Generous Lies

by Robin Patchen

  Poor Matty, though. Would he ever get over it? Matty'd been wanting a relationship with his father for so long, and now it could never happen.

  Dad rubbed Matty's shoulder. "I talked to your mother. She's on her way."

  Matty looked up at that. "Mom knows?"

  "She knows you're here and that you need her."

  Matty's eyes filled with tears, and Dad scooted closer and pulled him into a hug. Matty cried, like really cried, on Dad's shoulder. Aiden thought maybe he should look away or something, but he didn't. He couldn't seem to make himself. And his own vision blurred, and he ended up wrapping his arm around his best friend and his dad and crying with them. The blanket the paramedics gave him fell away. He didn't need it now. He was warm enough.

  They stayed like that for a long time. When Aiden finally looked up, he saw Sam watching from the other side of the room. He waved her over. She came, but she didn't say anything or ask how he was. She just took his hand in hers and sat beside him.

  He liked having Sam there. She was good for his dad. And she was good for him, too. She was kind and funny and sweet. And she'd risked her life to save his.

  The memory came back, Lionel threatening to kill Aiden, Sam putting herself in danger for him.

  He turned, dropped her hand, wrapped her in his arms, and held on tight. She held him right back. He needed to say thank you. He couldn't seem to make his mouth work. Maybe she knew already. Maybe some things didn't have to be said out loud.

  He imagined what they must look like, this cluster of people, crying and hugging on the floor. Ridiculous. But what else could they do? They were the only people alive who knew what had happened that night. They were the only ones who'd ever understand.

  Eventually, somebody came over and needed Dad, and he stood. "Son, why don't you go pack your things? And mine, too, if you don't mind. We'll leave soon."

  "Where are we going?"

  Dad shrugged. "Not sure yet."

  Brady came over. "We have a spare room you can sleep in. The boys can take the couches downstairs."

  "No." Sam stood and spoke to Dad. "I'd like it if you'd stay with me. I have a spare room and a sofa bed in my office."

  "You sure you don't mind? Teenage boys aren't the tidiest people in the world. And—"

  "I want you there. All of you. And..." She shrugged, looked at Aiden, and smiled before she turned back to Dad. "I think I'll sleep better if I'm not alone."

  Dad turned to Brady. "We'll go to Sam's. Thanks for the offer, though."

  Brady turned to Sam. "Do you need anything, then? Blankets? Pillows?"

  She focused on Aiden. "Grab the pillows off the beds back there. And maybe an extra blanket or two."

  "You don't think the owners will mind?"

  She smiled. "I'm the owner."

  "Oh, yeah." He'd forgotten. And probably she wished she weren't, now that three men had died in this place. He wondered what she'd do with the cabin. Would she fix it up like she'd planned, or would she sell it? He didn't know. He'd find out eventually, though. Because if his guess was right, Sam was going to be in their lives for a long time.

  Aiden stood and offered a hand to Matty, who stared at it.

  "I could use your help."

  Matty shrugged.

  Aiden kept his hand there. He figured letting Matty sit here by himself wasn't going to help anything. "Let's go."

  Finally, Matty grabbed his hand and stood. Away from the living room, the world seemed suddenly normal again. Until they got to Aiden's room.

  Of course, it had been searched, too. The mattress was off the bed, the blankets piled on the floor. His stuff was everywhere. He swore and stepped inside. "Guess we'd better get to work."

  Aiden hoisted the mattress back onto the box spring, turned to grab the blankets to get them out of the way, and saw Matty standing silently in the doorway. "You could help."

  "I just...I wanted to say, like..."

  Aiden stood straight. "What?" And then he knew what. "Listen, what I said earlier, about this being your fault, or your dad's fault—"

  "It was, though. I never should have stowed that stuff in your car."

  "There's no way you could have known. I wasn't really mad at you, or at your dad. I was ticked off, and craving. And anyway, it seems to me the only guy we should be mad at is that Lionel dude, and maybe his two goon friends. This wasn't your fault."

  Matty's eyes filled with tears, and Aiden looked away. "So don't just stand there, dude. Help me find all my crap."

