At eight a.m. the next morning, Sara sat down at the breakfast table and had her toast and coffee.  She was going to go back to work for the first time since she left the office to go to the hospital and find out her husband was dead.  She knew that people would want to be consoling.  They would want to give her hugs and tell her how sorry they were and she was really trying to mentally prepare for this.  She wanted to get to a place where she wouldn’t break down and cry every time someone who didn’t know her husband at all told her how sorry they were that he was dead.

“It’s okay, Sara,” she said out loud to herself.  “You will get through this.  You will.”

Two hours later she thought that she was going to hyperventilate.  It had taken her thirty minutes just to get from the parking lot to her desk.  The hugs and arm-pats had started at her car and did not stop.  At one point she went to the bathroom just to get away from the people stopping by her desk.  They were all so nice, but if they didn’t stop being sorry she was going to scream.

At ten-fifteen she knocked on Mr. Hart’s door.

“Sir?”

“Yes, Sara.  Come in, come in,” Mr. Hart beckoned in his usual good-natured tone.  “What is it, my dear?”

“I need a little air.  I’m just going to step around the corner to the coffee shop.  Linda will be taking your calls for me while I’m out.  Can I get you anything before I go?  Or while I’m there?”

“No, no.  I have everything I need.  The Petersons are coming in at eleven to do their closing on that vacation home they are buying.  Do you think you can be here for that?  They like you so much, I think that it will be good if you were here.”

“Oh, yes, I’ll be back before then.  This will just be a quick break.”  Sara backed out and closed the door behind her, heading straight for the back entrance so that she could hopefully avoid anymore hugs.

Once Sara stepped outside she felt immediately better.  Though the sun beat down and the September heat was already in full force, her breathing and heart rate had slowed to normal levels.  The coffee shop was just around the corner and she headed straight there.

There was a twinkling sound from an old bell above the door when Sara stepped inside.  This was one of her favorite places in Savannah.  The atmosphere was warm and inviting, with couches and overstuffed chairs situated on a small loft with a low ceiling.  It had all the prerequisites for a coffee shop – dark painted walls, a collection of magazines and old books, and wi-fi.  She walked up to the counter and ordered an iced decaf latte.  Even though she wasn’t giving up caffeine altogether, she was still trying to keep the stimulant to a minimum.  She went over to one of the small couches and picked up a magazine while waiting for her order.

She had only been there for a few moments when she felt a presence standing over her.   She looked up.

“Mrs. Carraway,” James Overman said, looking at her and smiling.

“Oh my goodness!  Mr. Overman.  What in the world are you doing here?”  She caught herself, realizing how she must have sounded.  “I mean, not that you shouldn’t be here.  It’s a free country and all.  I guess I mean, what brings you here?”

James continued to smile.  “Please call me James.”

“And I’m Sara.”

“Okay then, Sara.  Well,” he explained. “I’m actually here in town for a job interview.”

“Oh,” Sara said, puzzled.  “But I thought you worked for the mortuary back in Oden.”

“No, I was in between jobs, and had moved back home for a time waiting to find something else.  I actually have a degree in Computer Engineering from Tech.  SCAD has an opening for an IT job.  I interviewed just around the corner.  I need to go for a second interview with another person after lunch, but saw this coffee shop and decided to pass the time in here.  I have some work I can get done on my laptop.  And I need to look for a place to live.  Thought I would check out the rental paper.”

Did he really just say he needed a place to live?  Sara thought, a wild hope building inside her.  Was it possible?  She barely knew this man.  But he knew her secret, and he was someone she could trust.  She wasn’t sure how she knew this, but she did.

“When will you find out about the job?”

“Actually, the guy I interviewed with this morning said that as far as he could tell I was the most qualified applicant.  I’m sure I’ll have to wait a few days to find out.”

A girl at the counter called out “Betty Boop, order up.”

Sara started to get up.  “That’s me.”

“Betty Boop?” he asked, one eyebrow cocked.

“It’s just a name,” she said, smiling.

James motioned for her to sit down.

“I’ll get it for you.  Will you watch my bag?”

“Sure.  Thanks.”  James walked down the stairs to the counter.  Sara didn’t know how to proceed.  Should she just ask him?  What would it hurt?  He knew all there was to know about the toughest parts of her life.  Why not share the current situation with him?  He could always say no.

James had returned with both of their coffee cups.  He sat hers on the table in front of her and sat across from her in one of the easy chairs.  They were the only two people up there in the nook.  Sara sat up and took a sip of her coffee.

James looked at her. “So, how are things, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Okay, I guess.  I started back at work this morning.  Everyone is too nice.  Too sympathetic.  I  know they mean well, but how can I get on with my life if no one lets me forget that he’s gone.”  Sara stopped, closed her mouth and looked at James in embarassment.  For some unknown reason she felt completely at ease with this relative stranger.

“Well, like you said, they mean well.  I guess there’s no way around it.  Not for the first few days anyway.”  He looked down at his coffee.  “Have you told anyone else about your…ah…other problem?”

“No.  I left Oden after the burial on Wednesday.  There wasn’t any time to tell Eve.  That’s my sister.”

“Yea,” he replied. “I remember her.”

And I have some friends here, but no one I feel close enough to spill this to.”  She looked at him with a sheepish grin.  “I mean – I didn’t mean to tell you.  But now that you know, it feels okay to talk to you about it.  I hope that’s okay.”

“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t care.  Honestly.  If there’s ever anything I can do, you only have to ask.”

He didn’t mean it like that, Sara thought.  Don’t even think it!

But it was too late.  There was no way that she could survive without a roommate and here was one hand-delivered to her, as if in answer to a prayer.

