Murder She Wrote (Book 2)

12. The Service

Veronica's POV:

The silence that was brewing in the house was driving me crazy. Ryan has been giving me the cold shoulder ever since his loud outburst from yesterday. He didn't even bother to speak or look at me all day. I've tried my best to ask why he was acting this way but he always threw the same words at me. I need space.

I only have two assumptions on why he's been ignoring me. One, it could be because of the lack of sympathy I failed to show when he told me the news about Dr. Lanchester's death. If it was for that reason, it's difficult keeping a dark secret and trying to look sad about something you've already knew about. I wish I can confess and tell him what really happened but it'll just ruin our relationship even more. My second assumption is that he probably knows something else that I don't. Whatever that something is, clearly has frustrated him. Probably stress that caught up to him or another personal issue he clearly doesn't want to discuss with me.

We even sat in silence during dinner last night. It was probably one of the worst experiences I've had living with him. It felt like sitting next to a brick wall. I don't know how else to communicate with him, so the only thing I can do is give him that space.

We received a call this morning from a close relative of Dr. Lanchester, giving us an invite to a memorial service that was taking place at Dr. Lanchester's home. I wasn't up for the idea of going but out of respect, I'd figured, the most noble thing to do was offer my condolences. The memorial service is set to start this afternoon, giving me approximately two hours to prepare a meal and dress appropriately. I've been to many memorial services in my life and each of them is worse than the other. It's a very depressing and triggering setting for me to be in. It brings back a few childhood traumas and unwanted memories from my past mistakes. I don't know how I'm going to make it through this service without having another panic attack. The last thing I want to do is draw attention to myself.

I had a casserole in the oven and a timer set. Ryan sat in the living room staring at the TV screen. He's been looking at the same program ever since he got dressed way ahead of me. He didn't even attempt to help me with the casserole. I didn't wanna pick a fight with him so I fought the urge to stay silent and respect his request of giving him space.

"Can you take the casserole out in ten minutes? The timer is on the kitchen counter," I approached him carrying Xavier in my hands.

Without any words, he continued to stare at the TV. I rolled my eyes realizing how ridiculous he was being. "Never mind," I mumbled to myself.

I went upstairs to get dressed and took Xavier with me. From my closet, I pulled out the first black dress I could find. Since it was chilly outside, I placed on a black sweater as well. I didn't know rather I should wear jewelry or not. I didn't want to look too flashy in front of everyone, so I decided to tone it down with some earrings only. My hand reached for my jewelry box that was hidden in the back.

To my surprise, the jewelry box was already cracked open. I furrowed my eyebrows, confused at how it was open because I specifically remember placing a lock on it after I placed the tranquilizer gun in there a few days ago. Unless it fell? But it couldn't have. It was buried under a pile of clothes all the way in the back of the closet. I checked to see if the tranquilizer gun was still in there. It was. In fact, everything seems to be in the same exact place that I left it. Maybe it did fall or something and Ryan must've placed it back to it's place. If he picked it up from the floor, that would mean he possibly saw the tranquilizer gun...right? Maybe that's why he's acting so strange....

I brushed off my thoughts, snapping myself back to reality. I took out some earrings to wear and pushed the jewelry box back to its place. I examined myself in the mirror. I placed my hair up into a tight bun. Afterwards, I took the time to get Xavier dressed. I also packed extra diapers and milk bottles into a bag. Since there wasn't no kids allowed at the memorial service, we would be dropping him off at Sheryl's place, Ryan's cousin.