AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Tomorrow morning,” he corrected her. “So, I probably won’t need you the first few days of the following week.”
He said ‘I won’t need you.’ She knew exactly what he meant, but her heart fluttered at his unusual choice of words. She knew that she needed to stop paying attention to such small details, details which very few paid any attention to. They were just words to them. To her, nothing was just words. It was either a conscious or a subconscious thought or desire which managed to find its way to the surface. The way it surfaced - now, that was the interesting part.
“OK,” she replied curtly.
That meant she’d be getting less money. That wasn’t good. She finally managed to pay off what she owed to her mother’s nursing home, but with the increase in her mother’s drugs and other necessities, the price just kept getting higher and higher. It was also just a matter of time before her car died on her. She needed money. She needed that extra job which was nowhere in sight and Hyde cutting down on her days was the last thing she needed right now.
Then, she remembered she was being unfair. She was angry at him and he wasn’t a part of her problems. He was actually a part of the solution. So, she calmed herself down.
“I really appreciate all your help,” he suddenly added.
“It’s my job,” she said, still under the impression of what he just said.
She didn’t understand his gratitude. He was paying her to help him with Parker and of course she was going to do the best job she could. That goes without saying.
“I know, I just… really appreciate it,” he repeated himself, and she felt a pang of regret.
She shouldn’t have said that it was just her job. The truth was that it was more. In this short amount of time, she had grown attached to Parker and she felt like this feeling was mutual. She didn’t feel like a mother figure to him. He already had a mother and the last thing she wanted to do was step in that place and make trouble. What she wanted was for Parker to know that he always had a close friend in her, that she was someone he could always rely on no matter what and that he could always tell her anything, come to her for anything.
“Parker is such a great kid,” she said, hoping to fix the situation. “I love being around him, I love his curiosity, the way he perceives things. It’s so wonderful.”
“I have to ask you something,” Hyde’s voice suddenly grew quieter and her interest sparked.
He looked around, as if he was searching for a face in the crowd. After a few seconds, his gaze went back to Parker.
“Sure,” Rene urged him. “Anything.”
“When you’re out with Parker,” he started, sounding a little uncertain, as if he was looking for the right words to explain exactly what he was referring to, “have you noticed anything weird?”
The question sounded strange. She didn’t really understand him, and her frown revealed that.
“Weird?” she repeated his exact word of choice, “what do you mean?”
“Well, have you noticed any strange people around? Has anything out of the ordinary happened? Anything really…”
Rene tried to think of any such scenario. When they were out, they would usually go to the playground, to the grocery store, for walks or for Parker to ride his little bicycle. She was always fully focused on him and she had to admit that even if anyone strange was around, she wouldn’t have noticed him.
“No, I don’t think so,” she shook her head, still trying to remember if there was anyone like that.
“Are you sure?” he urged her.
“Yes, I think so,” she replied, with a worried look in her eyes. “Is there anything I should know?”
He gazed in Parker’s direction for a few seconds longer, then turned to her.
“No,” he suddenly smiled, his expression changing completely, “I’m asking because I read about a child kidnapping a few days ago.”
His gaze turned back to his child, playing with his ball, and running after pigeons and squirrels around the trees. He looked so carefree. His flushed cheeks were as red as apples, as his hands reached out to catch that ever elusive squirrel. Rene wished she remembered the last time she felt like that. She couldn’t.
“Those things really get to me,” he explained. “I guess I’m just being overly paranoid.”
He tried to brush it off, but it seemed to Rene that there was more to this question than he was telling her. Still, this wasn’t the time or the place to discuss it in more detail.
“I don’t have kids of my own, but I think I’ll be paranoid, too when I’m a parent,” her smile revealed compassion and understanding. “I think one doesn’t go without the other.”
“You think all parents are paranoid?”
“All good parents,” she corrected him.
