by Trina Solet
"So soon?" Nate said and picked her up. Then he admitted, "I miss her too."
Nate's mom came over to them and squeezed their faces in her hands.
"No sad faces," she told them.
When they got to the garage, Nate let his mom pick which car they would take.
"I'm taking the bus," she said at the sight of all those cars. Then she picked the Thunderbird.
"Bye, bye, Nate's mommy!" Georgie called out and waved as they left.
Then everyone yelled out, "Bye, bye, Nate's mommy!" and Nate's mom blew kisses at them.
After Nate and his mom left, Brent lingered outside enjoying the brisk, night air. John stopped next to him while the kids followed Quin inside. All evening, Brent had tried to get John to drink, but he only had one glass of wine. John was a much better dancer after half a bottle or so.
"The kids liked her a lot, didn't they?" John said. They were also very fond of Quin's mother and even his grandmother. John probably thought it was because they didn't have any grandparents of their own.
"Of course they liked her," Brent said. "She's like Nate. She makes you feel safe and good."
John gave him a harsh look.
"I'm sorry I brought it up," John said, exasperated. "Not everything is an excuse to moon over Nate."
"I don't need an excuse," Brent said. His heart melted at the thought of Nate. But he turned more serious as he added, "I need advice."
"Don't do whatever you're thinking of doing," John said like he didn't even need to hear him out.
"You're just selfish," Brent accused him. "Why should you and Quin be the only ones who get to be happy?"
"So this is about Nate." John rolled his eyes.
"Of course it's about Nate. He's all I can think about," Brent said. Then he asked, "Can that happen? Can the perfect guy just walk into your house, shake your hand, say 'Hi, I'm Nate Ralha. When can I move in?'"
"That's not how it happened," John corrected him.
"Don't be so literal."
"Anyway, Nate isn't perfect. Quin is perfect," John said while a smile played around the corners of his mouth.
"I mean perfect for me. And how is Nate not perfect? Name one thing that's not perfect about him," Brent said and stared him down.
"You said you needed advice," John reminded him.
"How do I make sure that he never ever leaves?"
John sighed, but he could tell Brent was sincere so he answered him seriously.
"Just be yourself. He'll stay or he'll go because he wants to."
"I can't see straight. I'm afraid I'll scare him away." Brent was so consumed by his feelings, he didn't know what was too much. He felt incomplete, off balance without Nate. But Nate wasn't like him. As a man who could stand on his own two feet, he might need more space than Brent.
"Nate doesn't scare that easy," John told him. "From what I've seen, he's at home here."
Brent was glad to have John confirm what he believed so he went a step further.
"But does he look at me the way you look at Quin?" Brent asked.
"How do I look at Quin?" John said defensively.
"Like he's a cake and you want to lick off all the frosting," Brent told him.
John shook his head.
"Nate doesn't look at you that way. You look at him that way." In a mellower tone he added,. "He has his own way of looking at you."
When John smiled despite himself, Brent could tell that he was happy for him. That, more than anything he said, told Brent that he had found something real with Nate.
Chapter 22
Ricky was home after soccer practice, giving Georgie a lesson in the game. When they saw Quin practicing some martial arts moves, they abandoned the soccer game and went to join him. They practiced the moves along with Quin in a little clearing while Nate read on a nearby bench. For a while everything was quiet. Then Georgie started chasing Ricky for laughing at her when she fell over after an overenthusiastic kick. Quin laughed at her too so she went after him next. He showed her some blocking moves, and they went back to practicing. But a little later, Georgie screamed then she was crying. Quin was trying to soothe her as Nate went over. Still in his soccer uniform, Ricky stood by, looking dismayed. And no wonder, Georgie was crying over a dead bug.
"She was scared so I stepped on it. Now she's crying because I stepped on it," Ricky explained, sounding a little indignant.
"He killed it!" Georgie accused, crying.
"He thought you wanted him to," Nate explained to her.
