Ring Around the Rosy (24 page)

Susan couldn’t wait to see the
quilt, either.
 
“So, what do I have to do
to get you to make me one?” She followed Kate and Clare inside.

“I almost brought you a dog, but
thought better of it.” Kate ignored Susan’s question.

“Well, it’s a good thing you
didn’t. I don’t need a dog right now, thank you. And don’t go thinking about
bringing me one later.”

“Why not? The kids would love it.”

Susan went to the bathroom and
left her sisters arguing about dog stuff. Kate seemed to think everyone should
own a dog, just because she owned two.

Of course, they were Kate’s only
companions. After that jerk, John, Kate didn’t date anyone. Or if she did, it
never came to anything. Susan figured Kate was afraid of relationships. Poor
kid, only two days before the wedding and he skipped, leaving Kate to call all
the guests.

When she came back into the
kitchen, Kate looked at her. “So what’s going on with your boyfriend?”

“What’s with everyone calling him
my boyfriend?”

Kate wasn’t going to let up.
“Well, I heard you’re spending a lot of time with him. Surely, there must be
something between you?”

“Okay, okay. So we’re spending
some time together. So what? It’s nothing serious, honest. We’re friends, and
he only took me to Florida to keep an eye on me.”

“What do you mean to keep an eye
on you?

Shoot, she hadn’t meant to say
that. “Because of the phone calls.”

“What phone calls?”

“Come on, I told you about the
phone calls.

Kate tapped her foot. “You’re
going to have to explain that.”

Kate’s cell phone rang, saving
Susan from answering.

Much more of Kate’s interrogation,
and she was going to scream. Sometimes her sister was too darn nosy for her own
good.

Katie and Johnny came in from
school and saved further interrogation from Kate.

After the kids went to bed, Susan
curled up on the couch to watch a movie, Kate snuggled in to her rocker, and
Clare picked up a book. Clare never was one to watch TV. Susan leaned back and
closed her eyes and thought about Dave? Much as she enjoyed spending time with
her sisters, she’d rather be home with him. Would she miss a phone call? Or
would the killer know she was gone for the weekend? She missed most of the
movie, and finally decided to go to bed. Sitting here half asleep wasn’t
 
doing her any good. She stood, tossed a throw
pillow at Clare and another at Kate.

“Sorry, ladies, my eyes won’t stay
opened any more. I’ll see you both in the morning.”

“I’m going to turn in, too.” Kate
tossed the pillow back at Susan. “I got up too early today.”

“Boy, you guys are great company.
I’m glad I invited you.”

“Well, look at you with your nose
in a book; it’s not like you’re making conversation,” Susan said.

Clare set the book down. “Okay,
can we talk?”

Susan sat down. Clare sounded
serious. More than likely, she was going to cry about Steve again. “What’s up?”

Kate sat down next to Susan.
“What’s going on?”

Clare cleared her throat, looked
from one to the other. Susan sat forward. Something else was going on. Clare
had never acted that way before.

“I made a decision.”

“About what?”

Clare stood, walked to the
fireplace, sat down, and stood again. “I’ve decided to divorce Steve.”

“What?” Susan jumped up. “What the
heck are you talking about? Please tell me you’re not still seeing that guy?”

“No, that’s over. But I thought
about it after we talked yesterday. I wouldn’t have been attracted to someone
else if I still loved Steve.”

“Now, just a doggone minute. I
never said anything like that.”

“No, you didn’t. But it’s true,
and you know it. Steve and I haven’t had a thing going for a long time.”

Kate jumped up. “You can’t just
throw your marriage away. What about the kids?”

“That’s right,” Susan said. “This
isn’t just about you. Darn it, just yesterday you were moaning and crying about
what you’d do if Steve divorced you. Now you want a divorce.” Susan picked up
the pillow and threw it at Clare. “Do you have any idea what you’re talking
about?”

