Carridelle – Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen: Romance is in the air

Charlie and Carrie had a nice friendly platonic date. Carrie wasn’t entirely sure that was a good thing. She wanted that kiss at the end of the night. She lingered. She leaned her body into his. She gave him all of the right signals but it seemed that he was too blind to see any of it. “Stop it!” She screamed silently. What is the matter with you? You don’t want him to kiss you. That would mean you were being unfaithful to the one man you have loved in your life. Do you want Jon to walk out on you? She looked at her reflection in the mirror, “All right, from this day on we go out of our way to avoid that man!” And she meant it too.

Carrie stopped and inhaled, somewhere there was a fireplace going. Autumn was Carrie’s favorite time of year. It seemed to come on fast here. It was mid September and already the path was strewn with leaves in brilliant hues of amber, rust and gold. Carrie stopped and picked one up and thoughtfully she twirled it in her hand. She had to fight the urge to run and jump in them. She wanted to feel like a kid enjoying the brisk air. And indeed to a casual observer she might have seemed like a child in her large sweatshirt that came to her knees and a blush of pink on her pale cheeks. But today was not a trivial day; today her visit was too somber, her purpose too grim.

Carrie walked toward her destination, her arms clenched in tight fists by her side. She steeled her resolve and pushed on the heavy iron gates. There was a mist here in the cemetery, a mist that seemed oddly absent from the rest of town. Carrie had never been here before, but she found the spot that she searched for with no problem. After clearing away debris form the crumbling tombstone, with trepidation Carrie set down the flowers she brought with her. Stepping away she sat on the bench that faced Susannah Murray’s final resting place. The words on it had withered away with time but it was easy enough to put two and two together.

Here lies

Susannah Murray

Wonderful Wife, Dedicated Mother

In Death She Leaves Us Desolate

1825 – 1854

Carrie did the math in her head. Poor Susannah was only twenty-nine at the time of her death. She looked around her, taking in the large desolate graveyard. Assuring herself that there was no one around, she began to speak to the grave…

“Susannah, what goose chase are you sending me on? I don’t know if I am the one you need to solve your mysteries. I have found a little bit more then when I started. I have only been at this three weeks and I’m not giving up but I don’t know where to go next. Why do you haunt that house Susannah? I know who you are and I know that your mother died when you were young. I know the Hughes’ then adopted you and that you had an older brother who went on to become the Governor of this state. I know that you were married in 1843 and that you had at least two children but other then that I don’t know what it is you want me to find out. Please Susannah give me some more clues. I know you can do it if you try.”

Carrie took a deep breath and let out a sigh born of weariness. The only sound she heard was the faint stirring of leaves at the foot of the plot. She didn’t notice that the breeze blew in just that spot. The leaves swirled in a small circle as if she had awakened the very soul that lie beneath them. Spooked, she rose from her seat, but as she walked away, she turned back one more time.

“I admire you Susannah. You were so young and yet you knew that being a wife and mother were what you wanted. You knew who you loved at only nineteen. I still am not sure of myself. Maybe you can send me a sign on that too while you’re at it.”

It was a beautiful day for a walk and as she passed by a grinder shop she had a sudden craving for a Philly Cheesesteak. Well aware that she would not get exactly what she wanted she decided to give it a try anyway. She was lonely too and longed for company for lunch. Going to see Charlie was out of the question she knew, so she bought two cheesesteaks and some fries and headed over to see Buffy.

Carrie popped her head in the door of the diner and saw with mild satisfaction that it was slow. Not really wanting to anger Cook, she waited till she got Buffy’s attention and waved her over.

“Hi Ya Doll. Whatcha doin today?”

“I brought some lunch for us.” Carrie whispered feeling like a co-conspirator. “You hungry?”

“Well sure it beats the hell out of this food whatever it is. Come on upstairs. We’re slow anyways…. I’ll tell Cookie that I’m taking my break now.”

Carrie chuckled, the name Cookie didn’t quite fit with the large abrasive cook that worked the grill. She heard Buffy’s voice and then an answering grunt and soon they were up the backstairs and settling into the apartment above the restaurant.

“Have a look around doll while I get some things from the kitchen. Would you like a beer?” Buffy asked amongst the clattering of plates and silverware.

“Sure a beer sounds great,” Carrie said as she took stock of her surroundings. The décor was flamboyant. It was done in deep jewel tones. Royal purple throw pillows trimmed in gold fringe sat upon a dark pink couch. It was ostentatious. It was loud. It was slightly obnoxious and yet it fit together. It was Buffy, in a word.

Buffy came back in and caught the hint of a smile tugging at the corners of Carrie’s mouth. “You like it?”

“Yeah I do. It fits you to a T Buffy.”

“Well hell thanks sugah. We like it enough.”

Carrie looked around in confusion for a cat or a dog or some small pet she might have missed. “We?”

Buffy chuckled, “Can you keep a secret doll?” And without waiting for an answer she continued to blurt out her news, “Me and Cookie set up housekeeping together. Now course we don’t talk bout it much. This here’s a small town. But I am mad crazy about him even though he drives me bonkers. I have him wrapped round my little pinky too.”

Carrie was happy for her. “That’s great Buffy. Will you make him number six?”

“Don’t know about that sugah six never was my lucky number. But then neither was numbers one through five.” At that they both laughed and dove into their lunch with a gusto that would make any chef proud.

“So,” said Buffy wiping off the ketchup from the corners of her pixie like mouth. “You find what you needed in the library?”

“No unfortunately it was not a great source of information. But I did find out that the house was built in 1843. So that gives me a starting time frame anyway.”

“Well that’s good I guess. Now you can put a price on some of those antiques in there. If you don’t mind me asking doll are you okay? You seem kind of out of it, like there’s something on your mind.”

“Oh I’m sorry I guess I am not very good company. I’m trying to figure out how to solve a mystery. Err… for my new book.” She said, not wanting to give anything away.

“Well that’s alright dear I guess a creative mind is always at work. So tell me when is the mystery man of yours coming down to visit?”

“I’m not sure when he is coming down. We aren’t exactly on speaking terms at the moment.”

“But I thought he wanted to marry you?”

“He does.”

“Well honey, it’s none of my business but if that guy wants to marry you then he should be trying to sweep you off your feet not avoiding you.”

They had a lovely lunch together and days later Carrie would still be pondering what Buffy said. She found herself agreeing. If Jon wanted to marry her then a little romance would be in order.

In New York City, on that same night, at a convention for the prominent architects on the East Coast, a man and a woman waltzed across the floor. She swayed in his arms to the gentle rhythm of the music. All eyes were upon them thinking Cupid had made a match. But the man was hesitant, it had been six years since he had touched another and the other woman still held a hold on his heart. What was Jon to do?