“I did wonder about that with us being so much older than you.”Kinsey asked what their age had to do with watching the baby.“We’re sort of set in our ways, and I’d hate to do something that would bother you and Meggie about the baby, and you cut us off.You’d give us a chance to watch the baby more than once, won’t you?”
“I know nothing about children.I have no parental role models but you and Alice to go by.And even though you’ve never had children of your own, I know that I can trust you with my child more than I would anyone my age.You’ve been good to us, all of us, since you’ve become a part of my life.And David, I love you like a father.You and Alice have come to mean so much to Meggie and me, and we think of you as our parents.”He had to wipe away his tears when he thought about how much he loved this man.“You will have to get used to me calling you dad from now on.I’ve decided that you are my father, no matter what sort of biological genes are between us.”
“Son, you’ve no idea…You have no idea what you’ve done for this old man.”He took out his handkerchief and wiped his face.“Now you’ve done it.I’ll not be able to stop this stuff until I get a hug from you.”
Kinsey stood up and gave him a much-needed hug.While they were slapping each other on the back, hugging too, he thought of something that he’d not thought of before.David meant more to him in his moment than his father and mother combined did in all the years they were alive.And that wasthe saddest and happiest thing that he’d thought of since he’d been a kid.Hugging him again, they sat back down.
They finished off their drinks and pizza and headed home.Kinsey’s ankle was killing him, and he couldn’t wait to get someplace he could take a pain pill and prop his leg up.He told Dad, he just loved the sound of that coming out of his mouth, that he was going to be down for a couple of days now that it was hurting like it was.
“I wish they could do something about that.”He said that because of the accident, he had bruised his bones in his ankle and foot.“Still.You’d think they could do something about that so that it wouldn’t hurt so badly.You’re going to need a walker when you’re my age, I’m thinking.”
“They told me that I’d have trouble with it for the rest of my life.”He was beginning to feel like even a pain pill wasn’t going to cut it tonight.“I have to go in and rest.Please come inside with me so that you can tell Meggie that I didn’t do anything stupid to be in this much pain.”
Not only did Dad come inside with him, but he also helped him get into the house by shouldering some of his weight.Meggie took one look at him and went to get his pain pills, and he was never so grateful for them as he was tonight.It was the cold he kept telling himself, and not the amount of walking he’d done yesterday when he’d been in the nursery with Meggie.He was near crying when she handed him two of them instead of the normal one that he’d take.Taking them both, he knew that he’d be out in a few minutes, so he quickly told Dad he was glad to see him tonight and thanked him for helping him inside.In about twenty minutes, too long by his estimation, he was feeling the effects of the medication and closed his eyes.
When he woke up, the room was dark, and he was covered in a blanket from their bed.Not moving to get up, he lay there and took inventory of his ankle to see if he could risk going to the bathroom.Before he could move, it was Dad out of the darkness who spoke to him about helping him get up.
By the time he was back on the couch, he was sweating with pain.He’d not hurt like this since he’d had the accident and knew that something else was wrong.Asking Dad to call an ambulance, he was in too much pain to wait for Meggie to call.Kinsey was on his way to the hospital in no time, and Meggie was riding with him.He was cross-eyed in pain and could barely talk above a whisper because he hurt so badly.He had no idea why whispering made him feel better, but it did.By the time he was at the hospital, he was begging for something for pain.The medic had just what he needed.
The next time he woke up, he was hooked up to an IV, and there was a blood pressure cuff on his arm.Asking where Meggie was, Dad said that she was calling his brothers to let them know about the surgery.He’d not known about that either, but when the pain meds kicked in again, he was out.
Every time he opened his eyes, there was someone else in the room besides Dad and Meggie.The first time he remembered to ask about the surgery, it was his brother Bodi.He told him something about a blood clot, but he was too doped up to understand what he was talking about.It wasn’t until Meggie woke up beside him that he had a better understanding of what had happened to him.
“You had a blood clot in your ankle, and they had to go in and remove it.The pain was from the blood vessel pushing up against your ankle and making it hurt.If not for that, we don’t know what would have happened to you.”She held his hand as she continued.“They said you were lucky that you came in when you did.There is no telling what sort of damage might have been done had that thing ruptured.”
