Love on the Horizon (A Northern Woods Novel) (18 page)

“Definitely – it would be just
like old times. Nick’s calling me. I’ll talk to you later.”

* * *

“What’s the matter, honey?” Nick
asked as he reached for the salt and pepper. “You look troubled. Did something
go wrong in your class today?” He set the shakers back down on the table.

“No, my class went just fine.
It’s probably nothing.” She paused and took a sip of her iced tea, then looked
at him. “Have you heard anything about the people who bought the Millers’
house?”

“Only that they moved here from
Minneapolis. Why, are they having problems?”

“No… well maybe, I’m just not
sure of what to make of them. The wife’s name is Natalie. When I went to their
house to welcome them, Carl answered the door. He told me that Natalie was
sleeping, although I could see her sitting in the dining room, apparently
working on a puzzle.”

“Maybe you were mistaken. Perhaps
someone was visiting them.”

“No, I’m positive that was her.
I’ve noticed them driving in town and walking in the mall. Sarah, Nattie and I
were best friends in high school.”

“Nattie?”

“Her name was Natalie, but
everyone called her Nattie. I don’t know why he’d tell me she was sleeping.
When Sarah and I have seen them together, she’d act as though she doesn’t even
know us, but we’re sure that for some reason, she’s ignoring us because of
him.”

“Well, maybe they’re busy and
would rather not be interrupted.”

“I doubt it. Sarah also stopped
by their place last week. He told Sarah that Natalie has Alzheimer’s, and they
don’t want visitors. Sarah said he was very rude, and he shut the door in her
face.”

“That’s strange. Well, let them
be. Maybe they’re having problems. On the other hand, perhaps they’re not used
to strangers coming to their door. I noticed the yard is still fenced in. The
Millers had installed the fence for their dogs, if I remember correctly.”

“Yes, it is, but the house looked
as though it was closed up and deserted. The curtains were all drawn, and it
appeared as if someone had passed away. It seemed awfully dreary.”

“Well, give them time. They may
want a bit of privacy before meeting their neighbors. Or they could be busy
unpacking, just like we’ll be doing before long.”

“Maybe,” she said, and stood from
the table when she heard the twins begin to cry. “I think I might stop by there
again tomorrow. I’ll be right back,” she whispered over her shoulder, and
headed toward Angie and Allie’s bedroom. Nicky had just fallen asleep, and she
didn’t want the girls to wake him. His arm still bothered him a bit, especially
at bedtime.

Mariah returned to the kitchen
and sat down. “Angie dropped her pacifier. They went back to sleep, thank
goodness.” She looked down at her plate then pushed it away, deciding she’d had
enough. “It really bothers me.”

“What does?” Nick wiped his mouth
with his napkin, leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms above his
head.

“Just the way the two of them
act. As I said, the three of us had been best friends. Why would she pretend
not to know us? I’ve seen them at the mall and they seem so friendly and say
hello to other people, but when they’re home they have a completely different
attitude.”

“Maybe they’re newlyweds, who
knows… just let them alone for a while.”

“We’ll see,” she said, and looked
up at him. He eyed her with concern. “Okay, okay, I’ll stay away from them for
a short time.” He smiled, and she stood to clear the table.

“Great dinner, wasn’t it? I don’t
know what we’d do without Bess.”

“Yes, and I’m so glad she agreed
to sell her house and move in with us. Nicky and the twins adore her, and so do
I. I’ll also have more time to teach my riding class, which I really do enjoy,
by the way.”

“Well, tomorrow’s going to be
busy,” he said, then stood up and yawned again as he stretched. When he reached
for his plate, she nudged him aside.

“Go on to bed, honey.” She
gathered the dishes from the table. “You look tired. You need a good night’s
sleep.”

He leaned over to plant a kiss on
her lips, wrapped his arms around her, and placed his hands on her buttocks.
“I’ll be waiting for you, sweetheart.”

