Wrecked (Stories of Serendipity #8): #8 (2 page)

“Are you okay?” She had to yell to be heard over the engine.

The man didn’t respond, just looked at her with those arctic blue eyes, snapped down his visor, and with a roar, continued down the road she’d been turning onto an eon ago.

Renae heaved a sigh, relieved she hadn’t killed him, yet disappointed somehow, and got into her van to continue home. Alone.

W
ind rushed through Jason’s clothes as he throttled the bike to a legal speed. He’d survived another crash, and the adrenaline flowed through his veins. His feet shook as he habitually kept a constant look out for other cars. Obviously, his own diligence just wasn’t enough.

The woman had been negligent in her driving, and if he wasn’t ready to get to his dad’s and get the visit over with, he might have stayed to get more information. She was gorgeous and indebted to him, and it would be easy to see where that could go, but he didn’t have time right now.

Nope, it hadn’t been a bad wreck. He’d just been knocked out and his jeans ripped. Other than that he’d have a headache later but nothing like the last time. He shuddered at the memory, said a quick prayer of thankfulness he still lived, and continued on his way.

His dad had been making Jason nervous the past few months. He’d been doing this weird picking thing with his clothes for a while, almost a year, and on Jason’s last visit, his dad had actually started picking at Jason’s clothes. That in itself was odd. But last week he’d said he needed a new cane, one that held a rapier so he could “kill the little demons,” and had freaked Jason out a little. His dad was losing it, and Jason needed to get him to a doctor and get him some meds on the double. With his brother Jodie in Dallas and his own excuse for a job in Houston, neither of them could really take care of their dad full time. Of course, since Jason didn’t have a family, he was the one delegated to come up and check on Dad this weekend.

Pulling his bike up in front of his dad’s Mailboxes and More shop, Jason cut the engine and tugged his helmet off. Before he could even shake the dust off himself, a frantic man came running out of the shop.

“Hey, man. You can’t park there, I’m sorry. That’s where the ambulance is going to need to be.” The drawl was clipped with urgency, and the man’s face was lined with worry.

“What ambulance? What happened?”

“Old man O’Niel fell, and I called an ambulance.” Jason was inside the shop, the man trailing after him, finishing his sentence.

“Dad?” A grunt answered him. He found his dad at the base of the stairs behind a rack of greeting cards. “Dad? Are you okay?” Obviously not. His ankle was twisted at an odd angle.

“Yeah. Just sprained my ankle I think.” Watery blue eyes met Jason’s. “It’s good to see you, son. Hate that it’s like this…” A grimace of pain accompanied his shift in position, and his gnarled fingers were spastically picking at the hem of his dirty t-shirt.

“Just sit still. That guy called an ambulance. They should be here soon.” Clasping his dad’s hand in his own to still the frantic picking, he turned to the man, standing behind him. “When did you call?”

Checking the cell phone in his pocket, he answered, “About five minutes ago. They should be here any minute. I’m Les, by the way.” Les held out his hand, and Jason shook it.

“Jason. I was coming to spend the weekend with him. Were you here when he fell?”

Les nodded. “Yeah, he was coming down the stairs. Then he started yelling at something, and that’s when he fell.”

“Squirrels.”

They both turned to look at Mr. O’Niel. “What?”

“Squirrels. They’ve been getting in while I nap. I can’t keep the buggers out of here.”

Jason looked around, seeing man-made trash: empty boxes, packaging material, envelopes piled haphazardly, a roll of stamps coming undone on the countertop, empty pigeon-hole boxes with crap piled in front of them. Nothing that showed any evidence of squirrel inhabitation.

He turned to Les. “Have you seen any squirrels?”

The man shook his head. “Nope. And I’m in here every week. But he sure does talk about them a bunch.”

A man poked his head inside the shop. “Can somebody move this motorcycle?”

Jason hopped up off the floor to make way for the ambulance while emergency medical personnel got his dad on a stretcher. When he had the bike across the street so the ambulance could back up to the door, Les pulled him aside.

“Hey man. I’m really glad you’re here. I’ve been worried about Joe. He’s been getting worse.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed. That’s why I came up. What all has he been telling you?”

“Oh, he talks about the demoniacal squirrels all the time, how he’s going to kill them all. But the kicker was after he started carrying around this ancient twenty-two revolver loaded with rat shot, he actually pulled it on a customer. That’s when I started asking him about his family. I was going to call somebody. And get this…” He closed in on Jason conspiratorially, a wry smile on his lips. “He says he has two sons, one’s a family man lawyer-type, and the other’s a musical genius. Can you believe it?” Les leaned back, laughing good-naturedly and clapped Jason on the shoulder.

“Yeah, I’d be worried too.”

Les and Jason exchanged phone numbers so Jason could keep Les updated on Joe’s progress, then Jason followed the ambulance to the ER where Jason put in a call to Joe’s general practitioner.

