Chapter Ten

 Madison got off the bus and went to the neighbor’s, forgetting I’d taken the day off.  She’ll ask what a bug on a tree ten feet away is doing, but she doesn’t notice my van in the driveway.  I would always have to wonder how her mind worked at times.

 At least she got a pleasant surprise when I showed up for her in mere minutes.  “Mommy!”

 “Did you forget something today?” I asked.

 “I don’t think so, Mommy.”

 I had to laugh.  “Not even about where to go after school?”

 Understanding dawned in her eyes.  “Oh, you’re not at work!”

 Julianne and I laughed, and I started leading Madison home.  How to bring it up with her?  “I know a secret,” I said.

 “What secret, Mommy?”

 “Are you sure you can keep it?”

 “Yes.”

 “Well, it turns out...  Jay wants to live with us.”

 Her eyes widened.  “How’d you know that, Mommy?  Did Jay tell you?”

 “He did.  What do you think?”

 “Can he live with us?”

 No surprises there.  “I think it’s alright.  I have to know what you think, too.  Is it a good idea?”

 I opened the front door for her.  “It is a good idea.  Then that mean old troll will never make you sad again, will he?” she asked as she entered the house.

 My stomach clenched.  “He doesn’t know about the troll, sweetie, and I don’t think you should talk to him about it.”  Though you don’t know how badly I wish it could work like that.

 “Why not?”

 I explained as I got her an afternoon snack.  “Well...  He’s not going to want to stay here if he knows there’s a troll that comes around.  He might get scared.”

 “Oh, Jay wouldn’t get scared.”

 “How do you know that?”

 “He’s strong, Mommy!  I bet he could kill a hundred trolls!”

 I sighed.  I was going to have to mention Earl to Jay at some point.  I put it in the back of my mind for later, as I usually did with anything that had to do with him.  “Maybe he could, but would you still not talk about it?  I’ll tell him later.”

 “So can he still live with us?”

 “There’s one thing I didn’t tell you.  I think I’ll have to give him the whole upstairs.  He has a whole place to himself right now, so he needs lots of room.  Are you willing to move all of your things into the guest room so he can live here?  You won’t have two rooms anymore, you’ll have one room.”

 I was happy to see her consider it seriously, rather than answer immediately.  “He can have my rooms if he needs them, Mommy.  I don’t mind.  So, can he?”

 “Well, we both think it’s okay, right?”  Madison nodded.  “It’s not up to anybody else, is it?”  She shook her head, a grin stealing across her face.  “Then there’s our answer.”

 “Yay!  Is he coming over again tonight?”

 “No, he’s at work.”  A grin stole across my face.  “But how would you like to call him and tell him the good news?”

 “I can’t.”

 “Why not?”

 “I don’t know his phone number.”

 I laughed and helped her dial when she was finished eating.  Jay would come home to hear, “It did beep already!  Jay?  Jay?  Me and Mommy think that since you want to come live with us you should because you’re a really nice person and...  What?  Oh, and you shouldn’t live with mean people, so come over soon so you can live with us.  Bye.”

 “You didn’t tell him to call,” I laughed.  “Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll figure it out.”

----

 Jay called back that same night, shortly after eleven.  “Please tell me I didn’t wake you.”

 “No, I’m still up,” I said.

 He released a held breath.  “Good.  I’m sorry, I couldn’t wait to call.”

 “It’s alright, really.”

 We fell silent.  “Well, that was some good news Madison had for me,” Jay said.  “Um...  When did you want to...  Start things?”

 “You said the sooner the better, right?”

 Jay gave an annoyed sigh, that at first I thought was directed at me for some reason.  “Yes, and Madison said I should come over soon.  Can I ask how late you plan to be up?”

 “I was going to go to bed soon, but why?  Is something going on?”

 “Can you hear that?”

 “No.”

 “Hang on.”

 I heard him put me on speaker.  A woman’s voice yelled, “Then you call your father, and ask him for a f*****g ride!”

 He took me off speaker.  “Oh my god,” I said.  It was hard to imagine such a quiet man living next to that.

