12. Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Scott
“ H e declined.”
“You have got to be shitting me.”
“I kid you not. He does not want to sell.”
I swore into the silence of my car. I had been on my way to pick up Morrie for our Wednesday date, but the call from my realtor, Lindsey, had come through while I was sitting in the garage. I was running slightly behind when it came to picking up Morrie, but I couldn’t let it go to voicemail.
“What does he even want them for?” I sighed, leaning back against the seat. I started the vehicle and the call popped over from my cell phone to the bluetooth connection.
“I’m not sure. I think he wants more money.”
“Well, he’s not getting any more. At least not out of me.” It was disappointing, but what I had offered had been what I’d been willing to pay for his crumbling buildings. Though my heart went out to the tenants, I wasn’t willing to budge.
“I informed his real estate agent of the same and he hinted that he recognized that turning your offer down was a mistake,” Lindsey responded. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out, but maybe it’s for the best. Were you interested in other properties within the neighborhood?”
“Not at the moment, no. I’ll just fix up the three I have for the time being, and see where I end up with them. Thank you for your help, Linds. I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome. If there is anything else, please reach out.”
I ended the call with a goodbye and a Merry Christmas, then sat back in my seat, resting my head against the head rest behind me. Disappointment rattled inside me though it was sharper and tasted more bitter than any other declined offer had felt before. It wasn’t like I hadn’t been told no before, but this one stung a bit harder when I considered the good people that lived in those shady buildings. The mothers and children, single fathers with their little ones, whole families and people like Morrie.
Morrie, himself.
“Fuck,” I muttered on a sigh.
Oh well. The call with the realtor wasn’t how I wanted to start this day, but I still had things to look forward to and I needed to push everything else to the side so I could enjoy my time with Morrie. He had no idea what he was in for, but I was determined to blow his mind a little bit. I had found an ad online for a Christmas market set up from today until after the weekend and it had looked like the perfect date. The ad had boasted handmade items and home baked goods along with free hot cocoa and Christmas displays. It would be the perfect place to add to my Christmas promise to him and would also work well even if he told me “blitzen” when I arrived at his apartment.
Turning up the radio in my car, I pulled out of the driveway and headed out of my quiet, serene neighborhood, making my way through the city streets towards the tiny, old blocks that Morrie called home.
“I’ve got some news,” I said as I drove us away from the city, heading for the outskirts where the Christmas market was held.
“Oh?”
“I heard from my realtor and your landlord isn’t willing to sell the apartment building to me.”
Morrie went silent and when I glanced over he was frowning hard. “Did he say why?”
“He wants more money,” I offered with a shrug. “More than I’m willing to pay. I’m sorry, Morrie. My offer was more than reasonable, but he’s unwilling to take it.”
He sighed, still frowning. “I should have guessed. He only cares about money, not the people that live there. He’s not like you.”
I nodded, bolstered by the fact that he could see that I cared, but saddened still at the idea that I couldn’t fix the place up and make it a nice home for everyone who lived there. I was about to say something else, but a gasp met my ears from the passenger seat.
“Oh my God, is that where you’re taking me?” Morrie murmured as he stared out of the window of my car.
Ahead, the Christmas market shone, snow gently falling from the sky through the sunshine that lit everything up in a brilliant white. This was one of the parts I loved about Alberta, the sunshine combined with snow fall set a stunning picture across the prairie lands that surrounded us.
“Does this look alright to you?” I asked, thought I knew the answer. Morrie had been as slow and careful as he had always been when he’d climbed into my car, but once I’d told him where we were going, I could feel the anticipation coming off of him in waves. It wasn’t a blitzen day so far, but I had reminded him that he had words he could use if where I wanted to take him felt like too much. To my delight, he had given me a small eye roll in response, followed by the tiniest of smiles.
“This place is something else,” he responded as I pulled into the makeshift parking lot that held only a small number of vehicles. I had figured that a Wednesday afternoon wouldn’t be busy and was pleased to see that I was right.
“Apparently, they do summer markets here as well,” I said as we got out of the vehicle. “But this one seemed like something for our Christmas together.”
“Definitely.”
As we walked, I took stock of what we were both seeing. Ahead, there was a small barn shaped building that people were milling about, but the outside walkway leading up to it held small covered stalls as well, the snow dusting the tops of them lightly as it fell slowly from the sky. Pine garland linked the tops of the outdoor market stalls together with white lights strung between the green branches, and a huge Christmas tree sat beside the barn, lit up with more lights than I could ever imagine. Morrie turned and offered me a small smile as he took in the view. “This is amazing. Where do we even start?”
“How about we shop a bit? I have to pick up some gifts still.” Gifts for him, but I had the feeling if I said that out loud, he’d shrink back into himself and refuse whatever I found for him. I was being a bit sneaky with my plans for the day, but I planned on seeing what caught his eye while we looked around. I knew he loved the ocean and the Grinch, but other than that, I really didn’t know what made Morrie tick just yet.
“Sounds good to me.” Though his words were agreement, he seemed unwilling to move, instead dithering on his feet as he looked at the stalls around us like he was growing overwhelmed with it all. To take matters off his hands, I took a step towards a stall boasting brightly colored wood carved Christmas ornaments.
“Check these out,” I said, gesturing for him to follow.
“Oh, these are neat.” Morrie’s eyes went wide as he scanned the table and the girl behind the stall offered us both a friendly smile.
“These are all hand carved by myself and my partner,” she commented, waving her hand over the goods in an arc. “We also do custom work so if there’s anything you don’t see here that you think you’d like, let me know. We can usually come up with something if you have an idea.”
“Thank you,” I responded, accepting another friendly smile as the woman moved away to speak with another potential buyer. I turned to Morrie, watching as he reached out for one that caught his eye. He plucked a little wooden dinosaur strung on a piece of twine off the table and smiled at it.