  "Yeah. Okay."

  From the corner of his eye, Aiden watched Matty start picking stuff up. They were friends. Maybe things would never be the same, but they could still be friends.

  Chapter 52

  Garrison needed to sleep.

  It was an hour or more before they were able to leave the cabin. They dragged themselves inside Sam's condo. She'd left a few minutes earlier than he had, so the beds were made and ready for them. He shooed Matty and Aiden to bed, then checked on them a few minutes later.

  And there they were, two man-sized boys, sharing a queen-sized bed in her spare room. If they weren't so tired, they might've made a fuss about it. As it was, with the A/C pumping, the room was chilly, and the boys were curled up under a thick blanket. Garrison settled himself beside Matty, who was on the nearer side of the bed.

  "When will my mom be here?" Matty's voice was small, and Garrison was reminded of the many times he'd tucked this boy in when he'd slept over at their house.

  He patted his shoulder. "Another couple of hours. You may as well sleep."

  "Are we going straight home?"

  "I wish you could. I bet you're ready for your own bed. But the police want to talk to you tomorrow."

  Aiden yawned hugely, and both Garrison and Matty did, too. Garrison chuckled and addressed Matty. "Did you sleep last night?"

  "Some. In the car with—" His words cut off.

  Garrison squeezed his shoulder again. He wished he was better at this comfort thing. "Right. We were up most of the night, too. Let's try to sleep."

  "But when Mom gets here—"

  "I'll take care of it, Matty. Trust me, okay?"

  He nodded, yawned again.

  "Right now, you're safe, and you're warm, and you're in a comfortable bed surrounded by people who love you."

  Matty's eyes filled.

  Aiden said, "Sheesh, Dad. Be a little more sappy, would you?"

  Garrison leaned across the bed and punched his son lightly in the arm. "You know you love it. You need a big wet sloppy kiss?"

  "Go away." But Aiden was smiling. "We'll never get any sleep with you here."

  "I'll be downstairs if you need me." He stood, but Matty grabbed his arm.

  "I wanted to say...I mean, I know it won't ever make up for what I did, but, about the drugs..."

  Garrison was tempted to cut the boy off. Instead, he kept his mouth shut. Matty needed to say it.

  "I'm sorry," He turned to Aiden. "I shouldn't have...I knew you were using too much."

  "You told me to quit, like, a thousand times."

  "When you wanted them, I sold them to you." He turned back to Garrison and dropped his grip. "Saying I'm sorry is sort of useless. I don't know what else to do."

  Garrison nodded, glanced at Aiden, whose smile had disappeared entirely. He reached across the bed to pat his son on the shoulder, then patted Matty's. "Are you going to quit dealing?"

  "Definitely. I'm done breaking the law. I saw where that leads tonight."

  "Good. That's not who you are," Garrison said.

  "I know. I mean, I think. The thing is, it is who my dad was. I guess I don't know who I am."

  "You're a good kid. You're a smart kid. After today, you're a wiser kid. You'll figure out the rest as you go along. And you'll always have a place in our family."

  The boy's eyes filled again. Garrison squeezed his shoulder. "Thanks for the apology. We're good."

  Matty turned to Aiden, who said, "It's not your fault I'm an
addict."

  Garrison stepped to the door and grabbed the handle. "Good night." He closed it behind him and went back downstairs.

  Sam was curled up on the end of the sofa. "Your bed is all ready for you."

  "If it's okay with you, I'll sleep on the couch. Then if Matty's mother wants to stay, she can take the sofa bed."

  "I thought you got her a hotel room."

  "I did, but I'd rather she stay here. Matty needs to sleep."

  "So do you," Sam said.

  "I'll sleep." He nodded to the sofa and the pile of blankets and pillows the boys had carried inside. "I'll sleep fine right there. You, young lady, need to go collapse in your bed." He held out his hand, and she stood. He pulled her into a hug and whispered in her ear. "You were a rock star tonight. If you ever put yourself in danger like that again... I'm still mad at you."

