“So how has this situation been going, Sid? Are you settling in? Are you having regrets? Be honest with me.”
A week had passed since their surprise home makeover, and now Sidney sat at her dining table with her brother, Simon, and his girlfriend, Jamie Rooney. All of them were sipping coffee or tea. Just a few feet away, Greer sat on the floor surrounded by an army of toy dinosaurs in both stuffed and figurine form, playing quietly.
“Honestly, it’s been going very well.”
“Really?”
“Yes. We still have a few kinks to work out with my job. I’m used to working five or even six days a week, but I think that’s going to have to change. Luckily Zoe, my boss, has been very understanding about it all.”
“That’s good.”
“It is. But I love my job, you know? We’ve been winging it thus far, and it’s only been a week and a half, but I’m really eager to get a set schedule hammered out for the both of us. It’ll make my life so much simpler once we have a set routine.”
“But from what I remember of the shelter, there are always lots of children running around there, right? Lots of kids for the little guy to play with.” Jamie asked, tossing her long auburn ponytail over her shoulder. She had spent some time at the shelter herself late last year after she’d run away from a fight with her abusive ex-boyfriend.
“There are,” Sidney nodded. “And that’s one of the reasons I’m considering just taking Greer to work with me everyday. If I could get Zoe’s approval for that, and get Ike to warm to the idea, that would solve a lot of my problems.”
“Wait,” Simon held up a hand. “Ike has issues with you taking Greer to work with you?”
Sidney drew in a deep breath. “Some. And he’s not wrong. I mean, I get it. There have been a few incidents at Hope House that got a little… intense. The gunman who took us all hostage because he wanted to talk to his wife. The drunken husband that I had the physical altercation with and ended up pulling my gun on.” Sidney paused and picked up her cup of tea for a sip. “I understand his concerns.”
Simon nodded. “But I thought you had security there now. One of Ike’s fellow detectives, yeah?”
“Yes. Detective Lynn Driscoll does provide security at Hope House for a few hours during the day. But she’s only one person with a real job at night. She can’t be there twenty-four seven.”
“So hire more security to cover those hours when Detective Driscoll can’t be there.”
Sidney’s smile was indulgent. She knew he was only trying to offer helpful suggestions, but Simon didn’t understand the difficulty in hiring all-female security. It wasn’t as easy to find as it sounded.
“So how are things with the two of you?” she asked, changing the subject.
Simon and Jamie exchanged a look and a covert smile. Their relationship had blossomed out of a months-long friendship that had heated up only several weeks ago, and Sidney was happy for them.
“Things here are great. We’ve been spending a lot of time together, just taking it slow.”
“Mmm hmm,” Sidney nodded, studying them both. “Spending a lot of time together means spending a lot of time on the highway for you, right? Going from Dayton to Blue Ash and vice versa?”
“Unfortunately, it does right now,” Jamie answered. “But we’re dealing with it. It’s just an hour drive.”
Simon took her hand. “Yep. I’m learning to embrace that drive. It’s become my quiet time. I get a lot of thinking done on the road.”
“I just use the time to listen to audio books,” Jamie joked, and Sidney laughed at them. Then she tapped Simon’s arm and changed the subject once more. “So have you made any decisions yet about what you’re going to do once your military retirement is final?”
It was an unexpected consequence of Simon being wrongly accused of murder last month. Thanks to Ike, he’d been completely exonerated, but his Air Force CO had suggested that maybe now was a good time to end his twenty-plus years of service in the military.
“Yes. The first thing I’m going to do is use a little of the money Carlton left us and take Jamie on a trip.”
“Ooh, fun! Where you going?” Sid asked, warming to the idea. “Hawaii? Aruba? Fiji?”
“Ah, no.” Simon looked at her like those destinations were lame. “We were thinking someplace a little more rugged. We’ve been researching hiking trips, like the Inca Trail in Peru, or the Tergo-La Trek in Bhutan.”
Sidney felt her eyes grow big and round.
“Oh. My. God. Where did you come from?”
Simon chuckled, and Sidney smiled at him. She secretly admired his sense of adventure, but they couldn’t be more different when it came to that sort of stuff.
“And after you’ve finished hiking the world? Then what? Are you gonna become a man of leisure?”
Simon sighed. “Yeah, can’t you see that? Me sitting around letting my ass get fat and flabby?”
“Language!” Sidney glanced over at Greer, who was engrossed in his dinosaur game.
“Sorry. But seriously though, I am thinking about things, Sid. The good news is that I’ve got options. Hospitals are always looking for qualified surgeons. And something Adam Taylor said to me back at Christmastime has had me thinking too.”
