Never Saw it Coming

by Bernadette Marie

  Mike closed his eyes, and she came right to mind. “Small little thing covered in tattoos and a long braid down her back.”

  There was a groan. “Oh, ain’t what I was talking about. I thought there were snow bunnies there. You got biker chicks.”

  First impressions were a bitch, he thought. “She might be, but she’s the nicest person I’ve ever met. Took me in. Got me a job and a place. Feeds me.”

  The line went quiet for a beat. “Dad, are you sleeping with this lady?” Dane whispered in the phone.

  “What? Where’d you get that? Pull your head out of the gutter.”

  “You said she took you in. Kinda sudden.”

  “I mean she took pity on me and helped me out. Besides, I’m a grown man and…”

  “Yeah. Don’t want to hear it. Hard enough knowing Mom’s dating.”

  And that was the blow that knocked the wind out of his lungs. “Dating?”

  “Thought you knew.”

  “None of my business.”

  “It’s all creeping me out. So, if you’re staying, can I come out on spring break?”

  The pain of the comment before that eased. “I’d love that.”

  “Cool. I’m glad you’re doing okay. Offer stands. If your biker chick doesn’t work out. You can live with us.”

  Mike chuckled. “Love you, bud. Thanks.”

  “Love you, too.”

  Mike disconnected the call and slid his phone back into his pocket. He’d head down to the restaurant and see if there was anything he could help out with.

  The door between the stairwell to his apartment and the restaurant hadn’t yet been locked. For today, since she’d insisted he use it earlier, he’d go through the restaurant.

  It wasn’t quite two o’clock, but the lunch crowd seemed to have died down. Tables were cleared off, and the wait staff was busy cleaning up.

  Chandra was wiping down the bar when he walked over to it and sat down. “How was your lunch rush?”

  “Pathetic by normal terms. But this fridge is toast. I don’t see any problems if you want to get started on it.”

  “Works for me. I’ll get the bag Gabe had and the tools.” He climbed down and pushed the stool in. “So is there a department store close by? I need to get a few things before my container comes.”

  “What kinds of things?”

  “Blanket. Maybe some sheets and some towels. A few extra never hurt anyway.”

  She puckered her lips as though she were giving something some deep thought. “Do you mind some loaners? I’d be happy to set you up with some bedding and some towels. Why buy things you have coming?”

  “That’s thoughtful of you. Are you sure? You’re not off for hours.”

  She shrugged. “I can get it here. Do you like chocolate chip cookies?”

  “Never met one I didn’t like,” he joked, and she laughed.

  She had a beautiful laugh. He wondered how often it came out.

  Tossing down her rag, she picked up her cell phone. “What do you usually eat for breakfast?”

  “Coffee.”

  She lifted her eyes to meet his. “That’s not healthy. You should always have breakfast.”

  “Just have been too busy the past few years to think about it.”

  “You’re living in a health-conscious state now. Start thinking about it,” she scolded. “Do you like cereal?”

  “Always did.”

  “Choices might be limited to anything that has a prize in the box.”

  Now he laughed. “You’re getting breakfast for me?”

  “Until you get your shipment. There is a store about five blocks from here.”

  “I saw it on my journey to the hardware store.”

  “I have a lead on a car too if you decide you need one soon.”

  Mike leaned his arms on the bar. “I’ve never been without a car. It’s a little bothersome having to think out my travel plans, but I don’t have a paying job yet.”

  “Car will be there if you decide at any time.”

  “Are you this nice to everyone you meet?”

  “No,” she was quick to answer. “You’re proving to be a solid asset around here. I appreciate it.”

  He gave the bar a tap. “Thank you. My son probably thanks you too. He’s worried about me out here alone.”

  “You’re a grown man. I think you can handle it.”

  “Sure. But if I can’t, he’s invited me to live with him.”

  Her eyes went soft, and she moved toward the bar where he was standing on the opposite side. “He’s a good kid, isn’t he?”