After x-rays and a wrap, Jason wheeled his dad to his car. He’d left his bike at the shop, choosing instead to drive his dad’s Buick to the hospital. He knew he’d have to take him to Dr. Higgenbotham after the ER visit. The ER suggested they go to a different orthopedist, but Joe liked Dr. Higgenbotham, and at this point, that was the most important thing. They had given him some pain medication and a prescription for more, but Jason wanted to get a boot on this foot before he did anything else.

Dr. Higgenbotham, as always, was extremely solicitous to Joe, and Jason felt much better after seeing him. He’d given a different prescription and made helpful suggestions to Joe on healthy living, eating, taking calcium supplements, etc. When they were leaving the office, the doctor pulled Jason back inside the exam room.

“You’ll need to check with a specialist to make sure, but I’m seeing signs of early to mid-stage dementia. He really shouldn’t be staying alone. Check with DADS, and see if he qualifies for assistance.”

“DADS?” Jason was lost.

“Yeah, it’s a state agency for the aging… I think it’s Department for the Aging something or other.” Doctor Higgenbotham smiled warmly. “I’m fixing to go through it with my mom. It’s not pretty, but most of us have to do it sometime if all is right in the world. I’m looking for sitters in the Dallas area.”

“Sitters?” This was so much more than he’d bargained for.

“Someone to spend the night with her, so she doesn’t wake up disoriented.”

“Thanks, I guess I may extend my stay for a week or so to get him straightened out. I appreciate it, Doc.” The men shook hands, and Jason wheeled his dad back to the Buick before taking him to the hotel where he was planning to stay during his visit.

“Looks like we’ll be apartment hunting for you on Monday, Dad.” As he situated his dad on the hotel bed, Jason tried to sound encouraging.

“Why can’t I stay at the shop?”

“Well, for starters, navigating those stairs in this boot would be killer. And I need to get rid of those squirrels before one of them actually kills you.” He wasn’t convinced on the squirrel issue, but his dad was tired, in pain, and needed to be comfortable. If thinking that Jason believed his squirrel story made him more comfortable, then Jason would lie like a rug.

“Who will run the shop?”

“We can close it for a couple of days, until we get you settled in your new place, then I’ll run it until you’re able to get around better. How about that?” He hoped he’d only be taking a week off work. If he had to, he’d go ahead and take all of his vacation time, but that was only two weeks. After that, he needed to have a solution to this problem. “Monday, I’m making you an appointment with Dr. Kotch, and we’ll go from there. But you can’t stay at the shop, and I don’t have enough money to keep this room for two weeks, so we’ll be getting you an apartment. Something small on the first floor somewhere.”

Somewhat appeased, Joe allowed Jason to tuck him into bed and turn on the TV before leaving to go get some groceries, a newspaper and his prescription filled. This wasn’t exactly what he’d expected from his stay.

R
enae was having a tough week. Church with her mom and pleasant conversations with her church friends all revolved around her newly emptied nest. Everyone commiserated with her, offering helpful suggestions about what to do with her time: invitations to the quilting circle, the gym, and various gatherings at the church were met with non-committal gestures from Renae. Honestly, nothing really sounded super interesting to her, and the pitying looks paired with underlying knowing glances got to her. She knew exactly why people had those feelings towards her. And she refused to think about it. The days, months, and years of dwelling on it and feeling sorry for herself were over.

Work was the same. Her co-workers tried to be supportive but only made things worse. One lady brought a stack of books, which, while a thoughtful gift, were all thrillers and suspense about serial killers. She didn’t read that crap. She’d stopped reading them when she’d had Kelly, and the stories of killers targeting women and children scared the bejeesus out of her. So she smiled graciously and promptly took the stack of books home to hide under her bed and return later. Another coworker had brought her a bottle of wine, which was more up her alley. After her nightly phone call to Kelly, she might just drown herself in the bottle tonight.

She honestly didn’t know why she was taking Kelly’s absence so hard. She was acting like she wanted her to stay home with her forever. But she didn’t. She was happy for her daughter, happy she’d found a place to go. Kelly was so excited to be leaving Serendipity.

Maybe that’s what hurt so badly. That Kelly couldn’t wait to move out, to be independent of her mother. Maybe it was that Kelly was experiencing something that Renae had always wanted for herself, and she was jealous. Was that it? Was she jealous?

No, Renae wasn’t jealous. She had lived most of her life by choice. She had chosen to get married right out of high school, choosing a path that differed from her friends. And she cherished every memory she had of Kelly. She was proud of her daughter’s accomplishments and her drive to succeed in college.

It was her own fault she’d chosen a husband who wouldn’t let her go to school, telling her he wouldn’t be married to a woman smarter than him.

Renae decided to go ahead and pour a glass of wine and then call Kelly, just to check in. While she was struggling with the cork, though, her phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Hi there, Dear. You feeling any better?” Her mother’s cheerful voice echoed through the phone lines. Renae wasn’t fooled by the cheeriness. Mary Colt could be a force to be reckoned with when she had something on her mind. And lately, it seemed to Renae that Mary had been thinking about her. A lot.