Caleb watched Ariel’s retreating form. She was visibly upset by Joshua’s question. He’d expected her to answer Joshua’s question like most adults, promising never to leave him without any guarantee she could keep such a promise. But instead, she’d opted to say nothing at all.
He watched her carry in her packages and head upstairs. Grabbing Mabel’s arm and pulling her into the kitchen Caleb was ready to question her.
But before he could speak, she said, “Aren’t you going to search for the note?”
“I already did and it wasn’t there.”
Mabel dug down in the garbage can and came up with a crumpled piece of paper. His eyebrows rose as she unrolled it and read the words.
“Going with Mabel to pick up a gift for Joshua. All items on to do list complete. See you in time for supper.”
She held the note out to him. He took it and read it over and over.
Mabel interrupted his thoughts, “You know Kelly found the note and hid it from you, right? She’s trying to stop you from having a relationship with Ariel.”
“Figures.”
“Now the question is what are you going to do about it?”
Mabel said a few more things and then said goodbye. Caleb didn’t have an answer to her question. What was he going to do? One thing was for certain, tomorrow was Sunday and they were going to church. He needed to thank the Lord that Ariel was safe.
****
Ariel stayed in her room for the rest of the afternoon. She fell asleep and was awakened in the middle of the night by a timid knock. She padded to the door, rubbing sleep from her eyes. There stood Joshua with a teddy bear and a blanket.
“I had a bad dream. Can I sleep with you?”
Ariel hesitated. Should she send him away? She probably should, but she couldn’t. She allowed him in. He went to her bed and lay down, falling fast asleep.
The next morning, she awoke to sounds of shouting. Her eyes opened enough to see Kelly burst through her open door yelling, “I found him. He’s with Ariel.”
Ariel rose up and stared at Caleb as he grabbed Kelly and told her to be quiet. He shook Joshua awake.
“Son, can you tell me what you’re doing in here?”
With a tiny fist, rubbing his sleep filled eyes, Joshua said, “I had a bad dream.”
“Okay. But that doesn’t tell me why you are in here with Ariel.”
“Dad, in my dream, Ariel left us. I wanted to be close to her.”
Caleb leaned down in front of his son. “I understand your feelings. I want to be close to Ariel as well. You know what Joshua?”
“No, what?”
“I think we have a lot to be thankful for. I think we should go to church. What do you think?”
“I think that is a great idea. We can all go together.”
Ariel felt a rush of pride that Joshua and Caleb both wanted to be with her. She watched as Caleb turned around and told Kelly to get ready for church.
“What? I’m not going to church.”
“Yes, you are.”
She crossed her arms in stubborn rebellion.
Sighing, he gave up and said, “Fine. You stay here while we go.”
Caleb drove them to church. They set on the same row together. Joshua snuggled up against Ariel’s side. It was a beautiful service. When they arrived home, Kelly wasn’t around. They had lunch, just the three of them. Then Caleb went to work, and Joshua disappeared in his room to play. Again, she was all alone.
****
After everyone found things to do and she was tired of being alone, she went outside to the greenhouse. She was surprised to see Joshua inside. Before the door shut behind her, he said, “Do you want to play with me?”
Smiling and glad to have something to do, she was glad to accept. “This time can I have a sword?”
“Sure.”
Joshua gave her a wooden sword. He started crawling between the rows of boards that held the plants. She got down on her knees and followed after him. They reached the end of the row and stood, hacking and whacking at a stuffed dummy. They twisted and twirled, laughing uproariously. Ariel walked toward the back of the greenhouse taking her eyes of off Joshua for a second. When she turned around to request his help to defeat her foe, he was gone.
“Joshua, where are you?” Ariel said, as she looked around the greenhouse for her sword fighting partner. When she couldn’t find him, she left and went back inside the house.
Going through the kitchen’s back door into the hallway, toward the front of the house she spotted him. Joshua stood like a statue, listening to the raised voices coming from the room.
“Kelly, why are you really here?”
“Because I want to see Joshua.”
“You are such a liar.”
“No really, I…”
“You made me sign a paper swearing not to mention your name in the boy’s presence. So let’s just say, I don’t believe you. Tell me another one.”
Kelly said, “Okay. I didn’t come back to see the kid. Thomas called me.”
Ariel watched as Joshua bolted out the front door. She felt sorry for him. His mother had just admitted she hadn’t come to see him. As she left to race after him she heard Caleb say, “Thomas called you? What for?”
“Oh, come on, Caleb. Surely you know why. Your book is going to be a hit. He wants us to come back to work for him at the gym. He is offering us a fortune to train people.”
“What about Joshua?”
“We can get a sitter, or a nanny, or something. Heck, we can even take Ariel if you like.”
“What about Juan? How does he feel about this?”
“There is no Juan.”
“So you dumped him, too?”
“I prefer to think of it as moving on. So, what do you say? Should I give Thomas our restart date?”
“No.”
“Okay, I’ll call him. What did you say? No?”
“I said no. I won’t be leaving my home. I won’t be leaving Joshua. And I won’t be leaving Ariel.”
“But, I need you to do this.”
“Why?”
“Well, you see…”
Realization dawned on his face. “You’re out of money. My mom was right. Why don’t you just go and work for Thomas yourself?”
“I can’t. He doesn’t, well,” she stuttered, never finishing.
“He doesn’t want you, does he? He wants me and you thought you would tag along.”
“Yes! There, are you happy? Now you know. I need money. I need a job. Thomas offered both if I could convince you to come back to the gym.”
“No dice, Kelly.”
Ariel was on the porch scanning the yard for Joshua as the two argued inside. She’d heard enough. She needed to find Joshua. Through the window she saw Kelly trying to kiss Caleb. He saw Ariel’s face over Kelly’s head. He was already pushing Kelly away when they heard the scream.
Ariel stopped on the porch and yelled in the doorway, “That was Joshua. He ran out when he heard you two arguing.”
Ariel and Caleb rushed toward the door. Ariel watched Caleb glance back toward Kelly, but she didn’t seem to be following them. They left her to her own devices, running towards the sound. They both spotted Joshua at the same time. He was crumpled up under a tree. When they reached him, he was holding his leg.
“What happened?”
“I was trying to climb the tree, and I slipped and fell.”
“Ariel, don’t let him move. I’m going to go get the car.”
As Ariel waited with Joshua, she saw Kelly’s car back out of the driveway and speed off down the road. Joshua clung to Ariel, tears rolling down his cold, red cheeks. She held him close. She had known the lack of a mother, but never the outright dismissal. She could feel his pain. She kissed the top of his head, and whispered soothing words.
When Caleb arrived, he picked up his son, placed him gently in the vehicle and drove to the hospital. Ariel sat in the waiting room, while Caleb went with Joshua.
She looked outside the vast hospital windows at the grounds below. Now that Kelly had left, what did it mean for her? She needed to stay with Caleb and Joshua. She had nowhere else to go, physically. But she also wanted to stay, because she wanted to be a part of their family. In fact, she’d never wanted anything more.
It took hours, but eventually Caleb arrived with Joshua in tow, a cast on his leg.
Caleb looked at her and said, “Let’s go home.”