Wish You Were Here (73 page)

“Give me a call on Monday,” Emily said. “I'm going to need tomorrow to get things in order.”

She waved Arlene away and went inside. Rufus wagged at the back door, and she relented.

“But you have to stay out of my way,” she said.

She went around throwing open the curtains and windows, trying to get a breeze going. Upstairs it was worse, and there was Henry's dresser, large as ever, and the picture Kenneth had taken of him reading the paper. She'd had a vacation from him as well.

“Back to reality.”

She started with the laundry, tossing in a load of darks and draping her slack bags over the newel post. Next she emptied the cooler and wiped it out with a paper towel. There were three messages on her machine, but they could wait. Kenneth and Margaret wouldn't be home yet anyway. She'd have to call Louise.

The dehumidifier, she'd forgotten it. She took the cooler down to the moldy basement and brought back the heavy plastic catch bucket and splashed the musty water into the sink. On her way down again she took the box of toys and the orange extension cord nobody wanted and set them on Henry's bench. She'd find a place for them later. As she passed the fridge at the bottom of the stairs, she thought she should get rid of those old bottles, but not now. There was too much to do.

She opened the cupboards and emptied the dishwasher, the stacks of plates and bowls clashing as she put them away. She unpacked the box of kitchen stuff, setting the salt and pepper shakers on the table and admiring them a second before rinsing everything else. At the sink, with her hands full, she looked around the counter, sure she'd forgotten something, searching for a clue, pausing on the aloe plant and Henry's Hamilton and then the garage-door opener. Her golf clubs, right, she didn't want to leave them outside.

The mail would come on Monday automatically, and the paper. She needed to buy Marcia something for watching the house. What else?

Gas for the car, and dog food. A new bulb for the bathroom. The milk in the fridge was iffy, and the eggs. She needed crispbread to go with her Lappi, and fresh veggies. Tomatoes, peaches—anything she wanted to eat this week. As always, dinner was a riddle. She'd have to make a list.