Sidetracked (The Busy Bean)

by R. L. Kenderson

  “Shit.” I winced as I quickly hit the pause button. “I mean, crap.” I looked over at my passenger. “I’m sorry. I’m so used to it that I forget sometimes. I could put something else on if you’d like.” I ran through a quick mental list of my favorite podcasts. They were all mostly women who swore. “I don’t know if I have another podcast though. How about the radio?”

  Lee put his hand up. “No, you misunderstand. I’m not complaining. It was merely an observation.”

  “Oh.” I smiled. “Okay.”

  “But before you hit play again, I want to apologize to you for being rude this morning. You are going out of your way to help me. I should be thanking you.”

  “It’s fine.”

  “No, it’s not.” He sighed, and I glanced quickly to see a sad look on his face. “Max and Gabe have been trying to protect me and are treating me with kid gloves. They convinced me to move in with Max and his family, so they could rent out the other half of the townhome. They took away my car because it needed to be fixed.” He snorted. “That was a month ago, and those two boys are still giving me the runaround. But we all know what is going on; they just don’t want to say the dreaded A-word.”

  “Alzheimer’s?”

  “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For saying it out loud.”

  “I’ve learned that sometimes, avoiding things can be worse than actually admitting them.”

  “I agree,” Lee said, his voice sad. “I hate being a burden on the boys.”

  A small smile crossed my face as I heard him call two very grown men “boys.” But I quickly schooled my face because this was not a humorous conversation. “I’m sure they don’t think of you as a burden. I know I’m not close to either of them, but I’ve never heard them refer to you as such.”

  “Thanks, Charli, but it doesn’t matter because I am a responsibility neither of them should have to worry about.” He sighed. “You see, when their mother, Paula, left, she also left us with an extra strain. The hardware store does well, but we’re not rich. I still had to work full-time because I couldn’t afford to hire someone to replace me. Paula had worked part-time, so we’d lost her income. This meant Gabe and Max had to take care of themselves after school and help make dinner. But those two never complained. Not once.” He chuckled. “At least, not to me. I guess I have no idea what they said to each other when I wasn’t there. And when they got older, they both worked at the store after school and on weekends to help out.”

  “I’m sure they were happy to help,” I said, trying to offer comfort.

  “I know. But they shouldn’t have had to.” Lee shifted in his seat. “I practically had to kick Gabe out of the house, so he’d go to college.” He shook his head. “That boy is so stubborn. He didn’t want to leave, but I made him apply to Harvard. He’d always managed a 4.0 GPA, and when he got his SATs back, I knew he couldn’t miss the chance of an Ivy League education.”

  “Wow. I had no idea you had to force Gabe to apply,” I said, hoping he would continue. I was curious to know more about my neighbor and landlord.

  “Oh, yes. I wanted him to apply to all of the Ivy League schools, but he refused to go anywhere farther than four hours away, so that left Dartmouth and Harvard, and we both knew he wasn’t going to apply to Dartmouth.”

  The way he’d said the last part, I knew there was a story there. But I didn’t know if it was any of my business, so I didn’t ask.

  “Which was nice because it’s only an hour away from home. Harvard is farther, and it was good for him to get away from Colebury for a few years.”

  I remembered what Max had said about only taking online classes. I thought it was odd that Lee would encourage one son but not the other.

  “What about Max?” I figured the question was benign enough.

  Lee waved his hand through the air. “I told him to leave, too, but that boy was already in love with Lauren. And I didn’t worry about Max the way I did with Gabe. Max liked to have fun, but Gabe was always too serious. And I knew he blamed himself for what had happened with his mom.”

  I almost swerved off the road. I didn’t say anything, but Lee must have caught the shock on my face because he chuckled.

  “I suppose I made that sound like a bigger deal than it was. You see, I met my ex-wife at a wedding. She was originally from Florida but moved to New Hampshire for college. We hit it off and started dating. She was going to school at Dartmouth while I worked at the store full-time, so mostly, we saw each other on weekends.”

  So, that was where Dartmouth had come into the story and why Gabe hadn’t wanted to go there. He must have a lot of animosity toward his mother if he refused to attend the same college as her, especially since it was an Ivy League school and close to home.

  “She was about a month from graduation. We hadn’t even talked about what would happen to the two of us after she finished school when she got pregnant with Gabe. He thinks it’s his fault we got married.”

  Oh, Gabe.

  “I knew Paula had been planning to go back to Florida before she met me, but she didn’t say much about going back after we’d been together for a while. So, when I proposed and she said yes, I thought she wanted to be with me, but I think she just wanted a father for the baby. She moved here to Colebury, but her heart wasn’t in it. It didn’t help that we had another baby so soon after Gabe. We tried to make it work for several years—or rather, she tried to make Colebury work for her. But she hated the cold weather, the small-town life, and she missed her family in Florida. I suspect she mostly missed her freedom. I was thirty when Gabe was born, but she was only twenty-two.”