“Oh? What did Adam say?”
“He just mentioned maybe switching specialties. The thought intrigues me.”
“What exactly does that mean? Switching specialties.”
“Well, my specialty is general surgery. So it’s basically studying to become something other than a general surgeon. Or in addition to. Like if I wanted to switch to cardio-thoracic surgery, or to neurosurgery, or to orthopedic surgery.”
“Ah. Gotcha.” Sidney nodded. “And what new specialty have you been thinking about?”
“Honestly? I’ve been thinking a lot about trauma surgery. But there are a lot of considerations that come with that. Mainly the fact that most trauma surgeons work crazy long hours, often overnight. But that’s just one of the options I’ve been kicking around. And I’ve got time, you know? With my savings, and the pension, I don’t have to jump into something right away. I can take my time and make a solid decision.”
Sidney smiled at him. “I’m sure you’ll make the right one for you.”
“Thank you.”
“And hey, speaking of making the right decisions for yourself, have you heard from Heather lately?”
Simon rolled his eyes in a playful manner. “You mean did she call and ask if I’d have a problem with her moving to Ohio? Possibly to Dayton?”
“Is that what she told you?”
Simon looked puzzled. “Yeah. Why? What did she tell you?”
“She asked if I’d have a problem if she moved here to Cleveland.”
Simon shook his head. “You know, I really don’t think she knows what she wants to do. I believe she’s so eager to build a family connection with at least one of her new siblings that she’s willing to force the issue by moving across the country.”
“I think so too. But at the same time, I do feel sorry for her,” Sidney said. “Carlton’s death left her kind of shattered and abandoned. And I know you and I both feel like Carlton abandoned us years ago, so his death didn’t really hit us as hard. But for Heather it’s been devastating. And she’s still so young, you know? She’s only twenty-six.”
“Yeah. I get that.”
“So, I’ve decided if she does move somewhere close by, I’m just going to embrace it. I even gave her the number of my realtor friend to help her find a place. If she’s desperate to make a family connection I’m just going to try to meet her halfway, you know?”
“I think that’s commendable, Sid. I really do. I mean, her crashing our Christmas plans last year was one thing. But moving across the country? That’s almost stalker-level shit. Oops!” His gaze flickered over to Greer. “Sorry.”
Sidney laughed out loud, much to Simon’s delight.
“If I didn’t know she was harmless, I might be a little concerned,” he continued. “No, seriously though. If she moves somewhere close,” Simon paused and shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t know. It might not be so bad. We kind of bonded more at Christmastime anyway. I wouldn’t mind seeing that connection grow a little.”
“Right? We’d be gaining a little sister. For real and not just in name only.”
Simon nodded. “I’m game if you are. I mean, I think however we handle Heather, it should be a joint effort since you and I are so close. Otherwise things could get really awkward and uncomfortable. You and I are a package deal from birth, so I think if one of us gets closer to our new sister, then both of us should.”
“Agreed.” Sidney smiled at him. Then she looked at the clock. “Well, I guess I need to start thinking about dinner since Ike will be home soon.”
“What? No wedding rehearsal dinner tonight?” Simon asked. “Or bridal shower or whatever they’re called?”
“The rehearsal and dinner were actually last night, and we had a lot of fun. And Jada’s four Aunties threw her a bridal shower earlier in the week. So tonight she’s participating in some family tradition where the bride spends the night before her wedding with her mother and all of her female relatives. They give her marriage advice and do each other’s hair or something, I don’t know.”
“But Ike and I are going to Pete’s bachelor party, right?”
“Yep. At some gentlemen’s club. I’m told there will be plenty of food and drink and pretty girls.”
“My kind of party,” Simon grinned, and Jamie playfully swatted his arm. Simon just laughed at her.
“When I mentioned dinner, I meant for me and Jamie.” She looked at her brother’s girlfriend. “You got a takeout preference?”
“Not really. But I’m anxious to get down on the floor with him and play dinosaurs.” Jamie looked sheepish.
“Then do it!” Sidney smiled at her.
“Do you think he’d mind?”
“I think he would love it. Especially if you know anything about dinosaurs, because he loves to learn about them.”
Sidney watched as Jamie left the table and crouched down in front of Greer.
“Hi. Can I play too?”
Greer looked at her as if trying to figure her out. Then he handed her a T-rex figurine.
“You’re smiling from ear to ear, sis.”
