He was still laughing when they entered the elevator. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to join him in his humor or to ignore it. Finally she just gave in and joined him. Raven wasn’t going to let her mom mess up her nice honeymoon with the moron.
~*~
Roger was glad to hear from Raven. She told him how she’d heard from her mother and that they were coming back tomorrow. He was working on taking care of the first trouble, and glad that he could see the young couple sooner than anticipated.
He’d never realized before how much he missed just talking to her. Usually her mother would be in the background of their conversations telling him to say this or that to her. Meeting her for dinner or something was usually met with the same disregard for him having a nice talk with his daughter. He’d been having fun with Molly too, now that she wasn’t afraid to come to his home anymore. And he’d gotten her to call him Grandpa instead of Mr. Addington.
Roger had always wondered why Merriam used their name, a proper noun, like it was a weapon or a shield to others. She would say their last name like she’d been the only one that had ever said it correctly or even used it the way that she did. Merriam assumed that it opened doors for her, when all along it was his mother’s name that did everything for the rest of them.
It wasn’t as if he didn’t do his share of work too. He’d been working since he’d been a young man, following his father all over the building that he’d worked in until he thought his feet would drop off. But it had taught him a great deal. Like the power of money, and also, the downfall that it could cause someone.
“Grandpa Roger, I was wondering something.” He asked Molly, who was sitting at his desk with him, what she’d been thinking about. “I have these friends that live near Sawyer that are losing their mom. I’ve only seen her one time, but she looks pretty bad.”
“That’s nice, honey.” He read the stock report on how his stocks were doing as he half listened to Molly. When she didn’t say anything more, he turned and looked at her. It was like having Raven look at him when he wasn’t entirely focused on what she’d been saying. “I’m sorry, honey. What’s wrong with your friends’ mom?”
“She has cancer. Mr. Little, that’s their name, has a hard time keeping his job because he has two kids that he cares for and his wife. Grandma Sippy said that it’s a sad thing to happen just because they didn’t have the money for insurance, and missed her being sick for too long.” He asked her what she wanted to do. “I’m not really sure. I want to make it easier for them. Like have someone come to their home and help Mr. Little out. Did I tell you that he’s a computer engineer? He told me once that he can make a computer sing. But not so much lately since he’s been out of work. He wasn’t begging me for anything. He’s like you, Grandpa Roger, he just tells it like it is.” Roger asked Molly if she thought that would help them out. “Yes. He can find him a job so that he can have insurance in case one of the kids get hurt. Todd told me that it’s too late for his momma. I think they’re waiting on her to pass on now. It’s so sad.”
“It really is.” Roger asked for the man’s name and decided to have him looked up. He didn’t want anyone scamming his granddaughter. But if he could help someone out, he’d do that too.
Picking up his phone, he called his attorney to ask him to look into his job skills as well. Before he could measure up the next column of stocks, he was getting a call back. Roger looked at Molly when he heard that the missus had passed away not an hour ago.
“I’ve sent flowers, sir, with yours and Molly’s name on them. As well as I’ve had a meat tray and some other items sent to the home. The couple barely had anything to call their own, and the funeral has been paid for by your mother. She also made sure that they had money for any other extras that they might need.” He asked him about Mr. Little’s job skills. “He’s the best there is, sir. I mean, if he’s looking for a job, I’d surely hire him for you. He not only has computer skills, but his ability to put fire walls up and keep them there is legendary.”
“How is it that he’s not working from his home for someone? I mean, with a sick wife and two children, someone would have snatched him up.” Berry explained. “So his home is a rental and he cannot afford to get Internet. Whoever fired him should be reminded that it’s the little guy that keeps us going. Hire him. Not today, but soon. Find him a good solid home with enough bedrooms in it for him to have live in help. Also, set him up with a computer—”
Molly shook his arm. Roger asked her what she needed. “He told me that he can build him a computer at a better price, as well as it would work better than anything that he could buy. He just needs the parts, he told me.” Molly smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek. “You’re a good man, Grandpa Roger.”
She left him and he told Berry what he needed. “I can do that, sir. I guess he’s thinking of moving back to his wife’s family for help with his finances, as well as the children. I’ll get on this as soon as I think it’s a good time. You are a good man, sir.” Embarrassed, he thanked the other man. “I have two homes in mind, sir, that I think will work out for him. Also, I would suggest a car as well as some cash, so that he might be able to get himself the items that he needs to set himself up.”
“Yes, the car sounds wonderful for him. Also, I’d like to have the house furnished for them. Not too extravagant, but something plain that they can work with when things settle down. A cook, they’ll need a cook too.” Berry was making notes and said he’d take care of it. “Something else I’d like for you to do for me, Berry, is to make sure that all the phone numbers are changed for my family’s personal numbers.”
“Yes, sir. Mr. Bishop’s phone has arrived, and I’ve had it set up with numbers that he’ll need. I’ll just have to change the one for your daughter when I get hers.” After hanging up, Berry called him right back. “Sir, I’ve just heard from the country club. They wish to know if your wife still has access, as you have cancelled your membership.”
