Chapter One...Loose Ends!: Installment #9

Chapter One...Loose Ends!: Installment #9: Installment #9 Him He sat in the tree with his back against the broad trunk. From this vantage point he had an unobstructed view of t...

Installment #9

Installment #9

Him

He sat in the tree with his back against the broad trunk.
From this vantage point he had an unobstructed view of the
small farm below. Of course the telescope was one of the high
dollar ones that could pinpoint and bring in a gnat if he needed it
to. He had not bought it for this particular reason, but rather to
study the heavens, but he liked to use resources he had on hand.
If there was ever a question as to why he had such a high
powered instrument he would just show them the notes in his
“The moon as I see it.” notebook complete with dates and
drawings.

What a beehive of activity it was this morning around the
house. It was very clear that Meg was having the house secured
for some reason or another. He thought back to his last visit and
tried to recall if he had left anything behind. Nothing. He had
seen the screen hanging loose last week and wondered about that.
It seemed that the screen had been loose for several days. It
seemed to go unnoticed until the idiot handyman had called her
attention to it last week. He would have been content to set here
in his little nest up in the tree and watch her farm down below
24/7, but he did have to put in an appearance at the office
occasionally. Jennifer was an excellent secretary and office
manager, but way too nosey for her own good.

He watched as the welders began installing the decorative
iron over the windows. He sure hoped it was to improve the
look of the place and not to keep him out. That was a waste of
time. Nothing would keep him out of her world. He had watched
her and Tom for years and he had loved her then as much as he
loved her now. How convenient for him that Tom had loved
hiking in the back country. How convenient that the avalanche
had swept down the mountain on that particular day burying Tom
under many feet of snow. Convenient? He laughed to himself.

Memories are precious things and the best part of the memories
is that they are all in the mind of the one remembering. He alone
knew how the avalanche started. How patient he had been that
morning shadowing Tom along on his back country trek that day.
He was way up the mountain and Tom down low. And then he
saw what he had been looking for. The snow was piled and
seemed to be trembling and just waiting for the signal. He gave
a shiver of delight as he pulled the starting pistol from his jacket
and at just the right moment, pulled the trigger releasing the loud
bang. Tom’s head jerked upward at the sound, but all he saw was
the wall of snow thundering down the slope directly headed for
him. He did not have time to even move. He disappeared under
a wall of white. He was gone.

The man gave a sigh of relief. Poor Meg. All alone with
that little queer son in Boston. She would need a man to take
care of her. But he would give her time. He had lots of that.
Not like he had friends to occupy his time. The job took very
little time and was quite lucrative. It all depended on the stock
market. Jennifer handled the paper work and all he had to do
was invest money and make money for other people. The more
he made for other people the more he made for himself. It paid
well enough that he had been able to buy this little cabin in the
mountains on 40 acres. Solitude. It was just a short commute
into Denver and far enough away from civilization that he was
not bothered by anyone. And that is how he had found Meg and
Tommy. He had met them on a walk in the woods. They had
nodded to each other. But Meg had looked directly into his eyes
and smiled. Not many women did that. Well, actually, none.
The scars he had brought home from Viet Nam usually stopped
people from coming any closer. He did not need anyone close.
Even his own mother had shuddered when she saw him. Her
mistake.

Installment # 7 & 8

Installment 7

Him

He watched her pull into the garage. He watched as the
lights came on in the house and imagined the dogs running to
meet her. The idiot that was tending the place had locked them in
their crates. He knew that was not right. When the overgrown
boy had left he had gone into the house and let them out. They
had not even barked at him. Was it because they liked him? Or
because he had let them out of their crates? Or because he had
given them a treat from the little jar on the shelf?
He had parked his jeep behind the chicken house. Then
realizing that the light in the chicken house shone on his fender
he had turned it off. The switch was located sensibly right inside
the door with easy access. Then he settled back in the seat to wait
for her to come home. Just to be sure she was safe. He could
have stayed at the airport and followed her, but this way was
better. This way she was coming home to him.
He watched her in the moonlight on the veranda. He
wondered what she was thinking. Panic seized him as he
realized she would know the light was not on in the chicken
house. What if she came to see what the problem was? What if
she found him there? He was not ready for that. When she
turned to go into the house he thought it best to leave. He
quickly turned the light back on and drove out of the drive in the
dark. As he reached the road he saw her returning to the
veranda. That was a very close call. He must be careful from
now on and not take any more chances. He pulled the light
switch on and the light flooded the road ahead of him. He gave
the Jeep more gas and began to hum a tune under his breathe. A
Garth Brooks tune. The one about the lonely woman and the
summer and the hot kid that got lucky with the older chick.
Then he laughed out loud.


