Tangled Fury

by K. L. Middleton

  “Yes, I could have, and you’re welcome.”

  I smiled. He’d seemed to warm up quite a bit since I’d first arrived.

  His cell phone began to ring.

  “I guess I’ll talk to you soon,” I said as he took it out.

  “Definitely. Call me if you need anything.”

  “I will.”

  When I walked out of Tangled, I felt a calmness that I hadn’t in a while and hoped it meant that our lives were finally going in the right direction. At least for my little Emma’s sake.

  Chapter Eight

  Sera

  “So, how’d it go?” asked Fred, when I arrived home, forty minutes later. He was in the kitchen, stirring, what appeared to be, a large pot of chili or spaghetti sauce.

  “Good,” I answered, feeling my stomach growl. Like Sam, Fred was an excellent cook, and the smells in the kitchen were reminding me that I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast. “I start on Monday.”

  “See, I knew it would work out for you,” he said, setting down the large wooden spoon. “In fact,” he walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of champagne. “I picked this up earlier today. So that we could celebrate.”

  I smiled at Fred, whose eyes were twinkling. He was such a kind old man. Not only had he opened up his house to us, he’d volunteered to watch Emma whenever I needed a sitter. She now adored him and called him Papa Fred.

  “That’s was very sweet of you,” I said, and then walked over and gave him a hug. When I pulled away, I could see from his flushed cheeks that he was still not quite used to many unexpected displays of affection.

  “What’s sweet is Emma. Look at this picture she drew,” he answered, pointing to the refrigerator. He smiled. “She certainly is a talented little girl. You’ve got an artist on your hands.”

  “I know. She just loves to draw and paint,” I said, staring with pride at the paper. Emma had colored a picture of her and Fred, holding hands in a field of pink and purple flowers. There was also a rainbow, a smiling sun, and a yellow dog standing next to them. I looked in amusement at Fred. “So, who’s the dog?”

  He laughed. “I figured you’d know. She said that its name was Penny and that you’d be getting it for her soon.”

  I chuckled. “Is that right? Where is she, by the way?”

  “Emma is watering the flowers, in the back yard, with Arlene.”

  Arlene was Fred’s new neighbor and now, girlfriend. She’d moved into the cottage home, next door, less than seven months ago, and they’d hit it off right away. She owned a flower shop, not far from Tangled, and had apparently helped Fred start his own little garden, which included vegetables. Fred had admitted that he didn’t have much of a green thumb, but enjoyed all of the food they’d been growing. I enjoyed the vegetables too, since he cooked with them daily.

  I set the paper down onto the kitchen table. “I’ll let her know that I’m home.”

  “Good idea. Dinner should be ready in about thirty minutes. Hope you like chili-dogs and potato salad. Arlene brought over a couple pounds of it. I think she’s trying to fatten me up.”

  “Fatten all three of us up, you mean,” I said, opening the back door.

  “Well, you know what they say – the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. She’s definitely staking her claim on both.”

  Laughing, I stepped outside and found Emma and Arlene huddled over some bright yellow flowers, in a deep conversation. Arlene was tall and thin, with short gray hair, bright blue eyes and a warm, loving aura. As I approached, they both turned to me.

  “Mommy!” squealed Emma, dropping a small green water bucket.

  “Hi, baby,” I said, bending my head down as she threw her arms around my waist. I kissed the top of her head and looked over at Arlene, who was watching us with a smile. “Hi, Arlene.”

  “Hi, Sera.” She took off her sunglasses and placed them on top of her head. “How was your day?”

  “Yeah, did you get that job?” interrupted Emma, before I could open my mouth. She looked up at me, her eyes filled with hope. She knew how much this job interview meant. Renting from Thane or not, the deal wasn’t secured until he was comfortable hiring me. Thank goodness, he had been.

  I grinned. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. I start on Monday!”

  “Yes!” she hollered out loud, pulling away. She did a little dance and then stopped suddenly. “Does that mean we can get a dog now?”

