The Second Half (8 page)

He pushed his half-full plate away. “Sorry, I just need to go to bed.”

“With a serotonin tonight?”

“Doubt I need it, but good idea.” He pushed back his chair and used the table to help him stand. “Thank God only two more days and then I am done.” He didn't even bend over and pet Ambrose, who sat beside him, chin on Ken's thigh. Tail down, the dog followed him up the stairs.

Please, God, get him through the next two days.

H
ow's Dad?” Marit's voice sounded too cheerful for this time of the morning.

“What are you doing up already?” Mona could smell the coffee. She had set it to start at six.

“Arne woke up with nightmares, and then I couldn't go back to sleep. Is he up?”

“I think he's already left. I went back to sleep.” Mona trapped a yawn. “And no, I've not heard from Steig.”

“He left at five. Said to let you know, he didn't want to wake you. What time did Dad get home last night?”

“Ten forty-five, almost too tired to even eat.”

“And back again before seven?”

“He looks terrible.”

“I could strangle Dale and his ilk.”

“A slow, painful death like tied to an anthill would be better.”

“Mom!” Marit snorted, then chuckled. “Are you going back to bed?”

“No. Too much to do.”

“Like what?”

“Baking chocolate chip cookies…”

“Because those are Melinda's favorite?”

“She wants to be called Mellie.”

“Oh, really. Wants no part of her mother?” Melinda was Angela's middle name.

“I think so.”

“We will certainly oblige. Bye.”

Mona moved down her to-do list with the precision of a marching squad, answering the phone, passing on messages, with her headset in place and her hands dropping cookie dough on the pans, mixing more dough, and writing notes when needed. Shame she didn't get this much done every day. All the while her mind flitted between concern for her son and then her husband.

A text from Ken.
Steig says he'll be there at 2:30.

She stared at the screen. Why did he text his father and not her? Had something happened he didn't want to tell her about? Were they all right?
More worry!
Stop it!
She checked the clock. One hour and ten minutes.

What was most important that still needed doing? Down her list.
Nada.
She pulled the last pan from the oven, turned it off, and slid the peanut butter cookies on the rack to cool while she washed all the utensils. With the big rosemaling tray of both kinds of cookies and the Rice Krispies bars in the center of the island, she headed upstairs to change clothes. Her pants were wearing floured handprints in spite of her apron.

Two twenty. Steig was remarkably punctual. If he said two thirty, it was rarely two twenty-nine or two thirty-one. Well, perhaps not
that
punctual, but close enough. Back downstairs to set glasses on the island along with napkins. Ambrose barked his “Dad's home” welcome at the moment he heard a car drive into the garage. Along with the two four-footers, she stepped into the garage as Ken was climbing out of the car. “You came home early. I can't believe this.” Wrapping her arms around his waist, she hugged him close.

“I couldn't miss greeting the kids, I just couldn't. So I said I'd see them tomorrow and left.”

“You really did?”

“I'm here, aren't I?” He reached down to thump Ambrose on the ribs and greet Her Highness.

The sound of a car turning in their driveway brought them and the animals outside.

Steig honked the horn. Ambrose leaped and barked. Hyacinth headed for the door to the laundry room, and Mona gave up trying to sniff back tears. She locked her arm with her husband's, and together they waited for the SUV to roll to a stop.

“Grammy!” Mellie squealed, and bailed out of the car almost before it stopped rolling.

“Mellie, be careful.” Steig shook his head as he smiled at his parents. Then he leaned in to unlock his son from the car seat. He swung Jakey up in his arms. “See, you remember Grampy and Grammy. And that's Ambrose who is so excited to see you both.”

Jakey locked his arms around his father's neck and buried his face in his shirt collar. “No! No dog!”

Steig hugged his dad with his spare arm, and Mellie switched from Mona to her grandpa. Mona patted Jakey's leg as she hugged her son.

“You are really here and all right?”

“We're good, Mom. And seeing you makes good even better. Jake…” He stopped and, looking into his mother's eyes, shook his head. “It'll take time. Overload with too much change.”

Keeping one arm around Steig's waist, she decided to give Jake whatever space he needed. “Surely you can hear the cookies calling from the kitchen? There's a whole big tray.”

