9.

Avery thought she deserved a reward. She managed to sleepwalk through an entire day at work.

The night before had been rough. She had tossed and turned and then she had gotten up and pace the house. Agitated did not describe her mood. She drank so much coffee she thought she should be humming like an electric wire given the amount of caffeine she had consumed.

When the school day ended and the halls were quiet, she sat in her office trying to drum up the energy to get in her car and drive home.

"Hey, woman. You going to just spend the night here or what?" Ellie had appeared in her office doorway, grin on her face. Her bubbly personality translated well to the kids – she was one of their kindergarten teachers. She also had four kids of her own. She had married David, her high school sweetheart.

"I'm thinking about it. Why are you still here?"

"Cleaning out closets. It's a mess. Gotta love the end of the year." Ellie took a seat. "Oh. I heard an evil rumor that Mark Calaway was back in town. Didn't you guys used to be friends?"

Ugh. Avery couldn't escape him.

"Used to be. Wonder what dragged him back finally." Avery kept her tone nuetral.

"The reunion." Ellie grinned at Avery's noise of annoyance. "What? He got sent an invitation just like everybody else." Although she had graduated 2 years after Avery, Ellie was on the reunion committee every year. She liked to keep busy.

"I just don't see the point in a reunion when when most of the class lives within spitting distance of the high school still." It was true. Avery would swear she saw some of her classmates more now that they had children going to school than she had back when she had been a student.

"You can humbug it all you want to. You're going."

"I haven't decided that yet."

"I decided for you." Ellie grinned. "Live a little. Your kid is almost grown."

"Don't remind me." Avery groaned. "And I really do need to get out of here. I'm going to bed early tonight if it kills me."

"You had a rough day yesterday." Ellie commiserated. "You should have taken off today too."

"Ha. I'll be off for three months in a few days. My vacation days and PTO are all spoken for." They walked outside together and Avery promised to call her that weekend to get together for lunch without the kids involved.

She managed to get home in one piece. Emily was at dance team practice until six. Avery debated taking a nap, knowing if she gave in to the temptation she wouldn't be able to sleep again that night. But it sounded so nice. She avoided comfortable spots like the couch and kept busy, putting together supper, throwing a load of laundry in.

There was a knock on the door. Avery glanced at the clock and frowned. She hadn't locked the door and Emily wouldn't be home for nearly at least half an hour. She went into the front hall and frowned at the big shadow she could see through the frosted glass of her front door.

She seriously considered pretending she wasn't home for all of 3 seconds. Her car was in the driveway. Plus she was pretty sure that her visitor could see her moving through his side of the frosted glass. She had a sinking feeling that she knew who it was.

Resigned to having to look at him in the daylight, mentally preparing the shut the door in his face after telling him to get lost, Avery yanked the door open.

"What..." The words died on her lips. It wasn't Mark. It was Jack. Relief flooded through her. It was funny how angry she had gotten with Mark, a guy she hadn't seen in 2 decades, but her ex-husband's appearance made her smile.

"Wow. For a second there, I thought you were going to knock me off the porch." Jack smirked.

"I thought about it. What's up?"

"I told Em I would take her out to eat tonight. Since I couldn't make it yesterday." At that, Jack's smile faded. "I'm sorry about your mom, Avery."

"Thanks. Emily's still at practice. But you can come in and wait." She pulled the door open and let him step inside before closing the door.

"Something smells great." Jack observed, following her into the kitchen.

"Chicken parm." Avery smiled. "You can stay and eat here. I made plenty."

"Think Em would go for it?" Jack said with a laugh. He sat at the table.

"It's her favorite so she might. Besides that, you're getting her this weekend. You can go out to eat whenever you want to."

"True." Jack was eyeing her. "You look tired. Are you sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine. Recovering from yesterday." In more ways than one, Avery added mentally.

"I should have taken the day, come down for the funeral."

"You didn't have to. We managed to get through it."

"Of course you did." A racket came from the front of the house and they both looked that direction.

"Hey!" Emily appeared in the doorway. "We got done early. Hey Dad." She gave him a hug and kiss, then hugged Avery on her way to the sink for a drink of water. She also peeked into the oven. "Oh man. So I guess I should have rain-checked the dinner invitation with Dad."

"Or he could eat here. With us. Which he already said he would." Avery said with a laugh.

Jack kept things on the light side through dinner. They spent a pleasant couple of hours hanging out. When he decided to leave, he gave Avery a warm kiss. But it didn't spark anything between them. That was their biggest problem. No spark. Or if there had been one, it had burned out long ago. It had been a wonderful evening, no drama. Soothing. Exactly what she and Emily needed after the week they'd had.

