Death Comes eCalling by Leslie O'Kane

that kinda thing?” He put his hands in his pockets and rocked on his heels.
    I decided to take his hint. It was agonizing to know that someone, perhaps an old friend, was making it look like I had a hand in Mrs. Kravett’s death. My mood would brighten considerably if I could do at least one good deed for auld lang syne.
    “Would you like to come over for dinner Friday, Tommy? Jack, Lauren, and Denise are coming. Stephanie might, too. Around seven o’clock. I haven’t asked Carolee yet, but I will tonight.” Carolee, I thought, might feel a bit out of place with all those Carlton alumni, but the spouses would be in the same boat.
    Now he met my eyes and smiled. “Thanks, Moll.” He waved as he took a couple of backward steps toward his car. “I’ll bring wine. Red okay?”
    “That’d be great.” I watched him do a skip-hop pivot as he headed to his car. His excitement was so cute, for lack of a better word. Watching him brought back memories of my feelings when Jim and I first started dating: unbridled joy, as if he had suddenly switched on the sunlight, and the world was so much brighter and lovelier than ever before.
    Still, Tommy’s happiness was for a semi-blind semi-date. And I hadn’t even asked Carolee. Her work hours at the hospital were irregular. She might not be free.
    On the drive home, I was relieved to see no police cars in neighbors’ driveways. I went to Carolee’s. She swung open her door so quickly when I rang, she must have been standing by it. She wore her same aqua sweat suit as last night, yet was once again sweatless.
    “Molly! Hello.” Her voice sounded unnaturally high.
    “Is everything okay?”
    “Relatively speaking, yes. Why?”
    “No reason. Just a little jumpy, I guess. I watched you drive in and noticed your kids weren’t with you.”
    “They’re at Lauren’s.”
    Carolee nodded, still maintaining her post mid-doorway. My children had taken to Carolee almost immediately, which was unusual, and Lauren considered her one of her best friends. I trusted their opinions. Yet all our conversations at Carolee’s home took place on her doorstep. It made me feel like a Jehovah’s Witness. She’d been in my house several times in the past three weeks.
    “Before I forget,” Carolee began, “Lauren said you were both going to Mrs. Kravett’s funeral tomorrow afternoon and asked if I could watch the kids since that’s my day off. I’d be happy to, so pass that on to Lauren. I had told her I’d think about it, since I needed to decide if I wanted to go to the funeral myself.”
    “You knew Mrs. Kravett?”
    She nodded. “I work in the oncology outpatient unit. I get to know the families of my patients pretty well. Her husband had lung cancer. He survived for four years after the initial diagnosis.”
    “Why don’t you come with us to the funeral? We’ll get someone else to babysit.”
    She shook her head. “I’ve seen more than my share of death. Besides, funerals are for the sake of the living. Relatives and friends. I didn’t know any of Mrs. Kravett’s people, except Lauren.” She paused. “And now you.”
    The way she studied my eyes as she spoke the last phrase bothered me. Maybe it was just the wording. Strange to be termed one of my old teacher’s “people.”
    Carolee continued, “Why don’t you bring your children over around four?”
    “Okay. Thanks. Also, are you free for dinner at my house Friday? Lauren and Steve will be there, plus a few former classmates.”
    “Your former classmates?” She winced slightly. “Gee. I don’t know.”
    “Sergeant Newton is coming, and I’m quite sure he’s hoping you’ll be there.”
    She smiled broadly. “Oh. Well. In that case, what time?”
     
    The second day of school was wonderfully uneventful. Both children took the bus there and back without a hitch, except for one frightening moment when the kindergarten bus arrived at the stop and Nathan didn’t emerge. I promptly charged onto the bus. He was