Paradox - Progeny Of Innocence (bk2) (Paradox series) (19 page)

"Door's unlocked, Mrs Terran. Just come on in. I'll be there in just a second," Grace called out to the knocking on the front door. She quickly hung her bath towel on the back of her bedroom door and rushed down the hall to meet Abe and his mother. "Hi Abe," she said, swooping down to give him a hug. "I swear you've grown six inches since I've last seen you." She put her hands on her waist and looked him up and down. "And you are way more handsome. How old are you now, anyway?" she asked.

Abe beamed up at her in his Spiderman pajamas. "I'm eight years old now," he said, pleased with himself.

"Really," Grace asked in mock surprise. "Are you sure? You look much older than eight..."

Abe nodded enthusiastically. "I'm eight, nine next birthday!" he added.

Mrs Terran smiled. "I have some things in here for him," she said, putting Abe's backpack down by his feet. "He has a spare pair of pajamas, coloring books, books, DVD, toys, snacks, all the usual things." She leaned down and kissed Abe on his forehead. "You be good for Grace, Abe. Don't stay up too late, and go to bed when Grace tells you to."

"Yes Mama, I will." Abe replied, dragging his backpack into the lounge room. He found a spot on the carpet and unzipped his bag to retrieve a handful of things, including his Spiderman DVD.

"He's always good, Mrs Terran. Abe is never a problem, and we always have fun. Don't we, Abe," Grace said, calling over to the boy. He nodded with a wide grin and went back to unpacking the rest of his things.

"Thank you, dear," Mrs Terran said in her American accent. "We shouldn't be too long. Not too much after midnight, I wouldn't imagine."

"Mom said you should just let him sleep here the night. Saves having to wake him, and I can walk him home in the morning after breakfast. You and Mr Terran can have a sleep-in."

"Well that would be lovely, dear. I will take you up on that offer, if you are sure, Grace?"

Grace nodded. "I'm more than happy to look after him until after breakfast."

Mrs Terran leaned in and gave Grace a motherly hug. "Thank you, dear, you are a sweetheart. You have my number if you need me for anything, any time." Then she waved at Abe and made her way toward the front door. "I'll see you in the morning, Abe, after breakfast. Be good for Grace."

Abe smiled and waved back, "Goody, I like sleeping over. Grace tells the best stories… bye, Mom."

Grace smiled and closed the door behind Mrs Terran. "Well then, Abe, what do you want to do first?" she asked, sitting herself down on the sofa next to him. She put her hands on her knees and waited for his reply.

Abe didn’t need time to respond. "Spiderman and biscuits," he said decisively. Grace found the remote control wedged tightly between the sofa cushions, and turned on the television. She put her hand out. "DVD, please."

"What's this?" he asked when a nun flew across the television screen.

"Oh, it's just one of the DVD's Mom bought online. It's called The Flying Nun. It was one of her Mom's favorite television shows when she was growing up." They sat and watched it for a moment as the tiny nun with the winged hat plummeted to earth and landed in a pile of trashcans. Then they both laughed. "Do you want to keep watching it for a while?" Grace asked.

Abe watched for a few moments longer, then asked. "Does she have superpowers?"

"No, I don't think so." Grace answered. "She's just very light, so when she wears the funny hat, the wind picks her up and she can fly."

Abe shook his head and screwed up his nose. "Patrick says Spiderman, Spiderman has superpowers," he said, handing Grace the DVD.

"And just how long have you been listening to this Patrick?" Grace asked, taking the DVD from Abe.

"Since I saw your angel sitting on the kitchen bench," Abe replied.

Grace studied Abe's face. "And how old were you when you first saw this angel?" Grace asked, playing along.

"Three," Abe said without a moment's hesitation.

Grace wondered how she should broach the situation. She likened it to telling a child that the Tooth Fairy wasn't real. That it was your Mom and Dad that put the coins under your pillow while you slept at night. "The angel wasn't real, Abe," Grace said gently. "She was just my imaginary friend. I told you stories about her… remember?"

