“So what do tarot card readings have to do with her flying down the mountain? Or being pushed?”
“Well, that’s the part that doesn’t make much sense,” Damon said. “Because, if she was pushed, you would think that somebody would have seen something.”
“Did you get a chance to interview anybody at the scene?” Jake asked.
“No, I was bringing her down off the precipice, then to the ER. I do know a few people who were out there, but I’m not sure I know anybody there at that time.”
“We still have to follow up, work our due diligence,” Jake said.
“You mean, head off any complaints about us not doing a thorough job, even though it’s all for the loony bin?” A note of humor was in Damon’s voice because even he could see just how ludicrous it was. But the fact of the matter was that Gabby remained convinced that somebody had pushed her. Damon frowned and then nodded. “Even if she hadn’t said that and even if I didn’t know she was part of that tarot card mess,” he said, “you know we would have done everything we could to reassure her that she hadn’t been pushed.”
“And, if she were,” he said, “you know it’s a crime, so we need to follow it up anyway.”
“Right,” Damon said. “So I’ll have a talk with the mountain safety officers and see if they have any idea of who all were around there at the time of her fall.”
“You said her friends were there too, right?”
“Yes, one for sure was at her side when I arrived. I can question her and ask what she saw,” Damon said.
“I’d question everybody, just to make sure our backs are covered,” he said.
With that, Damon nodded. “You know what? For now, I think I’ll head home.”
“I think you should. I doubt you got any sleep, did you?”
“What’s sleep?” he said, “Especially these days.”
“Grief won’t last forever,” Jake said.
“I’m not sure about that,” Damon replied. “It feels like a life sentence.”
“Man, it’s been two years. It’s time to cut loose.”
“Yeah, but I’m not ready,” he said instantly.
“You only keep saying that because it’s a reflex,” he said.
At that, Damon stopped, thought about it, and then shrugged. “You know what? That may be true,” he said. “Or maybe it’s still the way I feel.”
With that, he walked out and headed home. Two years and four days. Couldn’t forget the four days. Everybody thought he was overcome with grief. Nobody knew the hell he’d endured for the four years of his marriage and how relieved he was that she was gone. Not relieved enough to have had a hand in her accident because that just wasn’t his way. But every time he brought up divorce or any attempt to get out of the situation that was choking him, she’d tried to commit suicide.
Damon knew that the psychologist had said it was an attention-grabbing action, but Damon couldn’t just sit there and let her go down the tubes because of his need to be free. He’d been caught in a nightmare that he’d found no way out of. And the two years since had been even worse. Survivor’s guilt? Or PTSD? Or just plain not letting go of the trauma of those years? It took time to get back to normal. And he felt he would get there. Eventually.
Damon knew Jake was probably right in the sense that Damon should get back into the dating game and have some sort of normal life, but he just didn’t want to. Not yet. Absolutely nothing inside him said he should either. Maybe the truth was that he was too damn scared.
After all, he’d hooked up with somebody he thought was the most brilliant person in the world, and she ended up being so emotionally unstable that he’d been living a nightmare the entire time with her. He just didn’t want to repeat something like that. And every time he met somebody like Gabby, it reminded him of how many people in the world were just a little off, and he didn’t even know Gabby well. It wasn’t that he was trying to judge her, but dealing with her so far made it easy to do so.
Chapter Two
Gabby woke the next morning, feeling rested and well. She bounced out of bed, got dressed, then raced out and put on the coffeepot. After her day off—she rolled her eyes—she was supposed to go to work today. Her roommates, minus Tessa, looked up at her in surprise. Gabby turned and said, “Oh, I didn’t realize you guys were up already.”
“Yeah, we didn’t get any sleep,” Wendy groused. “I had nightmares all night.”
“Nightmares about what?” Gabby asked in commiseration, as she sat down beside her friend.
“You,” Wendy said, “going over that cliff. I may never snowboard or ski again.”
“I’m sorry,” Gabby said with remorse. “That must have been terrifying to watch.”
Liz and Betty nodded.
“You don’t even know the half of it,” Wendy replied. “I think all I did was scream because my throat is so raw today.”
And, in truth, her friend’s voice did sound gravelly. “Hey,” Gabby said, “I’m really sorry. I don’t even know what happened, but I feel really good today.”
“How can you possibly feel good?” she said. “I don’t know how you could have slept either.”
“Stress, exhaustion, I don’t know,” she said, showing her palms, “but I feel good, and, for that, I’m grateful. I do have to go to work today.”
“You’re going to work?” Liz asked in horror. “You need to stay home and recuperate.”
“Yeah, not happening. I have expenses to pay. Remember? So I have a job. And I need to keep it.”
They watched mutely as she poured coffee into a thermos, checked her watch, and said, “Of course I overslept.”
“How about food?” Wendy asked.
“I’m okay,” she said. “I’ll grab something at work.”
“Remember the money thing?” Wendy asked. “You weren’t going to buy lunch out anymore.”
“I know,” she said, “but I’m late.”
“We have some muffins here that Tessa made. Grab a couple,” Wendy urged. “At least take that much.”
Gabby looked around and saw them, then snagged two without even wrapping them. “Thanks,” she said, as she headed out the door and walked down the street to work.
When she got around the corner, she raced toward the bookstore, reveling in the crisp cold air. There was something to be said about living in a place like this. She thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. The five of them together had done decently as roommates, and it was nice that Wendy had shared some of Tessa’s muffins.
They often did that. Somebody would cook a batch of something, and everybody would share it together. But other times it didn’t work out quite that way. But none of them liked wasting food, so, when someone had too much to eat themselves, they usually passed it around to the others. It worked out well.
And it saved all of them a few dollars along the way, which was good because Gabby made what seemed like pennies off her job. As she walked into the bookstore, her boss looked at her and then pointed at his watch. She checked, smiled, and said, “Look at that? I’m right on time.”