Before I could decide if I should knock or just start shouting out names, Nana called from the porch. Both she and Jim sat on the steps, watching Emmitt mow.
Jim leaned back in the sun, barefoot, shirt off, and wearing jean cutoffs while he grinned at his brother. Emmitt glanced our way when I walked out the door. Jim definitely looked good, but he didn’t give my stomach fits of churning delight like Emmitt did. Thankfully. One distracting me was enough.
“I wanted to thank you for the clothes, Nana,” I said ignoring both men. I handed her the money, which she accepted. “And I was wondering if I could borrow a towel and shampoo for a shower.”
She looked at the bills. “This is more than what I spent on the clothes.”
At least it wasn’t less. “It’s okay. I really appreciate what you did for us. It saved me from having to—” I caught myself. “It would have been boring for Liam and Aden, and I didn’t want to leave them alone.”
She nodded in understanding. “How about we send Jim to the store to buy some picnic food? Then, we can go to the lake tomorrow like he suggested. It’s a public lake but remote enough that not many people go there,” she said before I could decline.
My mind raced through several possibilities. One being that if we stayed on this property, hidden, Blake might not ever find us. Sure, I knew he wouldn’t give up, but how would he know to look here? I liked it here. I liked Emmitt, his brother, and their neighbor and knew that Liam and Aden did, too. But, I knew that by tomorrow my pain would be worse.
Staying here meant I needed to find a way to deal with the premonitions. A random conversation with Jim about stocks, a topic just about everyone my age would naturally avoid, wasn’t the best idea. If we went to the lake, I could put something on someone’s car window. Or draw it in the sand where someone would see. The lake provided more opportunities.
I nodded, and she handed Jim one of the bills. He laughed mischievously.
“I’ll be right back.” He went into the house and came back out a minute later wearing sturdy boots and a sleeveless shirt. Small keys dangled from his little finger.
“Jim...” The warning in Nana voice was clear as he jumped from the porch.
Emmitt looked up from his mowing as Jim swung a leg over Emmitt’s motorcycle and inserted the key. The drone of the mower died as the bike’s engine roared to life. Jim laughed loudly and revived the bike over Emmitt’s shouted words. Saluting us, Jim took off.
“Nana!” Emmitt called in frustration. It reminded me of Liam when Aden wouldn’t share a toy. “You couldn’t stop him?”
Just then, we heard Jim rev the engine again and squeal a tire on the blacktop road. The sound faded much too quickly.
Nana glanced at me with a small smile. “Jim was lonely without Emmitt.”
“I can tell,” I said absently, turning to watch Emmitt run a hand through his hair. His lips moved rapidly, and I guessed if I stood closer, I would hear swearing. “Did Emmitt miss Jim, though?”
She laughed. “Let’s get you that towel.”
Emmitt finished mowing the backyard and moved to the front before Jim returned. Pieces of grass stuck to our feet when Liam, Aden, and I ventured out onto the newly cut expanse. I loved the smell of it.
Nana called to us from the porch and presented the boys with the gloves and ball that Jim had unearthed in the basement.
I helped them fit their small hands into the large gloves as she went to the garage to fetch a rake. Without a glove to play, too, I grew restless watching the boys toss the ball to each other.
Living in confinement hadn’t been bad if I followed the rules, but it had been boring. Given our options at that time, boring had been better than David’s harassing presence or Blake’s furious attention when I did something outside of the boundaries he set. But being bored while the ticker ran in my head just brought my increasing tension into focus and reminded me that the ache would only get worse.
I went to the garage, found a second rake, and helped Nana, stopping occasionally to roll my shoulders. I caught Liam watching me with a knowing look and was glad Emmitt wasn’t within sight.
The motorcycle roared into the yard while the mower still rumbled in the front. The boys stopped their play to watch Jim park. He put his feet down to stop and grinned widely at the boys.
“I’ve got some cool stuff for tomorrow!”
Liam looked at me for permission, but Aden inched his way toward Jim before I even nodded. Jim stood and swung a leg over the bike, handing a bag to each boy as they crowded close.
I set the rake on the grass and joined them. Through the plastic bags, I saw boxes for sparklers, smoke bombs, spark fountains, and more. I didn’t see one food item. I glanced nervously at Nana. Jim had blatantly disobeyed.