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“It’s banged up pretty good,” Erik says, turning it around in his palm. “Old.” He’s right about that. I noticed the same thing.
He gives it back to me, but Rose reaches to take it. “It’s beautiful,” she whispers. “A little piece of history. I wonder what stories this little key would tell if it could talk.”
Rosie never ceases to amaze me. Where most see an old, worn-out, worthless charm, she sees beauty in everything. And she’s right. It’s priceless to someone. One being Aldo, who has killed two people to get to this key charm.
“I hope you don’t mind if we stay the night. It’ll be good to just sit and enjoy the company for a while,” I say.
Erik and Penny seem happy about that. Rosie is ecstatic as she pressed her hands on my cheeks, pulling me down to kiss me soundly on the mouth. “You’re the best!” she tells me.
I touch my forehead to hers. “I’ll give you everything I have to give to see you this happy every day.”
* * *
For the rest of the day and into the night, the problem looming over our heads disappears. I watch the interaction between Rosie and her family. The way Penny and Rosie dance around each other, finishing each other’s sentences while working to make dinner and bake dessert shows me all I’ve missed growing up.
I help Erik with the yard work, and after I moved some of the larger stones, I put away the mower, he’s waiting for me on the deck with a cold beer and a pat on my back.
“Thanks, son. It’s nice to have an extra hand. I’ve been meaning to move those stones. No way I would have been able to do it alone,” he says. It hit me that he means what he says. “Penny calls her garden her oasis. She’s going to be thrilled to see how neat and tidy it is, and now that those stones have been laid, she’ll be able to walk through her flower bed easier.”
It shouldn’t be affecting me this much, a simple thank-you, but it does. This feeling of loss and missing out on what a family should be. This takes me back to being in our own yard, but instead of my father and me working together, it was me and the gardener he hired every season.
Clive was a nice older man with three kids of his own. The oldest was my age, and he came with his dad to help him out. Clive and Sam included me in their duo. Sometimes I would go along with them for the day. Clive told me to ask my parents. I never did, but told Clive I had. Funny thing is, I was gone all day and my parents didn’t even know I was missing.
“Shake it off, son.” I hear Erik’s voice. Erik knows about my relationship, or lack thereof, with my parents. Back in the day, he asked about them, and my tactic was to either give bare minimum information or change the subject. Then one day, I got a call from Dad’s PA requesting that I come home for an award presentation. Dad was receiving a plaque in his honor, and it would look good to have his son in attendance.
I was fuming. By the time I got off the phone, after saying not-so-nice things to this poor woman who got the brunt of my wrath, I threw the phone across the yard and watched it smash into pieces when it hit the fence. Erik came out, didn’t say a word, and waited, and then waited some more until I was ready. I gave it to him, the whole story. Along with the guilt of feeling the way I did.
In my mind, I wasn’t beaten, I didn’t have to scrounge for food, and I understood others did, yet I couldn’t help what I felt.
“Neglect is as bad as a physical slap in the face. Actually, it may be worse,” Erik told me. “Loving a child isn’t about how much money you throw at them. It’s about making memories that they’ll hold on to even when we’re not there.”
And here he is again, watching me fall back down the rabbit hole and leading me back to the present. In true Erik form, he starts telling me about his last fishing trip with his brother and the family reunion they’re planning in the fall. It was more of an expectation that Rose and I will find the time to be there so the rest of the family can meet me. Soon enough, the dark cloud overhead has blown away with the gentle breeze of the day.
Inside, Rosie and Penny are doing their own thing. They come out to join us. Penny sits by her husband; Rose is next to me. Rose slips her hand into mine, her face turned upward to the warm summer sun, basking in its goodness. All is calm.
The faint squeal of children laughing and splashing can be heard in the distance.
“Enjoy it, Michael. This is one of those moments,” Erik says, shining a huge smile in my direction.
* * *
Rose
We’re heading back home. I hate tearful goodbyes, and this time it was even harder. Dad was reluctant to let us leave, being a dad and all. He just wants to protect me and hide me away until this thing blows over. Mom was much the same, but she knows me well enough to understand I wasn’t going to give up everything I’ve worked for without a fight.
Hawk is right on time, as is Sebastian. His plane is on the tarmac waiting for us.
“Thanks, brother. I owe you one,” Thunder says, giving Hawk a manly hug.
“I’ll remember that,” he says with a grin. He grows serious, adding, “You know we’re at your side, no matter when.”
Sebastian welcomes us onboard and quickly says, “Change of plans. Guard and Reno are in New York. We’re supposed to go direct.”
“What’s going on?” Thunder asks.
“You found the missing golden treasure,” Sebastian says with a shit-eating grin.
I glance from one to the other. “What’s happening?” Instinctively, I move closer to Thunder, who automatically tucks me into his side.
