Deadbeat Dads (8 page)

“She said okay. Can you help me call the airport?” She handed me my phone.

“Okay, but we’ll have to use your phone, my battery is getting low.” I looked around the room for a phone. “You’ll have to call information and get the phone number of an airline. Unless you have a computer.”

Chapter Eight

I boarded the plane, thankful to be on my way home. The ordeal with Sylvia was more than I bargained for. At least she got in touch with Bob’s lawyer, and he handled informing Nicole. Fortunately, Bob had provided for the kids and Nicole received a small compensation. Of course, Sylvia got the bulk of things, the house in Florida, half million dollar insurance policy. Oh yeah, Bob provided well for Sylvia. She called before I left and told me her mother found the newspaper article. So now she was free. Hopefully, they could all move on with their lives.

I couldn’t wait to get home to see my own kids. Becky said all was fine. In fact, she said having Josh and Katie there helped with Sammy and Alice.
That was a relief. I hoped Becky could find a job, and I sure hoped Fred kept up his end of the bargain and sent her child support.

The plane landed smoothly
, and I released my seat belt ready to jump up. No more had I stood and someone bumped into me, almost knocking me to the ground. An arm reached out to steady me.

“I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

I looked up into the silveryest-blue eyes I’d ever seen. My arm tingled where he touched me.

“Yes, thank you, I’m fine.” I moved away so he’d release his hold on me. His smile crinkled the corners
of his eyes. Sprinkles of gray mixed into his dark hair. Darn good looking. In fact, downright handsome. Reminded me of Cesar Romero from the old movies I watched with my mother. Tall, suave, and sophisticated. And oh so sexy. His dark mustache topped a mischievous looking smile. My heart skipped a beat.

“Can I make it up to
you? A drink? Cup of coffee?” His voice had a mellow tone to it. Almost caressing.

“No
, thank you. I’m in a hurry.” Which wasn’t a lie. I wanted to see my kids, but that wasn’t the only reason. Men like him collected women. Oh, I knew the type, wined and dined them, lavished attention and probably gifts on them then threw them to the wolfs. They didn’t settle down. Confirmed bachelor or married and playing around on the side. No, thank you. I didn’t need that.

I grabbed my overhead bag and hurried off the plane and away from him. Too handsome for his own good. Women swooned over
his type. Well not me. Didn’t matter that my body tingled from his touch. Didn’t matter that my stomach turned inside out. Didn’t matter that I’d not been so attracted to a man since Johnny. Look where that got me.

Fortunately, he didn’t try to catch up with me. By now he probably found someone else to hit on. Didn’t matter. I got my luggage and hurried to my car.

A half hour later, I pulled into Becky’s driveway. The kids should be coming home from school soon, but I’d have a chance to visit with Becky for a few minutes at least. Should I tell her what happened to Bob? I still couldn’t get the vision of him lying in the street out of my mind. I knew it wasn’t my fault, but guilt still ate at me. If I hadn’t shown up, he’d still be alive. The thought that he might have killed Earl niggled at me, also. Was that the reason he went to Florida? Just to hide Sylvia didn’t sound plausible to me. More like he was running. Hiding. But from what? Murder.

Becky met me at the door, looking better than I’d seen her in ages. In fact, I don’t recall her ever looking that good. She had makeup on. Becky hardly ever wore makeup unless she and Fred went to the club. Looked like a new blouse, too. Red. I don’t recall Becky ever wearing red. Her clothes were mostly drab, except for the dressier ones and even those were subtle colors. I had to admit the color appealed to her. Brought out the color in her cheeks. Looked great with her natural blond hair. New hairstyle too. This was a side of Becky I’d never seen.
Her blue eyes sparkled with happiness.

“Wow, you look fantastic.” I hugged my friend, held her away from me and took her in from head to toe. New shoes, strappy, sexy, and never had I seen her wear a
skirt that short. “You look like a whole new you.”

“Thanks. I decided a make-over was in order.”

