by Kim Shaw
He shifted his body, sliding his arm from beneath Torie’s body so that he could lean up on an elbow and look at her.
“There’s no problem, Monte.”
Torie tried to keep her voice light, sensing that she’d hit the sensitive area of Monte that she’d been trying to avoid.
“Well, then, you should come over and have Sunday dinner with us. My mother has been feeling a little better lately. She’s been able to stay up a while longer and take a meal with us some days.”
“Monte, I’m just not sure we’re at the family-dinner stage. I mean, you and your boys have had a hard time. I’m sure seeing another woman in their home…seated at the same table their mother used to…I don’t think it’s the right time for me to—”
“Torie, that’s nonsense. Yes, my boys have had a hard time but they’re kids and they’re resilient. They’ve adjusted to their mother’s absence in their lives. They understand that she’s no longer in pain and she’s resting comfortably with God now.”
“That’s beautiful, Monte. But that doesn’t mean you want them thinking you’re trying to replace her in their lives.”
“Of course not. Shawna will always be their mother, but they have room in their hearts for friends. Besides, I’ve told them about you and they can’t wait to meet you.”
“You’ve told them about me? What have you told them?”
“I just told them that you’re beautiful, smart, funny and sweet. My oldest wanted to know if you were a dime, as the kids say. Of course I told him you were all that.” Monte laughed.
“You’re crazy,” Torie said, slapping Monte playfully on the chest.
“So it’s settled, then?”
“No, Monte, it’s not. Look, I just need a little more time. Can you give me that?” Torie asked.
She reached up and touched the side of Monte’s face. She stroked it gently and, in doing so, hoped to soothe the disappointment he must have felt at her resistance to meeting his family. She didn’t want him to press her because then she would be forced to reveal the doubts and misgivings she was having about the probability of their relationship being a long-lasting affair. Specifically, she didn’t want to discuss her qualms about becoming a mother, especially not a stepmother.
Monte leaned in to kiss Torie.
“Of course I can give you that. It’s cool. We’ll wait until you’re ready,” Monte said.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Torie asked.
“Baby, as long as you keep putting that thang on me like you just did, I’m eating out of the palm of your hand. Anything you want, is yours,” Monte said, shifting onto his back and pulling Torie on top of him.
There was little talking as night gave way to day and Monte and Torie continued pleasuring each other with heart, body and soul. They climbed a stairway to heaven, lifting each other to the highest of heights.
Chapter 10
Dear Mama
Monte drove slowly down the street, his tan Lexus moving at a speed of twenty miles per hour as he kept his eyes peeled for any sign of his ailing mother. It was just after sunrise and much of the neighborhood was still in shadow. He struggled to keep the feeling of panic that rested in his gut from rising to the surface. There was no time for panic, no time for him to fall apart. He had to find his mother before something happened to her.
He couldn’t even believe that this had happened. He knew that his mother had been feeling much better. The symptoms of Alzheimer's disease seemed to be in recession, or at least had been laying dormant, he thought. His mother, Marva, had been even more lucid in the past few weeks, calling each of the boys and Monte by their correct names and remembering what they’d eaten for dinner the night before. Her doctors had said that she was responding well to the new medicines and that there was no reason to not expect that she wouldn’t continue to be focused and coherent. As a result, Monte had stopped strapping his mother into her bed for fear that she would try to get up and wander around the house.
It was still dark when Monte, buried deep within his last hour of sleep, had heard a noise. He’d continued to sleep, though slightly disturbed, unwilling to give up the last vestiges of rest. He told himself that perhaps one of the boys had gotten up to go to the bathroom and that if there were something wrong, like an upset stomach or bad dream, either Josiah or Joshua would make their way to his king-size bed to wake him.