Abe shook his head stubbornly. "She was real, and her name was Hope, and you sent her away because you were sad and didn't believe in angels anymore."

Grace stared at the boy, momentarily lost for words. She closed her eyes, trying to remember. There was something there… she just couldn't quite put her finger on it. She shook her head and opened her eyes. "Like I said, Abe, Hope was just my imaginary friend. That's all. Now let's get this movie started before it gets too late." Grace got up and opened the machine, took out her mother's DVD, and slipped Abe's Spiderman movie into the tray. "So, what kind of biscuits do you have there, Abe?" she asked settling back down on the sofa next to him.

Abe opened the lid to his lunchbox. "You want one?" he asked, handing Grace a biscuit. "They're Teddy Bear biscuits, my favorite." He smiled and pushed one into Grace's hand. Grace stared at it for a moment as it lay in her open palm. Then she closed her fingers gently around it and fought back her emotions. Tears pooled in her eyes but she quickly blinked them away.

"How long have these been your favorite?" she asked, almost afraid of what Abe's answer might be.

"Since Patrick," Abe replied biting into a biscuit.

"Patrick?" Grace asked. "Who is this Patrick?"

"You know," he said, looking at her and frowning. "Patrick, you know, your friend. The little boy who died in the house fire. You went to school with him. Teddy Bear biscuits were his favorite, too. Why don't you remember?"

Grace stared at the boy in astonishment. This was impossible, wasn't it? "How do you know about that, about Patrick? Grace whispered, more to herself than Abe. She did the calculations in her head. "You weren’t even born."

"Patrick told me." Abe answered. "He talks to me all the time. Do you want to tell him hello?" Abe asked.

Grace nodded mutely. "Um, sure…that would be…nice." Then she smiled, remembering Patrick's cheeky little face dotted with freckles. "Tell him I miss him so much and that he was my very best friend in the whole world."

"You tell him." Abe answered, " He can hear you."

"That's impossible," Grace stammered, glancing around the empty room.

"No it isn't," Abe said. "Patrick has superpowers!"

The tiny hairs on the nape of Grace's neck stood up. "You're saying Patrick is here, in this room?" Grace asked dubiously as she scanned the room. Nothing more than a little boy with an incredible imagination, not unlike her own at that age, she told herself.

"Well kind of. He's in my head. He can hear and see everything that I can. Clever, hey!"

"Hi Patrick, I miss you... very much," Grace said in a little voice, not quite believing but not disbelieving either. Something inside her told her that Abe was not imagining Patrick, or Hope. There were so many similarities that she just couldn't dismiss the whole thing as Abe having an overactive imagination.

"Patrick says he misses you, too, but he really wants to watch Spiderman now."

"Oh, right, of course," Grace said, turning up the volume on the television set.

Abe turned back toward her. "Can we play sword fights after the movie?"

Grace nodded, still deep in thought about the conversation about Patrick. "Sure, we can."

Abe ran off to Grace's bedroom and returned with the two wooden toy swords and put them down on the coffee table. They were the swords that her father had made her when she had been a child. On each sword there was a name crudely engraved into the timber. On one of the swords the name read Grace, the other, Hope.

She smiled with the memory and ran her fingers lovingly down the length of the timber blade. "Before you get too involved in movies and swordfights, can you tell me what you would prefer for dinner? Chinese or pizza?"

"Patrick says pizza. Hawaiian, without the ham, extra cheese…" Abe replied without taking his eyes off the television screen as Spiderman leapt from skyscraper to skyscraper. "Go get the baddie, Spiderman," Abe squealed excitedly.

"Pizza it is," Grace said absently. Her mind was still in a tangled mess of indefinable thoughts, as if she was drifting in and out of reality. Her feet moved, one foot after the other. Her arm reached out and grabbed the pizza menu off the fridge. She dialed the number and ordered the pizza. She made herself a coffee and sat down at the kitchen table. And only then, as she drank the warm, bittersweet liquid, did her mind begin to repose.