  I laughed. “A dog? We don’t even have a house yet, sweetie. We can’t get a dog.”

  “But we live here,” she protested. “And Papa Fred said he loves dogs.”

  “We are only staying here for a short time,” I said, glancing over at Arlene, who gave me a sympathetic smile.

  “But, I have my own room and… Arlene said that I needed to keep an eye on these Black-Eyed Sally’s,” she said, pointing to the yellow flowers and then to a nestle of pink ones. “And those Puppies.”

  Arlene laughed. “She means the Black-Eyed Susan’s and the Poppies.”

  “Yes. Those ones,” said Emma, biting the side of her lip. “They need me, mommy. Fred keeps forgetting to water them. They’ll die if I don’t take care of them.”

  “I’m sure that Fred and Arlene can keep an eye on them.”

  “But, they said they were my very own flowers!”

  I sighed. I hated it when Emma whined, but I’d put her through so much the past year and could understand her frustration. “Listen, honey, we can plant our own garden,” I answered, putting my hand on her hair. I smoothed it down. “We’ll make it beautiful.”

  She looked at Arlene and then back at me, her lip trembling. “But why can’t we just stay here? Why do we always have to move?”

  I sighed. Of course she didn’t understand. She was only six. I couldn’t expect her to. “Remember, we talked about this before. Fred is just letting us stay here until I can afford a home of our own.”

  “But, I don’t want to leave him. He said that we could stay here as long as we want,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.

  Groaning inwardly, I pulled her back into my arms. “Just because we’re moving doesn’t mean that we won’t see Fred or Arlene again. In fact, I bet we can even find something close to here. Then we can visit them all the time.”

  “What’s going on out here?” asked Fred, now coming up behind us. “Why all of these tears?”

  Sniffling, she pulled away from me. “Papa, mommy said that we have to move out. We can’t stay with you.”

  He looked at me.

  I smiled sheepishly. “It won’t be for a while, yet. If that’s okay?”

  Fred stepped next to Arlene and slid his arm around her waist. “I guess this is as good of a time as any,” he said, his eyes sparkling. “Should I tell them?”

  Arlene stared up at him smiling. “I think you should.”

  He nodded and then cleared his throat. “A situation has come up.”

  “What do you mean? What kind of situation?” I asked.

  “Well, it’s like this…” He grinned. “Arlene and I are getting married.”

  My jaw dropped and then I smiled, so happy for them. “You are? Congratulations!”

  “Yes,” answered Arlene, removing her yellow gardening glove. She raised her hand, showing me the diamond engagement ring.

  “It’s beautiful,” I said, looking at Fred, as I examined it. “I have to say, you have great taste in both women and jewelry.”

  “Oh, thank you,” replied Arlene, who seemed to be glowing.

  “Actually, she picked it out,” he said, smiling. “I forced her to. Heck, I even told her she should get something larger, but she went with the small solitaire.”

  “But, this is perfect,” she said, staring down at it fondly. “I wouldn’t want anything bigger than this, you silly goose.”

  “You sure you can even see it?” he joked. “You don’t have your glasses on, you know.”

  “Oh, I can see it just fine.”

 
“I’m so happy for both of you,” I said. “This is such wonderful news.”

  “Thank you, Sera. Now, I know it seems sudden, but, we decided not to wait. When you get to be our age, you know when something feels right,” said Fred. He looked down at Arlene and pulled her closer. “And you have to jump on it, before life passes you by.”

  “You got that right,” replied Arlene, kissing him on the cheek. “Life is too short and we want to spend the rest of it, together and not alone.”

  “This is so great,” gushed Emma, smiling brightly. “You’re really getting married to Papa Fred?”

  “I sure am.”

  She looked at her shyly. “So, can I call you Grandma then?”

  “You’d better,” she answered, smiling down at her. “In fact, since I don’t have any grandchildren of my own, I would be very, very honored if you’d call me that.”

