The next morning, Sawyer was still sleeping soundly when I got up at five-thirty, my head spinning with all I wanted to accomplish. So I double-checked that my emails and ads were ready to go for the day and spent a few minutes with the manual for the cash register I needed to set up this morning.
But when I heard Saw stirring, I settled myself on the couch with my coffee to take some deep breaths for just a few minutes and center myself.
More and more, I’d been learning that my tendency to jump ahead into the next thing or to keep the list of things I needed to do constantly spinning in my mind made me very anxious. So I was meditating more with an eye toward the moment I was in. I was getting better at the “be here now” mantra, but it was hard.
Still, by the time Sawyer came down, I was feeling much more calm, and I’d felt that twinkle of some understanding about Melvin Smith’s murder coming into more sharp focus, too. I expected I’d get some flash of insight later today when I wasn’t really thinking about the case at all.
When we got to Saul’s lot, Mika was already there with the shop open. I’d given her a key so that I had backup if something happened and I couldn’t get there to open, just like I had keys to her store. Now, she was busy watering the mums by the front door.
“I should hire you,” I said as I stepped out of the car. “Thank you.”
“Are you kidding? It’s always fun to help out in someone else’s shop, like cleaning someone else’s house, no pressure.” She smiled and moved the hose to the next plant. “Remember in college when we babysat for extra money and would clean the parents’ houses after the kids were in bed? We really should have charged more.”
“We definitely should have. And I’ll pay you in donuts, okay?”
Sawyer, who had been literally climbing over the car, said, “Donuts. I want donuts.”
“Baba made donuts for us this morning,” I said. “They’ll be here soon.”
“Yay,” Sawyer said. “Oh no, Mama. You forscot to have your coffee.” His look of alarm was super touching.
“It’s okay, Saw. I’ve got your mama covered,” Mika said as she handed me the largest latte available from the local coffee shop. “Vanilla with a dash of cinnamon.”
“Perfect,” I said as I took a long pull from the cup and watched Mika coil up the hose and put it against the shed.
“Now what?”
“Feel like you can help me set up the register?” I asked.
“I can help,” Sawyer said with a grin.
I looked at my son and suppressed my groan at the idea of a three-year-old assisting with the computer-based machine. He spent most of the time I had to be on my computer near me hitting combinations of buttons that made my laptop do things I didn’t know it could do, so the idea that he might throw off my accounting from the get-go sent me into a mild panic.
Fortunately, Saul approached just then and said, “I know your mama probably needs you, Saw, but I was wondering if you wanted to help me drive the big dump truck.” Saul looked over at me and winked.
“The big, big one?” Sawyer asked.
“Yep, the big, big one.” Saul smiled as Sawyer took off across the lot to the huge dump truck idling nearby. “I’ll try to keep him busy,” Saul said as he jogged after Sawyer.
I breathed a sigh of relief and went around to the back of my car to lift out the register. When I’d first started shopping for these things, I’d thought of the old cash registers at the country stores like in Little House on the Prairie, but this thing was really just a cash drawer, a keyboard, and a tablet with a card swiper. So simple and so lightweight.
But I had a reputation, at least with Mika, for being able to flub up any piece of software upon opening it. Once, I had bought a very nice new laptop. When I opened it, I accidentally had my hand on the power key and locked the entire machine up so completely that I had to take it to a help desk to get it running. Then there was the time that I’d set up four different accounts for the same year of the same tax software and kept having to redo my taxes with every log-in. She was right to be concerned.
So she took the lead on getting the machine up and running while I triple-checked to be sure all the items in the shop and outside under the lean-to were priced. Then, she walked me through how to ring up sales in “test” mode so that I could make some egregious errors – which I did – but within an hour or so, I had it down pretty well and felt good about running sales through it on Saturday.
With the technical aspects of sales down, we had to set up the inventory system, but fortunately, this kind of thing was my forte. I loved thinking about systems and processes, so I took out the list I’d made of general categories and talked it through with Mika as she began to set up the register in the way my inventory would be tracked.
We created categories for glassware and furniture, boards, doors and windows, and every other general grouping of old stuff we could think of. Mika even suggested we create a group for “tinies” like spoons and old buttons because I had a few bins of that kind of thing, and since those items were readily available at estate sales and such, I could always add more if they sold well. Finally, we put in her knitwear before adding a Miscellaneous category that would require me to input the exact item so that I could make new, larger groups as I saw what we had missed in our initial setup.
Further down the line, I’d get barcodes and a scanner, but for now, a manual system worked. And I hoped it would help me plan for sales as I looked at salvage jobs. Just logging the categories had me pretty excited, and I hoped that the sales at the shop would be the kind of income stream that could really supplement the big sales I had for lots like the old barn we’d just taken down.
