“You’re gonna keep him while I work?”
“Yes, I thought I would.”
“Yay!” Sawyer Jackson shouts.
“You don’t think I can do it?”
She giggles, “No, I never said that.” I laugh. She didn’t have to say it, she’s thinking it. “What do you have planned for tonight?” she asks with a huge smile on her face.
I look at Sawyer Jackson and he’s watching me. “Grocery shopping.” It’s the first and only thing I thought of.
“Grocery shoppin’,” she repeats. “That’s a good idea. Will you need a list?”
Will I need a list? “No, Sawyer Jackson and I can figure it out.”
She looks at me, then Sawyer Jackson, and then back to me. “Okay, then. It sounds like a plan.”
I get up and place my dishes in the sink. Walking back into the dining room, I say, “I’ll try to be here before you leave for work. If not, bring him over.” I bend down and kiss her before I kiss him. “I gotta run.”
“Okay, have a great day.”
The first thing this morning, they came in and installed the new windows and doors in the old school. They worked well into the afternoon to complete the work. Even I had a hard time believing the difference the new windows and doors made. This place is really starting to come together.
I leave work and let Pops close up the school. I wanted to be there when Savannah Mae left for work. She left a grocery list with five items listed on it with a $20.00 bill sitting on the kitchen counter. I looked it over before setting it back down. Milk, eggs, bread, butter, and, cheese. I’m not sure she did it because she didn’t need anything else, or if she left the list because she was worried about money. I quickly look in the refrigerator, freezer, and the cabinets before understanding she was worried about the money.
“You ready, Buddy?”
Sawyer Jackson quickly gathers his Toy Story toys before answering. “Yep.”
Once inside Krogers, I realize shopping for a family is a lot different from shopping for a single guy. I’ve watched Momma shop, but I never really paid much attention to what she bought. I was more focused on her coupon book she carried.
Sawyer Jackson and I walked up and down each aisle picking up random items. If he looked at it, I placed it in the cart. “What does your Mommy like to eat?”
“She likes salads, cucumbers, and celery.” He thinks for a minute and says, “She likes apples, oranges, and bananas, too.”
I look down at him and I quickly learn the Savannah Mae is a health nut. So we buy a lot of produce and lean meats.
“What do you like?”
“I like those things, too. It’s good.” He nods his head.
“What about Little Debbie snacks or Twinkies?”
“What are those?”
Sawyer Jackson has never had a Twinkie. “I’ll buy some and we’ll see if you like them.” I buy what he says they like, but I also buy some things I think they would like. I get to the register and I’m shocked at the total amount. I have often been in restaurants where the bill for two meals came to hundreds of dollars, so it’s a shock sometimes on the rare occasions when I shop for groceries to see what food really costs. To someone like me, food in grocery stores costs so very little. I pay the cashier, and walk out with my purchase.
We get home and put the groceries away. The food I bought filled up her freezer, refrigerator, and the cabinets. The junk food also filled up a drawer by itself. Sawyer Jackson tells me he’s hungry. We decide on spaghetti and meatballs with a salad. I call Momma and get the recipe for her spaghetti sauce. I know what goes in it, I’m just not sure how much. Momma didn’t know either; she doesn’t measure anything. “Just put it in until it looks right,” she says. How am I supposed to know if it looks right?
Jackson Sawyer and I agree: It tastes good.
We each eat Twinkies for dessert and Jackson Sawyer immediately becomes a huge Twinkies fan. He wants a lot more, but I give him just one more.
I clean up the kitchen, and get him ready for bed before she gets home. We play a few board games, and watch a cartoon before tucking him into bed. When the clock nears 11:00, I begin to worry. I check my cell phone and there’s no missed calls or messages from Savannah Mae. I’m not sure when the restaurant closes, but I thought it was long before now. I can’t call her, I don’t want to be that boyfriend. The one who calls asking where she is. The one who has to know her whereabouts every minute of everyday. The one who worries something may have happened to her. But a killer is at large, and she did just receive a hand-delivered note to her house. I stand up to call her when I see headlights coming down the street. When the car pulls up to the house, relief washes over me.
