“One more signature, right here and you should be all set,” he said.
We sat at Dylan’s kitchen table surrounded by a pile of papers. He was dressed in a Flyers t-shirt and jeans.
I pushed back in my seat. Dylan was gathering the papers together. “Can you tell me everything you remember about Nick as a kid?” I asked. “I mean, did he play little league? Did he have friends? Did he do well in school? Did he get in trouble?”
“He was quiet. I didn’t know him all that well.”
“You must remember something.”
Dylan stood up. “He kept to himself. He was a loner.” He fiddled with the catch on his brief case and took a deep breath. “I don’t know what Nick was like as an adult, I’m sure he’d changed or you wouldn’t have married him, but…” he stopped.
“But what?”
“Kids made fun of him in school. He didn’t talk much, but it was more than that. He was isolated.” He stopped for a second and tried to think about how to explain it to me. “At Chestnut Hill Academy we were kind of like family. We’d go to each others houses after school, we’d walk home together, we’d do these community projects for school, we’d play sports and stuff, but Nick never got involved unless he had to. Then just as much as was required. Everyday a big black car would drop him off in the morning and pick him up in the afternoon. I can’t remember that he had any friends, to tell you the truth.” I looked at him, taking in what he was saying. ”Even later on in high school things didn’t change. He never even talked to anyone. He never invited anyone home with him. He never went to any of the parties or dances at school. In fact,” he stopped and put the documents in the briefcase, “when my father told me that you were coming in to the law office, I was trying to imagine what you would be like. I couldn’t picture it. I was expecting Lilly Munster.” When I looked up he was staring at me. His eyes were big and such a remarkable shade of blue they were startling.
“What?” I asked.
He shook his head. “You’re not what I expected, that’s all.”
“Oh.” My thumb toyed with my wedding band twirling it around and around. “Nick was quiet and a loner but not exactly weird.”
“Not exactly?” Dylan quipped.
I smiled. “He was really smart. And he had a complex personality. Tense but charming. Sort of engaging but then aloof…”
“Rich but pretending to be poor,” he interrupted.
I laughed. “Yeah, there was that.”
“Tell me. Why are you so hell bent on staying there at that house? What is it?”
I frowned, trying to find the right words. They failed me. I shrugged. “This person I married, he never existed. I married a fallacy.” I stood. “And the fallacy has a mother.”
He laughed. “A mother fallacy? Is that what you mean? A mother f…”
I stood up. “Come on. Let’s eat.”
He put his hand on my back and guided me to the door.
I ordered wonton soup, two egg rolls and shrimp with broccoli at a small Chinese restaurant in the village of Chestnut Hill. Dylan watched as I cleaned out the bowl of crunchy noodles they had placed on the table and then dipped my egg roll into the mustard bowl.
“Hungry?” he asked.
I nodded because my mouth was full. “I’m not sure when I’ll get to eat again, by the looks of things,” I said, once I had chewed and swallowed. I told him about Cora throwing out my dinner and about Ginny withdrawing her invitation for breakfast. “And it’s not like I can just order a pizza and have them deliver it to that house. And taking the car out is a pain in the ass. Why aren’t you eating?” I motioned to his small bowl of soup.
“I’m due in court in a little bit and I operate better on an empty stomach. But you go ahead.”
Under normal circumstances I would have been more reserved, but my stomach was calling me. I ate everything while Dylan watched and sipped tea.
“I knew Miss Cooper growing up. Did I tell you that?” he said.
I looked up. “Ginny Cooper? What made you think of that?” I asked.
“You said you were in her house this morning. It reminded me of when I was a kid. Wipe your hair.” He handed me a napkin.
I looked down. A large blob of mustard was stuck in a curl. I took the napkin and cleaned myself.
“My hair catches everything. Sometimes I use it to dust,” I said.
He laughed. “She was nice. We used to love her on Halloween. She did her house all up and gave kids those big candy bars.” He was silent for a second. “We used to dare each other to climb the fence and go to the Monroe Estate.”
“What Monroe Estate?” I was confused.
“The house you’re staying in. That’s what it’s called.. The Monroe Estate. It’s marked out front on the fence.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I did see that.”
“When we first moved here my mother did work for the Historical Society. I remember seeing pictures of it in their albums when I was a kid. It’s one of the last mansions that’s still owned by the family that built it.”
“When did you move here?” I asked. I assumed he’d been born and raised in Chestnut Hill.
“I guess I was about seven. We used to live in West Mount Airy; not too far away. But I was telling you about Halloween. It was always dark and spooky. This one kid, Davey, he was brave one year and climbed the fence that borders the Cooper property. He was supposed to run through the woods and circle the house and then come back.” He stopped. “Are you ready to go?” he asked.
I nodded and stood up. “And what happened?”
“Davey ran into the woods and a little while later he came out with Miss Cooper. Well, Miss Cooper came out dragging him behind her by the seat of his pants. I don’t know how she got over there. She dragged him back to the fence line.” He stopped talking as the waiter approached. He gave him the money for the check. I reached for my purse but Dylan waved me off. ”I got it,” he said.
“Go on, so what happened?” I asked as we continued out onto the street.
“Then she was yelling at all of us. Screaming at us, saying ‘don’t you ever go on this property again. Do you understand? Do you?’ Every time she said ‘Do you?’ she shook him a little harder. Davey was so upset he wet his pants. We made fun of him for years after that.” We stood at an intersection. Dylan looked at his watch. “I have to go home and change. Do you want me to walk you back?”
I shook my head. “No thanks. You go ahead. I have some things I want to do.”
He darted across the intersection and was gone.