Underestimated (2 page)

new life and making the house my home, but my mind kept

drifting back to Drew. It had been four days now since I

had vanished from his life. I wondered about his reaction

when he realized that I had disappeared. What went

through his mind when he dialed my cellphone? I didn’t

even know where it was. I wondered if anyone would

answer it. I knew he was probably beyond irate, and I was

sure that a few things had gotten broke during his

discovery.

I woke to the sun pouring in through the window.

My homemade bed must have been sufficient. I slept the

whole night without waking once. I didn’t waste time

stretching and lingering around in bed the way that I was

used to. I got straight up, brushed my teeth and pulled my

long dark hair into a ponytail. I still had a hard time

looking in the mirror without double taking. My hair had

been blonde for the past six years, and my natural brown,

seemed so distant and foreign now. My bruised cheekbone

also looked better. You could barely see it once I applied

the foundation.

I pulled on a pair of hand-me-down jeans and a

sweatshirt. That was the part about Las, I mean Indiana

that I was going to find the most difficult. It was May, and

the weather was so diverse. I could handle it, had it been a

bit different, but forty degrees different? Come on. Why

didn’t I get a choice? I surely would have chosen a

warmer climate. How were you supposed to enjoy living

by a beach when you wore a continuous layer of goose

bumps?

I had breakfast at Millie’s Diner. Millie herself

waited on me.

“Good morning. Can I start you off with some

coffee?” she asked.

“Yes. Thank you. That would be great.” I chose to

sit at the bar and thumbed through a newspaper.

“Here you go sweetie. Do you need a few minutes

yet?” The friendlier than I was used to lady asked.

“No. I’m ready. Could I get gravy and biscuits and

two slices of bacon?”

“You sure can, coming right up.”

I read through the local paper, smiling at its size. It

was a full four pages. The Vegas Sun was dictionary

compared to the Misty Bay Daily News. The front page

talked about the events planned for the year’s Summer

Fest. There would be apple bobbing, grease pole

climbing, corn hole tournaments, a wood chopping

competition, and the list went on and on for the weekend

long celebration. Saturday night would be no kid’s night,

and it described the street dancing and wine tasting events

for adults only. I flipped the page and read about the new

breast milk flavored coffee at ‘Reminiscent.’ Are you

kidding me? Where the hell was I going to be working?

Where the hell would you even get breast milk? I kept

reading and learned the benefits of breast milk coffee. I

would not be trying the breast milk coffee. I was sure of

that. Gross.

“Here you go honey,” Millie said, setting my plate

in front of me. It looked mouthwatering. Either that or my

stomach was so hungry, it would have looked

mouthwatering had it been a plate of gravy and worms. It

was delicious, and I am sure I ate it in record time. Millie

probably thought I hadn’t eaten in weeks. She refilled my

coffee cup, and I thanked her. The diner was fairly empty

and had only a few people; of course it was getting kind of

late for breakfast.

It was almost eleven. I hadn’t even started my

long list of shopping yet, let alone the cleaning that needed

to be done. I was, however, feeling a little less uneasy that

morning. I had plenty of time to do it. I may not finish in

the next three days, but I would be working mostly days so

I would just have to work on it in the evenings after work.

I was going to need something to do in order to keep my

mind from thinking too much anyway.

“Is there a furniture store around here?” I asked

Millie when she slid me a small strawberry Danish.

“There’s one over on Long Road. Is there

something particular that you are looking for?”

I took a bite of the cheese Danish. “Hmm, this is

amazing,” I told her as the warm contents of strawberry

and cream cheese teased my taste buds. “I kind of need

everything,” I smiled up at her.

“You bought Clara Bliss’s little cottage, didn’t

you?”

Clara Bliss? How was I supposed to answer that?

No. I live in a house that my grandmother left for me. That

was what I was supposed to say. That’s what Ms. K told

me to say. Who is Clara Bliss?

“Clara lived there up until about ten years or so

ago.” Millie started to explain. I breathed a sigh of relief.

“She moved to Portland to be closer to her grandchildren.

The house has sat empty for a good many years. You can

thank her for the lovely colors,” she winked, and it made

me smile.

Shew, I didn’t have to explain anything.

“Where is Long Road? Do they have pretty much

everything? Do they deliver?”

Millie laughed at my run-on sentence. I didn’t

mean not to give her time to answer. I was just happy we

weren’t talking about my house anymore.

“Yes. You can get furniture for every room in the

house, including curtains.”

I was glad she mentioned curtains. I had neglected

to add them to my long list.

“Thank you,” I said, taking a ten dollar bill from

my purse. I liked Millie, and I hoped we would become

friends. She was probably twenty years or more, older

than me, but nonetheless she was a very nice lady.

“Can I offer you some more advice?” she asked.

“Yes, of course.”

“There is a place about fifteen miles from here

called Potters. It’s a warehouse full of housewares. I am

sure you could buy everything you need there, and they

only sell American made,” she added, proud of that fact.

I took out a piece of paper. “Thank you, Millie. I

will definitely go there. Do you know the address?”

