On Saturday evening, Danielle left Walt reading in the living room with the twins sleeping in a playpen while she visited in the kitchen with her neighbor and fellow medium Heather Donovan.
Heather, who had spent her day off cleaning her house, doing laundry, and baking four loaves of sourdough bread, wore a dark green blouse and black denims she had slipped on after returning from her morning run and taking a shower. Dusty white handprints, from Heather carelessly wiping flour from her hands, stained her denim-clad hips. She wore her black hair pulled up in a ponytail, mostly to keep hair out of the food she prepared, and she told herself that when she returned home, she would need to take a second shower, considering all she had done that day. But the day wasn’t over yet. First, she intended to make Walt and Danielle dinner.
“You don’t have to do this,” Danielle said as she sat at the kitchen table and watched Heather pull a freshly baked loaf of sourdough bread from a brown paper bag. Heather set it on the counter. Next, she removed glass jars from the bag and set them on the counter with the bread.
Heather turned to Danielle and smiled. “I know. But it’s only been two weeks, and I can’t imagine how exhausted you must be taking care of two newborns! Let me make you dinner.”
“I love the offer and the sentiment. But I feel a little guilty.”
Heather frowned. “Guilty, how?”
Danielle let out a sigh. “To be honest, it’s been kind of easy so far.”
Heather arched her brows. “Easy?”
“For one thing, they’ve been sleeping most of the time.”
“It’s probably because they came early,” Heather suggested.
Danielle shrugged. “Probably. Plus, Walt’s always there to help. Things like bath times we do together, and I have to say, his telekinetic ability is a big help. And while Joanne is gone this week, before she left, she cleaned the house from top to bottom and made sure we had enough groceries for until she gets back.”
“Dang, girl, you are spoiled.” Heather laughed. “But I’ll still make you dinner. I’ve been wanting to try this recipe, anyway. And Brian’s working tonight. So you and Walt can be my guinea pigs.”
“I appreciate it. And pizza sounds good. Plus, I suspect it being easy is the universe messing with me.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I doubt this easy stage will last forever.”
“You’re probably right.” Heather pulled a large cast-iron skillet from a cabinet and placed it in the oven. After turning the oven on and closing its door, Heather turned to Danielle. “I’m making the pizza dough with sourdough discard. Just discard, nothing else except for some olive oil and fresh herbs. It’s supposed to be a super easy recipe, and I love finding new ways to use my discard. I refuse to throw it away.”
While Heather waited for the oven and cast-iron skillet to heat up, she arranged the items for the pizza on the counter while Danielle told her about June and Kelly’s visit that afternoon.
“So you think Kelly threw the stuffed animal at her mom?” Heather asked.
“She must have. I never saw any ghosts aside from Marie, who insists she wasn’t even here when it happened. And Walt saw nothing. Although, the pictures June took had those orbs, but it was probably dust on the lens or something.”
A few minutes later, Danielle watched as Heather, wearing large oven mitts, pulled the cast-iron skillet from the oven and set it on the stove. After removing the oven mitts, Heather grabbed a bottle of olive oil from the counter, removed its lid, and liberally added oil to the hot skillet. She then used a spatula to disperse the oil in the pan.
When Heather finished with the olive oil, she opened a large jar holding her sourdough discard and began pouring it into the skillet.
“You said you’re just using discard for the crust?” Danielle asked.
“Yep. But I fed it this morning. So technically, I suppose it’s sourdough starter.”
“Interesting,” Danielle muttered as she watched Heather spread the discard around in the skillet.
“There’s something magical about mixing water and flour to capture wild yeast, and then feeding it with more water and flour to keep it alive. Sourdough starter is a living thing.”
Danielle chuckled.
Heather looked at Danielle. “What?”
“Look at you. You’ve really gotten into baking.”
After adding a splash of olive oil to the top of the starter she had just spread in the pan, along with some freshly chopped herbs, Heather slipped on the oven mitts, set the cast-iron skillet in the hot oven, shut its door, and turned back to Danielle. “I’m not really interested in making bread with manufactured store-bought yeast. Sourdough bread is more aligned with nature. Not to mention, it’s been around for centuries. I feel like it connects me to my ancestors.” Heather paused and then added, “Umm, not the one who was a serial killer.”
* * *
About ten minutes later, Heather removed the cast-iron skillet from the oven and added sauce and toppings to the pizza, before returning it to the oven. When it finished cooking, Heather slid the pizza onto a cutting board, careful not to burn herself. With a long knife, she cut the pizza into slices and then moved them onto a clean baking sheet. Heather took the pizza along with napkins and small plates to the living room with Danielle. Before Danielle could try her pizza, the twins woke up and wanted to be fed.
A few minutes later, the new mother sat on a recliner, holding both babies, and with a bit of adjusting and fussing, she got them both nursing.
Walt sat on the recliner next to Danielle, while Heather stood near the sofa, the baking sheet with the pizza, napkins and plates sitting on the coffee table. Heather set two pieces on a plate and handed them to Walt. She looked at Danielle and asked, “Are you sure you don’t want me to bring you a piece?”
“My hands are kind of busy,” Danielle said. “After I feed them, I’ll have some. It looks delicious.”
