Neighborhood Watch Read Free Page B

sank with every step, making her appear to wobble. Teddy
    thought the ceilings were rather high for a home in the Northeast, where people were more concerned about the cost of heating, but he had to admit he loved the sense of space and openness in this house.
    “It’s beautiful,” Kristin said. “Isn’t it, Jennifer?”
    “Uh-huh,” the five-year-old said and gaped with interest at everything around her.
    “Looks like it’s never been used,” Teddy added. Michele winked and tilted her head
    toward Elaine Feinberg. She had still not turned their way.
    “Elaine, dear,” Michele finally said. “The Morrises are here to see the house.”
    Teddy and Kristin watched curiously as the thirty-year-old brunette turned slowly toward them. Jennifer instinctively drew closer to her father. From this angle they could see that Elaine Feinberg was easily in her last trimester of pregnancy and she was the sort who carried well. There was no puffiness in her face. She wasn’t an unattractive woman, but she looked like someone who had been up for days: her eyelids drooped, her lower lip hung listlessly, and the very flesh in her cheeks seemed to sag. She didn’t smile. She simply nodded and reached for the cigarette burning in the ashtray. Teddy noted how her hand trembled. Was this a case of someone being terminally ill? Was that the reason for the possible low buying price?
    “Would it be all right for me to take them through?” Michele asked softly.
    “You know it is,” Elaine Feinberg said curtly and shifted her gaze away quickly. Why wasn’t she interested in being introduced to them? he wondered. Even more so, why
    didn’t Michele think of doing that?
    Kristin, never the shy one, moved forward anyway.
    “How many months are you?” she asked.
    “I’m ending my seventh,” Elaine Feinberg said.
    “I’m in my fourth,” Kristin replied smiling. She anticipated more conversation, but Elaine Feinberg simply turned to direct her gaze out the French doors again.
    Teddy knew his wife, knew it was on the tip of her tongue to ask Elaine Feinberg why she was smoking while she was pregnant. Kristin’s second pregnancy had ended in a
    miscarriage. She had been in a depression for a long period following the miscarriage, which was another reason for the move and their new start.
    This time Kristin was having a good pregnancy; it made her even more radiant, and the potential of a new home only sharpened and intensified the brightness in her eyes and the flush in her cheeks.
    But her directness had gotten her into trouble before and he anticipated her cross-
    examination of Mrs. Feinberg. He cleared his throat.
    “We really should be moving along,” he said quickly.
    “Right this way,” Michele indicated and took them into the kitchen. Elaine Feinberg continued to sit and stare, smoking very sluggishly, her cheeks collapsing as she drew in the smoke. It was as if she were condemned to move in slow motion, all her movements heavy and full of effort. Jennifer looked back at her with curiosity, the questions titillating her, but Teddy pulled her along before she could start.
    “Oh, Teddy, look at this kitchen,” Kristin said spinning around like a child in a candy store. She didn’t know which appliance to check out first—the Sub-Zero refrigerator and freezer, the digital microwave oven, the double ovens, the built-in Mixmaster, the
    computerized dishwasher. “Do all these houses come with garbage compactors?” she
    asked.
    “Yes,” Michele said. “And the Genaire ranges. Mr. Slater, the developer, insisted that there be no corners cut in his homes. You pay for quality and you get it. Besides, every electrical appliance in this house comes with a built-in ten-year service contract, renewable after ten years. There are no homeowner headaches at Emerald Lakes,” she
    said.
    “How old is this house?” Teddy asked. The fireplace and the kitchen appliances looked barely used.
    “Less than a year,” Michele said,