No Way Out by Fern Michaels (great books for teens .TXT) 📗

she called to Buddy and Percy. Buddy needed no invitation. Percy yawned, stretched, and slowly moved his way to the floor. Buddy was hot on Ellie’s heels as Percy meandered down the steps.

Ellie put the note in her daily envelope to Hector and put it on the table next to the kitchen door, in the enclosed porch. She smiled at what she thought Hector’s reaction would be.

Looking at the kitchen clock, she noticed that Jackson hadn’t shown up yet. It was almost 4:00. She hoped she hadn’t hurt his feelings again. She didn’t know how she could have, but she hadn’t known the first time either. Not until she noticed his absence. She decided to give Colleen a call. Maybe she would be the next person to invite into her house. Easy girl. One visitor at a time.

Ellie searched for the phone she had designated for Colleen and Jackson and remembered it was on her desk. She had put a “C & J” on theirs and a “K” for Kara’s. She ran back upstairs and glanced through the windows that overlooked the front. She noticed Jackson skipping toward her house. It appeared he was coming from Jeanne and Frank’s. Another pang of loneliness hit her. She would get through it. Baby steps.

The bell from the side gate rang. Instead of just letting him in, she spoke into the intercom from her loft. “Hey, Jackson. I was getting worried.” Ellie laughed lightly.

“Sorry, Miss Bowman. I went over to say hello to Mr. and Mrs. Chadwick. They just got back from Arizona. He brought me an Indian arrowhead. It’s the real deal.” He proudly held it up, assuming she could see it from somewhere. He didn’t realize that there were cameras surrounding the place. She was just a voice coming out of a box.

“Very cool,” Ellie answered.

“It’s going to be my good-luck charm,” Jackson said with certainty, and slipped it into his pocket.

“Excellent. Take good care of it,” Ellie said, then buzzed him in.

Buddy was already anticipating playtime. As soon as he heard the ding from the gate, he scampered downstairs, leaving Ellie behind. “I am beginning to think you like Jackson better than you like me,” she yelled after him. Ellie put the phone in her pocket and started toward the steps. Percy was at the bottom of the steps, meowing. “And you. You’re so aloof sometimes.” Percy stretched and rolled over and exposed his belly. That was the signal that he wanted to be rubbed. Ellie descended the stairs, talking to Percy all the while. “You guys are so spoiled.” Percy let out a coo of approval as Ellie accommodated his request. “Come on. We need to figure out what we’re having for dinner.”

“Dinner” was a word Percy understood. He immediately sprang from his supine position and followed Ellie into the kitchen. Ellie had a good view of the yard. She didn’t mind if Jackson could see her, although he was too distracted tossing the ball to notice her. As long as she didn’t have to go past the threshold, she felt safe.

Ellie opened a can of food for Percy and put it on the counter. She snickered, knowing most people would be appalled that she fed her cat on the kitchen counter. Too bad. This was her house and her cat. She knew it would be another hour before Jackson and Buddy were finished running around the yard, so she decided to wait before she put out Buddy’s food. No countertops for him. She chuckled, trying to imagine her big dog on the counter. Ellie looked out the window, watching the boy and the dog chase each other. She knew that Hector was always on top of his job of cleaning the yard. She didn’t want Jackson going home with poop on his shoes or his pants. There were times when Jackson would roll around in the grass with the big pooch. Ellie was surprised that Colleen didn’t have a fit when Jackson would return home with grass stains and dirt all over him. But the kid was happy. That was all that mattered.

Ellie grabbed the remote for the TV, which was sitting in a corner of the countertop. She clicked on the local news. Nothing earth-shattering. At least not in her small area of the world. North Korea was still looking ominous. The UK was still struggling with the fallout from Brexit, and the world was recovering financially from the pandemic. It had been a difficult time for everyone, but things were starting to come into balance again. Maybe it was time for her to find it for herself.

Ellie checked the refrigerator to figure out what she was going to fix for herself. Time to make a grocery list. She grabbed the last package of chicken breasts and stared blankly. How many things can you make with chicken? She decided on chicken Milanese. She had made it many times, but it was always satisfying. Even the prep work was therapeutic. She mixed the breadcrumbs with parmesan cheese, oregano, parsley, basil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. She cracked a couple of eggs and beat them in a bowl. Ellie poured extra virgin olive oil into the frying pan and heated it up. After she washed the chicken and patted it dry, she pounded it with a meat mallet. First, she dipped it in the eggs and coated the chicken with the flavored breadcrumbs and placed it in the hot oil. After several minutes, she turned the cutlets. While they were cooking, she pulled out a bag of mixed greens: arugula, radicchio, and endive. She then cut an orange and squeezed some juice into the large, stainless-steel salad bowl, then a little more olive oil.

She’d wait until the last minute to toss in the greens, which she would then place on top of the chicken cutlets.

Ellie was so engrossed in her meal preparations that she jumped when Jackson hit the bell to be let out. She walked over to the