"No! Ricky killed it!" Georgie insisted. She didn't seem to care that she was the reason.
"Get a grip, G. It's only a bug," Quin said, but this only made her cry harder. "Your job, your headache, man," Quin said to Nate. He threw his hands up and walked away.
Nate crouched down to Georgie's level, and she hung around his neck and whaled in his ear about the bug. As he cradled her, Nate came up with an idea.
"Georgie, why don't we give the bug a nice funeral with flowers and..."
"No," Ricky said.
But Georgie said, "Yes, with flowers!"
"OK," Nate told her. He looked a Ricky. It was obvious how much he didn't like the idea of the funeral. Nate told him, "You don't have to come. It's just so Georgie will feel better."
After Ricky left them to it, Nate set the squished bug on a leaf while he sent Georgie to pick flowers. After he gathered a few rocks and a likely looking twig, he let her choose a spot for the grave. Georgie set her flowers in front of it. Then she and Nate stood solemnly over the pile of pebbles with a twig sticking out of it.
"Now you're supposed to say nice things about the bug," Nate told her.
"No. It wasn't nice. It was icky," she said.
"Says the girl who was crying her eyes out over it. We still need to say something nice about it."
"It was icky," Georgie insisted.
"Fine. I'll do it. This bug ... had a lot of legs," Nate said.
"It did," Georgie agreed.
"Amen."
While making dinner, Brent faintly heard the commotion outside then he saw Ricky coming in, looking gloomy. He went into one sitting room then another one. Brent saw that he was looking for a better view out the window. Brent joined him.
"Hey Ricky, what are they doing?" Brent asked him. He could see Nate and Georgie getting busy.
"They're having a bug funeral," Ricky said. He looked like he didn't approve. "I killed the bug for Georgie, but now she hates me."
Brent ran his hand trough Ricky's hair to comfort him.
"Georgie will never hate you," Brent assured him. "You're her favorite person and the best big brother anybody ever had. She is just little, and she likes to make a fuss. Go out there, and you'll see."
Ricky didn't go. He watched the funeral from the window. Brent stood close to him. He put his arm around Ricky, and they watched the funeral together. After a while Ricky leaned against him. Brent never wanted to move.
*
When Greta died, Pam thought that Ricky should go to his mother's funeral, but Brent didn't want to put him through that. Knowing there would be too many people there, some of them hostile, Brent wanted to protect him from all that commotion. Brent remembered hugging Ricky right before he left for the cemetery. On such an occasion, with Ricky so sad in his arms, Brent felt like he was fully his father for the first time.
"Me and Georgie are your family. Remember that," Brent told him as he held him. He didn't want to let go. Ricky hadn't turned five yet, and he was already so subdued and serious. Georgie was the only one he smiled for in those days.
Brent took Ricky to visit his mother's grave later, when it was quiet and peaceful. He decided that Georgie would join them some other day. It was just him and Ricky. The day was brisk but clear and sunny. Brent had let Ricky choose the flowers that would make up the bouquet. Ricky held it in the car and carried it all the way until he set it down.
Ricky pointed to the grave and asked, "Is Mommy in there?"
Yes seemed like the wrong answer.
"No. She's in here," Brent told him and pointed to Ricky's heart.
Ricky looked down then back up at Brent.
"She's always with you because she loves you so much," Brent told him.
"Then what's here?" Ricky asked.
"This is where we leave flowers for her," Brent told him.
He was afraid Ricky might have more heartbreaking questions he couldn't answer, but Ricky turned back to the grave and looked at the flowers.
"If you have a special message for her, you can say it here. If you have something important to tell her," Brent said since Ricky was staring at the grave uncertainly. Ricky looked up at him.
"I want to say, 'I love you, Mommy,'" Ricky said. He waited for Brent to tell him it was OK. Then he added, "Georgie too."
He waved at the grave as they left, and Brent had to bite the inside of his lip so he wouldn't cry in front of his little boy.
