Chapter Four
“ElasticHeart”—WrittenByWolves
P ushing that text from Dalton out of my head, I chewed on my lip as I thought about what to say. As if he could sense my turmoil, Anson stopped watching his show.
“Did that man in the store say anything to you?” I finally asked and he returned his attention to the blue dog on the TV.
“My dad,” he stated as his attention was zeroed in on the cartoon dog on the screen.
I gasped. My chest caved and my mouth opened to speak, but nothing came out. After I coughed, I sputtered, “Did he tell you that?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know that?”
“I see him.”
“What?” By that time, I was so confused and a little concerned. Had Dalton been stalking us? Then I remembered the shock on his face. No, he had no idea. “Where do you see him?”
“Here,” he replied as he pointed a finger at his closed eye—as if that was nothing more than him saying he wanted soup for dinner.
I walked over and sat next to him on the couch. “What do you mean, Anson?” I asked him as I brushed his soft blond hair back off his forehead. Goosebumps skated over my skin.
As if he was a little old man, he took the remote and shut the TV off. Then, he turned to face me as he rested one hand over the other. In the most matter of fact little voice, he said, “I see him like I haff a tee-fee in my eyes.”
“What?” I whispered. A TV in his eyes?
He cocked his head to the side, but he didn’t answer me. Instead, he asked, “What’s his name? I ask him, but he no tell me.”
After swallowing hard, I softly murmured, “Dalton, his name is Dalton.”
“Hmm, I like dat,” he announced, then turned the TV back on. I’d been dismissed. This kid.
What the fuck is going on? Needing to go back to work, I reluctantly got up and kissed his head. “I love you, Anson.”
“Luff you too,” he replied with a smile.
As I opened the door, he said something that stopped me in my tracks. “Time for us to be a family.”
A cold chill crept down my spine at the way his voice sounded. Way too old for his age and almost eerie. Pinching my nose, I shook it off and went back to the counter. Corky was putting the last of the decorations on the big tree in the front window. I loved Christmas so much. Maybe not as much as Valentine’s Day, but it was a close second. As a hopeless romantic, despite my lack of successful relationships, I think it was the feeling of love in the air, the candy, the colors, the flowers—all of it.
As I signed back into the register, three men entered the store. They all had suits on and two had trench coats. They didn’t look at all like they would be shopping in our store.
The one with the darkest hair approached me, while one entered an aisle and the other stood back a bit.
“I’m here to see Mrs. Buchanan,” he announced before I could ask what I could help him with.
“She’s not here. Is there something I can help you with?” I offered.
“No. This has nothing to do with you. Please give her this.” When he slid his hand into his jacket my heart kicked into gear and I have to admit, I was scared. My overactive imagination was waiting for him to pull a gun on me. Instead, he pulled out a legal-sized envelope and set it on the counter in front of me.
The office door opened and inwardly I cursed. Especially when I saw the way he studied Anson as he came up the hallway. “Go back in the office. I’ll be right there.”
“But Mommy, I have to pee.”
Shit .
“Okay, you can go, then go back to the office.”
“Okay, Mommy.” He padded back down the little hallway and into the staff bathroom.
When I returned my attention to the man, the calculating gleam in his eyes had the hairs standing up on the back of my neck. Then his attention returned to me. “Have a good day, Miss Buchanan.”
He turned on his heel and they all left like a little row of ants.
How the hell did he know who I was?
My gaze fell to the plain white envelope. It was fairly thick, implying there were several sheets of paper in it. When I picked it up, I could feel the quality of the paper. “What the hell?”
Mom had let it slip about two months back that she was having some health issues and that she was being harassed at the store. But she wouldn’t elaborate. That was when I started planning my move home.
I wondered if those were the guys that had been bothering my mom. I’d expected gang members or something—not three men in expensive suits that practically screamed mob. Unsure what was in the envelope, I placed it in the register drawer.
After that, I was distracted. There had been so many insane incidents this morning, I was having a hard time focusing. The day wore on and my mom hadn’t returned. I was glad she was taking some time for herself like I suggested. For lunch I ordered pizza for Anson, Ralph, Corky and myself.
When Holly got home from work, she stopped by and brought Anson upstairs to hang out with her and Daniel.
About an hour before closing, my mom came in and she looked worried.