  “The best. Called to check up on me. I didn’t call first.”

  “That’s very special.” She looked back at the screen of her phone. “Your items will be here in time for dinner. Do you like meatloaf?”

  He crinkled up his nose. “Let’s say it wasn’t one of my wife’s specialties.”

  “It’s one of my mom’s. She’ll bring it with the bedding, and we’ll all have dinner upstairs at your place.”

  It squeezed at his heart that she was doing this for him. “Thank you. Are you sure about all of that? Is your mother okay to drive in this snow?”

  That made her laugh as she tucked her cell phone into her back pocket. “She’s a native of Colorado. She’ll be just fine. It’ll be a good break for me to be with them too. A few more weeks and I’ll have my normal schedule back.”

  “Well, I really appreciate it,” he said moving from the bar to gather his tools.

  “I’ll have some cheap labor for you too when you get your shipping container.”

  “Your son?”

  She nodded. “Are you good with math?”

  “Of course.”

  “He needs some help with his homework. It could be a very good trade for both of you,” she said as she took an order off the printer and began putting it together.

  Mike smiled as he walked away. Wasn’t it funny that a lost opportunity turned into something new and wonderful?

  The refrigerator hadn’t taken long to fix. It wasn’t going to be a permanent fix though either. Gabe was going to have to shell out the money for a new one fairly soon. But judging from the constant stream of patrons into the restaurant, Mike assumed that wouldn’t be a problem.

  He’d just started working on the railing at the end of the bar when the door opened to the restaurant and a boy in a Denver Broncos hoodie, with a grocery bag in each hand, and a woman carrying twice as many bags, walked in.

  The hostess greeted them by name but didn’t try to seat them.

  They both walked straight to the bar, passed by him, and behind the bar to Chandra.

  “Hey, handsome!” Chandra put her hands on the boy’s cheeks and gave him a noisy kiss, to which he shook his face as if he’d seen a bee. “Hello, Mama.” She kissed the woman on the cheek and took the bags from her hands.

  “Where’s Gabe?” The boy looked around.

  “Waiting for his new baby.”

  “That’s taking forever,” he said as he dropped the bags right where he stood.

  “I’m sure Holly would agree.” She turned to the woman. “How are the roads?”

  The woman who had a gray braid that traveled over her shoulder, much like Chandra’s, lifted her brows. “I drove a rig through the blizzard of eighty-two. This was nothing.”

  Chandra laughed as if she’d heard that story a million times. And then she shifted her eyes to him.

  “Mom and Jason, this is Mike. He’s the new tenant upstairs.”

  Mike put down the screwdriver and wiped his hands on the rag that Gabe kept in the bucket of tools.

  Jason scanned a look over him from head to toe. “You live here?”

  “Gabe rented me the apartment upstairs,” he said extending his hand to the boy. “I’m Mike.”

  “Jason,” he said giving his hand a firm grip.

  The woman walked closer to him. “Chandra’s mother,” she said holding out her hand to him. “Esther.”

  “It�
�s a pleasure to meet you, Esther. Did I hear you say you drove a rig?”

  She laughed a deep laugh, perhaps an old smoker’s laugh, though he didn’t smell the scent on her now.

  “Hauled lumber from Oregon to New Mexico.”

  “Through the Rockies?”

  She smiled wide. “Best damn ride ever. Chandra was a tyke. She’d ride with me in the summers, and we’d camp along the way. Her daddy had his own rig,” Esther said. “We lost him in Wyoming in a pileup. Some snow storms are worse than others.”

  Mike saw the flash of sadness move over Esther’s face, and just as quickly Chandra turned her back to them and picked up her rag.

  “Enough about snow storms. I have a meatloaf, some potatoes, salad, and a loaf of bread. I hear you have a place we can eat it.”

  “I sure do. I don’t have any dishes.”

  “Jason has a bag of paper plates that’ll last you until your stuff arrives.”

  “That sounds great. What can I carry?”

