Halloween Treats

by Sandra R Neeley

“Seriously? That’s it?” Angelle asked.

  “That’s it. Now all you have to do is sit back and watch yourself have your little one. No pain. But I’ll be honest, I got more than a little irritated with the nurses insisting I push. I wanted to push them,” Delilah said, trying to make the woman laugh. “I couldn’t push any harder! He didn’t want to come out. I ended up having a C-section, but the nurses telling you to push will be the worst of it.”

  “Thank you, Delilah,” Angelle said, trying her best to fake a smile.

  “You’re welcome. When is your husband due to arrive?”

  Angelle’s face tightened up and she began to cry. “He’s not coming. He was killed in action three weeks ago. His parents never approved of me, and they’re not coming. My mom lives in Texas somewhere, but I don’t want her here. It’s a miracle I survived her raising me, and the last thing I want for this little one is her influence.”

  “Is there no one else you wish for me to call for you?” Delilah asked.

  “There is no one else,” Angelle said, looking down sadly at the blankets covering her. “Neither of us had large families. We just had each other,” the woman said on barely a whisper.

  Delilah straightened her spine and lifted her chin. A signal to anyone who knew her that she’d made a decision she couldn’t be swayed from. “I have learned that you cannot pick your family, but you can pick your friends. Sometimes your friends become better family than those you were born to would have ever been. I am your friend now. Don’t you worry. I’ll be right beside you. You won’t do this alone.”

  Angelle looked at Delilah with tears in her eyes and nodded as Delilah reached for her hands and squeezed them reassuringly.

  “I don’t know how I’ll ever thank you,” Angelle said.

  “You will thank me by relaxing, and no longer worrying, and delivering your perfect little baby. I will be beside you.”

  Angelle nodded again. “Okay,” she whispered.

  “I have a few other patients to see today, but when you’re ready to deliver, I’ll be beside you,” Delilah promised, “and I’ll be here every spare minute until then.”

  Delilah walked out of the room with Dr. Eastmond just as another doctor and some of his nurses entered.

  “They’re most likely going to take the baby before too much longer. They’re going in to check her progression now.”

  “Is her pre-eclampsia not under control?” Delilah asked.

  “They have her on blood pressure medication trying to bring it down. If it doesn’t come down soon, they’re going to have to move her into delivery and perform a c-section instead of allowing her to deliver on her own.”

  “I feel terrible for her. It should be the happiest time of your life, and instead she is lying in there with no one at her side, missing her husband and knowing that there is no one she can share the joy of the birth of their child with,” Delilah said sadly.

  “You’ve made her a little happier. She’s a very lucky lady. She’s got a great medical team watching over her, and she’s got you. She’ll be just fine,” Dr. Eastmond said.

  “I hope you’re right,” Delilah answered. “She’s very frightened.”

  <<<<<<<>>>>>>>

  Jobe stood with the building inspector, looking down at the blueprints they had laid out across his work truck.

  “Here, and here, are the closets we plan to use as safe rooms for the house. We’ll be using double enforced studs, and enforcing the ceiling and floor of both closets. Bad storm or a tornado on the way, just get in your closet, close the door and slide both bars into place. If the owner wanted to they could keep a dresser or something in here — we planned it a little larger than usual — and slide in front of the door as well,” he explained.

  “Not a bad idea,” the inspector said.

  “Thank you,” Jobe answered, smiling at the man. Since he’d turned nineteen, he’d taken over the foreman position at the single home builds they worked on. He was conscientious and did a great job.

  “What about the hurricane clips in the attic?” the inspector asked.

  “We doubled them, just like you asked. Come take a look,” Jobe answered, rolling up the blueprints and escorting the man inside the home that was nearing completion. He stepped to the side and did his best to not let the inspector notice his discreet glance toward the man’s vehicle. But try as he might, he just couldn’t force his attention from the girl sitting in the passenger seat. She was the inspector’s daughter and had begun to work just recently with her father. She kept all his records and helped with any documentation he needed filed at the courthouse for permits and such, so all he had to do was the inspections themselves.