 “Yeah, that’s right in the hallway.  Where I asked her not to talk on the phone, because I can hear every word.  Where she is not supposed to be smoking a cigarette right now.”

 “Are you saying you’d like to come over tonight?”  Don’t be so flattered, he just wants to get away from what you just heard.

 He sighed again.  “I hate to be so forward, but yes.  I’d like to do some reading, and well...  Sleep sometime.  Anyway, I’d bring that check over for you, and just an overnight bag for now.  I just want to relax so badly.  I had almost forgotten what that was, until last night.”

 “No, I don’t mind.  I’ll wait for you.  And don’t feel obligated to pay me yet, we don’t even have all the details worked out.”

 “Oh, you are wonderful.”  The compliment warmed me, and I reminded myself again not to get flattered.  “She’s still going on out there...” Jay said distractedly.  “You’re sure it’s okay?”

 “Positive.”

 “Great,” he said in obvious relief.  “I won’t be a half hour.”

----

 I heard him pull up twenty minutes later, and opened the door for him so he wouldn’t ring the bell.  “Hey there,” I said.  Mariah came running in, and started sniffing around.

 “Hey,” he said.  He watched his dog.  “I think she’s looking for Madison,” he laughed.

 “Sorry, Mariah.  Your playmate’s asleep.”

 Mariah ran upstairs, and I heard her paw at Madison’s door.  “Mariah!” Jay said in a fierce whisper.  “Sorry about this,” he added as he crept halfway up the stairs.  “Will you come on?  No!”

 As Mariah reluctantly came back down, I heard Madison’s door open.  “Mommy?”

 Jay put his fingers to his forehead in anguish.  I smiled at him and brushed his arm.  “Yes, Madison,” I called up to her.

 Hearing her voice, Mariah joyfully ran back upstairs and we heard Madison giggle as she got doggie kisses.  “I’m sorry about this, she wouldn’t be so worked up if I didn’t just get here.”

 “She was probably awake anyway.  I can’t tell you how excited she is about all of this.  Madison?  You can come down for a little bit, sweetie.”

 It took her all of two seconds to be down the stairs, hugging Jay around the legs.  “I’m glad you’re living with us now, Jay.”  She pulled away as something dawned on her.  “Do I need to move my rooms tonight, Mommy?”

 “No, sweetie.”

 “About that...” Jay said.  I looked at him.  “Well, can I drop this off right quick?”  He held up his bag.

 “Of course,” I laughed.  I said after him, “You heard Madison, you live here now.  So quit asking permission to do things.”

 He came back out.  “Might take me awhile.  It sure still feels like it’s you two’s house.”

 “So, what were you going to say about Maddie’s rooms?”

 “I did some thinking while I was at work.  Those rooms up there aren’t very bookcase-friendly, with the low ceilings.  I was wondering if I could just have the guest room.  You’d mentioned it as a possibility.  That way no one has to move.”

 “Are you sure it’s big enough?”

 “If I need more space, it’ll only be for books.  You said I could use the shelves downstairs?”

 “Why, yes, of course.  How do you like that, Madison?  You even get to keep both of your rooms!”

 “You can have them, Jay.  I already told Mommy.”

 He gave a friendly laugh.  “I think you need them more than I do.  You keep ‘em.”

 “Okay,” Madison said simply.

 “Why don’t we all sit,” I suggested.  We ended up in the same seats as the night before.  I saw Madison start to space out immediately.

 “Your last name is the same as hers, right?” Jay asked me.

 “Yes, why?”

 “Just making sure,” he said as he leaned to the side, and took a checkbook out.

 I ignored my excitement, and tried not to stare.  “Oh, Jay, I told you not to worry about that tonight.”

 “Yes you did,” he said.  “Shoot, have you got a pen?”

 Madison snapped out of her stupor to yell, “I’ll get one!” and ran into the kitchen.  She came back with one, Jay finished writing what he’d already made out, and ripped it out.  “Can you give this to your mommy?” he asked in a way that let her know what a special job it was.

