He muttered something, but it was short lived because there was more banging, which, standing here, I realized was actually someone knocking on the door.
“Do you always get visitors in the middle of the night?” I asked.
“Who is it?” he yelled, not bothering to open it up.
“It’s Mrs. West,” a muffled voice replied.
Fear shot through me, and I took a step back. “I thought you said she doesn’t talk to anyone in town.”
“She doesn’t,” he murmured.
“Don’t open it.” I urged, scared.
“I need some assistance,” she called through the door. “I had an accident trying to get back to my island. My boat is damaged.”
He glanced back at me, then the door. I knew the look on his face. He was completely torn. How could he leave an older woman outside in the cold when she needed help?
“Go back in the bedroom, Am. I’ll help her and be right back.” After unlocking the door, he pulled it open only far enough to look out. “Mrs. West?”
“Eddie, thank you,” she said, her voice relieved. “I’ve been trying to get back to the island for hours.”
“You’re wet,” he said.
“My boat was taking on so much water. It was all I could do to make it back to shore. I recognized your truck outside, and I knew you would help.”
His back muscles relaxed, and he sighed. The door was pulled open wide, and he stepped back. “Come in.”
“Thank you,” she said. “It’s freezing out here.”
The instant she walked in, she saw me standing in the doorway. I felt her gaze from beneath the brim of that big floppy hat she was still wearing. Her skirt was wet, and so were the shoes on her feet. I couldn’t tell if her sweater and turtleneck were also wet because they were dark.
Though, the ends of her long hair appeared damp.
“Oh, you have a guest,” she said, but her voice wasn’t that surprised.
Eddie gazed at me with some concern because, once again, I refused to go hide in the bedroom. Latching the door, he walked around the woman toward me, angling so he blocked me from her line of sight.
“I’m so sorry to bother you in the middle of the night,” she said.
“It’s not a bother,” he replied, sounding truly sincere. “You said your boat is damaged?”
“Yes, too damaged to make it the mile I need it to go to the island.”
Eddie walked to the window and gazed out, down to the water. “Did you use my dock?”
“No, I used one a few houses down. I knocked on your door because, as I said, I recognized your truck. You’re really the only person in town I’ve spoken to in recent years.”
“Right.” He nodded, digesting the words. “I don’t have a boat, and I won’t be able to see if I can repair yours for a few hours when it’s light out.”
“I really wanted to get home. I haven’t spent this much time away from my island in years.”
“Well, we can walk next door. I’ll ask Tom if I can borrow his boat. I can take you out there and then look over your boat tomorrow and bring it to you once it’s fixed.”
“Oh, would you?” she asked, very relieved. “I’ll pay you for the time and for any parts the boat needs.”
“Of course,” he murmured. At my side, he glanced back at her. “Just let me get a shirt and some shoes. I’ll be right back.”
Eddie took my hand so I would go down the hall with him.
The second we were in the room, the door pushed around, I glanced at him incredulously. “You’re going to take her out onto the lake? Now?” My stomach churned just thinking about it.
His face and voice were grim. “It’s better than offering her the couch for the night.”
I shuddered. Staying under the same roof as that woman was a horrendous thought. But so was the idea of him out on the lake. At night.
“I don’t want you to go.” I worried, chewing my lower lip.
With his boots and hoodie on, he crossed the room, cradling my face between his hands. “I won’t be long. Lock the door after me.”
Panic gripped my chest. It felt like bone-chilling fingers that squeezed so hard my ribs felt they might snap. Gasping for breath, I trembled all over. “Please don’t go out on the lake,” I begged. “The last time…” My teeth started chattering, making a sharp snapping sound each time they smacked together.
“Oh damn.” He groaned, yanking me against his sinfully warm and cozy chest. His hand stroked the back of my head, and I clutched him close. “All right, baby. It’s okay.”
I pushed back, my eyes pleading. “Please don’t go.”
He nodded. “I won’t go out on the lake. I’ll just walk next door, see if Tom will take her. Or let her use his boat.”
“Promise me.” I urged.
“I promise, Am.”
A tear tracked down my cheek. Relief so strong flooded me. I felt momentarily dizzy. Suddenly, my body was drained, as if I’d just sprinted ten miles. Dr. Kline warned me of the possibility of panic attacks, especially as memories began to resurface, but I wasn’t sure if how I was feeling just now constituted as such.
“Thank you.” I sighed.
“Anything for you, sweetheart.” He kissed my forehead. “C’mon. The sooner I take her to the neighbor’s, the sooner I’ll be back in bed with you.”
My eyes scanned the living room as we walked down the hall. The room was still dimly lit because there were a few glowing embers left in the fireplace. Widow West wasn’t standing where we left her, though.
“Where is she?” I whispered, worried.
“Kitchen?” Eddie guessed.
Instead of going straight into the living room, Eddie started to move left, through the wide archway leading into the kitchen.
A blur of sudden movement startled me, and a low cry ripped from my throat. Eddie saw it, too, tensed immediately, and reacted.
He shoved me hard to the right, so hard I stumbled and fell back onto my bottom. But I barely noticed because I was too horrified by what was happening.
“Eddie!” I screamed.
The sound of thick wood connecting to the side of his head was sickening and ear splitting. I gasped and my hand flew up to cover my mouth as his body dropped from his upright position to a crumpled heap on the floor.
“Eddie!” I screeched again, scrambling on all fours toward him, dread clawing at the back of my throat.
“Leave him!” the widow demanded, her voice sharp as a nine-inch nail.
Leaning over Eddie, I gazed up at the older woman who was standing fiercely, a crazed look in her eyes, over his prone body, a giant wooden boat oar clutched in both her weathered-looking hands. Behind her and farther into the kitchen, the door leading outside was wide open, the blackness of the night like a void ready to suck us all away. Wind whipped in from the opening and caused her overly long, gray hair to fly around her shoulders as though she were a witch on a broom.
“Oh my God!” I yelled. “What the hell are you doing?”