by Debbie Burns
Irene had worked her way into the kitchen and was filling the coffeepot with tap water.
“I’ll help make breakfast while the guys take out the dogs,” Mia offered in Irene’s direction as she and Ben reached the front door. “We’ll have to go to the store today, but I packed the cooler and shopping bag with enough for a breakfast of pancakes and chicken sausage and eggs.”
Ollie joined them and was mumbling, “Pancakes, pancakes, pancakes,” in his monster voice as he shoved his bare feet into his snow boots.
Irene shut off the water and made a show of sweeping a stray lock of silver-gray hair from her forehead. “Once you’re dressed.”
They were three simple, benign words, but they were delivered with such clear implication that even Ollie stopped his pancake chant to glance at Mia’s nightgown. She was certain Ben picked up on it too, but Mia was unable to look his way in confirmation.
“Mom always makes pancakes in her pajamas,” Ollie said with just a touch of Duh, didn’t you know? to his tone, and Mia felt a tad vindicated.
Once Ollie’s coat was on, Mia passed Sam into his arms and reminded him not to set the puppy down until he was on actual ground.
“How can I tell what’s ground and what’s driveway?” Ollie asked.
Ben had the front door wide open, and Mia saw he had a valid point. There was only snow and more snow out there. “Maybe it doesn’t matter that much when the snow’s this deep. Just remember to give him the good-job sign wherever he does his business out there.”
After watching them trudge down the steps, Turbo pressing ahead as far as the leash would allow and Sadie walking hesitantly beside Ben and Ollie, Mia shut the door and headed for the kitchen. Still a touch dehydrated from the long drive, she opened the overhead cabinet doors until she found the coffee mugs. She pulled one down and filled it with water.
She was debating whether there was any real benefit in addressing the nightgown comment when Irene spoke.
“On the way here, I kept thinking how it’s almost convenient, this family vacation of yours. Ben can be here to step into Brad’s role. It’s almost like your little family is still intact.”
Mia choked on the water she was swallowing. She set the mug onto the counter. It smacked hard, and water splashed onto the granite. “Excuse me? Are you actually going there with this?”
Irene said nothing but stood straighter, squaring her shoulders.
“It’s almost like you forgot a few things,” Mia continued, incensed. “Like how Ben is Ollie’s godfather. He’s here for Ollie.”
Irene raised one eyebrow high enough that it disappeared underneath her bangs. “I was just saying that it’s convenient, Mia.”
“It’s what you seem to be implying that’s troubling me.”
“If the shoe fits,” Irene mumbled, turning away.
Mia’s blood was racing. “Irene, I left Brad. And all day yesterday you kept implying I was going back. Well I wasn’t. We were getting a divorce. I’d visited a lawyer, and I’d signed papers. And I would’ve chosen that a million times over what happened to him, but it doesn’t change the fact that I was leaving him.”
Irene smacked the flat of her hand on the counter. “My son was a good man. I don’t need you dishonoring his memory to my grandson!”
Irene’s counter smack might well have been a smack against Mia’s face. “I wouldn’t do that, Irene. Brad was a good father, and I wouldn’t do that to my son. But none of that made him a good husband. He wasn’t even a faithful husband to me.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Angry red splotches pocked Irene’s face. “You’re making that up. He’d have told me!”
Mia was seeing red. Flaming, angry, wartime red. And blood was pulsing hot through her veins. She could feel the heat racing down into her legs, warming her bare feet the same as if she were standing on heated tile. “Like he told you about the baby?” It was out before she could stop it. Mia could see the weight of it sinking in as Irene flushed, blinking in confusion.
“Mia…” It was Ben in the doorway. She’d not heard the door open, but he was standing there with Turbo. How long had he been there? Had he heard everything Irene had implied? “Can we save this for later? When I’m inside.” His tone was soft, softer than she’d have expected.
Mia’s entire body was shaking. She’d never had a confrontation with Irene that had gotten even close to this heated. Even though she’d seen Irene goad Victor a dozen times, Mia hadn’t not been prepared for the crazy, wild anger that had mounted inside her in response to Irene’s accusations. And after the nightgown comment, she’d not been centered enough to keep the anger at bay.
