“Back here, Mom,” she called.
She gave her mother a gentle smile when she paused at the bedroom door, noting the sadness in her eyes. She wondered how long it would take before she saw laughter there again.
“I haven’t been here in so long, I had no idea the extent of the mess,” her mother apologized. “But you know how Matt is.” She swallowed. “Was,” she corrected.
“Yes, I know,” Jordan said. “And I’m not going to attempt to clean it myself.”
“Of course not. I’ll get Maria to come out here,” she said, referring to the woman who cleaned her own house on a weekly basis. Her mother turned a circle in the room. “What should we do with his things?”
“Mom,” she said, going to her. “Let me do this. You don’t have to.”
Her mother shook her head. “You always assume your children will outlive you. This isn’t something you can prepare for.”
“I know.” She spread her arms out. “We’ll give his clothes away to a…a charity or a church or something,” she said.
“It doesn’t look like he’s got too many personal things here. More at his office, I think. And he’s still got things at the house too.” Her mother blinked tears away. “I can’t throw his things out like they mean nothing to us.”
“We’ve got time, Mom. It’s only been two days since the funeral. Nothing says we have to rush through it.”
Her mother nodded sharply. “Yes. We can take our time. Because I can’t deal with it right now. Not this soon.” She glanced at her watch. “I need to get to the restaurant. Your father will need help with the lunch crowd and I need to…get back into the swing of things.” She looked at Jordan. “And Fat Larry…what are we going to do about that? Matt—”
“I told you, I’ll handle it. I’ve got a degree in finance, Mom. I think I can manage,” she said. “I’ll go by first thing in the morning.”
“One of the girls who work for him…Annie Thomas…she’s the one who’s been running things. She’s been there a couple of years now.”
“Do you have her phone number?”
“Well, I know her parents, of course, but no, I don’t have her number. She and Matt went to high school together. They were close, I think.”
Jordan nodded, wondering if they’d been dating. “Okay, I’ll find her,” she said. She went to her mother and hugged her tight. “Don’t worry about Fat Larry. And don’t worry about all this,” she said, motioning to the room. “I’ll take care of it.”
Her mother gave her a smile which didn’t reach her eyes. “Thank you for being here, Jordan. It means so much to me. To us.”
“Like I said, I’ll be here as long as you need me.”
She let out a heavy sigh as her mother left, then she turned back to the room, mindlessly stripping the bed as she tried to formulate a plan to get the house cleaned.
Chapter Two
“What do you think they’re going to do about the store?” Suzanne asked.
Annie shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t know,” she said.
It was the same question and answer they’d had between them several times during the last ten days. They were headed to Fat Larry’s now, walking slowly down the sidewalk. Annie always parked at the marina near the city park and walked to the store. It was her lone form of exercise these days.
“I still can’t believe Matt’s gone.”
“I know. How do you think I feel? I was the last one to see him alive.”
And of course she knew what Suzanne’s next statement would be.
“I still can’t believe you slept with him,” Suzanne nearly whispered. “And then he dies the same night.”
Annie sighed. “I know.”
“So did you, you know, like him?”
Annie rolled her eyes. They weren’t in high school any longer, yet sometimes Suzanne acted like they’d never left.
“I liked him fine. He was cute. He was fun.”
“But I mean, did you—”
“No, Suzanne. Not like that. In fact, it was pretty much a disaster,” she admitted. She stopped walking, turning to Suzanne. “I only slept with him…well, because I haven’t been with anyone since Derrick.” She impatiently tucked a strand of blond hair behind her ear. “I was starting to think something was wrong with me.”
“Oh, my God! Are you serious? You’ve been divorced four years.” Suzanne grabbed her arm and pulled her closer. “What about that guy from Corpus?”
“Jason? I never slept with him,” she said.
Suzanne dropped her arm and they continued walking. “What do you mean, something was wrong with you?”
Annie shrugged again, not sure how to explain to Suzanne how she felt. While she and Suzanne were close, good friends in fact, she still didn’t confide too much in her. Suzanne was still married to Derrick’s best friend.
“I haven’t had any interest in sex,” she finally admitted. She didn’t add that that was one of the major issues between her and Derrick. She had no desire to sleep with him. “The night I was with Matt, I didn’t either. I was going through the motions, nothing more. And then I started crying afterward and he freaked out.” She paused. “I mean, he was my boss. We’re in his office on the sofa. And we’re naked and I’m crying and he’s apologizing and through it all, I’m thinking, ‘Great, now I’ve got to get a new job.’ The thought of facing him every day, well, I knew I couldn’t do it.”
“Oh, my God,” Suzanne said again. “And then he died. You must have felt awful.”
“Yeah, thanks for reminding me,” she said as she pulled out her keys. But she stopped short when she opened the front door to Fat Larry’s, shocked to see someone inside. The woman was behind the counter, snooping around. For a moment, Annie panicked. Were they getting robbed? Then the woman looked up, a smile on her face. She looked friendly—and familiar—so Annie relaxed. “Can I help you?” she asked.
The woman came around the counter, her hand extended. “I’m Jordan Sims.”
Annie stared at her blankly before the name registered. “You’re Matt’s sister.” Of course she was. She’d seen her at the funeral. Besides, the resemblance was uncanny. Dark hair, dark eyes. Tall and lean, much as Matt had been. Jordan was dressed in an expensive-looking business suit, and Annie felt a little out of place in her shorts. Nonetheless, she reached for her hand, shaking a quick greeting.
“Yes. Older sister.”
“I’ve…Matt’s mentioned you before,” she said vaguely, wondering why she was suddenly nervous. “I’m Annie Thomas.” She motioned beside her to where Suzanne had been standing by mutely. “This is my friend, Suzanne. She…she doesn’t work here. She came by with me to open up.” Annie looked around. “Or…is that what you’re going to do?”
“No, no. I was actually hoping you’d show up. My mother said you had been handling things since…well, since Matt’s accident.”
“Yes. And I’m so sorry,” she said automatically.
“Thank you.” Jordan turned away, heading back to the counter, before pausing. “Nice to meet you, Suzanne.”
Suzanne nodded. “You too.” She then leaned closer to Annie. “My cue to leave, I guess.”
“I’ll call you later,” she said quietly, her gaze on Jordan and not Suzanne. What was she doing here? she wondered. Was she taking over? Well, there was only one way to find out. She walked closer to the counter, glancing around to see if anything was out of order. It appeared to be as she’d left it yesterday evening.
“I didn’t mean to run your friend off,” Jordan said.
Annie waved away her apology. “Suzanne doesn’t work so she’s got a lot of free time.” Jordan raised her eyebrows expectantly and Annie went on to explain. “Her husband works on oil rigs—offshore. Ten days on, ten days off. And her daughter is in the third grade.”
“I see. Must be nice not to have to work,” Jordan said as she leaned casually against the counter.