Love, Special Delivery

by Melinda Curtis

  “Go where?” Ben watched the batter connect with a pitch, sending it sailing over the right field fence.

  “Go kicking the bucket.” Granddad turned serious. “I’m two years shy of eighty. My ticker could go. I could get the Big C. Or I could—”

  “Live to see ninety.” Dad glanced at the chip crumbs on his napkin morosely. “You’re as healthy as that batter.”

  That was true. And why wouldn’t he be? Granddad had spent the majority of his fire career in Harmony Valley. They averaged less than fifty major calls a year. When Ben had been working his way up the ranks in Oakland, he’d had that many calls in a month.

  “I’ll handle recruitment,” Dad said firmly. “I’m the fire chief. End of discussion.”

  “Hey.” Granddad perked up. “There’s some potential recruits right there.” He nodded toward the rainbow-colored lobby where two women stood waiting for a table. “And at least one looks of legal firefighting age.”

  Mandy followed the host to a table. Instead of postal service blue, she wore a green flowered blouse, form-fitting blue jeans and flat sandals. Her usually messy ponytails had been tamed into a sleek, thick braid. Olivia wore a teenage girl’s summer uniform—a yellow tank top, jean shorts and yellow flip-flops.

  “Let’s not ask Mandy.” The last thing he needed was his kryptonite on his fire crew.

  “Mandy?” Granddad frowned. “Mandy Zapien?”

  “Yeah. So?”

  “She was one of the kids who accidentally started a fire at the high school years ago. Practically burned down the gym before we got there. I could never prove she was there, but I suspected...”

  While Granddad prattled on, Ben exchanged a look with his father.

  Dad’s seemed to say: don’t believe it.

  Ben’s said: there are too many coincidences here.

  But he didn’t believe it either.

  * * *

  “I’LL HAVE THE steak and shrimp fajitas.” Olivia ordered the most expensive item on the menu.

  “No. She’ll have two chicken tacos. À la carte,” Mandy corrected, choosing the cheapest item. “And so will I.” She waited until the waiter left to lean closer to Olivia. “You knew Ben would be here.”

  Before Olivia could protest, Ben’s father approached their table. “Ladies.” Keith leaned on a chair back, sagging like he needed the support. “We’re filling a roster of volunteer firemen.” Keith had kind eyes. “Firehouse meeting. Seven thirty tomorrow night.”

  Olivia beamed at Mandy. “Can I?”

  “Are you eighteen?” Ben appeared next to his father, clapping a hand on Keith’s shoulder.

  “I’ll be eighteen soon.” Olivia slumped. “But since I’m going away to cosmetology school after that, I shouldn’t promise anything.”

  Mandy was simultaneously bursting with pride that her sister realized she couldn’t commit to something she was interested in and deflating inside because Olivia’s dream was going to be harder to achieve than she expected it to be.

  “Oh, say. Are you the nail girl Agnes told me about?” An elderly woman with purplish-gray hair at a table several feet away beckoned. Mandy thought her name might be Eunice, only because she’d delivered her mail. The hair was hard to forget. “My cuticles are horrible.”

  Olivia went eagerly to give the old woman advice. Keith moved toward the door, leaving Mandy and Ben alone.

  “Truthfully,” Ben said in a low voice meant only for her, “I don’t think you’d do well in the program. That first fire...”

  “Call it first-timer shock.” Mandy wasn’t sure why she was defending herself and a right to a volunteer position. She had no time or energy for anything other than the post office. “Besides, I didn’t run away when you asked me to be your safety net on Parish Hill. And I put out a fire at the post office today.”

  Ben’s gaze delved into hers but didn’t stay long. “My Granddad seems to think your first time seeing a fire was in the high school.”

  Mandy’s smile fell. And not a little fall either. It plunged past her stomach to the tile. “That was an accident.”

  “A secret you told Mr. Moon?” Ben leaned down until his face was near her ear. If she turned her head, she could kiss him. And make a complete fool of herself. “I’d like to know that secret. And if you tell me, I’ll let you be a volunteer fireman.”

