Page 1 of Starting Anew

Chapter One

Lynn Crosby sat up in bed, unsure of what actually woke her up. Her heart pounded as she held her breath. A scratching sound floated to her from somewhere inside the small house she rented. Immediately, the blood rushing in her ears competed with her ability to tell which direction the scratching came from.

No, not again.

She pictured someone using a crowbar to pry open the door. Or maybe a window. Sure, they were locked: Lynn made sure of that before she went to bed every night. But would that stop someone with the right tool and enough determination? She knew from experience that it wouldn’t.

More scratching noises. She should’ve known her past would catch up to her eventually.

Well, she couldn’t very well just sit, frozen, in her bed while she waited for the inevitable.

She’d slept with a baseball bat by her bed for more than two years. Then she started to relax again, and consciously put it away as a sign of moving on, and now she couldn’t remember where. Not the smartest move she’d ever made. If she couldn’t find the bat in the morning, she’d buy a new one. Lynn gathered her strength, and her cell phone, and crept out of her bedroom. She paused in the hallway again. Moments later, more scratching told her it was coming from the back door.

Once in the kitchen, she flipped the light on. With any luck, an intruder would see that and run for the hills. The scratching continued.

Fabulous. If turning the light on didn’t scare the intruder away, then not much was going to deter him.

Lynn’s mouth went dry as her gaze landed on the large marble rolling pin her friend Sharon had given her as a joke last Christmas. Lynn didn’t bake. At all. But she’d kept the fancy rolling pin on the kitchen counter because it looked nice.

She lifted it, thankful for the weight in her hand. Yes, this was sure to knock someone out.

“Okay, God,” she whispered as she made her way to the back door. “Help me out here. I really don’t want to die in my pajamas.”

She put a hand on the door knob before speaking loudly. “I’ve got a weapon, and I will use it. Step away from the door.”

Silence. These were the times when Lynn wished she were married. Having a strong, protective man in the house would be great right about now. Then maybe he’d be wielding something a little more effective than a rolling pin as he stood between her and the intruder at the door…

Lynn pulled one slat of the mini blinds up and glanced outside as she turned the porch light on. Nothing. The scratching had ceased. Maybe the sheer ferocity in her voice had scared the intruder away.

She’d just released a lungful of air and turned away when a long scratch against the door made her jump a foot. She nearly dropped the rolling pin, an act that surely would’ve broken her foot or cracked the tile below.

“Meeeeeooooowwww.”

The soulful wail of a cat simultaneously flooded Lynn’s system with relief and annoyance. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

With the rolling pin still in one hand, she opened the back door to find a Siamese kitten staring up at her with bright blue eyes. “Meow.”

And then, as if the cat had lived in Lynn’s house all its life, it walked right through the door and into the kitchen with a swish of its tail.

“Well come right in, your highness.” Lynn made sure to lock the back door again before turning to find the kitten sitting on her kitchen counter. “You know, I just about used this thing for the first time tonight.” She shook the rolling pin for emphasis before placing it in the wooden cradle where it belonged. Lynn glanced at the clock on the microwave. Two-thirty on Friday morning. She sighed. “Visiting hours don’t start until seven.”

As soon as Lynn came within an arm’s length of the cat, its little purr-box started up. Lynn had always been a sucker for a purring cat. She ran a hand over the soft fur as her heart melted. She picked up the kitten and turned it over on its back to see whether it was a boy or a girl.

“I really should toss you back outside, mister.” Lynn stifled a yawn. “But I don’t need you scratching at my back door again.”

She set him on the floor and turned lights off on the way back to her bedroom. The cat bounded past her and onto the bed where he sat expectantly. “Fine, just for tonight. Please don’t have fleas. Or pee on my bed.”

Lynn set her alarm for an hour earlier than usual before climbing beneath the covers. The kitten curled up next to her. The last thing Lynn registered before she fell asleep again was how having that warm little body lying next to her made her feel more relaxed than she had in a long time.

~*~

Lynn tried to blink the sleep from her eyes later that morning as she popped the last bite of muffin into her mouth and grabbed her bag. The kitten meowed at her, as though asking to come along.

“Nope, you get to hold down the fort. I’ll be back later.” Lynn reached down and scratched the cat behind his ears.

On her way through the living room to the front door, she paused and let a hand rest on the electronic keyboard tucked against one wall. A thin layer of dust covered the surface triggering a twinge of regret. There was a time when she wouldn’t have dreamed of neglecting it like this. It’d been way too long since she’d run a cloth over the instrument, and even longer since she’d played it.

A part of her needed to sit and let her fingers dance over the keys as the world melted away. At least, that’s the way her music used to affect her. Now, just thinking about it made dread pool in the pit of her stomach. Both sides of her warred so strongly against each other, that it was easier for Lynn to push the whole idea from her mind.

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