“Perry would love this,” he commented, turning it over in his hands to see the price tag. “And I can afford it!”
“Money is no issue today, Morrie,” I said, leaning in so he could hear me. I wanted him to know that I was willing to spend whatever money needed to get him whatever he wanted, but I wasn’t sure about dropping that information out loud for all to hear. Pushy sellers could be lurking around any corner.
“But this would be for my friend,” he responded, giving me a strange look. “Why would you pay for a present for my friend?”
“That’s a fair question. How about you buy for your friends and let me buy whatever you want for you?”
He slowly nodded, offering a smile. “I’m not expensive, I promise.”
“Well, that’s alright, but I would like you to pick out some treats for yourself while we’re here.” And the other things he hesitated over but refused to buy today would find their way to him in the form of presents on Christmas morning, if I could distract him long enough to make secret purchases when he wasn’t looking.
“Deal.”
The woman returned and Morrie bought the dinosaur for Perry, sliding over a crisp ten dollar bill and accepting the small bag in return.
“He’s going to love it,” Morrie repeated as we wandered through the stalls, peering over what was available.
I smiled, nodding, though I was more interested in what Morrie wanted for himself. Nothing seemed to be catching his eye out here though, so I gestured to the barn. Overhead, the snow was starting to pick up and I could see Morrie’s poor hands growing redder by the minute. Apparently, he’d forgotten his lotion again today. The boy needed some nice thick gloves and I added those, plus a scarf, to the “Presents for Morrie” Christmas shopping list in my mind.
“Oh wow,” Morrie breathed as we walked through the door in the side of the barn shaped building.
The space was decorated for Christmas from the bows that hung on the rafters to the twinkling fairy lights that wound their way around the wooden walls. Rows of stalls lined the rustic hardwood floor and there was a man dressed as Santa Claus wandering around, handing candy canes to the small number of children that were present. The air was filled with the scent of fresh pine and sugar cookies, and I watched as Morrie tilted his head back, closed his eyes and inhaled.
“It smells amazing in here, huh?”
“Like Christmas,” he responded, opening his eyes and meeting mine with a smile that curled his lips the tiniest bit.
As we moved through the stalls, I took note of what seemed to catch Morrie’s eye. There were only a few things that made him stop and linger, but a crocheted blanket hanging on a rack seemed to catch the most of his attention. The pastel blues and greens combined with a soft, tangerine orange made up much of the blanket, interspersed with bits of creamy white here and there throughout the whole thing. It was much smaller than the rest of the blankets on display, clearly meant for a little child to snuggle with in their toddler bed or crib.
Or a little who needed comfort and craved the softness of the wool.
“Do you want it?” I asked, leaning in to Morrie.
“I had a blanket like it once,” he murmured back. “My dad gave it to me, I think, when I was just a baby. It got lost somewhere.”
That wasn’t necessarily a no, but it wasn’t a yes. His words hit me in a place inside that ached for whatever he’d gone through as a child. While he hadn’t told me what it had been like, the pieces I was putting together added up to sadness and loneliness. I reached over and picked the blanket up off the hanger and held it out to Morrie, watching him reach for it with wide eyes. He held the blanket in his hands, staring at it for a few moments before turning his head up to me. “It’s expensive.”
“Do you want the blanket?”
“I don’t want to be greedy.”
I glanced at the price tag and saw that while it was more expensive than buying a mass made one in a department store, the cost wasn’t anything I wouldn’t be willing to pay. “Be greedy.”
A snort of a laugh left Morrie’s lips. “What?”
“Be greedy, Morrie. Spend my money. It’s Christmas.”
I thought for a brief moment that he was going to put it back on the hanger and tell me no, but his chin dipped in a quick nod. “Okay. But, can it stay at your house?”
“It can.”
“Just until after Christmas. With Blitzen.”
I leaned in so that only he could hear me. “My brave boy, it can stay at my house as long as you’d like it to be there.”
“Thank you, Daddy,” he whispered back and my heart leaped a little bit at the way that word sounded in his rumbly tone when I hadn’t expected it.
If he’d been any other boy, I would have hugged him right then and there, but instead I offered my hand and he smiled, linking our pinkies together for a brief moment before moving away again.
“Find what you were looking for?” a voice said, pulling my concentration off of Morrie and drawing it over to the woman behind the stall.
“Definitely,” I responded, with a smile as I placed Morrie’s blanket on the counter.
Like it was an unspoken agreement, once the blanket was paid for we both headed for the car. Morrie kept sneaking glances at me out of the corner of his eye as I drove us back into the city. Every time I turned my head to catch him though, he snapped his eyes back to the front of the car.
“You keep looking at me,” I offered, feeling his eyes on me again.
“Sorry.”
“It’s alright, but I’m just wondering if there’s something on your mind?”
He didn’t respond, but I still felt him looking at me like he had something he wanted. Finally, he cleared his throat and I heard a small thunk from my right. Glancing down, I saw that his hand was on the centre console, palm up. Heart racing, I moved my hand from the steering wheel, carefully placing my hand on top of his, feeling his skin beneath my touch as his fingers shook a little bit. I enclosed his hand in mine, wrapping my hand tightly around his offered palm, listening to a long exhale of nervous breath from the seat beside me.
I wanted to crow from the rooftops at this moment of success, but I played it cool, trying to tamp down my excitement. It was silly really to be overjoyed by something as simple as holding hands, but I knew that it was deeper than that for him. The way his hand trembled slightly in mine told me how hard something that seemed to simple was for him. I wished I could unlock all of the secrets he kept inside his head, the reasons touch appeared to be what he both wanted and shied away from.
For this moment, I pushed all of that aside and lingered in the moment of holding his hand on the car ride home.