“Well, now that you mention it…”  Sara looked over at James who was staring back, that eyebrow up again in a questioning expression.

“Yes?” James asked.

“You say you need a place to live.  Well, I need someone to live with me.”

The statement just sat there between them for a moment.  Sara didn’t know if James was going to bolt or what.

“Wow.  Do you mind me asking why?”

Sara felt like she wanted to sink into the floor.  What was she thinking?

“Yeah, sure.  I…William didn’t leave any life insurance.  And on my salary alone, I can’t afford my bills.  I’m going to lose the house unless I can get someone to live with me, or sell the house.  But I would only have a few months to sell the house.  The money will run out after that.”  Sara felt the tears come to her eyes at the thought of having to move right now.  “And I can’t.  I can’t leave that house right now.  I need time to let go of him.”  And then she couldn’t say anymore without breaking down.  So she didn’t.

How did I get here?  James thought to himself, as Sara finished her plea and looked away from him to compose herself.  The job at SCAD had just come open last week.  He actually had already applied online when he met Sara at the funeral home, so he couldn’t claim to be in Savannah in hopes of meeting her.

And then there she had been, just sitting in the chair looking just as beautiful and sad as she did last week. After he helped her to bury her husband and she drove away from the cemetary, he couldn’t stop thinking about her.  Driving down to Savannah today, he had played their moments together over and over again, wondering what she was going to do about her pregnancy.  He almost left the coffee shop when he saw her because it seemed too unreal to even be possible.  Yet here she was and she was asking him to move in with her.

But worst of all was that she was asking him to help her.  There was no way that he could deny help to this woman.  The request she made must have cost her a lot, considering that her husband had only been dead two weeks, and that she was pregnant.  He had stepped right into this mess and he was going to have to live in it.  He looked up from his thoughts when he realized that she was getting up to leave.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“Look, I shouldn’t have even asked.  I don’t know why I did.  Please don’t feel obligated to say yes.  It’s terrible of me to put you in this position.”  Sara put out her hand to James who stood up when she did and blocked her way down the stairs.

“Sara, please wait.  You just surprised me that’s all.  I needed a minute to think.  Can I ask a couple of questions about the house?”

She looked up at him now.  She had forgotten how tall he was compared to her.

“Sure.  Yes.  Of, course.”

“So – where is your house?”

“Oh, um, it’s in Ardsley Park, about 10 minutes uptown from here.”

“Would I have my own bathroom?”

“Yes.  There are two bathrooms.  One is attached to the master bedroom, and the other is off of a hallway.”

“Can I see the house before I say yes?”

Sara hadn’t even considered that he might want to see the house first.  It was a perfectly reasonable request.  “Oh, well, sure.  Would you want to see it at lunch, or could you wait until after five?  I get off at five and could meet you there at five-thirty?”

This was all happening so fast, but if he said yes, Sara would have a huge weight lifted from her shoulders.

“Okay, what’s the address?”

Sara bent down to the table in front of her and wrote down her address.  She handed the paper to James.

“Here you go.  So you’ll consider it?” James felt his ability to say no melt when he looked at her.  He was her knight in shining armor again.

“Sure, sure.  I’ll see you at five-thirty.”

“Okay, five-thirty.”  They shook hands.

Sara spent the rest of Monday trying to avoid her co-workers.  Luckily, the vacation home closing involving the Petersons took longer than expected requiring her to be behind closed doors in a conference room, or on the phone for Mr. Hart most of the afternoon.  When the closing was all wrapped up at four-thirty, Mr. Hart told Sara to go on home.

“Are you sure, sir?  I can stay.  I’m okay if you need me to finish anything up for you.”

“No, no, Sara.  That was enough work for me, as well.  I hate when things aren’t in order.  That seller really made us work for our fee today, and I’m ready to go home.  I’ll see you in the morning.”

Now she was at home and had an hour to wait for James to come and see the house.  She was so busy through the day, that she didn’t really have time to think of the implications of what she had asked.  She had asked a man to come and live with her only two weeks after her husband had died.  What were people going to think?  Especially when her belly began to grow.

Well, I can worry about what people will think, or whether or not I have a place to live, Sara thought, her decision now firm in her mind.  I think that a place to live is more important.  I’ll just have to explain to Christine and Miss Jane.  Surely, they’ll understand.  Eve and Miss Emily shouldn’t find out anyway, so I won’t worry about them right now.

Sara looked around her living and dining room.  The boxes of William’s things were still stacked around the room and other than look through files and pack, she hadn’t done much else through the weekend.  The whole place really was a mess.

She started in the kitchen and worked her way through the house wiping down counters and tables, and picking up clutter.  The boxes she couldn’t do much about right now and the second bedroom had worked as William’s office.  His drafting desk and equipment were still out as Sara had been reluctant to part with them.  She could still see him in there late at night, bent over his desk, drawing and erasing.  But if James was going to sleep in that room, all of those things would have to find another home.

By the time, she had straightened both bathrooms, it was five-thirty and she just had time to glance in the mirror and decide not to worry about her late-in-the-day make-up or her sad mousey hair before the door bell rang.

Well, here we go, she thought before walking to the door.

James pulled up in front of the small Craftsman style house right at five-thirty.  He had actually driven by the house a few times.  After he left Sara in the coffee shop he didn’t have anywhere else to be for a couple of hours so he decided to go ahead and find the house early.  It was a one-story clapboard home, painted white with green trim and a green front door.  There was a swing on the front porch and plenty of flowers in pots on the steps and in the beds out front.  Sara and William must have fallen in love with it right off.  It was a great house.

James parked by the street and stepped out into the humidity.  He walked slowly up the sidewalk and front steps.  He rang the doorbell once and then turned around and faced the street, getting a feel for what it would be like to call this place home.