  Mandy swallowed. “Aren’t you afraid if I tell you, you won’t want me to volunteer?”

  “I’m actually feeling it’ll be the opposite.” He angled his face to hers, a hint of amusement in his indirect gaze. “But I know you and secrets. You’d rather keep them to yourself. So it’s a safe bet.”

  Oh, how Mandy hated a dare.

  * * *

  “WHAT’S HANNAH DOING OUTSIDE?” Ben’s father pointed out the window when Ben joined him in the lobby. “Did she run away again?”

  The appearance of Hannah left Ben no time to gloat over the corner he’d backed Mandy into or to be relieved that there had been no more deep confusing glances.

  Hannah’s pink bike was leaning against the window. Her blond pigtails were askew. She crouched in front of the window holding a small jar with holes punched in the top.

  Ben hurried outside and knelt beside her. “Whatcha doin’, peanut?”

  “Truman told me the best place to find crickets is in the cracks on Main Street.” Her little brow was furrowed over the top of her black glasses. Her pink zippered sweatshirt hung almost off her shoulders.

  Ben was afraid to ask. “Why do you need crickets?”

  “I found a lost spider earlier. It needs to eat.” She wiped at her nose. “Can you be quiet? I haven’t heard a cricket since you came out here.”

  “It’s time for dinner.” Ben realized he should be calling Mom to let her know Hannah was all right. A glance inside the restaurant showed Dad on the phone.

  He mouthed, Mom.

  “Dinner.” Hannah stood. She looked like she’d done the army crawl through a mud field. “So soon? Did you meet Mandy and ask her out?”

  “No... I... Who told you that?” He didn’t need her answer. His mother was on the case to solve his bachelorhood. He wished he could put his parents in time-out. He glanced back inside at Mandy, feeling both annoyed and guilty. “Was that why Mandy dressed up? Did she know?”

  Hannah shrugged. “Getting her here was Olivia’s job.” She pressed her nose against the window. “She does clean up nice. At least her braid stays.”

  Mandy noticed Hannah’s scrutiny and waved. Olivia returned to their table, saw who Mandy was waving at, and waved, too.

  “Do you know who else cleans up nice?” Ben asked, righting Hannah’s bike.

  “Who?”

  “You.” Ben wheeled Hannah’s bike to his truck and loaded it in the back, hoping there was time before dinner to get her in the bath. “I’ll give you a ride home. Grandpa Felix and Grandpa Keith drove separately.”

  “Do you know that Great-Grandpa Felix rescued a Mau the other day?” Hannah said when she’d buckled herself in. “Mau sounds like meow.”

  Ben backed out. “I take it a Mau is a cat.”

  “A gray-and-black tabby, except instead of stripes everywhere, she has stripes on her legs and dots on the rest of her body. And she sounds like this.” Hannah yowled and meowed and made a noise that sounded like a purr. “Do you think I can adopt her?”

  Ben was going to kill his grandfather. Was there anyone not on his family hit list? “We talked about this, Han. No more pets—”

  “Until we find my dad.” She slumped in her seat. “That’s taking forever.”

  Maybe not as long as she feared. The DNA test was due next week.

  A crane flew in front of them and landed on the bank of the Harmony Valley River.

  “Look! Look!” Hannah pr
essed her nose to the window. “Isn’t he pretty? Did you know that cranes eat frogs and...small snakes.” She turned in her seat, eyes large behind her lenses. “We have to go find Iggy. With his crooked tail, he won’t be able to get away from that crane.”

  “Circle of life, Han.” She had to be more realistic.

  She sucked in a breath. “You’d let Iggy die?”

  “You’d let the crane die?” He knew he was being cruel, but he was too annoyed with the world to filter.

  “That crane doesn’t have a name!” Hannah sat rigidly. “Iggy has a name. He loves me.”

  “You were going to feed crickets to a spider, who doesn’t yet have a name,” Ben pointed out. “Animals eat animals.”

  “I wasn’t going to name the crickets,” she said, regaining some of her usual calm.

  “The crane’s name is Willy.” Ben broke an egg, practically on Hannah’s head.

  Hannah pressed her hands over her ears and gave him the silent treatment.