“You know, I was hoping for your
support, not a lecture.” Clare picked up the pillow and threw it across the
room. “Do you think it was an easy decision?”

“Okay, you two, calm down. Let’s
sit down and talk about this like adults.”

Susan looked at her sister. Leave
it to Kate to take control. She took a breath and blew it out. Of course she
was right. Yelling at each other wasn’t going to solve anything. But a divorce?
What the heck was Clare thinking?

She sat down and patted the
cushion next to her. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Let’s talk about this.”

“There’s not much too talk about.
I was awake half the night thinking about this, weighing the pros and cons.”
Clare sat down. “I care for Steve, honest. But I’m not in love with him. We’ve
grown apart. We don’t even like the same things anymore.”

“Don’t you think you ought to
think about this some more? Talk to someone. A counselor?” Kate sat across from
Clare and Susan.

Susan held her breath. If anyone
could talk some sense into Clare, it was Kate.

“If I thought it would help, I
would. I thought about this all day and all night. Steve’s a great guy, really
he is. But it’s not going to work. I’m still young, I want a career.” Clare
held her hand up. “I know, I know. I never wanted a career before, but honest,
since I’ve been working, I feel so fulfilled, so alive.”

“That’s fine, but why can’t you
work and stay married?” It took everything in Susan’s power not to shout at her
sister. “You’ve got sixteen years invested in this marriage. You have two kids
to think about. What’s this going to do to them?”

“You know, Susan, it’s not just
about them. It’s not just about Steve. It’s about me, too. I gave Steve sixteen
of the best years of my life. He made every decision down to where the kids
went to school. Yet, he wasn’t here for them. He missed all the parent-teacher
conferences, most of their sporting events. He even missed Johnny’s birthday. I
can’t live like this anymore. I didn’t get married to live alone. I didn’t have
kids to raise them by myself.”

“Wow.” Susan put her arm around
Clare. “I had no idea you felt that way. You always sounded so happy. You acted
like you had the perfect life.”

“Yeah, perfect. Right. As long as
I went along and didn’t make waves, everything was fine.”

“Now, just a minute here. I’m not
saying you’re wrong, but Steve gave you everything you wanted, too,” Kate said.
“I always thought he was a bit overbearing with the decisions, but you allowed
it. And you have to admit, he gave into your every whim.”

Tears filled Clare’s eyes. Poor
kid, this wasn’t easy for her. Susan rubbed her back. “Okay, this isn’t like
you to make sudden decisions. What’s really going on? And don’t tell me
nothing.”

“Maybe it’s been coming for a long
time.” Clare shrugged. “All I know is I’m still young. I still have a lot of
life left in me, and lately, I’ve not been living.”

“Wow,” Kate said. “You’re really
serious about this.”

Clare stood. “Yes, I am. Now I
have to figure a way to tell the kids and Steve.”

“I don’t envy you that.” Susan
shook her head. “What are your plans? I mean, you’re probably going to have to
move. Have you given that any thought? And I know it’s not all about them, but
have you thought about the kids at all?”

“Of course I thought about them.
In fact, they were my first thought,” Clare said. “I’m going to see if I can
buy Steve’s half of the house. We do have some money saved, and at least the
house will be paid for. The kids can stay in the same schools, keep their
friends. I want to disrupt them as little as possible.”

Clare yawned. “I’m sorry, ladies,
but I really need to call it a night. We can talk about this more in the
morning.” Clare stood and headed for the stairs.

Susan looked at Kate and shrugged.
It figured Clare wouldn’t want to continue the discussion. Not that she cared.
She was tired, too. “I agree. It’s time for bed.” She followed Clare upstairs.
Kate came close behind.

About four in the morning, Susan
woke up to the sounds of tapping. It sounded like someone at a window. She
shook Kate, not wanting to wake Clare.

“What?” Kate yelled.

“Shh, don’t wake Clare.”

“Too late.” Clare turned over and
looked at her sisters. “What’s going on? What time is it anyway?”