That night, Avery had no trouble falling asleep. She breezed through the next day. And the next. Once again, her encounter with Mark seemed to be turning into something she had dreamed up. Had he really come to her house?

Avery had been exhausted. Maybe she had just conjured him up.

She knew better though. She also knew he was still lurking around town. She heard in a roundabout way that he was staying at the motel that was just a few blocks from her house. She hadn't seen him again since that night though, which was a miracle in itself considering how small the town was.

Emily celebrated the last day of school by packing for the weekend at her father's house. Avery was sad to see her go. Even though it was only 2 days, the house always felt so empty when her daughter wasn't in it.

Friday night was uneventful. Avery declined an invitation to eat at Ellie's house because even if she were lonely, she still wanted some time to herself. She took a long soak in her tub, and read for a bit before finally dozing off.

The sound of sirens woke her up sometime later. It was still dark outside. The ambulance went past the house with it's distinctive warble, followed by the flashing red lights of the sheriff's car. She blearily looked at the alarm clock. It was just past 4 in the morning. Sirens were such a rarity around town that it had pulled her out of a dead sleep. She yawned and tried to go back to sleep but the jarring noise and surge of adrenaline from the rude wake up conspired against her. She tossed the blanket back and went to the bathroom, then headed downstairs for a drink of water.

Another emergency vehicle flew by outside, siren blaring. Avery frowned and went to the front door, stepping out onto the porch. The police were heading toward town. But not too far in. The sirens cut off somewhere on the far side of the neighborhood.

Mildly curious but not curious enough to chase an ambulance – there were some people who would do it – Avery sat on her porch swing and shivered in the cool morning air. Cars went by on the road in front of the house, all in the direction of the flashing lights. There were even a few people walking.

"Like zombies." Avery muttered to herself. Jack would have found it funny. He would make jokes about hurrying to the scene of the accident and handing out his business cards – the very definition of an ambulance chaser.

It was nearly an hour later when the first of the onlookers moseyed past her house, going in the opposite direction. The sun was still down although the eastern sky had taken on a lighter tone. It had been a long time since Avery had watched the sunrise.

One of her neighbors walked along the sidewalk, looking shell-shocked. He spotted Avery and waved, then cut across her lawn to speak.

"Crazy morning."

Avery struggled to remember his name. Older guy, her dad's age. Ran the local garage. She got it. "What's going on, Mr. Branham?"

"Hard to tell. Sheriff said that Rob Williams got shot."

"What?" Avery could think of nothing else to say. She had been peripherally aware of Mark's stepfather for what felt like most of her life. Yes, partially because of her feelings for Mark, but mostly because what Mark had insinuated about him. He was...creepy. And that was a mild word. Every time Avery had seen him over the years, he had stared at her. And every time, she felt like she needed a shower afterward. She had heard the phrase 'undressing someone with your eyes', and had often wondered if it would be flattering from an acceptable source. But from Rob it was creepy.

It didn't help things that after Mark's mother had died, Rob had remarried. And she was dead within 5 years. Aneurysm, according to the rumor mill. Nora had a history of migraines and her doctor had warned her about her blood pressure.

Avery thought it sounded believable but at the same time didn't believe it. Rob went under her radar after that. She had been in the midst of a divorce after all. Real life trumped amateur detective hour.

She still saw him around town. He was always staring at some woman or other. Avery tried to stop thinking of him as some kind of crazed murderer. Nothing had been mentioned or hinted at or proven. But Mark's insistence that he had killed her mother still stuck with Avery.

"Doesn't look like he's gonna make it. Guess one of them women he takes home from the bar had a husband that didn't take well to him treadin' on claimed territory." Branham shook his head. "Gonna go back to bed. Bastard probably won't make it to the hospital, from what I heard." He raised a hand in a wave and continued walking. Avery could only watch after him, surprised at the lack of empathy in the older man's words.

So maybe she wasn't crazy to have avoided Rob. She wasn't the only one who sensed something off about him. And she found that she didn't have much empathy for him either.

Avery figured she should head back into bed. She had no reason to not sleep in that day. A movement across the road caught her eye. A familiar figure was walking up the street, away from town.

Mark. Again. He didn't stop, didn't even look her direction as far as Avery could tell. Of course from across the road, she was probably lose in the deep shadow cast by the overhanging roof. It didn't stop her from studying him as he walking up the block and out of sight. Now what was he doing out here? Avery shook her head. She was tired. Too tired. She didn't want to deal with any of this. She headed inside and went upstairs, pretty sure sleep would elude her but determined to try.