Binding Ties, page 12
Her eyes found mine. “If I say yes, you have to absolutely promise me that if anything happens, you will call me immediately. I’ll send you home with a list of what foods he likes and doesn’t like so you can get them ahead of time.”
“Yes, give me whatever will make you feel more comfortable with it, okay? I’ll follow your rules and directions. I’m really trying here.” I pleaded with her.
“I know, Ace. I think it’ll be okay. Honestly, I could use a night to sit back and relax. Maybe Savvy can come over and have some wine with me.”
I snickered. “I’m sure she’d love that. Besides, you need a break. I may be five years late, but I want to take on some of your burden and raise our son.”
She cut me a glare. “Our son will never be a burden to me.”
My eyes winched shut. “Fuck, Anna, that’s not what I meant. You two are my world. I just want a little time with my son to get to know him.”
She dipped her head in acknowledgment. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be defensive.”
“Hey, it’s okay.” I lifted my hand to cup her cheek. “This proud mama bear thing you have going on right now is such a turn on.” I leaned in close and took her lips with my own, and she melted into me like she always did.
I was so in love with this woman.
“So… you two want to go boating with me today? He can take that fishing set your dad got him. He won’t stop talking about it.”
“I think that sounds like fun. I’m sure Ben would love to.” Inside, I was jumping up and down, excited about the fact that she was giving me this chance. On the outside, I remained calm.
“Hey, Ben!” I hollered down the hall from the couch. A few seconds later, he appeared. “How do you feel about going fishing today?” He turned to look at Anna as if he was waiting for permission from her.
“What do you think, Benji?” She asked him softly.
The enthusiasm shined through his voice. “Yes! I can use my fishing set from Nana and Pawpaw!” Oh, to have the joy of a five-year-old again. “Dad, I can finally show you what it looks like and how good I am at fishin’.”
I held my hand up for a high five, and he returned the gesture. “Let’s do it.”
An hour later, we locked the door to Anna’s house and headed toward the marina; full cooler in hand. It was a beautiful, sunny day out, and a light breeze tickled the hair on our arms as we walked - the perfect type of day.
Ben held my right hand and Anna’s left. His hand was so small in my own. My heart thrummed as I realized, yet again, that he was my son.
As we continued to walk, I had the overwhelmingly eerie feeling that someone was watching us. I turned to look behind us, but didn’t see anyone. It happened three more times during the walk, and I simply chalked it up to a lack of sleep. Why would anyone in Silverbell want to follow us?
I watched people going here and there as we walked down Main Street. Since I’d been back, people seemed to not even care that Anna and I were together now. It was like they expected it to happen, so it wasn’t a shock to anyone. In fact, most people waved happily at us as we walked through town.
Sally stopped us in the middle of Main Street and told us how cute of a family we made, and Anna blushed like crazy, then politely thanked her, and we kept on heading to the destination.
Again, I felt an overwhelming feeling of being watched. A shiver tore down my back, and I hoped like hell Anna hadn’t seen it. I shook off the uneasy feelings. Every time I turned around, all I saw was Silverbell.
It took only a few minutes to get to the Marina. The dock shifted with each move of the water below it as we approached the slip of the boat I’d rented; a small sailboat Wyatt hooked me up with.
Anna slipped a life jacket over Ben’s little shoulders before they got on the boat. She then proceeded to cover him in sunscreen; putting so much on that his nose turned white like an unlined piece of paper.
Next, she rubbed some onto his ears and sprayed down his arms and his legs. He complained minimally, but I could tell by his disgruntled little face that he thought it was entirely too much.
I left them and headed toward the wheel at the helm, rocking with the boat as it moved ever so slightly with the water. I’d need to back this baby out of the slip before I could turn around. I’d had my boat license for most of my life; Dad had taken me so many times when I was a kid that I fell in love with the water.
I shifted the boat into reverse and slowly started to back up. It didn’t take long to get out into open water, and we were off. I had no plans to take us too far out because the farther out you went, the rougher the water was, and I worried about Ben.