  "I was trying—"

  "I know. I know. And we're all safe." He choked up thinking of what could have happened if Sam hadn't done what she did. Would Aiden be safe upstairs? Or in a body bag. "I can never thank you—"

  "You don't have to."

  He hugged her tight. "You were so brave."

  "I was terrified."

  "We were all terrified."

  He broke the embrace, resisted the urge to kiss her lips. Instead, he gave her a safe peck on the forehead. "Go to bed, my brave, beautiful woman."

  "If Matty's mother wants to stay—"

  "I'm perfectly capable of showing her to the office. I've known Allison for years. We're not friends, exactly, but we're close enough. I can handle it."

  She seemed to vacillate, and then she yawned. "Okay." She stepped out of his embrace and reached for the blankets Aiden and Matty had dumped on the end of the sofa.

  "I can handle it, Sam. Go to bed."

  She walked out, came back thirty seconds later with a sheet. "At least let me..."

  Five minutes later, Garrison collapsed onto the couch, thankful for the cool sheet beneath him. He pushed away all the images from the day and fell asleep.

  It seemed no time had passed when he heard a faint knock on the door.

  He opened it to see the sun was already turning the dark skies gray. Allison O'Brien was standing on the doorstep in jeans, a gray sweatshirt, and sneakers. Her brown hair was pulled into a ponytail, and she had no makeup on. He'd known Allison for years, and he'd never seen her without makeup. Her lower lip trembled like she might cry.

  "Everything's okay." Garrison stepped out of the way so she could come inside.

  "Want to tell me what's going on? I thought you guys were camping."

  Camping? He hadn't heard that part of the story. "I promise to tell you everything. Right now, you just need to know that Matty is safe, and he's not in any trouble."

  "You said that on the phone."

  Right. "Well, it's still true." He led her to a chair at the kitchen table beyond the sofa, where he longed to return to sleep. "Matty's asleep. I would recommend you not wake him right now. He had a rough night."

  She sighed. "I had to drop Jimmy off at my mom's and rush up here in the middle of the night, and now I'm supposed to do what? Take a nap?"

  "He needs you here, Allison."

  "Tell me what happened."

  Garrison wasn't going to be able to put this off. As quietly and quickly as possible, he filled Allison in on all that had happened in the past twelve hours.

  By the time he'd finished, the woman was weeping and angry. "If Frank wasn't already dead, I'll kill him myself."

  "Yeah. In the end, he tried to protect Matty. Maybe knowing that will help your son deal with this."

  Through tears she said, "I really want to put my arms around my son."

  "I'm sure you do. Thing is, he's exhausted. We're all exhausted. And you must be, too. You drove all night. Why don't you go upstairs and fall asleep?"

  "Oh, I couldn't. I don't even know whose house this is."

  Sam stepped around the corner from the stairs. "Sorry. I didn't want to interrupt." She approached, introduced herself to Allison, and pulled her into a hug. Allison fell into her arms and wept. "I could have lost him."

  How did Sam do that? How could she connect so quickly with someone she'd never met?

  "I know," Sam said. "You didn't, though. He's safe. He'll recover."

  They held each other while Garrison stood there awkwardly. Finally, Sam stepped back. "Let me show you to the room. You'll be comfortable up there. If you're still asleep when Matty wakes up, we'll send him in."

  Allison nodded, and five minutes later, Sam had settled her on the sofa bed in her office. She came halfway down the stairs. "You need anything?"

  Garrison shook his head. "Thanks for"—he waved toward the second floor—"that. For being here."

  "Least I could do." She smiled, stepped back. "Help yourself to anything you need. I'm going back to bed."

  Garrison collapsed on the sofa again, the memory of Sam's smile keeping him company.

  Chapter 53

  It was after eleven the next morning when Sam tiptoed out of her bedroom and made her way down the stairs. The scent of coffee warned her she wasn't the first one awake. She peeked at the sofa where Garrison had slept only to find the blankets neatly folded. She turned toward the kitchen table and saw him sipping coffee and reading her newspaper.

  He looked up and folded the paper. "I hope you don't mind. I helped myself."

  "Of course not."

  "The pot's still half-full."