“Hi.”  James turned around at the sound of Sara’s voice behind him.

“Hello, again.”  He motioned to the house.  “I found it.”

“So I see.  Won’t you come in?”  Sara sounded nervous.

“Thanks.  You have a beautiful home,” James said as he walked into the dark gray living room with natural stained trim and what looked like a working fireplace.  The room was connected to a dining room by a pair of french doors.

“It’s a mess, I know.  Sorry about that.”  Sara looked around realizing how the clutter must seem to an outsider.

“No worries.  You should have seen the apartment I lived in up in Decatur.  What a mess!  At least your place smells good.”

Sara looked at James.  Was this guy for real?  Could her luck be so great as to have found the one guy in the whole world who put her at ease, no matter what?

“Ok…well…”  Sara trailed off as she tried to think of what to say.

“And this is the living room, I suppose?”

“Yes, of course, this is the living room,” Sara said, putting her face in her hands. “And this is a couch.  And over here is a television.  The rest of the obvious tour is through these doors.”

As Sara showed him the rest of the house, James was surprised at how perfect this seemed.  He did need a place to live.  It would be nice to live in a house in a great part of town instead of a generic apartment complex.  The house was great, there was no need to put down deposits for a lot of utilities and it was nice to be needed.

When the tour was complete and they were back in the living room, Sara said “Well, what do you think?”

“How much would the rent be?”

“I was thinking six hundred plus utilities?  Is that too much?”

James was sure the mortgage had to be more.

“Is that enough?  I mean, there’s no point in me living here if I’m not actually helping you out enough for you to be able to keep the house.”

Sara looked sheepish. “Well, actually half of the mortgage would be seven fifty a month.  But I just thought that might be too much to live in a house.  You could probably rent an apartment for less.”

“Not to shoot myself in the foot, but apartments in this area start at around seven to eight hundred dollars.  So I would be fine with seven fifty.  Would you be expecting any sort of deposit?”

“No.  I trust you.  I mean, if I didn’t trust you I certainly wouldn’t be asking you to live with me.  Do you want to sign a lease or anything?”

“Not unless you want me to.  I trust you as well.  And that way, if you decide to put the house on the market and it sells then you won’t have to worry about a lease that you have obligated yourself to.  Will you be trying to sell?”

“I think I will.  I mean, I can’t imagine that you would want to live here with me and a screaming newborn.”

James hadn’t really thought about that.

“Well, I guess that’s true.  It would be weird.”  James laughed.  “I’ve never been around a baby before.  Especially not a newborn.  So if you need any help getting things ready to sell, just let me know.”

“So you’ll stay?”

Just at that moment, James cell phone rang.  He pulled it out, looked at the number and turned to Sara.  “It’s the job.  I need to take this.”

“Sure, I’ll just go into the kitchen.”

Sara pulled out a couple of glasses and filled them with lemonade from the fridge.  By the time she was done, James had come into the kitchen as well.

“So?” she asked.

“That was the first person I interviewed with,” James said with a smile. “He just wanted to let me know his boss really liked me.  My resume looks good, but they want to follow up on my references.”

“But you don’t know yet.”

“No, but he said I should know by Friday at the latest.”  James rubbed his temple.  “Can I let you know about the place when I know about the job?”

“Of course.  I wouldn’t want you to commit if you didn’t even know if you had a job.”  Sara felt a little let down by the uncertainty.  The shaky feeling that she’d had all weekend returned.

“I need to um, you know…” James stammered, as he pointed in the direction of the bathroom.

“Oh my god, of course.  I’ll take these to the porch.”  Sara held up both glasses of lemonade, as James made his way towards the hallway.

After a minute or so, James joined Sara on the porch.  She handed him his glass as he sat down beside her on the top step.  They sat silent for a moment, the shadows lengthening on the tree-lined street.

“So, I’m pretty hungry right now,” Sara said, looking straight ahead.

“As am I,” James replied, sipping on his glass of lemonade.

“Order in or go out?” Sara asked.

“Well, what kind of food do you like?”

“I like just about anything,” Sara said. “But any day of the week, there’s nothing I like better than sushi.  I know a great little place on Habersham if you want.  Of course, you have to drive back to Oden tonight, don’t you?”

“Yeah – but I can’t go hungry, and I love sushi.  If we go now, we’ll be done by nine and I can be home before midnight.”

“Okay.”  Sara got up from the steps.  “Let me go and brush my hair and we can head on.  The restaurant is just a few blocks from here.  We could walk, but I think we would melt before we got there.”

Sara walked inside.  As the screen door closed behind him, James stretched out his legs and leaned back on his elbows, looking up at the trees and the sky.  Very few cars had driven by since he and Sara sat down.  People were out and about walking their dogs and pushing strollers.  He could see a few other people sitting out on porches or working in their front gardens.  Dogwood trees lined the street on both sides, creating shade and a great aesthetic.

I bet those trees are amazing in the spring he thought, imagining the white blossoms.  And he could pick out azaleas and hydrangeas in many of the yards.  Don’t get too comfortable, James Overman, he said to himself.

Just then Sara came out of the house.  She had changed into another one of those light cotton dresses that she had worn when she was burying her husband.  She had pulled her hair back into a ponytail and had done something to her face.  She looked fresh and vibrant and quite beautiful.

“Well, let’s go then,” Sara said, swinging her keys.  “I’ll drive.”

“Yes, ma’am,” James answered, as he followed her down the sidewalk.