I was in the process of telling Mika how I’d be tracking those in the inventory system when I heard gravel fly in the parking lot. It sounded like hailstones as rocks hit the metal pieces under the lean-to, and I jogged out the door to see who it was. I stopped short as a tall man with long black hair and a very pale complexion stepped out of the car and marched toward me. I had the momentary impression that I was being stalked by a vampire, but I quickly pulled myself back to reality as he stepped directly in front of me.
This was the second time this week that a man had gotten physically confrontational with me, and I was just stressed enough and just fed up enough to stand up for myself this time. “Back off, sir,” I said as I put my arms out in front of me and pushed his body back.
He tried to step forward again, but I kept my arms out to hold him away. Just then, I felt two big shoulders line up on either side of mine and saw two of Saul’s male crew members beside me with the rest of the men and women coming across the yard at a clip.
Saul sprinted over and said, “Can I help you?” to the man who was still actively trying to get closer to me.
“Her – she’s stirring up trouble about my great-grandaddy,” the man said to Saul before turning to me. “You have no idea what you’re doing, Paisley Sutton.”
The men beside me gently moved me behind them as Saul stepped in front of all of us. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I managed to say before I heard the most painful sound in the world: my son screaming and crying for me.
I turned to see one of Saul’s crew members holding Sawyer as he reached and struggled to run to me. I wanted so badly to go to him, to tell him it was all okay, but I wasn’t about to lead this man with clear rage issues closer to my son. No way. So I blew Saw a kiss and turned back to confront this guy.
I expected that when I looked back at him I’d see his anger-filled face, but instead, tears were beginning to slip from his eyes. “Is that your son?” he asked.
I tilted my head, glanced at Saul, and then nodded.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered and turned back to his car and drove away.
I stared after him for just a moment before I heard a thunderfall of footsteps coming my way and bent down to scoop Saw up in a tight hug. “I’m okay, Love. I know that was scary, but I’m okay,” I whispered into his head as he sobbed against me.
“Why was that man yelling, Mama?” Saw stammered as his sobs began to subside.
I looked at Saul and then said to Sawyer, “I don’t know, Love. I really don’t know.”
When Santiago arrived a few minutes later, Sawyer was enjoying some videos on my phone while he drank the orange juice one of the crew members had given him, and I was trying to slow my breathing as I let myself feel the fear that had coursed through my body when the man charged toward me. One thing I had learned as a mother is that I would always be sure my son was okay first, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t have to then take care of myself. Saw was okay, and now it was time to be sure I was.
Santiago ruffled Sawyer’s hair and then came to sit next to me on the front stoop of the porch where I had slid so I could be near my son but also avoid falling over. “You okay?” he asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, but this is getting a little intense, Santi. I mean, twice in a few days.”
Santiago pulled me against his side. “Who was it this time?” Saul had called him while I helped get Sawyer settled, but I wasn’t sure exactly what he’d said on the call.
“I have no earthly clue. He just said I didn’t know what I was doing and tried to touch me.” I shivered at the thought of the man straining against my arms.
“Did he touch you? I mean, did he hurt you or assault you in any way?” Santiago pulled me back so he could look in my face.
“No, I was able to keep him away from me, but if Saul and his crew members hadn’t been here, it might have been a different story,” I said quietly as I glanced over at Sawyer. “If he had hurt me with Saw watching . . .” I couldn’t even finish the thought.
Santiago pulled me close again. “I’m glad Saul was able to get rid of him, but still, that shouldn’t have happened to you.”
I sat forward on my own this time and turned back to face him. “Saul didn’t get rid of him.” I thought a minute about the encounter. “I think he left because he saw how upset Sawyer was.”
Santiago frowned. “Really?”
“Yeah, I mean, I think he was about to cry because he’d upset him.” Sawyer was grinning at something on his screen, and I gave thanks again for childhood resilience. “He asked if Sawyer was my son, and when I said yes, he apologized.” It had been very weird, and from the furrow in his brow, I could tell Santiago thought so, too.
He hugged me again and then stood up. “I’ll take you guys home in a bit, but I need to collect statements from Saul and the crew. You okay for a bit?”
“Totally. I’ll gather my things, and we’ll be ready to go when you are.” After he walked toward Saul’s office, I slipped inside, grabbed my messenger bag, and made sure all the windows on the shop were locked. I knew Saul had cameras on the lot, and he was diligent about locking the gate. But the last few days had jangled my nerves, and I wasn’t exactly feeling very secure in my own body, much less my shop.
Santiago wasn’t gone long, and when he came back, he scooped up Sawyer without disrupting the video of Handy Andy putting out the gas station fire and loaded him into the back seat of our car. I slid Beauregard and his basket next to my son, and when he cracked one eye of disdain at me, I rubbed his chin until he purred.
