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“Do you want to come here for dinner tonight?”
“No, thank you, Maggie. I’m looking forward to being a slug for the next week. He doesn’t have to be at work until next Monday and I have a feeling that his kids are going to be returning to Cypress Cove with Chris.”
“I shouldn’t repeat this, but Justin said Chris told him he’s bringing the boys back with him.”
“So that means I’m staying put here in my little shack.”
Maggie barked out a laugh. “It’s not a shack. It’s a nice house. And I think you should stay there as long as you can.”
“Which means until Stevie is out of college,” she replied, laughing. “I guess we shouldn’t be laughing.”
“Oh, bull. It’s no disrespect for the dead. At least you don’t have to deal with it any longer.”
“No more surprise visits,” Annie said. “Chris was really upset, sobbing. I’m sure it’s upsetting.”
“If Russ died, I wouldn’t shed a tear,” Maggie said, making Annie laugh again. “Would you be upset if Steve dropped dead?”
“Only as far as it affected my son, so I guess I would be sad, yeah. But not sobbing. Right now, I want to punch him in the face.”
She repeated what Kelly had said that Steve lied about going to Walmart. “He’s such an asshole. But really, how did he know his mother was going to get rough? Kelly said that Beverly had the same kind of relationship with Steve when he was a kid. I guess he was obstinate, and she managed it by throwing him around. It explains a lot about the man he grew up to be. I wish I would have known that from the beginning. I might have been more supportive.”
“Well, it will be the last time your son is hit by his grandmother.”
“You got that right. My attorney is going to demand supervised visits for Beverly until Stevie is old enough to defend himself, and possibly Steve, too until he takes parenting classes. Steve is going to flip. And I’m not entirely in favor of Steve not taking him for the weekend because it means I might never get a break again.”
“Let him take the classes, Annie. It will be worth your peace of mind.”
“You’re right. Anyway, thank you for calling. I hear Stevie stirring, so his nap must be over. He’s going back to day care tomorrow.”
“Good for you. Call me later.”
“I will.” They ended the call.
Annie got Stevie out of his crib. “Come on, kiddo. We’re walking to the park. Both of us need to run off our aggression.”
She got him into his stroller with enough snacks and drinks to last until dark if she wanted to stay out. There was nothing to rush home to now that Chris was on his way to Mobile. There was a little curiosity about how the week would unfold. Would they talk every moment they could and pine for each other like they did at the beginning? Would Chris would drive all the way to Cypress Cove for a booty call midweek, then drive all the way back early the next morning?
At the park, she got Stevie out of the stroller and let him run where he wanted, following close behind him. After fifteen minutes, he was worn out.
“You ready for a snack?”
“Snack!”
She gave him a sippy cup of water and cut up apples and they sat on the ground on an old wool Hudson Bay blanket, looking for bugs in the grass. They cuddled together, and when the allure of the bugs diminished, surprisingly Stevie fell asleep again for a short nap. Annie closed her eyes with her son in her arms, and before long, she snoozed, too.
The sun was moving to the west when a barking dog woke them. “I guess it’s time to head for home,” she said, loading everything and getting Stevie back in the stroller.
“I really enjoyed this afternoon,” she told her son, chuckling. “I think I could handle this, just you and me forever, baby.”
“Forever.”
When she reached the house, Stevie climbed out of his stroller on his own and she gave him items to carry inside. “You’re growing up into such a nice big boy.”
“Big boy!”
The setting sun cast golden streaks on the creek behind the house. “We’re sitting outside tonight.” The screened porch was a perfect place to hang out, with candles, baskets of Stevie’s toys, and overstuffed furniture that had just a hint of a mildewed smell. It was a drawback of living in a place that had high humidity year-round, but so worth it.
Fixing a plate of cheese, salami, crackers, and fruit for their dinner, she poured a glass of wine and sat on the couch, watching her son play. Being outside always had the best effect on him, increasing his appetite so he ate heartily. In the warmer months, canoes and rowboats would float down the creek, some with torches. She looked forward to that. After the sun was beyond the horizon, he rubbed his eyes and yawned.
