Break and Enter (10 page)

“Then you must certainly have your hands full,” she said.

“Having a cook and a full-time nanny helps,” he said, “but Philip and I are on duty when the Nanny has a night off.”

“It’s a really big house,” Philip said, “and we’ve only filled it once. That was when all of my siblings and most of their children came up from Louisiana at the same time.”

“George,” Charles said, “do you remember me telling you about our friend Lydia?”

“The child psychologist?” I said.

“Yes,” he said. “With your permission, I’d like to have her on hand the Saturday of the Peachtree event. We can sort of leave Robbie in her care, which will give her an opportunity to make an assessment of his needs and possibly some recommendations.”

“Absolutely,” I said. “Maybe she can refer us to someone in Jacksonville.”

“I’m sure she can and will,” he said. “Meanwhile, I’m going to send you her private e-mail address, so you can send her as much information as you think she needs.”

“I don’t know what to say, Charles,” I said. “You guys have done so much already, I’m sort of overwhelmed.”

“Just say ‘yes’,” Philip said, “and go with the flow.”

“Then by all means, ‘yes’,” I said. “There are definitely a few lingering problems from all that he’s been through, and the sooner they’re addressed, the better.”

After we had all been eating for a few minutes, Philip excused himself to go and use the facilities. Linda was sitting directly across the table from me, and I noticed her watching him leave the room. She saw me looking at her and sighed. “Gosh, that’s a beautiful man,” she said.

“That he is,” Charles said, “but I assure you, he’s not available.”

“Yeah, but a girl can dream, can’t she?”

I turned to Ernest and asked him about the estate of Robbie’s parents, and he said, “Now that you and Mike are officially Robbie’s parents and guardians, I’ll get things rolling.”

“I don’t know how these things work,” I said, “but if the house has to be sold, or auctioned, or whatever, Mike and I would like to buy it.”

“Do you know if there’s a mortgage?”

“There is,” I said. “I found it online the other day.”

“If no creditors come forth to make any claims during the mandatory waiting period,” he said, “you might be able to pay it off or arrange to assume it. I’ll keep you posted.”

“Good,” I said. “Meanwhile, we need to arrange to have someone clean it out. There are probably perishables in the kitchen, for example. We’re going back over there tomorrow to see if there’s anything else Robbie wants to take with him.”

“I’ll get some help from my neighbors,” Lucinda said, “and we’ll take care of the house.”

“Thanks,” I said. “We’re also going to take Robbie by to see his grandmother before we go home. Do we need to call ahead?”

“I don’t think so,” Lucinda said. “She never goes anywhere, and from what I’ve been told, she doesn’t sleep during the day. You can stop by most any time.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do,” I said.

When we had finished our lunch, the sheriff and the Plotts, along with Martha’s helper, said their goodbyes and left.

“Lucinda,” I said.

“Yes, George?”

“I have some news about the twins, if they haven’t already told you.”

“What news?”

“We asked them to run by the rental houses the other day and see how they looked. One of them has gone vacant unexpectedly.”

“So?”

“They want to rent it.”

“Why would they need a whole house?”

“Because they’ve met a couple of guys whom they really like, and they all want to move in together.”

“Really? Do you know them?”

“We’ve met them briefly. Zeke’s friend, Josh, just graduated from UNF and will start working on his Master’s degree this fall. In addition to that, he’s also a piano tuner, and I understand he’s quite good at it—we met him at lunch one day. He was born blind, but you’d hardly know it—it doesn’t seem to slow him down much. Zeb’s friend Norman also just graduated and will also be starting work on his Master’s this fall—he and Josh are best friends. I don’t know much more about Norman, but we’ve met him and he seems to be a nice, stable young man.”

“That’s a lot to take in at once,” she said.

“Well, there may be a bit more.”

“What do you mean?”

“It won’t be just for the summer—the twins and their new friends have made a commitment to live together for a year.”

“What?”

“They mentioned transferring to Florida State College at Jacksonville next term.”

“You think?”

“It’s just a random thought,” I said, “but it wouldn’t surprise me. I met Josh one day at The Loop when he and Zeke were there having lunch with Tom Foster, the organist at the Church of the Good Shepherd. Josh had just tuned his piano and had auditioned for the choir. I remarked at the time that in all the years we’ve known the boys, it was the first time I had ever seen one of them out and about without the other one. I suspect they’re maturing and getting ready to settle down.”