  She filled her cup and joined him at the table. "Anything interesting in the news today?"

  "Honestly, I was reading the movie and book reviews. I wasn't up for hard news."

  "I can't blame you for that."

  They sipped their coffee and chatted about nothing until Matty staggered down the stairs. "Where's my mom?"

  Garrison stood. "She's in the office. We promised to send you in there when you woke up."

  "Okay." He climbed the stairs again.

  A moment later, Aiden came down. "What's for breakfast?"

  Garrison shook his head. "Son, we're guests—"

  Sam stood, tried to hold back her chuckle. "I was about to see what I have."

  "What's the big deal, Dad? She knows we eat like pigs. She's been feeding us all week."

  Garrison looked at her and shook his head. "That's true."

  "Not pigs," she said. "Boys. The problem is, I don't eat like a boy."

  "We're going to starve to death," Aiden said. "We shoulda grabbed the food from the fridge last night."

  "Believe it or not," Garrison said, "your wise and brilliant father has managed breakfast. It should be arriving any minute."

  Sure enough, not three minutes later—an eternity according to Aiden's growling stomach—the doorbell rang. Brady stepped inside with two huge sacks of food dangling from one wrist, a tablet in the other hand. "You guys hungry?"

  "Famished," Aiden said. "Whatcha got?"

  Sam took the food from Brady. "You rescued me. I had no idea what I was going to feed these guys."

  "All I did was pick it up. Garrison ordered it."

  She turned to Garrison and winked. "You're always one step ahead." After Sam spread the options across her kitchen counter, she pulled out dishes and silverware. Aiden and Garrison filled their plates with eggs, pancakes, bacon, and sausage. The scent must've carried up the stairs because Matty and Allison came down a few minutes later.

  Matty filled a plate while Allison watched nervously.

  Sam caught her eyes and gestured to the array of food. "There's plenty. Help yourself."

  Allison did, and then Garrison introduced her and Matty to Brady, who was leaning against the far wall, watching the scene.

  When everyone had filled their plates, Sam chose a half a bagel and spread some strawberry cream cheese on top. She sat at the bar and waved Brady over. He snatched a piece of bacon and sat beside her.

  "You still mad at me?" she asked.

  "I thought Garrison was going to take m
y head off last night."

  She winced at the memory, could still hear Garrison's shouted accusation. "What were you thinking, letting her put herself in danger like that?" There'd been more, words she wasn't comfortable thinking, much less repeating, as Garrison's fury had erupted.

  All Brady had said was, "I trusted her."

  Brady had glared at her then. But Garrison had wrapped her in his arms.

  Sam sipped her coffee and gazed at Garrison, who was seated between his son and Matty, eating like he hadn't had food in years, cracking jokes between bites. "He doesn't seem mad now."

  "If anything had happened to you..."

  "It's over now. Let's not."

  Brady shook his head and bit his bacon. Yup, he was still mad. What had he expected her to do? Let that crazy man put a bullet in Aiden's head?

  The thought had her setting her bagel down.

  "When Rae hears what happened last night," Brady said, "she's going to kill me."

  "She'll understand," Sam said. "She's been there."

  Brady's look said he wasn't happy for the reminder.

  "You forgave her," Sam said. "You'll forgive me."

  "Maybe." He grabbed her bagel and took a bite. When he'd swallowed, he said, "Eventually."

  Yup. He'd forgive her. Probably sooner than he wanted to.

  When everyone had finished eating, Brady stood and cleared his throat. "I got some news. Not much..." He looked at Allison. "Have you been briefed?"

  She shrugged and looked at Garrison, who said, "I told her most of it. I don't know that the boys know how Sam got away last night."

  "Okay." Brady looked at Sam, shook his head again, and told the boys what Sam had witnessed in the parking lot of the body shop the night before. It was odd how the events he recounted seemed like they must've happened to someone else. Had she really witnessed a man's murder? Had she really left the scene, called Brady? Had she really done all that?

  She must've, because the images were there.

  She didn't know how she'd done it, but she had. Later she'd weep at the horror. And marvel at the miracle.