When he'd gone to clock out of his shift the next morning, Caddo found himself excited to get home and look for the container of cookies he'd seen in Seaton's hands. He had no idea what she did for a living, but if she was home, he thought it might be a nice idea to stop by and say hello in person.
And that meant not showing up empty handed. It was a thing his grandmother had always told him. If someone brings you something in a 'good' container, not only should he give the container back but he should either put something in it, or to bring something along with the container.
He'd made plans to stop by a florist on the way home and bring her some flowers.
That would count as something to bring in thanks, right?
But the problem is, he didn't know what kind of flowers to bring.
He'd sent a message to Viviana Blaise, the wife of their fire chief, Ethan Blaise, to ask her what would be a good flower to buy. She hadn't responded yet, but he had time before he got to the florist.
A notification popped up on his phone telling him he had an unseen video from his ring camera.
Stepping to the side of the doorway, he opened up the app.
There was an older woman standing in front of the door, craning her neck to look into the camera.
At first he didn't know exactly who it was. The cloud of pale, white hair could be any number of people in his neighborhood. He was one of the youngest people to own a house in their subdivision.
She was petite. That was the word he'd decided to call her. Short seemed too simple for a women as cute as she was. When she turned her head to the side he saw her face and knew that she lived across the street. Her front walk was halfway between his walk and Seaton's.
"Hello?" She spoke into the camera. She frowned and squinted into the lens. "Oh heck, I don't know how these things work, but Seaton told me you have one of those video things."
Seaton?
Things were more interesting by the moment.
May turned sideways and gestured across the street. She was talking but there was a wind so he missed some of what she said until she turned back to the camera. "...came over for lunch today after she helped me get my groceries in." The older woman smiled and he found himself searching for her name. He knew her but he hadn't seen her all that much around the neighborhood. He was fairly sure that she was working and near retirement, or something similar. "She was one of my students back when she was in High School."
Ah, that's how she knew his neighbor.
"She was always the sweetest girl so I was a little concerned today when she dropped something and acted like..." The older woman looked away from the camera as her lips thinned into a pale line. "I don't know exactly what to think or what to say, but I'm going to ask if you could talk to her a little. Be a little neighborly when you can. I haven't seen that dear girl in years, but she seems to... she seems to shine a little less brightly now."
Sam didn't like the thought.
It had to be the better part of a decade since Seaton had been in May's class in High School so his instinct was telling him that May might not remember her all that well.
But then he thought about it. He'd bumped into one of his grade school teachers at an accident scene the year before and Mister Shoemaker remembered him and back when Sam had been in the man's class, he'd been more round than tall. So, maybe...
"Okay, then. I know you're busy, but as a favor to this old woman, please check in with Seaton, hmm?"
She was putting on her best 'actress' hat with her 'old woman' comment, because he knew that she had a sharp mind and a warm heart. Even if she was a bit dramatic at times, that had likely made a great English teacher. The novels they read in class were often read aloud. He bet that she could really bring life to those stories.
"Okay, now... " She sighed. "If you have any questions, young man." May waggled her eyebrows with a sly little smile under it. "You know where to find me." She gave the camera a jaunty little wave and walked away.
The whole one-sided conversation made him smile.
He was definitely going to look out for his neighbor.
Although he didn't quite understand what May was talking about in regards to Seaton. She certainly thought that there was a problem and that was enough for him to want to check into it.
He'd only interacted with her over the Ring camera he'd installed, but that one conversation was enough to pique his interest.
Seaton Buchanan.
The name was unique and reminded him of the wind out on the water of the Gulf.
It had been awhile since he'd taken his boat out. And while Caddo Lake wasn't nearly the Gulf, it was a place where he could be calm and reflect.