“Chocolate chip?” Mellie grabbed her grandma's hand and swung it as they headed for the kitchen. When Mona nodded, Mellie cocked her head. “And Daddy's Rice Krispies cookies?”

Mona nodded again. “And I heard that a certain little boy likes peanut butter cookies the very best. Now, who do you think that could be?”

Steig jiggled his son. “Who is it that always wants peanut butter cookies?”

“Jakey likes peanut butter on everything.” Mellie spread her spare arm wide.

“Uh-uh.” Jake looked up at his dad. “Not eggs.”

Ken snorted, making them all laugh as they trooped through the garage and into the kitchen. “I wouldn't like peanut butter on eggs, either.” He made a face and reached for a cookie. “Here, Jake, see if this one is okay.”

The little boy studied it and half turned his head. He looked at the cookie, up at his dad, then back to his grandpa. Apparently it would not bite or poison him. He reached for the cookie.

“What do you say?”

“Thank you,” he mumbled around a mouthful of cookie.

Mellie scrambled up on the stool to better reach the cookie tray. “That's lotsa cookies, Grammy.” She studied the cookies and took a browner, crunchier one. “This is the best kind.” She handed her daddy a bar. “You better eat them before Aunty Marit gets here. She can make her own.”

Mona choked on a laugh at the seriousness of her granddaughter. When had she taken over watching out for her father? After pouring the lemonade and passing around the glasses, they all headed for the screened porch. Steig tried to put Jake down, but he superglued himself to his father, cookie crumbs tumbling down Steig's shirt. Mona set the cookie tray on the coffee table, along with the pitcher.

“Hadn't we better start unloading?” Ken asked.

“Let's just sit and visit for a bit. What a drive.” Steig settled Jake on his lap. “Hey, Mellie, how about another cookie for your old dad?”

Mellie looked up from petting Ambrose. “You're not old…much.” But she fetched him two bars. “One for each hand.”

“Me, too.” Jakey reached out.

Hands on her hips, she stared at her brother. “You have to get your own.”

Steig smirked. “In some ways, Mom, she's just like you.” He sobered. “The pictures we have of you when you were ten; you and Mellie look a lot alike. Angela resented that; that Mellie didn't look like her, like her side of the family. Both kids.”

Staring at Ambrose, Jakey curled in tight against his father. “Go away, dog.”

“Ambrose won't hurt you.” Mellie wrapped her arms around the black neck and got a quick lick for her efforts, making her giggle. “Don't be a baby.”

“I'm not a baby. I don't like dogs.”

Mona and Ken swapped glances and smiles.

“Then don't act like one.” Mellie smiled at her grandma. “Where's Hyacinth?”

“Probably under the bed. She'll come out after a while.”

“I could go get her,” the little girl suggested hopefully.

“You could try, but she'd just run away. She always does this when new people come.”

“She forgot us?”

Mona shrugged. “Most likely. Just give her time.” Time was something they had an abundance of.

Steig looked at his father. “So you got them all straightened out?”

“Almost. I finished the reviews, did three interviews this morning, and will do two more tomorrow. There are two who really look possible.”

“And neither are absolutely wonderful?”

Ken nodded. “Not our great golden hope, no. It takes a lot of time.”

“I'll bet. It sounds easier than it is.”

From the man who has had to do a lot of letting go.
Mona watched her son. Surely there were new lines on his face, and he looked almost as tired as his dad had. Maybe he could get a good night's sleep while he was here. They did not need to stay up late talking, or at least she hoped they didn't have to.

He finished the bar. “Thanks, Mom. Think I'll just sit here and soak in the peace.” He patted his son's back. “Been too long.” Jakey snuggled into his father.

Ken kicked back his recliner. “Think I'll join you.”

Mona resisted the urge and stood instead. “Come on, Melinda, er, Mellie, we'll go weed the flower bed.”

Mellie took her hand. “Come on, Ambrose, you can help.”

Mona noticed that Jakey was carefully watching the dog leave. Teaching him dog love was going to be a big challenge.