  “Yaay!” She rushed over to the couple. “I knew this was going to happen! I just knew it!”

  Arlene’s face lit up as Emma slipped her arms around her waist and gave her a tight hug. She hugged her back and my heart swelled to see the warmth and affection between them. I knew they’d been spending a lot of time together, and it had obviously brought them very close.

  Fred walked over to me, tugging on his white moustache, like he always did when he was contemplating something serious. “So, what do you think?”

  “Like I said, I think it’s just wonderful,” I replied, smiling at him warmly. “You’re both such great people and deserve each other. I couldn’t be happier for either of you. Congratulations.”

  “Thank you, but… what I really meant is, what do you think of living here? Permanently?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Obviously, we don’t need both houses. And Arlene has fallen in love with hers, and… well, I’m not going to ask her to move into mine.”

  I understood what he meant. His house was smaller and needed many renovations, where Arlene’s looked like something out of the Better Homes and Gardens magazine. Fred was a hell of a cook and an avid coin collector, but was clueless when it came to a hammer or paint brush. He’d admitted to being embarrassed about it, especially one day when I had to help him replace one of his yard lights.

  “You want to sell me your house?” I asked, feeling my stomach flutter with excitement as I started to think about the possibilities.

  “Or rent it. Whatever you’d like. And don’t worry, Sera, I’ll make it very affordable.”

  I turned around and looked at the yellow bungalow, which had been our home for the last few months. Although the roof was in desperate need of repair, the faded paint was peeling, and most of the appliances were on their last leg, the offer couldn’t have been more appealing.

  “I know it’s probably not what you were looking for. It could also use some work.” He sighed and scratched his head as he stared at the house. “Like I told you before, I’m not much of a handyman. And for heaven’s sake, don’t feel obligated to buy it.”

  “Are you kidding me? To be honest, I would love to buy it,” I replied, now reeling with giddiness. “It’s already begun to feel like home as it is.”

  “Excellent. And, like I said, I’ll give you a great deal. I really don’t need the money, and I know that you’re pretty strapped at the moment.”

  My smile fell and I turned to him. “No, that’s not fair; I wouldn’t do that to you. I’ll give you what its worth. You deserve it. Especially helping us the way that you have.”

  He waved his hand. “Hogwash. I’m selling it to you at whatever price I want and if you don’t like it, well… that’s just tough. Isn’t that right, Emma?”

  Emma, who’d been surprisingly silent, now began jumping up and down in delight. “That’s right! We’re staying and that’s final! No more moving!”

  “See that, there,” he said, his eyes softening. “Emma’s already put her stamp of approval on it. Besides, you can’t leave us now. The flowers wouldn’t survive without that little lady.”

  From the look on his face, I had a feeling that he was also speaking of himself, and not just the garden. Fred had been so good to us, and deep down, I wasn’t ready to move away from him either. And now, fate had taken another turn, this time in our favor. We’d found a way to still be near him, along with a permanent home - one that was safe and near two people who both cared deeply. It seemed too good to be true.

  I blinked back tears and laughed. “I guess I can’t argue with that logic.”

  “Good,” he said. “Now, dinner is almost ready. Emma, why don’t you come inside and help me set the table?”

  “Okay,” she answered, bubbling with excitement. She seemed to enjoy helping Fred in the kitchen almost as much as she loved gardening. “I’m coming.”

  He began walking towards the house with Emma and she grabbed his hand. He smiled down at her and it was a moment that I wished I could have captured on camera.

  “He really loves her, doesn’t he?” I said to Arlene.

  “How can you not love her?”

  I smiled.

  Fred looked back at us. “By the way, you two ladies – don’t go too far. Dinner will be ready shortly.”

  “Sounds good, Fred.” She looked at me and began removing her other gardening glove. “You know, I’m going to run home and wash up. I’ll return in a few.”

  “I’d better change my clothes, too,” I answered, looking down at my outfit.