“I’ll be in shortly,” she said,
and turned back to the sink. She finished washing the dishes, checked the lock
on the door and turned off the lights.

When she entered the bedroom, he
was still awake and smiled intently.

“I’ll be out in just a minute,”
she said, and went into the bathroom, closed the door, and took a quick shower.
After applying her Passion Flower body lotion, she entered the bedroom, walked
over to the foot of the bed and hesitated for a moment. She stood and watched
him, sound asleep and snoring lightly, his broad shoulders heaving as he
breathed deeply. He’d been having a hard time staying awake while finishing his
dinner. She carefully slid into bed, not wanting to wake him. Staring at the
ceiling, her thoughts filtered back to the day she met him, and she considered
herself the luckiest woman in the world as she too, drifted into a deep sleep.

* * *

The curtains softly swayed
against the open window, and the gentle breeze carried the fresh scent of
blossoms. Mariah slowly opened her eyes and smiled. This was her favorite time
of the year, when the meadow was flowing with wildflowers. If the wind blew in
from the south, the house would fill with a luxurious fragrance. She stretched
her entire body then glanced at the clock and quickly jumped out of bed.

“Nine o’clock and no one woke
me,” she muttered. She slipped on a blouse and while she pulled up her jeans,
she hopped over to her dresser. When she reached into the drawer for a pair of
socks, her fingers closed around a velvet-covered box. She withdrew it, and
taped to the bottom was a note that read,
I love you, sunshine
. Inside
was a beautiful necklace with a white-gold heart. She opened the heart and
found a picture of Nicky, Angie and Allie.

She smiled with pleasure and
walked out to the kitchen. Bess and Lillie were feeding the twins. Nicky sat at
the table eating his Cheerios.

“Hi Mommy,” Nicky greeted her.

“How are you doing, sweetie? No
school today?”

“Teacher’s Workshop,” Bess
answered. “This is Nicky’s second breakfast. He woke up and ate with Nick at
five o’clock, then went back to bed.”

“Goodness, that was awfully
early,” she said and ruffled his hair.

Mariah showed them the necklace,
and she could tell that Bess had already known about it.

“It’s beautiful.”

“You knew, didn’t you? How was he
able to take the picture without my knowing?”

“He bought that new camera two
weeks ago and was in here taking pictures while you were with your students. It
sure turned out perfectly, didn’t it? You’re a very lucky woman.”

“Yes, I am. I won’t even be able
to thank him until tonight. He’ll be out on the range with the rescue team. I
don’t have a class today, so maybe Nicky and I will bake a cake for him.”

“But I only have one arm, Mommy.
I can’t help you.”

“Well one hand is all it takes to
lick the spoon,” she said and tapped the end of his nose with her finger.

* * *

“The house is almost ready for
us, Mariah. I’m glad we only have to move a few acres away.” They both laughed
while they packed two more boxes. They’d been able to put the rarely needed
items into the finished four-car garage for storage until the house was
completed. The construction workers let Nick know it would be ready to move
into by the weekend.

“I’ll be glad when we’re done.”
Mariah stood from the basement floor and brushed the dust from her jeans. “It’s
been nice to know we have employees who’ve used their personal time to give us
a hand.”

“You look cute, even when you’re
dirty.” He grinned, and used a clean towel to wipe a smudge of dirt from her cheek,
then reached for her butt.

She playfully pushed his arm away
and stepped over a small box. “I have to go. My students will be arriving soon.
Their class wouldn’t be much help if they have a horse and no instructor. Bess
said she’d have dinner ready at the usual time,” she added, blew him a kiss and
hurried up the stairway.

“Sure, just like a woman. Leaves
me in the basement packing while she runs off to have fun,” he muttered, then
smiled and stood. “That’s it for today anyway, I guess.” He labeled the boxes
and went upstairs.

The twins were in their high
chairs having their lunch when he entered the kitchen. He gave each of them a
hug and grabbed his hat from the shelf behind the door.

