by Alexie Aaron
“Yes. My mother used to call me Wart. It made me happy. When I was born, the doctor gave me an Apgar score of ten. He said I didn’t have a wart on me, I must be a wart myself. I think he gave her the idea.”
“Well, Wart, let’s not leave your driver too long. It can be a tough crowd out there.”
“That’s you up there, isn’t it,” Bridgeton said, pointing to the stained-glass depiction of a fierce white dove with massive talons.
“I’m complimented, but I prefer to think of that as the Holy Spirit. He fights for us.”
“Father Simon, you fought that hard for me. Thank you.”
Father Simon smiled. The two walked up the aisle and out into the sunshine. The congressman’s driver was leaning on the bumper regaling the accumulated youth with tales of fighting off groupies of the rock stars he drove.
“Did you see World War Z?” he asked the skeptical young men.
“Yeah,” one of the youths answered.
“When I drove Tupac, the girls would swarm the limo like the zombies did to get over the wall. They trampled each other. I had to pull them off the car. I was a much younger stronger man then.”
“Who are you driving now?” he asked.
The driver didn’t say anything but opened the door for Bridgeton and the priest.
“Father Simon is as important as Tupac was!” the same youth teased.
“Hey, Father, are you going to rap the liturgy?” another asked.
Father Simon just smiled, thinking, the best I can do is Dr. Seuss.
~
Jesse was out walking when the Martins arrived home. He missed the bustle of getting four jetlagged cranky children under six out of the SUV and into the house. When he arrived home, things were settled more or less. Cid was helping Ted and Ethan sort the suitcases out.
“Can I help?” Jesse asked.
Ted handed him two diaper bags. “I think the quicker you get them upstairs, the faster I will be off the shit list.”
Jesse grabbed them and walked swiftly into the house.
Ted looked at Cid. “It was nice of you to bring Mia home a surprise. Most people stop at the Cracker Barrel and opt for a teapot. You bring home a stud muffin.”
“You knew he was going to be here. You invited him,” Cid accused.
“Lazar invited him,” Ted said. “I merely reaped the benefits from Mia when I agreed.”
“Where is Lazar?”
“We dropped him off at his house. It was a rough plane trip.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
Dieter bounded out of the house with Mark at his heels. “Dad, can we borrow a truck? Mark wants to get home and see his dad.”
“I can drive you,” Cid said. “I’ll be leaving just as soon as we get these upstairs.”
The boys grabbed the remaining bags and ran into the house with them.
“Oh to be young and strong,” Ted said.
Dieter passed the nursery where Nanny was very happy to see the diaper bags. “Thank you, young man,” she said to Jesse.
“I love you, Nanny Berta,” Jesse said.
“Careful, Nanny,” Mia said walking by. “He’s got a reputation.”
“Worse than yours?” Nanny teased.
“No. Hello, Jesse, how are you feeling?”
“Much better. The doc has me on a progressive exercise regimen.”
“Did I miss something? Were you ill, Jesse?” Nanny asked.
“I fell through the ice.”
“Oh my.”
“My heart stopped. Cid and Murphy rescued me. Murphy restarted my heart.”
“Oh dear,” Nanny amended.
“I’m going to help him adjust.”
“So he’s seeing…”
“Ghosts, and I’m hearing a voice in my head,” Jesse said proudly. “Mrs. Martin, due to the rush of leaving Walnut Grove House, we may have brought Faye with us. I will take her with me when I leave.”
“Faye is welcome here. I hear she’s keeping company with Murph.”
“They have united against Cid. You may want to talk to them. When I tried to, they just disappeared.”
“Oh dear,” Nanny repeated. “What did Cid do?”
“Told Faye that she was my problem, not in those words but…”
“Oh dear,” Mia parroted. “Nanny, would you excuse me? I’d like to see if Dr. Walters knows what he’s talking about.”
“You go ahead. The girls are sleeping, and the boys will soon be nodding off. Then we can drink some of that quality whiskey Altair has hidden.”
