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North of Happenstance: Chapter Twelve
Kate took a deep breath, and then another. Her dress felt too tight, but then, modern image had it that Romeo’s Juliet was something of a stunner. Hence, she couldn’t be seen in anything that billowed too loosely. She would have to make do with what little airway she was afforded. The backstage of Whestleigh High School’s theater department reeked of body odor and fear, but Kate wasn’t positive they weren’t side-effects of her own person. Today was the day: the group theatre project for her Shakespeare class; the one-act revival of Romeo and Juliet. Kate looked up at the clock hanging beside the left wing entrance. It was 7:50…
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North of Happenstance: Chapter Twenty-Three
Whipping open the front doors to the LitLiber, Kate barreled inside, her face a mask of frozen fear as her feet tripped, unseeing, past a throng of shoppers. Her breath wheezing out past her parted lips, Kate quickly found herself outside Jake’s office; terrible images transposed themselves before her eyes—what would she encounter when she opened that door? Frantic, she twisted the handle in her numb hands, her eyes hunted…only, nothing so dire materialized when she bowled across its threshold. Instead, Jake was seated quietly behind his desk, head bent over the computer screen before him, seemingly fast at work; Janessa sat sulkily in a chair across the way, looking…
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North of Happenstance: Chapter Twenty-Four
Hefting a heavy box in her arms, Kate shuffled a little to her right. The storage room at the back of the LitLiber was a mess. Organization had gotten away from the staff…sundry merchandise lay scattered around the cramped space, without thought to order or convenience. Kate had volunteered to stay late to help put the room to rights—a little extra time and effort today would save in the long run, when employees no longer had to hunt and gather for needed items. Out of her peripheral vision, Kate saw the door to the room crack open, but she didn’t bother turning to see who’d walked it. The box was…
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North of Happenstance: Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Kate, I’m so glad you could stop by,” Penny announced immediately after that woman had pulled aside the curtain marking the entrance to the psychic’s House of Intuition. A droll smile on her face, Kate gestured toward her phone. “I got your text message. It sounded urgent,” she admitted. Penny’s missive had been short but implicit: they needed to talk. Clearly, whatever it was hadn’t been something which could be shared over the phone. “So, what’s up?” Kate asked, moving inside the room to grab up an empty chair around Penny’s table. At the same moment, Penny sprang to her feet, her movements feverish suddenly. Pacing the length of her shop…
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North of Happenstance: Chapter Twenty-Eight
Hobbling carefully, her arms sturdy against the uncomfortable padding of her crutches, Kate made her way slowly into her kitchen. The soft click of the front door closing behind M.T.’s reluctant form ringing from the hall, Kate frowned. She was hungry. She hadn’t realized just how hungry when she’d more-or-less pushed the hovering pastor out the door; in retrospect, she should had her stay just a little while longer…but then again, if Maggie suspected Kate couldn’t even so much as make dinner she never would’ve agreed to leave Kate to her own devices. Propping her body up against the counter, Kate fumbled a frying pan out from the cupboard. Eggs…
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North of Happenstance: Chapter Twenty-Nine
Absently, Kate looked around the empty gymnasium floor which, twenty minutes ago, had served as the classroom for the Dog Obedience School she’d attended that evening. The course had ended for the day, the other participants long since gone in the aftermath. All except for Kate. Kate and Ashley Burns. “I’m not sure what happened,” Ashley wept then, her arms crossed over her chest protectively. Her red-rimmed eyes stared questioningly up into Kate’s face. “He just—he just came over last night; he was sorry but he just wasn’t sure he was still in love with me…said he needed some space…!” Another bout of tears followed that last, heart-wrenching…
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North of Happenstance: Chapter Thirty-Five
Kate’s knees felt like jelly as she walked the length of the LitLiber bookstore toward the small, multi-purpose room located in the building’s rear. Her hands felt sweaty as her eyes looked searchingly toward the windows overlooking the white-walled room. The blinds were up and she had a clear view of Jackson standing there. Automatically, her hand went up to brush back her excruciatingly styled hair (and if she were wearing more make-up than usual, and if her attire was a little dressier than was absolutely necessary, Kate chose not to pretend otherwise). Tonight marked the first play rehearsal…and she felt like puking. Grabbing the doorknob in her damp palms,…
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North of Happenstance: Chapter Thirty-Seven
Kate looked down uncertainly at the slight edge of piping she could see poking out from underneath the kitchen sink. M.T. stood by the back counter, her hands busy as she rifled through a large toolbox. “Do you even know what you’re looking for in there?” Penny asked, strolling into the room, a banana in one hand, and a bright pink bandana covering her head. M.T. shrugged. “No, not really.” She smiled. She couldn’t seem to stop smiling. She was still stuck in homebuyer’s euphoria. Penny chewed thoughtfully, her eyes going hesitantly toward Kate. “How about you? Do you see what the problem is over there?” She waved in the…
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North of Happenstance: Chapter Thirty-Eight
Jake’s lips were cool where they pressed against Kate’s, his hands roaming up and down her back, drawing her steadily closer, until her legs were pushed up tight to his, until she could feel his chest moving with the force of his breathing. And, curling against him, Kate kissed him back. That is, until a crash of noise invaded her senses. Pulling back at the sound, Kate’s eyes popped open, her head shifting to the side, to watch an empty plastic bin tumble loudly down the stairs. “Oops, clumsy me,” Penny called out. She was standing on the third step down from the top of the stairwell, a tight, almost…
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North of Happenstance: Chapter Thirty-Nine
Penny unlocked the back door to her office with more force than necessary, her wrist cranking hard against the metallic key in her hand. Moving inside, she dropped her purse down on the filing cabinet before plopping down in a seat. It was almost four o’clock and she didn’t have any clients set up for the day. In fact, she’d posted a sign on her door earlier this morning, informing any passersby, that the shop was closed that afternoon. Only, after spending all day at Maggie’s, tearing up carpet and carefully avoiding Kate, Penny hadn’t felt up to going back home. Not just yet. She didn’t want to be found,…