When Monte’s clock went off, he was already awake, having never fully drifted back into sleep after he’d heard that noise. He got up immediately and traipsed into the master bath. After relieving himself and brushing his teeth, he headed down the hall to start the coffee brewing. He stopped in front of the boys’ room, peered inside to find them still sound asleep. He moved farther down the hall and stopped in front of his mother’s door. It was partly open, which was unusual. He remembered closing it securely before going to bed the night before. Monte pushed the door open and looked in. Marva was not in the bed. He stepped farther into the room and snapped on the light. He peeked behind the door and then moved toward the closet door. It was empty.
Monte hurriedly returned to the hallway where he checked the bathroom, the walk-in closet and finally the kitchen. There was no sign of her. The dead bolt to the basement door was still secure and the spare key was safe on top of the ledge above the door, far out of his mother’s reach. He continued searching the house, flicking on lights everywhere he went. She was not in the dining room or in the family room. He returned to the hall and went into the boys’ room. He shook Joshua, the eldest of his two sons, awake.
“Josh, did Grandma come in here this morning?” he asked.
“Huh? No, I…I don’t think so,” Joshua said, rubbing his eyes.
Monte moved to the window behind the boys’ bunk bed that provided a view of the backyard. There was no sign of her there, either.
“What’s wrong, Dad?” Joshua asked.
“Grandma’s not in her room. I can’t find her anywhere. I’m going to go out front and look around. Stay here,” Monte ordered.
He controlled the tone of his voice, not wanting to alarm Joshua unless it was absolutely necessary. He went out to the front of the house and, as he reached up to disarm the alarm, he noticed that, instead of being red as it should be, the light indicating that the alarm was engaged was green. Monte roughly snatched the unlocked door open and ran out onto the front porch. He glanced up and down the driveway, before walking toward the garage. He punched in the code on the keypad next to the garage door and waited impatiently while it rose. All he found inside was his Lexus and Shawna’s Nissan Altima sedan.
Back inside the house, Monte ran into his bedroom and slid into a pair of sweats and a T-shirt. He pushed his feet into a pair of Adidas flip-flops, snatched his wallet and car keys off the dresser and headed back out into the hall. He stopped in front of the boys’ room, where Joshua was sitting up in bed, now wide-awake.
“Josh, I think Grandma went out walking somewhere. I’m going to look for her. I want you to call Cheryl and tell her what’s going on. Ask her to come over early today. Then I want you to wake your brother up and you guys have a bowl of cereal. Okay, you got that?”
“Yes, Daddy,” Joshua said, pushing back his covers and climbing out of bed.
Monte hurried out of the house and jumped into his car. He stuck the key in the ignition and, as the engine turned over, he closed his eyes and said a silent prayer, asking God to watch over his mother. He pulled out of the garage at such a high rate of speed that the tires screeched against the pavement.
Monte drove around for the better part of an hour. He called home from his car phone and, when Cheryl answered, he prayed that she had some good news for him.
“Is she there?” he breathed.
“No, Monte. There’s no sign of her anywhere. I called Mrs. Anderson down the street…Estelle—you know, the lady she used to play bridge with? She said she hasn’t seen her since Estelle came by here for a visit last week. The boys and I have searched the
whole house. Monte, do you think we should call the police?”
“I’m going to the police station right now. Tell the boys to get ready for school. It’s getting late,” Monte said.
“Monte, they’re dressed, but they’ve already said that they don’t want to go. They’re worried about their grandmother. Do you want me to tell them that they have to?”
Monte sighed, his eyes still scouring the sidewalks to the left and right of his car. The town was starting to come alive, and now that there were a few people out, he actually had to focus on each individual instead of just scanning for human figures.
“No, just let them stay there. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Monte said. “And, Cheryl, tell the boys not to worry. I’m sure their grandma is just fine.”
Monte added those words of reassurance without conviction, hoping that Cheryl could convey them in such a way that the boys would believe them. He didn’t feel certain at all that his mother was okay and with each passing second the dread at all the possibilities began to take hold of him.