Sidney looked up to see Simon watching her. “It’s hard not to smile when I look at him. He’s been doing so well, Simon. He’s only been with us for a week and a half, but I can already see that resilience people talk about kids having. He was so incredibly sad and traumatized the night we met him. And now he’s almost like a different little boy. He smiles and laughs a lot more than he did when he first came here.”
“I’d be willing to bet that you smile a lot more too, now that he’s here.”
Sidney shrugged a shoulder. “Maybe.”
Simon smiled at her. “And how’s Ike doing with all of this?”
“Isaac has been amazing. The two of them have this connection somehow.” Sidney watched Greer playing with Jamie and then said, “Hey, so we discovered that Greer’s birthday is June 17, so we’re planning to throw him a little birthday party next month. Can you come up for it?”
Simon laughed at her.
“What?”
“Nothing. I wouldn’t miss it, Sid. We’ll be here. But then you have to do something for me.”
“I’d do anything for you, Simon. But you already know that.”
“You say that now.”
He narrowed his eyes and did his best to look sinister. Sidney wasn’t buying it. She laughed at him.
“What do you want me to do, rob a bank?”
“I want you and Ike to come on a camping trip with Jamie and me sometime this summer.”
Sidney stared at him. “Camping?”
“Yep.”
“Outside? In the nature?”
“The nature?” Simon blurted, trying not to bust a gut laughing. “Yes. Out in all of that beautiful nature.”
“You want me to camp outside, in the nature, with a toddler?” Sidney’s voice raised an octave.
“Yeah, little man can come. That might be fun to introduce camping to someone his age. He’d probably get a kick out of it.”
“Does this nature you speak of have room service and toilets?”
This time Jamie laughed out loud along with Simon.
“Because I’m pretty sure that’s the only way you’re going to get me to agree to go.”
“Aw, come on, Sid. A couple of nights under the stars. You’ll love it.”
Sidney’s hand shot out for a shake and Simon took it.
“Hello. I’m the sister you’ve known all your life. Have we met?”
Simon laughed out loud and Isaac walked in glancing around at all of them.
“What’s so funny?”
Greer got up and rushed to Ike as fast as his little legs could carry him.
“Hey, little man,” Ike said, swooping him into his arms. Then he glanced around at them all again. “Seriously, what’s so funny?”
Sidney got up and walked toward him. “Simon and Jamie want you and me and Greer to go camping with them this summer.”
Isaac laughed out loud like it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard. “But don’t they know there’s bugs in the nature? And wild animals. And tents that you don’t want to sleep in.” Isaac leaned down and kissed her lips.
“I tried to tell them that,” Sidney said in a sing-songy, they’re-not-listening-to-me voice.
“Sidney camping. That’s hilarious, man,” Isaac said as he pounded fists with Simon in greeting.
“It wasn’t meant to be funny. That was a serious invitation, Ike.”
“You guys might even enjoy yourselves,” Jamie said getting up from the floor.
“Oh, I’m sure that I would,” Ike said. “I used to love camping when I was a kid. We used to go all the time. I haven’t been in years and years though. But good luck getting this one anywhere near a campsite for longer than a few hours.”
He gestured to Sidney, and she raised her arms and pointed to herself, as if they needed clarification on who exactly they were talking about.
“Hey, maybe there’s a hotel nearby and Greer and I can hang out with you guys at the campsite for a few hours during the day and then go to our nice, warm and cozy hotel room at night.” Totally serious, she looked at them all like it was the greatest solution ever.
“If you’re not sleeping under the stars are you even camping?” Jamie asked.
“No, you’re not,” Sidney replied, still smiling. “And that’s the point.”
They all laughed at her once more and then the subject got thankfully dropped. They moved on to the wedding and plans for tonight.
“Hey, Simon, maybe we should drive separately to this thing tonight. What do you think?”
“Why would we do that?”
“Well, because I’ve heard from Pete that there’ll probably be some professional dancers there, if you know what I mean. And since I don’t relish the thought of unwanted touches or lap dances I was thinking that I might just go for an hour or so and then leave.”
“But won’t Pete be upset that you didn’t stay?”
“Nah, we’ve already discussed it. He knows how I feel about that kind of stuff. Plus, since it’s being thrown by his best friend from high school there’ll be alcohol there and the whole nine yards. He knows that I don’t feel comfortable in those types of situations.”
“No problem. I’ll just come back when you do. Besides, no stripper can hold my attention like my girl can anyway.” Simon leaned into Jamie and she kissed his lips.
“All right then. I’m going to go jump in the shower,” Isaac said, heading off toward the bedroom
About an hour later, Isaac and Simon left for the bachelor party. Sidney and Jamie decided on Indian takeout and spent the evening talking and getting to know each other better.