Outside, Mona hooked her garden apron with her gloves, trowel, and clippers around her waist, grabbed a bucket, and they knelt down by the curving bed. “Now, these are the weeds and these the vegetables. See that? That's lettuce and a row of carrots right behind them.” While the lettuce was nearly ready to pick, the carrots had feathery tops but no carrot yet.

“Can I have a digger, too?”

“You sure can. But your fingers work best for these weeds. We'll pull them before they get big, then throw them in the bucket.”

“I saw a goat eating weeds. The lady said they keep grass down, too, so you don't have to mow. Maybe you should have a goat.”

“I don't think they allow goats here; chickens and rabbits but no goats.”

“Do chickens eat weeds?” Mellie dumped a handful in the bucket.

“They do, but if they are loose, they eat the good plants, too.”

“Maybe we could have chickens.”

Down inside, Mona smiled. Already Mellie was saying
we
instead of
you
. “You talk to Grampy about that.” Mona already knew his opinions on more pets than Ambrose and Hyacinth. “But later. I think he's sleeping.”

“I know. I really want a pony. I rode one at the park.”

Mona smiled. “I wanted a pony when I was your age, too.”

“Did you get one?”

“No.”

“Why?”

Mona could hear her father on the matter of horses. “We lived in town, no pasture for horses or ponies.”

“Why?”

Mona rolled her lips together. “Because that's where we lived. Like here.”

“You have a big yard.”

“We do, but not enough space for big animals.” She leaned back on her heels. “Looks like we're making progress, wouldn't you say?”

“I think more cookies would be good.”

“Let's finish this bed, and then we'll have a cookie break.”

“Can I eat the lettuce?”

“If you want, but you will want to wash it first.”

“Does Ambrose like lettuce?”

“Not particularly.” She watched as Mellie lay back on the grass with her head on the dog's ribs. Ambrose licked her cheek, making her giggle. She reached over her head to pat him, then kicked one bent leg up in the air three times, then the other.

“I'm doing my exercises.”

“Do them for me, too.”

Mellie sat straight up. “I can't do them for you.”

“Oh.”

Mellie giggled and flopped back. “Texas is brown, not green like here. Daddy said you get more rain here. Why?”

“Because Wisconsin is more north, Texas is in the south.”

“More snow, too, huh?”

Mona kept on digging and dropping weeds in the bucket.
Guess the guys all needed naps.
She thought about waking them but figured sleep was more important. The time passed pleasantly. She turned to smile when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“I'm about done, Mellie.”

“Grammy, Daddy's going to leave, huh?”

“Yes, he's being deployed again.”

“And we're going to stay here?”

“That's right.”

“Go to school here, too? I'm in fourth grade this year. What is fourth grade like here, do you know? Will I find any friends?”

“I'm sure you will. And you'll have Brit.” Mona pulled off her gloves and sat cross-legged instead of kneeling.

Mellie frowned. “Your knee just popped.”

“Yep.” She reached over and snagged the little girl, drawing her down into the sort-of lap, then wrapped her arms around her, chin resting on the top of Mellie's head. They sat that way for a little while. Ambrose scooted over to lay his head in the little lap. Mellie reached up with one hand and patted Mona's cheek.
Thank You, Lord, for moments like this.

They both looked up when the screen door opened and Steig stepped out onto the porch.

“Hi, Daddy. Come sit by us.” Mellie patted the grass.

“You got room?” He yawned and stretched his arms over his head. “I put Jakey down on the sofa. Dad's still snoring.” Jumping down the three steps, he sat cross-legged like his mother. “We should start unloading.”

“Magnus will be over later. We can wait for him.”

“You have no idea how much stuff is here.” He tweaked Mellie's nose. “Kids just need a lot of stuff.”

She giggled and changed laps. Ambrose came to sit by Steig, tail swishing the grass. “We could go down to the river.” She looked at her dad. “Want to?”

“We could, but we have to unload so I can get the trailer turned back in today.”

“Oh. Maybe we can go down to the river tonight.”

“Maybe.” He hugged her tight and made her giggle.

Mona caught the look in his eyes as he kissed the top of her head. Talk about a breaking heart.

“Come on, let's get your bike out, and you can ride on the driveway while we unload.” He rose to his feet without putting her down. “Oof, you're getting big.”