Echoes
 

After dinner Travis took Toni and Tee over to her house to have a look around. She hadn’t been there since the charity truck came and took everything and the cleaners had been in. She walked inside and ran her hand over the banister, it was dusty.

“It needs to be cleaned again,” she said and walked through to the lounge, the room was empty and her footsteps echoed on the hardwood floor.

Travis stood in the foyer watching her and Tee was out back somewhere running around. Toni turned back to him.

“Still hurts don’t it?”

“A little, yes it does. I ran into Richie today outside of Nonnie’s shop. It was okay you know we could actually speak to one another.”

“Well living here you’re going to run into him from time to time. I’m glad you can at least be civil to one another.”

“Yeah, he says he doesn’t want to hit you anymore.”

“That’s good to know.” Travis walked across the foyer where her study used to be. She’d had all the woodwork painted white and he thought that had been a mistake but he didn’t say so. Down the hall there was the dining room with a bath across from it and then into the kitchen, Richie’s old den off to the left of that. To Travis it was an empty house but he knew it was something else to Toni.

Toni came into the kitchen and checked the fridge to make sure it was turned off. “I guess it looks okay, the cleaners did a good job but it needs it again. I’ll get somebody out here.” She walked over to the back door and looked out. The patio table and chairs were left out there and she walked out.

“Toni is this a weed?” Tee was in the garden.

“Don’t you pull up nothing Tee,” Travis called out to him.

“No honey that’s not a weed. You know Travis I think I’ll send the people out here that do the grounds at Glenridge, they could put this place right in a day.”

Travis smiled she was learning, “That’s a good idea honey there’s no reason for you to come over here and work.

“No, no reason at all.” She dusted off her hands and went back inside.

Travis found her at the bottom of the stairs, “have you seen it?”

“Yeah…so empty but filled with echoes of a life that was lived here…for awhile.”

“Soon it will be filled with another life and those echoes will be gone forever. Let’s round up Tee and head home.”

“That sounds good Travis…going home.” She smiled up at him and took his hand as they locked up the empty house.