“Great. Thank you,” Alex said. “Do you deliver?”
“We do,” the pharmacist said. “But that’ll delay getting it. When I call to tell you it’s ready, I’ll have a better idea of an ETA on delivery and you can decide then.”
Alex agreed to that, gave the man his phone number, and hung up.
A couple of hours. That would be well after dinner. Who knew what the kid’s bedtime was.
“Can you read me and Sam comics?” Calvin asked.
“How about we find something else this time?” Alex said, knowing Julia wouldn’t appreciate moreCalvin and Hobbesinfluence. “I have some books you might like. Let’s run down to my place.”
They walked the short distance to Alex’s condo. He didn’t have much that was suitable for kids, but he did have a set of Hardy Boys mysteries. “My dad used to read these to me,” Alex said. That’s why he’d kept them. They were one of the few tangible things he had to remember his dad. There were the memories, of course, but sometimes those just hurt.
Like the last memory of his dad alive. Alex had begged to stay up late to watch a Knicks game. When his father said no, twelve-year-old Alex pitched a fit and told his dad, among other mean things, that he hated him.
For a long time, Alex blamed himself for his dad’s death. Thought the insults he’d hurled had caused his father’s brain tumor.
Once he grew older, he realized that wasn’t true, but the guilt remained. He was pretty sure his dad knew he hadn’t meant what he’d said and that Alex loved him. He’d whispered it to him so many times over the years that he had to have received the message.
A thought struck him, and he prayed this topic wasn’t too big for a five-year-old. “Cal, when my dad died, I thought it was my fault. Do you feel that way about your dad?”
Cal stared at the floor. “Sam says he left cuz he didn’t want me.”
“Sam’s wrong about a lot of stuff, buddy,” Alex said. “I promise you. If your dad could have stayed, he would have. It wasn’t my fault my dad died, and it isn’t your fault yours did either. You understand?”
“I guess.”
Alex couldn’t think of anything else to say after that. He would have to tell Julia about the conversation, so she could also assure Calvin that his dad dying had nothing to do with him.
Over the years, Alex had collected the entire Hardy Boys series, searching out the few titles he’d been missing to complete the original fifty-eight-book set.
“When I was a kid, my dad would read these to me and my brothers. When I got older, I reread them myself. They’re about two brothers who solve mysteries.”
“Cool,” Calvin said, picking one.
They returned to Julia’s, and Alex peeked in to check on her. At her quiet breathing, he backed out and closed the door again.
“Don’t you gotta go to work?” Calvin asked.
“Not today,” Alex said.
They spent the afternoon reading books, playing with cars, and watching cartoons.
“What do you want for dinner?” Alex asked.
“Macaroni and cheese?”
“I don’t know how to make that.”
“Chicken nuggets.”
“Chicken nuggets aren’t as great as you think, bud. How about eggs? I can make eggs.”
“That’s what you said this morning.”
“That’s all I know how to make.”
“Oh. Okay.”
