Catletts cove box set, p.34
Catlett's Cove Box Set, page 34
part #1 of Catlett's Cove Series
Aaron heard what sounded like a car door and then a moment of silence. It was followed by the sound of an apartment door closing. Aaron breathed a heavy sigh of relief. He turned around to resume work on the app when he heard the shout, “Christy!” again. It was followed by shouts from the balcony. The arguments were starting all over.
Aaron considered whether to go to the door to listen once again. He stood frozen in the doorway to his home office. Then he heard the sound that prompted him to action.
It was the sound of Sylvia crying. The cry of a child was instantly distinguishable from that of an adult. Aaron could not stand to hear the sound of Sylvia’s tears without responding by trying to do something.
He opened the door to his apartment and stepped out on to the open-air balcony walkway that connected all of the second floor units. Christy’s apartment was three units away and around a corner. Aaron stepped up to the balcony railing and stared down at the dimly lit parking lot.
Aaron could make out the silhouette of Christy’s ex. He was yelling, “See! You made her cry! She should be with me instead of an unfit mother!”
Trying to make his voice sound as deep as possible, Aaron yelled back, “We know who’s the unfit parent here.” Then, in a quieter voice, he turned in Christy’s direction and said, “Go back inside. Take Sylvia and shut the door. I’ll take care of this.”
“Get down here and say it to my face!” yelled Ethan. “Whoever you are.” Aaron could see that he was scanning the balcony trying to pick out the direction of the voice.
Christy whispered, “Aaron, no, this isn’t your fight.”
Aaron hissed, “Just get in the apartment,” as he started to scrambled down the concrete staircase to ground level. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and the hair on his arms standing on end. He was by no means a fighter, and he rarely stood up to bullies, even when they picked on him in high school Instead, he gathered together Yale’s and Thomas’ intimidating bulk to help ward of the offenders.
Christy whispered again, “Aaron, please.”
He turned his head up toward the balcony and said, “Christy, do it now!”
Aaron shuddered slightly when he heard the door to Christy’s apartment close, and he realized he was alone with an angry man. Ethan met Aaron at the bottom of the staircase. Ethan asked, “So, who are you butting into my private life?”
Aaron stepped down off the bottom step and squeezed slightly to the side. He didn’t want to have an uneven surface beneath his feet. He answered, “I’m a friend of Christy’s, and I think she has told you more than once that she doesn’t want you to come back here.”
The man glared at him and leaned forward with a growl in his voice and small droplets of spit escaping into the air. “It’s none of your fucking business. She has my child, and she won’t let me see her. I don’t care what the fucking lawyers say. She’s my child!”
Aaron did his best to calm things by saying, “If you just leave right now, nobody will call the cops. If you don’t, then you’ll have to tell someone with a whole lot more authority than me what your story is.”
His attempts failed, and the anger only escalated. Aaron reached into his pocket for his cell phone, and he didn’t see the punch coming. It landed squarely on his upper cheek bone propelling him backward. He wavered on his feet but managed somehow to stay upright. He gripped the lower iron railing of the staircase to try and regain his balance, while Ethan backed away.
Ethan yelled, “That’s just the fucking beginning. Butt out of my life if you know what’s good for you.”
Aaron was still shaking his head and reaching up toward his eye to try and figure out whether anything was broken when the car engine started and tires screeched as it raced from the parking lot.
The next sound Aaron remembered was feet scrambling down the staircase and Christy’s voice, “Are you okay? Damn, that’s why I told you this isn’t your fight. It’s between Ethan and me.”
Aaron’s eye was already starting to throb and swell as he blinked and tried to focus on Christy. He said, “I heard Sylvia crying. I couldn’t help myself.”
“Come up to the apartment with me, and let me take a look at that eye.”
He followed behind and climbed the steps. Heavy doses of adrenaline were still coursing through his veins, but he was pleased that he didn’t just stand by while an innocent child like Sylvia was dragged into the mess. Something more permanent needed to be done about the situation, but he didn’t know what.
