by Amy Lillard
Chloe sniffed and gave a small nod. “I keep telling myself that, but the doubts are still piling up.”
Arlo understood. As much as she daydreamed about Mads and Sam, she was certain Chloe wondered about Wally even more. How could she not? At night when she was alone, at all the places where they had shared memories, maybe even when she looked at Jayden.
“He was coming around though,” Arlo said. She released Chloe’s fingers and picked up her fork, hoping her friend would do the same. No sense wasting good biscuits and gravy on even more what-ifs.
“You think so?” Chloe asked.
Arlo cut off a piece of gravy-covered biscuit with the side of her fork. “I do.” She ate the bite and thankfully Chloe did the same. She might be upset, but she was eating. “I know you didn’t like it,” Arlo continued, “but to me, Wally asking to see Jayden meant he regretted his decision to pretend like his son didn’t exist.”
“Maybe he changed his mind.”
Arlo shrugged. “Does it matter?”
Chloe forked up another bite and chewed slowly before answering. “I guess not. Not now for sure.” Thankfully, she kept herself together and no more tears rose in her eyes.
“If he wanted to see Jayden, he wanted things to be different.”
“And how much would they have changed if he hadn’t…died?”
Arlo shook her head. “I guess now we’ll never know.”
7
They finished their breakfast without any more tears. Despite Chloe’s agreement to pay the bill if Arlo drove, Arlo picked up the check. After the week Chloe had had, it was the least she could do.
“Let’s go to the park.” Chloe’s suggestion took Arlo by surprise. “Maybe go by and get Jayden for a bit. That would be fun, don’t you think?”
Anything to keep her friend on this side of the ledge. Chloe still seemed a little fragile and unsure. She needed time with her son, fun time without having to worry about family, or the bills, or that the only man she had ever loved had fallen three stories to his death.
“That’s a great idea.”
They drove Arlo’s car back to the bungalow and got Chloe’s Range Rover out for the trip. Jayden would be much more comfortable in Chloe’s SUV than Arlo’s vintage VW.
“Come in, come in.” Liz Carter stepped to one side as Chloe and Arlo entered the large brick house that sat on five beautiful acres of manicured lawn. Daniel Carter, Chloe’s father, owned a small chain of sporting goods stores with five locations in northeast Mississippi. It was amazing to Arlo how different she and Chloe had been raised, and yet they were such good friends.
“Mommy!” Jayden came running from the living room and threw himself at Chloe, automatically expecting her to catch him. Arlo knew Chloe would always try, but there was going to come a time when he would get too big to jump into her arms for hello hugs. “What are you doing here? You don’t have to work?”
Chloe’s smile was sweet if not a bit sad. “The Books & More is closed on Sunday.” She ruffled his blond curls with affectionate fingers.
Typical of the male species, he pulled away. “That’s right. We went to church today. I forgot.”
Because that was so half an hour ago.
“You want to go to the park?” Chloe asked. Arlo could almost see her fight to run her fingers through his hair. She knew it was hard on her friend to leave him with her parents, but everyone agreed it was best for all involved. Chloe needed her own space, but Jayden needed the stability of staying in the home he had always known.
“Can I bring He-Man?”
“Of course.”
“Yay!” He skipped off to find the leash for his dog, a four-year old bichon frise named He-Man. And that was exactly what happened when a person let a five-year-old name a puppy. At least the pooch had been dubbed “Manny” by everyone but Jayden. Though lately Arlo had caught him using the moniker as well.
“Manny,” he called.
Arlo had heard him barking when they had first arrived at the house. Manny was a tough little white poof ball…until the door was opened. That was when he ran for cover.
“You don’t mind, do you?” Chloe asked her mom. “I should have asked first.”
Liz shook her head. “He’s your son. You can come get him whenever you want.”
But Arlo knew that Chloe didn’t want to upset Jayden’s schedule.
“Get your shoes on,” Liz called.