  She began walking towards her yard. “Yes, relax now, you’re home.”

  I really was…

  “I’ll let Fred know that you’ll be back,” I called, walking towards the house. As I stepped through the sliding glass door and into the kitchen, Fred handed me my cell phone.

  “Looks like you’ve missed some calls.”

  “Five from the same caller,” I said, biting my lower lip. “Hmm… The number shows ‘Private’ and isn’t listed. God, I just hate that.”

  “I know. It’s probably just a telemarketer trying to sell you something. You know how persistent they can be.”

  “Maybe. Whoever it was didn’t leave a message. So, I’m sure it wasn’t that important.”

  He opened up the refrigerator and took out the bowl of potato salad. “Hey, it could be your new boss.”

  “I’m pretty sure he would have left a message.”

  “What did you think of him?”

  “He seemed okay. You’ve known him for a while?”

  “Grew up with his father, although I don’t know Thane very well. Sam knows him better than I do.”

  “Yeah, I heard that he was going to cater the Christmas party this year.”

  “For that swanky salon?” His eyes twinkled. “Now that should be interesting.”

  “Sam’s a good cook.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, but he’s a fry cook. Not a caterer.”

  “Mom had mentioned that he’d wanted to be a caterer,” I said, thinking back to that conversation. “She wanted to help him get started.”

  “I didn’t know that,” he replied, smiling. “My brother the caterer. Huh.”

  “So, where’s Emma?” I asked, looking around the kitchen.

  “She went to the bathroom.”

  I plugged my phone into the wall charger. “It’s odd that someone would call five times and not leave a message, isn’t it?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe they realized they had the wrong number. I wouldn’t think too hard about it.”

  “What if it’s Ray?” I said, lowering my voice. “What if he’s found us, again?”

  “Now, don’t get into a panic, Sera,” he replied calmly. “There isn’t anything linking you to this place. And because we were able to hook you up with a new last name and social security number, Ray shouldn’t be able to find you. Unless he has connections we don’t know about.”

  “I don’t think he does. Not like yours, at least.”

  Thank goodness for Fred and his connections. Because of his friendship with someone in the FBI, I
’d been able to pretty much take on a new identity, allowing me to register for the nail technician course, and place Emma back into school without putting us on the grid, as Fred liked to call it.

  “John and I go all the way back to Vietnam. We’re like this,” he said, crossing his fingers. “I doubt Ray knows what a true friend is, let alone one with as much power as my guy.”

  I felt myself relax. I was obviously being paranoid. Someone had the wrong number. There were only a handful of people who had my new cell phone number. And although it was new to me, it was more than likely recycled. The calls could have been for the previous owner.

  “What about Sam?” I asked, still not quite unable to let it go. “Have you talked to him lately?” I hadn’t spoken to him for a couple of weeks. We’d been keeping in touch, although the only thing we really talked about was mom. He was still having a hard time getting over her death. For me, it was tragic and I missed her dearly, but I wasn’t constantly reminded of her death every time I walked into work or went home to sleep. He’d admitted to me several times that when he wasn’t thinking about her during the day, she haunted his dreams.

  “Yes. I talked to him this morning. Told him about our engagement. He says ‘hello’, by the way.”

  “He must be excited for you and Arlene. How is he doing?”

  “Not bad. He started seeing a woman from his church. Their relationship is platonic at the moment, but he really likes her. He’s hoping she wants to be more than friends, but is taking his time.”

  “Sam is such a nice man,” I said, feeling my chest tighten. “He deserves to find someone to share his life with.”

  “I agree.”

  Emma walked back into the kitchen and Fred handed her four plates.

  “Mommy, it’s not ready yet. We’ll tell you when it is,” she scolded.

  I saluted her. “Yes ma’am. I’ll go and change and wait for your call.”

  She set the first plate onto the table and glanced at me. “Don’t forget to wash your hands.”

  “Oh, I certainly won’t,” I replied, laughing.