At the police station Monte was immediately taken in to see one of the detectives on duty. Because of Marva Lewis’s advanced age and physical and mental conditions, there would be no waiting for twenty-four hours before filling out a missing-person’s report. The detective took down all of her information from Monte and gave the photo Monte pulled from his wallet to the computer analyst to have scanned and routed to every patrol car’s information screen. He had one of the patrolmen send it electronically to the local Kinko’s copy center with instructions to be prepared to run color copies as soon as they got the word.
“Now, chances are we’ll find your mother in the next hour or so. She can’t have gotten very far on foot, especially at her age. However, if we haven’t tracked her down by noon, I want you to call Robert Berger, the manager over at the Kinko’s on Vine Street. Tell him that I told you to call and that he should run about one hundred copies off. Pick those up and start getting them posted around town. All right, Mr. Lewis?”
“Yes, Detective Smythe, that’s not a problem. Is there anything else we can do?”
“As a matter of fact, yes, there is. I want you to head back to your house. I’m going to have a few officers come by directly to check out the premises. We just have to rule out any foul play.”
“Foul play?” Monte said.
“Now, now, there’s no need to panic. It’s just the routine that we have to follow. They’ll check out the house and the surrounding area. Just to be sure that your mother left on her own accord. Once they’ve done that, I want you to show them your mother’s belongings and make sure that she hasn’t taken anything with her—you know, a bag, her valuables or anything. Okay?”
Detective Smythe rose to his feet and Monte followed his lead.
“Is that it? Is that all I can do?”
“Yes, Mr. Lewis, that’s all for now. I want you to try not to worry. Chances are your mother is sitting on a bench in a park or somewhere, taking a load off and enjoying the morning air. I’m almost certain of it.”
Monte shook the detective’s hand and headed back out to his car. The sickening sensation in the pit of his stomach had intensified and now he realized that the time to panic had arrived. His ailing mother, who was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s was out wandering the streets. She was probably cold and alone, and, for all he knew, she could be hurt. He could kick himself for not getting out of bed when he heard that noise. And not securing the guardrails on her bed last night. How could he have been so stupid? He cursed his lack of intelligence.
Back at home, Monte worked overtime trying to keep the boys’ fears at minimum. By nine o’clock, the police officers had gone through the house, inspecting the alarm system, the locks on the door and his mother’s bedroom. They watched while Monte checked the clothing in her closet and drawers, as well as the jewelry that he kept locked in a safe in the hall closet. Nothing was missing, as far as he could tell. It appeared that she hadn’t even put on her favorite sweater, which still draped the back of the natural-wood rocking chair in the corner of her room. She’d gone out of the house before dawn dressed only in her nightclothes and slippers.
At ten o’clock Cheryl and the boys sat down to do some reading. She told them that just because they’d skipped school for the day, there was no reason for them to think that they didn’t need to exercise their minds a little bit. Monte squeezed Cheryl’s shoulder in gratitude, thankful that she always seemed to know just what the boys needed and what he needed. Keeping Joshua and Josiah occupied for any length of time would help Monte focus on finding his mother.
Cheryl Amore had actually been hired by Monte’s late wife, Shawna. She’d been recommended to Shawna when Josiah was a year and a half old and Shawna wanted to return to work. She’d been a stay-at-home mom since giving birth to Joshua two years prior to that and was looking forward to returning to her job as an insurance-plan administrator. The family Cheryl had been working for raved about this immigrant of Grenada who, at fifty years old, had raised two wonderful, successful sons of her own after being widowed ten years into her marriage and had worked with their autistic child until he was able to attend a full-day school program. Both Shawna and Monte fell in love with Cheryl’s easy but no-nonsense mannerisms right away, and she immediately began helping to care for the Lewis’s toddlers.
