A Flicker of Doubt (Book 4 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) by Tim Myers Page B

the scuttle to the roof. It’s where I go when I want
to get away from the world. Nobody but you knows about it now.”
    “ I’m honored,” she said
softly. I climbed the rungs, with Erin just behind me. I grabbed
the flashlight from the hook near the hatch, then realized I had
only one of everything on the roof. There’d been no need to have
duplicates, since I was the only one who ever went up there. “You
need to stay close to me,” I said.
    . I flipped the hatch open and stepped
through, then moved aside so Erin could climb up. She looked around
in wonder and said, “Hey, you really can see the lights of town
from here.”
    “ Like I said, this is where
I go to get away. I don’t want anyone to know where I’m at when I
disappear.”
    She nodded. “You have my word.”
    I led her to the storage Inn where I kept my
chair, blankets and umbrella. After pulling the chair out and
setting it up, I offered it to her and sat on the bin itself.
    She shivered in the chilled air and said,
“Do you mind if I borrow one of those blankets?”
    “ Not at all,” I said as I
retrieved one and handed it to her. I’d positioned the chair so she
could see the lights of Micah’s Ridge, but not my face. It was
somehow easier sitting there in the darkness not having to make eye
contact as we spoke.
    In the shadows, I began to talk. “I met
Becka seven years ago. She was gorgeous, the kind of woman I
ordinarily never would have approached, but she did that herself. I
was at an art gallery opening in Charlotte where a friend of mine
was showing his sculptures, and Becka was there with some friends
as well. Her heel caught on the carpet and she literally fell into
my arms. We dated off and on for a few years after that. It’s hard
to describe what attracted me to her.” I paused, then said, “Okay,
she was great-looking, but that only goes so far. There was
something about her—a drive to follow her own heart— that attracted
me. Was she perfect? Far from it, but there Was a bond between us I
still can’t explain. Even when she was doing her best to drive me
crazy, I still cared about her. Nothing romantic, mind you—not in
the last ten or eleven months, anyway—but she was a part of my
life, and now she’s gone....” I hadn’t meant to make such a
long-winded speech, and I felt embarrassed by it
    Erin took it all in, then said softly, “It’s
okay to miss her, Harrison.”
    I felt the tears come. I hadn’t wept since
Belle had died, but I couldn’t stop them. Erin stood, moved near
and put her arms around me, nestling my head to her chest. She
stroked my hair and hummed softly as the emotion ran through me,
until it finally faded I pulled away and said, “Sony about that, I
don’t know what happened”
    “ Do you feel better?” she
asked.
    “ You know what? I do.
Thanks.”
    Erin stepped away and said, “Thank you for
sharing all of this with me, Harrison.”
    “ I’m glad I did.”
    She looked up at the stars and said, “How
could I not love it? Could I come back up another time?”
    “ That sounds great. We can
have a picnic sometime.”
    Erin shivered. “Sometime warm, maybe.”
    “ It is getting chilly, isn’t
it? Let’s go downstairs. I’ll make us some coffee.”
    I turned the flashlight on and led her back
to the scuttle. “Do you have any hot chocolate?” she asked once we
were back in my apartment.
    “ You’d better believe it.
I’ve even got marshmallows,” I said with a smile.
    After we had our cocoa, Erin said, ‘This was
fun. I enjoy hanging out with you, Harrison.”
    “ Thanks, I needed this more
than I realized.” I walked her to her car, and she surprised me by
giving me a peck on the cheek. “Call me any time,
Harrison.”
    When I walked back upstairs, I found Markum
leaning against my door. The accordion folder we’d retrieved from
Becka’s apartment was sitting on top of a box he had tucked under
one arm.
    I asked, “How long have you been here?”
    “ Not long