  He couldn’t blame her. Ben didn’t want to hear himself snipe either, so when they got home, he said nothing to anyone. He let Hannah defend her disheveled appearance to Mom. He let Mom scold Dad for eating a piece of fudge, a fact Olivia had shared with her.

  Mom had made roast chicken with brown rice and fresh vegetables. Ben was full of beer, chips and salsa. He ate without really tasting anything.

  Perhaps sensing something was wrong, conversation during dinner was brief and mostly between his parents. Halfway through dinner Ben received a text from the private investigator: I found John Smith. I’ll call you tomorrow.

  Tomorrow? Ben had questions now. He wanted answers now. Was John aware he had a child? Was John interested in raising his child? Was John an upstanding guy or just some loser who shouldn’t be raising a puppy, much less a little girl?

  Ben excused himself and went to the garage to call Fenway back. The private investigator didn’t answer his phone.

  “This is why I don’t allow cell phones at the dinner table,” his mother scolded upon his return. “This is family time.”

  “Mom,” Ben managed to say. He glanced at Hannah. He’d nearly convinced himself that John Smith was a figment of Erica’s imagination.

  He’d told Fenway to find John and send him to Harmony Valley. For all he knew, John Smith could show up tomorrow. He could take Hannah away. And there was nothing Ben could do about it.

  Ben hadn’t realized how attached he’d grown to Hannah. Sure, he’d loved her before Erica died. He’d loved her like a favorite uncle who took her out once a month and spoiled her a little. For months he’d had a say in how she was raised, how she was fed, how she was disciplined (okay, maybe the last part had been led by his mother). The appearance of John Smith meant he had no more say in Hannah’s welfare at all.

  Unless the DNA test proved he was her father.

  He stared at Hannah as a feeling of helplessness welled in his throat. He should have requested the electronic DNA results.

  “And by the way, Ben,” his mother said as she cleared the dishes from the kitchen table. “I approve of Mandy. I talked to her today about your incorrect impression of her being an arsonist.”

  “Do you hear what I have to put up with?” Ben demanded of Dad, grateful of the distraction. “It’s like I’m in middle school again and Mom is arranging for me to take Lori Caldwell to the Sadie Hawkins Dance.” He glared at Mom. “News flash—the Sadie Hawkins Dance is where girls ask the boys.”

  His mother tsked. “Lori Caldwell was a sweet, shy girl who needed a boost in confidence.”

  “She thought I liked her.” She’d tried to stick her tongue down Ben’s throat at the after-dance party. That was Ben’s first kiss. Talk about shock and ew.

  “I wonder if Lori is single,” Mom said with an evil glint in her eye. “I could call her mother.”

  “Please don’t.” Ben scowled. “Forget the please. Just don’t.”

  “Or you could ask Mandy out.” Mom came to stand behind Hannah, who nodded in agreement. “I could cut some roses from the yard. Women like to receive flowers.”

  “Granny is the evil queen,” Ben told Hannah with a straight face. “If she offers you an apple, watch out.”

  Hannah’s eyes widened.

  “Ben!” Mom swatted him in the shoulder with her dish towel.

  “You need help with your personal life, son.” Dad winked at Hannah, who was still sulking about Iggy and the crane. “Don’t you want to be married? Look at how happy marriage has made me.”

  His mother. His father. John Smith. The meddling and the malaise and the not knowing. Ben reached his limit. “If you mean you get to do whatever you want as long as you do what Mom says, then sure. You’re a happily married man.”

  “Ben, that was uncalled for.” His mother’s disapproval was as sharp as the horseradish gravy she’d poured over the green beans.

  “Is it? You plan Dad’s life down to when he can retire. If I get married, it’ll be with a woman who’ll be busy doing her thing so she won’t have time to worry about me and my thing.” And the risks he took as a fireman. He’d seen the fierce way Mom hugged Dad when he returned from a shift. He’d seen her tense when the phone rang from the firehouse and it wasn’t Dad.

  “Isn’t that short-changing your relationship?” Dad set down his fork. “Now, your mom and I... We love each other. We’re a team.”