“Yes. Wait, no. I want you to set up a membership for myself. And also one for Sawyer and Raven. They will be able to rub it in Merriam’s face that they go there and she can’t. Also, find out if you can get lessons for Sawyer on how to play golf. I think I’d enjoy a round or two with him just to have a nice long talk.” Berry said that according to Sawyer’s background check, he did know how to play. He’d taken classes at college. “Good. Hopefully he’s not better at it than I am.”
They were both laughing when they hung up again. Roger decided that there had to be something he could do with Molly rather than sit in his office all evening. Putting things back where he’d gotten them from, Roger went in search for his granddaughter. He also needed to tell her about Mrs. Little.
Roger found Molly in the kitchen with Ms. Bea. She was making bread for dinner and talking to Molly about clothing. He wasn’t sure what they were meaning until Ms. Bea said that Molly could just keep some things at this house so that she’d not have to bring a suitcase every time she came by.
“I don’t know if that will work for my mom. She’ll say it’s a waste to have a set of something here when I’m not here very often. Even if I came here every week, she’d tell me that I should bring what I have. Mom is very practical.” Ms. Bea laughed, and Roger covered his own laughter up when Molly spoke. “I think I’d like to have some things here, however. Like a bathing suit and a towel. I don’t think she’ll care too much about that, do you?”
“Your momma is a good women, Miss Molly. And that great grand-mammy of yours, she’s a hoot to have round too. You are a lucky little girl to have such powerful outspoken women in your family.” Molly asked Ms. Bea if Ms. Addington was outspoken. “Well, I’d say she is, but nobody you’d want to be like. I don’t like to talk about someone in a bad way, but you’d be better off steering clear of your Grandma Merriam, child. She’ll roast you for dinner.”
He started to enter, but paused when Molly spoke again. Her voice
was very low, but he could hear her well enough. “She doesn’t like me. Once, just before Mom was hurt, she took me to that club that she’s always going on about. Ms. Addington told them that I was a bastard child of my loose mom. I had to ask Todd what that meant. It’s not very nice, is it?” Ms. Bea said for her to ignore it. “I will. But she was really mean to me after that. I guess because the ladies she was talking to thought that Ms. Addington shouldn’t say stuff like that in front of me. Ms. Addington said that I was as dumb as a post, and just like my grandpa Roger. Then she hit me when we were going out to the car. It really hurt. I’m so glad that Daddy Sawyer didn’t see the big bruise she gave me. He would have been very mad at her.”
Roger felt his heart crumble at hearing that. The other day when Merriam had hit Molly, it hadn’t been the first time. And he’d bet anything that if she was still around her, it wouldn’t have been the last time that Merriam hit her either.
Clearing his throat, he entered the kitchen and pretended like he hadn’t been eavesdropping. “Ms. Bea, just how far are you into making dinner for us?” She winked at him, and he knew that she’d been aware that he’d heard every word. “I’d like to take Molly for some pizza. I’ve not had any in a good long time, and I think it would be a real treat for the two of us.”
“What a wonderful idea, sir. Why, if that’s what you’re going to do, I think my man and I will have a cookout. Might not have too many days left for those. You two go on ahead and have yourself a fine night out, and me and the mister will have us some wieners and brats. I surely do love a good hot tater salad too.”
When they were out waiting on the car, Molly asked him if he ever drove anymore. Thinking that she had a good idea, he told the driver that he and Molly were on a date, and that he’d escort Molly around in his own car. As soon as he was beneath the wheel, he felt like he could enjoy this again. The reasons for not driving himself were vague to him now as he drove into town for a slice of hot pizza with all the toppings.
He might just make a habit of this, he thought with a grin. Having himself a pizza with his favorite little girl, and perhaps seeing a good movie. Or a bad one. He didn’t care so long as he was getting his life in order and spending the day with Molly. Roger thought that he’d been a fool for far too long, and would enjoy the rest of his life from now on.
Chapter 9
Sawyer was having a difficult time wrapping his mind around the size of their house. Christ, he could easily fit three or four of his parents’ house in the first floor and still have room left over. He stood in what he assumed was the library and looked at the shelves of books.
“Sir, I can answer any questions you might have about the household. The young miss has returned as well, and is wanting to give you a tour after she has her dinner.” He asked why she wasn’t eating with them. “I’m not sure. I mean, she usually eats in the kitchen nightly, as her mother works late.”
“I don’t know how much say I have in changing things up, but if her mother or myself is home, I’d like to have dinner with her. If it doesn’t cause a problem.” The man hid his grin well, but Sawyer caught it. “So, if she can hold off to have dinner with Raven and I, you can send her in here. By the way, does she need breadcrumbs to get around like I think I will?”
“You’ll do fine, sir. Mrs. Bishop is on the phone with her father. If you would like to wait on her as well, I’m sure that the three of you will have a very good time.” Thanking him, not remembering his name, Sawyer wondered if it would be rude for him to ask that they wear name tags on their uniforms as well as what part of the house they cared for. So far, he’d met four different people that cared for different parts of the household—including, he only just remembered, the outbuildings. Sawyer very much doubted that they had the same type of outbuildings as he had on the farm.
