Chapter 5
Devon preferred to think things would calm down now that they were finally settled in here, but she was still dragging her sorry butt to work and to home again, constantly looking over her shoulder, wondering if the new neighborhood was safe.
She felt calmer about Henry now, knowing he likely was just coming over to visit, which made her relax.
When nothing more happened for several days, she started to relax more.
Then she feared that may not be the smartest idea either.
Yet, not really having any reason to stay on high alert as she was, she couldn’t stay in this completely stressed-out fight-or-flight mode all the time either.
At least she hadn’t seen any odd visions. By now she figured she’d just imagined the whole thing.
She needed a certain amount of time to get herself back into some semblance of normality.
The kids had even asked her a couple times if she was okay.
She always smiled, nodded, and replied that she was, just a bit overworked from the move, and, to a certain extent, that was true, but things had gotten a lot easier.
They had the last of the boxes unpacked.
Until she had a chance to live here for a little bit and to understand what the mortgage payments and all the bills would look like, she was doing okay.
But doing okay just didn’t seem to cut it now when other issues were going on around her.
Yet she wasn’t exactly sure what all those issues were.
It just seemed as if everything made her extra-nervous now, when before she would have considered herself a very calm person with a stable demeanor.
Now, when a door slammed or a shutter banged, she jumped.
Even at work, several people had noticed her jumpiness.
She laughed it off, explaining how she was just exhausted and needed some time to assimilate after the move.
A lot of people congratulated her on getting the house, and, when they found out how cheap it had been, they were all shocked but really happy for her.
She was too, of course, but only after several comments about the price of the house did she begin to wonder if there was a specific reason why the house had been such a bargain.
She didn’t want to think something was off about the house, yet she was starting to wonder. Still, as time went by, and nothing further happened, she relaxed a little more with each passing day. When she saw Camden a few days later, he waved at her and walked over.
“Everything still okay?”
She smiled and nodded. “Yeah, though I’m still a little on the jumpy side,” she admitted. “For the most part, everything looks okay.” He looked over at the kids, as she nodded nervously. “No, nothing.”
“That’s good,” he stated, “and exactly what we want to hear.”
She smiled and nodded as the kids raced over to say hi to him. Then they looked back over at her and asked, “Can we take our bikes over to the bike ramp in the park?”
She nodded, then glanced at her watch. “You’ve got two hours until dinner.” When they hesitated, she looked at both of them and asked, “What?”
“I was just wondering,” Tabby began. “Maybe we could have a late dinner so we could have more time at the park.”
Devon contemplated the hopeful looks on their faces and shrugged. “As long as you aren’t screaming for food the minute you get in, we can probably come to a compromise on that.”
They both laughed and bolted.
She smiled as she watched them go, happy to see something that kept them distracted and somewhat on an even keel.
There were lots of good days, but then there were also days where she walked in to find Tabby sobbing into her pillow because she missed her mom so much.
Outside of giving her a hug and telling her that Devon understood and shared the pain, she couldn’t do anything about it.
Still, even that much seemed to help Tabby sometimes—at least Devon hoped it did.
She knew, for herself at least, if somebody understood the pain, even if they couldn’t do anything about it, it tended to make her feel somewhat better, or maybe it was just an excuse. She didn’t know, but she was doing everything she could.
As the kids rode off on their bikes, Camden smiled at her. “They do seem to be quite happy together, don’t they?”
“As twins, they have quite an interesting bond, but they aren’t that far from puberty, and I’m not at all sure I’m ready for that,” she admitted, with a shake of her head.
“Of course not. On the other hand, nobody ever really is.”
She laughed. “Maybe.” She glanced back over at him, noting the can of paint in his hand. “That’s something I need to do.”
“What?” he asked, as he followed her gaze down to the can in his hand. “Oh, yeah, well, painting’s not my thing. I tend to get it everywhere but where it belongs.”
She laughed. “I’ve done a fair bit of painting, mostly because I never had the money to do renovations like the other people seem to,” she explained. “Yet I could always manage to throw a can of paint on the wall, but that was about it.”
