I wake up with a lurch around six thirty the following morning, and the first thought that pops into my head is,the freezer.
I didn’t want to fall asleep last night. I wanted to wait until the power came back on, so I could go downstairs and check that the freezer was back on, but I fell asleep anyway.
Holly is still asleep. I get up, careful not to wake her. Downstairs, Teri’s shower is running, which is surprisingly early for her. Judging by the blinking electronic clock on the stove, the power was off for about four hours.
Four hours. That’s not so bad, surely.
I slip into the garage. The first thing I notice is that the freezer is on and making a low buzzing noise. Thank God. Also, it doesn’t smell. Not from here, anyway. Still, I want to open it, just by a hair, to get a sense of how things might be in there. I reach to the back of the freezer to retrieve my rubber gloves, slip them on and grab the key from its hiding place on the shelf.
‘I didn’t know you had one of those.’
I jump, dropping the key as my stomach does a somersault. I turn around. Teri is standing at the door, tightening the belt of her bathrobe, staring at the Porsche behind me.
What is wrong with me? I was seconds from opening the freezer, for Christ’s sake.
‘One of what?’
‘A Porsche,’ she replies, pointing at it with her chin.
I blink. ‘But you were in here last night.’ She was in here, wasn’t she? Or did I dream that?
She shrugs. ‘I didn’t take a good look at it.’ She runs her fingers along it.
‘It-it’s Max’s,’ I stammer. My heart is like a drum. ‘I thought you were in the shower?’
‘I was. Then I came out. Are you all right?’
‘Yes. You gave me a fright, that’s all.’
‘Sorry. These are great,’ she says, this time looking at the freezer. ‘Very practical. I love a chest freezer.’ And before I know it, she’s fingering the lock.
‘Please don’t touch it,’ I blurt.
She frowns. ‘What have you got in there?’
‘Nothing.’
She frowns at me. ‘But it’s on.’
‘I know. I keep meaning to put things in there, but I never get around to it. Come on. I’ll make us some coffee.’
But she’s still frowning at the freezer. ‘It’s locked.’
‘I know!’ I laugh. I probably sound hysterical. ‘I don’t even know where the key is. Coffee?’
She bends down, picks up the key and holds it in her palm. ‘Maybe this is it?’
My heart is in my throat. I swallow. ‘Maybe. I don’t know.’ I extend my hand to take it, but she ignores me and tries to fit it into the lock.
‘I think?—’
‘Honestly, there’s nothing in there,’ I blurt, grabbing the key from her and shoving it in my pocket. ‘That’s why there’s all this stuff on top, see?’
She tilts her head at me, looking confused. ‘Okay,’ she says.
I flick my head towards the door. ‘Come on. It’s cold out here. And you’re only in your slippers! You’ll catch your death!’
Did I just say that? What’s wrong with me? I’m losing my mind, that’s what.