“Am I going to be all right?”She said so long as he did what the doctor told him, he’d be just fine.“Good.I promise I will.That was more painful than when I hurt myself in the first place.”He was beginning to feel the pain again, but held off.However, it was David who called the nurse to have her give him more.“I know that I shouldn’t let it get ahead of me, but I just want to be with you guys a bit longer.”
“You rest.We’ll be here when you wake again.”He nodded at Meggie and wiped at the tears on her face.“You don’t want to have to scare us like that again, if you don’t mind.You have to be good from now on, and we’ll have someone do the nursery for us.Painting and all.”
“All right.I agree.”He was ready to go back to sleep when the pain medication kicked in, but he held off a little longer.“I love you guys so much.You mean the world to me.”Then he was out.
~*~
Gleason took some supplies out to the greenhouse.He knew for sure that the woman was staying here.He’d been following her home for the last three nights.As he went into the office with his burden of bottled water, he could see that she’d been using the office as a bedroom of sorts.Putting the water down on the floor in the only available space, he pulled the little heater off the top and began opening it.
“You’re going to get me caught.”He turned around, grinning at the young woman.He knew what she was called at the pizza place, but had no idea if that was her name or not.“No, I’m not Candy.My name is something else.I’m hiding here for a reason.”
“I know.You’re hiding from the chief of police.He’s an idiot, if you ask me.”She said that he was blaming her for what went down at the restaurant.“Yes.He said that since he can’t find you, you were part of what went on.He also said that you scammed him by not giving him the right information when he told you to.”
“He had a gun pointed at my head.”Gleason said that he’d not known that.“There is a lot that you don’t know, and I’d like to keep it that way.If the people who killed the others at theSheepfind me, they’re going to think that I know something.And the way he’s putting it out there, I’m going to be found sooner rather than later.What makes him think that I had anything to do with it?I was shoved into the restaurant at the same time he arrived.Everyone was dead by the time I showed up.”
“Do you know who called the police?”She said it wasn’t anyone that she’d seen, as they’d all been shot in the head.“Then it was probably the other person that he’s looking for.He is telling the Feds that two people escaped the carnage and that when he finds them, they’ll be put in jail.I wonder if he even knows the law that says that you’re innocent until you’re proven guilty?”
“I don’t believe he’s a good cop at all.He was strutting around the scene like he owned the place.Any evidence that might have been there was messed up when he and his men entered the place like a blaze of glory.”He asked her if she knew what had happened.“This other man at the place told me that the shit was going to hit the fan and that I should be ready to go.He’s the one who got me the fake identification that I’ve been using around here.”
“I think it’s brilliant of you to be hiding right under his nose.I guess what I’ve read about that is true.You can’t see the trees for the forest.”She said she’d been out to the site several times since it was considered a crime scene.“You be careful.You never know who’s going to be trigger-happy out there, and you might end up on the wrong end of the gun.”
“I’m very careful.”She looked at him, and he wondered what she’d found out there.“You can ask me.I’ll tell you what I’ve found out.Most of it has been burned down, but you can tell that meth was being made out there.The entire basement is filled with heaters and other items to keep the workers happy.”
“So they were making Meth.Do you know who might have killed all those people?”She said that she didn’t, but that Jamie, her dead friend, said that as soon as the police arrived, she was to get out of there.There was no point in her getting caught up in what might be going on.“Do you think he knew what was going on?”
“Yes.”When she didn’t say anything more, he finished opening the heater.“You don’t have to do that.I have the one that was left here by someone.Coming out here is just going to raise alarms.And I don’t need that right now.”
“I own the place, so no one is going to be looking around.I’ve decided that I’m going to get it going for the spring next year.Hopefully, the things out at theSheepwill be taken care of by then.”She snorted, and he laughed.“I said I hoped it would be, not that I have confidence in the people that are running the show out there to get their heads out of their asses and figure it out.”
“He’s an idiot.”He agreed with her.“The other lady who was in charge.She seemed to know what she was doing.I don’t know her name, but she was good at her job.”
“Rosie Pennington.”She asked if he was related to everyone in town.“No, just the ones that are married to my brothers.There are six of us.”