Millie laughed a short laugh. “You don’t need an

address sweetie. Turn right at the stop light and drive till

you see the billboard on the left that says Potters. You

can’t miss it.”

“Thank you. I better get going. I have a long day

ahead of me,” I smiled and left the ten dollars on the

counter, leaving her a three a dollar tip.

“Come back this evening. Tonight is meatloaf

Friday,” she invited, and I left with a nod and a smile.

I knew I wouldn’t be back. I had too much to do,

but I would come back and have meatloaf Friday

sometime. I hadn’t had meatloaf since before my Grandma

Joyce passed away.

I drove to the furniture store first. I couldn’t

believe the prices. I had twenty-five thousand dollars in

pre-paid visa cards to buy everything that I needed, and I

wasn’t going to spend near what I thought I would. I was

pleasantly surprised at the quality. The dining room table

that I had picked out would have cost me probably five

times as much back in Las, I mean Indiana. I ended up

buying more than what was even on my list. I hadn’t

planned on buying an area rug, a desk, television or coffee

and end tables. I got everything that I needed for a fraction

of what I had planned on spending.

I was on cloud nine, up until it was time to pay that

is. I was standing at the counter, and the older man asked

for my last name.

Dammit. What is it? I was drawing a blank. I had

the Riley part, but the last name just wasn’t registering. I

could feel my face becoming flush when I didn’t answer

right away. He stood in front of me, awkwardly wondering

why I wasn’t answering.

“Murphy,” I almost yelled, when it finally came to

me. He gave me a funny look and turned back to his

computer screen.

I finished giving him my information, and we had

delivery setup for the following day. I would still have to

sleep on the floor for one more night, but I was okay with

that. I would much rather clean in the empty rooms than try

to clean around furniture. I would at least have curtains

over the windows.

I went to Potter’s next, and spent more time than I

should have in there. I was so thankful that Millie had told

me about it. The prices there too, surprised me, and I

bought everything that I needed, and then some. I found the

cutest set of dishes and couldn’t help thinking about the

exquisite china back in
Indiana.
Drew would have never

eaten off of plates like that. They were white, and although

I hated the bright yellow walls back at the house, the cute

little yellow ducklings circling the plates and saucers

were adorable. I wondered then if I had bought everything

that Drew would hate on purpose.

I was so excited. I could hardly contain myself. I

had stolen, well not actually stolen, we were married. I

had taken a microscopic amount of his money. Drew

probably hadn’t even figured that part out yet. I honestly

didn’t want anything of his. I would have walked away

and slept on the floor for months had Ms. K not convinced

me to take what was rightfully mine. Boy was I ever

grateful that she did. Now that I think about it, she didn’t

really give me a choice in the matter. I was taking the

money.

Buying the house was a little more difficult. It took

me almost six months to embezzle the eighty six thousand

dollars that Drew would never find. I had added between

fifteen and eighteen thousand dollars to different overhead

expenses for six straight months. The first couple of

months I was paranoid, no I was terrified that he was

going to catch it, but he never did. Stupid bastard

shouldn’t have been so credulous. I knew exactly where

the key to his office was. It was rather simple to add bits

and pieces to his overhead, donate to a made-up worthy

cause, and a delightful fat scholarship, sending me to the

University of Misty Bay. I had actually found a couple of

ways to change things a little to save him some money,

without him knowing of course.

I counted. It took me nine trips to unload my

overstuffed Honda Civic. I stacked everything in the

corner of the living room and would move it as needed. It

took up half the room, and once again I forgot to eat. I

wondered if there was a pizza delivery. Why would it

even matter? I didn’t have a phonebook, and the pre-paid

phone that Ms. K had given me only had seven minutes left

on it. I wasn’t planning on using it, and Ms. K had already

told me that we would end all contact once I had left

Indiana.
I was to pitch the phone out the window before I

arrived.

My heart all of a sudden dropped to my feet when

there was a knock on the door. Nobody knows me here.

Who would be looking for me here? What did they want? I

was pulled from my frozen paranoia by the second knock.

Stop it, Morg, I mean Riley. I said quietly but out

loud as I made my way to the door.

“Hi. I’m Lauren. I live in the uglier than your blue

house, across the road,” my new neighbor said,

introducing herself.

I shook her hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Riley, but

everyone calls me Ry.” I was smiling to myself when I

remembered that aspect of my new life. I had forgotten to

mention that to Millie earlier.

“Wow, it looks like you have your work cut out for

you,” she observed peeking around me.

I suddenly realized that I was being rude. “Come

in,” I offered. “I really don’t have a seat to offer or

anything to drink,” I teased.

Lauren walked through the door. “Wow, the inside

paint is worse than the outside,” she stated, and I laughed.

“I forgot how bright it was in here.”

She must have been in here before.

“That will be altered tonight,” I assured her.

“I have a friend that does construction if you want

his number.”

“Maybe for the outside, the inside has got to be

done tonight. I have furniture coming by noon tomorrow,”

All of a sudden I comprehended how much I had to do and

what little time I had to do it. I was happy to have a

neighbor, and I thought Lauren, and I would become

friends. I just didn’t want to be her friend at that moment. I

had too much to do.