Spirited 1 by Mary Behre

behind him.
    “Right, dinner. I’ll be here. It was sweet of you to invite me. Are you sure you want to cook? My mother would love to whip up something for your last night in town.”
    His mother ran the best Greek restaurant in the city. And she lived for cooking for family and friends. Asking her to prepare a going-away dinner for April and Ernie would delight her to no end.
    “Thanks, but no. I really want to cook one meal for Juliana before we head out. Lasagna’s her favorite.” She opened the refrigerator door, pulled out the milk, then closed the door with her hip and turned around. Holding out the carton, she said, “Where’s your mug, or did you run out of coffee too?”
    “I didn’t come by for milk.” He glanced around the empty kitchen, noting the coffeemaker was on and the pot still half full. “But a cup of coffee would be great.”
    April must have caught him eyeing the pot because she had moved before he’d finished speaking. She poured him a cup and even added a splash of milk to the mug before returning the carton to the refrigerator.
    “Thanks.” Seth accepted the cup and took a sip. Hazelnut roast exploded on his taste buds and he sighed. “Delicious as always. You make the best coffee I’ve ever tasted. Just don’t tell my mother I said that.”
    “Ernie makes me promise the same thing.” April beamed. “Your secret is safe with me.”
    “Where is Ernie? I thought I heard him talking to Mrs. Himmel downstairs this morning.”
    “Her car broke down, so he gave her a ride to church. He should be back around lunchtime.”
    Seth took another sip of coffee then admitted, “I actually came by to talk to Jules about yesterday. Is she up yet?”
    “Seth, about yesterday.” April paused then offered him a wan smile. “You know she’s going to pay to replace your shoes. She told me she was going to talk to you about it later today.”
    “She wants to buy me new shoes?” He couldn’t quite keep the incredulity out of his voice. “That’s not necessary.”
    But it was very considerate.
    “She felt terrible about what happened and told me that she was pretty certain she’d ruined them. She thought she could have your slacks cleaned but doubted the same was true of your shoes.”
    “Yeah, I didn’t bother to bring them into the building.” He scrunched up his nose, remembering the stench as he tossed them into the Dumpster behind their apartment complex. “I do appreciate her offer. Still, it’s not necessary.”
    He glanced around the open-floor layout of the apartment. If boxes didn’t line every wall, April’s place would be very similar to his floor plan, with an eat-in kitchen sharing space with a living room. Except where he had watercolors by local artists on his walls, she had photographs. One in particular caught his eye.
    Setting down the mug, he crossed from the kitchen to the living room to stare at the framed picture of Ernie, April, and a teenaged girl with a familiar face. The three people sat on a sand dune in matching outfits of white shirts, blue jeans, and sandals. Even their smiles were identical. Bright and wide. As if they’d just shared in a great joke.
    “Is this new?” It couldn’t be. Ernie looked about ten years younger in the portrait.
    “Kind of. Ernie hung it there about a week ago.” April waddled up beside him and stared up at it. “Juliana took the picture when she was seventeen. We were on vacation and she set up the camera on a tripod and made us pose. The original picture was ruined when Mrs. Himmel’s cat used my picture box as a litter box last year.”
    Seth winced. He remembered that cat clawing through more than one screen on a hot day last summer. And all the neighbors who fell victim to Mrs. Himmel’s senile cat had something ruined. Including him. Except the cat only destroyed his screen, which was why he didn’t have one in his window two nights earlier.
    “So where did this one come from?” he asked, gesturing to the large