Sylvia was watching a cartoon video when they entered the apartment, but she came rushing to the door squealing, “Mr. Austin!” and instantly wrapped her arms around his right leg.
Christy said, “Now Sylvia, let Aaron walk. He’s got a sore place by his eye, and I need to help take care of that.”
Sylvia asked, “Did you fall down, Mr. Austin? I got hurt right here when I fell down one time.” She pointed at her right forearm. “I had to have a Band-Aid on it.”
Every time he saw Sylvia, Aaron was relieved that none of the rancor between Christy and her ex was ever turned directly on to the young girl. For all of the upheaval in the life of the adults around her, Sylvia was a remarkably happy child.
Christy said, “Aaron, come sit here at the kitchen table. I’m going to get the first aid kit and a washcloth.”
A few minutes later, Aaron winced when Christy dabbed at his cheekbone with the washcloth. “Ouch, be careful, Christy.”
She said, “It doesn’t feel like anything is broken, but I bet you’re going to have one nasty black eye.”
He grunted and said, “I’ll live.” Then he leaned toward Christy to whisper in her ear, “We need to talk about this sometime when Sylvia is asleep or she can stay with a sitter or something.”
Christy nodded and said, “We need to visit Mrs. Crimshaft on the first floor again soon, don’t we Sylvia.”
Sylvia turned away from her video for a moment and said, “Oh, can we go now? She gives me cookies, Mr. Austin!”
Christy shook her head. “Not right now, and it’s really late. We need to get you to bed.”
Sylvia pointed at the TV. “Can I wait until the story is over?”
Christy smiled. “Yes, you can wait until the story is over, and I think Mr. Austin might just help tuck you in tonight.”
Syliva bounced up and down and turned to look at Aaron. “Oh goodie. Tell me a bedtime story Mr. Austin!”
6
Jamie
Jamie called his sister Christy at least twice a week. Now it was getting closer to three since she finally broke off the relationship with his niece Sylvia’s father. Having Ethan out of the picture was best for everyone involved. Christy fell hard for him at first, but soon after Sylvia was born it became obvious that he had real anger issues. Ethan was also jealous of the attention that the baby required from Christy. Despite Christy’s tearful insistence, he refused to seek counseling, and, in the end, Christy stood her ground and moved out taking Sylvia with her.
Christy said, “I’m always happy to hear that things are going well for my baby brother. Maybe Sylvia and I can come up and visit sometime next summer. She would love the zoo, and she’s getting old enough to get a lot out of kids’ museums.”
Jamie replied, “That would be great. My place is always open for the two of you. How are things going down there in the Cove?”
She said, “The usual. Work is boring, but it pays the bills. Sylvia is getting bigger and smarter all the time.” She paused, and Jamie could hear a snuffle on Christy’s end.
He said, “Hey, wait. What’s that about?”
“That what?”
“I heard snuffling.”
Christy tried to sound cheerful and said, “Oh, I might have just a touch of a cold. Everything is…,” she paused, and then added, “Fine.”
“Christy, don’t be holding back on me. I can read between the lines. Things aren’t fine. What’s going on?”
She said, “It’s okay Jamie. Really, I can handle it. Don’t worry about anything.”
Jamie was growing impatient. The more Christy tried to keep something from him, the worse it usually was. He said, “Tell me about it, or I’ll drive down there and find out myself.”
She finally broke down and cried over the phone. After a few minutes Christy pulled herself together enough to tell Jamie that her ex was causing problems again. She said, “He even punched one of my friends here and gave him a black eye.”
“Did you call the police?” asked Jamie.
“I don’t want to. I can handle it, Jamie. If I call the cops, they might try to take Sylvia away.”
“But he’s violent, Christy! You and Sylvia are at risk!”
Christy regained much of her composure and said, “Jamie, please calm down. He has never hit me harder than a slap. He has never touched Sylvia when he’s angry. There is no reason to think he will start. Just let me handle this. I need your support, but I don’t need lectures.”