  And Jobe couldn’t stop looking at her. He couldn’t stop thinking about her. He remembered her from school, but she’d been a little younger than he was and he had no doubt she had no idea who he was.

  “You coming?” the inspector asked from inside the still under construction house.

  “Yes, sir!” Jobe answered, turning to the man at once and following him toward the attic access so he could see for himself they’d done as he asked.

  Ten minutes later Jobe was walking a happy inspector back to his vehicle. “You know, I have to tell you, I’m never stressed knowing one of ya’ll’s builds is on my list of inspections for the next day. You do things the right way, always have, and you’re pleasant and easy to deal with. A lot easier to deal with than the last foreman. What was his name? Guy had a mohawk,” the inspector said.

  “Maverik,” Jobe answered, grinning.

  “Yeah, that’s it. Not a bad guy, just questioned me as much as I questioned him. Took forever to get a straight answer out of him.”

  Jobe chuckled. “He’s my uncle, more or less. Not a bad guy, just hates being questioned.”

  “It’s my job to question,” the inspector said.

  “I know. I know. But, now it’s my job to answer those questions and be sure that all specifications are met. We want to do things the right way. Our reputation depends on it,” Jobe said.

  “And your company has a strong reputation because of it. Always a pleasure, son,” the inspector said, holding his hand out to shake Jobe’s hand.

  “Thank you, sir,” Jobe answered, and waited for the man to get in his car, doing his best to once again not look at the girl sitting in the front seat, watching him closely.

  “You know, my wife and I were planning to take Maggie to the diner in town tonight for a bit of a celebration. It’s her birthday, and she’s too old for parties or so she tells us. So, just a simple dinner. It might be a happy coincidence if you just happened to stop by the diner about 7:00.”

  Jobe just gaped at the man.

  “Oh, come now. Did you think I wouldn’t notice any young man eyeing my daughter the way you’ve been on both of my last inspections here?”

  Jobe’s mouth opened and closed like a fish, trying to find an explanation.

  “Tell you a secret. She only asks to ride along on your inspections. Come to the diner. I’ll be surprised to see you and you can join us for dinner.” He stuck his hand out for Jobe to shake and offered him a genuine smile.

  Jobe shook his hand and nodded. “Thank you, sir. I will, sir.”

  Chapter 4

  Vince stood at the prep board in the kitchen of Vince’s Place chopping yellow onions into finely diced piles to be used later for coating the hamburger patties he’d already made in anticipation of the lunch crowd.

  The saloon type swinging doors separating the bar from the kitchen swung open and Maria waddled through.

  “You alright?” Vince asked, looking over his shoulder at her.

  “Yeah, I’m alright. I’m miserable, but I’m alright,” she answered.

  “I told you to stay home. You should be on maternity leave,” Vince said with a smile.

  “If I was home, I’d just be wandering around looking for something to do anyway, so I may as well get paid to do it here,” Maria grouched.

  “Alr
ight, but if you have that baby in this bar, it’s not my fault. I tried to send you home,” Vince teased.

  Maria stood where she was and looked at the pile of finely diced onions on the chopping board. Her face pulled into an unpleasant moue and she began to look pale.

  “You okay?” Vince asked.

  Maria shook her head. “Nope. Oh, God, I think I’m going to be sick!” she answered, waddling quickly for the bathroom.

  Vince whistled loudly and just a few seconds later Eustace walked into the kitchen.

  “You calling me?” Eustace asked.

  “I am. Your woman is not happy with my chopped onions. I think she’s throwing up again.”

  Eustace nodded and walked back toward the employees’ bathroom as quickly as his stilted steps would allow. “Maria? Baby? You okay?” he asked.

  “Why does everybody keep asking me that? Of course I’m not okay. I’m growing a person inside me and I’ve been sick at my stomach since the day you got me pregnant!” she answered.

  “Uh, I think we did the pregnant thing together. I did not do it alone,” Eustace said, flashing a smile across the room back toward Vince when he heard Vince laughing.

