Chapter 2
“You sure you’re all right, hon?” Marti asked for the third time on the phone. Annie nodded, even though Marti couldn’t see her.
“Of course I’m all right; I’m going to be fine. I just had the heebie jeebies the other night. I grew up in this house, I’m a big girl, shouldn’t be scared at all.”
“All righty then,” Marti said, though she didn’t sound so sure. “Just holler if you need anything, okay?”
“Okay. Relax, I’ll call ya if I need to,” Annie said, hanging up the phone. She was glad Marti cared about her, but she sounded like an old woman, worrying about noises. She needed to do this. It was her home and if she was going to live here, she had better get used to it.
She hated cleaning the house, but it was a necessary chore. She should’ve hired someone. Thankfully, she was almost finished.
Apparently, Granddaddy had been awfully sick in the end, so a lot of simple things hadn’t gotten done. Georgia wasn’t like L.A.—in Georgia, if you didn’t clean the house, it started to fall apart. She’d spent the last few days battling the eternal onslaught of mold and dirt. She only had a few more rooms before she was finished, and she was pretty proud of herself.
Of course, once she finished inside, she’d have to tackle the outside. Porch needed fixing, screens needed replacing and God only knows what else. Granddaddy hadn’t done a lot of farming or fixing things in the last year of his life, but he’d tended his peach groves like they were his baby, and she hated to see them go to waste. She was sure someone in town would help her figure out what needed to be done with the groves and the cattle.
Completing the dreaded chore of house cleaning, she carried her cleaning buckets and supplies back into the kitchen and mudroom. She emptied the buckets and threw the last of the cloths into the washing machine, then headed into the huge kitchen to grab a late night snack and something to drink. Animal sounds echoed in the darkness, and Annie was glad to have the warm lamplight all around her.
She turned on the TV, to catch a late night movie, when she heard the back door rattle. She jumped, her heartbeat accelerating. The door was locked and bolted, but it shook, and the latch sounded like it clicked up and down a few times.
Annie took a deep breath, telling herself it was just Marti, or the wind. But she didn’t hear the wind, and Marti said she was going to stay at home that night. Hesitantly, she called out, “Marti? Marti is that you?”
For a moment the door quieted, but she didn’t hear Marti’s cheerful voice either. She tried to call out louder, but it just made her voice wobble more. “Marti? Hello? Girl, is that you?”
Nothing. After a long pause, where she barely dared breathe, the door rattled again. Annie screamed and ran. She suddenly felt trapped in the house, with its big picture windows and old creaky doors. She stopped dead in her tracks, listening to the door rattling, looking for somewhere to hide.
She jumped into the coat closet just inside the front door and pulled the thick oak door closed behind her. She couldn’t hear anything, so she quietly pulled her phone out of her pocket, and dialed 911.
“911, what’s the emergency?”
“There’s someone trying to get into my house.” Annie breathed heavily. “I live at Gibbon’s Ranch, my Grandpa’s old house. I don’t know where to go, what to do. I’m in the boonies. Someone is here, outside, trying to get in. Send someone, please.” Her heart was racing so fast, she could barely speak.
“I know exactly where you are. Someone is on their way. Please stay on the line until help arrives,” the 911 operator said calmly.
“Tell them to hurry,” Annie pleaded, trying to listen through the stillness for any crashes or bangs. Or Heaven forbid…footsteps.
The operator kept talking to her, trying to keep her on the line. Annie wished she would be quiet so she could hear what was going on outside.
After what seemed like an eternity, a police siren sounded in the distance, and a car pulled up on the gravel outside. Relief washed through her, and she dropped her phone as she burst out of the closet to the front door. “Dear Lord God Almighty! Thank you!” she cried and burst out through the front door just as the police officer stepped up onto the big wraparound porch.
“Howdy, ma’am. Are you—”
She jerked to a stop, too scared to even get a good look at him, pointing around the back of the house. “Someone was trying to get in my house; they were at the back door!”
He peered around the side of the house, nodding. “All right, ma’am. Calm down. I’m here now. Please stay here, and I’ll check around the back.”
The idea of returning to the house nearly paralyzed her. She grabbed his arm, it was huge and her hand was barely able to wrap around it. “Can’t I come with you?”
He put his hand on hers and held it for a second, the press of his skin warm and comforting. “No, ma’am.” He looked at her with the biggest brown eyes she’d ever seen, shaking his head. “That wouldn’t be safe. You stay here, and I’ll check out back. It’ll just take me a minute. I promise, you’ll be safe. Don’t worry and holler if you hear anything.”
Reluctantly, Annie nodded and stepped back into the house, her heart pounding as her rescuer disappeared around the corner.