Jamie took three long, deep breaths. He said, “I have some time that I need to take off from work. Can I come down there this Friday and then spend a four-day weekend? I think it would be good for Sylvia to get to know her uncle better.”
“Will you be calm?” asked Christy. “Sylvia doesn’t need any more upheaval than she has already.”
“I’m coming down to help things be calm. I’ll see you on Friday then?”
Christy exhaled loudly. “Okay, yes, I’ll see you on Friday after work.” She paused, and then she added, “I love you little brother. Thank you.”
Jamie looked forward to seeing Christy and Sylvia, but he didn’t enjoy canceling the planned meeting with Aaron, aka smalltownappguy. They were having their usual evening online conversation when he said that a family emergency came up and he would need to be out of town.
Jamie was surprised when Aaron typed, “That’s okay. I have a little bit of a problem. I’m just a little under the weather, so this might be best. What about the next weekend?”
They quickly rescheduled their meeting, and, even though it was only Wednesday, Jamie turned to packing for his trip. It was always a long process. He was in the process of packing for two weeks before the latest trip to Belgium. It was never easy for Jamie to figure out the right arrangement of clothing that was needed. He tried to not take too much, but doing that required very careful consideration.
Jamie took the entire afternoon off on Friday, and he arrived in Catlett’s Cove early. He took the opportunity to drive by the town marina on the lakeshore and stop in for a slice of pie at the Point Diner. Catlett’s Cove was just as sleepy as Jamie always remembered it, but the town had remained more prosperous than many of the surrounding small communities.
Tourism was the backbone of the economy in Catlett’s Cove, and shrewd advertising kept visitors coming. The houses in most parts of the town were neat and tidy. They didn’t project wealth. It was more of an air of simple comfort.
Christy’s apartment complex was quiet when Jamie arrived. It was situated off the main traffic patterns in town but near a prosperous neighborhood. Jamie pulled his suitcase out of the trunk of his car and began to roll it through the parking lot to the base of the outside staircase leading up to the second floor.
Fortunately, Christy earned enough money that she didn’t need to live in a run-down apartment. Her complex was not luxurious, but the grounds were kept trim and orderly, and the occupancy rate was high with little turnover.
Jamie pushed the long handle back into his suitcase and hefted it upward to carry it up the staircase. When he reached the top, he pulled the phone out of his pocket to check the time. It was still about fifteen minutes before Christy’s usual time to arrive home.
Jamie leaned back against the iron railing of the outdoor shared balcony and began to scroll his way through the e-mail received since leaving work shortly after noon.
Caleb shared a few jokes, and there was a usual company e-mail designed to boost morale at the end of the week. Jamie was relieved to not find anything that looked like it would require some sort of immediate attention.
He switched to reading news. Jamie became absorbed enough in his reading that he was startled when he heard the sound of a car door down in the parking lot below. He turned around to peer over the balcony rail and see who was arriving home.
It was a tall, thin guy juggling a pizza box in one hand and carrying a computer bag in the other. Jamie only caught a quick glimpse of the man’s face as he climbed the steps. He looked familiar, but Jamie wasn’t sure exactly why at first.
The man wasn’t paying much attention to where he was going as he struggled to locate the key to his apartment on a ring filled with what looked like at least fifteen different keys. As the stranger stepped onto the balcony, he briefly lost his balance and stumbled slightly falling backward against Jamie.
After catching the man, Jamie said, “Whoa,” and then he added, “You’re okay.”
The man turned around and said, “Hey, thanks buddy.” He looked at Jamie briefly with dark brown eyes behind big black-framed glasses. With a slight gasp, Jamie realized who it was. It was Aaron, smalltownappguy from Men2Date. He also had a black eye. Aaron didn’t say anything about that online.
The only indication from Aaron that he might recognize Jamie was a series of three blinks, and then he turned back to searching for the key and preventing himself from dropping the pizza box.