“Hello, Dad.” He grinned at Molly when she entered the room with him. “I’ve been practicing saying that. I love the way it sounds, don’t you?”
“I think it’s been my favorite sentence said to me. How was your weekend with your Grandda Roger?” Sawyer felt stupid calling a grown man, nearly twenty years older than him, Grandda Roger. “I heard that you had a great time on your date with him.”
“We did. I think you might say that we’re getting to know each other. Ms. Addington never let me hang out with them when we visited. She said that children were never to be seen or heard in a household. Which I thought was really mean. What are you looking for in here?” He told her a way out. “You’re funny. I can show you around. Mom said that she’d be a little while longer on the phone. She missed a lot of stuff, I guess.”
“I bet she did. What rooms are off limits?” Molly looked confused. “This is a big house. I’m assuming that Raven has some rooms that are specifically her own. You understand. Rooms that no one is allowed to enter.”
“No, Mom lets me in any room I want so long as I clean up after myself. I bet you have to do that too. Want to see the upstairs?” As soon as Molly put her hand into his, he felt that he could have followed her anywhere. “Mom and I have the two bedrooms at the end of the hall. That way I can come in and snuggle with her when I want. Are you a snuggler, Dad?”
“I’ve been known to snuggle up as often as I can. Your mom, she told you that we were cats. Cats are very close animals.” She asked if she could see his cat sometime. “I would imagine that you’ll be seeing him a great deal.”
She took him into her room first. He had expected it to be pink, he had no idea why, but the room wasn’t quite as bad as he had thought it would be—just a spot of the color here and there. But it was the bed that captured his attention. The big oak four poster bed had a lacy canopy as well as a white lacy cover. He looked around and decided that this house was perfect for Molly and Raven.
“I used to have a computer, but I got into trouble with it. I shouldn’t have been messaging people personal stuff. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds, but Mom freaked out about it, saying that I was just too young to be talking with boys that might be men.” Sawyer said that he’d run into some people that pretended to be boys, when they were actually monsters. “That’s what Mom said. There are all kinds of monsters, and not all of them look or sound like they really are.”
“Your mom is absolutely right about that.” Raven entered the room just as he said that. While Molly told her mom why she was right, he looked around the room for security issues. He could see so many in this room that it frightened him a little. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to make some changes to the house. Just in the event that someone comes around and they’re not welcome.”
“Please do.” He told her of the few things that he’d seen in this room alone. “I can see that you’re going to be perfect for what Dad has in mind for you. I would never have thought of the window in the bathroom being an issue. I mean, it is on the third floor. But you’re right. If someone can see out, then someone can see in too. I want to feel safe in our home.”
They walked around the entire upstairs, looking in each of the spacious five bedrooms, not counting the master bedroom. Curtis, their butler, gave him a notebook and a pen after finding them in the main hall again. Raven had asked him to bring things when he had time. The man was very loyal, Sawyer could see.
He began making notes on things like windows and locks on the doors. When Raven showed him the safe room, he was both impressed and afraid of the way it had been left open. Sawyer explained why it needed to be closed up and kept secret, and made notes about it as well.
“The door leading in here is made so that no one from the outside can see that the room is here. By leaving the door open, anyone can see the room and what it might be used for. While having a cot and water in here is great, there should also be a medical kit as well as any medications that you might be taking. Small food items too would be nice. You never know how long you might be stuck in a place like this.” He smiled at his women as they took what he was s
aying seriously. “You have a great many things in there that most would not think about. A bathroom is wonderful. Clothing is nice so that you don’t have to stink. And its own power grid and telephone is an amazing addition too. Cell phones tend not to work in steel rooms. This room would be a good place to come if you can’t get out of the house if there is a fire too.”
The master bedroom would have to wait. Dinner was ready, they’d been told, and they made their way down the stairs again. Raven had her office on this floor, and she thought he’d need one too. He wasn’t sure what he’d put in his office, but thanked her for thinking of him. It was a good idea, he told her, to have their offices off the main floor. No one would be accidently walking into the rooms if there were things on the desk that were private.
Gunner was in the dining room when they entered. Hugging his brother, Sawyer asked him to stay for dinner. Curtis assured them there was plenty. After agreeing, he asked him if everything was all right. Gunner nodded and sat Molly on his lap when she asked.
“Yes. I have two weeks to go, then I’m finished. Nothing is wrong, just wanted to see if you could maybe put in a good word here or there for me to find myself a job.” Raven asked him what it was he was good at. “Killing people.”
“It’s not that I don’t believe you, but perhaps you could find another way to state what it is you’re in the job hunting arena for.” Raven smiled at Gunner as she continued. “How are you about security? My dad has taken Sawyer to have a look around his offices. Perhaps, if you want to work for me, you could do the same for me.”
“I’m not all that good with people. And I tend to think of everyone as an adversary. If you can live with that, then I can work for you. I just need you to be aware that I carry a gun all the time. Even if you take my gun from me, I’m still going to be armed with things just as deadly.” Raven told Gunner he was a cheery man to talk to. “You have no idea. By the way, congratulations on your getting married. If you don’t mind, I’d like to have a sample of each of you so that in the event you’re...lost, I can find you faster.”
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