“Ollie wants his gloves,” Ben added, his voice calm, nonaccusing. And he was looking at her, not Irene. “He’s got Sadie and Sam, and I don’t want to leave him for long. Can you get them for me?”
“You’re…you’re going to have a baby?” Irene’s voice had dropped into a whisper.
Mia stood frozen, unable to answer her, unable to move toward Ben.
There was a shuffling on the other side of the cabin, and then a door closed. Lynn had come out of her room. “Mia can’t have more children, if you remember, Irene.” She, too, was considerably calmer than Mia might have expected if she’d overheard half of what had just played out in the kitchen.
Lynn walked into the kitchen, dressed in a thin, worn pair of linen pj’s and not seeming to care that her tatas showed through like headlights on a foggy night, and somehow this was the only thing in the entire moment that Mia was able to hold on to. Lynn, her forty-seven-year-old mother who never seemed dressed correctly for the occasion and never seemed to care, and even though she was exasperating and self-indulgent and embarrassing at times, Mia loved her wildly.
“Mia, I’ll get Ollie’s gloves. Do you know where they are?” Lynn was beside her, sweeping a lock of hair back from Mia’s face. Her mom’s fingers were like ice against her skin.
Mia blinked, doing her best to focus and slow her racing heart. “They should be in Ollie’s inside coat pockets. I put them in there last night when I was hanging up his coat.”
The words were just out when she heard Ollie’s high, thin “Here they are” trailing in through the open door from out in the yard.
Ben looked at Lynn. “I’ll be back in a few minutes if you’ve got this.”
Lynn waved him off. “I’ll put on a kettle of tea. I’ve never been much for coffee.” She patted Mia on the arm. “Why don’t you take a few minutes to yourself to have a shower, Mia? I have a feeling it’s going to be a long day.”
Chapter 20
All in all, Ben shouldn’t feel as energized as he did. He’d overheard Mia telling Irene with one hundred percent clarity that her marriage had been over, and then their argument had escalated, and Mia had burst out that bit about the baby.
While Mia was in the shower and Ollie was helping Lynn make pancakes, he’d done his best to help Irene adjust to this potentially life-changing news. He could only imagine how it was rocking her world. And this was before meeting Stacey. Stacey had just turned twenty and, with her visits to her shaman and her everyday talk of past-life experiences, couldn’t be more different from Irene and Victor. Ben couldn’t fathom how Stacey and that baby would fit into their life.
After a mostly silent breakfast during which Mia offered an apology that Irene accepted but didn’t reciprocate, Irene retreated to her room to call her husband.
Mia looked at her mom after the rest of them had worked as a group to clean up. “We should probably go to the store to get groceries now rather than later.”
Even though she’d directed the words to Lynn, Ben interjected. “I think you should come build a snowman, and we’ll get groceries later.” Mia’s eyes widened, and when she didn’t respond immediately, he pressed on. “The sun’s out and it’s beautiful and you need this more than you need a trip to the sto
re.”
“Yeah, Mom, come help us build a snowman.” Ollie had been down on his knees following Sam around at the end of the counter, pretending to be a dog himself. He jumped up and ran to the fridge and pulled out the gallon-size Ziploc that he’d brought from home filled with carrots, cranberries, and a handful of buttons as well.
Mia’s gaze drifted to Irene’s closed door for a second or two, and then she seemed to straighten her spine. “I guess you can eat leftover car snacks if you get hungry later, Ol. Ben’s right. Helping you build your first snowman in Minnesota is too important to pass up.”
“Good choice, Mia,” Lynn said. “I was wondering if I was going to have to beat you over the head with a fun stick before this vacation was over.”
Ollie laughed and Mia shook her head at her mom’s comment, but an easy smile lingered on her face as they headed off to get dressed.