“Oh, George. I hadn’t expected to lose them this soon. A year from now when they move to Florida permanently will be hard enough.”

“You won’t really lose them, my dear,” Sarah said. “They’ll always be your sons. It’s not as though you’ll never see them again.”

“I know that,” Lucinda said, “but it doesn’t make it any easier.”

“Maybe it won’t come to that,” Sarah said.

“George’s predictions are usually on the money,” Lucinda said.

“Why don’t you take some vacation time later this summer and pay them a visit?” Sarah asked. “You can see for yourself how things are going. You’re welcome to stay with us.”

“I might just do that,” Lucinda said.

We said goodbye in the restaurant parking lot. Charles and Philip were going back to their retreat until Sunday, and everyone else, except the Bridges, had to get back to work.

As the chief and Sarah were getting in their car, Sarah said, “Have you thought about a pediatrician for Robbie?”

“We haven’t quite gotten that far in our thinking,” I said.

“Both of my daughters-in-law use the same man,” she said, “and they rave about him. I think he’s right there in the Dillon Building at St. Vincent’s Hospital. I’ll get his name, if you like.”

“Please do,” I said, “and thanks.”

“What are you boys doing tomorrow, George?” the chief said.

“As little as possible,” I said.

“Good idea. See you at the office in a week.”

Robbie was already nodding in his booster seat by the time we got back to the cabin, so we all crawled in bed. Robbie was half-asleep already, but Mike and I were still somewhat keyed up from the events of the morning. However, we found a way to relieve the tension a couple of times, and then we drifted off as well.

I woke up after an hour or so, dressed, and went up to the loft. I went online, answered a couple of e-mails, and had a sudden thought, so I picked up the telephone and called the HR department at work. It was easier than I’d hoped. The woman to whom I spoke faxed me some paperwork, which I filled out, signed, and faxed back to her.

I jumped when a pair of arms encircled me. “Geez, Mike,” I said, “you know how to sneak up on a guy. I was so engrossed in what I was doing that I didn’t hear you come up the stairs.”

“I guess I’m just naturally sneaky,” he said. “What’s that you’re doing?”

“It just hit me,” I said, “that we need to get Robbie insured, so I called the HR department at work. They faxed me some paperwork. I filled in the blanks, signed, it, and faxed it back. I’m waiting for an e-mail confirmation that he’s now covered.”

“Good thinking,” he said. “I’d have done the same thing, but you’re part of a huge group and have better benefits.”

“I’m surprised that Robbie isn’t up.”

“He was out cold when I went down the hall. Do you think we should wake him up?”

“Probably. Maybe we ought to take him back to his house this afternoon and get that over with.”

“Instead of tomorrow?”

“Sure, why not?”

I went downstairs and Mike followed. In Robbie’s room, I sat down on the bed and gently shook him. “Time to get up, big guy,” I said.

He sat up, rubbed his eyes, and smiled. Then he surprised the heck out of me by hugging first Mike, then me. Neither Mike nor I were quite prepared for what happened next—Robbie said, “I can’t call you George and Mike if you’re going to be my daddies, can I?”

“You can if you want to,” I said. “What would you like to call us?”

“Can I call you Dad, and Mike Daddy?”

“Kiddo,” I said, “you can surely do that, can’t he, Mike?”

“Yep,” Mike said.

We were both getting misty-eyed, so I picked Robbie up, carried him to the kitchen, deposited him in a chair, and said, “How about some lemonade?”

“Sure, Dad,” he said, “but I need to go to the bathroom first.”

“Okay, kiddo,” I said, “go right ahead. The lemonade will be waiting for you.”

Mike walked up to me, grabbed me, and gave me a huge kiss. I kissed him back for a long moment before busying myself with lemonade and iced tea.

“I sure as hell didn’t see that one coming,” Mike said.

“No shit, Sherlock.”

“Careful, not where he can hear you. I wouldn’t want to have to wash your mouth out with soap.”

“You and whose army?”

