“There’s an island?”
She nodded. “If you can call it that. It’s not much of an island. You can’t build a house on it or anything. Nowadays, it’s mostly used by teenagers for partying.”
“I’d like to see the island,” Joe said, his voice suddenly serious. “Would you take me there someday?”
Kathleen nodded. “Sure. I’d be happy to.” Because, she reflected, that’s what friends were for.
“Good.” He sat back. “Then it’s a date.”
The word date jarred her. She hoped he meant it as a general expression and not that their friendship, only in its infancy, had already progressed to something more. She was not ready for a romance and couldn’t imagine that she ever would be.
Before she could delve into it, Doris brought their sandwiches, setting them down with brisk efficiency and saying, “Here ya go. Eat up.”
“Thank you, Doris. You’re the best,” Joe said, but Doris had already left to greet some incoming customers. He turned his attention to Kathleen. “Do you suppose when Doris is sick, they just shut down the whole restaurant?”
“Doris is never sick,” she said. “She wouldn’t allow it.”
And just like that, the conversation was back on track, flowing as easily as if she were talking to her best friend from high school, the one she’d known since the first day of junior high. If Joe thought they had plans to go on a date, she’d deal with it later. Right now, they were having too much fun to complicate matters.
When there were only crumbs left on their plates, she remembered about the key. She took it out of her purse and slid it across the table. “I found this in a secret drawer in Alice’s hope chest. Do you have any idea what it’s for?”
Joe picked it up and examined it carefully before ruefully shaking his head. “Sorry.” His eyes met hers. “You found a secret drawer? Was there anything else in it?”
“Just the key.” She took it back and put it away. “If you come across something in the house that might fit the key, let me know. Otherwise, I’d like to hang on to it.”
“Of course. Whatever you want.” And then more seriously: “I’d love to see the secret drawer, if you don’t mind. I don’t remember noticing anything like that, and trust me, I spent a lot of time cleaning that chest. How did you come to find it?” Joe asked, taking a sip from his glass of water.
“The way the base of the chest was constructed reminded me of a photo I saw in one of my great-aunt’s antique reference books,” Kathleen said. “I noticed it when you first brought it in, but I didn’t quite put it together until later that night . . .” She found herself caught up in the telling, all the more because Joe listened intently, seemingly impressed by her ingenuity.
When she got to the part about discovering the fabric bag, she became distracted, her attention drawn to the window by the sight of a man standing on the sidewalk directly across the street from the restaurant. A single glance turned into a startled stare as the man on the opposite side of the street came into focus for her. He was facing her, wearing sunglasses, khaki shorts, a plain white T-shirt, and blue-and-white high-top Reeboks. A baseball cap was pulled low over his forehead, and he had a full beard, but his build, shoes, and stance were identical to Ricky’s. Even more chilling was the possessive way he stared at her. She knew that look.
Kathleen froze in midsentence.
“What’s wrong?” Joe asked, leaning over to cover her hand with his. “Kathleen?”
A white delivery truck, black smoke coming out of its tailpipe, drove by, blocking her view of the man. It went by in a flash, and once it was past, the man wasn’t there anymore. He’d simply vanished. She squinted, looking at the businesses on that side of the street. She couldn’t imagine where he might have gone.
“Kathleen? Are you okay?” He gave her fingers a gentle squeeze. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
His voice broke the spell, and his touch calmed her pounding heart. She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I thought I saw someone I knew.”
“Out there? Where?” He craned his neck to look.
“Never mind. He’s not there anymore.” She forced a smile that she hoped was reassuring. “There’s no way it could have been him. There was a resemblance, that’s all. It caught me off guard.”
He let go of her hand but still looked concerned. “Has someone been bothering you at the store?”
“No, nothing like that.”
Doris interrupted the conversation, stopping to whisk away their plates in one swift motion. “You’ll be having pie, then?” she said, as if it were a given.
“Cherry for me, please,” Kathleen said, glad to let the discussion rest.
Joe said, “I’ll have banana cream.”
“And then we’ll have separate checks,” Kathleen added.
“Not a problem.”
Doris’s head bobbed for just a moment before she left the table to get their dessert. Something about her approving gesture lifted the weight from Kathleen’s chest. There was nothing menacing here. She was out to lunch with her new friend, Joe Arneson, in the Pine Cone Family Restaurant in Pullman, Wisconsin. It was a beautiful sunny day. Her past was behind her. Knowing Ricky and his need to be in the spotlight, he’d probably moved on by now and was wrapped in the arms of another woman.
He had no reason to seek her out. There was no reason to be afraid.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
1916
Was there any smell better than sun-dried laundry? Alice thought it was worth the work just to be able to take in the freshness once it was dry. She lifted a damp sheet and pinned it on the line, still clutching the other end with her free hand. Sheets could be tricky. One slip, and the sheet would fall to the ground, and then the whole washing process would have to be done over again. That was a mistake no one was apt to make twice.
Laundry day was her least favorite day of the week, but when the weather was nice, it more than made up for it. Alice sang as she worked, glad for the gentle breeze and the feel of the sun on her face.
The apron tied around her middle held a pocketful of wooden clothespins, the same pins that doubled as little people when Daisy wanted to create whole towns on the kitchen floor while Alice cooked dinner. Pearl always tried to shoo their youngest sister away, saying she was underfoot and might cause someone to trip, but Alice had the last word in the kitchen, and so Daisy stayed. She liked having her little one close by. Knowing where Daisy was and seeing her happily occupied was reassuring.
As if Alice’s thoughts had conjured her, Daisy’s face popped up over the other side of the clothesline. “Alice, look at me! I’m a giant,” she said, giggling madly. The sun illuminated her crazy curls, making a halo effect.
“Daisy!” Alice shrieked in mock surprise. “How did you get up so high? Did you grow when I wasn’t looking?” She opened her mouth and pressed her hands to her cheeks in pretend amazement.
“No, Alice. I didn’t growed any bigger. John is holding me up!” Daisy yelled.
John’s face suddenly came up alongside Daisy’s. “My apologies if we scared you. I was just following Miss Daisy’s plan.”