Chapter 7 Ransom
RANSOM
Ransom stopped by the hardware store on Friday morning to pick up a few things he was planning to drop at the veteran’s center for the next day’s big events.
He felt a twinge of guilt that he wasn’t doing more to help during the event itself, but Travis and Mae were home since it was the weekend, and he knew he would have to put most of his focus on them.
If I can stop dreaming about Hailey for a minute, that is.
So far, it was taking all he had to just give her a tiny bit of space. After stopping by the day before yesterday with the contractors, he figured it was best for him to wait for her to reach out before knocking on her door again.
But going forty-eight hours without her was testing the limits of his willpower.
How did I go years?
But that didn’t bear thinking about.
He got out of his truck and pushed open the door to the hardware store.
The familiar interior was slightly dim and the air was rich with the scent of sawdust. He had loved this place since he was a little kid—from the magical gadgets and doodads by the register, to the rainbow of paint chips, to the aisles filled with garden tools and mysterious plumbing fixtures.
“Hey there,” Michael said with a friendly smile.
The owner of the hardware store was a kind man who wore denim overalls every day like they were a uniform.
Unlike the guys at the big-box store up on Route One, Michael would lean on the counter with you and take the time to help you sketch out a solution to just about any problem you could come up with.
“Hey,” Ransom said. “Captain Anderson called in an order and I’m here to pick it up and pay, if that’s all right.”
“Of course it is,” Michael said. “Hang on.”
Ransom looked around while Michael grabbed his stuff. At the counter there were tiny but powerful flashlights with a sign that said Great Stocking Stuffers. He played around with one until Michael reappeared a moment later with two big bags.
“On the house,” Michael said gruffly as Ransom reached for his wallet.
“What do you mean?” Ransom asked.
“The captain’s doing good work,” Michael said. “Wish they’d had a place like that when I came home.”
Ransom nodded, feeling newfound respect for the man.
“Thank you,” he said. “I know Erik will appreciate it.”
“Hey, guess who I saw today,” Michael said, handing off the bags.
“Who?” Ransom asked, pretty sure he already knew.
“That sweet girl you used to go with back in school,” Michael said fondly. “Hailey Sinclair. She said she bought your parents’ farm.”
He stopped himself there, but the unasked question was clear.
Are you two back together?
“I was surprised to hear it,” Ransom said carefully. “And she was just as surprised to find out I was the one living in the A-frame.”
“Fate then,” Michael said, simply, nodding once to himself. “She was looking for paint, but I think she got overwhelmed. I took her list and let her know she could just call in finishes when she’s ready and I could prepare it for her to pick up.”
“What does she have?” Ransom asked.
“Guess she wouldn’t mind me showing you,” Michael said.
He headed behind the counter and Ransom moved to look at the sheet of note paper Michael was smoothing out.
Hailey’s neat handwriting listed rooms and colors.
“I hated to try and tell her what to do about finishes when she didn’t ask my advice,” Michael said. “Though if the house is like I remember, it’s pretty clear what she needs.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Ransom heard himself say. “It’ll be like a housewarming gift for her.”
“You sure?” Michael asked. “It’s a lot of paint.”
“I owe her one,” Ransom said.
He noted down finishes next to each item on the list and then left to carry the two bags over to the center while Michael got to work mixing paint.
It was sunny and bright outside. The cold air felt good in his lungs. People he had known since childhood waved to him from the shop windows as he walked and Jonah and Martha Kahn said hello in person as they headed toward the campus on their daily stroll.
Nearly every storefront was decked out for the holidays now, and even the apartments above were getting into the spirit. Lights hung from window frames and there were holiday clings on some of the glass.
Ransom had been so busy just trying to create normalcy for the kids that he hadn’t really gotten into the holiday spirit until now. Suddenly he felt the same excitement bubbling up in his chest that he used to feel as a small child when he saw the decorations going up in the windows.
Maybe we can do some outside decorating too…
Later that afternoon, he decided to drive the kids over to town to grab a large pepperoni pizza from Mario’s. They headed back toward the countryside, the delicious, savory scent filling the cab of the truck.
“That smells good,” Mae said.
“Is this our after-school snack?” Travis asked.
“I guess so,” Ransom told him. He had kind of thought it was their dinner, but there was no reason it couldn’t be both.
“We’re bringing it to Hailey?” Mae asked.
“We’ll stop by her place,” Ransom explained again. “And if she’s free, we’ll share it with her. Does that sound good?”
“Yes,” Mae said. “I want to see her belt.”
Ransom smiled at her in the rearview mirror and she grinned back at him. Every time Mae gave him that funny pirate smile his heart melted and he felt a powerful respect for her. These two kids missed their mom. He knew they did. But they faced their new life with him with such bravery.
“Look, Dad,” Travis said as they pulled into the driveway of the farm. “There’s a light on at the big house.”
“There sure is,” Ransom said. “Should we go and see if she’s there?”
“Yes,” Mae said right away.
“Definitely,” Travis added.
Ransom got out and grabbed the pizza while the kids scrambled out of the truck, then they all walked up to the porch together.
“Now, she might be busy,” he warned the kids. “And if she is, we’ll just take this pizza right home and visit with her another day.”
“Okay,” Travis said.
“Can I knock now?” Mae asked.
“Sure,” Ransom told her, trying not to smile at her enthusiasm.
Mae gave a nice, hard knock and a moment later the door opened to reveal Hailey.
She wore jeans and a t-shirt and her golden hair was up in a ponytail with soft tendrils falling down around her shoulders. When her blue eyes met his, they lit up prettier than any of the Christmas lights on the shops in town.