Copyright © 2015 · All Rights Reserved · Katherine Barron

Sara was walking through Forsyth Park.  There was the playground on her left, the swings moving back and forth.  “Where are the kids?” Sara wondered, still walking.  The old fort was on her right, the tables out back strangely empty.  “That’s weird,” Sara said out loud, her voice sounding far-off, like an echo.  The fountain, which was far away a moment ago was now right in front of her and she found that she was holding on to the iron railing though she had no memory of getting here.

“Sara.”  A whisper.  A breath.

“Sara.”

Where is that voice coming from? Sara thought. There was no one here.  No one at all, which was very strange indeed.

“Sara, dear.”

Sara opened her eyes to a sunset world and Miss Jane, leaning in the car window, rubbing her arm.

“Sara, how long have you been out here?” Miss Jane asked, a look of concern in her eyes.

Sara sat up, her back protesting the movement after so long in a cramped position.  She blinked, trying to get her eyes to cooperate, as they also seemed to be protesting the movement.

“I don’t know.  What time is it?”  She ran her hands over her hair, trying to smooth it out.

“Eight o’clock.  The sun’s about down.  Whatever are you doing out here?  I was taking a walk and just happened to notice your window was open, then saw you asleep.”

Miss Jane moved back as Sara opened the car door and stepped out, bending her spine in a cat-like stretch.  She closed the door and leaned against the car.

“We’re worried about you, dear.  The boxes…”  Miss Jane trailed off.

“I know, I…I thought it would be better, but…but it wasn’t and I can’t take it back now.  I can’t get him back.”  It was happening again.  The tears.  They weren’t going to stop.  “I got home from the mall and they were gone.  And all I could do was cry.  And I couldn’t go back in there, not without him.  Not without him.”

“Come here, my sweet girl,” Miss Jane crooned, pulling her into a hug.  “Of course, you must cry.  Of course you’re sad.  Just cry.  It’s okay.”  The pair of them stood there on the sidewalk, Miss Jane letting Sara cry, rubbing her back, shushing her gently, as only a mother knows how.  And Sara, who could not remember her mother, let her, and knew somewhere deep inside that this was what a mother was for, and then her tears were for all those she missed.  They were for her husband, and her mother and her sister.  For even the mother-in-law who could never be what she secretly wished that she could be.  Sara held Miss Jane tightly and almost told her what was bursting in her soul to tell.  But the spell was broken when across the street they both heard,  “Jane?  Jane is that you?”

“Yes, Bill!” Jane spoke to the voice.  “I’m over here with Sara.”

The pair of them moved apart, but Jane did not let Sara go completely.

“You will come with me, right now, young lady.  It’s supper time, and I will not have you eating alone tonight.  Come and let Bill and I make you laugh a bit and feed you.  Please, won’t you?”

Sara looked over at her house, dark and silent and thought she’d be a fool to say no.

“Yes.  Okay.”  Nodding, trying not to cry again.  “But I may cry,” she added, apologetic.

“I may cry with you.”  Miss Jane reached up and smoothed Sara’s hair, a sweet gesture Sara was surprised by.  She linked her arm with Sara’s and they crossed the street to the waiting Bill and the warmly lit up home.

Copyright © 2015 · All Rights Reserved · Katherine Barron

By Monday morning Sara had packed up all the things that were William’s that were not also items that they got together.  His trophy collection, which she never wanted him to display, but that he put out anyway, his hunting clothes and boots, books that were technical about architecture, these things were all packed in various boxes ready to go to Goodwill or the post office.  More than once she’d had to stop and cry, or stop and read a letter or book.  One night she’d just fallen asleep in the middle of the floor after going through a box of college papers and letters.  The memories that each item brought to her mind were both precious now and awful.  The jeans with the hole in the seat because he’d been drinking and got them caught on a nail.  How she’d laughed at him.  Trying to get untangled, but too tipsy to stand up straight.  The faded stain from the ketchup that dripped on his shirt when they took that anniversary trip to Mount Pleasant and ate hamburgers on the porch at Poe’s Tavern. She’d spent an hour crying over that one.  But in the end, she’d put them away.  Closing the boxes because looking at it all was too hard.  Except for one pale yellow button down shirt that she had always loved him in.  He must have worn it briefly then hung it up because she could close her eyes and bury her face in it and imagine he was there.  That she kept.  And she’d worn it to bed every night.

The nights were, without a doubt, the hardest times for her.  She missed him next to her in bed.  When they had married, having him in bed with her every night was marvelous.  Sara would snuggle up next to him when she was ready to go to sleep – even if he had gone to bed first.  Sometimes this snuggling led to other things, which did not bother Sara.  Often during the night, William would escape to the other side of the bed, but Sara would find him in her sleep and drape a leg and an arm over his chest.

He wasn’t there now to find in the night, so her sleep was restless at best.  A couple of times she had simply gotten up and turned on the T.V. to whatever ridiculous reality show would pass the time until she fell asleep on the couch.  Then in the morning she would wake up, rush to the bathroom to throw up and begin her day.

After the packing, she had settled into opening the mail.  Here two problems greeted her.  One was, simply put, money.  There wasn’t much.  William had always handled paying the bills because he enjoyed it.  They had joint checking accounts and her money just went right in with his.  They had no secrets, or so she assumed, and she would just make sure with him before she made a big purchase or pulled out over fifty dollars at the ATM.

As far as she knew, William had no life insurance, so their mortgage was now looming over her head.  That bill was in the mail that she had opened over the weekend and after looking through the filing cabinet for six hours on Saturday, she finally had a handle on how much money they had in the bank.  Without William’s salary coming in, there was only enough money to pay the mortgage through next month.  Her salary alone was just enough to cover the water, electricity, food and maybe the cell phone.  So she either had to sell the house in six weeks or get further and further behind on the bill.

