The Outsider Series: The Complete Omnibus Collection

Chapter 2-2

Early the next morning, Emily opened the front door to her bubbly friend Gina, a vivacious, trim woman with short dark hair. Under her wool cape, she wore a turtleneck and blue jeans. She burst through the door and hugged Emily hard. “Morning, darling. I hope you have some coffee. I only had time for a quick cup before bolting over here.”

“What about Fred and your boys? Aren’t they going to miss you this morning?”

Gina waved her hand as she wiped her shoes and wandered into the small box-style kitchen. “You should have seen the lost look on their faces this morning. It was priceless; my husband and two teenage boys, horrified that I actually expected them to fend for themselves this morning. Hey, there, cutie pie.”

Katy practically leapt into Gina’s arms. Gina knew how to get down on the floor and play hard with kids on their level. “Thank you, Gina, for coming. I’m nervous enough as it is, about this interview, without dragging a two-year-old with me, and I forgot about her appointment with the pediatrician. It took me months to get it, and I didn’t want to reschedule with this guy...” Emily was rambling and she knew it, so she shut her mouth.

“Don’t be nervous, Em, you’ll do just fine. And you need to give yourself some credit. You’ve got a lot of courage. I’ve watched you from the sidelines, these past few years, as you’ve spiraled into a downward slide. I’m amazed, and a little awed, at what you’ve done. It’s as if you’ve taken a leap off the dock without a life jacket. You have this pure faith now—everything will work out. Now hold onto that, and move forward. Don’t look back.” Gina glanced down at her small gold Rolex, a gift from her husband for their anniversary last month. “You better go. You have enough time to get your head together, and enjoy the drive. Remember, don’t rush … that’s when you get flustered.”

Emily hugged and kissed both her daughter and friend, pulled on her brown wool coat, and grabbed her purse and handwritten resume. Gina was right; having extra time to find where she needed to go relieved a lot of her anxiety, as did being alone. She took a deep breath, and pulled out of her driveway.

Thick trees lined both sides of the road on the way out of town. This was a peaceful drive. Emily realized she’d never driven west of town in the ten years she’d lived in Hoquiam. She’d grown up in Seattle and that was where she’d met Bob. Hoquiam had seemed like a nice place for them to settle, after Bob had been offered a government job in Olympia, ten years earlier. The commute was not too long, and Emily’s dream of living in a small community had never left her. Now, as she drove these narrow winding roads, passing only a few cars through this private, rural and heavily forested part of the peninsula; she was reminded of that childhood dream.

Emily balanced the hastily scribbled directions on the steering wheel. She passed the faded red barn at the second marker on the highway. Making a right turn onto a gravel road, she continued until she saw the split-rail fencing with 665, in bright green numbers, embedded in the wood. A huge fir archway, on two solid beams, surrounded the entrance to the dirt driveway, with the name, Echo Springs, carved into the weathered wood. What was it about the name that stirred some nostalgic memory of longing in her tummy? History; established families, of Mom, Dad, and grandparents, passing down their heritage and land. She’d heard the powerful family names whispered in the community: the Ricksons, the Folleys. Who were the others? She was caught now by a nervous flutter starting to pound her solar plexus as she drove down the long dirt driveway. Old growth spruce, cedar and fir trees, on both sides, created a dense canopy overhead, and a mixture of other bushes and trees gave the appearance of walls. At the end, the driveway opened up into a large clearing, exposing a two-story white frame house with a wraparound veranda and large post beams. It resembled an old rambling Victorian. Emily parked in front of the house beside an old Ford Escort, a dirty blue pickup truck that had seen better days, a chipped yellow digger, a fairly new black GMC one ton pickup and a flatbed trailer loaded with some mysterious goods covered with a tarp. How many people live here, she wondered?

The wind created a chilly breeze as thick clouds cluttered the baby blue sky. Emily was far from cold when she climbed out of her van. Her underarms were damp and she prayed her deodorant was strong enough to keep her from smelling ripe. It’s nerves, that’s all. Or maybe it was the five cups of high-octane coffee she’d guzzled before Gina arrived, which had wound her nerves so tight that she could have bounced her way to the door.

She paused, and took a deep breath of the clean air. The front of the house was virtually bare of any landscaping. Patches of grass poked up here and there from the well-packed dirt in the front yard. The flowerbeds in front were littered with dead perennials; weeds and overgrown grass, long and bare, were leaning against the house. How many acres did he have? A large barn, and other outbuildings, littered the property with, what looked like, miles of open land and a spectacular view of the mountains.

She flexed her damp hands and climbed the four white wooden steps. She noticed the paint was chipped. Emily nearly tripped when the third step suddenly creaked and caught her off guard. She was way out of her comfort zone and this didn’t help; prompting her self-doubt to send SOS signals to confuse her already shaky insides. She was a mess. Her face ached so much, that she was positive the forced smile she wore looked more like a grimace. Emily clutched a brown manila envelope, stuffed with her resume and references from her friends. On unsteady legs, she crossed the wide porch. A porch made for families to gather on at the end of the day; to laugh together and share dreams and triumphs. Something families did. Well, the sort of dream family Emily yearned to be part of. She spied a wooden swing suspended by chains at the far end of the porch, beside two wicker chairs placed on each side of a large picture window, and she sighed.

She could daydream about this imaginary family abode all day, but when she faced the classic wooden frame door, Emily’s dry throat threatened to close up. “Well, it’s now or never.” So she did it. She rapped on the door with a couple of confident firm knocks. Her heart pounded, echoing with a thud in her ears when she heard solid, heavy footsteps approach. She swallowed, and felt a bright scarlet flush flame her face.

She wanted to hide, in that anxiety-panicked second, but it was too late when the door flew open. Emily stepped back, clutching her purse to her chest like a shield, and fidgeted with her old wool coat, pulling it tight around herself. Suddenly, a tall, broad-shouldered man filled the doorway. She was struck speechless by this man with hazy brown eyes. He didn’t have pretty-boy features. What he had was a solid, strong jaw, a hardness to his square face, and eyes alive with some ancient wisdom, making him, in fact, the most handsome man she’d ever seen. His flannel plaid shirt didn’t cover any average man. This was a well-formed man who, she’d swear, could make a burlap sack look good. He pulled off a pair of reading glasses and gazed at her, looking confused, as if she were a door-to-door salesgirl; obviously wondering why she was on his doorstep. She hated that feeling.

“Hi, I’m—” Then the worst thing that could possibly happen, happened. She fumbled her purse upside down. It tipped open, scattering the contents of her bag, as well as coins from the unzipped coin purse inside, all over the doorway floor… along with what remained of her dignity.