*
That night, Nate heard Ricky crying out and got out of bed quickly. It had to be another nightmare, but this time Nate only heard him briefly, not like before. As he went to check on him, he wondered if Ricky might have gone back to sleep, or if he even woke up at all since it was so quiet again. He did wake up. Nate saw him leave his room. He assumed Ricky was going to see that Georgie was OK. Without noticing Nate, Ricky went to Brent's bedroom and not Georgie's. He went in without knocking, almost like he was sneaking in. Following him, Nate expected Ricky would wake up Brent, but he only looked at him for a long time. Nate realized that Ricky was looking in on Brent the same way he had looked in on Georgie, to make sure he was OK. Ricky was scared of losing him as well. Nate let him reassure himself that Brent was all right and just waited for him. He worried that maybe the bug funeral was the reason and felt guilty.
Nate had turned on one of the lights in the hall so he wouldn't startle Ricky. He still jumped a little when he saw that Nate was waiting for him.
"I saw you were awake. I thought you might like some company," Nate whispered to him. Nate offered him his hand, and they went down to the kitchen for a snack.
As they were eating half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich each, Nate told Ricky, "If you wake up at night and you want company, you can just go ahead and wake me or Brent. Or even both of us. Everybody likes a midnight snack."
Ricky tilted his head, surprised at this idea of waking up half the house in the middle of the night.
"I had a bad dream," he confessed and stared at the big bite marks in his half of the sandwich.
"I used to have them too when I was little. When you get older, nightmares don't look as real. But for now, you just do what you need to do until you are sure nothing bad is happening, and you can go back to sleep. Just remember, if you need backup, you can always wake me or Brent. We'll be happy to help you chase away the bad dreams."
After a thoughtful moment, Ricky nodded and took another big bite of his sandwich.
Next morning, Nate told Brent about it while the kids were sitting down to breakfast. Brent went over and picked up Ricky from his chair. He wrapped him up in a long hug.
"Nate told me you were very brave last night," Brent said.
"No," Ricky denied it modestly.
"Nate doesn't lie. You're my brave boy," Brent said to him, gave him a kiss and one final squeeze and set him down again.
Ricky looked up at him and tried not to smile, but Brent's praise made him happy.
Chapter 23
Since Brent wasn't home that afternoon, Nate took the kids shopping after they came home from school. It was always weird to see the difference between an ordinary supermarket and the one in Bridgegrove. There was an upscale cafe by the deli. And of course, the bakery section was deadly. The florist area was like something out of his mother's dreams. The central isles curved around columns that displayed some of the choicier items. The extra windows and skylights took away from the effect of the fluorescent lighting. But in the end, most of the isles were stocked with food you could buy anywhere.
Nate gave the word no a good workout all the way to the register and beyond. He was now saying it whether Georgie asked for anything or not. Ricky had asked for a few things too. As Nate gave the kids each one bag to carry, he noticed a guy approaching them. He had watery blue eyes and an ingratiating smile pasted on his face. Nate wondered if he was going to try to sell him something. If he was going to hit on him, he was out of his mind and out of his league.
"We have to go now. We have to go," Ricky insisted and pulled Nate and Georgie away from the man just as he stepped closer.
Nate gave the man a hard look then let Ricky drag him away.
When they got home, Brent was already there. First Nate had the kids help with putting away the groceries. After they ran off, he told Brent about the guy.
"Pasty guy in an expensive suit. Blue eyes, sandy, thinning hair, medium height. Not worth a first look, much less a second one."
Brent didn't like the sound of him either.
"That could be anyone from around here. But my bet is Marshal Davis. He used to be in business with Greta, but when her fortunes rose, his fell. She might have had something to do with that. He had a thing for Greta, but she did not have a thing for him. His pursuit of her was borderline stalking. She had the kind of money he could only hope to have. But she didn't want him anywhere near her. He had a small stake in some business deal with Greta until she bought him out, kind of roughly. She didn't mess around. He ended up hating her, but now that she's dead, he hates me more. Thinks I turned her against him, ruined his chance with her when he never had one," Brent explained.