  Jason picked up the bags he’d dropped on the floor and handed them to Mike. “Here. Carry these,” he said as he handed them to him and walked off toward the staircase in the hallway.

  Mike laughed. “Can I help you with any of yours?”

  “I’ve got this,” Esther said as she looked back at Chandra. “You taking a break to eat with us?”

  “I’ll be up in ten minutes.”

  Esther gave her a nod and started for the stairs.

  Mike looked back once more at Chandra before he followed. He watched her wipe her eyes as she motioned to someone to cover the bar.

  Losing her father must have been a traumatic event to still shake her up like that. It was obvious she was close to her mother, and they evened the weight on each other's shoulders. Something told him, Chandra wasn't the kind of woman to take that kind of relationship for granted.

  Chapter Five

  Jason walked through the door to the apartment, and his grandmother and Mike followed behind him, carrying all the bags.

  “This is where you’re going to live?” he asked with his nose crinkled up.

  “Yeah. You don’t like it?”

  He shrugged. “It’s really small.”

  Esther nudged him out of the way. “It’s a nice apartment, and I guess Mike will make it even better. Trust me, kid, when you grow up, you’ll beg Gabe to let you live here.”

  “I doubt it,” he said as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and plopped himself down on the couch.

  Esther turned to Mike and shook her head. “I despise those damn phones. Minecraft is all I ever hear about.”

  “I’m fairly sure if they were around when we were kids we’d have looked the same,” he said knowing full and well he too would have been addicted to Minecraft.

  “The meatloaf needs a warm up. Can you start the oven?” she asked as she pulled the dish from a canvas bag.

  Mike studied the oven for a moment and then pushed the buttons he assumed would kick it into gear. “I think that’s it. I wonder how long it’s been since this has been on.”

  “At least two years. That’s when Gabe moved out.”

  “Perfect bachelor pad, that’s for sure.”

  “Now he’s having a second baby.” She smiled wide. “Lucky man to have found Holly.”

  “Haven’t met her, but between Gabe and Chandra, I’ve heard good things.”

  “It was a one-night stand kind of deal,” she whispered as if to make sure Jason wasn’t hearing her. But when Mike looked his way, he knew that he was engrossed in what he was doing.

  “I suppose that works out sometimes,” he said.

  “She was pregnant when she came looking for him. Didn’t even know his name. Wasn’t either of their styles to have done that. I suppose sometimes our hearts know what we want long before our brains do.”

  “I couldn’t agree more.”

  Esther took a set of sheets from another canvas bag and handed them to Mike. “We have a closet full of these. So don’t worry about returning them—ever. It’ll save you some money too.”

  “I appreciate it.”

  She looked around the apartment. “I have an entire window of plants too. I’ll bring you one. You need something homey here. I see you have one picture.”

  He chuckled. “I’ll have about three more when my storage unit arrives.”

  Esther walked toward the mantle and looked at the one picture he’d put there. “Your son?”

  “Yeah. Dane. He’s living the dream on my dollar.”

  She laughed. “Going to college huh? What’s he studying?”

  “Engineering. He’s either going to be an astronaut, a video game designer or teach middle school history.”

  “None of it sounds too shabby,” she said as the door opened and Chandra walked through.

  “Meatloaf is going to warm up,” Esther told her. “Go help Mike get his room together and take that bag there,” she pointed to another bag they’d carried in. “It’s got some toiletries and necessities.”

  Chandra nodded and walked straight to the bedroom. Mike took that as his cue to follow.

  “Thanks for all of this.”

  “You’re helping me out. It’s the least I could do.”

  She stood on one side of the bed, and he on the other. He pulled out the fitted sheet, and they managed it on the mattress, but not without some difficulty.

  He learned a lot about her as they made the bed. She was a hospital corner kind of woman, and he was a throw the blankets on the bed kind of man.

  She fluffed up the pillow they’d brought him when she put the pillow case on it and readjusted the quilt after he’d simply pulled it up over the sheets.

  Chandra then took the bag into the bathroom, and he followed.