•
8 •

I
SET
a glass of lemonade on the table in front of Robbie, as he had just come back into the kitchen, and Mike and I sat down at the table with our tea.

“Robbie,” I said, “would you like to go back to your old house after a bit and see if there’s anything else there that you’d like to take to Florida with you?”

“That’s okay, I don’t want to go back there. I got the good stuff last time we were there.”

“No problem, we just wanted to give you the opportunity.”

“What’s going to happen to the house? Will they come and tear it down?”

“No,” I said. “Mike and I are going to try to buy it, and then we’ll probably rent it to somebody.”

“Is that okay with you?” Mike said.

“Sure.”

“Maybe I’ll slip up there now and have a look,” I said. “You can stay here with Robbie.”

“Go for it.”

I finished my tea and went to the bedroom to retrieve my wallet and keys. It took only a few minutes to reach the little house, and I pulled up in the yard. I walked around the outside of the house first, making mental notes as to what needed to be done. Then I opened the front door and entered the living room.

I wandered around from room to room, finding nothing of particular interest. In what had been Robbie’s room, I began a thorough search of the room, the chest of drawers, and the closet. My search yielded a few viable toys and two stuffed animals that had obviously seen a lot of use. The clothing in the chest of drawers wasn’t worth salvaging, nor, except for what appeared to be Robbie’s best Sunday outfit, were the clothes in the closet. I tried to remember what kind of work Robbie’s father had done, but either I had forgotten or nobody had given me that information. I carried the stuff I’d salvaged to the truck and went back down the mountain. Back at the cabin, I called the sheriff.

“Hello, Dan,” I said when we were connected. “George Martin here.”

“What can I do for you, George?”

“I just made a thorough inspection of the house Robbie’s parents lived in and found a few toys he might like. He was sort of reluctant to go back there.”

“I can understand that.”

“The thing is, it’s wide open to anyone. In Jacksonville, it’d be a prime target for vandalism. How much of a risk is that up here?”

“Not as much as you’d think, George,” he said. “People usually leave well enough alone up in the hills. On the other hand, the fact that a woman was killed there would arouse a certain amount of morbid curiosity.”

“Should we padlock it and put ‘No Trespassing’ signs in place?”

“It wouldn’t hurt, but at this point what difference does it make?”

“Because Mike and I are going to attempt to acquire it from the boy’s parents’ estate. We can fix it up, rent it out, and set the money aside for Robbie’s future education.”

“In that case, I think padlocking the house and posting the property would be a good idea.”

“Thanks, Dan.”

“No problem, George.”

After he hung up, I made some notes on a pad while the condition of the house was fresh in my memory. Then I went back downstairs. Mike and Robbie had been on the deck when I returned, and they were still there.

“Well?” Mike said when he saw me.

“I just talked to the sheriff to ask him about the risk of vandalism to the house. He agreed with me that it might be a good idea to padlock the place and put up some ‘No Trespassing’ signs.”

“Go for it, you’re the resident handyman.”

“We can make a run to the hardware store later.”

“Okay.”

“Robbie,” I said, “I’ve got some stuff from your house down in the truck. Want to take a look at it and see if you want it?”

“Sure.”

“Follow me.”

We went down to the garage, and I lifted him into the bed of the truck. He pawed through the toys until he spotted the stuffed animals. He grabbed one of them and said, “Where was he?”

“Under your bed.”

“I looked all over for him.”

“What’s his name?” Mike said.

“Andy.”

“Why Andy?” I said.

“Because he’s a panda, can’t you tell?”

“Okay, I see that now,” I said. “I guess this means you’re glad to have him back?” Silly question—he was hugging the animal for dear life.

“Yes, Sir,” he said. “He keeps me company at night.”

“Good,” Mike said, “now you’ll have Andy and Thor to keep you company.”

“What about the rest of these things?” I said.

“Can I take them with me to Florida?”

“You bet.”

“Okay.”

I lifted him down from the truck, and the three of us gathered the things and carried them upstairs. “We need to get Robbie some sort of duffle bag or a little suitcase,” Mike said. “There’s a lot of clothes and stuff to carry home Sunday.”

“I guess that means we’ll go to Wally World for the locks and hardware,” I said, “and you can look for duffle bags while I deal with the hardware.”