“Give me three,” he said. “That should last a while.”

“Sure.” I took the three jars to the counter and rang them up.

“I want to ask you something,” he said, swiping his debit card for the purchase.

“Okay,” I said, hesitant.

“Is Robin angry at me?”

I slowly placed the jam jars into a paper bag, wishing I could ignore the question. Why is he asking me?

“Um… I don’t think so,” I replied, handing him the bag.

He took the bag but didn’t move. “It’s seeming like she’s avoiding me.”

I frowned. I didn’t want to have this conversation with him. What was I supposed to say? She’s not interested in you because you’re a boring guy. Bordering creepy.

“Well, it’s the beginning of the school year,” I said breezily. “Always a busy time. Archie barely has time for me.”

John leaned closer to me and smiled. “Well, I know that’s not true. Archie always has time for you.”

A perfect example. John’s words were fine. Nothing wrong with the statement, but the way he said it gave me a chill up my spine. He made my skin crawl.

“That’s the only thing I can think of,” I replied briskly. “Now, I must close up. I have a takeout order to pick up.”

John met my gaze. “I’ll be seeing you.” He walked out of the store.

I locked the door and watched him walk down the street.

I signed in with the front office, chatted a bit with the school secretary, then took my large container of chocolate chip cookies and walked down the hall to Archie’s classroom. The hallway was filled with brightly colored drawings with detailed writings of ‘What I Did This Summer’ by numerous students. I read a few, some very neat, some messy, but all had similar themes. They went to the beach, to the amusement park, the mountains, the pool. I continued to Archie’s area; his room was halfway down the hallway. I opened the door to see Archie sitting at his desk in the back of the room, eating a sandwich. Robin sat on the edge of his desk, facing him, eating from a bag of potato chips, her long, tanned legs dangling down.

“Hey, Aimee,” she greeted in a friendly tone, scooting off Archie’s desk.

“Hey,” I said, wondering why she was sitting on my husband’s desk in the first place.

“Babe, I thought you were stopping in later. Who’s at the store?” Archie asked.

“Rachel’s there,” I said, setting the container of cookies on his desk. “Here are the cookies for the bake sale.”

“Great, thanks for making those.” He smiled. “You’re my secret weapon; we’re competing against Robin’s class to see who raises the most money from the sale. The winning class gets an ice cream party.”

“Oh, fun,” I remarked, pausing to admire my handsome husband. With his dark blond hair and warm brown eyes, he was the opposite of Dream in every way. Reliable, practical, what was that old saying? Had his head on straight. Yes. You wouldn’t catch Archie clad in white, chanting in the early morning hours or losing several days to a sacred herb celebration. No, Archie had his mind on reading scores and bake sales.

Did he also have his eye on Robin?

The thought darted out of nowhere. I stood there silent as Robin babbled on about the cheesecake brownies she was making for the bake sale, her long chestnut brown hair brushing the top of her slim shoulders. She wore the deep purple sheath dress we bought earlier at the outlet mall, and it fit her well. Her flawless skin, even under the harsh fluorescent lighting of the classroom, gave off a dewy glow. She was very pretty.

I brushed the thought away. I’d obsessed over these same things in the past and the outcome was never good. Archie and Robin were friendly colleagues, that’s all, and she was my friend. I wouldn’t allow my imagination to take hold. I’d only focus on the facts as they presented themselves. Besides, Archie was devoted to me, I knew that.

Archie held up half his turkey sandwich. “Want some?”

I declined, but I snagged the bag of grapes lying on his desk. “No, but I’ll take these.”

Robin glanced at the clock. “Ten minutes until our students are back from lunch. I want to pick up some books from the library, so I better get going. See you, Aimee,” she said, sailing out of the room.

I popped a grape into my mouth and turned my attention to Archie. “You two are getting close.”

He laughed awkwardly. “Close? I don’t know about that. We work well together. She’s a good partner teacher.”

I nodded and ate another grape.

TWENTY-FOUR2023

Aimee

My head, heavy as lead, lay cushioned on the soft bedroom pillow. I was awake, but kept my eyes shut, exhausted even after a full night’s sleep. I rolled over in bed and slowly lifted my eyes. Nine fifteen, according to the clock on the nightstand. Thankfully, it was Monday, and I had no plans today. The store was closed on Mondays. If I wanted to stay in bed all day, I could, which at this point seemed like a distinct possibility.

I felt hungover, but none of my activity the night before would warrant such a feeling. We ate dinner—baked chicken, rice, and green beans—and later had a slice of apple pie with a cup of tea. No alcohol. No sacred herb. But this morning I felt as if I’d been partying until the wee hours of the night. I buried my head in the pillow. Maybe I was getting sick.

I stayed that way for several minutes. I didn’t feel like getting out of my warm cocoon, but even if I could take it easy today, I still needed to feed the chickens and the rabbits we just bought. Finally, I dragged myself out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. I splashed cold water on my face and brushed my teeth, getting rid of my strong morning breath. I went back into our bedroom and debated getting dressed or just leaving on my pajamas, a cute shorts and tank set in a rosy pink color. I decided on the pajamas, but grabbed my white cotton robe from the bathroom. I needed coffee. Desperately.

I walked downstairs. Usually I made a K-Cup if I was the only one home, but today I needed a whole pot. I got the coffee going, the aroma already perking me up, and noticed a note on the kitchen island.

You look so beautiful when you are asleep. Xo

I recognized Archie’s handwriting. Although I was fairly certain it was from him, still a little fizzle of doubt ran through me. I grabbed my phone.

Thanks for the sweet note. Xo

No response. He was probably teaching his class. Ten minutes passed.

A text popped up from him.

You do look beautiful when you sleep. You always look beautiful.

Relief spread through me. Yes, the note was from Archie. I sent a heart emoji in response to his text and rummaged around in the cabinets to locate the largest coffee cup I could find. I filled it, leaving room to add creamer, and took a long sip of the hot delight. Ahh… caffeine.

I sat at the kitchen table, sipping my coffee, hoping it would wake up my slow-moving body. The house remained silent, aside from the tick tock of the kitchen clock. The comfortable silence was welcome to me. Not the eerie silence of another person lurking, hiding in its cover, waiting to make their next move. No, this morning was the peaceful silence of a secure home.

My thoughts focused on breakfast. I didn’t feel like making eggs, but a piece of toast with my homemade strawberry jam sounded delicious to me, so I went about making it.

As I buttered the toast and spread the jam my thoughts traveled back to yesterday in Archie’s classroom. Maybe I had overreacted with my suspicions about Robin. I’d done it in the past. Neither had given me any reason to distrust them. And Robin was a good friend.

I took a bite of toast and drank my second cup of coffee. I was waking up now and feeling better, finally. I glanced at the clock and finished off the coffee. I had to feed and water the chickens. They’d be looking for me by now.

Slipping on my flip-flops by the door, I walked outside. It was mid-September now, still warm, but there was a nip in the morning air, enough to let you know autumn was around the corner.

The chickens were waiting for me, squawking, and stamping around in their enclosed yard. I gave them a scoop of chicken feed and filled their water dispenser. I gathered the eggs, washed and dried them with a paper towel, put them into egg cartons, then deposited them into the barn refrigerator. I wished now that I had gotten dressed before heading to the barn. This clothing would be going straight into the washer.