Burnt

by Lacy Hart

  “It’s your Dad,” Sophie said to me, surprised to see Stephanie in the picture.

  “And Stephanie’s father too, right Stephanie?” I said, looking over at her. Stephanie took the picture from Sophie and looked at it, tears forming in her eyes. She just nodded at me as she sobbed.

  “This… this is the picture I’ve been looking for,” she said as she wiped the tears on the sleeve of her sweatshirt. “Where did you find it?”

  “It was inside his truck in the garage,” I said to her.

  “I didn’t have the key to the garage; I only had keys to the house. Well, they are Mom’s keys, but I swiped them to come look for the picture.” Stephanie looked over at the picture again and smiled, happy to have it in her hands.

  “That means you two are brother and sister?” Sophie asked, still piecing everything together.

  “Well, half-siblings I guess,” I answered. “Let me see if there’s anything in the medicine cabinet to clean up your knee,” I said, slowly getting out of the chair.

  “The first aid kit is under the sink in the kitchen,” Stephanie told me.

  I just nodded to her and went into the kitchen to get it. Sure enough, there was a first aid kit there. I walked back into the living room to see Stephanie and Sophie talking. I opened the kit to find some antiseptic to clean the wound and then used a small bandage and some tape to put over it.

  “It’s not bad,” I told Stephanie as I finished putting the dressing on. “You’ll be fine.”

  “Thanks,” she said to me, slowly flexing her knee.

  “So are you the one who cleaned up the house?” I asked her as I slowly got up from kneeling myself, feeling some soreness in my leg.

  “Yes,” she told us. “After… after Dad died, Mom didn’t want to come to the house to get any of our stuff herself. She said it would be too painful for her, but she didn’t want anyone else finding her stuff here. She and Dad always kept things pretty quiet. She.. she didn’t want to upset your mother anymore,” she said as she looked over at me.

  “When I got here that first time, the house was pretty messy. Mom and I always cleaned up whenever we were here, but we hadn’t been in here in about a week. It took me a few trips, but I got everything cleaned up and took our stuff, but I wanted this picture and couldn’t find it. It was the only picture of the three of us. Dad never let us take a picture together, but we took this one at Fourth of July in the park.”

  I could see her hand trembling a bit as she held the picture. I never imagined that Dad’s death would be hard for anyone, but clearly, I was wrong. He had created a different life for himself, and it looks like he was trying not to mess this one up.

  “Does your mother know you have been coming here still?” I asked Stephanie.

  “No,” she replied. “She never asked for the keys back, so I kept coming, looking for the picture, straightening up. I would come in the back door and come early in the morning or at night when I didn’t think anyone would notice I was here.”

  “So it was you I saw here the other night,” Sophie said to Stephanie. “I thought it was just my imagination.”

  “It was me,” Stephanie confessed. “I thought I was caught for sure when I saw you look at me, Ms. Ingram,” she said with a smile, sniffling her tears away.

  The three of us sat there in silence for a little bit, wondering what to do next. I stood up from my seat and took Sophie’s hand, pulling her up off the couch.

  “Sophie and I were going down to the bakery for some breakfast,” I said to Stephanie. “Do you want to come with us?”

  Stephanie looked at the two of us, and a smile brightened on her face. “I could go for some breakfast,” she said, getting up off the couch.

  I opened the front door for the ladies to go through, Stephanie first, followed by Sophie. Sophie stopped to give me a kiss before she went out the door.

  “What’s that for?” I asked her, pleased that I got a kiss.

  “Because you are a good man, Travis Stone,” she said with a smile.

  I followed the ladies out the door. Sophie and I walked down the street, hand in hand, while Stephanie walked to the right of me, with one foot hopping up and down off the sidewalk in the street. Like everything else in Canon, the bakery was close by, about two blocks before the Homestead. We walked in, and there was only one other person in there getting some donuts. Sophie and Stephanie sat at one of the small tables in the corner by the front window while I went up to order.

  The bakery has been owned by the same family, the Castellis, for many years. I had actually gone to school with the son of the original owner, and I saw Michael heading into the back as a young girl came out to wait on me. I ordered three jelly donuts and a few blueberry turnovers. I also got coffee for myself and Sophie, and hot chocolate for Stephanie.

  I got back to the table holding the donuts and turnovers in a bag and placed it on the table. The young girl from behind the counter than brought over the beverages, proudly balancing the mugs on a tray without spilling a drop.

  Stephanie happily took the hot chocolate, making sure to swipe all the whipped cream off the top with her finger first. She devoured a jelly donut, and then another, and probably would have gone for a third if Sophie and I hadn’t decided to split it ourselves.

  “Are you ready for high school in a few weeks, Stephanie?” Sophie asked as she sipped her coffee.

  “I guess so,” Stephanie said, not looking thrilled about the prospect of school, let alone high school. “It should be fine, I just wish the girls weren’t such bitches,” she said, taking a long draw on her hot chocolate.

