan Bingman. My uncle was the retired professor, Rudy Bingman, who your late husband tried to save.”
Woosh! The wind escaped Lainey’s lungs. “Oh. Uh. Yes.”
“The reason I came by is to ask you some questions about your late husband and the day he died. I’m investigating some valuable coins that went missing since the fire.”
Lainey couldn’t help squinting her eyes and tilting her head sideways.
Jan obviously saw the involuntary expression.
“Oh, I’m not accusing your husband of anything.
I am currently working on a timeline of events, and the fire marshal did not have a chance to interview your husband for his investigation.
I was wondering what your husband might have told you before...
um, well.” Jan lifted her sun visor and swiped her forehead sweat.
“Did your husband talk to you about the fire?”
Lainey folded her arms and looked down at her bare feet.
She hadn’t thought about this day, Geoff’s last day in a long time.
“My daughter and I were visiting my sister and her boys in Kansas City. We stayed there that night. The last time I talked to my husband was that same evening, before the fire happened.” Lainey hadn’t talked about this last conversation with Geoff since the day after he died.
It dawned on her she was standing on the front porch the last time she retold this story to her father-in-law and Mac while they watched the coroner load Geoff’s body into a van parked in the driveway.
“I called to let him know we had returned to my sister’s home after taking the kids to Lego Land.
We were making spaghetti and were getting ready to watch a movie.
Geoff had the night off, and he was on his way to eat at a Mexican restaurant.
He mentioned that since he was by himself, he’d sit at the bar.
I told him we’d be home around lunchtime the next day, and that was it.
The last thing I said was Drink a margarita for me. ”
Still, to this day, Drink a margarita for me haunted her. I love you should have been the last words to the man she loved, the father of her child.
She remembered looking at him lying in the casket, and Drink a margarita for me popped into her head.
How stupid. She began to cry in front of everyone at the funeral, and her sister wrapped her arms around her.
Everyone saw her crying, but didn’t realize it was because of the last words she’d said.
Yes, she was devastated, but Drink a margarita for me was the reason she was really crying at that moment.
Eventually, she’d forgiven herself. After all, she didn’t know that’d be their last conversation. “Come to think of it,” Lainey said, “I never have had a margarita since he died.” Did she really say that out loud to this stranger standing on her front porch?
“I didn’t realize. I assumed you were here when he...well, I didn’t know the particulars. I was told he died the next day is all.”
“I was here. Well, I wasn’t. I mean, I found him when we came home the next day.
He had collapsed in the kitchen. I found him lying on the tile floor.
Autopsy showed he’d had a heart attack, and I didn’t even find out about your uncle’s fire until later that day.
Mac, Geoff’s friend, who’s also a firefighter, told me about it.
Apparently, on his way home from the Mexican restaurant, he came upon the fire and ....
well, you know the rest.” She suddenly realized that this woman had lost someone too.
“Mac explained to me Geoff tried to save your uncle. I’m very sorry for your loss. ”
“Oh,” Jan shook her head, “I’m terribly sorry for yours! I know this is painful. I’m just trying to find out what happened.”
Lainey nodded. “I get it. You should talk to Mac, though. He’d probably have more answers for you than I. He was on duty and worked the fire that night.”
“Is that Richard MacKenzie?”
“Yes, everyone calls him Mac though.”
“Yes, I plan on speaking to him.” Jan turned and stepped off the porch. “Thank you for your time. Again, I’m very sorry.” Jan turned to walk away.
“Coins? I thought most of your uncle’s possessions went to the museum?”
Jan turned back. “That’s correct, but my uncle had a collection of rare Eisenhower silver dollars that went missing. If they weren’t so valuable, I’d let the whole thing go, but they’re worth four-million.”
“Dollars?” Lainey’s eyes widened.
Jan nodded.
“I’d be wondering what happened to them too! Have you talked to the police?”
“Oh yes, for the last three years. The police believe they don’t exist and I’m nuts,” Jan shrugged.
Lainey sighed, “I’m sorry.” Lainey wasn’t sure to believe her either. How does four-million dollars up and disappear? “Best of luck.”