How could she tell Kate without
letting Clare know? The last thing they needed was Clare getting hysterical.
The tapping suddenly got louder.

“What’s that?” Clare grabbed Kate’s
arm.

 
“Just be quiet, will you. Stay here, Kate and
I will check it out.” How her sister managed to stay alone when Steve was gone
was beyond her.

Clare grabbed Susan’s sleeve.
“You’re not leaving me up here alone.”

“Fine, then. Come with us, but be
quiet.”

“No, we can’t go down there. What
if it’s a burglar? What if he has a gun?”

“Right. You stay here. If it’s a
burglar, we’ll scream, and you call 911. If he has a gun, we’ll run.” Susan
wasn’t in the mood for an argument or hysterics.

“Maybe we should just call the
police.” Clare started to cry.

Susan looked at Kate. A little
help would be nice about now. Not that she really expected it from Kate. Nope.
Kate wasn’t going to do a darn thing. “Okay, you two stay here. I’ll check it
out.”

Clare shook her head. “N…no. We’ll
all go.”

Susan got out of bed. She was
going one way or another. With or without her sisters. The tapping noise got
louder.

Kate pulled her back. “Clare’s
right. We should call the police.”

“And tell them what? There’s a
tapping noise? We don’t even know where it’s coming from. For all we know, it
might be a mouse. Wouldn’t that look cute?”

Kate picked up the phone and
punched in the numbers. “Clare’s right.”

“Uh,” Kate said into the phone.
“We’re hearing noises downstairs.”

Suddenly, a loud thump sounded.
Even Susan jumped. Someone was in the house.

“Please hurry. I think someone
just broke in.”

“The police are on their way.”
Kate hung up and put her arm around Clare, who was shaking and whining
uncontrollably.

Susan stood near the door and
tried to listen for footsteps or someone moving around downstairs. Nothing, not
a sound. Nothing but the distant sound of sirens. “Thank God, the police are
coming. Stay here. I’ll let them in.” Susan eased her way to the stairway when
she saw the flashing lights outside. At the top of the stairway, she paused and
took a breath. Suddenly, someone came rushing up the stairs, almost knocking
her over.

“Mom!” Johnny flew around the
corner. “The cops are here. What’s going on?”

Susan burst out laughing and
hurried down the steps to open the door. “Sorry, officer. It was just my
nephew.” She knew she should have checked it out before her sister called. Now
they looked like idiots.

“No problem, Miss. Better to be
safe than sorry.”

Susan caught a glimpse of her car
in the cop’s spotlight. A red rose hung from the door handle. She started to
shake. “Come in a minute, please.”

 
“Johnny,” she yelled as the policemen followed
her inside.

“What?” Johnny appeared at the top
of the steps, red-faced.

“Why did you come downstairs?”

“I heard a noise, a tapping
sound.” Johnny came downstairs and stood next to her. “I came down to check it
out.”

Clare gasped as she followed
Johnny down the steps. Kate grabbed her just before she collapsed.

Susan ignored her sister. Why Clare
reacted like that to every crisis, she’d never know. Certainly not the way they
were raised.

“We’ll take a look around,” One of
the officers said.

“Are you the one that made the
loud thump?” Susan asked.

“Yeah, I tripped over the
ottoman.”

“Did you see anything?” Susan sat
down to still her trembling legs.

“I thought I saw a shadow,
uh...near your car, Aunt Susan.” Johnny sat down opposite her. “I wasn’t sure.
I mean, it was so dark out there. That’s when I tripped.

The police officers came back in. “Nothing
out there. We’ll keep an eye out. You people try to get some rest.”

Yeah, like that was going to
happen. Whoever was stalking her knew where she was, must have followed her,
but how? She hadn’t noticed anyone. God, she hoped she wasn’t putting her
sister and family in danger. It was too complicated to explain the rose to the
police. She had to call Dave, tell him.