  “Yes, you did it. It’s your fault,” Maria said, finally opening the door and leaning on the door jamb.

  “Baby, just sit down and let me and Vince and the waitresses handle everything. There’s no reason for you to be here, and if you’re going to be here, at least sit,” Eustace begged.

  “And do what?” she asked.

  “Run the register. We’ll do the rest,” Vince said from across the kitchen.

  “Fine. But, you really need to stop using onions until after this baby is born. Maybe longer than that,” Maria said.

  “I can’t! People come here for the Pride Burgers. Pride Burgers are rolled in sweet onions before being cooked on the grill!” Vince insisted.

  “Smells horrible,” she said, forcing a shiver as though it gave her a terrible reaction. “Just horrible.”

  Eustace patiently walked Maria back out to the bar where he pulled a barstool around behind the bar and helped her have a seat at the register.

  “I never want to smell another onion,” she said, looking up at Eustace.

  “You could always just go home!” Vince called out from the kitchen.

  “You stopped cooking with the onions when Natalie was pregnant,” Maria yelled.

  “No, I did not. She just stopped coming by here until after she had Christian,” Vince answered.

  “By the way, when are you bringing Christian to visit? I haven’t seen him in almost a week,” Maria said.

  “He’s been with his Granny this week. Natalie’s been working extra shifts at the hospital and I’ve been here so instead of trading off schedules taking care of him, he’s been at Natalie’s mom’s house,” Vince explained.

  “Well, I miss him. You need to bring him to visit,” Maria said.

  “I will. I promise. Right after I feed him a big ole Pride Burger with extra onions,” Vince teased.

  “You are an evil male!” Maria yelled.

  “Lunch crowd’s arriving,” Eustace shouted from where he was finishing cleaning the windows beside the last booth on his list for that day. “They starting to pull up now.”

  “We’re ready,” Vince yelled back.

  “Tell them we have no onions,” Maria teased.

  “Tell them we are giving extra onions for free today,” Vince teased back.

  “Ya’ll are going to make me throw up again!” Maria threatened.

  “Just make it to the bathroom if you do!” Eustace told her as he went by her to return the cleaning supplies to the storage room before unlocking the doors. “Puking is not good for business.”

  “Going to be a busy day, I think,” Eustace told Vince on the way past.

  “You going to make that woman go home?” Vince asked Eustace quietly.

  “This is her last week, she just don’t know it yet,” Eustace answered.

  “Yeah, good luck with that,” Vince said.

  “I figure between the two of us, we can make her stay home,” Eustace said with a grin.

  “I got my own wife to piss off, I don’t want to piss yours off, too,” Vince said.

  “How did you deal with her before?” Eustace asked.

  “Maria was never any trouble ‘til you came around. This is all your fault,” Vince laughed as he began to roll the hamburger patties in onions in preparation of cooking them.

  “You sound just like her,” Eustace said, walking back through the kitchen as he tied an apron around his waist and reached for a pad to take orders with. “I’m going to unlock the doors. It’s 11:00, so I’m sure they’re already standing at the door.”

  “I’m ready! Let the lunch rush begin,” Vince said.

  <<<<<<<>>>>>>>

  After work that evening, Jobe stood in the bathroom looking at himself in the mirror. He’d towel dried his hair so that he could use a touch of mousse on it to give it that tousled, yet controlled look. He had light brown hair and light brown eyes that looked like they had a splash of gold in them if he was standing outside in the sunshine, and he’d grown into a muscular, yet slender young man.

  “That’s just going to have to do — she’ll like me or not,” he said to himself. Jobe opened the door and walked back down the hallway and through the kitchen on the way to his room.

  A few of the guys were sitting around visiting and having a beer, but Jobe didn’t take a seat and join them like he usually would.

  A sharp whistle had him shaking his head. He knew exactly who was whistling at him.

  “Boy, you sure do look purty,” Maverik teased.

  “I’m glad you like it,” Jobe answered, smiling to himself as he began to close his bedroom door. “I did it just for you.”

