When she was done, she toweled herself dry and dressed in the fresh blouse and jeans she had set on the bed. The blouse was wrinkled from her hurried packing, but she didn’t think her hosts would mind too much.
Emily realized her mouth was watering even before the smell of roasting meat wafting in under the door registered in her mind. Fastening the last few buttons on her blouse, she slipped her feet into her shoes and headed in the direction of the glorious scent.
“Better?” asked Simon as Emily walked into the kitchen.
“Much. Thank you,” Emily replied. And she really did mean it. But it wasn’t just the shower and the smell of hot food that had lifted her spirits. It was being around people again. She hadn’t realized how lonely she had become these past few days.
Thor padded over to Emily, his tail wagging enthusiastically but dipped a little as if he realized he had abandoned his mistress to the first person willing to show him any attention.
The two kids, Ben and Rhia, were sitting around a table set for four in the breakfast nook just off the kitchen. Rhiannon looked up and smiled at her, but the little boy kept his eyes fixed on the plate in front of him, his hands clasped around a knife and fork in readiness.
“You’re not a vegetarian, I hope?” Simon glanced over his shoulder at her as he reached into the top compartment of a double oven and slid out a tray with a steaming roast. The smell was just overwhelmingly delicious, and Emily knew that even if she had been a vegetarian, the aroma of that cut of meat would have convinced her of the delights of being a carnivore, without a doubt.
Simon sliced the roast with practiced aplomb, then pulled a second dish from the bottom oven.
“Fresh from the garden,” he said, nodding to the roasted potatoes, carrots, and onions.
“You seem very self-sufficient?”
“The nearest supermarket is about ten miles away, so I like to keep a decent stock of food. You know…just in case,” Simon explained as he spooned the food onto each plate. “The vegetable garden’s a pet project of ours. It was something we started after my wife died. The kids and I like to work out there. Don’t we, kids?”
Both Ben and Rhiannon nodded, their mouths already full.
If the shower had been heaven, the taste of roasted beef and potatoes was nirvana.
Emily said nothing about the death of his wife; the statement had been made so offhandedly that she assumed it must have happened well before the red rain appeared. Emily wasn’t sure how much Simon would want to discuss about the red plague that had swept across the world in front of the kids, so she kept the conversation light.
“So, how long have you lived here?” she asked.
“All my life,” said Ben, which brought a burst of laughter from both adults.
“Almost fifteen years now,” Simon said, playfully mussing his son’s hair. “Elise, my wife, and I moved in right before we were married. I’m an architect, so this was the perfect location for me. Close enough to the city that I could get in when I needed to.” He paused to chew and swallow a piece of meat before continuing. “We lost Elise just over two years ago, and I decided I’d spend as much time with the kids as possible, so I left the firm I worked for and went freelance. It gave me the time I needed with the children.”
“I’m sorry about your wife.”
“It was cancer,” said Rhiannon, her head bowed. “Pancreatic cancer.”
“Cancer sucks the big one,” whispered Ben to a lone carrot skewered on his fork.
“Yes. Yes, it does,” replied his father.
After lunch, Simon insisted Emily sit at the table until he and the kids had finished washing the dirty dishes and stacking them on a plastic draining board next to the sink.
“It’s a family ritual,” he explained. “Besides, you’re our guest.”
With the chores out of the way, Simon joined Emily back at the breakfast nook table.
“Rhia. Why don’t you take Ben outside and play for a little while?” The little girl looked as if she was going to object, but she resigned herself with a deep sigh and shrug of her shoulders. As the kids pushed away from the table, Thor jumped to his feet and padded alongside them before stopping and looking back toward Emily.
“Go ahead,” said Emily with a nod toward the children. “If that’s okay?” she added, looking at Simon.
“Well he doesn’t seem like the killer I first thought he was, so why not? Just don’t get him too excited, kids. Okay?”
Both children promised they wouldn’t, then rushed out the door, Thor leaping alongside them. Within a couple of minutes, the two adults could hear the joyful screams of the kids accompanying the playful barks of the malamute.
“I know it’s a little early, but can I get you a drink?” Simon’s voice had lost the playful tone it had assumed around the kids.
Emily shook her head. As much as she would like to, alcohol would go straight to her head, and she wanted to keep her wits about her. Simon poured himself a shot of whiskey and sat back down at the table, sipping at it occasionally as they began to talk.
“The day the red rain fell, we were all here at the house. The kids were off school for the day. I don’t even want to think what I would have done if…well, best not to think about how blind luck could save your life, the life of your kids. I like to think keeping them alive was chance’s way of making up for taking their mom. Stupid really, don’t you think?”
Emily smiled gently and allowed him to continue.
“Have you ever heard of a microclimate?”
She shook her head.
Simon leaned forward in the chair, illustrating his words with his hands. “It’s a localized weather effect. The weather in a microclimate area can be absolutely opposite from that surrounding it. So, it could be raining where you are and, just a few feet away, completely dry. Amazing, really, when you think about it.” He took another sip of his drink. “This whole valley is in a microclimate zone, something to do with the trees and the lake at the base. Last winter it snowed, we got nothing here. Dry as a bone.”
“Actually, I think I saw it in action yesterday,” Emily said. “I only stopped at the house across the valley because it had begun to rain, but it seemed to stop almost right at the driveway of the house.”
“It rained yesterday? Well, that’s a perfect example. I never even noticed. The day the red rain came, it was much the same. We saw it on the news after it had happened, and by the time I went outside to check, there wasn’t any sign of it except for a few puddles down the hill toward town. Then of course I saw what happened on TV…” His voice trailed off. “I think I saw a couple of bodies on the street the first day. It was hard to be sure, though, and I didn’t want to risk going down to look. Then of course there were dead birds almost everywhere. The next day, they were gone. I made sure we all stayed inside for a couple of days, just in case, but there seemed little reason to keep them in after that. I called everyone I knew, everyone in town. I even called the Pentagon. There was no answer from anyone.”
He leaned forward in his chair and looked her straight in the eyes. “I was beginning to think we were the only ones left. Again, I’m sorry for the reception I gave you. It was just such a shock to see the dog…then you.”
“How about Ben and Rhiannon? How did they take it?”
“I’ve done my best to keep the truth from my kids,” Simon said. “Ben is too young to really notice, but Rhiannon, she’s old enough to know that something very serious has happened. But I’ve managed to keep them both distracted.” He took another sip from his whiskey, and Emily realized that he was steeling himself for the answer to the question he was about to ask. “So, why don’t you tell me what’s going on out there?”