“Absolutely not! She’s old enough to be your mother.” Okay, maybe she wasn’t that old. But she wasn’t far from it.
“Ouch.” He placed his hand to his chest, appalled by such a suggestion. “Okay then.”
“Don’t be in such a rush to grow up, kid.” I attempted to rub his hair, but he ducked away from my hand before I could make contact.
“But you make it seem like so much fun.” He barked out a laugh as I went to slap his arm.
DING DONG!the doorbell sounded, echoing off the walls of my childhood home.
“Dear, could you go see who that is, please?” Mom asked, giving me a sweet smile as she passed. “My hands are full.” And they were indeed full of what appeared to be some sort of salad dish.
“Sure, Ma.”
“Thanks, hon.”
The doorbell rang again as I made my way through the house toward the front door. Why my mother insisted I answer instead of one of my brothers boggled my mind, but nonetheless, I made my way to the front door. Truth be told, I’d take the few seconds of reprieve if it meant that I didn’t have someone looking at me like I’d break at any given moment.
I opened the door and glared at the man who stood on the landing, square glasses framing his dull green eyes. If I had to guess, he was either a realtor or a reporter. Which was only confirmed by the camera he had slung around his neck, resting against the blue collared shirt he wore.
“Hello. I’m sorry to bother you, sir,” he spoke, his words quiet. “I’m looking for a Mister…uh, hold on. I have his name here somewhere,” he paused, patting the pockets of his light brown khakis while I stood there, eyeing him up and down.
“Ah. Here it is.” He pulled a folded up yellow note from his pocket and read the words that were scribbled on it. “I’m looking for a Mr. Style?”
“Sorry, wrong house.”
“Are you sure?” He squinted at the paper before quickly rattling off the address.
“Yep. That house is right up there,” I poked my head out the door and pointed up the street and to the right. “Seventh Way is located just past the playground, on the righthand side.”
“Ah, okay. Thank you, sir. Again, I’m sorry to have bothered you.”
I gave him a tight nod before he turned and walked back in the direction of his car. Which, from what I could tell, appeared to be black with darkly tinted windows. Just as he went to climb inside, I caught sight of someone else sitting in the passenger seat. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make them out. There was something off about the stranger, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
He better not be some damn reporter,I thought in irritation.
There was a reason I hadn’t given out my name to any of the reporters that approached me after our rescue. Still, that didn’t stop one or two of them from tracking me down. The last one I’d encountered was nearly a full year ago now, and I’d shot them down just like all the others.
“Are you trying to steal my kid?” Sofia laughed as she joined me at the front door, scooping Lilly from my arms.
“Maybe?” I winked, joking with her.
“Well, in that case––” she quickly handed her back before shrugging past me, “you can keep her.” She laughed as she hurried down the front steps. “I’ll be back in…. Never.”
“Wait–what?” I stood there with a dumbfounded expression on my face.Is she serious? She can’t possibly be serious.
“Relax!” she chuckled. “I’m just kidding, Zeek. I’ll be right back. I just have to grab her diaper bag. She’s due for a bottle soon.”
“Uh, you want me to change her or something?” I asked as the car sped off, leaving me with a feeling that I was doing something I shouldn’t be.
“Nah. I’ll get it. Thanks for offering though.”
Judah
Pure relief washed over me.
Zeek is alive…with his family. Is he married? How old is his kid? Does he even remember who I am or what we went through together?Tears clouded my vision as questions continued to bombard my mind.
“Tell me what’s going through your mind, Judah.” Eli’s voice whispered, the calm to my internally raging storm.