Installment 8

Home

Meg grimaced as she settled at the computer. 63
emails. She ran the cursor down the list. Nothing from
redranger. She started with the junk, then the forwards.
Next she looked for the PayPal’s that announced that she had
received a payment. There were six of them and she quickly
printed them.
Then she clicked on the eBay “your item sold emails “
that corresponded with the payments. Those out of the way she
clicked on the other eBay correspondence. Six were questions
which she quickly answered. Two from peepster25 who told her
first how much she liked her new necklace and then the next one
wished her a good vacation. Eight items were ended and needed
to be relisted . At last she stared at a blank screen. She gathered
the items that had sold and loaded the shipping labels in the top
bed of the printer. Before she could call up the shipping list the
mail box clicked. Redranger. She opened the email and began to
smile.
“Meg?”
“Eldon?” And the conversation was on. She told him
how great the short vacation had been and how good Kevin
looked and how they had ran and gone to the Golden Gate
Bridge. It felt good to visit with Eldon. It was such a
comfortable feeling. No pressure. And she could set at her
computer in her ragged tee shirt and her gym shorts and he
would never know. Long distance, Internet romance, what ever
you called it, was exactly what she needed this morning.
He was the first to break off since he had to go to work.
It was after 8:00 AM where he was which was two hours ahead
of her time here in the Mountain Standard Time. So he must be
on Eastern Standard Time. She made a note to call Fred about
the light in the chicken house. Fred was the retired Marine who
helped out with odd jobs around this area. He lived a little ways
up the mountain in a small cabin and worked cheap. Fred was a
sad specimen as were many of the characters who lived on the
mountain. Not bad people, just sort of misfits.
“I will be in early tonight and we can catch up. OK? ;)”
Eldon always signed off with the little smiley face and Meg
always smiled when she saw it.
She tapped back an “OK” and headed for the kitchen.
She needed to make cookies for the luncheon on Tuesday for the
AIDS clients. Once a month she sponsored a social luncheon in
the conference room at the ACS office in town. AIDS Client
Services had been active since 1987 when the epidemic was
reaching new heights and help was not to be found. Currently
the office served 145 people, but only about 20 of them were
active in social events. The climate of the disease had changed a
lot over the years and now it was more a chronic disease as
opposed to a death sentence as it had been back then. It was
much easier in this day and age to get on Disability Income.
Meg was glad that Kevin was working. She could not picture
him sitting and waiting for the next shoe to drop. He had put
himself through college and he would put himself through life.
Meg gave Fred a quick call and made arrangements for
him to come by later in the morning to check out the light in
the chicken house. That being taken care of she headed for the
shower. She loved a nice hot shower especially on a cool
morning like today. Most mornings were cool here in the
foothills as were the evenings. That was one of the great
things about Colorado. Kansas had been hot and humid. True
she had never needed chapstick in Kansas, but then she rarely
used it now. Just some times. The humidity was very low in
this area so the heat and the cold did not affect her like they
had in Selda. She suddenly thought of her sister and instead of
the shower she picked up the phone.
“Eleanor! How are you? I have not talked to you since
forever.”
Her younger sister laughed softly. “Course not. You
just stay holed up out there and don’t talk to anyone. When are
you coming for a visit? You know Betsy is getting married
again, don’t you?”
“Well, how could I? Nobody ever calls. You know you
could come out here and see me. I always go to see you.”
And she suddenly remembered why she never called.
She was the outsider. Mom had always been close to the three
sisters. When Dad had left and moved to New Jersey with his
secretary, Eleanor, Betsy and Merilyn had turned their backs on
him and taken care of Mom. Meg had been in Montana then
and saw no reason to return. Mom was in good hands and
apparently so was Dad. Now Dad was dead and Mom was still
not going to let it go. Nor were the girls.
“OK, Ellie, let’s try to get together for Christmas. I
would love to have you all out here. Want to?” Eleanor
promised to talk to the sisters and Mom and let her know. So
Meg rang off and started the shower with warm water. She
stepped under the spray and turned the cold down a little. As
she relaxed under the hot water she reached for the soap. Her
hand stopped in mid air as she looked at the strange bar of soap
in the tray. Irish Spring? She did not use Irish Spring. She
bought all her soap from a girl on eBay who made it in her
kitchen. It was all coordinated. Tahitian Vanilla Soap, Tahitian
Vanilla Body Butter and Tahitian Vanilla Lotion. She had not
bought any thing else in the last three years. She suddenly felt
very vulnerable and small in her nakedness. She stepped
quickly from the shower and wrapped in her lavender towel.
The towel smelled of Irish Spring and she discarded it in a heap
of the floor.
What was going on here? Who had been in her home?
Was she alone now? The door bell chimed and she jumped.
Grabbing her robe she ran down the hall, pulling it on and
belting it as she moved. She wrenched the door open and
encountered Fred on the porch with his hat in his hands. She
must have been a sight because he stepped back and almost fell
off the porch. Suddenly she felt very foolish.
“Oh , Fred! I am sorry! I forgot you were coming.
Please excuse me. I must look a mess. Come in.” She stepped
back while opening the door wider.
“Oh, no, Miss. I will just go check out the chicken house
if that is all right with you. If you’ve got a problem I will get
right on it.” He hurried down the steps with a confused look on
his face. Meg sagged against the door jamb. What a damn fool
she must look like.
She left the door ajar in case Fred got back before her and
hurried down the hall to dress. She quickly grabbed a pair of
jeans and a flannel shirt, panties and white cotton socks. In less
than 10 minutes she was back at the door fully dressed and
watching Fred ambling across the yard towards the house.
She met him at the door with two cups of coffee.
She handed his to him and motioned to the glider. “Well,
Fred. What did you find?”
“Not a thing, Miss. Light seems to be fine and I
checked all the wires. Must have just been a trick of your
imagination or a gremlin.” He sipped his coffee and looked
toward the chicken house. “I did notice though that when I
walked by the side of the house on the way out there that you
got a loose screen right there on your garage.”
He gestured and Meg’s eyes followed his finger. Loose
screen? The whole bottom half of the screen hung loose. How
had that happened? As she realized how it had happened her
stomach went ice cold with dread. Some one had been in her
home while she was in California! Nothing was missing, she
was sure. She would check, but she knew suddenly that if the
intruder had meant to do harm to anything he would not have
taken a shower and dried on her towel.
In a very controlled voice she turned to Fred. “Yes,
Freddie, I want you to fix that, but let’s do this. Go into town
and get the screen and while you are at it, I want to burglar proof
this place. See Mr. Watts at the Iron and Metal place and have
something nice and sturdy installed. You work with him and I
would like to have it done sooner rather than later.”
Fred smiled. This would be a job worth doing. Put a little
money in his pocket. He liked money. If he didn’t like it, why
did he have it buried all over his property? He pulled his tape
measure off his belt and took a notebook and pencil out of his
shirt pocket.
“Yes, ma’am! I will get right on that!” He whistled as he
walked to the first window.