Opening the screen door, I watch as she exits the car. She’s carrying her work apron and a Styrofoam container.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” she begins to apologize as I step out onto the porch.
I smile and try to hide my worry. “I’m just glad you’re home.”
She walks up the sidewalk and onto the porch. “Was he good? I’m usually out of there by now. We were just so busy.”
“Savannah Mae, it’s fine. Welcome home,” I say as I hold the door open for her to enter.
She smiles and kisses me. “It’s good to be home. Did you get my grocery list I left you on the counter?”
“I did.” I lock up and follow behind her into the kitchen.
“Good, I needed only a few things. I brought home some leftover meatloaf and mashed potatoes if you’re hungry.”
“I made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.”
She stops what she was doing and looks over her shoulder at me. “You did?”
“I did. I was craving it and picked up the ingredients I needed to make it.”
“Did you make Nelly’s homemade spaghetti sauce?”
I smile. “I tried to. You didn’t know I could cook, did you?”
She sets her purse, apron, and food container on the kitchen counter before turning around. “I didn’t, and I’m suddenly hungry for spaghetti. You stayin’ the night?”
“I was planning on it. Is that okay?”
“It’s more than okay. Let me shower first, and then I’ll heat up the spaghetti.” She leans up on her tiptoes and kisses me.
“You shower, and I’ll put this in the refrigerator and heat up your dinner.”
“I’ll be right back.”
I have to move the food around in the refrigerator to make room for the small Styrofoam container. I’m glad she didn’t open it and see the overabundance of groceries we bought. I’d hate to hear her when she looks in the junk food drawer. That’ll be harder to explain.
Savannah Mae
The next mornin’ we wake up and Sawyer Jackson is lyin’ on the couch complainin’ of a stomachache. There’s no fever, but I’m still concerned. “Where does it hurt?” I kneel down next to him.
He places his hand over his entire belly. “Everywhere.”
Abel Lee says, “Are you hungry, Buddy? Maybe you just need to eat something.” He stands behind me lookin’ down on Sawyer Jackson.
“I’m not hungry,” he moans. “I ate some of that stuff you bought yesterday.”
“What stuff?” I ask as Abel Lee walks towards the kitchen. “What stuff?” I ask louder so he can hear me.
He walks back into the room carrying the full trash can. “Buddy, did you eat all the Little Debbie cakes?”
I peek into the trashcan at all of the empty wrappers.
“Yes, and some Twinkies,” Sawyer Jackson moans. “Lots of Twinkies. All the Twinkies.”
“Abel Lee, please tell me this isn’t all from this mornin’.” He doesn’t say anything. “He ate all of this, just this mornin’.” It’s not a question.
“It was berry good.” Sawyer Jackson moans. “But now my belly hurts.”
My son has eaten sweets only rarely. One, it’s bad for him. Two, it’s expensive. Three, it causes obesity and other health issues.
“He’ll
feel better in a few hours. Maybe some Pepto Bismol will help.”
I run my hand over Sawyer Jackson’s hair. Abel Lee turns to leave with the trashcan. “Leave that here, he may need it.”
I follow Abel Lee into the kitchen and look into the drawer that’s pulled out slightly. I look inside and soon realize that we have a junk food drawer and it’s full. “Are you sure this is what he ate? This drawer’s full.”
Abel Lee reaches into the drawer and shuffles the contents. “Last night, this drawer wouldn’t close.”
He adds, “I wanted Sawyer Jackson to taste Twinkies, but I should have realized that he would not be able to resist them. People in other countries often don’t realize why the United States has an obesity epidemic until they eat Little Debbie cakes and Twinkies, and then our obesity epidemic makes perfect sense to them.
We move the junk food out of the drawer and into a high kitchen shelf. I put apples in the former junk-food drawer. Sawyer Jackson likes apples. When he was two years old, he bit into an onion that he thought was an apple. He cried.
Two weeks have passed since Abel Lee and I got back together. He’s been stayin’ with me every night and I have to admit I like it. Other than Ethan, no other man has ever stayed the night with me. I’m very protective of my son. I’m happier with Abel Lee in my life and so is Sawyer Jackson.