“Well, it certainly worked.” It wasn’t just the make-over, she seemed happier. More content than I’d seen her in a long time. She screamed confidence.

“And I got a job. I start next week.”

“That’s great. Tell me about it. Where? Doing what?” Wow, my friend hadn’t wasted any time. She sure wasn’t the meek little Becky I remembered.

“At Dr. Matthew Dodson’s office as his dental assistant. He offered to pay for my schooling to become a hygienist.”

“Becky, that’s great. I’m so happy for you?”

“That’s not all. I’m seeing him.”

“As in dating?”

Becky’s face lit up. “Yes, we’ve been out twice.”

“Don’t you think it’s a little soon?” Soon wasn’t the word for it. Johnny had been gone for almost a year, and I still hadn’t considered dating. Never met anyone I’d even been attracted to. Well other than the guy on the plane.

Becky shrugged. “We just had dinner. Besides, what have I got to wait for? Fred’s gone. He’s not coming back. I have a life. Have to move on. Isn’t that what you told me? So, I’m moving on.”

Becky poured a cup of coffee and set it in front of me. “It’s not like I’m going to jump into bed with him or marry him. I find him attractive. He makes me feel good. I haven’t felt this good about myself since I married Fred.”

She had a point. I did tell her to move on
, and I did like the change in her. “How are the kids? Do they know you’re dating?”

“Actually
, the kids are doing quite well. I think having Katie and Josh here has helped. Sammy’s settling down. He and Josh spend a lot of time together, and Alice finally doesn’t seem as angry. She and Katie have even been giggly again. I wasn’t sure I’d ever see her smile, let alone giggle.”

“Good. I’m glad to hear that. How about Larry?”

“I’m worried about Larry. He’s taken on a lot of responsibility. Even tries to discipline Sammy and Alice. We had a long talk last night. I explained it wasn’t his job to be the man of the house. I’m not sure he agrees. But he’s too young for that much responsibility. He’s still a kid.”

“I know what you mean. I worry about Josh, too. He was serious and conscientious before Johnny left. Afterward, he withdrew even more. Throws himself into his school work even though he doesn’t have to.”

Before we had a chance to say more, the kids came in. After all the kisses, hugs, and hellos, I gathered them up and we left.  “I’ll call you later, Beck.”

I shook my head. It was hard to believe my friend found someone. Never would have believe
d that in a million years. She was so dependent on Fred. Maybe that was it. Becky told me once she didn’t want to be alone. She married Fred right out of school, went from her parents’ house to his. She often said if anything happened to Fred, she’d be out there looking for someone else. She sure hadn’t wasted any time. I just hoped she didn’t go out of the frying pan into the fire. I also hoped she’d date other men too. I’d hate to see her settle on the first guy she met. Obviously, she was on the rebound. I almost felt sorry for the man.

I stopped at the post office and picked up my mail on the way home. A quick
glance showed mostly bills. All except for one with no return address. It piqued my curiosity but I’d wait until I got home to open it.

Katie talked almost nonstop on the way home. It was difficult to follow her conversation, she moved from topic to topic. Josh, as usual, said little.

“Alice acts nicer now. We had a big fight and I told her she wasn’t the only one who lost a father. At least hers was still alive. After that, she cried and we made up. She thinks her daddy doesn’t like her anymore. I told her what you told us, that it has nothing to do with her. It’s between him and her mom. Sometimes adults do stupid things and sometimes they fall out of love. Why do people fall out of love?”

“People change, get different interests.” God, how do you explain that to an eight year old when you don’t know yourself?

“Am I going to fall out of love?”

“It doesn’t happen to everyone,” Josh joined the conversation. “Look at Gram and Gramp. They’re still together. Gramp told me he’s still in love with Gram.”

That surprised me. I had no idea Josh had talked to my father. I wonder why Dad never told me. He knew how worried I was about Josh. Only thing he ever said was to leave the boy alone, he’d come around. Knowing he talked to my father made me feel a lot better.