Installment #6..Meg

INSTALLMENT #6
Meg
Meg hurried across the lobby at Stapleton. Getting her
luggage out of this place was always such a hassle. How could
any place so modern and beautiful be so inept at the simple
things in life? As she watched for her plaid bag with the teal
ribbons, her mind drifted back to California. Kevin was keeping
something from her. She could feel it. He had avoided the gay
bars when they went out. Did he do that for her or for him?
Since learning he was gay and HIV she had educated
herself on the life style and the disease. It was quite a leap for
her Bible Belt mentality to make, but she had done it. Now she
was even comfortable with the fact that he was different. The
HIV was a different matter, but his health was good and that was
a relief. He tried harder than most of the kids she dealt with at
the HIV/AIDS center. She stomped her foot as she watched her
bag disappear around the carousel and chastised herself for being
so preoccupied. This time she was ready when it sailed into view
and very soon was on her way out the door with the little bag
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bobbing merrily behind her on it’s tiny wheels.
The drive home had been uneventful and two hours later
when she pulled into her drive and hit the garage door opener
she was relieved to see the lights on in the house. She was sure
Brice had left them on so she would not have to return to a dark
house.
It was almost midnight so she decided not to go check on
the chickens. They were fine and she was tired. Daisy and
Elvira ran to meet her when she stepped into the kitchen. Icarus,
the haughty cat watched the dogs with disdain. Her time would
come later, after the dogs were crated and asleep.
Meg glanced at the computer, but decided against that
also. She was tired and hungry and just wanted the solace of her
own bed. She got a glass of milk and 3 cookies and headed up
the stairs and down the hall to her bedroom. Daisy stopped
suddenly and looked up at Meg. Meg froze in place. What was
it? Nothing. Nothing at all was different. No sound. Nothing
out of place. So what was it? She willed herself to relax. She
knew animals could sense fear and there was nothing to be afraid
of here in her home, in the hallway on the way to her bed.
She reached down and scratched Daisy behind her ears.
Then Elvira wanted to be petted and soon they all relaxed and the
fear that she had felt disappeared. She gave the dogs a treat from
the jar inside the linen closet, opened their crates and then closed
the doors behind them. She never latched them, just closed them.
Their crates were their security.
As Meg got her night gown off the hook on the bathroom
door she thought how nice it had been in California. She knew
she would need to think about a move before too much longer.
The farm was great and it was her home, but it did not make
sense at all to live out here in the boon docks with the nearest
neighbor almost a mile away. She did not need this big four
bedroom home and all the expense of the upkeep on it. The acre
of land was not enough to make a living with, but too much to
landscape and keep up with the weeds. And what were her
goals? What did she want to do with the rest of her life?
She undressed quickly and tossed her clothes in the
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hamper. She pulled her nightgown over her head and then
walked to the French doors in her bedroom and pulled them
open and stepped out onto the veranda. The moon was full and
the view was clear. She studied the chicken house for a moment
and wondered at how boring a chicken’s life must be. What
would they think if she just went out and let them loose. Would
they leave? Probably not. More likely a fox would make a
meal of some of them. Best not to do that.
But something was not right. She thought about the
scene before her and could not quite put her finger on what it
was. She finally remembered her cookies and milk on the shelf
in the hall where the dogs were sleeping and stepped quickly
inside and into the hall to retrieve the snack. Then back to the
veranda to survey her kingdom. As she drained the last swallow
of milk from the glass she realized that what was not right before
was now corrected. The light had not been on in the chicken