  I couldn’t believe how sympathetic Lee sounded toward his ex-wife. I felt bad for her that things hadn’t worked out the way she had planned, but I still couldn’t imagine leaving my children behind. Maybe it was because children weren’t something that was going to happen for me without a lot of help and a lot of money, but if I had been their mother, someone would have had to rip those two boys from my arms.

  “You’re a very kind man, Lee,” I said.

  The older man blushed, and I smiled.

  “And thank you for telling me that story. I’m sorry things didn’t work out for you.” It also broke my heart that Gabe blamed his conception for the failure of his parents’ marriage. It sure explained why he’d told me that he was never getting married or having kids.

  Lee shrugged. “Live and learn. I don’t regret it because I got two wonderful sons out of it. I just wish Gabe wouldn’t feel guilty. He’s not the one who got pregnant or got someone else pregnant.”

  For Gabe’s sake, I wished the same thing too.

  We rode in silence after that, both lost in our own thoughts. I felt bad for Gabe and his guilt, Lee and his memory loss, and for Max and his family for taking his father in. Although I really did like that Lee felt he could trust me enough to talk to me about his problems. Hopefully, he’d go home in a better mood than the one I’d picked him up in.

  And even though he was apparently getting forgetful, I had yet to see any problems. With any luck, this neurologist appointment would deliver some good news for the whole Hughes family.

  When we were about five minutes away from our destination, according to my phone’s GPS, Lee looked over at me and asked, “Where are we going again?”

  Then again, maybe this visit would confirm what Gabe and Max already knew.

  24

  Charli

  After the nurse came to take Lee for his appointment, I made myself comfortable in the corner of the waiting room and pulled out my phone to send a group text to Gabe, Max, and Lauren.

  Me: We made it. Lee is already back with the doctor, and I made sure to give the nurse the instructions on how to contact you.

  Lauren messaged right away.

  Lauren: Thank you again for taking him. I’m glad the two of you made it safely there.

  A minute later, Max texted.

  Max: I hope Dad didn’t give you too
much trouble.

  I smiled, thinking of our heart-to-heart conversation in the car.

  Me: He didn’t say much at first, but his mood improved after a bit. We talked some on the way here. I think he feels better than he did this morning.

  Lauren: That’s good to hear. I was almost afraid to ask.

  Max: Is that why you waited for me to speak up?

  Lauren: I guess so. :-)

  Max: Charli, he didn’t have any problems once you got to his appointment?

  Me: None at all.

  Max: That’s a relief. I hope he’s okay throughout his visit.

  Me: I’ll let you know if anything comes up if they don’t call you.

  Lauren: Thank you. And will you let us know when you’re on your way back?

  Me: Will do.

  I set my phone aside and pulled out my laptop. I noticed that there was one person absent from the four-way conversation. Or maybe it was a three-way conversation since the fourth person had been silent.

  Either way, there had not been a single word out of Gabe.

  I just hoped he hadn’t been avoiding the conversation because of me.

  He’d noticeably kept his distance all week. Despite our conversation Saturday morning and our impromptu shower sex, I thought he’d gotten a little freaked out about me bringing his dad to the doctor appointment.

  I couldn’t say I blamed him, but I wished he had trusted me when I said that I really wasn’t looking for a serious relationship right now.

  I wasn’t going to lie and say I never wanted one because I knew, someday, I would. But I wasn’t exactly writing Gabe’s name on my notebook with hearts around it. As sexy as the man was, I could never see us in a long-term relationship. While I admired his ambition and appreciated him for pushing me toward pursuing my writing career, he was far too serious for me.

  I turned back to my computer now that it had started up and opened my manuscript to get to work. Whatever was going on with Gabe was his own thing, and I wasn’t going to worry about it.

  Several hours later, a nurse walked Lee out to me.

  “Mr. Hughes is all set to go.”

  I closed my laptop. “Did you need anything from me?” I asked.

  “Nope. The doctor spoke to one of Mr. Hughes’s sons. But he does have a couple of prescriptions that were sent to the pharmacy, as noted in the instructions.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” She turned to Lee. “You have a good day, Mr. Hughes.”

  “You too, Nan.”

  I put my computer away and stood. “Are you ready to get out of here?”

  Lee nodded, and I noticed his eyes looked sad.

  “Are you okay?” I asked as we walked out of the waiting room and toward the door.

  “As well as can be, I suppose.”

  Oh no.

  He had visited with the doctor when we first got here, and then he’d had his labs drawn, gone to imaging for an MRI, and been sent back to the doctor. With every step, Lee had become quieter.

  “The doctor confirmed that I have Alzheimer’s.”

  “Oh, Lee, I am so sorry.”

  “Me too.”

  I honestly didn’t know what else to say. The man was in his early sixties, fit, and had plenty of life to live. It was such a shame that his memory would only fail him more and more as he got older.

  When the two of us were safely in my car, I sent out a text to everyone, like I’d promised.

  Me: We’re finished and on our way back to Colebury.