Before we stopped for lunch, I wanted to do a bit of sailing. It was a sailboat afterall.
We sailed until I started to hear Ben and Anna talking about food. The boat dipped and bobbed in the water with each wake that passed it as I slowed us to a stop.
I made my way back to where Anna and Ben were hanging out, watching the waves. Excitement was brimming on Ben’s face. “Mama?”
“Yes, baby.”
“What’s for lunch?” Anna pulled the cooler we’d brought with us out from underneath the bench she had been sitting on.
A satisfied smile brightened her face. “Well… I made us turkey and cheese sandwiches, cut up some apples, and I have some cucumbers, too. For dessert, I brought those maple butter sea salt cookies you like so much.
“Thank you, Mama!” Damn, this kid had manners on top of manners. I’d never met a more well behaved five-year-old.
He took the sandwich bag, a carefully wrapped pack of apple slices, and a small container of cucumbers from her outstretched hand.
Reaching back into her bag again, she pulled out another small container filled with dip. “Veggie dip for you, bub?”
Ben’s lips split into a wide grin. Setting his containers of apples and cucumbers on the bench seat beside him, he started to open the sandwich baggie. I watched him as he ate, his blue eyes scanning his surroundings with curiosity.
The light blue of his shirt only highlighted the color. He wore a pair of khaki cargo shorts today and had shoes on that lit up with each step. Shoes when I was his age were not half as cool. Crazy how things have changed over the years.
I think back to the first race car I ever drove. It was basic compared to the cars I’ve been driving for the past year. It was like a normal car, but on steroids.
Shaking my thoughts away, I focused on my family; the way she doted on Ben, the way he looked at her like she hung the moon every night. They were beautiful.
“Dad? Dad?” A tiny hand started shaking my arm, pulling me fully from my thoughts.
“What’s up, bud?”
Grabbing my hand, he pulled; his apples and cucumbers quickly forgotten. “Come on… you gotta see this.”
I heard them before I saw them, a pod of bottlenose dolphins whistled as they sailed through the water, darting here and there beside us. One of the dolphins popped up beside the boat, and I could hear Ben’s gasp. He was trying to contain his excitement so badly, despite the squirming and wiggling his body was doing.
I waited for the dolphin to click and flap its fin at us like Flipper did in the 1994 movie, but it didn’t. It simply held there watching, such a curious creature. After a few moments, it turned and splashed away from the boat.
“Bye, Dolphin!” Ben hollered after it.
“That was pretty cool, bud!”
He animatedly nodded his head. “Yeah! You should see them when we go out with Nana and Pawpaw. It’s so cool!!!”
Reaching over, I scuffled his dark hair. “I’m sure it is, buddy.”
He bit his bottom lip and furrowed his brows as he studied me. “Do you know Nana and Pawpaw?”
“Yep. I grew up with your mom, and I’d see them all the time. You’re lucky to have them.” I said it with a certain sadness, thinking about the loss of my own father recently. I closed my eyes, trying to clearly recall all the amazing memories we shared, and mourned the thought of having more children and him not being around to meet them.
It was, however, nice knowing that Ben had spent time with him over the years; even though I was a tad bitter that he knew I had a son and never said a word. The past was better staying behind us.
Getting Ben situated again, he picked up his containers, and he scrunched his face. “Mama, I don’t really want to eat these. Can I just have a cookie instead?” Boy, oh boy, did he turn up the puppy dog look.
She scolded him. “No, you know the rules, fruits and veggies before desserts.”
When he looked at me for a second opinion, I shook my head. I knew better than to overrule Annagayle. She could be fierce, and I did not want to deal with the wrath of me going against her wishes. “You heard your mom, bud.”
I knew what he’d been doing because I was the captain of pitting my parents against each other when I didn’t get the answer I wanted. I wasn’t perfect by any means.