  “Am I on a team?” Hannah seemed to think the answer would be no. She stared at her brown rice as if it was an animal she’d named and couldn’t bring herself to eat.

  “Of course you’re on a team.” Dad ruffled her hair. “The Libby team.”

  Hannah didn’t look at Ben. “With you and Granny?” She didn’t mention Ben.

  God, he was a jerk.

  “I need some air.” Ben stood. He stopped himself from charging out and gently tugged one of Hannah’s messy braids. “Everyone in this house is on the same team.” And then he did something he didn’t normally do. He pressed a kiss on the top of her head.

  If he’d known that was the way to silence his parents, he would’ve done that a long time ago.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “YOU MADE TWO nail appointments tonight,” Mandy said with genuine enthusiasm. “That’s awesome.”

  They crossed the freshly mowed grass on the town square as the sun was setting.

  “I know, right? Everything’s going my way.” Olivia skipped a few steps ahead, threw out her arms and spun around. “In four months, I’ll be my own boss. I could set up shop at that house the town council told us about if you rent it. And when Mom comes back—”

  “If I rent it?” Mandy felt a niggle of impatience that threatened eggshells. “Once you start working, you’ll need to pitch in on things like rent, utilities and food, especially if you’re operating a salon there.”

  Olivia slowed down. “But...”

  “You’re about to become an adult.” Mandy wasn’t sure Olivia was ready to be one. And some of the blame fell on her. “You’ll be free to do what you want, but you’ll also have to pay your way.” When Olivia said nothing, she couldn’t stop herself from pointing out the hardships of self-employment. “Are you sure you want to be a nail technician? There’s not much future in it. You won’t get a cost-of-living increase every year or retirement.”

  “I want to follow my passion,” Olivia said with all the gusto of the naive. She held out her hands so Mandy could admire them. “I don’t care about things like raises or—”

  “Health insurance?” Mandy’s voice was suddenly raw. Her sister needed a reality check. She was a cancer survivor. She needed the best health insurance out there. “Are you ready to pay for your own health care?”

  Olivia glared at her. “You don’t understand. All you’ve ever wanted to do is work at the post office. Yo
u achieved your dream.”

  “That’s not true.” Why did it feel like she’d swallowed broken glass? “I was like you when I was eighteen. I had dreams. I wanted to go to college. I wanted to be an astronomer.” Each statement rose higher into the sunset as if giving voice to her dilapidated dreams made them important again. “I wanted to work for NASA.”

  “What happened?” Olivia’s gaze turned butter-soft. She was a bleeding heart when it came to personal stories. It was why she was in danger around their mother.

  “Grandma got sick.” Cancer. How she hated what it’d done to their family. “She couldn’t take care of you.” Mandy tried to look Olivia in the eye, but the long-buried resentment welled up in her eyes, and she was afraid her sister would see it. “If I went off to school I couldn’t take care of either one of you.”

  “But the Grumpster—”

  “Grandpa had to earn a paycheck for all of us. He had to make sure we had health care.” Mandy waited for the sheriff to go by before crossing the street. “He offered me a job when I turned eighteen. And I had to be an adult and take it.”

  “You could go to school now,” Olivia said in that bright, innocent tone.

  “I can’t go back until I retire.” In eight more years. Where had the time gone? “By then I’ll be too old.”

  “You can go back to school when you’re forty.” Olivia was behind Mandy, but she was grinning. Mandy could tell from her cheerful voice. “You can go back when you’re seventy.”

  “But I won’t want to.” Now that their grandparents were gone and Olivia was healthy, it was time to make some new dreams. Ben’s face drifted into her mind. She quickly shoved it out again. “Maybe I’ll babysit your kids when I retire. I’ll knit sweaters and bake pies and they’ll call me Auntie Maddy.”

  “Old maid.”

  Her term of endearment didn’t seem so dear this time. And Mandy didn’t have the heart to call her a brat.

  “Grandpa used to say dreams were for the young and foolish.” The words came out of Mandy with the deliberate pace of the disillusioned. “He used to say you found one thing that made you happy and that’s what kept you going.”