"Ricky said we had to leave when this guy approached us."
Brent looked surprised.
"How much does he know about this?" Nate wanted to know.
"He shouldn't know anything. He's never had any contact with Davis. Greta would never have allowed that," Brent said with a frown.
"Ricky seemed to recognize him, and he knew he was bad news."
The two of them went to find Ricky to see what he knew. Ricky was sitting on the floor of the library, but he wasn't reading. He had set up an Ariel doll and his action figures around her as if they were guarding her. When a tyrannosaurus rex growled and tried to attack, he was beaten back without mercy.
Brent and Nate sat with Ricky on the couch so they could talk.
"Your dad and I wanted to ask how you knew that guy from today. The one you saw when you told me we had to leave," Nate said to him.
"He is a bad man," Ricky said straight away.
"How do you know?" Brent asked.
"It was a long time ago. When I was at Bjorn's house. The man was talking to Bjorn's mom. And then when she wasn't looking, he came over where me and Bjorn were playing. He said, 'Shhh.'" Ricky put a finger to his lips. "He tried to give me a paper. He said it had a phone number. He said you were hurting me."
"Hurting you?" Brent asked.
Ricky took a breath and explained.
"He said to call the number and say you hurt me, and it would make you go away. He said he was a friend of Mommy's, and it was what Mommy wanted. But that's not true! Mommy wanted you to take care of me and Georgie. She told me!" The more he talked about it, the madder Ricky got. But it was clear that Ricky wasn't just mad. He had been scared by Davis's words.
Brent kneeled in front of Ricky and took his hands.
"No one can take me away," Brent assured him. "That man is just a stinky little weasel. You don't need to worry about him."
"If he tries to talk to us again, I'll kick him," Ricky threatened.
"You don't need to kick anyone. Your dad and I are here to deal with guys like him," Nate told him.
"He can't hurt us," Brent said while looking into Ricky's eyes.
Ricky gave him one of his patented frowns, but he couldn't hide that he was reassured by what Brent said. Brent kissed his face a bunch of times, and that sent him running off in embarrassment.
"How long ago w
as that?" Nate asked once they were alone.
"Bjorn and his mom went back to Norway more than a year ago."
"What are you going to do about this guy?" Nate asked Brent.
"I'll sick the lawyers on him to make sure he stays away. That's what they are there for." Brent outlined his strategy to Nate. "Davis needs to maintain a certain kind of reputation in Bridgegrove so he can do business here. He is always looking for investors for one of his ventures. He won't risk having a restraining order taken out against him for trying to approach two young children. But if we push him too far, he might overreact. We want him cowed not desperate."
Nate was a little impressed so Brent had to set him straight.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm just repeating what Greta said when we first discussed his rumor mongering. He was saying some stuff about me. We were worried that his lies might reach the kids, well, Ricky anyway. But Greta knew how to muzzle him. Unfortunately he wasn't the only one. But while the others got bored, he didn't. He believes he had a foothold with Greta until I came along, that he almost had it made. He feels cheated so he is carrying a grudge."
"What did he want with us?" Nate asked.
"Maybe to befriend you, bribe you, get you to spill some dirt he could use. He tried the same thing with Pam. We threatened him with a restraining order then too, and he never went near her again."
"Here's my next question," Nate said. "If I happen to see this guy again, how am I supposed to not beat the living shit out of him?"
Brent thought about this for a minute.
"First, you can't afford to set that kind of example for Ricky. Though if you did, Ricky would love you even more than he does now. And beating the shit out of Davis would involve physical contact with this guy, not to mention jail time. Does either of those things sound good to you?" Brent asked.
"Jail isn't like in porn movies, is it?"
"I'm guessing no."
"Then I'll keep a lid on it," Nate promised. He was kind of impressed that Brent was being so sensible.