“Maybe I can help,” Walt offered. The next moment, one slice of pizza from his plate floated over to Danielle and hovered in front of her mouth.
“I appreciate the offer.” Danielle giggled. “But I don’t want to drop crumbs on the babies. And I imagine it’s still warm.”
Walt cringed. “Good point.” The slice floated back to his plate.
“Did you hear about Chris’s neighbor moving?” Heather asked a few minutes later after she sat on the sofa and took a slice of pizza for herself.
“Which neighbor?” Danielle asked.
“The Crawfords. They’re getting a divorce,” Heather said.
“Really? I haven’t seen them around much lately,” Danielle said.
“Mia talked to Chris yesterday morning. Told him Austin moved out last week. From what Chris was saying, I got the feeling Mia was letting Chris know she was available if he was interested.”
“I thought you said they were moving?” Walt asked. “Or did you mean just Austin?”
“I assume they’re both moving because Mia asked Chris to recommend a real estate agent. Of course, he recommended Adam.”
“Why do you think she was hitting on him?” Danielle asked.
“She just kept telling Chris how lonely she was. How Austin hadn’t been…umm…taking care of her. And crap like that. And then she asked to see what kind of view Chris had from his house. Wanted him to take her inside and, umm…give her a tour.” Heather let out a snort.
“Did he?” Walt asked.
“That’s when I arrived to pick Chris up for work. It was my turn to drive. Mia didn’t look happy to see me. She was kinda rude. And when we were driving to work, I asked Chris what Mia’s problem was. That’s when he told me what she’d said.”
“I guess I need to call Adam in the morning and see if he’s listing the property,” Walt said.
“Why?” Heather asked.
“We’ve been putting off dealing with the tunnel and its access to Crawford’s house. Right now, the doors on our end are locked, so there really isn’t an issue with anyone gaining access to Marlow House. But we need to do something about the Crawford entrance, and it should probably be done before they list the property,” Walt explained.
* * *
When the babies finished nursing, Heather offered to hold Jack while Walt held Addison so Danielle could enjoy some pizza.
After Heather eventually went home, Walt and Danielle took the babies upstairs and gave them a bath. Afterwards, Walt took a shower while Danielle laid the babies on her bed with her. In a soft voice, she began talking to them. Her cat, Max, jumped up on the mattress and curiously sniffed the infants’ tiny toes and fingers.
After his shower, Walt traded places with Danielle. He stretched out on the bed with the twins and Max. He silently conversed with Max, answering questions the feline had about the new family members.
“I’m exhausted. But not sure what I did today,” Danielle said after wandering back into the bedroom after her shower.
“We’ve both walked up and down those stairs more than we normally do in a day. On top of that, your body is busy producing enough milk for not just one, but two babies.”
Wearing a nursing nightgown, Danielle glanced down at her breasts. “I used to be jealous of Lily.”
Walt chuckled. “Why?”
“You know why. One thing nursing has taught me, it’s a pain being this big. None of my regular blouses fit me.”
* * *
It was after ten before Walt and Danielle got the twins down in the nursery and they returned to their bedroom. As Danielle drifted off to sleep, she thought about how lucky she was to be married to a man who didn’t expect her to do all the work taking care of the babies. While she had told Heather it had been easy, she knew it wouldn’t be so without Walt by her side, even with Joanne’s help.
* * *
Persistent knocking woke Danielle. Jolted awake, she sat up in bed, glanced over to the alarm clock, and saw they had been asleep for hours. She heard the knocking again. This time it woke Walt. Drowsy, he sat up in bed.
“Walt? What is that?” Danielle asked.
The knocking started again. It sounded like it came from the wall separating their bedroom from the twins’. Without another word, both Danielle and Walt jumped from the bed and raced out of the bedroom, heading to the nursery.
The knocking stopped the moment they stepped into the hallway. When they reached the nursery, they found both babies fussing and rooting, yet neither one was crying.
“What was that knocking?” Danielle asked as she stood between the cribs.
“I don’t know. It sounded like it was coming from in there.” Walt pointed to the closet.
Danielle stood protectively in front of the cribs and silently watched as Walt approached the closet. She held her breath as he reached for the closet door, comforted by the knowledge of Walt’s telekinetic powers. A moment later, Walt opened the closet and took a closer look.
He turned, faced Danielle, and shrugged.
“Is it windy outside? Was that a tree hitting the house?” Danielle suggested.
Before Walt could respond, a meow interrupted their conversation. Walt and Danielle glanced at the open doorway and watched Max stroll into the room. Walt used his telekinetic power to shut the bedroom door while silently communicating with the cat.
“According to Max, it’s not windy outside. He also hasn’t seen anything unusual in the house.”
“I know I heard knocking,” Danielle insisted.
“I did too.”
The babies’ fussing intensified. They wanted to eat. A few minutes later, Danielle sat in one of the rocking chairs, nursing the twins.
“I think I should check out the rest of the house. I’ll lock the bedroom door,” Walt told Danielle.
Danielle gave Walt a reluctant nod. He turned from her, walked toward the door, and as he reached for the doorknob, Danielle cried out, “Walt!”
Walt turned to Danielle and found her staring at the empty rocking chair next to her. Of the two rocking chairs in the nursery, there was only one rocking. And it wasn’t the one Danielle sat in.