She had made a mental note to call William’s office today to find out if he had any salary that hadn’t been paid.  That may stave off foreclosure for another month if she was really careful.  The best thing for her was to find a roommate.  How she was going to convince someone to come in and live with a pregnant woman was beyond her.  Then there was the widow thing.  She didn’t want to live with anyone else right now.

Oh, God, Sara thought, a little prayer coming unbidden to her mind.  I sure could use some help right now.

After a shower and a quick blow dry Sara walked into the small dining room.  Holding her coffee in her hand, Sara leaned against the doorjamb and studied the boxes stacked all around her, the result of her hard work and tears. The boxes stared right back, taunting her.

“Fine,” she said.  “I’ll deal with you.”

The boxes for donation went to the curb after a quick phone call arranging pick-up.  The few boxes to go to Oden she moved to the car.  The post office was not far away.

Grabbing her keys and her purse, she walked back out to the car, ready to go.  Sara saw Miss Jane across the street on her porch.  She waved.  Miss Jane waved back, but had a puzzled expression on her face.  It struck Sara that she must seem to be moving pretty fast to get William’s things moved out.  But this was what she had chosen to do.  She climbed in the car, started the engine and headed to the post office.

There were only three boxes to take in to mail to Miss Emily.  The thought came to Sara that this would seem awfully fast to Emily Carraway.   Miss Emily might even be embarrassed to get them in the mail so quickly.  But what did that matter to Sara anymore.  It doesn’t, she thought.  It doesn’t concern me at all.

Boxes taken care of, Sara climbed back in her car and thought of the long day ahead with nothing to do.  Panic started to set in at the thought of returning to her house.

“The mall,” Sara said out loud to no one. “The mall is what I need.”

Parking her car in the mall lot outside of Belk, Sara walked into the store and headed straight for her favorite place, the clearance shoe rack.  This was what she needed.  Shoes.  Racks of discounted shoes.  Old lady shoes.  Party shoes.  Bright orange shoes with heels so high they were a danger to society.  Boots of all shades.  Kitten heels and ballet flats.  The soothing nothingness of shoe shopping.  The possibility of an amazing deal.  To get lost in the hunt.  To forget what today was.

After forty-five minutes of trying on every shoe on the clearance rack in her size, she had narrowed her possibilities down to a pair of fabulously comfortable bright pink ballet flats which would go with absolutely nothing in her closet and a ridiculous pair of patent red three-inch heels which she might get to wear once before she became a mom.  And moms don’t wear three-inch heels – do they?  Sara wondered.  In the end, when the shoes were even cheaper than the red-line price, she felt completely obliged to keep both pairs.

Feeling better than she had in days, Sara headed over to the food court for her favorite fried chicken sandwich.  First though, a quick stop at Barnes and Noble for something to read while eating alone.  Perusing the historical romance section (for the history lessons, of course), Sara felt a tap on her shoulder.

“Sara?” She turned to see a man about her age in a green polo shirt and khaki shorts, looking sympathetic.

“Yes?” Sara replied.  “Have we met?”

“I’m Dale?  From William’s work?  We met last year at the company Christmas party.”  He put his hand out.  Sara took it.  Then he added his other hand to the shake.  “We are all so in shock about William.  I hope you got the flowers we sent to the funeral.”

Panic.  There it was.  Fight or flight?  Better pick flight.

“Thank you.  I’m sure his mom…I didn’t really see all the flowers.  There were so many.”  Sara was trying to get her hand out of his grip.  “She sort of handled…I mean…thank you.  Tell everyone at the office…thanks.”  There, she had her hand back.  Clutching her Belk bag to her chest she headed for the doors to the outside, but just as she reached the air, someone grabbed her arm.

Turning Sara said, “Really.  Thanks, I just…”  Then, Sara realized that it wasn’t Dale who had her, it was a store employee.

“You can’t take that,” he said, pointing at her arms.

“What?  These are my shoes.”

“Not the shoes, the book.  You didn’t pay for that.”  He was still pointing.

And Sara realized that she was still holding the romance novel she’d been looking at when Dale had started talking to her.  “I’m so sorry.  I didn’t mean to…”  But the employee just said, “Whatever,” and took the book back into the store with him, leaving Sara standing on the hot sidewalk wishing to God she could melt into it.  And now she had to walk all the way around the mall to get back to her car.  There was no way she was going back into that store to face the stares of the people who thought she was a shoplifter.  Nor the possibility of running into Dale again.

“William,” she whispered.  “You’d know what to say to make me laugh at this.  To make me laugh at myself.  I need you.”

It was then that she realized everything that connected her to William was  on its way to someone else.  “Oh no!”  And she began to run, uncaring suddenly who saw her or what they thought.  Reaching her car, she fumbled for her keys, her hands sweating, dropping them three times in her rush before finally getting the car unlocked.

Frantic now, Sara rushed through traffic, honking her horn at the cars who were too stupid to get out of her path.  Down Abercorn, then right onto Stephenson, thinking she could avoid some of the gridlock on the main road.  But Waters Avenue was waiting for her.  She sat at the light at the Derenne intersection for what seemed like hours, her hands rubbing compulsively on the steering wheel, hitting it occasionally.  Surely, they won’t have come yet, she thought.  But there was a feeling deep down that it was all gone.  She had screwed up.  All of his things.  Gone.  She’d been trying to be like Eve.  To just “get it done,” but she wasn’t Eve.  She needed to have William back…have his clothes back in the closet.  The thought of coming home to that empty house and those empty closets was making her want to scream.  What was she thinking?

All the way down Waters she prayed, “Please God.  Please.  If those boxes are still there, I’ll do anything.  Anything.  Only please, let them be there.”  Past the hospital, past New Tires, then left on to 48^th and there!  Sara thought she caught a glimpse of brown on the sidewalk.  She breathed a sigh.