house before. It was always on at night, but it had not been on
and now it was. How could that be? There was no one here to
turn it on, but it should have been on. Oh, silly, it probably had
some sort of short or something. She would check it out
tomorrow. If the lights were playing games, the chickens would
not lay. And that was their job. Everything had to stay on an
even keel.
As she turned and walked back into the house she just
missed the flash of moonlight on metal as the black Jeep
Cherokee turned onto the road and headed up the mountain.

Installment #5...

INSTALLMENT #5
Kevin
Kevin breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the big
American Airlines plane lift off headed west and then bank to
the left and disappear in the Eastern sky. It had been great
having mom here for the four days. It was especially nice to
have her to run with early in the morning. And the fact that a
piece of fruit, or a bowl of soup, or crackers and cheese could
constitute a meal was even better. She understood his current
passion for being a vegetarian and she could take meat or leave
it. He had tried to show her a good time in hopes that she might
sell the farm and move to California. They could afford a house
if it were the two of them. And it did not have to be California.
They could go back to Boston or back to Dallas or maybe up to
Seattle. There was really nothing holding her in Colorado
except memories. No family. Just the farm. Her sisters were in
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Kansas and he was just not comfortable with her being alone on
the farm.
It was a lot of work and while there was room for a hired
man and the chickens brought in enough to afford help, she still
refused. It was good that she was occupied with her little store
on eBay. He checked in from time to time and her merchandise
seemed to move well. Her descriptions were written like she was
talking to an old friend. Meg Parker was definitely a force to be
reckoned with in the technology department.
Kevin pulled his little Subaru into a parking place in
front of Your Little Pub. Guess it was all right to have a brew
since it was almost noon. And he wanted to see Greg. He had
not talked to him while mom was here. Not quite sure he was
ready for mom to meet a male friend. It could be awkward.
When Greg caught sight of Kevin walking across the floor and
up to the bar, he smiled and changed directions. He had been
taking a tub of dishes to the kitchen but that could wait. He
smiled shyly at Kevin. He had never met a man before that
could turn his knees to jelly and his insides to butterflies, but
this man did. Kevin was so sure. So aloof, but when he turned
his brown eyes on him, Greg was done. He felt like the man
looked into the very depths of his soul. Eyes of brown did that
to him. “Hey, Greg, how goes it?”
“Great Kevin. And how did your mom’s visit go? I guess
she is gone now?”
“Yeah, I just put her on the plane. It was all good. I
should have had you over, but ..”
“I know. You don’t need to say any more. You have not
met my mom either!” They both laughed uneasily. They had
discussed the mother thing before and were both sure they
needed more time to adjust and accept themselves as a couple
before holding each other out to the family. Greg was more sure
then Kevin, but then he had been out in San Francisco while
Kevin had never held hands in public with a man. It would take
some getting used to that was for sure.
“Hey, Kevin, I picked up that old Loretta Lynn movie
with Sissie Spacek, you know Coal Miners Daughter. Don’t
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know how good of shape it is in. Got it at the junk store.
Want to come by tonight and watch it? “ Kevin hesitated and
sat his brew back on the bar.
“Can I bring the eats? You do know I don‘t do the meat thing,
don’t you?”
“Hey man, I was there way before you! That is no
problem at all with me.”
“I’ll pick up a bottle of wine.” He turned back to his brew
and thought to himself, “This just gets better all the time!” No
one else would ever understand his deep love for country music.
It just did not fit in with his lifestyle, but here was Greg
understanding him so well. Not only understanding, but
accepting him just as he was. Life indeed was good. Maybe
Greg would get to meet his mom yet!