"Pizza's here," Abe shouted as he scrambled off the sofa in a mad rush to open the front door. "Hello," the pizza boy said greeting Abe with a warm smile. "I've got your pizza here for you, Buddy."

"Hi," Abe answered, taking the pizza box and pushing the lip open enthusiastically. He leaned down, letting the aroma of the melted cheese topping fill his nose.

"Okay, Abe, hold your horses. I have to pay for it first," Grace said, fetching the money off the kitchen counter.

"Are you coming in for pizza, too?" Abe asked as though he were welcoming in a longtime friend.

"Abe!" Grace said. "I'm sure the delivery guy has other people that he needs to deliver pizzas to tonight. I'm sorry about -" Grace stopped mid sentence to stare at the fair-haired and very attractive delivery boy standing at her front door. "Do I know you?" she asked after studying his face for a brief moment. Abe wandered back to the sofa, balancing the pizza box on one hand and a slice of half-eaten pizza in the other. On the television screen, Spiderman
was hanging upside-down, kissing a blonde girl. Abe screwed up his face. "Yuck, Spiderman. Gross!"

The delivery boy smiled at Abe, then returned his attention to Grace. "I'm not sure; I've only been here for just over a week."

"In Darwin, or at the
Pizza Place
?" Grace asked, and then added. "Pizza is a regular in this household."

"Both," he replied, giving Grace her change, letting his fingers linger in her palm longer than required. "You can tell Abe that I made sure they put extra cheese on the pizza for him. Oh, and seeing as you are a regular, I'm sure I will have the pleasure of seeing you again very soon," he said, raising an eyebrow. Then he gave her a quick wave, closed the screen door between them, and was gone.

Grace stared after him as he climbed into the tiny red
Pizza Place
delivery vehicle. "I hope you are saving me some of that pizza?" she called to Abe absently as she watched the car drive away. The smell of the cheesy topping quickly reminded Grace how hungry she was. Foremost on her mind, though, was the image she held firmly in her head of the fair-haired delivery boy's face. And how uncannily familiar it seemed to her.

After the pizza, the movie and the sword fights had finished, Grace scooped up the sleeping Abe from the sofa and carried him down to her room. Then she tucked him into bed on a mattress on the floor. "Goodnight, little man," she said, giving Abe a kiss on his forehead. "See you in the morning for pancakes…" Then she paused for a moment. "You, too, Patrick," she whispered softly as she gently brushed a few stray strands of Abe's dark hair off his face. She made her way back out into the lounge room, put her mother's DVD of The Flying Nun in the machine and lay down on the sofa. Half an hour later, with the video still playing, Grace drifted into a fitful sleep. And we dreamt…

Jackson parked his car in the street, directly outside the Coffee Bean café. Tony was already there with Sonndra and Andrew. Clair walked up to the table, carrying a tray with three coffee mugs. She placed a mug in front of each of them. "Are you ready to order something to eat yet?" she asked Tony pointedly, ignoring the arrival of Jackson and Amber.

Tony shook his head. "Not just yet, thanks."

Clair smiled. Her feelings for Tony had slowly started to escalate since her breakup with Jackson. She had been wondering if she should just let nature take its course, or be more of a free-spirited kind of girl and tell Tony how she felt. "Let me know when you're ready," she said, aware that her sentence could be interpreted in two ways. That was, if Tony was smart enough to notice. She glanced across the table at Joshua and Angela. "Coffee for you guys?"

"Sure," Joshua answered, dragging out a chair from the table next to Andrew.

"I'll just have bottled water, please," Angela replied, sitting down in the chair that Joshua pulled out beside him for her.

"Two coffees here as well, thanks," Jackson called. "Where's your brother?" he asked, looking at Tony.

Clair grunted at Jackson's order and glared at Amber before disappearing into the café.

Tony shrugged. "Said he'd catch up a little later, had things to do," he replied.

