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“That’s Miss Grant,” she said, shaking Henry’s hand. “And…it’s nice to meet you, too.”
She was meeting Tom Donalan’s son. It was like she was in a real live version of the Twilight Zone.
Mimi must have known all along that Henry was coming over tonight. The fact that she hadn’t said anything…
A myriad of emotions washed over Allie. Confusion, betrayal (for the love of God, Mimi could have warned her!) and strangely enough, a tiny bit of pride. Although why she should feel proud, Allie didn’t have a clue. Except that although she’d just met him, she could see Henry was a terrific kid. Handsome, polite, well-spoken. The kind of kid Mimi and Zeke would be happy to include among Cameron’s friends.
Allie stood there, frozen, listening to Mimi and Tom talk about the upcoming soccer season, and then Tom mentioned calling Zeke to set up a potential father/son camping trip for the four of them. Talk about cozy! Her ex was wiggling his way into her family’s life and there was nothing she could do about it.
Four more days and she could get back to her old life in Tampa.
It couldn’t happen soon enough.
“You ready?” Tom asked her.
She tamped down whatever emotion she hoped wasn’t showing on her face and nodded.
Cameron handed her back her cell phone. “When you get a chance, check your apps,” he whispered so that only she could hear.
She grabbed the rest of her things and followed Tom out the door.
*~*~*
Tom unlocked the door to the senior center and handed Allie a flashlight. “I’ll get the rest of the stuff out of my truck.”
“Hey, look, I know this is a huge imposition. You really don’t have to stay the night. I promise, I’ll be a good girl. No broken windows this time. Scout’s honor.” She used her finger to make the cross symbol over her chest and even smiled at him. Just to show him she meant it, which she did, of course.
“Sorry, like I said, it’s an insurance thing.”
Gone was the flirtatious mood Allie thought she’d detected from their text messages this afternoon. Right now, Tom was all business. Which was good because she needed to be all business, too. Only she really didn’t want to spend the next twelve or so hours alone with him. All business or not.
She brought in her belongings, careful to keep her flashlight aimed at the ground. Hopefully the cockroaches would make themselves scarce tonight. She found a clear space in the center of the main room and set down Mimi’s picnic basket, then opened up her backpack and checked the contents: laptop, cell phone (which had a pretty decent camera), and a yellow legal pad for note-taking.
The building looked exactly the way it did last night except the window she’d broken into was now patched over with clear vinyl sheeting and duct tape. Did Tom do that?
Allie couldn’t help feel just a tad bit guilty over the trouble she’d caused him. She wondered again for the umpteenth time exactly what had made him change his mind about delaying the demolition. Maybe tonight, if the timing was right, she’d ask him again. And maybe this time, he’d tell her the truth.
Tom lugged in more supplies. He had a broom, a blow up mattress, blankets, and a few kerosene lamps. He’d also brought along a radio, which he immediately set to a station carrying a baseball game.
“Hope you don’t mind,” he said. “The Braves are playing tonight.” He swept over a large area to clear it of debris, then squatted down and began inflating the mattress with a hand pump.
Allie watched as the mattress filled with air. Queen size, she’d guess. She hadn’t given a thought to actually sleeping tonight. No, the mattress was all his. She was here to work.
She pulled out her cell phone to check the camera setting. There was a new app on her phone. She clicked on the icon and the small screen opened up to reveal…a ghost detector. No wonder Cameron had been so pleased with himself!
She read the directions then casually held her phone out in the palm of her hand. On the screen, a yellow band went round and round in a circle, like those radar things from a submarine movie. According to the instructions, a blip would come across the yellow band in the presence of “extra energy,” aka a ghost.
Tom would probably laugh at this bit of technology, but Allie was thrilled. Not that she really believed it might work, but hey, you never knew unless you tried, right? Plus, it would give her something to do besides watch Tom set up camp for the night. A queen sized air mattress, blankets, and Mimi’s secret basket of goodies all combined were way too cozy as far as Allie was concerned.
“I’m going to walk around,” she said.
He barely glanced up at her. “Go for it.”
With the flashlight in one hand and her cell phone in the other, she slowly walked the perimeter of the main room. She glanced down at her phone screen. No blips, no beeps. She made her way down the hall facing the entrance to two rooms that had once been used as classrooms. The rooms were dark and strewn with the same scattered trash she’d encountered last night.
She randomly picked the room on the right and went inside. Since Tom couldn’t see her all the way back here, there was no point in hiding what she was doing, so she held the phone out in front of her, allowing it to guide her steps. The yellow line continued round and round in the same circle.
Nothing.