Ten minutes later, Ben was dressed in snow gear but hanging back in his room after answering a client call when he heard Ollie yell “Oops!” He hung up and headed out to find Ollie standing in front of a wide-open front door.
“All of them?” Ben asked, hearing the barking outside.
“It was an accident. I opened the door and Turbo pushed out, and when I was trying to get him, Sam and Sadie followed me.”
Ben squeezed Ollie on the shoulder when he reached the door. “It happens.”
To his surprise, Turbo was still in sight. Rather than dashing off into the woods at high speed, he was thirty or so feet away, trotting around and scent marking on anything with any height to it. Suspecting it would be next to impossible to catch him right off the bat, Ben figured the best thing to do was go with it. Turbo was a bright dog, and Ben had seen a difference in his socialization in a week. The young dog seemed to want to understand his commands, even when Ben didn’t have a treat in hand.
Hopefully it would help that Turbo had been raised in a house with Sadie and Sam, and neither of them were going anywhere. Earlier it had become apparent that Sam didn’t like the deep snow and did nothing more than jump between the imprints of their footsteps, and Sadie, who was currently looking up at Ben and Ollie from the bottom of the porch and barking, was the kind of dog who liked to stay in the vicinity of her people.
“Turbo could probably use some time off leash that isn’t on a roof,” Ben said. “Let’s let him do his stuff while we build the snowman.”
“What if the moose comes back?”
“He’s a smart dog. Hopefully, he’ll know when he’s met his match. And remind me to snap some pictures for Taye, will you?”
Ollie agreed as they got into their boots. “Are you good at building snowmen?”
“I used to know how to build a pretty serious snowman. I’ve been in the snow my fair share of times, but I haven’t built any since I was a kid,” Ben admitted. “But hopefully it’s like riding a bike and it’ll come back.”
Ollie gave him a big smile. “How can you be in the snow so much and not build a snowman? Maybe Mimi needs to beat you over the head with a fun stick.”
“I guess if I’m going to get beat over the head with something, it might as well be a fun stick.”
* * *
By the time the snowman building ceased, the sprawling, wooded yard no longer resembled the pristine, snow-covered wonderland that had greeted them on arrival last night. The snow had been trampled and shoveled down to a thin layer. Six snowmen of all shapes and sizes stood guard at various places: three lining the walkway to the house, two nestled into quiet coves of trees, and the last one in back overlooking the lake.
“This one is Dad,” Ollie said.
Irene had been watching them from the window intermittently for a few hours and stepped outside to join them in time to hear Ollie’s remark. Speaking softly, almost to herself, she said, “Maybe that would be a good place to leave a part of him.” When no one disagreed, she nodded to herself and headed back inside.
After she left, Ollie declared he wasn’t ready to go in, and Lynn asked, “Is anyone in the mood for a snowball war?”
Ollie whooped. “Ben, I’m on your team!” Ben laughingly agreed, and Mia watched her son wrap his hands around Ben’s arm. As he’d done when Ollie was smaller, Ben raised his arm with just the slightest strain, lifting Ollie into the air. Ben pretended to struggle, saying, “Ollie, you weigh a ton!” When he finally set him down, the two of them ran off laughing to stockpile snowballs.
Mia headed off with Lynn to a cove of trees at the side yard, a wave of appreciation for Ben’s upper-body strength rolling over her.
Ben and Ollie set up camp fifty or sixty feet away. The dogs trotted back and forth between the two groups, sniffing under the bases of the trees and digging up snow piles of their own. Even Turbo was finally slowing down. Rather than circling the yard at an almost continuous sprint, he was content to hang near Sadie and Sam.
Within twenty minutes, each team had rolled an impressive supply of snowballs, and the war commenced. Mia laughed so hard it made her belly hurt.
By the time they shuffled up the porch steps, exhausted and soaked, everyone was famished. Ollie collapsed on the floor like a wet noodle, declaring, “I can’t move another decimeter.”
