He rang the doorbell, and, for extra measure, knocked and called out, “Mrs. Gibbons. It’s Mitch Haskell.”
A few seconds later, from within the house he heard Andrew exclaim, “Daddy!” followed by pounding, running steps on a hardwood floor.
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Mrs. Gibbons called out.
She apparently had more door locks than the Auclair jail, and each one seemed to challenge her dexterity. Mitch muttered out the side of his mouth, “If the house were to catch fire…”
“Shh,” Dylan said just as the door was pulled open.
Andrew pushed against the screen door just as Mitch pulled on the outside handle, so that his son literally tumbled into his waiting arms almost before he could crouch down to catch him. Never mind that his exuberant welcome probably dislodged a few of the closures.
Mitch hugged him tightly, rocking to and fro. “Glad to see me?” Andrew nodded against his neck.
Looking on, Mrs. Gibbons said, “Mary called and told me to expect you. Andrew’s asked me about every sixty seconds how many more minutes before you’d get here.”
“Well, now I’m here, you can stop asking,” Mitch said to Andrew as he covered his face with kisses.
The boy giggled over his affection, then angled his head back and said solemnly, “Grandpa’s sick.”
“I know. But the doctors are going to get him well.”
That concern dealt with and dismissed, Andrew asked, “Can we play cars?”
“For sure. But later. We’ve got stuff to do first.”
It was then that Andrew noticed Dylan. He looked at her curiously. Mitch said, “This is my friend, Dylan. Dylan, this is my rock star, Andrew.”
“Hello, Andrew.”
He just stared at her until Mitch gave him a squeeze. “What do you say?”
Andrew said hello, then shyly buried his face in Mitch’s neck. He introduced Dylan to Mrs. Gibbons, then said to her, “I’m sure Mary has already thanked you, but I want to also. I appreciate you looking after him.”
“He’s welcome to stay for as long as need be.”
“That’s very generous and kind of you, but I’m taking him off your hands now.”
“Oh.” Mrs. Gibbons turned to Dylan as though looking for confirmation of that startling announcement. Going back to Mitch, she said with uncertainty, “Mary said nothing about that to me.”
“She and I haven’t had a chance to talk about it yet. Soonas I gather up some things for Andrew, I’m going to the hospital straight from here.”
“Oh,” she said again, nervously reaching for the top button of her blouse and twisting it. “Mary packed a bag for him before she left for the hospital.”
“Great. I’ll just take that.”
“Well, all right, I guess. Come in. I’ll fetch it from the back room.”
“We’ll wait here, thanks.”
Looking disapproving, she turned and headed down a hallway. “It smells like oldness in there,” Mitch mumbled.
Dylan gave him a chastising look. “She’s not a hundred and ten.”
“My mistake,” he whispered. “She’s a hundred andtwelve. And how hot is it in there? Andrew’s hair is damp with sweat. It smells like Mutt’s blanket.”
“I want to go,” Andrew said.
Mitch patted his back. “Don’t worry, buddy. We’re going.”