But it was too much to pray for.  As she pulled closer she realized those boxes were only trash.  The Goodwill boxes, all of William’s things, were gone.  Nothing was left.

Sara parked in front of the house.  She didn’t even get out, before she was sobbing.  “William!  Oh please come back.  Please don’t be dead!  Please, please, please…I don’t want you to go.  I don’t want you to go.”  Sara held on to the steering wheel, as she cried.

Eventually, the tears slowed down.  But she couldn’t go in the house.  She couldn’t bring herself to face the empty quiet, the ghost of a life that was.  She leaned her chair back all the way, rolled down her window and curled on her side, falling asleep almost instantly.

Copyright © 2015 · All Rights Reserved · Katherine Barron

The road to the Carraway’s home wound between tall pines and past a small, smooth lake that looked like black glass in the gathering darkness.  As Sara drove out from under the trees she could see the sloping metal roof of the single story home.  The house was boxed in by a porch that wrapped all the way around.  Whatever else she may have to say about William’s family, this simple Southern home was like something out of a dream to her.

William often spoke of how his memories of growing up here were a bright spot in his past.  He would tell her tales of playing with his Legos and toy trucks on the porch, swinging in the wide wooden porch swing, and spending hours swimming and fishing in the lake.  Whatever came after those blissful days could not quite compare.  But he held on to the memories as one of his greatest treasures.

The slight rise up from the lake to the front yard of the home was packed with cars, the house already lit up as the sun’s light was almost gone from the sky.   Sara parked and climbed out of her car.  She could see a group of young men standing between two parked trucks, red plastic cups held discreetly by their sides.  Sara had come to think of their button down Oxford shirts in various pastels and khaki pants as the Southern boy uniform.  William had enjoyed the same comfortable clothes in the hot summers and he had always looked amazing.  Sun-tanned, tall and blond he had only gotten better looking as he had moved through his twenties.

Sara stopped for a moment by the side of the pond and remembered again the first time William had brought her here.  She had been so nervous, but so excited because his bringing her had meant that he really cared about her and that was something that she never thought would happen.  After meeting in the bookstore that long ago evening they had struck up a conversation, one that continued up to the check-out counter and over to a local bar where they shared a beer, and then dinner.  When they left the bar it was only because it was closing.  Sara’s apartment was within walking distance so William walked her home.

Sara remembered stealing glances at him as they walked through campus.  The night air was warm and she had still been tan from her summer job as a waitress at a beach side restaurant.  Sara felt pretty and a little buzzed from the drinks that they had shared.  As they walked William’s arm would brush against hers and the anticipation built all the way to her apartment.  At her door, Sara turned the key in the lock.  Looking back at William, she said “Well, good night.”  Just as she had hoped, he leaned in and kissed her.  At the time, it was the most romantic moment of her whole life.  The night, the conversation, and William – beautiful, Southern, long-legged William.  The kiss was one she would not forget over the days, weeks and years that followed.  Even now, Sara could feel his lips on hers and she reached up to her lips as if she might find his where they ought to be.

Enough of this, she thought and turned away from the now dark lake.

The young men nodded at her as she walked past them up the slight hill towards the house.  The mosquitos were already in full force and Sara could feel the bites beginning to welt up on her uncovered arms.  She climbed the wide front steps of the house and nodded at the people standing near the door.  The front door was closed against the heat, but she was sure the crush of bodies inside would make the air-conditioning almost pointless and as she opened the door and stepped inside, she knew she was right.

The smooth, wide pine planks that she stepped in on were original to the home, and each piece of furniture, each original artwork and each expensive fake plant were perfectly placed by a local decorator.  The effect was a stunning first impression of shiny hardwood floors, tall white walls and simple lighting.  The house was really beautiful and Sara had hoped when she and William had first visited here together that she would find in it a place to call home.  But Miss Emily had never thought her good enough for William and, Sara had come to accept, she never would.

A silence fell over the crowd as she walked through the foyer into the hallway.  She should be more embarrassed than she was, but the day had been too long and she was too tired to think anymore.  Sara knew that it was time to say good-bye to William’s mother.  She had not planned to leave tonight, but now saw no reason to stay.  She spotted her sister at the door leading into the kitchen.  The expression on Eve’s face was hard to read.  Sara couldn’t tell if she was relieved or angry.  Probably both, Sara thought with a sigh and walked over to where she was standing.

“Where have you been?” Eve asked in an angry whisper.  Her voice was quivering though, and Sara wondered at this.  They moved on into the kitchen where the crowd was at a minimum.

“I’ve been burying my husband, if you must know.  Thanks for asking.”  Sara was exasperated with this whole routine.  The back and forth that the two of them had been doing for years was getting old.  Still, Sara should have been easier on Eve.  She was sure that from her perspective Sara’s disappearance this afternoon was a major pain.

“Everyone’s been asking where you were.  I called your cell.  I called the hotel.  Nothing.  I’m your sister, for Christ’s sake, and you didn’t tell me where you were going.  I was – ” here Sara heard it again, a momentary quiver “I was really worried about you.”  Sara looked up at Eve and could only see her profile, but she was sure she saw the glimmer of tears in her eyes.  “I mean, what if something had happened to you.  What would I do?  You’re all I have.”

“All you have?  What about Chase and your kids?”  Sara had never before had Eve speak to her so.  She never showed emotion.  Never.

But the door was closing, Sara could see, as Eve dabbed at her eyes with a napkin she had picked up from the kitchen table and squared her shoulders, a gesture Sara knew meant she was moving on.

“I just…I mean Miss Emily has been asking after you.  I think that it’s very embarrassing for her that you haven’t been here.  You should go and find her and apologize.”