Ethan and Heather Sue are officially over, although she continues to harass him. I’m glad that he finally saw her for what she is. I’m not jealous, but she lied and tried to keep my son and his daddy apart. That’s just not right. Whoever Ethan ends up with has to like my son. She can’t be jealous of him because Sawyer Jackson will always be in Ethan’s life.
Abel Lee and I talked over his plans for the old school. With the improvements he’s made, it no longer looks like an old school. The buildin’ and the lot both look great. He recently took my advice and hired an accountant to handle his payroll for the guys who work there. He’d get off work and spend another couple hours doin’ paperwork. I didn’t realize everything that was required to run a business. Abel Lee has a good head on his shoulder, and he’s a smart man. I’m learnin’ a lot from him. I also learned that he runs every single night or morning. I knew he ran, I just didn’t know he ran everyday. He sure is a dedicated man.
Some of the things that we talk about sound like we’ll be together for a long time. I like the thought of that. Abel Lee is very relaxed and is very easy to get along with. I can picture him in my life forever. We aren’t there yet, and he never mentioned marriage, but I can see it down the road for us. With some guys in the area, I see marriage down the road, across several states, over the ocean, and on another planet. For some of the guys, I would be willing to buy them a one-way ticket.
The day after he went to the grocery store with Sawyer Jackson, I about had a heart attack when I opened the refrigerator to get the milk out. I’ve lived in this house for five years, and I ain’t never had the cabinets or the refrigerator that full. It feels good to not have to worry about food. I was gonna fuss with him about overspendin’, but then I decided against it. It wouldn’t do any good. He’s been here every night since our reconciliation and we need the food to feed all of us. However, I did have a problem with the drawer full of sweets. Everything I love was in that drawer. I don’t buy that stuff because I can’t afford it, but I also don’t buy that stuff because I love it. Ain’t nothin’ good comes from a woman and a drawer full of sweets. It’s like a girl wearing leggin’s. Nothin’ good comes from that either. There’s just something wrong with wearin’ a pair of pants you can grow into — unless you’re pregnant, of course. But it may be best not to wear leggings, especially when you have a drawer full of sweets. Leggings are like young children: They tell the truth. But to be honest, they are my favorite kind of pants to wear.
Abel Lee hired a contractor to come in and build a workshop for the old school. Ethan and Kevin, Ethan’s dad, have been plannin’ and designin’ it for each of their needs. I even saw Johnny over there puttin’ in his two cents. I think it’s a great idea and it’ll bring jobs into the community. People are talkin about Rose Farm bein’ the next Dresden, Ohio when Abel Lee gets done. I don’t see it, but anything is possible. Dave Longaberger built an empire from handwoven baskets. Well, that and other things. But it all started with the baskets.
Today, I’m meetin’ with Nelly to discuss Mia’s baby shower. She has only less than two months to go. Nelly and I are meetin at Tat’s Restaurant in South Zanesville. We would normally go to Peaches Place, but Mia’s workin’ the lunch shift there today, and the baby shower is a surprise.
I see Nelly sittin’ at a table with an iced tea in front of her when I enter the restaurant. As soon as I sit down, Nelly asks, “Do you have the list of guests?”
“Right here.” I dig into my purse and pull out a list of about twenty names. I hand it to her and she looks it over.
“Good, I talked to Pastor Jenson and he said we can have the baby shower at the church.”
“Great, that solves that problem of where we should have it.” We order lunch and sort out the details of the baby shower. I become more excited as the plans come together. It’s still bittersweet about the baby, but we are all prayin’ it’ll be healthy. Only time will tell if the blood work was correct and the baby has Down syndrome or not. I try to not think about that. There’s nothin’ that can be done about it, so why worry? Because it’s hard not to.
Nelly and I enjoy our lunch and complete the rest of the details for the baby shower. We plan for the baby shower to be in two weeks. That’ll be plenty of time to get everything done. I call Mom and check on Sawyer Jackson before headin’ home.
Later that night durin’ dinner, Abel Lee gets a text. He ignores it, but he gets a call followed by another text. “I’m sorry, it must be important. Please excuse me.” He picks up his phone and swipes his finger across the screen to answer it. “Abel here,” he says as he stands from the table. Sawyer Jackson and I talk about his day with grandma. Abel Lee takes the call outside and I have no idea what’s goin’ on. He’s never takin’ a call durin’ dinner before. Actually, he doesn’t get many calls at all.
