Maid for Him.

Chapter Nineteen

Tess settled down in the rocking chair and dragged a blanket across her lap when a shadow at the window caught her eye. She stared at the spot she thought she'd seen it. Nothing. Frozen to the chair, her feet like lead, she waited. Holding her breath. The twang of the mobile as it spun and played a song that had slowed almost to a stop sent a chill up her spine. Yanking her cardigan tighter around herself, she stood and tried to slow her breathing.

Still nothing. Convincing herself it was a shadow cast from the mobile or maybe from her, she slowly turned to walk from the room, when a scratching sound came from the wall. Surely it couldn't be a mouse. It sounded too large.

Allowing her eyes to wander back to the window, she gasped at what she saw. In the lower corner of the window, she saw what appeared to be the top of someone's head. Her eyes travelled down further and she squinted, desperately urging her eyes to focus. Her eyes made out the shape of the head and...eyes! Bright white eyes stared back at her.

She opened her mouth to scream but no noise came out. She swallowed back, what felt like a grapefruit-size lump in her throat and tried again. This time, the sound of her shrill cry carried through the house. She screamed until her head started to spin from lack of oxygen so she sucked in a breath and distributes it in short sharp bursts of squealing.

What to do, what to do?

If someone wanted to mess with her they'd need to take it up a notch. She'd had enough of these games and it was time to get to the bottom of it. She ran to the kitchen and slid a chef's knife from the wooden knife block.

"Are you okay?" A tiny squeaky voice came from behind her.

She spun around, knife poised, to see Beverly, Cole's sister with eyes wide.

"What are you doing here?" Tess screamed at her and shook the knife in Beverly's direction.

Beverly slowly crept backwards toward the door. "Umm, nothing. Maybe it's a bad time, I can come back later."

"No! I want to know what you are doing sneaking around my house." Tess demanded.

"I...I wanted to meet my nephew. I knocked but no one answered. When I heard screaming I tried the door and it was unlocked. Are you alright?"

Tess lowered the knife and let out a deep shuddering sigh. "Oh. My.God." She gripped her chest. "Sorry Bev. I mean Beverly. I saw someone outside my window and I got spooked. Will you forgive me? I didn't mean to scare you."

Beverly's eyes wandered down to the large glinting blade still in Tess's shaking hand. Tess's heart dropped. Beverly was frightened. Frightened of her. She'd turned into a crazy person, her mind still felt clear to her, but she was doing irrational things, saying irrational things. Waggling knives around.

When did she become a knife waggler?

When had she become irrational?

She dragged herself into the kitchen and threw the knife into the sink with a clang. Beverly jumped back but didn't run out the door. Tess walked past her and into the sitting room, flopping down into the closest chair.

Covering her face with her hands, she let the darkness comfort her. A minute or two later the shuffle of Beverly's feet approaching had Tess glancing up. She watched as Beverly sat hesitantly on the very edge of the sofa. Her back straight as if she had a ruler up her jumper. The clock in the hall ticked and emphasized the silence between them.

"Bev... Beverly, I'm sorry I—Just"

"It's Rocky."

"What? Sorry?" Tess asked.