“Hey, guys,” she said happily to the kids. “It’s so nice to see you.”
“We brought you a pizza,” Mae said excitedly.
“This is my favorite type of visit,” Hailey said. “Come on in. Hopefully, you can stay and help me eat it.”
“Yes,” Travis told her. “Definitely.”
“Uh, where are the dogs?” she asked.
“They’re at home,” Ransom told her right away. “Don’t worry, they won’t be joining us.”
She gave him a sheepish smile of relief, and he felt his heart throb helplessly.
What am I doing here?
“Here you go,” he told her, handing over the box. “I have something else for you in the truck.”
“Oh wow,” she said. “You didn’t have to do anything for me.”
“It’s my pleasure,” he told her, his voice sounding gruffer than he meant it to.
He welcomed a moment alone outside in the cool air while she led the kids into the house.
Go easy, he warned himself. You’re just trying to be friends again…
But it was going to be hard to be just friends when the sight of her sent his heart thundering.
He grabbed the first box of paint cans and carried it up to the porch, grateful for the chance to do something physical instead of so much thinking and feeling.
By the time all his purchases were safely stacked on the porch, his blood was pumping and the nervous energy that had been buzzing in his chest was calmed.
He headed inside and was welcomed by the sound of the kids’ laughter.
Following it to the kitchen, it was hard not to feel a little nostalgia. After all, that room was where he and his mom and sister had shared a lot of laughter over the years.
“Wow, look at that amazing cheese-stretch,” Hailey was saying as she pulled a slice of pizza from the box and put it on Mae’s plate.
“Cheeeeeeese-stretch,” Mae echoed, giggling.
“Is that a real thing?” Travis asked as Ransom stepped into the kitchen.
“I’m not sure,” Hailey said, handing him a plate with the next slice. “But I think it’s useful to say. Like, This pizza has an excellent cheese-stretch.”
“How does it compare to New York style pizza?” Ransom asked her. He knew every region thought their pizza was best, but he’d always been convinced that Pennsylvania, with its large Italian population, had to have the best pizza.
“I have literally no idea,” Hailey said sadly. “I never had a single slice of pizza while I was there.”
“Why not?” Travis asked, wide-eyed. Travis was a very big fan of pepperoni pizza.
“Well, actresses have to be really careful about what we eat,” she said. “Otherwise, we won’t fit in our costumes and that makes the wardrobe staff angry.”
“What happens if they get angry?” Mae asked worriedly.
“They give you really ugly clothes,” Hailey said and then winked at her, earning herself another waterfall of giggles from Mae.
Travis smiled and Ransom patted his son on the back.
While Mae had cried once or twice about missing her mom, especially during those first few nights, overall, she seemed to take the change in her life more or less at face value. Her mom needed to be away, and her dad was taking care of her now. That was that.
But Travis was more reserved than his sister.
Ransom worried sometimes that maybe his son was taking things to heart, but not expressing his feelings.
He’d tried to broach the subject of his mom once or twice, but Travis didn’t really engage.
In the meantime, he was generally quieter than his sister and slower to laugh.
He’ll open up in his own time, Ransom thought to himself.
“Should we eat at the kitchen table?” Hailey asked, looking to Ransom. “And what do you guys like to drink?”
“The kitchen table is great,” Ransom said. “And water is fine.”
“So… not lemonade?” she asked.
Mae turned to Ransom, her eyes pleading.
“Well, if you have lemonade, I’m sure we’d love a glass,” Ransom said.
“Yes,” Travis said in celebration, for the second time this afternoon.
Ransom helped the kids get set up at the table while Hailey poured glasses of cold lemonade and carried them over.
The radio was on low, and he could just hear “Jingle Bells” playing. Between that and the cozy atmosphere in the kitchen where he’d grown up, he felt a happy sense of well-being.
Travis said grace again and they all dug in.
“Mmm, so good,” Hailey hummed around her first bite.
“Did you forget how good Mario’s is?” Ransom teased her.
“Oh, I remembered,” she said happily, and took another bite.
He was hit with a memory of the two of them sitting opposite each other in a booth, passing a slice back and forth while making plans for summer vacation.
We used to have so much to look forward to…
“What’s that?” Mae asked, pointing to the wall.
“Oh, that’s a wallpaper swatch and a paint chip,” Hailey told her. “I was deciding how to decorate each of the rooms.”
“What’s The Forest of Arden?” Travis asked. He was reading the little sticky note that was on the wall just under the thumbtacked wallpaper and paint chip.
“I wanted to name each room in the house after the location in a famous play,” Hailey explained. “The forest of Arden is where one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays takes place.”
“So the kitchen will look like a forest,” Travis said thoughtfully.
“It will be inspired by one,” Hailey said, nodding.
“That’s cool,” Travis said.
“Well, it will be cooler when I can figure out what kind of finish the paint is supposed to have,” Hailey said, shaking her head.
“I think we have a good surprise for you,” Ransom told her. “When we’re done eating maybe we’ll just pop outside and see it.”
Hailey’s eyes got wide.
“It’s not a dog,” he told her. “I promise.”
“The dogs are very friendly,” Mae told Hailey. “They’re going to have important jobs.”
“It’s very good that your dad is teaching them,” Hailey told Mae calmly.
Ransom gave her an encouraging smile. He’d never been sure why she was so afraid of dogs, but he appreciated that she wasn’t making a big deal out of it with the kids.
She’s a positive person, he thought to himself and then smiled. He’d been thinking that about Hailey Sinclair since he was a kid.
She sees the best in everyone. Once upon a time, she even saw the best in me.