“All right, Billy,” Frank said, setting his bag down on the counter for a moment. “That’s it for today.”
Billy looked up from where he was pretending to rearrange the greeting cards yet again and nodded quickly. “Thanks, Mr. Richards,” he said, hastily putting the last card back into place and stepping over toward the door, eager to get home. “See you tomorrow.”
“Remember to tell your mother what I said about her tomatoes,” Frank said.
“Got it,” Billy said, ducking his head as he left the store. The bell above the doorway jingled his departure, leaving Frank alone, the “Closed” sign settling against the glass.
Frank glanced around one last time, checking everything was in place. He nodded to himself, more of a reassurance than anything. As a business owner, he always felt that there was something more he had to be doing. It was hard to let go of the urge to work and head home. But his family would be waiting, and that was reason enough to give up for the day.
He flicked off all of the lights at the panel near the counter, then easily navigated the dark shelves toward the door. After all, he’d been the one to decide where they stood, and the one to restock them every day for over twenty years. It wasn’t as though his feet were going to forget the way.
Frank locked up, checked the door twice as he always did, and squared his shoulders for the short walk home. The cold February evening was pitch dark already, but there were streetlights all along the way, and home wasn’t far. Ten minutes, and he could get in and warm his hands over the stove while his wife cooked dinner, and put the endless thoughts of stock figures, profit and loss, and marketing efforts out of his mind for another night.
Frank strolled with his hands in his pockets, taking his time. Even with as eager as he was to get home, it wasn’t a long walk, and he didn’t see the point in rushing. He’d only end up out of breath and waking up that ache in his knees that came up sometimes in the cold weather now. He was getting older. No need to get himself stressed out any more than he needed to be. Besides which, it was pleasant to stroll down Salem’s cobbled streets, past grand and historic brick buildings, even in the dark.
Frank passed by businesses that made a living from the town’s rich past: the museum of the Witch Trials, a store that specialized in “healing” home goods, an antiques store. Familiar sights that he had grown up with, since he was born in the north of the town, a Salem man through and through. Spindly trees, with bare branches still reaching like claws to the sky, grew between him and the road, keeping him safe from oncoming traffic, until he turned off the main thoroughfare and down a quieter side street.
A sound somewhere to his left made Frank start, casting his eyes to the side. He couldn’t see a thing. Walking through the circle of illumination splashing from one of the streetlights, it was almost impossible to discern anything that fell outside of the light. His eyes couldn’t adjust to the contrast.
Frank shrugged to himself, continuing on. It was nothing. Kids messing around, probably. They were likely staying quiet now so he wouldn’t spot them. Frank knew the people of this town thanks to his long years of serving them all in the store, and the people of this town knew him. He had nothing to be afraid of here. But he could well understand why a bunch of kids out past their curfew might not want him to report seeing them next time he served their parents.
Frank attempted a whistle to himself, but it died on the cold air, seeming to cut away into nothing. It didn’t float away gently and leave him feeling cheerful like on those warm summer nights—no, the cold seemed to kill it right out of the air, making it feel more like a lonely evening. He fell quiet, concentrating only on his own footsteps.
What would be for dinner? he wondered. It was Friday, so he guessed probably some form of pasta. His wife had fallen into routines just as much as Frank had over the years, and he could usually set a watch by her cuisine choices. He wondered today whether it would be lasagna or spaghetti.