 “Good job, sweetie,” I said when she handed it to me.  “Will you go to bed now, please?”

 “Yes.  Goodnight, Mommy.”  She climbed up and kissed me.  She went to Jay, and gave him a kiss too.  “Goodnight, Jay.”

 “Goodnight Madison.  Thanks for your help.”  Mariah watched her go up the stairs, then stole her spot next to Jay and curled up.

 I looked at the check after her door closed, and the amount hit me like a ton of bricks.  My eyes started to water.  It was just under two hundred dollars short of four of my mortgage payments.

 “Something wrong?  I did include two hundred for the deposit on Mariah.”

 “I never asked for that, either,” I said, choking a little.

 Jay shrugged.  “Well, when I move out, give it back,” he said humorously.  I wished immediately that he would never move out.  “She probably will scratch up your doors though, and...”  His voice softened when he asked, “Are you crying?”

 “A little,” I said with a sniffle, and smiled.

 “If it’s not enough,” he started.  I could tell he knew that wasn’t the case, but didn’t know what else to say.

 I laughed.  “It’s so much more than enough!  I never said I wanted to charge you this much.  Why are you doing this?”

 His voice fell and his eyes averted.  “I really don’t want you to lose your house...  I want you to feel safe.  Besides, I told you my apartment costs about the same.”

 “You don’t have an apartment here, it’s just a room in a small house.”

 He nodded in understanding.  “As far as that goes, sure it’s a step down.  I told you though, and I was very serious when I said it.  If I can just get some sleep when I need, it’s fine.  I don’t need a lot of space to live my life.  Just peace and quiet.”

 I sniffed again, and looked back at the number he’d written.  “It just seems like it isn’t real.  Now I can’t believe I’m not going to lose my house.  This will get me so caught up...”

 My emotion was affecting him, and the chipper edge to his voice was replaced with concern.  “I hope you enjoy it.  I have no idea what it must feel like to be afraid of losing a house, let alone when you have a child to look after.”

 “It sucks,” I said simply.  I looked right at Jay, and had to do it.  I got up, crossed the room, and leaned down to hug him.  “Thank you so much.”

 Madison’s words from earlier came back to me.  His arms did feel strong as he hugged me back.  “Hey, you’re saving me too, here,” he said.

 I wanted to sit next to him after the embrace, but Mariah was still there, looking very comfortable.  I sat back in my armchair.  Looking at the check again I said, “I still don’t know if I should take this.  I haven’t made a lease or anything, either.”

 “I was actually wondering if you’d be interested in not having one.  If you’re worried about me skipping out, as I said before I promise to give you plenty of notice.  You’d be taking me at my word there, but I’m also trusting you not to have the police arrest me as a stranger in your house while you sell all my stuff.  But that way, if this doesn’t work for any reason neither of us saw coming, we’re not trapping ourselves.”

 I took some time to think about it.  “I’m alright with that.  Honestly, it’s more because I don’t know the first thing about leases.”

 “I’ll need receipts for my records,” he said.  “Generic ones.  You can get pads of them at any office store.  That’s it for paperwork that I need.”

 “I’ll pick some up tomorrow,” I assured him.

 “No rush,” he smiled.  “I hope I won’t need them for awhile.”

 “When did you want to start moving your things in?  I can take tomorrow off to get my things out of your room.”

 Jay waved his hand.  “I have my place until the end of the year, remember,” he said.  “I can bring over a carload or two a day.  Don’t take the day off, unless you just don’t feel like going.  Sometime in the week would be plenty fast enough.”

 “I kind of wanted to ask you before, and I hope you don’t mind, but...  How can you possibly afford both places?”

 “I’ve been saving.  I wish I could keep saving, but it’s not worth my health.”

 “You’re worried about your health?”

 “I’m not eating, I’m not sleeping...  And especially lately...  I’ve been getting these headaches.  They kind of scare me.”

 I looked at the check again.  “You’ll get your quiet here.  I promise.”  We fell silent.  “I’d better turn in soon, if I am going to work tomorrow.”