Installment #4

INSTALLMENT #4
Him


He stepped quickly from the Jeep Cherokee and hurried
across the parking lot and into the airport. He better not miss this
flight or he would be setting right in her lap and that would never
do. It was so much easier before 9-11. Then it was just catch a
flight. Now there was all the security and everything to go
through. Damned inconvenience was about all it was to him. He
emptied his pockets into the tray and stepped into the machine
that would show anything he had missed. Lot better then being
groped, but there was a lot to be said for that also. He smiled to
himself and the security guard smiled back at him. Damn fool.
Like a man of his standing would ever give someone like her a
second look. He belonged to Meg, heart and soul and very soon
she would know it. As the big jet lifted off and the earth fell
behind and below him, he closed his eyes and envisioned the
perfect world that would soon be his. And for the briefest of
moments he thought he felt her breathe on his cheek.

Installment #3

NSTALLMENT #3
EBay
Meg moved the mouse over the eBay logo and double
clicked. While the computer called the program to the forefront
and automatically did the things necessary to get her screen open
she set a cup of water in the microwave and punched
“Beverage”. Technology. Where would she be without it? After
Tom had died and the memorial service was behind her, life
became very mundane and tedious. She had friends, but she was
the widow woman now. The third wheel that just did not fit in.
Her friends tried to include her in thier social life, but she was
always the “extra” at the table. They tried inviting a single man,
but that was not the answer. There did not seem to be an answer
so she had drawn further inward and found herself taking
quilting classes or art classes and had even learned to weave.
Then she discovered eBay.
EBay offered hours of entertaining buying. Then she
tried her hand at selling. By opening a store for only $14.95 a
month she could keep track and list and PayPal collected her
money and sent it to her bank when she wanted it. She started
out just listing a few things on the auction. First was a quilt she
had snagged at the local Goodwill for $15.00. She had it
appraised and found it to be worth $437.00. She put it up for
auction with a $49.00 opening bid. The next morning she had
her bid and 6 watchers. Soon it was up to $179.00. This was
getting to be kind of exciting. By the time the week was up she
had 26 watchers and a high bid of $189.50. It sold in the middle
of the night for $198.50. Meg’s Market was a success! She
began to list things at a Buy It Now price in her store with a
Good Till Canceled time limit. She enjoyed writing the
descriptions and researching what they were worth. She read
everything eBay had to offer on how to have a successful store
and put it all into practice. Her minister turned over a Lion and
Lamb collection and this opened more doors. She began to haunt
the second hand stores, the estate sales, and garage sales. Her
friends put items on consignment and soon she was a power
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seller with 100% feedback. EBay was becoming a lucrative
venture.She began visiting the chat rooms that eBay maintained
for members. Just now and then at first and only one or two.
But then she made friends. This was now a social network.
Meg had been making jewelry and now she started listing that.
More sales. It seemed in the golden world of the Internet she
was quite the success. Customers messaged her through eBay
and asked her questions and visited and wished her well and
bought her products. One guy in particular caught her fancy in
the chat room and she began looking forward to visiting him in
the evening. Redranger. Just a little harmless flirting. What
could it hurt? But then she checked her messages and found one
from redr726584433. That was how eBay disguised him to
protect his identity.
“Meg, I would like to contact you outside the chat room.
I think we have a lot in common and I would love to know you
better. I need your email.”
She remembered how she had blushed as she hit the
reply button and typed in her email address and hit the send
button. The marketl a d y@h o tma i l . c om . That had been
almost a year ago. The emails came every day.
Sometimes many, many times a day. They visited at all
hours and laughed and Meg began to feel alive again. His name
was Eldon. No last name, just Eldon. He lived up North. Way
up North. She had no intention of ever meeting him, so
addresses and all that were pretty much a moot point. He