  I nearly had coffee come out my nose when she said this as Sophie looked at me.

  “Sorry for swearing, Ms. Ingram,” she said.

  “It’s okay,” Sophie told her, as she shot me a look as I was trying not laugh out loud.

  When we had finished our breakfast, we walked out of the bakery and stood out front for a minute.

  “Well, thanks for breakfast,” Stephanie said to me. “Will I... get to see you again?” she questioned.

  Sophie looked at me to see how I was going to answer. I smiled at her and then at Stephanie.

  “I think I am going to be around for a while, so the odds are pretty good,” I told her.

  “Great!” Stephanie said. She surprised me by giving me a hug, wrapping her arms around my midsection tightly.

  “Bye Travis, bye Ms. Ingram!” she waved as she headed off in the direction of Collins.

  “Do you think she is going back to my house?” I asked Sophie.

  “No, she is probably going home. She only lives a few streets from behind your place, over on Gentry Street,” Sophie remarked.

  We started walking down the street, and Sophie took my hand again.

  “So where to now Mr. Stone?” she said to me playfully.

  I smiled over at her as we walked on.

  “Now I take you home to meet my family,” I told her as we turned towards my Mom’s house.

  21

  Sophie

  I have to admit I felt a little nervous as we walked along the streets of Canon towards Maggie’s house. I hadn’t been inside the house since before I went back to school without Travis some fourteen years ago, but that wasn’t what I was nervous about. I was nervous about Abby, what she would think, and if she was ready to share her father with somebody else.

  Travis could see something on my face as we got closer and closer to the house. We stopped just short of the driveway of the house. It was still early, barely past 8:30 in the morning, so we both knew Maggie was still there, and it meant Abby was there too. On top of everything else, I was walking into the house with both of them knowing that Travis had just spent the night at my house.

  “Everything okay?” Travis asked me as he took my hand and looked into my face again with concern.

  “Yes,” I said, squeezing his hand in mine. “I’m just a little nervous is all.”

  “Nervous about what?” Travis said as h
e gently tugged me toward the driveway. “You’ve known my mother for over twenty years. She’ll be happy to see you.”

  “it’s not that Travis,” I said to him, taking a serious tone. “It’s Abby. What if she isn’t okay with you seeing me? She might not like the idea that you spent the night with me.”

  “That’s nuts,” Travis said to me. He could see his statement got to me.

  “I’m sorry, Sophie, that came out wrong,” he said, taking both of my hands in his now. “Look, I barely dated anyone over the last twelve years. It’s just been Abby and me most of the time, and I get why you might think that way, but you have nothing to worry about. If anything, Abby was always trying to get me to go on dates. All I did was work and spend time with her. I think she’ll be glad to have someone to take the spotlight off of her for a change.” Travis smiled at me as he said this, trying to get a smile out of me. I had no choice but to crack.

  “Okay,” I told him, taking a deep breath. “Let’s go. But you better be right,” I warned him.

  Travis and I walked up the driveway towards the front porch of the house. He quietly opened the front door, and we slipped inside. He was listening for any sounds of activity when he heard some stirring in the kitchen. He nodded to me, took my hand, and we walked down the hall to the kitchen to see Maggie there, percolator in hand, pouring her coffee. She was already dressed for her day at the restaurant.

  “Well good morning,” she said to both of us, smiling. “Can I get you two some coffee?” she asked as she held up the coffee pot.

  “Thanks, Mom, that would be great,” Travis said as he went to get a cup. “Sophie?” he asked me as he held up an empty mug.

  “Please,” I said quietly, feeling too nervous still. I looked around the room, and it seemed like I was back to where we were all those years ago.

  “Sit down, Sophie,” Maggie said to me with a gentle smile, pointing to the chairs at the table.

  Travis brought the mugs to the table and took the coffee pot from Maggie, pouring us each a mug. Maggie sat down at the table across from me while Travis leaned up against the counter, sipping his coffee.

  “Did you to have a nice dinner last night?” Maggie asked as she took a sip, peering over the edge of her mug at me. I could feel myself turning red from the question, and looked at Travis, who was smiling at me, knowing we never even got to eat dinner.

  “It was great Mom,” Travis interjected.

  “Well we had quite a night at the restaurant,” Maggie told us. “The place was wall to wall people all night long, and not having a regular bartender there really put a crimp on things. I was running ragged all night long.”

  “You’re going to have to hire someone fast Mom,” Travis said to Maggie. “You can’t keep up like that every day.”

  “You’re right Travis, I can’t,” Maggie said, motioning to him to sit down in the chair next to me. Travis sat down next to me, putting his arm around me as we sat. I could see Maggie smile broadly as he did this.