He sighed, “Okay…” His bottom lip stuck out in protest at the answer he received, but he picked up the containers like he was told. He quickly munched everything down, and I helped him along the way, letting him get to that cookie faster. I remembered how important cookies were when I was a kid.
He looked up at me, then back at the cookie. A few seconds later, he was splitting it down the middle. “Here, since you helped me eat my apples and cucumbers. I’ll give you half my cookie.”
“Thanks, little man.”
Ben grinned; a part of the cookie in his mouth clearly not swallowed yet. The cookies were delicious, and I almost groaned as the sweet and salty taste hit my tongue. “Did you bake these, Anna?”
“Mmhmm, you like?”
“Oh, very much.” I winked, putting an incredible amount of innuendo in my comment that she laughed out loud at, literally.
“Okay… I’ve heard about this fishing set for so long that I want to see what it’s all about. Wanna do some fishing, Ben?”
He pulled his fishing set out, and I admired the bright blue color of it. It wasn’t a typical royal blue or navy blue; no, it appeared to be a sky blue. We got his pole all set up and cast out a line. “Make sure you watch the line, we don’t want fish getting away before we can see them.”
I planned on just doing a catch and release. It was only fair to the fish. We wouldn’t be out long enough to get anything, but I wanted to let him try.
Pretty soon, his bobber started wiggling and jiggling in the water. “Hey, look. Think you got a bite there? Can you reel it in yourself?”
“Uh huh!” An array of sparkling colors grew closer as we pulled it in. I couldn’t tell right off what it was, but it was definitely something big. Sliver, green, and light blue flashed right before the surface of the water. It was a distortion, making the fish look a hell of a lot bigger than it really was.
I didn’t expect to get anything, and I really hoped that he was able to pull it in, even with his smaller rod and reel. As it surfaced, it started to really twist and turn, fighting for its life now that it was caught on our line. Ben started to struggle with the weight, and I stepped in to help him out.
“Go, Dad!” He cheered me on as I continued reeling in this fish. When I first saw it in the water, I thought crappie for sure, but now that I could see it and was holding my net out, I saw that it was actually a small bluegill; it’s scales were collected in beautiful bold colors of green, light blue, and silver, with a dash of red along its bottom half.
I caught him in the net and pulled him in. “Okay, bud, we gotta take the hook out. Have you ever done that before?”
He shuffled his feet. “No, Mama says hooks are sharp, and she doesn’t want me to get hurt.”
“Well, your Mama is a pretty smart lady because they are sharp. So, how about I take out the hook, and you can watch for when you’re a little older?”
He nodded his head vigorously. Zoning in, he focused completely on everything I was doing. The first was probably only about seven or eight inches long, and, if I had to guess, weighed about six to eight ounces.
Pulling the hook out, I moved it to the side, out of reach. “You want to hold him so your Mama can take a picture of you with it for me?”
“Sure! You know this is the biggest fish ever caught, right, Mama?” He turned to look at Anna, and she appeared at a loss for words. Some days, I felt the same damn way.
After a quick picture, and Ben saying goodbye, we threw him back into the water to continue living his, hopefully, happy little life.
A few hours later, after catching just a couple more fish, we decided to call it a day. Ben started to yawn, sleepy from all the excitement of the day and catching all those fish.
I drove the sailboat back into the slip, stopping at the dock, and then proceeded to fix all the things I’d moved while using it. Once everything was secure on the inside, I asked Anna to watch the controls while I hopped off and grabbed the ties that would keep the boat held to its slip. Afterward, I helped Anna and Ben from the boat before hopping back on real quick to turn off the engine and pull the keys in the cockpit so I could return them to Wyatt.
“Who’s up for some tacos?” It’d been a while since we ate lunch, and my stomach growled loudly as we walked. It was almost dinner time, and I desired the time to hang around as much as I could. They were so much fun to be around and watch that I yearned for more of it, but I’d wait for Anna.
“Me!” Ben bounced on his toes between us.
“Mama?” He had a killer knack for puppy dog eyes because she quickly agreed, even though I could tell it was on the tip of her tongue to protest.