Monte knew that it was with Cheryl’s support and dedication that he made it through those first few months after Shawna passed. He’d taken a leave of absence from the firm to be home with the boys, but was having a difficult time getting the then four-and six-year-olds to stick to any of the schedules Shawna had put in place. They were reluctant to sleep in their own beds, opting to set up shop in Monte’s bed every night. They were temperamental and uncooperative with each other and Monte found himself constantly breaking up disagreements between them. It was not an easy time for any of them, but Cheryl helped them weather those stormy days and they came out on the other side a tighter group of man and young men. And then, just when things seemed to have settled into a new but acceptable normalcy, Monte’s mother’s health took a dramatic turn and necessitated Monte having to move her in with them. Once again, Cheryl did not miss a beat. Monte knew that he was fortunate to have her in their home and in their lives and he never missed an opportunity to let her know it.
“I’m going to drive around for a while. Call me on the cell or in the car if there’s any news,” Monte called out as he headed out of the door.
Inside his car, he checked his e-mail quickly on his BlackBerry. He’d already sent his secretary a message, alerting her to a family emergency that would keep him at home for the day. She was instructed to clear his schedule and contact him only in an extreme emergency. He backed out of the driveway and punched in the speed-dial code set for Torie on his car phone. She answered on the second ring, and from the moment her voice filled the car, Monte felt a rush of faith that everything would be okay invade him.
“Morning, babe. Aren’t you at the office yet?” Torie asked.
“No, I’m not going in today. I’ve got some trouble here,” Monte said.
“What? Did something happen to one of the boys?” Torie asked, alarmed.
It was amazing how worried she’d started becoming over the boys. She was not used to the bumps and bruises, the constant spills and upsets, that happen in the lives of children, and the more time she spent with Monte, the more she realized that it took a strong constitution to get used to the unpredictable life a parent led.
“It’s my mom,” Monte replied.
He was headed toward the Sands Point Preserve, which was one of his mother’s favorite places to go in the spring and summer months. When she was well, she used to walk the nature trails a couple of times a week with two other ladies from her church.
“Oh, no, what’s wrong, Monte?”
The obvious concern in Torie’s voice warmed Monte to his soul.
“I don’t know. She’s missing. I got u
p this morning and she was gone. It seems like she’d turned off the alarm and walked out the front door in her pajamas. The police are out looking for her and I’m driving around again. There’s been no sign of her and…” Monte sighed. “I don’t know what to think.”
“Oh, God, Monte, I’m so sorry. Listen, I’m going to catch the Long Island Rail Road and come out to your house,” Torie said.
“No, sweetheart, that’s not necessary. The detectives said that there’s really nothing we can do but wait. I just couldn’t sit still, so I’m out driving around, hoping to see something,” Monte said, pulling his car into a space near the park’s entrance.
“Nonsense, Monte. It is necessary, and I’m coming. Just give me your home address. I can take a taxi from the railroad station,” Torie said.
It was obvious to him that Torie would not take no for an answer. He quickly gave her his home address and the name of the stop on the train in his town, but instructed her to call him when she got to the station.
“All right, babe, I’m on my way. Just hang in there. I’m sure your mother will be found soon, and she’s going to be just fine. Do you hear me?”
“I hear you. Thanks, Torie,” Monte said.
Monte hung up the phone and stared out of the window toward the park in front of him. It took him several minutes before he got the strength to get out of the car. In those minutes, he thought about how people always complimented him on his strength and fortitude. So many people, especially men, believed that it is strength that makes a man. They never stop to think about where that strength comes from, as if a person is just born that way. Monte knew differently. He knew that his strength came from the women in his life, beginning with his mother, who nurtured him from birth, and continuing with every woman who’d ever guided, instructed, loved or taught him. He added Torie to that list of women, realizing that he was becoming more and more dependent on her. Just talking to Torie had the power to make Monte’s days brighter, and touching her was like striking gold. As Monte sat in that car, he let himself acknowledge what he’d already known was there. He was in love with Torie Turner, and he knew that making her a permanent fixture in his life would be like winning a multi-million-dollar lottery jackpot.