"Must be crap, Clair still working here since you dumped her," Andrew said. "No more free coffees for you…" Then he chuckled. "What's the bet she spits in yours and Amber's coffee now?"

"For sure she does." Tony added laughing. He brought the mug of coffee to his lips, took a sip then frowned and took a sniff. Frustrated, he abruptly slammed the mug down on the table with a heavy thud.

Amber scowled at Andrew. "That's disgusting, and she'd lose her job," she said, watching Tony as he shoved the mug away. She thought about the numerous times she had drunk coffee at the Bean
since Jackson and Clair's break up. And when she thought about it, Clair had always had a smug look on her face. She grimaced at the thought, and tried to recall if there had been a time when the flavor of the coffee had tasted different than it usually did. She had hoped that things would settle down with Clair, and they could be friends again, since Clair had started to show an interest in Tony. And maybe they would, if only Tony wasn't so oblivious to Clair's feelings. She was almost finding it impossible not to tell him herself, but she didn't want to take a chance of stepping on Clair's toes. She sighed; she would just have to let the situation take care of itself.

"Yeah, but I bet that's a risk she's willing to take," Andrew said, smiling. "You know what they say, a woman scorned, and all that…"

Amber gave Jackson a prod. "Will you please change my order to bottled water instead, and make sure it's still in the bottle. With the lid still on…" Jackson frowned at her. "Please…" Amber pouted, kissing him affectionately on the cheek. She glanced at Tony and tried to send him a telepathic message.
Clair likes you, you imbecile. Now start paying attention so I can drink coffee here again!

Tony looked at the odd expression on Amber's face. "What's up with you?" he asked, leaning back in his chair. She shook her head and turned away. Maybe she could leave a note in his locker at school.

Jackson thought about Clair, too. He knew that she hadn't forgiven him yet for dumping her to go out with Amber. So eating elsewhere was probably not a bad idea for a while. "Okay," he said, pushing his chair back and standing. "I suppose you don't want to eat here now, either?"

Amber shook her head. "Not really. Why can't we just go next door to
O'Regan's
and eat there. Or the
Pizza Place
?" she added.

Jackson shrugged. "Fine by me, everyone else happy to eat at
O'Regan's
?" he asked. Nods of agreement spread around the table.

"Not me, I'm working tonight, so I'll have the privilege of serving you slackers. Maybe I'll spit in your food," Tony said, glaring at his mug of coffee. "The coffee's gone to shit here. Anyone else's taste like crap?"

Sonndra took a sip of hers. "Tastes the same as it always does. There's nothing wrong with it."

Jackson laughed at Tony's pained expression. "Maybe Clair's spitting in yours, too."

Tony shrugged. "I never broke her friggin heart. She doesn't have a beef with me."

Amber bit her lip then added quietly. "That's because she likes you." But her voice was drowned out by a bus tooting its horn at a dog standing in the middle of the road.

Angela leaned over to Joshua and whispered in his ear. "I just want to go to the florist before it closes. I have a friend working there now. I'll be back in just a few minutes."

"Sure, no worries," Joshua said, wondering who Angela's new friend was. He watched her walk across the street, push the door open and go inside. A little bell jingled, announcing her arrival. Above the doorway the sign read,
Mother Nature's Pantry – Florist and Herbal Remedies.

"So," Tony said, looking at Joshua. "Where's Grace tonight? I thought she'd be here with you guys for sure. You three are usually joined at the hip like inseparable triplets. The Three Musketeers." He raised an imaginary sword above his head.

"Babysitting," Joshua replied, taking the mug of coffee Clair offered him.

Tony nodded. "So she definitely isn’t coming tonight, then?"

Joshua shook his head. "No she definitely isn't coming. Why, is there something you want me to tell her?"

"Nope, it's all good, just wondering. Like I said, you three are normally joined at the hip."

"And here's Angela's water…" Clair said, putting the bottled water on the table next to Joshua.