Chloe looked down at the shiny parquet floor beneath their feet. They hadn’t even gone into the house, only into the foyer. That wasn’t the problem. Arlo knew that Chloe felt like she should be the one to tell Jayden to put his shoes on. And he should live in a house with a mother and father who loved each other. Maybe that’s why she had held on to the idea of Wally for all these years. It was part of her fantasy of how life should be for her son. But now Wally was dead. There was no hope of those dreams becoming a reality. Arlo was certain that had affected her more than Wally’s actual death. After all, Chloe hadn’t even seen him in ten years or more.
“Yes, Honey,” Jayden called back. Honey was the name Liz had chosen for herself as a grandmother. No Nana or Grammy for her. At first Arlo had found it a little pretentious, but over the years it had grown on her. Now she couldn’t image the cultured Liz Carter being called anything else.
“Are you all right?” Liz asked. She didn’t have to ask for the particulars. She didn’t have to say the words: How are you holding up since Wally is gone?
“I’m fine,” Chloe said. There was a slight edge to her voice, like she wanted to add, I wish everyone would stop asking me that. “Where’s Dad?”
Liz cocked her head to one side, indicating the living room behind her. “Watching the game.” But Arlo had been over enough times to know that was code for “sleeping in the recliner while the game plays on the television set.”
In the small space of silence that separated them, Arlo could hear the tick of the large grandfather clock on the opposite wall and the faint noise of the baseball game. Then Jayden started back up again and everything was drowned out in his nine-year-old chatter. He was talking to the dog, apparently trying to get his leash attached to the pup’s collar without getting licked in the face.
Good luck with that, buddy.
“Are you getting enough sleep, sweetie?” Liz reached a hand toward her daughter.
Chloe took a small step back. “I’m fine.”
A quick flash of hurt flared in Liz’s eyes, then it was gone. “How’s the store, Arlo?”
“Doing good.” She nodded. If she said anything else, Wally, the elephant in the room, would wake and once again stomp through the conversation. After all, the book signing was supposed to bring people in from all over. Maybe even from Memphis and Tupelo. Wally didn’t do a lot of signings and Arlo had been hoping that some of the big-city dwellers would come to her indie bookstore in small-town Sugar Springs. She had needed the opportunity, but she supposed she couldn’t really complain. Wally had taken the brunt of that accident. At least Arlo was still “on this side of the dirt” as old man Gilbert would say.
“I’m ready.” Thankfully, Jayden picked that moment to allow Manny to drag him in the middle of the three of them, effectively splitting them apart—Chloe and Arlo on one side, Liz on the other. Behind him, Jayden dragged a duffel bag that was almost as big as he was.
“Whatcha got there, sport?” Arlo asked.
Jayden gave a negligent shrug. “A couple of things to play with.”
Liz shot him an indulgent smile while Arlo tried not to laugh. He had enough toys packed for a lifetime of trips to the park. But he missed his mother as much as she missed him, and when they were together, he seemed to cram as much into each minute as possible.
“I’ll have him back for supper,” Chloe promised.
Liz nodded. “And please don’t give him ice cream after three.
It makes him too hyper and he doesn’t want to eat his food.”
“Aw, Honey.” Jayden made a face at his grandmother and grimaced as she kissed him on the cheek.
“And mind your mother,” Liz warned.
Arlo wasn’t sure she would ever get used to that—Liz telling Jayden to mind his mother. It was backward for sure.
She didn’t say anything. They all knew it.
* * *
“She means well,” Arlo said once everyone—including He-Man—was settled in the Range Rover and moving down the road.
“I know. But every time I turn around…”
“Every time you turn around what?” Arlo asked.
“I’m reminded of…” Chloe checked the rearview mirror, most probably to see how much Jayden was paying attention to the conversation. “…him.” Little big ears must have been listening.
“It’s only natural,” Arlo said gently. “It is a small town.”
Chloe shook her head. “I’ve lived here for the last ten years without hardly hearing his name. Now he’s everywhere.”