“Josh is right. It doesn’t happen to everyone.”

“Why did it happen to you and Daddy?” Katie unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned against my seat.

“Katie, buckle your seatbelt. I don’
t know why it happened. It just did.”

“Gramp said it’s because Dad met someone else. That it wasn’t
ours or Mom’s fault. She did everything she was supposed to do. But Dad made some different choices.”

I couldn’t help but smile. Bless you, Dad. I pulled into the drive. Thank goodness we were home
, and I didn’t have to answer any more questions, but it was great to hear Josh take part in the conversation for a change. He hadn’t ever opened up like that. Maybe he was finally starting to heal.

I took the mail and my luggage to my room. “You guys start your homework.” I
yelled while I tore open the envelope with no return address.
I know what you did.
The letters were cut out from a magazine. What the heck. I turned it over, looking for what I wasn’t sure. A signature? Some sign of who it came from? What did it mean? I folded it and hid it in my jewelry box. It sounded like a threat. I pressed the button for the answering machine and listened to the messages while I changed. Most were from telemarketers. One caught my attention. “I know what you did,” a voice whispered. “I’ll be in touch. Get ready to pay.”

I sat down on my bed and replayed the message.
What the heck was he talking about? Pay for what? I grabbed the phone and pressed the button to see who called. Besides the telemarketers’ 800 numbers, one stood out. A local call. Looked like a cell phone. I almost pressed the send button, but decided against it. I grabbed my laptop out of my bag and turned it on. With a little luck the reverse phone lookup would show me who it was. I punched in the number. Bingo. Carr Strickland. Okay, Mr. Strickland. Just who are you and what the hell do you want?

Just as I was about to
hit the key for more information, the phone rang. “Hello.” I hit the send button.

“I know what you did,” the voice whispered.

“And just what would that be?”

“I saw you with that guy that fell down the steps.”

My heart jumped to my throat. My legs trembled. I could have sworn no one had been around. Why wait until now to contact me? Worse, how did they find out who I was?

I stood and paced. Was he blackmailing me?
Something about him didn’t sound very old. I sat down and pushed the key on the computer to get more information about Mr. Strickland. Forty-two years old. He didn’t live far from here. Apparently, he lived with his son, Randy – fourteen. I had an idea.

“What do you want, Randy?”

After a gasp, he said. “I want money, or I’m going to the police.”

So I was right
, it was the son. “If you saw me, you know I didn’t do anything.”

“Are you sure you didn’t push him?”

“You know I didn’t. Tell me what you want.”

“
Fifteen hundred bucks.”

“What? I don’t have that kind of money.”

“Sure you do.”

This kid had a serious problem. A plan formed in my mind. “Okay, you have to give me some time. I can’t get it before tonight. Eight o’clock. Where should I meet you?”

There was a long pause. For a minute I thought he hung up. “You know that Italian restaurant on Broadview Road?”

“The one next to the show?”

“Yeah, there’s an alley out back. I’ll meet you there at eight o’clock.”

The phone disconnected before I had a chance to reply.
We’ll just see about that, Randy Strickland.

“Mom, can we have pizza for dinner?” Josh appeared in my doorway.

Pizza. Josh hadn’t asked for Pizza or anything since Johnny left. Maybe staying with Becky had done some good, for everyone. “Sure. I’ll call and order it in a minute.”

“I can order it.”

I turned and looked at my son. Ten years old and wanting to take charge. That didn’t sound like him. Had some of Larry rubbed off on him? I hoped not. The last thing I wanted was for him to feel like he needed to be the man of the family. “Are you sure? I mean…”

“Yeah, I ordered stuff a couple times at Mrs. Johnson’s. What do we want on it? The usual?
Large pepperoni and mushrooms?”

Like it or not, my son was growing up. “Sounds good to me.”

I finished emptying my suitcase, punched in star sixty-seven, and called Mr. Strickland. I didn’t want my number showing up, just in case Randy answered. I hoped he was home.