“Amen to that,” Mia said.
Jesse walked over to the guestroom. He pulled off his shirt and sat down without being asked.
“You’re a very good patient,” Mia said.
“I’m trying,” Jesse said.
Mia took off her gloves and put her head on his back and then on his chest.
Jesse felt his heart flutter. It was brief. “Did you do that?”
“What?” Mia asked looking at him.
“I felt a flutter.”
“I’ve had that before. I don’t think it’s dangerous. I think that our hearts are syncing up if that’s possible. I’m really careful not to touch Tom without my gloves. Now I’ll know not to do the same with you. Sorry I didn’t pick up on it sooner.” Mia started to put on her gloves.
“Wait. Sit with me for a minute. I want to see if you can hear the voice.”
“You’re hearing voices?” Mia squeaked. “I do, but it’s part of my sensitivity.”
Jesse grabbed her hand and said, “Close your eyes and reach out and listen.”
Mia smiled and did so.
“When I first heard the voice, it sounded like a mix of a male and a female.”
“Did it sound like this?” Mia said in his mind.
“Yes and no,” Jesse thought back.
Mia released her hand and spoke again. “How about now.”
“It was you.”
“Yes and no.”
Jesse opened his eyes and met hers. “Tell me,” he pleaded.
“What were the circumstances when you heard the voices?” Mia asked.
“I was worried about releasing the acolytes and had no one to ask. Stephen told me to close my eyes and reach out into the universe. He said you did that.”
“I connect with mages to heal, sages to help me when I’m up against something I’ve never dealt with before, and sometimes, I connect with energy that has a lot of knowledge to share. This time, you woke me out of a sound sleep.”
“It was you!”
“Not just me. I was with you when you asked for help. If you heard things other times, it could have been an angel or, like I said, a mage – old word for wizard, or a sage. I think it’s Murph who connects you to me. I don’t know how long it will last or to what extent you will be able to connect. Let’s work on it. If I run aground, I’ll introduce you to a few people who can give you better answers.”
“I was in Cid’s mind. I saw what was happening in the room he was in through his eyes.”
“That’s amazing. I can’t do that.”
“Or you won’t,” Jesse sensed. “Tell me why the sudden back off of you being in Cid’s business?”
“Am I that obvious?”
“No.”
“Ted and I love Cid. We want the best for him. We know he needs to move on and find a person to share his life with. I’m very careful not to involve myself in his love life. He’s had some problems, and I worry that he thinks I or Ted are submarining his relationships because we don’t want to share him.”
“Because he’s been the wife,” Jesse filled in. “I believe you’re overthinking this. He’s the one who has been hanging on to Ted like a parasite.”
“He’s not a parasite,” Mia stressed. “They’ve been friends since middle school. Ted values his advice, intelligence, and friendship. They are loyal to each other, and the two are good for each other.
Had they been gay, they would make a perfect couple. But nature painted them heterosexuals. And I was lucky to have attracted one of them. Cid has been there for me, and I will always think of him as part of our family. I don’t want to ruin that by some misunderstanding.”
“So you didn’t ask Stephen to check Sally out?”
“No, he probably overheard Ethan talking on the phone and decided to check things out for himself. Murph’s also friends with Audrey, so he could have found out from her. I was hurt when Cid accused me of meddling.”
“Because you weren’t.”
“No. If I was, then I wouldn’t be upset. I’d own up to it and wait out the temper time in the doghouse like I’ve done before.”
“I’ve been there. That doghouse needs new wallpaper,” Jesse said.
~
Sally was busy in the kitchen when Cid dropped the boys off. He just waved and told her he’d see her later. She grinned. Cid called Mia’s phone.
“Hello, Cid,” Mia said. “I was just talking about you.”
“I bet you were. Can I bring any groceries home?”
“I already sent Ethan out with a list. Can you meet me at the corner of the subdivision by the hill?”