  “I had a proposition, and I wanted to see what you thought about it,” Maggie said to us. “Since you have the house in town now, there’s no sense in it going empty. If you’re planning on staying around here, I’d like you to come work with me. I’d make you a partner in the restaurant; you could run and manage the bar, and I’ll take care of the rest. Then, when I retire, you and Abby can take the whole place. What do you think?”

  I looked over at Travis, trying to hide how giddy the thought made me feel. It was the perfect answer for all of us – Maggie gets help in the restaurant and gets to keep it in the family, Travis gets a job, and I get Travis to stay in town. It sounded like a win-win-win for all of us.

  I saw Travis rock back gently in the chair as he sipped his coffee, pondering the idea. He looked at Maggie intently as he did.

  “Don’t do that in my chairs, Travis,” Maggie scolded. “You know how I hate that.”

  Travis rocked the chair forward, so all the legs came to rest on the floor. He put his coffee cup down on the table. He looked over at me, and I am sure he could clearly see the hope in my eyes.

  “Are you sure you want to do that Mom?” he asked her. “That place has been your whole life.”

  “I know Travis,” Maggie sighed. “But the long days and nights, every day, are starting to take a toll on me. I haven’t had a day off in months, or a real vacation in years. With you there, I would know the place was in good hands, and I could start enjoying my life the way I should. Abby could work there while she went to school and maybe, someday, if she wanted, she could take over the place from you, and the place could stay in the family.”

  Travis looked over at me again, this time taking my right hand in his left hand.

  “Are you sure you want me around here all the time?” he asked me.

  I put my right hand gently on his cheek.

  “I wouldn’t want it any other way,” I told him, with tears in my eyes.

  “Well,” Travis said, turning to Maggie, “I guess you have a bartender and a partner.”

  Maggie clapped her hands together in joy and came over and hugged both of us.

  “What’s all the hugging about?” a voice said from behind us.

  All three of us turned to see Abby standing there in her t-shirt and shorts, still wiping her eyes as if she just woke up. Maggie stood up and went over to Abby, pulling her into the kitchen. I could see Abby looking at me as if she was wondering why I was there. I started to feel nervous again, and I am sure Travis could see it on my face as well. He took my hand again and held it in his.

  Abby walked over and stood by the edge of the table. Travis pushed the bag of turnovers he got from the bakery down her way, and she anxiously opened up the bag and took one out. She bit off the corner of the frosted treat, still looking over at us.

  “It looks like you and I are going to be sticking around for a while kiddo,” Travis told her.

  “We’re going to live in our house?” she asked excitedly.

  “Yes,” Travis said to her. Abby raced over and threw her arms around Travis’ neck, hugging him tightly.

  “Oh Dad, thank you,” she said happily, hugging him again. She practically pulled him right out of the chair she hugged so tightly. As she broke the hug, she took notice of how Travis was still holding my hand. Her eyes went from me to her father, and back again. Abby then reached over and took my other hand.

  “Can I borrow Ms. Ingram for a few minutes?” she said to her father as she pulled me out of my chair. I got up and followed Abby down the hall and out the front door. She sat down on the front step, and I sat next to her. I was a little worried about what was coming next.

  “You two were more than friends, weren’t you?” Abby asked me pointedly.

  “Yes,” I said to her honestly. “Your father and I were very close, right until he left to become a fireman.”

  “Oh,” she said looking down at her feet. “So you were with Dad before he met my mother?”

  “I was,” I answered.

  “I don’t remember her at all,” Abby said. She looked over at me, and I could see she was feeling a little sad about it. “Dad has shown me a few pictures he has of her, but that’s all I know. I know I look like her, but I don’t know anything else about her. Other than Grandma, I’ve never really had any other women around. Dad never dates much, and when he did, I never met any of them anyway. It’s nice to know he has someone that makes him happy like that in you. And if we’re going to be around here, maybe… maybe you and I can get to know each other better?” she said as she looked at me.

  I felt a little choked up by what she just said.

  “Absolutely,” I told her. I reached over and held her hand lightly, and she gave my hand a little squeeze as she smiled at me.

  Travis came out the front door and saw us sitting there. He squeezed his way between the two of us, putting an arm around each of us.

  “You girls doing okay?” he asked us, looking back and forth between us.

 
“Dad,” Abby complained to him. “We’re not girls; we’re ladies, right Ms. Ingram?”

  “You’re right, Abby,” I said to her as I looked over at her. “Travis, make sure to call us young ladies,” I said to him with a smile.

  “And Abby,” I said, leaning over Travis towards her, “ You can call me Sophie.”

  22

  Travis

  After everything that happened Sunday – meeting Stephanie Winters, bringing Sophie back to the house, accepting Mom’s offer of a job and business, and Abby and Sophie hitting it off – I was glad to just relax for the rest of the day. After the four of us spent the better of the morning together, laughing and enjoying the nice weather outside, Mom announced she needed to leave to get to the restaurant and wanted to know who was going with her.