Souvenirs of Starling Falls

“So?”

“It’s the point of it. They wanted us to hear it. I know they did. That’s why I’m upset.”

“Courtney…”

“They opened our door first! And their door has got to be wide open. It was so loud! Not that I’m going to check.”

“Maybe our door came unlatched. Old houses are like that.”

“No. I heard it click into place when I closed it the first time and again now. It firmly clicked.”

Tom shrugged and closed his eyes.

“Don’t go to sleep,” I said. “Please? Listen to me, please? They were such goody-goodies all night, and then they pulled this? I mean, what’s going on here? This is too weird. I’m so grossed out.”

“Aren’t you tired?”

“Of course. I’m exhausted! We unpacked all day and I’ve been up all night!”

He pulled the covers over his head. Seconds later he was snoring again.

I sat there in the dark feeling totally alone. We were hours from Seattle. Hours from all our friends. It was just the two of us making a new life together. Starling Falls pioneers. Coming here had been a gigantic leap of faith, but I hadn’t thought of it like that. I’d had no fears at all. Tom had never let me down in any major way, so starting over someplace new with him had seemed perfectly safe. But sitting there in that room while he slept through my misery, I felt betrayed and abandoned. I suppose that sounds melodramatic; it must have been the exhaustion getting to me.

We had never even spent the night in our new home and I was already wondering if we’d made a huge mistake. Hours earlier, I’d been excited out of my mind. It changed that quickly, all because of them.

Eventually the sky became pink and I could hear the snores of everyone else in the house. I couldn’t bring myself to go back to our house alone. Like a dog, I curled up on the end of the bed and went to sleep.

Chapter 5

When I woke up, I was alone. I looked at my phone and was mortified to see that it was quarter after twelve. I got up and tiptoed across the room to the front window and looked across the street at our house. The front door was open and some of our rugs were draped over the porch railing, airing out. A moment later Tom showed up on the porch with another rug and draped it over the railing. As if he could feel my stare, he looked over at Priscilla and Barnaby’s house and saw me standing there in the window. He waved and I shook my head. I grabbed my phone and texted him: You left me here. I heard his phone go off a second later and saw that his duffle bag was still in the corner of the room, phone inside.

I straightened up the room, grabbed the duffle bag, and made my way downstairs. To my immense relief, no one appeared to be home.

“Hello?” I called, standing there in the foyer, feeling like I ought to at least say goodbye. When no one answered, I left and went back across the street.

“Wow, you slept forever,” Tom said, giving me a kiss.

“I know! Why didn’t you wake me? I’m embarrassed at how late it is.”

“Don’t be embarrassed. You needed the sleep. Look what I did,” he said, leading me inside to where my fancier shoes had all been unpacked and placed on their spinner rack. He seemed like his normal self again.

“Wow. That’s so sweet.” I sighed. It looked like we were done fighting. I gave the rack a spin. “When can I wear these again?” I asked, picking up a pair of strappy teal high heels.

“Whenever you want.”

“I don’t know if there’s anywhere in this town where these would fit in. I think Starling Falls is more about shoes like those.” I pointed to a pair of old hemp hiking sandals that were sticking out of a box.

“Start a new trend.”

“Maybe,” I said. “So… When did you wake up?”

“Around 8:30. You missed quichey casserole and waffles with powdered sugar and fruit.”

“Too bad for me. I could really use some coffee,” I said.

“I thought of that. It’s set up for you in the kitchen.”

“No way. Are you serious?”