“On my way,” Cid said hanging up. He assumed Mia got her new truck stuck in the mud. Last time, he made her promise to call him before spinning the wheels. He drove up the hill and turned right and pulled in beside her truck.
Mia was standing a few yards away with Jesse. She turned and waved him over.
“What’s going on? Did Ted catch the two of you canoodling?”
“What’s canoodling?” Mia asked Jesse.
He bent down and whispered his answer in her ear. She turned bright red.
“Honestly! Jesse, I’m sorry, but I’ve changed my mind.”
“Whoa, little lady, give the big moron a chance. Cid, apologize to Mia.”
“I’m sorry,” Cid said. “Why the covert meeting where half the graveyard can see you?”
“It is an excellent view,” Mia said, looking down the hill. “Susan told me that this corner was going up for auction. I think we can get it cheap. It’s dual zoned, commercial and residential.”
“Mia, you hate the graveyard. Why would you buy the property?”
“You and Jesse are going to buy the property.”
“I have thought about it, but alas, I have no money.”
“You’re going to use my money.”
“I am not!”
“You are too!” Mia said, getting up in Cid’s face as much as a woman a foot shorter could. “I have a buyer for the peninsula house, and I need to invest the money.”
“I’m not taking your money, and I don’t need property, let alone share it with Jesse.”
“Calm down, Cid, and listen,” Jesse insisted. “Go on, Mia.”
“I was taking Jesse to the graveyard to work on getting his new gifts under control. He was telling me that you and he have been having conversations about opening a wood furniture shop someday. Maybe making some cabinets and refurbishing some antiques. I confessed that I put my foot down on your similar dream of doing this in your garage because I didn’t want you bringing antiques near my home. You know, because of the possibility of ghostly attachments.”
“There is that possibility. I wouldn’t know until I started working on the piece,” Cid admitted.
“But I shouldn’t be stopping your creative impulses. How about building a shop here? It’s far enough away to slow any visitations. Maybe put an apartment over it for Jesse. It’s close enough to home for us to keep an eye on it when you two are out of town. Also, it would stop some other yokel from putting up another bait shop. How many bait shops does a town need?”
“You would go further with the town people if you would stop calling them yokels,” Cid scolded.
“Yes, Cid,” Mia said contritely.
“Look at that view! Yes, there is a lot of graveyard, but lots of the town too. I can see the lake in the distance and the start of farmland. There seems to be a lot of sunshine. We could go solar,” Jesse said. “I’ve got money to invest and I would like to give being my own boss…”
“Partner,” Cid corrected.
“Being a partner a chance,” Jesse corrected.
“I don’t know,” Cid said, looking at the ground. He felt he was being pressured. Garretts hated to be pressured.
“Tell you what. I’m going to buy the property with Mia. I know you like to take your time making decisions,” Jesse said. “If you decide to become my partner in this venture, then Mia will arrange to transfer her part to you.”
“If not, it will give me time to decide where to put my money until Jesse can buy me out,” Mia said. “Or he and I will become partners. I’m handy with a hammer.”
“Fair enough. When is the auction?” Cid asked.
“Next Saturday. I’ll have Ted make some cash available, and I’ll pay him back when the house closes,” Mia said.
“Who’s buying the house? Please tell me it’s not Mike.”
“It’s not Mike. Remember that nice lady with the supposed poltergeist problem?”
“Debra Carter?”
“She’s not sure she wants to live there full time, but she made me a very good offer.”
“Mike is going to be pissed,” Cid said smiling.
“Think how pissed he’s going to be with a drop-dead handsome sensitive living so close to PEEPs.”
“Who?”
“Me,” Jesse said. “I’ve been told I’m very photogenic.”
“This is looking better and better. Mia, you need glasses,” Cid said.
~
Cid waited in the lobby. Sally walked in wearing a nice pair of trousers and an open motorcycle jacket over a rich turquoise blue sweater.