“Is everything okay?” I immediately asked her, and her expression switched to her usual happy self.
“Of course,” she replied as she set her purse next to the register.
“Then why did you look worried?”
She heaved a sigh and the lines between her eyes deepened. “I didn’t want to tell you until I knew more.”
“Knew more about what, Mom?” Alarm bells were ringing in my head.
“At my last mammogram they discovered a few masses. I had to have a biopsy. Today I went in for the results. I should’ve known it was bad when he wouldn’t discuss it over the phone.” She bit her lip and thrummed her fingers on the counter.
“And?” I definitely didn’t get a good feeling about this.
“It’s malignant,” she softly murmured, and the floor fell out from under my feet.
I tried to get a grip. I was a nurse. I dealt with shit like this all the time. Yet, this was different. This was my mom. She was my rock—my everything . It had almost killed me to move away from her.
“When are they removing it?”
“I have a pre-op appointment next week. He said he wants to be aggressive with this, so he referred me to a surgeon. He told me they will look at the surgical schedule and we’ll decide then.” She gave me a reassuring smile. “It will be okay.”
I wasn’t sure if it was me she was trying to convince or if it was herself. That envelope and the visit could wait. She didn’t need any more stress right now.
“Uncle Bowie needs to know.”
For a moment, she looked like she wanted to cry. “I know.”
“Hey, it’s almost closing time. Why don’t we go upstairs and decorate the tree? Ralph can handle closing. There’s no one here right now anyway,” I suggested.
“I think that sounds wonderful,” my mom said with a sniffle she tried to hide.
Ralph was restocking and straightening the shelves. He looked up when I approached. After I explained Mom was tired and we were going upstairs, he shooed me away. “You two go up and visit with that sweet boy. I absolutely have things covered.”
I kissed his weathered brown cheek. “You’re the best.”
He scratched his salt-and-pepper beard as he ducked his head. “Aww, Miss Ryian, you know you and your momma are like my family. Besides, I’m just doin’ my job. Have a good night and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Ralph had been working at the store since he retired from the Army—back when I was around six or seven. He lived in the same small two-bedroom house sandwiched between a couple of bigger homes. It was up past Burgundy Street, and he’d bought it after he returned to the area. He’d been like another uncle to me and between him and my Uncle Bowie they’d been my male role-models.
He had been in the Army with my dad. They’d been deployed together when my dad was killed in action. The sad part was that they were both on the verge of retiring. Mom said Ralph had promised my dad that he’d look after us if anything happened to him. He’d stood by his word. It was my cousin on my dad’s side that I’d gone to Chicago to stay with.
“See you tomorrow, Ralph.”
I went back to the office to grab my stuff and Anson’s bag. When I came back out, I saw Ralph give my mom a hug. He looked like he had tears in his eyes. I was glad she told him.
Over the years, I’d always wished my mom and Ralph would’ve gotten together. But it seemed they were just friends and that worked for them.
Ralph kissed the top of Mom’s head and they separated. “We’ll talk more tomorrow,” I heard him say to her.
Then Mom and I took the stairs up to the third floor. We stopped by to get Anson from Holly’s then went next door to Mom’s place. At first, Anson was upset he couldn’t stay with Daniel, but he quickly got over it when we pulled the decorations out.
Mom put the beans on and we all ate. She promised Jambalaya this weekend. I could not wait. I hadn’t had really delicious Jambalaya since leaving Louisiana. Once everything was cleaned up, we got to work unboxing everything.
She had little twinkling lights that ran the length of the balcony year-round, but we set up her actual outdoor Christmas decorations. Then we moved on to the inside.
I’d always loved that Mom set the Christmas tree up in front of the double doors in the living room. It was visible from the street, and I thought it was the most beautiful sight. By the time we were done, the house looked like a winter wonderland and Anson’s eyes were heavy.
“I’m going to take Anson and put him to bed. Why don’t you take your bike for a spin?” Mom offered.
“I can put him to bed. You go rest,” I insisted.
“Girl, if you don’t get your butt out of here,” she warned with a smile.
“Okay, okay,” I laughed as I held up my hands. I gave my son kisses and hugs, then passed him back off to Mom.
Then I went back downstairs and took off into the early evening streets.
The moment the Southern Louisiana wind whipped past me, it was like I was finally, truly home.