worked as an engineer in New York and did a lot of philanthropic
work. He spent two days a week in the local soup kitchen. That
was all she needed to know. They were friends and Meg needed
a friend she could talk to. It was nice to discuss Kevin with
someone. He understood about Tommy and shared her loss as he
was a widower. She could vent to Eldon and he would tell her
she was special. She needed the strokes sometimes just to get
through the day or the night. And what better way than with a
faceless stranger 2000 miles away. She joked that this was the
best kind of relationship because she could leave him in a box at
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night and not bother with him for days if she chose. He was
always kind because he had no reason not to be. And of course
money was never a problem. The perfect man.
As Summer turned to Fall and then to Winter Meg began
to notice a pattern with Eldon. It seemed that about every four
weeks he would disappear for 6 or 7 days. Nothing. No
forwards. No “Meg?” No nothing. Dead silence on the mail
page. Then as suddenly as he disappeared he would pop back in
her life. No explanation. Just the email with “Meg?” and they
resumed where they had left off.
In June she decided to fly out to San Francisco and spend
a few days with Kevin. Getting away was not easy with the
chickens needing daily care and the two dogs and the insane cat,
but it could be worked out. She called a friend of Kevin’s who
still lived in town. Sure, he would be happy to come out a
couple times a day and gather the eggs and put them in the
walk-in cooler and play with the dogs and ignore the cat. Daisy
and Elvira were very easy dogs. Couch potatoes to the max.
The cat, Icarus, was another matter, but then anyone who has
ever owned a cat knows that cats are not owned.
Meg sent the note to Eldon. “Hey sweetie, I am going to
San Francisco to spend a few days with Kevin. I will holler when
I get back.” There was an immediate reply.
“Meg! Do you think it is wise to be flying with all the
terrorist stuff going on? Can’t he come and see you? Who will
take care of the farm? What about your eBay store?”
This was very uncharacteristic of Eldon. Actually a bit
disturbing. She replied, “I have not seen Kevin in almost a year
and have never been to California. I have a friend of his coming
to watch the farm. I will put the store on vacation. I just don’t
see the problem.”
“Meg, I just worry about you going off like that by
yourself. When are you leaving? I want flight numbers
and times. I will pray for you.”
“Oh, Eldon, you are so sweet. I will be fine and I am
attaching my itinerary, so quit worrying.” She hit the attach
button, chose browse and clicked on the itinerary file, and then
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hit send. There. But it did feel good to know he would be
worried about her. Must care a little bit. Who knows, maybe
someday. She heard no more from Eldon that day or the next.
The morning of her trip arrived and she emailed him a
happy little note and heard nothing in return. So she drove to
Denver, parked in the long term parking and caught the jet to San
Francisco. This would be a glorious four days with Kevin.
Nothing could spoil it for her, and when she came out of the
tunnel and saw Kevin she ran to him. Her son! He was brown
and healthy and seemed happy. That was all she could hope for
at this time.
The next few days were spent sight seeing and eating in
Kevin’s favorite places. She visited his job site and met his staff.
They all seemed pleasant enough. He had taken a few days off,
so they were bumming. Meg had brought her jogging shoes and
they ran on the trail behind his apartment each morning. The last
day they went to the Golden Gate Bridge. The bridge glowed
golden and the bay was calm and serene as they stood looking
down from the bluff. “ I see why you love this place, son.
California is definitely different than Colorado or Montana.  Meg suddenly shuddered.
Kevin looked startled. “What was that all about? Are
you cold mom? “ She laughed.
“No, it was just a rabbit ran across my grave, I guess.
That is what Momma always used to say. I don’t know.”
Meg turned slowly and caught sight of a tall man getting
into a silver SUV. She had thought they were alone on the bluff,
but apparently they were not. As she and Kevin started down the
incline to the parking lot she watched the silver Jeep Cherokee
slowly leave the lot and turn onto the highway. She wondered at
the uneasy feeling in her chest, but dismissed it as a mother not
wanting to leave her only son. That was all