“Okay, baby.” She said as she ruffled his dark brown hair.
Chapter Sixteen
Halfway to the taco food truck, I noticed that Ben was starting to lag behind. “You gettin’ tired, bud?” His bottom lip protruded out slightly as he dipped his chin. “You want to ride on my shoulders?”
Once again, he nodded, so I handed the cooler I’d been carrying to Anna and lifted him up on my shoulders and kept walking. Little hands held onto either side of my head, and as I started walking again, I held his ankles so he didn’t fall off. That would be the last thing I wanted; for Ben to get hurt while he was around me.
My eyes found warmth hanging within Anna’s as I looked her way. She was happy today, so happy, and it’s all I’d ever longed for; seeing her just like this. I prayed that would never change.
She couldn’t seem to keep the smile from her face as we slowly made our way to get food. Tequila Taqueria was no longer that far away, and I was thankful as, yet again, my stomach protested the lack of recent food.
The unique and distinct aromas of freshly handmade tortillas, chiles, spices, and nuanced herbs wafted in the air around us, pulling us in like a big warm hug. I was like a Pavlov dog when it came to tacos. It was the one thing I could eat for the rest of my life and never get over. Mani Diaz, Timo’s Pop, used to have an order of fresh tacos for us on our walk home from school everyday. We never had to ask, he just always seemed to know what we were in the mood for those days.
Walking up to the truck, you wouldn’t know it was a Mexican food truck beside the aromas wafting from its grills. It didn’t have any of the typical Mexican ornaments, like sombreros or sarapes. It did however have little jingles of Mariachi bands, but you couldn’t hear it unless you were close.
His eyes lit up as he looked up from what he was making. “Julian!” I hadn’t seen Timo in years. Somehow, I was expecting to see Mr. Diaz behind the grill like he was the whole time Anna and I were growing up. He must’ve retired and now Timo was running it?
“Timo, good to see you, man. You own the truck now?”
He smiled widely and held out his hands. “Yep, Pop retired last year and left it for me to run.”
“Anna.” He tipped his head toward her in a hello. “And, Ben, how you doing, little dude?”
“Hi, Timo!” A grin widened his little cheeks.
“And what can I get you this evening, young Mr. Rafferty?” It made Ben giggle. “Walking taco?”
“Yes, pwease…” He begged, and I could only imagine his little hands held together in prayer form above me.
“You got it. What can I get for you two?” Timo said, grinning widely at us.
“I’ll just take a plain old chicken and cheese quesadilla, but with all those fancy toppings you add.” Her eyes turned to me the same time that Timo’s did.
“Oh, uhm, I’ll take two of the al pastor and pineapple tacos. Sounds good today.”
“You got it.” I reached into my back pocket to grab my wallet to pay when he shrugged me off. “It’s on the house. Good to see you home, man. I was really sad to hear about your Pop.”
“Thanks.” I said with a polite smile. I’d been hearing that for weeks now, and the sadness that accompanied it never seemed to go away.
We made our way over to the picnic tables that littered the front of his taco truck and waited for our name to be called. Paul and Liliana were running around the truck helping their father with things he needed.
When I left six years ago, his kids were young, but now they’re teenagers. I wondered where Larissa was tonight. Instead of asking him, I leaned over to Anna. “Where is Larissa tonight? She’s normally here.”
Her face grew solemn as I asked my question, and my stomach sank at the answer I knew was coming. “Larissa passed a couple years ago, so now it’s just the three of them.”
A sudden coldness hit at my core. That heavy feeling in my stomach sank as I asked my next words. “What happened to her?”
Her shoulders quaked briefly. “She was run off the road one night by a black Escalade. No one knew why; just seemed really suspicious, since then, things in Silverbell have been a little weird. The black Escalade in question had been spotted in a couple other accidents right outside of town. Deputy Peters didn’t seem to have the desire to get off his ass and investigate, which leads me to believe he’s either involved or knows someone who is.“