 “Don’t let me keep you up.  I’ll be up a few more hours at least, but I brought my book.”

 “What are you reading?”

 Jay smiled as he said, “Inspired by last night’s conversation, I am rereading ‘The Neverending Story’.”

 “You read books over again, too?”

 “If they’re good, sure.  Several times, some of them.  I read this one way too fast the first time, anyway.  I completely forgot the place is called ‘Fantastica’ in the book.  I can’t wait to see what else I forgot.”

 I stifled a yawn, and stood.  “I wish I was a night owl like you.  I’d love to hear about it, but I have to get to bed.”

 “Have a good night then, and...”

 I beat him to it.  “Sweet dreams,” I smiled at him.  “When you do get to sleep,” I added with a final glance before going around the corner.

 After undressing for bed, I sat on the edge holding the check in my hands.  So much salvation, on one little piece of paper.  I pressed it to my chest, and could almost imagine it feeling warm.  I felt wonderful, and it wasn’t the money.  It was what the money meant.  I felt like I’d finally made some right decisions and saved my house.  I felt like I was providing for Madison again.  I felt like I’d regained some control of my life.

 I put the check on my nightstand, and placed the cordless phone on it as if I expected a sudden breeze to pick up in my bedroom.  I slipped under my covers, and turned the light out.  My thoughts drifted to the fact that Jay now lived with me.  It was nice just being next to him, there was something about him that seemed to make the entire room feel calmer.  At least, I knew, we would become great friends...  It felt like things were finally starting to look up.

Reviews

[Jennie Lynn]

I loved Jay's awkwardness when asking how to start things and if he could come over right then. It was cute.

Their interactions still seem advanced for the stage in their relationship and I'm still having trouble getting a read on Jay but that might just be me.

This has nothing to do with anything but Neverending Story was one of my brother's favorite movies as a child. I think it still is. I watched it over and over again because he did. I can't say I liked it (I had to watch it waiting for my turn on the VHS player - I think I just aged myself - and it is a long movie for a child to wait through) but it brought a smile to my face when you mentioned it, twice now. I think it's the perfect reference for the tone I think you're trying to set in your story.

I'm really anxious to know where the story is headed. If this had been sample chapters on my Kindle I would have clicked "buy now" to be able to keep going lol

[Christopher Miller]

Well, that's specifically useful... Since I'll probably go the self-publishing route again. I almost sent this to Avon, but I can't bear the thought of this being on a shelf for a month and then vanishing forever. I put too much into it, and I do feel that it's better than they are. The few I've read, anyway. I don't consider that bragging, all I'm saying is that this story is better than hacked crap.

[Jennie Lynn]

I'm trying to think if I've ready anything fro Avon. To be honest most of what I read is self-published. I tend to read darker stuff, though I have enjoyed a more mainstream romance from time to time. I have a soft spot for Highlanders lol. I can't imagine sending anything I've written to a publisher. I'm too much of a control freak. I know I need editing and stuff but someone dictating what I do or do not write would drive me batty. I put too much of myself into what I write and it means too much to me. Congrats on self publishing. That almost as scary as a publisher lol.

[Christopher Miller]

That brings up another point against sending to Avon... This gets a bit dark later on. You might actually like my Lavender books. Last review I got on Amazon used that word, and ended with the reader asking god to have mercy on my soul. I guess if I were to get a one star review, that's how I'd want it to read.

[Jennie Lynn]

I actually read that review when I checked out the book. (I clicked the link on your page and downloaded a sample though I admit I haven't read anything yet). You know how many books I've read based on negative reviews lol. I know I like dark and twisted and feel no shame for it.

[Sarah]

That last sentence makes me feel like something terrible is coming in the next chapter. A good cliffhanger leading into the next chapter.

I agree again with Jennie Lynn that these interactions are advanced, but I have to keep reminding myself that this is a romance novel and I should expect nothing less.

Either way, I'm excited to read more and see how their relationship develops. Especially with a young child in the mix, and I'm waiting to hear more about the "troll."