Page 76 of Mia Amata

“I promise,” I said. “But if you are happy, then I’ll be happy.”

“Then I’ll do it. I’ll tell them tomorrow.”

“Perfect!” I said. “Let’s celebrate!”

He smiled, “What do you have in mind?” I just smiled and kissed him.

***

Across the lake, Allen was sitting in his blind with his binoculars. He saw the dog, and that was unexpected. He would have never allowed Megan to have a dog. After watching the dog’s behavior for a while, Allen decided he was not going to worry about it, it was more of a playful puppy than a guard dog. He could take care of it easily enough if he had to.

He watched Megan and her new husband go for walks in the snow hand-in-hand. The more he saw of them together, the more his rage grew. Oh, how he was going to make her pay for humiliating him, cheating on him. She was his, and he warned her what would happen if she ever tried to leave him. With the drapes open, he could see through the French doors into the house, could see them kissing, see them walk toward the bedroom.

He couldn’t let his rage get the better of him. He needed to remain calm, so he could watch their routines. Once he had their daily routines down, then he could work out the remaining details of his plan on how to exact his revenge. He sat in the blind daily, there in the mornings before they woke up, staying until the lights went out at night. For a couple of nights, he stayed all night instead of during the day, watching to see if they let the dog out at night, which they did routinely twice a night like clockwork.

He made note of those times: what time her new husband left for work in the mornings and what time Megan got up. Every day she went downstairs, spending most of the day in the basement. The deck stairs and posts hindered his view of what she was doing down there, but he never saw any evidence of children running around. It was winter out, so maybe they stayed indoors. He wished he could see what she did down there.

He never saw her let in any kids upstairs so maybe she wasn’t running a daycare after all. He needed to figure out what she did down there every day, but as long as she was alone it probably wouldn’t make much difference. In fact, that might be the best place for his plan to be put into action. The basement was a walk-out with no windows except for the ones facing the lake. He remembered that there was a closet down there next to the small bathroom which would offer him perfect cover.

The main problem that he had was her so-called husband. He went to work every day but sometimes came home during the day for lunch or came home from work early. On other days, he worked late. It appeared that he really did not have any set hours. He was always dressed in some type of uniform too. He wasn’t a police officer, it looked more like he was a game warden. That means he probably has a gun.

He would have looked for where he kept that when they were gone had he known. It was probably in the closet in the master bedroom. If Allen had the chance, he would make sure to find it, so he could take care of it before the husband could grab it for self-defense.

He also took notes of everything of importance about the Saturday night get-togethers they had with the other couple. Allen noted that the woman walked over a lot in the mornings, would have coffee with Megan then leave. He tracked her progress through the trees where he could and watched her head up to the house north of Megan’s. Allen didn’t think this would be too big of a problem for him, he could be in and out of Megan’s house before the couple or the woman alone came back.

He also made notes about an older couple that stopped by often. Other than that, they didn’t seem to get much company. That would be helpful for his planning. Megan seemed to have a pretty set schedule. It was the guy she was living with who was unpredictable, who might be the problem.

He had originally hoped to do this before the lake froze over, but he was beginning to think that would be possible. He would have to wait for the lake to freeze solid, then make his crossing over on the ice. That could create more problems for him, but he would deal with those when the time came.

Chapter 26

November went by quickly. Jacob took the promotion, with his training set to start in December. Even though I was not looking forward to his being away, I knew he was happy with the new position, so I encouraged him. My job was going well, I received my first raise. My supervisor commented on how impressed she was with my work that I seemed able to adapt to whatever they assigned me to work on.

Thanksgiving we spent the day at Nora and Donald’s with the whole family. Nora prepared the turkey, and Randy, Janet, and I each prepared dishes and brought them over. The table had turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green bean casseroles, a corn casserole, rolls, pumpkin pie, and pecan pie—so much food the men groaned about how much they ate but declared it one of the best Thanksgiving meals they ever had. Before we all sat down to enjoy our meal together though, we took the same meal including a whole turkey that we had fixed to the local homeless shelter. We had purposely doubled everything we cooked so the shelter could feed the homeless, this was a family tradition for Jacob’s family, one that I was happy to assist with. The rest of the day was filled with good food, football, and card playing.

November was also when Randy and Josh finally set their wedding date, September 14th, so wedding plans were in full swing. Randy asked me to be her matron of honor, wanting Jayden to be her flower girl. After much discussion, they decided they wanted to get married on the family island.

Nora and Donald had been wanting to make improvements for a few years now on the island, in fact had some ideas on exactly what they wanted to do. Now was the perfect time to set those plans in motion. Josh and Jacob drew up plans for a large gazebo to place by the pond in the clearing. There were some other things that would need to be done, build a new pier on the island, make the path to the pond nicer, clean up the area, and do some landscaping.

Nora and Donald began looking for a contractor who could build a small cabin out there for them. They also purchased a pontoon that would arrive in the spring, they would use it for transporting building materials and then the wedding party. Donald had a good friend who was a contractor who would start the building off-site and then transport everything to the island to finish the building there.

It would be an off-grid home, with one bedroom with a small kitchen, a living area, and a loft area that would make up another sleeping area. It would be insulated with a fireplace, so it could be used even in the winter. A well would be drilled, so there would be running water. Donald kept the contractor on track, he would even go help him work on things on the weekends. The plans were coming along great, it looked like everything should be ready for the wedding in September.

December brought Jacob’s first trip for training. He would be gone for a week. Josh did not travel much during the winter; he was working some jobs close to home. Jacob asked him to help clear any snow, and both Josh and Randy promised him they would be available should I need help with anything. Nora and Donald also promised him they would be happy to help out should I need anything. Even with all their encouragement, and mine, he was hesitant to go.

“I just hate the thought of leaving you here by yourself.”

“Jacob,” I said for about the tenth time that day. “I will be fine. You have everyone at my beck and call should I need them. Besides, we will talk every night and text throughout the day as able.”

“I know,” He sighed. He rubbed my enlarging belly, promptly being rewarded with a kick. He smiled. “See? She agrees,” I laughed. “We will be fine.”

“OK, OK. I’m going.” Picking up his bag, he gave me a kiss and left.

I looked down at Lucky, “Well, Lucky,” I said scratching behind his ears. “It’s just you and me for a whole week.” He barked, wagging his tail. “What should we do today?” He went to the kitchen and stood in front of the refrigerator, barking at me. Laughing, I walked into the kitchen. “You are just like Jacob, encouraging me to eat. You both take such good care of me.” He barked again. “All right, all right! I’ll eat some lunch.” Making myself a sandwich, I sat on the couch to watch some TV.

***

From Allen’s blind, he watched as Jacob walked out the door carrying what appeared to be a suitcase. This made him sit up straighter, wondering what was going on. Was lover boy going away on a trip? It appeared like he was, shutting the door leaving Megan alone. Allen wondered how long he would be gone if he should make his move now.

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