As I headed toward the driver’s side door, Santiago put out his hand. “Keys, please.” I stared at him for a minute, looked over at his cruiser, and then looked back at him. “Savannah and a dispatcher are on their way to get it. I’m on protection duty.” He grinned.
“Oh, I see, so now spending time with me is work?” I winked at him.
“Never. Now, work gets even more awesome because I’m spending time with my favorite people.” He climbed in and watched as I latched my own seatbelt. “Home?”
“Yes, please,” I said as I let myself sink back into the seat. “I kind of just want to be in my space now.”
Without another word, Santiago started the car and drove us home. When we got there, he helped me unload both boy and cat, and then he led me to the couch, told me to lay down, and put a blanket over me before saying to Sawyer, “We’re going to take care of your mama today, okay? Want to help me with lunch?”
Sawyer looked at me, smiled, and then said, “Yes, I need a sharp knife.”
I rolled my eyes and then let them close. A few minutes later, Saw appeared at my side with a grilled cheese sandwich and a bunch of grapes. “Sit up, Mama. You can’t eat laying down.”
“You’re right, I can’t,” I said with a smile at the way Sawyer had just given my own instructions back to me. “This looks delicious. Thank you.”
“You can eat here because you’re not feeling well,” Saw said.
“Thank you so much. I appreciate the chance to rest while I eat.” I took a bite of the grilled cheese and almost groaned. Santiago had put both avocado and mushrooms on it, and it was delicious. “Will you go tell Santiago thank you for me?”
“You’re most welcome,” Santi said as he set Sawyer’s plate with two star-shaped sandwiches and grapes on the trunk in front of the couch and then plopped down beside me with his own meal. “Now, what are we going to watch?”
I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. “Really, you don’t have to get back to work?”
“This is work, Paisley. Savannah recognized the description given in the statements. It was Landon Farrow at your shop today. Until we know more about what’s going on, I’m not leaving your side.” He picked up the remote. “What do you say to Luca?” he asked Saw.
Sawyer nodded with his mouth full of grilled cheese, and we all tucked into our food and enjoyed the movie. After we ate, Sawyer and Santiago cleaned up, and then Santi convinced Sawyer I needed a nap while they went outside to play on Saw’s playground. I don’t know how he did it, but Sawyer went willingly and I was asleep in moments.
When I woke up, the room was significantly darker, and I realized I had just slept for several hours. I could hear the boys upstairs, and Sawyer was laughing. I stretched and tried to sit up but was quickly hit with a piercing pain in my feet as Beauregard dug his claws into my flesh to try to keep me from moving.
I shoved him over into the corner and extricated my feet from the blanket before I bled further. Then, I sneaked up the steps and watched from the doorframe while Santiago and Sawyer drove vehicles in and out of the fort they’d made from Saw’s covers. They looked so happy together, and I felt a deeper pang of joy than I’d felt in a long time ring through my chest.
I watched and savored the moment before Santiago looked up and caught me watching. I put my finger to my lips and slipped into my room next door to put away some laundry and let them keep playing. In no way did I want to disrupt those special moments.
We spent the rest of the day playing, tidying up the house (mostly after playing), and enjoying time as the three of us. When I took Sawyer up to bed, he was grinning ear to ear. “That was fun, Mama,” he said. “I like when Santi comes over.”
I smiled. “Me, too, buddy. Me, too. Now what will it be, Henny the chicken with arms or Where The Wild Things Are?”
“Chickens don’t have arms,” he said with a laugh.
“Oh this one does,” I said as I opened the book and stretched out on my bed next to him. “See?”
Sawyer was asleep before I finished reading about Henny’s arm dilemma, and when I went downstairs, I found Santiago asleep with his head on the back of the couch. I slid his shoes off and then lifted his feet onto my lap as he settled onto his back. After a light foot rub, I let him doze further and grabbed my sewing. I was ready, after my extended nap, to tackle Father Winter’s face. Faces were often my least favorite part of any project because one misplaced rosy cheek or eye stitch made a Picasso-like figure instead of the mysteriously stern but kind expression I was trying to achieve.
While I counted and recounted and then carefully stitched, I thought about Landon Farrow and why exactly he thought he needed to threaten me. Clearly, he imagined me as some sort of muckraker with an agenda, and I guess if I tried really hard, I could see his point of view on that. But really, I was thrown into this whole situation against my will. I was just doing my job.
Still, I was very puzzled by his reaction to Sawyer’s cries. Something had really struck him about a child in pain, and the inquisitive spirit inside me really wanted to look into that. I realized, even in that moment, that looking into his reaction was the exact opposite of what he wanted me to do, but something told me I still needed to puzzle that out. And I could only think of one way to do that.