"Hey Clair, what's up with the coffee? It tastes like shit," Tony said irritably.

"Nothing's wrong with the coffee, meathead," she replied. "Quit smoking. Your taste buds are probably stuffed."

"Thanks," Joshua said to Clair as he took a sip of his coffee. "Oh, hey, Clair," he said, putting the mug down quickly and standing up. He ushered her away from their table so he could talk privately with her. "I don't suppose you know the name of the new girl who's working at
Mother Nature
?"

"Yeah, her name's Holly, some Irish chick. She seems okay. Why do you want to know?" she asked.

"Oh, no, it's nothing. I just wondered what her name was, that’s all."

Clair gave him a sly smile. "It's about time you started looking elsewhere."

Joshua frowned at her. "What do you mean? Started looking elsewhere?"

Clair let out a sigh and shook her head. She could not understand Joshua's continual obsession with Angela. Not once had she seen anything that indicated that Angela's feelings toward Joshua were anything more than those of a good friend. "You and Angela … seriously? When are you going to let that go? You know it's never going to happen with the two of you, don't you? You're flogging a dead horse. And not just any dead horse, a skeletal horse that’s been rotting in the ground for God knows how long."

Joshua took in a sharp breath and stepped back, as though Clair's comment had physically assaulted him somehow. "Maybe, maybe not," he replied obstinately.

She shook her head. "Then you are a bigger idiot than-"

Joshua cut her off, "Than you are?" he said, leaning closer. "Everyone knows you aren’t over Jackson."

"That’s different," she said, glaring back at him. Behind Clair's sharp rebuttal, however, Joshua saw tears pooling in her eyes, and he sighed. He felt bad for bringing up her relationship with Jackson. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I just wanted to know about the girl. That’s all. If maybe I knew her, or something?" Joshua said, offering Clair a napkin from the vacant table. He hadn't meant to make her cry. He liked Clair; she never beat around the bush, and usually said what was on her mind. She reminded him of Angela in that way. Angela usually vocalized her opinions at any given time, without regard of how her words might affect others. He'd felt sorry for Clair when he heard how Jackson had dumped her with just a text message. Sure, Clair had thrown up on him at a party. But it still wasn't a nice way to dump someone, and he had told Jackson as much the next day. Jackson had listened and said that he would apologize to her, but Joshua had never known if he actually ever had.

Clair shook her head and dragged a finger under her bottom eyelashes to remove any dislodged mascara. "You didn't upset me… I'm just tired. Mom and Dad kept me up half the night arguing. I think they're going to get a divorce. I don't really care one way or the other; I just wish they'd make up their minds and get it over and done with. Anyway, Holly only arrived about a week or so ago, so I doubt you know her. Riley, her brother, has just started work as a delivery boy."

"Oh yeah? Where?” Joshua asked.

"The
Pizza Place
," Clair said, wiping a cloth quickly over the vacant table, then checking the salt and pepper shakers to see if they needed refilling.

"Clair!" called her balding boss from inside the café. "Table three," he said, pointing with an empty water bottle at a couple that had just sat down. She nodded in understanding. "I have got to go."

Okay, thanks, Clair," Joshua said, giving her a nod. She gave him a quick smile over her shoulder as he returned to his seat and took a sip of his coffee. Over the rim of the mug, he noticed Angela exiting the florist shop and shoving a small bag into her pocket. She stopped on the edge of the pavement and waited for the passing traffic, then walked out onto the street. She smiled when she noticed Joshua watching her. He returned her smile, and wondered why Angela hadn't told him about this new friend of hers. He would ask Grace tomorrow. She would know.

Angela pulled out her seat and sat down next to Joshua. "So," she said. "Have I missed anything?"

Joshua shook his head. "Nope," he said, sliding the bottled water across the table toward her. "Just your water." Then after a moment he asked, "Everything okay with your friend?"

Angela unscrewed the cap of her bottled water. "Yes, everything is fine," she said, putting the bottle to her lips and taking a drink.