Haunted (Michael Bennett 10)

I shrugged. “A little.”

She said, “Don’t be. You changed the world. At least for this town and certainly for Sadie. That makes this vacation a win all around.”

Her smile captivated me. It had such subtleties. Like a diamond. No two were exactly the same, but they were all brilliant.

Our one stop on our way out of town was in a nice residential neighborhood. Some of the houses were older than others, but they had character. There was nothing superficial about the houses. This was genuine Maine.

I pulled the van over in front of a neat one-story home. Before we all filed out of the van, which sometimes took more than ninety seconds, Sandy Coles had opened her front door and met us on the path.

Sandy and Mary Catherine embraced. The first thing Sandy wanted to see was the ring.

Then Sandy took Seamus by the arm and led him into the house.

I noticed his walk was a little more steady. He was still recovering, but I was confident he’d be back to his old self soon.

Inside the bright house, I envied her backyard and view into thick woods.

I said, “This place is perfect.”

“We think so.” As she said it, Sadie came out of her bedroom.

Chrissy

said, “You’re living here?”

Sadie said, “For now.”

We all had a great little chat in the living room of my former partner’s house.

Around ten minutes later, as I stood on the back porch, looking out into the woods, Sadie joined me.

She said, “Thank you for all you did.”

I just hugged her.

Sadie said, “Sandy says I can stay with her as long as I want.”

“Good.”

“She on the level?”

“Levelest person I ever met.”

We both laughed.

Sadie said, “She worried someone might try to hurt me one day?”

“Maybe. A little. But she worries about everyone. That’s what makes her a good cop. She invited you to stay here because she sees something in you.”

“Not much to see in me.”

I wrapped an arm around her. “I think you’ll see what we all see soon enough. Just be happy and spend some time with Sandy.”

“I am. I never had my own room or nice clothes like this before.”

“It’s a lot to get used to. Maybe you can come visit us in the fall. We can watch the Thanksgiving Day parade.”

She hugged me, and I had a flash of worry about whether she would still be here in the fall. Just a little anxiety. You never know what might happen.