  Kaid, Bam and Daniel all started laughing. Even Maverik couldn’t help but chuckle at the unexpected retort.

  A few minutes later Jobe opened his door and walked back into the kitchen wearing a different shirt.

  “You do know Ms. Sadie will feed you no matter what shirt you wear,” Kaid said.

  “Yes, sir. I do. I’m going out tonight for a bit,” Jobe answered.

  “Oh, really?” Daniel asked. “And who’s the lucky girl?”

  “Just somebody I know,” Jobe answered, beginning to blush and doing his best to avoid the question.

  “You need a wing man. I’m’a just let Valerie know I’m gonna be a while and I’ll come with ya. I’ll talk you up to her and let her know you a good catch,” Maverik said, winking at Bam as he teased Jobe.

  “No,” Jobe said, looking stricken. “Please don’t. I got it. I can handle it all on my own,” Jobe reassured him.

  “Yeah, but not like me. I got a gift,” Maverik insisted. “I fix things, just ask anybody.”

  Jobe glanced around the table at everyone laughing and figured out that Maverik was giving him a hard time. “You don’t really want to come with me. I’m taking the work truck, and it’s all dirty inside. You might get your pretty clothes all dirty,” Jobe teased back on noticing Maverik was wearing a pair of khaki slacks with a button down shirt and loafers instead of his usual stained jeans and a torn tee shirt with a flannel shirt over it.

  “Hey! My woman bought me these clothes. I’ll wear them every time she’s home to see me wear them,” Maverik snapped.

  “So she don’t complain when you don’t wear them when you go out in public, right?” Bam asked.

  “Exactly. See?” Maverik said, “You get me.”

  Jobe’s comment about the work truck had Bam thinking. “What time you leaving?” Bam asked.

  “About twenty minutes. I don’t want to be too, too early, but I don’t want to be late either,” Jobe explained.

  “That’s a good plan,” Bam said. He chugged the last few swallows of his beer and got to his feet. “I’ll be right back,” he said, tossing his empty bottle into the trash can as he walked out of the room.

  “
So,” Kaid said, turning the attention to Jobe who joined them at the table, “you gonna tell us who she is?”

  Jobe shrugged and smiled to himself.

  “She’s special. That’s why you don’t want to share anything about her. If she was just another date, you’d be spilling,” Maverik said sincerely.

  Jobe nodded. “She is. Been noticing her for a while. Didn’t think she knew I existed, but found out today that she does.”

  “And…” Daniel said, encouraging Jobe to continue.

  “And her Daddy invited me today to come to the diner this evening. He said they were having a quiet birthday dinner and I could maybe just happen to show up and he’d invite me to join.”

  “Who is she?” Daniel asked.

  “Maggie Mae,” Jobe replied with a questioning tone to it as though he was asking if they knew of her.

  “Maggie Mae?!” Kaid exclaimed. “Mr. Chauvin’s Maggie Mae?”

  “Yes, sir. That’s her,” Jobe said.

  “Boy, you dating our inspector’s daughter?” Maverik asked.

  “Well, I guess I’m hoping to,” Jobe said bashfully, smiling as he looked down at the table. Then suddenly his gaze came up and he looked at Kaid wide-eyed. “Is that okay?” he asked.

  “I’d say its damn near perfect!” Maverik said, answering before Kaid had a chance to. “I like the man, but damn he’s a stickler for by the damn book. You marry his daughter, he might relax a bit.”

  “Marry?” Daniel asked. “He hasn’t even taken her out yet!”

  “Yeah, but her Daddy invited him,” Maverik answered.

  Jobe had been watching the conversation back and forth and finally looked over at Kaid. He raised his eyebrows.

  “I think it’s fine, Jobe. Chauvin isn’t the type to compromise his values, so you dating his daughter won’t be a conflict of interest whether or not you marry her,” Kaid said. “You like the girl, take her out. See what happens.”

  “Thank you,” Jobe answered, as he got to his feet. “I’m going to go ahead and get into town, I think.”