The turmoil within the Borden family was on a level with the Randolph family. Both of them were desperately praying for Davey to survive. Both of them would be forever changed if he did not.
* * *
Junior Knox was still sleeping when Hunt became the hero of the day. When he finally woke up, it was midafternoon. He made himself some coffee and sat staring blindly at the television, thinking about his life. He had no future. He had no plans. He was just here, taking up space.
Later, he checked his bank to see if his unemployment money had come in. It wasn’t going to last much longer, which meant he’d need to go find himself another job. But for now, he was getting by. Once he realized he had a positive balance in his account, he left to gas up his car.
He pulled up to the pumps at the gas station and got out with his bankcard. He swiped it at the pump just as one of his drinking buddies from the Blue Ivy pulled up and got out.
“Hey, Junior… Hunt sure did pull off a good one this morning, right?”
Junior frowned. “I don’t know. What did he do?”
“He flew a kid to Savannah for surgery and saved his life.”
“Why would he be doing that?” Junior asked.
“The Medi-Flight pilot had a heart attack while he was landing, and someone called Hunt. I didn’t know he could do stuff like that.”
“Yeah… He was in the army. That’s really something,” Junior said.
His buddy nodded, then shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned against his car while waiting for his tank to fill. He kept trying to talk about Hunt, but Junior wasn’t responding. When the pump finally kicked off, Junior got in his car and drove straight to their mother’s old house.
Both the Harley and the black pickup were there, and so was a plumber. Junior wished he had the guts to just go in and help, but he couldn’t look his brother in the eye.
* * *
Hunt worked at the house the rest of the day, but it was hard to focus. He felt the adrenaline rush of the emergency, and then being back in a chopper had made him long to be in the air again. He kept thinking about being with Ava, too, so there was that distraction as well.
He was in the boys’ old bedroom, moving the furniture around to check the flooring for loose boards or wood rot. The hardwood was in bad shape, but he thought it could be sanded down and refinished.
He’d taken down the pictures when he was scraping the walls to get ready for painters and had tossed them on the bed out of the way. But as he was moving the furniture back in place, one of them slid off the bed. And when it did, the frame broke, leaving the print and the piece of cardboard backing loose within it.
“Dammit,” Hunt muttered, but as he bent down to pick up the pieces, a piece of paper fell out.
It was lined paper, torn out of a school notebook and folded in half. Curious, he unfolded it and read.
I swear on Marjorie and Birdie Knox’s lives never to tell why Hunt’s money was taken.
Signed:
Parnell Knox
Emma Knox
Parnell Knox, Jr.
Raymond Knox
Hunt was in shock. He recognized his daddy’s handwriting, as well as his brothers’ and sister’s handwriting. Whatever the hell had happened, his daddy had written this and made them sign it.
It didn’t tell him any more than he already knew, but the fact that his daddy went so far as to make them sign what amounted to a written oath, sworn on the lives of their mother and sister, was shocking.
Hunt folded the paper back up and put it in his wallet, then gathered up the broken pieces and carried them out to the garbage.
But he couldn’t get past the fact that his daddy had seen fit to make them do this. His mother was gone now, and Birdie had known nothing about any of this. And the others weren’t talking. It was the nightmare that wouldn’t end.
He was relieved when it was time to go get Ava. The sun appeared to be as tired of this day as Hunt was as it sank toward the horizon.
He pulled up in her driveway, and before he could get out, she came bouncing out of her house with a smile on her face, her dark hair swinging with every step that she took.
“Hi!” she said as she climbed in the truck.
Hunt grinned. “Hello to you, too, pretty girl. You must have had a good day.”
“Not really, but it’s over. The good part of my day is you, and it’s just now starting.”
She leaned over and kissed him square on the mouth.
Hunt groaned, cupped the back of her head, and pulled her closer to kiss her back.
“You don’t know how much I needed that…and you,” he said, then started the truck and backed out of the drive. “What’s your pleasure this evening, honey?”
“It’s a little cool, but let’s get stuff from the Dairy Freeze and go eat at the park. I just need fresh air and you,” Ava said.
Hunt sighed. “Perfect. Not counting the flight, I’ve had a weird day, too, and you’re my touchstone to joy.”
Ava’s eyes suddenly welled. “Oh, Hunt. That might be the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
“Give me time. I can do better,” Hunt said, and then winked to take away the seriousness of the moment.
Ava laughed through tears. “Then feed me. I’m starving.”
“Broyles Dairy Freeze, here we come,” Hunt said. “Burgers or chili dogs?”
“Chili dog and fries, please,” Ava said.
“Anything for my sweetheart,” Hunt said.
Twenty minutes later, they were at the park, sitting at one of the picnic tables, and in between sharing ketchup and dipping fries, they were talking about Houston and what he did on the job. After a while, Ava shifted the conversation.
“I don’t know if anyone told you, but Davey Randolph’s surgery was successful. He’s in the ICU, and for the time being he’s listed as critical but stable.”
“That’s really good news,” Hunt said.
She nodded. “Every save is a good day. Oh, my parents are coming home sometime tomorrow,” she added. “I told them you had come back because of your mom, but I didn’t say anything about us yet.”
“Are they going to be upset if you leave Blessings?” he asked.
Ava smiled. “Not upset. They’ll be delighted for the both of us. Mom’s always known I loved you. We both just thought it was for naught, as the old-timers used to say. Knowing Mom, she’ll just look at us living in Houston as a plus, giving them another place to visit.”