Page 21 of Shelter for Martina

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“Nope.”

He proceeded to tell her all about what MartyBurgess had said, and her eyes went round. “So he says Phil was the last one to see her?”

“That’s what he claims.”

“But there’s no proof.”

“Not a shred. So I went back to Phil’s this morning. When I asked again, he was like, ‘Oh,thatevening! Oh, well, yeah,’ and proceeded to repeat what Burgess told me, with a few more insignificant details.”

“Who knows? Those two… Such liars, both of them.”

“I know. I don’t know who to believe, or if none of it is the truth and there’s yet another story out there somewhere. It’s a mystery.” He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “You know what’snota mystery?” She shook her head. “How much I enjoy spending time with you. I’m not going to lie about that, and there aren’t any stories to refute it.”

“I feel the same way. I looked forward to coming over here all day.”

“Wait! I should show you around! Come on!” Bud picked up her legs, spun her to sitting, and stood, then held out his hand. “Ready?”

“Sure!” They wandered through the house together. Even though she’d already been in the den and kitchen, he showed her the laundry room, then back through the kitchen to the dining room. Down the hallway they went, stopping at the big bathroom off the hallway, then looking into the two guest rooms that used to be the kids’ bedrooms. There was a little bonus room at the end of the hall where Bud kept his home office, and then he opened the door to the master suite.

It had always been Becky’s favorite room in the house, and there was no doubt why. The fireplace in the living room shared a wall, and there was a fireplace on that wall in the bedroom too. In front of it was a little settee and chair, and against the opposite wall, the big king size bed. The huge triple dresser occupied another wall, its enormous mirror reflecting almost the entire room, and there were matching nightstands and a big tallboy chest too. In one corner sat Becky’s beloved jewelry armoire, a gift he’d given her on their twentieth anniversary. There wasn’t a lot in it anymore, but he still had a few pieces of her jewelry. The only ones he would’ve cared about were her engagement and wedding bands, and he’d buried her in those. Taking them off her hand wasn’t an option. She deserved to wear those to her grave because she’d been devoted to him their entire life together.

He hadn’t bothered to redecorate the room, and it was obvious a woman had done the decorating in there. For one thing, there were way too many toss pillows to suit Bud. He almost laughed when Martina said, “Wow. Somebody likes pillows.”

“Not me! I just don’t know what to do with them!” he said, laughing.

“This is a really nice room. I guess your wife decorated it, huh?”

“Yeah. She loved doing that stuff.”

“Ever think about changing it?” she asked, not looking at him.

He wasn’t going to lie to her. “Hadn’t until recently.”

“But you’d consider it?”

He sighed. “You know, I think I’d welcome it.”

“Good. Is that the bathroom?”

“Yep. Jack and Jill sinks, plenty of closet space, walk-in shower stall, and tub and shower combo. Lot of room.”

“This is a nice house.”

“Thanks.”

“It’s a lot of house to have to rattle around in alone,” she added almost reverently.

“That it is.” He watched her pick up a few of the little knick-knacks lying around and look at them as he stood there leaning against the doorjamb. “I’d like to think I won’t be alone forever.”

“I’d like to think you won’t be either. So I brought a few of my things like you asked. Got somewhere for me to put them?”

“There’s plenty of room in the bathroom for your stuff, and look.” He strode across the room and opened a drawer of the dresser with pride. “Your own drawer! How ‘bout that?”

“I’m pretty impressed! I’ll get it all out of the car in a few minutes. Am I going to be spending much time here?” She wasn’t even being coy, and Bud loved it.

“As much time as you can, or as you want. I don’t mind spending time at your place either, but I’ve got more room here, and I know you have grandkids who’ll want to visit.”

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