Jamie thought that he should say something, but he was tongue-tied. He didn’t know if he should ask,”Hey, aren’t you Aaron?” Or he could simply exclaim, “Aaron!”
There was always a slim chance that it wasn’t Aaron, and it was just someone who looked remarkably similar. Jamie shook his head thinking that the likelihood of that was slim. Instead, he pondered the chances that, in all of Catlett’s Cove, they would happen to show up in the same place at the same time. It was a small town. Jamie decided that those chances were slim, but not impossible.
Just as Jamie shook off his frozen posture, Aaron’s apartment door closed. He wondered if it was possible that Aaron didn’t recognize him. His first thought was to knock on the door, but then he remembered that he was staying with Christy for the next four days. There would be plenty of time to try and orchestrate another meeting. He also would be able to ask Christy about her neighbor. Perhaps they knew each other.
Jamie didn’t have much time to contemplate it further. He heard another car door down below, and, before he could look over the railing, the sound of small feet scrambling up the staircase reached him.
“Uncle Jamie!” shouted Sylvia. She rushed to his side and wrapped her arms around his leg.
Jamie reached down and raked his fingers through her silky hair. She looked up, and he smiled. “And how are you doing today, Sylvia? Are you being a good girl for your mommy?”
Sylvia blinked at him, and said, “Mommy says I’m always good.”
Christy reached the top of the stairs and squatted down. Sylvia turned and was scooped into Christy’s arms and lifted off the ground. Christy reached out to Jamie with her free arm and they shared a three-way hug.
“I’m so happy to see you, Jamie. Maybe we can have a quiet, fun weekend around here.”
Jamie said, “I’ll make sure of it.” Then he added, “Like I said on the phone last night, I think you and Sylvia should consider joining me in the city. I mean move up there for good.”
Christy ignored the comment while she handed Sylvia to Jamie and backed away turning toward the door of her apartment. As she pulled the keys from her purse, she said, “Please don’t judge us by the appearance of the apartment. Sylvia and I do our best to keep things neat and tidy, but it doesn’t always work out that way.”
Jamie said, “I don’t need to judge. I know I have a perfect sister and niece.”
Christy sighed as she pushed the door open saying, “I wish the rest of the world understood that.”
Jamie walked through the door and glanced around while Sylvia leaned her head against his. The furniture was a little worn, and a few of Sylvia’s books and toys were scattered around the living room, but the appearance was mostly one of being lived in. Nothing appeared dirty or broken.
Christy reached down for the handle of his suitcase. “Can I take this to the guest room for you? I have a few papers on the desk back there, but I just folded out the couch this morning and put new sheets on the mattress. There is a pile of clean towels in there, too.”
Jamie said, “You spoil me, sis.”
Sylvia smiled and poked at his chin saying, “I’m spoiled, too. That’s what mommy says when Mr. Austin comes over.”
Jamie followed Christy to the guest room. He asked, “Mr. Austin? Who’s that.”
Christy said, “Oh, that’s my neighbor Aaron. Sylvia loves him, and yeah, he spoils her rotten. I’m really glad we’ve got him, though. He helped us out when Sylvia’s dad stopped by the other night, and Aaron ended up with a black eye for his trouble. I felt so awful.”
Jamie’s mouth started to drop open. It had to be the same Aaron. Now he understood the black eye. He smiled to himself when he thought about Aaron already having a good relationship with Christy and Sylvia. He wasn’t only the nice guy he seemed online, he was gutsy, too. He stood up against bullies.
Jamie decided to ask a question to try and confirm his conclusions. He asked, “If he’s such a good guy, why don’t you ask him out, Christy?”
She laughed and said, “Some days I wish I could, but he’s gay like you, Jamie. I grumble along with Peg at work. All of the best guys that we know are gay.”
7
Aaron
“I mean, damn, Derek, I didn’t say anything. I shut down like a clam. He’s my dream date, and I blew him off!”