He laughed. “A lot of times that’s all a place needs. I wish people would leave it at that so more of the actual renovations made sense. Too often people do these godawful makeovers that future buyers end up tearing out because it just doesn’t work.”
“That won’t be my problem,” she declared. “While my house is very dated,” she admitted, “outside of a couple cans of paint, renovating will be the last thing on my mind for a very long time.” She looked back to see an odd look on his face. “What did I say?”
Surprised, he shook his head. “Sorry, I was just caught up in my own thought process.”
She wasn’t sure whether she believed him or not, but it seemed as if nobody ever wanted to say something that might offend, so she assumed that’s what was on his mind.
“I promise I won’t come ask you for help, if and when I get around to doing renovations—particularly not if it involves painting.
” She laughed as he lifted his can up again with a big grin on his face.
“I’m pretty handy with almost everything else,” he shared, “but, man, the painting? It just gets me.” He looked down at his hands ruefully, and she saw they were completely covered.
She smirked. “White, huh?”
“Yep, white,” he confirmed. “It was pretty brightly colored inside when I moved in a long time ago, and I did a fair bit of painting at one point. Then I got busy at work, over and over. So I’m just now trying to finish off the rooms that didn’t get painted.”
She smiled and nodded. “The Realtors always say that white’s much better if you’re trying to sell.”
“I know,” he said, “but thankfully I’m not looking at selling anytime soon.”
She laughed, clearly thankful for that tidbit of news.
“No, me neither. I was absolutely shocked to even get this place. So, first house and all, you want to do so much, but I’m just waiting for all the bills to come in and hopefully not get sticker shock.
” He burst out laughing at that, and she had to smile. “You think I’m joking?”
“No,” he replied, “because I was the same way when I bought my place.” He looked over at her place. “It seems to be in pretty-decent shape.”
“Surprisingly it is,” she stated. “So I’m still trying to figure out why nobody else bought it. I mean, trust me. I’m grateful for it, but there’s always that weird question in the back of my mind, wondering how come nobody else scooped it up.”
“Sometimes things happen for a reason, and you can just be happy that you were the lucky one who got it.”
“Oh, I am, don’t worry,” she said fervently. “I don’t know where I would have ended up with the kids if not here. I really needed a place, and this is perfect.”
“And that’s exactly what homes are supposed to be for,” he pointed out. “So, if you run into any trouble, just let me know.” Looking at his hands again, he added, “I better go wash all this off before it becomes permanent.”
She smiled as she watched him go. Just as he left her property and headed over to his, she thought she saw a shimmer of something in the light. Frowning, she tried to get a closer look.
He turned back to her, as if sensing something too, and walked toward her. “Problems?” he asked curiously.
She shook her head. “I, I don’t know what to say. … I just thought I saw a shimmer of something.”
His gaze narrowed, and he asked, “Where?”
“Just as you were crossing the property line,” she began. “I don’t know. I’m just tired, I guess. I don’t know what else to think about all this,” she admitted, with a wave of her hand.
He studied her for a long moment and then asked, “Have there been other instances of seeing shimmers?” She eyed him, hunched her shoulders, and tried to back off the subject, but he wasn’t having it. “If there were,” he urged her, “you may want to take a closer look at that.”
“I don’t even know what that means and wouldn’t know what to take a closer look at,” she exclaimed in astonishment. “I mean, the last thing I want is to think of anything being off here because that’s just not in my wheelhouse. I need peace, quiet, a place to heal. All of us do.”
He nodded, then exhaled slowly.
“Do you know something about, you know, that shimmer?”
He stared at her for a long moment and then replied, “Probably not.” And, with that, he turned and walked back into his house, leaving her staring after him, feeling even more shocked.
“Probably not,” she repeated to herself. “What the hell does that even mean?”
She walked back into her house but couldn’t stop herself from spinning around as she got up to the steps that led to the front door, once again catching an odd shimmer right beside her as she walked. She froze, looked at it, only to see it fade.
Fade?
Disappear?
Something with the light?
Maybe it’s just a trick.