“You look beautiful,” Cid said. What he thought was, how am I going to concentrate on the road let alone dinner with you looking like that?
“Thank you. You clean up pretty well too,” Sally said, admiring the black pants, black sweater look under a jean jacket.
Cid blushed. “I was wearing something else, but Mia made me go back and change.”
“Do I want to know what you were wearing?”
“No, that’s a state secret.”
“Speaking of secrets, when do I get to meet your family?”
“You want to go to Kansas?”
“No, the Martins. I want to meet the Martins. Cid, are you ashamed of me or them?”
“Neither. It’s complicated. I want you to myself for a while. I want you to get to know me before they tell you lies.”
“Why are they are going to tell me lies?” Sally asked, taking his arm.
“They will do anything for a laugh. They are jokers. Ted’s one thing but add Mia in and I’m going to look like a baboon.”
“Buffoon,” Sally corrected.
Cid turned and looked down at her with amazement. “You’re pedantic.”
“Yes, and you need to trust us.”
“I’ll think it over. I was going to make you a meal at home, but Jesse waylaid me with a conversation, and I didn’t even start it.”
“It must have been some conversation.”
“It was. I’ll tell you more later. I could really use your advice.”
Sally smiled. “So where are we going?”
“There is a new Italian bistro in the next town south. It was recommended by Burt, he’s my other boss, and Paula, she’s his girlfriend. It’s supposed to be quiet, and the food’s tasty.”
“Where would Ted take Mia?” Sally asked getting in the truck.
“Taco Bell.”
“On a date night,” she clarified.
“Taco Bell. Mia even has a special dress she wears.”
“Mia gets dressed up for Taco Bell.”
“Yes. You see why I want you to get to know me first instead of judging me by my friends.”
“Is Ted cheap?”
“No. I think he’s rather extravagant. He just likes Taco Bell. His taste buds are very simple.”
“So when you’re cooking and creating all these wonderful meals, it’s not for Ted.”
“Heavens no. It’s for me.”
“Me-ah?” Sally asked.
“Cute. Yes, Mia appreciates my cooking. She’s not a cook but loves to eat. But I cook for myself. I love cooking, grilling, sautéing, and frying.”
“Me too,” Sally said distracted by something up ahead on the side of the road.
“I’m not a baker. I could be, but Mia is amazeballs at baking.”
“Turn around, there’s the Taco Bell.”
“Wait, we’re going…”
“We’re going to go through the drive thru and pick up enough Taco Bell to seduce Ted. You’re taking me to meet the Martins right now. I’ll call and warn them.”
“But?”
“No buts. Cid, let’s rip the Band-Aid off.” Sally grabbed Cid’s phone, found Ted’s number and called.
“Did you forget your wallet?” Ted asked.
“I didn’t. Hello, Ted, this is Sally Wright.”
“Hello, Sally Wright. Did Cid do a dine and dash? If so, Mia will be there to pay the bill.”
Sally laughed. “Actually, we’re stopping at the border. Can you guys eat again?”
“Mia can always eat. I can always eat Taco Bell. The kids are fond of tacos. Oh, Jesse’s here, better double whatever you’re bringing. So… we finally get to meet you.”
“I insisted,” Sally said.
“I don’t know why he’s embarrassed of us. I’ll go and let Mia out of her cage, hose her down, and we’ll be waiting for you at the house. Ta Ta.”
Sally hung up the phone. “Um… Ted’s… interesting.”
Cid laughed. “Remember you asked - no strike that - demanded this.”
Chapter Thirty-three
Cid knew something was up when no one came out to help with the food bags. He opened the front door, and Sally and he walked in. They were all lined up in the foyer like something out of the Addams Family. Ted, Jesse, Nanny Berta, and Dieter stood in the back row. Brian and Varden, who was wearing his jalapeño bowtie, stood in front of them. Lazar sat in a chair beside the boys. Mia sat at his feet in a beautiful dress holding the twins. The dog, Maggie, was curled up in front of them.