He walks back into the room, and he doesn’t say anything. I notice stress lines on his forehead that I didn’t see earlier. He takes his seat, and he joins in the conversation between Sawyer Jackson and me. I don’t ask him about the call, but smile and listen to the story Sawyer Jackson tells about his Aunt Samantha Marie. Sawyer Jackson’s conversations are growin’ more interestin’. I can remember when he would talk 20 minutes about fire trucks. I make a mental note to ask Abel Lee about the call later in the evenin’.
Right after dinner, Abel Lee tells me he’s goin’ outside to make a call. “Is everything okay?”
He smiles, but it’s not a true smile. “I’ll tell you tonight after Sawyer Jackson goes to bed.”
“Okay, I hope everything’s all right.” I start to place the dishes into the sink to wash. “It sounds important.”
“Unfortunately, it is. I don’t want Sawyer Jackson to overhear us.”
“Okay, I understand. We’ll talk later.”
It isn’t until Sawyer Jackson falls asleep that Abel Lee tells me about the phone call. I was anxious to hear about it, but I knew Abel Lee would tell me when the time was right. I shower before bed and Abel Lee is in bed waitin’ for me. He looks serious as he leans back on the headboard. I get chills that run down my spine. “What’s goin’ on?” I run my hands up and down my arms to warm myself. Something isn’t right, something is seriously wrong, I can feel it.
“There was another murder.”
“What? Where? When?” I take a deep breath and try to think about the words I’m tryin’ to form. “Who?” That wasn’t what I was tryin’ to say, but it’ll do. I get in bed and pull the covers up to my chest. I’m suddenly freezin’ cold.
“Sometime today or late last night in Crooksville.” He watches me and I think he’s hidin’ something. Crooksville? We ha
ve family and friends who live in Crooksville. We are such a small community. Murders don’t happen here, not in this area. This is an area where we all know each other and everyone comes together to help those in need, not hurt them.
“I can’t believe that.” I hear what he’s sayin’, but the words aren’t makin’ any sense. “Who would do such a thing?”
“Savannah Mae, there’s something else I need to tell you.” He repositions himself and watches me.
I see the look on his face and it scares me. “Oh God, I know the person. Please tell me it isn’t Mia.” My heart races and I can’t breathe. “Mia and Levi live…”
“No Savannah Mae, it isn’t Mia or Levi.”
“Oh, thank God.”
He says slowly and clearly. “It was Heather Sue.” He stops for a minute before sayin’ anything else. “Her mother found her battered body earlier this evening.” I don’t say anything. I don’t know what to say. I didn’t like her, but I didn’t want her dead, either. “They had plans to go shopping, and when her mother went to pick her up, that’s when she found her.”
My mind runs wild with thoughts of Heather Sue. Did she suffer? Was she scared? Am I a suspect because I didn’t like her? What about Ethan? Is Ethan a suspect because of their breakup? “Do they know who killed her or how she died?”
“No. I spoke to Pops and he said she was unrecognizable.”
Unrecognizable? “Just like Megan Rose?” Ice runs through my veins causin’ me to shiver uncontrollably. Abel Lee stands and hands me one of his sweatshirts from the closet.
“I’m afraid so. Pops spoke with Ethan and his dad, Kevin. Heather Sue’s mom called Ethan. She didn’t know who else to call.”
“Oh, poor Ethan. Poor Heather Sue. I didn’t like her, but I didn’t want this to happen.”
His eyes soften and he looks very sympathetic. “I know.”
“Do they know who did it?”
“No, they don’t know who’s responsible for her death.”
I put the sweatshirt on and look at Abel Lee. Sawyer Jackson is in bed asleep, but I lower my voice so he can’t hear in case he wakes up. “What if this is a serial killer? What if it’s the same person who killed Megan Rose?” He doesn’t say anything and I think that I’m right. My small beloved community may have a serial killer at large. “The police thinks it’s the same person, don’t they?”
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