  Me: The nurse said Lee has a couple of prescriptions. Do you need me to pick them up?

  I put my seat belt on and started the car in hopes that someone would text me back before I began driving.

  My phone beeped, and it was the last person I had expected to hear from.

  Gabe: I’ll pick them up.

  A funny feeling exploded in my belly upon seeing Gabe respond. It appeared that even though I knew he was wrong for me, my body didn’t care.

  But soon, it became a tightness in my stomach when I realized that was all Gabe was going to text me.

  The next person to message was Max.

  Max: How did Dad take the news?

  Me: He seems disappointed but accepting.

  Max: That’s good to hear. Thank you for taking him.

  Me: You’re welcome.

  Max: Lauren and I should be home by the time you get there.

  Me: Okay. See you then.

  I put my phone down and pulled out of the parking spot, determined to not let Gabe’s cold shoulder bother me.

  25

  Gabe

  “Shouldn’t they be here by now?” I snapped at my brother as I found myself looking out the window again. I’d lost track of how many times I’d checked to see if they were back yet.

  “Relax, Gabe. They’ll be here soon. I’m sure Charli is taking good care of Dad.”

  I snorted.

  It wasn’t Dad I was worried about.

  But it wasn’t really Charli that had me worked up.

  It was me. I was worried about me.

  All week, I had tried to stay away from her and not think about her. I’d managed to keep my distance, but I hadn’t been able to keep her out of my head.

  Finally, after what felt like forever, Charli’s car pulled into Max and Lauren’s driveway.

  “They’re back,” I called out.

  Charli got out of her vehicle first. She had a smile on her face and looked beautiful. Her lips were especially red today, as if she’d been biting them. Was she worried about my dad, or was she worried about seeing me?

  That was when I realized I had a big smile on my face, just from seeing her.

  You don’t care why she’s been biting her lips. She’s not your girlfriend.

  I walked away from the window before my brother or Lauren caught me staring. Or worse, caught me grinning like a lovesick fool.

  I shuddered at the thought.

  “You okay?”

  “Huh?” I looked up to see Lauren walking into the living room.

  “Are you cold? You’re not getting sick, are you? Because if you are, you should probably stay away from your dad.”

  I frowned. “No, I’m not sick. I feel fine.”

  My sister-in-law wasn’t scared of me in the least, and she said, “You’d better not be lying.”

  “I’m not.”

  There was a knock at the front door, and then it opened as Charli stood back to let my dad walk in.

  “Hey, Dad,” Max said as he came from around the corner.

  “How are you, Lee?” Lauren asked him.

  I was still standing a couple of feet away because I didn’t want to get close to Charli, and Max shot me a look.

  Right. This is about Dad. Not me and not my dick. Dad. Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad.

  “Hi, Dad.” I quickly grabbed the pharmacy bag from the coffee table. “I already picked up your medications. The pharmacist said you can start them both tonight. Or she said you could start taking the one every morning, beginning tomorrow morning if you want. Or you could just take them together. You might end up taking the one twice a day depending on how it works for you…” I trailed off because I realized I had been rambling. “Anyway, the pharmacist said to call with any questions,” I said in a much quieter voice.

  It was like I was in middle school again, crushing on the pretty girl down the street and not being able to control my mouth.

  I couldn’t begin to state how disgusted I felt with myself.

  “How did everything go?” Lauren asked. “Any memory moments?” she mouthed more than spoke when Dad was looking away.

  Why couldn’t I have thought of that question?

  “Two. One on the way there. And one on the way back. He forgot where we were going on the drive there. On the way home, he couldn’t remember what day it was.” Charli shrugged. “But maybe that’s normal.” She chuckled. “I don’t often know what day it is either.”

  She looked my way
and smiled, and before I could stop myself, I smiled back.

  Great. Now, she was going to get the wrong impression.

  I needed to let her know where we stood.

  I wiped the happy look off my face and said, “Don’t forget, it’s almost the first. Rent is coming due.” I might have said it with a little more bite than was necessary.

  Charli’s grin slid right off her face, and she rolled her eyes.

  “Gabe Hughes, that is not how I raised you to treat a lady,” my father said, straightening his back. “She went out of her way to take me to…to take me somewhere important when she didn’t have to. And this is how you thank her?”

  Even with Alzheimer’s, he wasn’t going to take any shit.

  “Dad.” I didn’t know how I was going to explain to him that he needed to stay out of this conversation.

  “Don’t Dad me. Apologize to the lady.”

  I scoffed. I was not going to do that. All I had done was state the obvious. Rent was almost due. I wasn’t lying.

  “Gabe,” my father warned.

  Charli put her hand on his arm. “Thank you, Lee, but it’s okay.” She lifted her chin and turned toward me. “Thank you for the reminder. I will be sure to get my rent to you on time. I will hand-deliver it to you myself.”

  I nodded in agreement, but I quickly realized that I didn’t want her to deliver the rent to me. I didn’t want her to deliver anything to me.