“I’ll go find her, but it won’t be to apologize.  I shouldn’t have to apologize for taking the time to watch my husband buried.  Just because it’s not what’s proper in Oden, doesn’t mean it’s not the right thing to do.  I’ll go find her, because I’m leaving tonight.  And it’s the right thing to do to say good-bye.”  Sara had thought for just a second that she might be able to share her news with her sister after all.  Eve would never understand though.  And Sara would keep the fact of her pregnancy to herself.

“Will you leave tonight if I do or will you stay and go home tomorrow?”  Sara suddenly remembered that Eve didn’t belong here either.  “Of course you’re welcome to come to Savannah.  I have an extra room.  I just thought Chase would be ready for you to come home.”

Eve looked miserable and Sara wondered for the first time if there was something that she was missing, something Eve wasn’t telling her.

“Is there something wrong, Eve?  Something I can help with?” Sara reached out to Eve, but she shrugged her hand off.

“What kind of sister would I be asking for your help at a time like this?  I’m fine.”  Eve’s smile was forced.  “Of course, I’m ready to go home.  Chase, Jr. and Laura have school and I have work and…as long as you don’t need me anymore, I’ll leave now.”  Eve reached over and gave her a quick squeeze and kiss on the cheek.  “I’ll call you next week, okay?”

And she was gone, out the kitchen door to the porch.  Sara watched her leave, wishing for moment that she had asked her to stay.  William had been her best friend and now the only family she had was leaving.  She and Eve had never been friends though, so this shouldn’t feel like a loss, but it did.  It really did.

Sara grabbed a cup from the stack on the kitchen table and filled it with water from the dispenser on the fridge.  She stood for just a moment thinking of the cups of coffee she had shared with William here at this table, the late night bottles of cold beer on the screened porch just out the kitchen door.  She would miss the memories she had of him here – but she wouldn’t miss here.

She put her cup next to the sink and turned, walking out the door and into the hallway.  She saw one of William’s favorite aunts talking to the pastor.

“Have you seen Miss Emily, Aunt Louise?” Sara asked the kind woman.

“I believe she went upstairs, dear.  She was looking for you.  I think she was worried.”

“Thank you.  I needed to rest after the service.  I’m fine now though.  I’ll just go find her and let her know I’m alright.”  Sara headed up the stairs as Aunt Louise turned back to her conversation.

She peeked in the door to the master bedroom but there was no one there and the door to the bathroom was open.  She walked on soft feet to the door of the room she and William had shared when they came here.  She found Miss Emily there, sitting on William’s bed, her hand moving back and forth across the coverlet.

“Miss Emily?” Sara said in a low voice.  Miss Emily looked up.  She was crying.  Sara felt immediately sorry that this woman had to live through this heartbreak.  She so wished that the two of them had been friends, then perhaps they could go through this together.

“Oh, Miss Emily, I didn’t mean to intrude, I was just…”

Miss Emily put up her hand and turned her face away, then stood up from the bed, wiping at her eyes as she walked towards Sara.

“We were terribly worried about you, dear.  People have been asking after you.  It just doesn’t look good for you to disappear like that.  Your duty is here.  People wish to pay their respects.” Miss Emily was steering Sara towards the door. “I know you didn’t grow up in an environment where you would have learned this kind of thing, but as the widow you have a certain responsibility to the people who knew and loved William.  There will be time to grieve later.  For now, we must go and speak to our guests.”

Sara stopped at the top of the stairs.  She turned towards the woman who had loved William more than anything and, Sara believed, despised her for taking him.

“Miss Emily, I know that you don’t like me.  I know that you didn’t think that I was good enough for him.  And now we’ve lost him, you and I.  We’ve both lost the man we loved more than anyone else in the world.  Because I know that you love him, too, I hope you’ll understand when I say that I can’t wait to grieve for him.  And I have to do it my way.  I have to go home.  I have to leave now.  I just wanted to say good-bye.”

Sara started down the stairs.  Then thought of one more thing that she wanted to say to her.

“Perhaps the best thing to come out of William’s death is that you are finally rid of me.  Good-bye, Miss Emily.”

Emily Carraway’s mouth hung open for the first time since she was nine years old.  Her mother would have told her she looked like a cow.  But her son’s widow had just rendered her speechless.  Sara was down the stairs and out the front door before she could think of what to say, and so Emily Carraway put on her best not-too-bright smile and went back to her guests, as her mother taught her to do.

Copyright © 2015 · All Rights Reserved · Katherine Barron

“We are so sorry for your loss.”

Sara nodded.  She shook the hand that was held out to her.

“Thank you.”  Sara smiled briefly, then turned to the next person.

“William was such a dear boy.  What a waste.  What a waste.”  The gray hair was tight with hairspray.  The hug lasted too long.

“Bless your heart.  I don’t know how you are going to live without that boy.  He was one of a kind.”

“Yes, ma’am.  Thank you.”

Sara stood in the receiving line.  The mass of people stretched out the door and, she was sure, around the building.  She had already been standing here for two hours and they just kept coming.  What was she thinking to agree to this?  She had known that this was a mistake, but it was tradition and expected and so here she was doing her best.  But now the smell of flowers, the crush of bodies and her husband, lying in that wooden box, was beginning to get the better of her.  His suit was all wrong.  The gray wool was far too warm for summer in Georgia.  Not that it mattered to him.  Not anymore.

The room began to swim.  She turned to her sister with imploring eyes, but Eve was hugging some relative of William’s that Sara barely remembered.  Just as she began to think that she would faint right there in front of everyone at the Overman and Sons Mortuary, before a crowd that must have been the whole town of Oden, she felt a hand on her elbow guiding her out of the room, down a neutral tone hallway, towards a rear door.  Stepping into a small dimly-lit sitting room, Sara felt the air conditioning wash over her.

