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He drove past Ike’s Market, where Jugs bought Enid Helen’s special food. Maybe he could get a job as a stock boy or a bagger there, since they weren’t going to be catching critters for a while. If he was over thirty, would he still be called a stock boy? Or would he be referred to as a stock man?
Ditching that train of useless thought, he decided since he was already this far out Route 118, he might as well go on over to Harriettville and see what was going on.
When he reached Harriettville, Cody discovered there wasn’t much more going on there than back in Parson’s Hollow. But at least here in Harriettville, he didn’t know everyone by sight, and there was no lingering animosity because he and Demmy had stopped a werewolf invasion or prevented a cemetery’s worth of zombies from spreading beyond the town limits. He found a diner on Main Street that looked similar to Margie’s and pulled into a spot at the curb. The place was called That Place on Main, and about half the tables were occupied.
As he approached the door, his phone buzzed. Jugs again. He sent the call to voicemail, still not ready to explain everything. Once he’d calmed down, like maybe in a month or two, he would need to pay a visit to Dieter and find out the specifics in the judge’s decision.
A pretty young waitress smiled and waved him toward a booth near the back. She handed him a menu, and he ordered an iced tea before checking out the offerings. Everything sounded good, but the menu was arranged differently from Margie’s, and the photos of the food, intended to be enticing, looked flat. He sighed. What he really wanted was the taste of Margie’s food. And a dose of Margie herself, with her bright smile and unflagging optimism.
And Demmy. He really wanted, actually needed, to be with Demmy. A sudden and overwhelming feeling of regret welled up inside him. He shouldn’t have acted the way he did, storming out of the house like that and leaving Demmy all alone. The judge’s decision hadn’t just affected him, it had affected Demmy as well, and probably more so. Opening Critter Catchers had been Demmy’s idea back when they’d been working those shitty manufacturing jobs. Demmy had completed all the paperwork, managed all the money, and was always thinking about the business.
Dammit, Cody had been a completely selfish asshole. Like usual.
He sent Demmy a text, apologizing for storming off. He assured Demmy he was all right and would be back home soon and they could discuss everything and plan their next steps. When the waitress returned with his iced tea, Cody handed her the menu with an apologetic smile.
“Sorry, something’s come up and I need to head out. Can I get the tea to go?”
Back in the truck, he checked and found no response from Demmy. Had Cody pissed him off so much Demmy had decided to ignore him? Or maybe blocked his number? Well, either way, Cody couldn’t blame him. He’d been a selfish prick. He thought about it a bit, then sent another text, apologizing once again, and asking Demmy to please call. He connected his phone to the sound system and got back on the road, headed toward Parson’s Hollow.
Halfway back to town, his phone rang. His rising hopes crashed and burned when he saw Lucia’s name displayed on the screen. Not who he needed to hear from at that moment. He let the call go to voicemail, but she immediately called again. Dammit. There might be something wrong, and it could involve Demmy.
With a wince, he accepted the call and said, “I didn’t do it.”
“Where are you?” Lucia’s voice was tight with concern.
“Coming back to town from Harriettville, why?”
“Everything is okay, but I need you out here at Parson’s Pines.”
A chill ran through Cody. “Grandma? What is it? What’s happened?”
“Like I said, she’s fine,” Lucia said. “But she’s shaken up. It’s complicated, and I think you being here will help.”
“She’s okay?”
“The facility doctor is on the way to check her out, but there don’t appear to be any injuries.”
“Jesus. Okay, I’m heading there now.”
Cody drove faster than usual along Route 118, speeding past the Hollow Leg and then the strip mall where their office was located. He didn’t even give it a glance, he was so focused on getting to his grandmother. Once he reached town, he slowed down a bit, which meant driving twenty over the posted twenty-five mile an hour speed limit. When Main Street turned into Route 118 once more on the other side of town, he opened the truck up again and made it to Parson’s Pines in record time.
Jogging through the automatic doors, Cody hurried past the vacant nurse’s desk and down the hall to his grandmother’s room. As he approached, he could hear his Grandma Felicia’s high-pitched and trembling voice, followed by Lucia’s and another couple of women he didn’t recognize. He stepped through the door, panting slightly, eyes wide and chest tight, probably looking half mad. If he was honest, at that moment he felt that way. Today would not be the day he would lose his grandmother. Any day but today.
He took in the room at a glance, his football instincts kicking in as he placed the people in play: his grandmother sitting in her chair by the window, being tended to by one of the nurses whose name escaped Cody at the moment. Lucia stood with her back to the window, looking down at Felicia. The deputy he’d seen out at the pond and who had been at the diner with Lucia, an attractive Black woman whose name Cody couldn’t recall in that moment, stood beside Lucia, diligently taking notes.
“Grandma?”
“Cody!” Felicia exclaimed, eyes wide as she braced herself in her chair.
Cody moved in without hesitation, kneeling before her and carefully, gently pulling her in close. He could feel the bones in her back through her skin, felt her fragile body shake as she cried into his shoulder. Her hands didn’t go around him like usual, though. Instead, she gripped the arms of the chair as if trying to hold herself in place.
“It’s all right, Grandma, I’m here. You’re safe.”
“I’m not!” Felicia said against his shoulder. “You can’t say that.”
He pulled back and took hold of her shoulders to ease her away from him. Her blue eyes were wide and filled with tears, and her fingers white from the strength of her grip on the chair. He could feel her whole body trembling as she stared at him.
“Hey, it’s okay. You’re safe. Just calm down now. You’re safe, all right? I’m here, and I won’t let anything happen to you.” He nodded toward the nurse. “The nurse won’t let anything happen. And look.” He tipped his head in the direction of Lucia and the deputy. “You’ve got some of Parson’s Hollow’s finest law enforcement here.”