And dead.
“Can we play ball when we get to the park?” Jayden asked. He was staring out the window as if somehow the view from the Range Rover had changed from the last time he had seen it.
“Did you pack a ball and gloves in your bag?” Chloe asked. Arlo could tell by the look on her face that she was hoping he would say no. Chloe wasn’t the most sports-minded person. Never had been.
“Of course.”
Chloe sighed. “Then we’ll play ball.”
Arlo choked back a laugh.
Chloe elbowed her.
“Aren’t you glad you had a boy?” Arlo asked.
Chloe looked at her son in the rearview mirror, love shining in her eyes. “Yeah.”
* * *
“Like this.” Jayden once again demonstrated the proper way to throw a baseball, but Chloe was hopelessly uncoordinated.
No, that wasn’t true. She used to do gymnastics and had been on the cheer squad a year or two. She was even voted best dancer senior year. But if there was a ball involved, all her rhythm went out the window.
Chloe tried to throw it, but the ball veered to the left. It wasn’t a bad throw as far as distance, but direction left something to be desired.
Jayden shook his head and started toward the ball. But he was too slow. From out of nowhere, a large Airedale terrier bounded after the baseball, snatching it up in his mouth and running away as fast as those long legs of his could carry him.
“Hey,” Jayden hollered and started after the dog.
“Jayden.” Chloe chased behind them.
Arlo stood in the middle of the field, glove on one hand and the other shielding her eyes as she watched the three of them run—dog, mom, and child.
The park in the middle of Sugar Springs took up a four-block section. A row of trees split the space down the middle. On one side was a field for playing sports. At one end a couple of kids kicked around a soccer ball and at the other was a small patch of concrete with a basketball hoop and a large net to keep the ball from rolling into the street. The other side of the park boasted a huge jungle gym, a sandbox, a swing set, and several slides.
The dog ran along the tree line, happy to be chased by not one but two people. Arlo could see the joy on his face.
Manny, ever vigilant, took up a defensive stance on the blanket they had laid out and was running from corner to corner, adding his sharp barks to the cacophony of human shouts.
“Get back here,” Jayden called.
But Arlo knew the dog and she knew how to handle it.
“Don’t run,” she called. “He wants you to chase him.” Her words were echoed back to her in a smooth baritone. She knew that dog and she knew that voice.
“Mads.” She breathed and tried not to seem happy to see him—but she was.
“Stop,” he called to Jayden. Then he whistled and motioned the boy to come back.
Jayden cast one last look at the black-and-tan dog, then turned and jogged over to where they stood. The look on his face said he was certain that he would never see the ball again.
Chloe followed her son. She stopped next to them, greeting Mads with a breathless hi and a small wave. She no sooner got the salutation out than Dewey, the dog, stopped and looked back toward the people who had been chasing him. Once they stopped, he dropped the ball, tilting his head to one side and giving them a curious and sad look. This wasn’t going at all like he planned.
“Now,” Mads said. “Go back over to your stuff and sit down like you haven’t got a care in the world.”
Chloe shot him a look but didn’t say anything. The four of them trudged back over to the blanket that Chloe had spread out for them to sit on. Manny was guarding the space, running across the fabric to bark at anyone who came too close to the corners. Everyone was at the other end of the park, but as far as he was concerned, that was too close. Arlo knew that if anyone actually got near him, he would sit on his haunches and growl. Close enough to touch and he would run for cover. He was that kind of dog.
Manny barked until they sat down, then he climbed into Jayden’s lap and tried to lick his face with great success.
“Jayden,” Chloe started, but caught herself. She was like Lucy van Pelt when it came to dog germs.
Arlo smiled as Chloe tried to relax and not scold Jayden or the dog for all the “kisses.”
They had barely sat down on the blanket when Dewey took the ball into his mouth and tossed it in the air, playing some sort of minigame of fetch with himself. Or maybe he was trying to tease them into coming after him. When it finally became apparent that he wasn’t going to regain their attention, he picked up the ball and trotted over to where they sat.