“Here, lay down on this couch,” a male voice said. “I think you’ll feel better if you put your feet up.”

Sara did as she was instructed and looked up to see who had rescued her.

He was tall, much taller than she was.  And thin.  And grave.  “Grave,” Sara thought. “How appropriate.” And suddenly, she felt an urge to laugh that would not be denied.  The laughter bubbled up from deep within her, a live thing that had to be let out or she would die.  “Die,” she thought.  And up it came and out.  She had to sit up.  She was bent over from it.  Loud, belly deep guffaws, that made her squint her eyes until they ran.  Her rescuer rushed over to close the door to the hallway.  “Thank you,” Sara managed to squeak out between giggles.  She lay back on the couch and let the laughter roll.

Eventually the laughter subsided and she lay, breathless and exhausted, against the back of the chintz couch in the sitting room of the mortuary.  And her husband was dead.  Dead.

She looked up at her rescuer who was standing guard by the door.

“I’m Sara.  And you are?”

“James Overman, ma’am.”

“Overman.  Any kin to the mortuary Overmans?”

“Yes, ma’am.  I help out when there is a particularly large funeral to deal with.  And this being a particularly large funeral, here I am.”

James was becoming more uncomfortable the longer he stood here.  “Alone in a room with the widow,” he thought.  “Uncle Martin will love that.”

He had just been getting ready to head over to the church to deal with setting up for the funeral the next day.  Before leaving, he scanned the viewing room.  The strangest things happened at viewings.  Someone’s drunk uncle would show up or two relatives who hadn’t been in the same room together in a while would decide to have a fight.  Uncle Martin liked to keep the mood somber, more church than bar, so James often would just stand out of the way, watchful.

He had never quite understood the need for everyone in town to see their friends and relatives dressed up and dead.  The poor attempts to give them some life with make-up, the whispered “He looks like he’s smiling” heard from little old ladies, all rung so false to him.  The person was dead.  This body dressed up and made up bore no resemblance to the alive being he had been.  James didn’t particularly like working in the mortuary, but his uncle paid him well to help out.  And money was something he had a hard time turning down these days.

But then he noticed the pallor of the young widow, Mrs. Carraway. She was standing near the casket greeting the mourners.  During a break in the line she looked down at the casket, her hands rubbing on her skirt, beads of sweat on her forehead.  She was too pale, the navy blue dress only making her skin seem all the more white and then her lips lost what little color they had.  Having seen women faint before in the small, warm rooms during these viewings, he moved through the crowd towards her and gently steered her out of the room, down the hallway, and into a sitting room reserved for family.

He didn’t know Sara Carraway.  Her husband, William, had grown up here in the small town of Oden, Georgia and James had often seen him around when he was in high school.  William was a few years older, had played football and been very popular.  That accounted for the large crowd gathered here tonight.  A home town hero dying young always brought in huge numbers.  James wasn’t sure, but the small, slight widow didn’t seem to fit in here.  He wondered how she and William had ended up together.

“You can stay in here as long as you need to Mrs. Carraway.  I’ll just go out and find your sister.  She should come in and see to you now.”

“No, please.  Just another minute or so and I can go back out.  I just needed…”  Sara let the sentence go.  She didn’t really know what she needed right now.  It certainly wasn’t to go back out into that room and stand next to William’s cold body and shake the hand of every teacher he ever had, and every man-boy he ever played football with.  Her rescuer still stood at the door, looking uncomfortable.

“Did you know my husband?”

James looked over at her.  “I knew him, yes.  Not well, though.”

She didn’t reply, as if she’d forgotten she even asked the question, just sat with her head bowed, her hands on her face.

James stood, waiting.

Sara spoke again, not really to James, but he heard nonetheless.  “I’m pregnant.”

James took a deep breath.  She was staring at her hands, her long hair hanging on either side of her face, obscuring his view.

“No one knows, no one.  I hadn’t even told him.  I was going to make a big deal out of it.  Candle light dinner.  A card saying “Congratulations, Dad!”.  Something cheesy and ridiculous.  We were not really ready for kids but I thought he’d be happy.  Now what do I do?  What do I do?”  Sara’s shoulders shook with the force of her sudden weeping.  James was paralyzed.  This was another reason he hated the mortuary business, crying women.  But standing by the door seemed a little more than cruel at this moment.  There was a box of tissues on the coffee table in front of Sara.  He crossed the room, pulled one out and sat next to her on the couch, pressing the tissue into her hand.  She took it and blew her nose, then reached for another and pressed it under her eyes, catching her mascara and tears.

At that moment there was a knock at the door.  Glad for the distraction, James got up and opened the door a crack to see a fierce-looking woman who must be the sister.  Mrs. Carraway and she looked just enough alike for the kinship to be obvious.  The same straight nose, the same strange amber colored eyes, only on the widow they were softer.

“Is my sister in here?” the woman asked in an annoyed voice.

Suddenly protective, James replied, “She just needed a moment in a cool place.  This sitting room is designed for that very purpose.  I work for the mortuary.  James Overman.”  James put out his right hand.  The woman had no polite choice but to accept.

“Well, thank you.”  Though James doubted she meant it.  “Sara, dear, people are beginning to wonder where you are.”

The widow, no longer tearful, stood up, smoothed her skirt and hair, and walked over to the doorway where James and the sister were standing.

“Thank you again for your kindness, Mr. Overman.”  Her eyes searched his, begging him to keep her secret.  He nodded and, with her back straight, she walked out.

Copyright © 2015 · All Rights Reserved · Katherine Barron