But all I could think, as I clung to the shreds of consciousness, was thank God. Quint was gone. Now if only he’d stay that way.
For all their silence on Quint’s departure, somehow word of my auto accident made it onto the neighborhood grapevine. Since the detective’s visit, a few of the neighbors quietly began to take care of me. Lieutenant Sunshine and Ben had mowed my yard and he informed me they had plans to scrub the driveway over the weekend and put down a new layer of asphalt sealant. Ben, the general and Jack had already planned to do their drives, they just added me to the schedule. I had a week’s worth of casseroles filling the fridge. I’d been able to call off the committee a couple nights earlier. It was more food than we could eat, and some of it didn’t look all that appetizing, although the Korean ladies down the street made some fabulous spring rolls.
Our mailman’s wife, who lived three houses down, offered to drive Rob to Tae Kwon Do, but I was reluctant to accept too much help. After all, these people had thought the worst of me. However, I wasn’t above accepting a few tokens of their abject apologies for misjudging me. I made an effort to wave, and if they stopped me, I chatted for a few minutes, then gently excused myself. Rob had invites to play basketball with the mailman’s son, who was a year older, and street hockey with the young teen directly across the street. They were the two black families in the neighborhood and the only kids close to his age. The Koreans didn’t speak much English, but they smiled shyly and weeded the flowers along my walkway. My violas, herbs, daisies and hanging baskets had never looked better. Molly from next door, the one Rob called the crazy cat lady, kept them watered.
Not everyone felt the need to apologize. Many kept their distance, treating me no better, no worse than before.
As for who’d left a message that day, I didn’t want to think about it. The microwave beeped and Rob pulled a burrito from the oven. “You want one?” he asked.
“No. Thanks. I’ll just grab a power bar.” That, some water and a book would keep me company while I camped out in the car during the class at the dojo.
Rob grabbed a bar from the pantry shelf and handed it to me.
I wanted to ruffle his hair, but couldn’t reach so high.
“Don’t you want to know who called?” Rob asked.
“No.” Rob and I both had new cellphones, just not data-phones, to his great disappointment. I also had two hard-wired phones to go with the cordless handsets and the new house number. “Unless you recognized the number from Caller ID?”
“No. Blocked caller.”
“Then I definitely don’t want to know. Probably some politician or a survey company.” We’d certainly had plenty of those calls. “Hurry up, you need to change.”
He shoved the last bite of burrito into his mouth and took the stairs down to his room, making enough noise to compete with a herd of elephants. A loud thump announced his arrival at the bottom just as the doorbell pealed.
My fear of Quint returning hadn’t entirely left, so my stomach clenched hard.
“I got it!” Rob called out. The door opened and I held my breath, listening.
The voice that carried up the stairs as a rumbly murmur came from a man.
“Mom, the lieutenant is here.”
Damn. “Come up.” My stomach relaxed, while my pulse zinged.
The boy was getting persistent. Apparently he was the leader of the Take Care of Candace Committee. I saw him every day and he greeted both of us with a smile. Rob showed an eagerness for the man’s company that both soothed and frightened me. Maybe as much as I feared growing interested myself.
Until I knew where Quint was, and my divorce came through, I had no clue what the future held. Although I’d removed my wedding rings, I had trouble getting used to the idea of being single. Until the decree was in my hand, probably many months, if not years, down the road, I couldn’t in good conscience date. Nor did I want to. I had one man in my life–my son. I didn’t want to rely on anyone. I had to take care of Rob and that was that. A fly-boy who might be around six months or a couple years before jetting off wasn’t even a possibility.
And yet, there he was.
Golden and smiling with cheer that seemed to come straight from the Emerald Isle. The echo of the Celts could be heard in the lilt of his voice. His bright humor reminded me of my father and my younger brother, Rory, both of whom I missed dreadfully. Neither of whom were in a place to help, although they sympathized mightily and called regularly to check up. My grandmother sent small checks when she could, and every little bit helped.
Rory had offered to come up after my accident, but he had a new baby, they were barely making it on his paycheck, and his wife needed him. Dad had his hands full caring for his mother, Grandma Aileen. My middle name came from her. Mom had passed on a few years ago, so we were pretty diminished. All three of them urged me to take leave and come down. Or better yet, move home. Another tempting thought, but California was too expensive. Rob was in a good place, the school district had him on the gifted track, and we were aiming for the International Baccalaureate program. Besides, I liked my job, made good money, and compared to the North Bay Area, the cost of living was manageable.
For the most part, I felt at home in Anchorage. I was still considering a move to the secured apartment complex–it wouldn’t be much cheaper than trying to pay the mortgage on the house–but other expenses would drop. Still, I didn’t have to jump immediately. If Quint had split for good, then I had to decide what to do about the furnishings. I’d have to reduce the volume by seventy to eighty percent to fit into a two-bedroom apartment.
Cay’s head popped over the half-height wall that separated the dining area from the stairwell. A second later, his tall form dominated the space at the top of the stairs.
“First time you’ve let me up here,” he said. “Nice.”
I glanced around the room nominally divided into dining, living room and media, kitchen and a small study area for Rob against the north wall. He’d voluntarily moved up from the office and set up his desktop computer so I could easily look over his shoulder. He didn’t want me to worry about him hitting internet porn, he’d said. What a kid. He had a way of making me laugh. Where his ideas came from, I had no clue.
“Like oak, do you?”
“So?”
“It goes nice with the green.” He nodded at my jungle of indoor plants crowded against bookcases, all under grow lights near the south corner window.
“Seems to work with the white walls and cheap carpet.” I hadn’t gotten around to painting the walls the soft sage and taupe I wanted. Quint had never agreed to it, and without his paycheck, I couldn’t afford to.
“Hope you like football. I’ll be spending Sunday afternoons over here soon. Pre-season is about to start.” Cay grinned at the sixty-inch flat-screen perched on top of the most original of entertainment centers, one we called the honeymooner special, made with cinder blocks and pine boards. Hey, it was cheap and held speakers, receiver, Blu-ray, cable box and three game consoles. With room left over for a couple plants and a few pictures. Not original, not pretty, but functional. The entire set up could probably add a grand or two to my escape fund.
“Depends on who you cheer for. If you like the Niners, you’re in. Denver, Dallas or Oakland and you’re out.”
“Niners are good. I’m told Seahawks are the local team here, but I’m something of a Chicago fan, even though I should root for Detroit.” He shrugged with an adorable sheepish grin. “My dad would disown me if he knew how I really felt.”
“Where are you from?”
“East Lansing, Michigan. You?”
“Northern California.”
“Oh