Mia applauded. “Good use of the metric system, buddy.” She stepped over him, planting one foot on each side of him, facing his feet. “Let me help you take off your boots.” She proceeded to tug them off, freeing several chunks of packed snow. The dogs shook, sending their own frozen clumps of snow all over the entryway, then sank to the floor. Their mouths hung open in big grins as they panted. Sam plopped on his side, looking as exhausted as Ollie, and Mia felt like laughing as she contemplated the pileup of dogs and little boy, coats, boots, hats, mittens, and frozen snow.
Ben took off his boots, pulled a broom from the closet, and gave Mia a wink as he swept the still-frozen chunks out the door. Mia’s heart warmed at the simple display of domesticity. What would it be like to have a partner who thought of such things on his own? A new experience, she determined, and one she could happily get used to.
By the time everyone had changed into dry clothes, it was apparent the group was too famished to wait for Mia to complete a grocery run, and the food she’d packed was nearly gone.
Before she voiced her thoughts, Ben showed he was thinking the same thing too. “Hey, what do you say we go into town to that cozy-looking restaurant we passed on the way in. I think it was called the Blue Goose.”
Everyone applauded this idea. Once there, the inside proved just as cute and quaint as the outside. Ollie inhaled two bowls of macaroni and cheese, and Mia finished every bite of her white chicken chili in a bread bowl, glancing under her lashes across the table at Ben her share of times. She was sure it wasn’t just her; he looked exceptionally sexy and vibrant after the romp in the snow.
On their way home, they swung by the store and tossed enough food into two carts to cook at the cabin the next several days and then some. By the time they got back to the cabin, it was nearly four o’clock and the sun was sinking on the horizon. When the groceries were put away and Mia was folding the last bag, Irene cleared her throat a touch dramatically and announced, “I’d like to scatter some of Brad’s ashes near the snowman by the lake. Would anyone like to go with me?” She seemed both surprised and gratified when everyone agreed.
With Irene’s help, Ollie poured some of the ashes, which fell in a disappointing clump at the base of the snowman. But then the wind picked up, scattering them onto the snow and partway across the lake.
When no one seemed quite sure what to do next, Ben stepped forward with a suggestion. “Ollie, how would you like it if we all shared a favorite memory of your dad?”
When Ollie nodded enthusiastically, Mia smiled. “Brad built Ollie the best blanket forts. They were so big you couldn’t even step foot in the living room.”
“And sometimes he’d lift up the
tape and peek at the presents Mom put under the tree,” Ollie added.
When the gentle laughter died down, Ben added, “We did a comedy skit in a third-grade talent show, and when I froze up and couldn’t remember my lines, Brad did a running jump off the stage to distract everyone. It got him a trip to the principal’s office.”
Everyone laughed again, this time harder. “I always thought he was just being a ham,” Irene added, wiping tears from her eyes.
After Brad was honored, they headed back inside. Ben made a roaring fire, and Ollie dragged a mound of pillows and his box of Hot Wheels over near it. He curled on top of the pillows and pushed the Hot Wheels around the floor next to him until bath time.
After a bath and a dessert of s’mores roasted in the living room fireplace, Ollie proved too tired for more than a single book. He drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face, and Mia’s heart swam in contentment. It had ended up being a good day. A really good day.
Listening to his soft, even breathing, she considered giving in and drifting off beside him, but fought against it. At the very least, the dogs needed to go out again. She pushed up and scooped Sam, who’d been dozing curled against Ollie’s neck and shoulders, into one arm. After pulling the covers back over her son, she headed for the door. Sadie hopped down from the foot of Ollie’s bed and trailed at Mia’s heels.
Training Sam was fun and exhausting and a bit like going through parenting again, only the decisions seemed to hit faster. Mia hadn’t been sure if she’d wanted to allow Sadie and Sam on the furniture since doing so had both plusses (irreplaceable cuddling time) and minuses (unwanted dog hair).
The scale had been tipped for good by the way Ollie glowed with happiness when Sam was curled up next to him in bed, and Mia figured she’d invest in a good vacuum. For a little while longer, though, both dogs would be crated at bedtime. She couldn’t see how they’d ever successfully potty train Sam unless they did.