“Would you like some pie? I just made blueberry, Henry’s favorite.”
Without waiting for an answer, she turns and heads to where I assume the kitchen is.
“What do you have, half a brain? Go,” Ned says.
Reed and I step forward. I can’t speak for Reed, but I do so out of fear. Someone failed to mention that Ned is scary.
The smell of baking hijacks all my senses when I step into the kitchen. “It smells delicious, Helen.”
She busies herself with cutting the pie and getting some ice cream out of the freezer. A woman after my own heart.
“I like to make one of Henry’s favorites at least once a week. After Trevor and Katie’s accident, I like to see him smile.”
She turns around with a sad smile on her face and points to the fridge where a much younger Henry is wedged between the smiling faces of a man and a woman. He’s the spitting image of his dad.
“I’m sorry,” I say, and Reed slides a chair out for me.
“Thank you. It’s been three years now. If God would’ve allowed us, we would’ve had more children. Then Henry would be having fun with his aunt or uncle rather than learning how to play pinochle.” She glances over her shoulder.
“He’s a great card player.” Reed’s hand finds my thigh under the table.
“Let’s hope I can raise him decent enough not to be a card shark in Vegas when he’s older.” She brings two plates over.
“I’ll never allow it to happen,” Reed says, removing his hand from my leg and digging into the pie with his fork.
“I know you wouldn’t.” She pats his hand and stares over at me. “Reed is our savior. Treats Henry like he’s his son, not just a Big Brother mentor.”
I smile over at the man who’s stolen my heart. I imagine he’s collected Henry’s too. And Helen’s. Not sure about Ned.
“Well, we live just over on Monroe, Henry is welcome anytime.”
“Thank you. Henry said Jade is new. When did you move?” Helen asks.
“Reed!” Ned’s bolstering voice booms from the other room. “Come here!”
Reed wipes his mouth with the napkin Helen gave him and stands up to exit the room.
Once Reed leaves, Helen’s eyes rest on me to answer the question she asked. Is it wrong to be scared for Reed?
“We moved here a few months ago from Los Angeles.”
“Los Angeles? Oh, I was there once. A long time ago. Ned was stationed in San Diego right before he shipped out to Vietnam. We spent the last free weekend he had exploring southern California.” Her eyes glaze over and I assume she’s reliving some memory. “We’d thought that after Trevor left the house, we’d be able to do some traveling, but… God had other plans.” She pats the table and stands, exiting the room. “Henry! Jade! Come have some pie.”
Footsteps sound overhead to the sound of cheers.
“Never take time for granted, dear.” She presses her hand to my shoulder, stopping at the counter and cutting two more pieces of pie.
Jade’s never had blueberry pie. I hope she doesn’t offend Helen. I can’t help but take Helen’s words to heart. She probably never envisioned her elder years to involve raising her grandchild.
“Blueberry? YAY!” Henry jumps around and then his small arms cling around his grandma’s waist. “Thank you.”
She pats his blond hair and straightens his glasses. “It’s your favorite.”
He clings to her harder.
Jade stays by my side looking down at her small piece of pie and then back to me.
“Just try it,” I whisper.
“It’s so good, Jade.” Henry sits down, piling forkfuls into his mouth, leaving a purple stain around his lips.
Jade sits down next to him and only takes bites of the vanilla ice cream at first. Helen watches her intently.
“She’s never had blueberry pie before,” I say.
“You know Trevor and Katie were friends at their age.” She moves her attention from them to me. “Katie would sit right where Jade is. One of those next-door neighbors turn friends and fall in love things. It was such a romantic story. I’m glad I got to witness it.”
“My mom had dark hair too.” Henry points to the fridge at the picture I just admired. “Those are my parents.”
Jade looks over and then buries her head in her pie and ice cream. I have a feeling I’ll be playing a game of twenty questions later tonight.
“May I use your bathroom?” I slide out from the chair.
“Of course, it’s right near the front door.”
I walk through the dining room to find Reed and Ned’s heads bent over a set of papers, each with a glass of whiskey or scotch next to them. Reed glances up, the pen he’s using to keep his place as he reads through the papers pausing. His expression looks like he just saw the worst car crash. You know the one where you see the paramedics pulling someone out and goose bumps travel up your spine.
“I’m just going to the bathroom,” I say, not sure what else to say at our awkward exchange.
He forces a smile and then stares back down at the paperwork.
By the time I’m out of the bathroom, Jade has her coat back on and Reed is standing at the door with her. Helen, Ned, and Henry stand there to say goodbye.
“Oh, we’re leaving?”
“I told them how you need to study for that test,” Reed says.
Reed holds out my coat for me. I slide my arms through the sleeves. “It was great meeting you. Thank you for the pie.”
Ned shakes my hand. Helen hugs me and Henry high fives us, but hugs Jade close to his body.
I smile as widely as I can, baffled as to why Reed is pushing us to leave so quickly.
“Walk?” I ask.
“Yeah.” Reed’s hand smooths down his cheek and he blows out a breath.
Jade skips along in front of us, stopping to admire some tulips and flowers that are starting to bloom.
“So, are you going to tell me why we rushed out so fast?” I ask.
“They want me to be his guardian should anything happen to one of them.” There’s no tremor in his voice and he’s not fidgety. Does nothing get to this man?
“Oh boy,” I say.
“Yeah.”
“What did you say?”
We round the corner and Jade stops to pet a dog that probably just wants to do his business.
“I told him I had to think about it.” Reed seems lost in his own head.
I definitely don’t want to weigh in on the subject. I’m just a girlfriend, a recent one at that. Still, I can’t help but wonder what Reed will do. It’s not like when you agree to be a guardian for a young and healthy married couple where the chances are slim you’ll ever actually have to step-up. In this case, there’s a strong possibility that in the next eleven years, something could happen to Ned or Helen, and Reed will become solely responsible for him. Even for a saint like Reed, a request like that is enough to test anyone’s level of commitment.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Thank goodness that asshole isn’t here.” Hannah slides into the booth at Torrio’s Table the following Tuesday, taking in the other patrons.