By six-thirty p.m., Ellie officially knew the secret to making everything in life seem brighter: two glasses of wine. She was giggling to herself, and Skipper pranced around her feet as she danced to music that was playing softly from a radio in the corner of the kitchen. Every once in a while she would even try to sing along, even though she knew that her voice was horrible. Skipper retreated to another room when it became evident that she wasn’t going to stop.
She could hear his toenails clacking all along the front hallway and occasionally a soft “woof” would reach her ears. She giggled again, wondering who he was “talking” to. She hoped he wasn’t getting tracks all over the floor.
The doorbell rang, and Ellie looked up at the clock in surprise. David was early. She felt a moment of panic. She had gotten behind because Kevin had called while she was at the grocery store, and explaining everything to him had taken forever.
He had insisted that he and Eric return home, but she assured him that there was nothing that they could do. She could survive over the weekend on her own, and in the meantime she would figure out the best approach for dealing with Jake’s estate. She was feeling much better; now she just had to figure out the best way to explain everything to David.
She checked the stew that was brewing on the stovetop once more and then pulled the apron over her head, setting it on the kitchen counter. Skipper followed at her heels as she followed the hallway to the front foyer. The doorbell sounded again.
“Patience is a vir…” Ellie’s words were cut short as she opened the door. Standing before her was Jenny Marks.
“We need to talk,” Jenny said, the tinge of hatred present in her voice. She was oozing red and black and Ellie was alarmed.
She pushed past Ellie into the foyer. It had been snowing outside, and Ellie could only surmise that Jenny had stood outside for a time, as she was dripping wet.
“Jenny, how did you find me here?” Ellie asked, trying to keep hold of the feeling of peace and calm that she had been feeling just moments before.
“I’m not going to wait around until you figure out how to elbow me out of everything that belongs to me and my baby.” Jenny stuck out her finger and wagged it in Ellie’s face. “Jake was going to marry me. He wanted to give me and the baby a good life, and I’m not going to let you ruin what’s left of that.”
“Please take your finger out of my face.” Ellie was furious over the obvious assumptions that Jenny was making. “You are jumping to conclusions without knowing anything about what you are talking about.”
“Oh, I know how you feel. You’ve been trying to figure out a way to worm yourself back into Jake’s life ever since he dumped you,” Jenny spat.
“I left Jake,” Ellie corrected, “and it was quite possibly the smartest thing I ever did.” She saw Jenny’s eyes narrow in disbelief. “I didn’t want him back, Jenny. I wanted him to leave me alone.”
“Liar,” Jenny hissed.
“You can believe what you want to believe. But since I can see that this isn’t getting us anywhere if you are going to act like this, I think you’d better leave,” Ellie said as she opened the door and pointed out into the night. “Maybe once you’ve calmed down we can have a rational conversation.”
“You were trying to convince Jake not to file those papers. That’s what had him so upset and that’s why he got into the accident,” Jenny accused in an anguished voice.
“I’m done talking, Jenny. Get out,” Ellie said flatly.
Jenny made a strangled noise in the back of her throat, and Ellie thought for a moment that the woman was going to square off against her. But Ellie stood her ground, refusing to let Jenny see how unsettled she was.
Jenny finally decided that leaving was the better option, and she shoved past Ellie. Ellie slammed the door behind her. She looked down at Skipper, who had been sitting next to the staircase the whole time.
“Good riddance,” she said, and walked back to the kitchen to check on her stew.
She didn’t look up to see the black shadows swirling above her head around the chandelier.
David had flowers and a bottle of wine in hand, and was humming as he approached the house. Despite all of the craziness, he felt like things were starting to get back to normal and things with Ellie were going great. During their phone conversations over the last three days she had sounded positive and upbeat. He thought she was starting to put her past behind her. He wanted nothing more than to tell her how he felt about her, but he was afraid that would scare her away. He just had to play it cool and enjoy being around her.
The snow was started to come down harder than it had earlier, and he was looking forward to being snowed in with Ellie for the evening. He had a feeling they’d be settled next to the fireplace for the majority of the night.
He was on the steps headed up to the patio when he heard a groan. He paused and looked behind him. He thought he saw something disappear around the corner of the patio, away from the side facing the driveway. David slowly made his way back down the stairs, and as he got closer he started to run. He saw a small pool of blood marring the crisp white snow.
He rounded the corner and stopped as he gaped at the scene in front of him. In the dim light, he could just make out a body in the snow being dragged alongside the house. It was Jenny Marks. He could tell she was bleeding by the red drag marks in the snow. But he didn’t have time to focus on her. As his eyes met Joe Klein’s, he saw madness dancing there.
“Let her go,” David growled.
Joe regarded him carefully, but didn’t seem afraid. “Mine. She was promised to me,” he said as he licked his lips and glanced furtively down at Jenny.
Joe Klein looked…hungry. His physical condition had deteriorated even further from the last time David had seen him. Joe was little more than a walking skeleton. An insane one.
David advanced slowly toward Joe. “I don’t know what the hell you are doing, Joe, but you are going to be in some big trouble. I’m going to take Jenny into the house now and I’m calling the cops.”
Joe’s laughter raised the hair on the back of David’s neck. “Police have no power here,” he scoffed. Suddenly he cocked his head into the air as if he heard something that David couldn’t hear.
“NO! MINE!” he yelled at the air.
David didn’t give him another opportunity to say anything else. He rushed at the man and plowed into him, slamming them both into the brick wall behind Joe. David threw two punches that immediately bloodied the older man’s nose. Joe started to whimper, and David stepped away in disgust when he realized that the man wasn’t fighting back.
Joe slouched to the ground. “Mine,” he whimpered plaintively, but he didn’t move toward Jenny.
As David crouched by Jenny’s head, Joe suddenly was on his feet and running toward the small tree line that masked the property line from the street. David was going to chase after him, but then Jenny groaned again.
He knelt down next to her and felt for a pulse. It was thready but there, and he sighed in relief. He felt her hands and cheeks. She was cold. He needed to get her inside.
He had no idea what had brought Jenny Marks to Ellie’s doorstep, but he suspected it wasn’t good. He remembered that Ellie told him earlier that whatever she had to tell him was too lengthy for a phone conversation. He pushed those thoughts aside. He needed to focus on helping Jenny. Abandoning the flowers and wine in the snow, he pulled the unconscious woman into his arms.