“What’s the deal between her and John? Things seemed a little odd between them.”

“They went out once. He wants to go out again, but she’s not interested.”

“Why not? Is there something wrong with him?”

I pondered the question. Was there? I’d been thinking about this since I met John and still didn’t know the answer. Archie certainly didn’t seem to have any hesitation about him. I wasn’t exactly thrilled he would be in our house later today. Maybe I hadn’t given the guy a chance though, and I was judging him too harshly.

“She’s just not into him,” I said. “You know how it is. You either have a connection with someone, or you don’t.”

He nodded. “I guess that’s true. Oh, there was news about Angela’s murder on the news this morning. You were in the shower when it was on.”

“What?”

“It seems she had a relationship with a married man in Elmville for the past year. They’re questioning him and his wife.”

“Really?” My interest piqued. “Anything else?”

“That’s it for now,” he said. “So, at least if it was affair-related there’s no psycho wandering around killing people in town.”

I took a bite of omelet. “Thank goodness. A psycho is the last thing this town needs.”

The early evening sky, streaked with pink and white, stretched out above me as I stood up, arching my back, after being hunched over for so long picking green beans. The loud trill of tree frogs surrounded me in the otherwise calm evening. Nature can be noisy in its own special way.

The beans were out of control, so much more bountiful than any other I’d planted in the past. Locals said Pennsylvania soil in this area was especially rich for farming. I guess that was why we were experiencing such a harvest. Not that I was complaining.

A sweetness lingered in the air. Honeysuckle grew wild behind the garden, filling the area with its fragrance. I moved my limbs to the sky, soaking in the oxygen of Mother Earth and feeling her vibrancy racing through my strong body. I felt energized, like I was one with the nature surrounding me. Peace flickered inside me. One of the most important elements in life to me? Peacefulness.

Some say love is the most important and powerful emotion one can experience in life and while I do agree love is integral to a satisfying human experience, I’d venture to say peacefulness has far more importance.

Peace within yourself. Peace in your environment. Peace with those around you. Peace allows you to slow down, listen and absorb what is in your world and how you can relate to the world. It gives you the power to contemplate, plan, and act on ideas swirling in your mind. Peace gives you clarity. I’d lived without peace for too many years to know how important it is to cultivate and nurture.

I bent over to attend to the beans once more. I only had one row left to do. I’d keep a bowl for our refrigerator and the rest would go to the store with me tomorrow to sell. I was on my own tonight. Archie had Back-to-School Night and wouldn’t be home until after nine.

Today had been cloudy, so evening seemed to descend earlier than normal. I hurried down the last row, finally putting the last of the beans in my bushel basket. I plopped down in the grass behind the garden, facing the back of our house, and began cleaning them, snapping the ends of the beans off, breaking them in half and placing them into the large bowl I’d brought out from the kitchen.

Lightning bugs began to appear, their small lights dotting the darkening sky. I snapped beans and admired our home. The hayfields to the left were neatly cut, thanks to John, but the right side and along the back of the yard was surrounded by tall cornstalks with deep green leaves; while Archie enjoyed the vast views when all the fields were cut, I rather liked the closed in, cozy feeling the tall corn afforded to us. Just Archie and I in our little nest.

I expected we would grow old here in our farmhouse, on our land. Maybe we would have children one day. We weren’t ready yet, but who knew what the future held for us. Maybe it would just be us; the thought of children wasn’t something I was sure I wanted, after my childhood. I was certain I wanted to be here though, in this place, with Archie. Thirty years from now would I still be sitting on the grass on a humid summer night snapping green beans and watching lightning bugs light up the sky? I hoped so.

I stared at our house; only the kitchen light was on and the patio light outside, the rest of the structure shrouded in darkness. An owl hooted in the distance, breaking into the silence of the evening. I continued to snap beans, my bowl almost full.

A coldness rippled through my body, despite the stagnant heat of the night. Goosebumps prickled my arms, and an awareness came over me. I lifted my eyes.

A light was shining from the attic window.

I dropped the beans I held and stood up. The round, white, spider web attic window had been dark only a few minutes before, but now it held a dim light, bright enough for the entire intricate design of the window to be seen.

My heart stilled.

Who was in the attic?

I jabbed my hands into my denim overalls, pulling out my pocketknife. I hesitated. Did I really want to confront whoever it was? I pulled out my phone and texted Archie.

Will you be home soon?

Three dots.

Ten minutes.

Okay, I’ll meet you outside.

???

I didn’t answer. I’d talk to him when he got home. I looked up from my phone.

The window was dark again.

I stared and trembled. What was going on? I just saw a light on inside the attic. I was sure of it. It wasn’t my imagination.

I stayed in the yard, staring at the house and waiting for Archie to arrive home. Finally, headlights came up the lane. I hurried to the garage.

“You have to check the house!” I told him. “There is someone in the attic! There was a light on and now there’s not. Someone is in there!”

“Woah slow down, okay, don’t worry, babe,” he said in a calm voice. “I’ll check it out. Are you okay?”

I followed him inside the house and grabbed a knife from the kitchen.

“Take this with you,” I whispered.

“Okay,” he said, giving me an odd look, but he took the knife and went upstairs.

I debated following him or staying downstairs. I decided to go to the second floor but did not follow him up the attic stairs.

We locked eyes before he pulled the string to light the dark stairway leading to the attic. I gripped my pocketknife and stood at alert in the hallway, listening to every sound in the house.

Archie’s footsteps creaked above me. He slowly moved across the room, then silence. I strained to hear anything. Nothing but the tick tock of the hallway clock.

The minutes ticked by. Then, Archie’s footsteps traveled down the attic stairs.

I raised my eyebrows. “Well?”

Archie wiped his forehead. “Nothing, except I walked into a spider web.”

“Are you serious?” I brushed past him and ran up the stairs. I pulled on the light string and surveyed the area. Nothing looked any different. I walked over to the wardrobe and looked behind it, seizing the door handles, poking my head inside. Thankfully, nobody was in there.

I turned off the light and traveled back down the stairs to Archie, who now stood waiting in the hall.

“Nothing, right?” he asked.