Rolling over he found she wasn’t there. Still with eyes closed he pawed at her pillow, where was she? He hadn’t slept well, so it took a few minutes for him to come around. Sitting up, he looked to the vacant side of the bed…I knew this was a bad idea.
He slowly arose and made his way into the bathroom. While cleaning up he thought he could hear something coming from the kitchen. He put his robe on and made his way to the sound. Amy was making coffee and toast. Sleepily he said, “Good morning.”
“Good morning,” she said looking up from the kitchen table. He could see in her face a look of, “What were we thinking?”
He grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down across from her. She had the paper in front of her and tried to make it look like she was actually reading it. Without looking up she said, “Jonathan, what were we thinking?”
“I don’t know Amy, but I can tell you one thing…I enjoyed it!”
Now, she looked up. There was a softness in her eyes, a glow. “So did I,” she said cautiously.
He reached across the table and took her hand in his, “Amy, I don’t know where this is going, but you and I have been down this path before and if we’re going to venture down it again…well, I’d like it to work this time, or not make the trip.”
She stared deep into his eyes and could see he was being genuine. “Believe me, I feel the same way. I got up early this morning and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.”
“Well, what are your thoughts?”
“Let’s just take it easy, let it flow naturally. We’ve been, especially you, under a lot of pressure over the past several months, and I’d like to see us let this take its natural course…not force anything.
“I think last time we pushed it a little, you know, pressed too hard. We know each other better now, and I certainly feel more comfortable about…us.”
They continued to talk over coffee and agreed to just try and let their relationship blossom over, whatever time it took. This was best, just let it happen, naturally.
He hadn’t awakened Amy in the middle of the night with his disturbing realization about Jack Zane, so after they cleaned up and sat down to discuss what direction to take, he told her.
“Amy, I woke up in the middle of the night and realized, no one knows where he’s buried.”
“Zane? Oh my God, that’s right.”
“With Jeff dead, no one knows where he is on that farm. He could be anywhere. That was a pretty big spread as I remember and Jeff could have dug a grave a thousand places.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Well, I think the first thing I have to do is call Barbara. Maybe she knows where he’s buried.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
“I have no idea. If I went back up there snooping around it would certainly cause nothing but trouble. Maybe, people up there don’t even know he’s…I’ll bet you no one, other than Barbara, knows they moved the body; or least where they moved the body.”
Amy got up and made her way into the kitchen for more coffee. She brought two cups back and set one down in front of Jonathan.
“Why does it matter where he’s buried,” she asked sitting down on the couch.
Taking a sip and rocking back in his favorite chair he began to wonder that himself, now that she’d brought it up. “I don’t know. I guess it doesn’t really. But, there’s some part of me that says I should know…that maybe I need to know.”
“Okay, if you think it’s important, then you had better pursue it. I’d better get going though. I’ll call you later.” With that she was out the door and gone. Unlike their previous attempt at a relationship, there was a certain contentment this time. He liked it.
He called Barbara, hoping she’d know something. She did. They were selling Jeff’s land to the local school district for an administration building and county recreation center. What was left they would make into a small park. There was an incongruity there, but Jonathan just couldn’t quite put his finger on. All he could think of was that story about Jimmy Hoffa being buried in the end zone of Giants’ Stadium, only this time it would definitely be true…Jack Zane, most likely, would be buried under concrete.
Oh well, Amy was probably right, what difference did it make? As a matter of fact, there was no one he could think of who deserved a concrete tomb more than Jack Zane. It almost gave Jonathan the feeling Zane couldn’t reach out from the grave anymore. He was encased for eternity…at last.