“See you at dinner time, Bess.”
She smiled when he waved and hurried out while she continued feeding applesauce
to the girls.

Chapter
Twenty-nine

Mariah sat at her desk, tapped
her pen on the desktop, and stared off into space. They’d been in their new
home for over a month now. It’s about time to give that visit to Natalie
another try, she decided.

She wore a dusky-rose satin
blouse and a pair of ebony jeans. Next, she ran a comb through her waist-length
hair, made a partial ponytail, and tied it with a silver ribbon that hung down
in a mass of silky black tresses. She applied a lustrous pink pearl lipstick and
lightly blotted her lips.

Stepping away from the mirror,
she thought something was missing. She added a satin scarf around her neckline.
“Perfect,” she said, and turned to leave. When she entered the front room, she
let Bess know she’d be back in a couple of hours.

She parked her new Lexus SUV in
front of the Larson’s yard, surrounded by a chain-link fence. She hopped out,
stood at the entrance and looked at the house. It appeared as though no one was
home. The living room drapes were drawn and the bedroom shades tightly closed. 
There wasn’t a lock on the gate, so she opened it, looked around, then walked
up the front steps. When she found no doorbell, she tapped lightly on the heavy
storm door. It seemed quite strange for their house to be closed up on a beautiful
day like today. With a partly cloudy sky and a temperature of seventy-eight
degrees, most people have their doors and windows wide open, to enjoy the fresh
air.

She knocked again, harder this
time. Disappointed when no one answered, she stepped down from the porch and
walked around the corner of the house to the side door. Perhaps they were in
the kitchen, unable to hear her knock.

She climbed the three steps and
knocked on the door, then looked down at her feet. “Oh, gross.” Apparently,
someone had spilled food on the porch and hadn’t bothered to clean it up. A
horrible odor drifted up and filled her nostrils. She covered her mouth to
prevent herself from gagging, then grabbed the rail and quickly stepped back
down. This wasn’t right. She’d just seen them together at the mall a few days
ago. She walked around to the rear yard and found that a twelve-foot wooden
fence surrounded it. She pulled the gate open and looked into the yard. It was
unbelievable. The entire fenced-in area held not only bags of garbage, but
rubbish and waste covered every square foot of their three-acre yard. The house
was a split-level, with a lower-level walkout. She was about to turn around and
return to her car, when the sliding door opened slowly. The drapes were pulled open,
just enough to show Mr. Larson’s face.

“What do you want?” he yelled
angrily. “If someone does not answer their door, they’re either not home, or
they don’t want intruders.”

She stood still, though she
wanted to turn and run back to the SUV. “I came to visit Natalie. Is she here?
I’d like to welcome the two of you to Pinewood Hills.”

“We don’t care for any visitors.
My wife is sick. She has Alzheimer’s and cannot speak to anyone. Now stay
away,” he shouted, and the framed glass rattled as he slammed the sliding door
shut.

Mariah turned around and walked
quickly to her vehicle. She climbed in and immediately clicked the button for
the automatic locks. She was very angry. She knew that something wasn’t right.
It couldn’t have been more than a week ago that she’d seen them walking at the
mall.

She placed the key in the
ignition and looked up at the house. That was when she noticed someone peeking
out the bedroom window then quickly moved away, the shade falling back tightly
against the pane. She was sure it was Nattie.

* * *

“Nick, I’m telling you, something
is definitely wrong over there. The Millers had their yard beautifully
landscaped. The front looks the same, although not well taken care of; the rear
has been fenced in, and the entire area is a horrible mess. It’s hard to
believe someone actually lives in a place like that. The stench in the backyard
was so appalling, I almost vomited.”

“Mariah, I told you not to bother
them.”

“You only said I should leave
them alone for a while. I haven’t been there for over a month now, and I’ve
seen them several times at the mall. They always keep walking, but at times
she’ll look up and smile at me.”