He wagged his stump of a tail and dropped the ball in Jayden’s lap.
Manny yelped and scampered out of the way, behind his young master. He peeked out to see if the monster had gone, but Dewey stayed, tail wagging, awaiting their approval and praise.
“There,” Mads said triumphantly. “You can play ball again.”
Jayden picked up the slobber-covered ball, barely holding it with two fingers. His mouth was curled into a grimace of disgust. “I’m not sure I want to.”
“I don’t blame you,” Chloe said. “Sorry, buddy.”
Mads looked from Chloe to Jayden, then back again. “Seriously? You’re going to let a little dog spit keep you from playing baseball?”
Jayden looked to his mother, then over to Mads. It was clear he had no idea how to answer that. “I—”
“The answer is no.” Mads took the ball from Jayden and wiped it on the grass, anything left after that was cleared away by his shirttail.
“Come on.” Mads stood and waved for Jayden to get up too.
Dewey, who clearly thought his game was about to begin again, bounded ahead, spun around, and waited for them to catch up. His stumpy tail was still wagging ninety to nothing.
“Me?” Jayden clearly wasn’t sure this big burly man was talking to him.
“Yes, you. You think I want to play with these girls?”
“Hey now,” Arlo protested. “I’ll have you know I was considered the number one pitcher in our softball division.”
Mads scoffed. “Softball. And slow pitch at that, I bet.”
“Come on, Chloe.” Arlo pushed to her feet before she realized that was all part of Mads’s evil plan. Lure them into playing ball so he could show them up in front of Jayden. Or maybe he was trying to be nice to a young boy whose dad had been recently killed—no matter that he didn’t know the man was his father—and whose grandfather and caregiver worked way too much.
“I’m not much good—”
Arlo shook her head. “Nope. If I’m playing, you’re playing too.”
Chloe sighed. “I was afraid you were going to
say that.”
* * *
One thing became entirely evident as they tossed around the mostly dry baseball: Jayden needed a man in his life. A young man who could do all the things with him that his father had done with his grandfather…but Arlo knew that wasn’t true either. Wally’s dad and Wally himself were about as different as two people could be—related or not. But the sentiment was the same. Jayden was missing out and Arlo could see it. Even more heartbreaking was that Chloe could see it too.
“You didn’t happen to see Wally’s widow at the inn, did you?” Mads asked the question nonchalantly as he pitched the ball Arlo’s way.
Arlo caught it, then threw it to Chloe. They were all four standing in the shape of a square throwing the ball, one to the other. Manny continued to guard his blanket, while Dewey bounded after the “toy.” He was excited, but well-behaved enough that he didn’t jump on any of them to get the ball, only followed behind it. “No. I didn’t go out there this morning.”
“A little too much punch at the party?” Mads asked.
“Come on, Mommy,” Jayden coached. “Just like I showed you.”
Arlo ignored Mads and instead turned her attention to her best friend. “You can do it, Cee.”
Maybe in another lifetime. Chloe did her best to throw it overhand, but she released it too late and it hit the ground and bounced. Jayden blocked his nose with his glove and caught the ball. “Better,” he said.
Arlo smiled. Nothing like pint-sized encouragement.
“She’s staying at the inn still, right?” Mads asked.
“Yeah. I mean, I guess.”
Jayden threw the ball to Mads.
Mads threw it to Arlo. Was he closer to her than he had been before? It sure seemed like it.
“Just wondering,” Mads said.
Arlo tossed the ball to Chloe. “Why?” She turned her attention to Mads, not taking time to monitor Chloe’s toss to her son.
Mads was closer. This time she knew for certain.
“Get back over there where you belong, Sheriff.”
He rolled his eyes. “I see you’ve been talking to Cindy Jo again.” He caught the ball with an athletic ease that made a mockery of the lazy act he put on most of the time.