Chapter 7: A Guest
The following day Mulder and Scully busied themselves at the house. Mulder spent a good portion of the day on his laptop running checks on the people who had attended the party the night before.
Scully organized their belongings and when she was done, actually opted for reading a book out in the backyard.
The sun was warm and inviting and Scully happily sunk into her chair looking forward to reading a mindless novel. She felt a bit guilty about doing it, but Mulder had reassured her that she would be working well into the night on their field report so she should take advantage of the nice weather.
She had just turned to the first page when someone called out to her.
"Good morning young lady" a female voice called.
Scully lifted her eyes from her book and saw a middle aged woman of at least 53 standing next to the hedge dividing their property.
Scully gave the woman a quick wave and got up from her chair and walked over to her.
"Good morning" Scully said smiling down at the smaller woman.
"Good morning dear." The woman said holding out her hand. "My name is Sally Smith and I live right next door." The woman gestured to the small white Cape behind her.
"Very niceto meet you Mrs. Smith. My name is Sammy Bennet. My husband, Jacob, and I just moved in yesterday."
"Please call me Sally dear. I saw you when you arrived but wanted to give you a chance to settle in before coming over and saying 'hello'."
The two women made small talk for about five minutes and then Sally invited Scully and Mulder over for tea.
"I know it won't be as exciting as the parties Rob throws, but perhaps I can tempt you with my homemade cookies."
"We would love to come visit" Scully replied and it was decided that she and Mulder would head over around four that afternoon.
The women parted company and Scully went in to tell Mulder about their engagement that afternoon.
"Homemade cookies and gossip. I can't think of a better way to spend the afternoon."
Scully and Mulder arrived at Sally's house promptly at four. She greeted them with a warm smile and led them into her living room.
It was obvious that Sally had lived in this house for a long, long time. The furniture was a bit dated as were the rugs on the floor, but the house itself was spotless.
Mulder milled about the living room while Scully helped Sally in the kitchen with the tea and cookies. The mantle was covered with pictures and Mulder looked at each one. They were pictures of Sally over the years with a man who Mulder assumed was her husband.
Sally and Scully entered the room just when Mulder was finishing up his inspection of the pictures.
"Sally, is that you?" Mulder pointed at a picture at the other end of the mantle.
"Goodness yes." Sally replied a bit embarrassed. "They are all of me and my husband Jake."
Sally set the tea on the coffee table and motioned for Scully to put down the plate of cookies and take a seat. Mulder automatically sat next to her trying not to look too eagerly at the cookies.
Sally sighed. "Jake and I were married close to 18 years. He passed away about 10 years ago."
"I'm sorry" Scully said softly accepting the cup of tea Sally held out to her.
"Don't be" Sally said her eyes taking on a look of cold steel. "He had a heart attack, in bed in the arms of his lover."
"Oh" Scully said feeling a bit embarrassed.
Mulder took his cup of tea, added several large scoops of sugar to it and decided it was time to change the subject.
"Sally, have you lived here long?"
"Oh yes, this house was one of the first ones built. The rest of the neighborhood just sprang up around us."
"So you must have noticed lots of changes throughout the years." Scully said nibbling on a cookie.
"This neighborhood used to be filled with families. Children everywhere. It was wonderful since Jake and I weren't blessed with any of our own. But about five years ago, things slowly started to change."
"The people who had raised their children here sold their houses and moved to where the weather is warmer. The houses were bought up by married folks who were more concerned about their careers and having a good time then starting a family."
"Really" Mulder said hoping what he was about to say wouldn't upset Scully "Sammy and I are hoping to have kids one day and had hoped that there would be lots of children around here to play with."
"I wouldn't hold my breath Jacob" Sally said before lowering her voice to almost a whisper. "The way folks around here behave, I doubt that any of them will be starting families anytime soon."
"What you mean?" Scully asked.
"I may be old and a bit old fashioned but, as I see it, when people stay up partying to the wee hours of the morning, during the week, they don't seem to be too keen on having children around to wreck all their fun."
"But enough about all that, how are the cookies dear?" Sally asked Mulder as he popped his third one into his mouth.
"Wonderful" he said with his mouth still full.
"Good, I will pack some up to send home with you."
Mulder and Scully spent the next hour chatting with Sally but didn't get much more information out of her.
When they arrived back at their house, it was decided that Scully would try to befriend Sally as she would probably be a good source of information.
"I don't know if I like the idea too much Mulder. I feel like I am taking advantage of a lonely old lady."
Mulder walked over to where Scully stood looking out the window and stood behind her. "I know Scully, but think of it this way, the information you gather may help save a life or two."
Scully turned around and looked up at Mulder. Their eyes locked for a minute before Scully nodded in agreement.
"You're right Mulder." She pushed past him heading over to the dining room table which housed her laptop. "Don't forget, you're responsible for dinner tonight since I am doing the field report."
Mulder smiled and headed into the kitchen to look for the phone book hoping that at least one restaurant in the area delivered.
Sally watched Mulder and Scully return to their house walking side by side barely touching.
"They are definitely in love" Sally thought as she headed back into the living room to pick up the dirty dishes. "But there is something else there."
She picked up their two teacups and carried them to the kitchen being careful not to disturb the patterns of leaves on the bottom of each cup.
Sally put the cups down on the counter and turned on the bright overhead light before picking up each cup and examining it closely.
Both cups pointed to the same thing. "They are lying" she said to herself. "I wonder what about?"
She put the dishes in the sink and glancing at the kitchen clock noticed it was time for the evening news. She went into the den, switched on the TV and put Sammy and Jacob Bennet out of her mind. For now.
R&R