  “She thinks of everything,” she laughed as she opened the medicine cabinet. “You have everything you need in here. Toothpaste, toothbrush, mouthwash, Advil, a razor, and shaving cream. What does she think you’ve been doing, coming in dirty and unprepared?”

  “Your mother is a very kind woman. I’ve picked up that much in the few minutes I’ve been around her.”

  Chandra’s expression softened. “I’d be lost without her. She’s taken care of Jason and me. I couldn’t do what I do if she weren't with us.”

  He’d never mention it, but he was sure he’d just seen her eyes moisten.

  “Do you have a shower curtain coming?”

  He looked at the small shower. “No. I had a door on my last shower.”

  She nodded and dug into the bag. “She thought of everything,” she said as she pulled out a brand new shower curtain.

  “I didn’t want her to have to buy things. I need to know how much to pay her back.”

  Chandra laughed. “You think she went out and bought this? No. She hoards this kind of stuff just for this reason.”

  “Just in case a man like me comes along.”

  Her cheeks grew pink. “You have no idea how close you are to getting that right.”

  Chandra reached for the shower rod, but she’d have had to jump to pull it down.

  “I’ve got that,” he said moving in behind her, brushing up against her as they had in the bar. As quickly as she moved away from him, he knew she’d felt that spark again. How could he even blame her?

  “Here,” she handed him the curtain. “I’m going to help Mom with dinner.”

  Mike continued to attach the curtain to the rod after Chandra had run out.

  “Can I use the bathroom?” Jason stood in the doorway and looked at him.

  “Yeah, let me just put this back up,” he said pushing the rod, now with the curtain hanging from it, back up between the walls.

  “My mom must like you,” Jason suggested as he leaned against the wall with his hands behind his back.

  “What makes you say that?”

  Jason shrugged. “She’s only dated a few guys, and she’s only ever brought home one of them. That’s why I think she likes you. She’s letting us meet you, and
she brought you all this stuff.”

  “Your mom’s a nice woman. And, I’m not dating her, so I suppose it’s okay if she’s nice to me and I get to meet you.”

  “You’re not dating her?”

  “No. I just met her. She’s been very nice to help me out.”

  “She sure talks about you a lot,” he offered as Mike moved out of the bathroom and Jason closed the door.

  He stood there for a moment thinking about that. What could she have possibly said in two days that would make her son think he was a boyfriend?

  The thought gave him a little jolt of happiness. At least someone appreciated him.

  The small table set up in the small kitchen of the apartment had been set for dinner. A warmth, which Mike hadn’t felt in a very long time, washed over him. Once Dane had become busy in high school, he and his wife—ex-wife—had stopped having family meals. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d sat at a table like this.

  “Everything is ready,” Esther gave him a nod. “Sit. We will eat in just a moment.”

  “Is there anything else I can help with?”

  “Tomorrow, you can count on it. Tonight, just enjoy.”

  Jason ran from the other room, pulled out a chair, and sat down as if he were playing musical chairs. Mike pulled out the chair closest to Esther, and she sat.

  “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure.”

  He quickly moved and reached for the next chair at the same time as Chandra. She snapped a look at him. “Were you going to sit here?”

  “No, I was pulling out your seat for you.”

  The crease between her brows eased. “Thank you. I’m not used to that.”

  “You should be,” he said as she took her seat and he took the last.

  He’d caught the approving grin from her mother and the look of confusion from Jason.

  Perhaps there was something still to teach a young man. He thought of Dane and his offer to let him live with him. There was proof he’d done a good job with one kid—but then the thought backfired.

  He looked at Chandra who scooped potatoes onto her plate and absentmindedly handed him the bowl. One meal and he was raising her son? He was sure she’d have a lot to say about his thoughts on that.

  They weren’t seeing each other. They weren’t a couple. He’d wandered into her bar broken and alone, and it was obvious by her mother’s outpouring, that she was raised to take care of people. He was an idiot to think there was more to it.