Heaven and Hell (Page 70)

Luckily, this died down but I still didn’t have a chance to make sure Sam was cool. This was because we got down to the business of a welcome home, everyone looking at the display on the back of my digital camera as they clicked through photos, them asking questions, me telling stories and giving out presents and those who meant the most to me in the world getting used to having me home and becoming comfortable with Sam.

This was until Ozzie, in uniform, popped by. I suspected Ozzie was there to see Sam but I also suspected he was there for other reasons, namely to see if I was still breathing.

What I knew was, the minute Sam saw him in uniform, got his name and shook his hand, Ozzie’s visit was going to take on a whole other meaning as defined by Sam.

Ozzie, being Ozzie, clocked this immediately and as he sat enjoying a Coke, his eyes often strayed to Sam.

Sam, being Sam, didn’t delay in sorting out what he felt like sorting out.

And this was done at three sips into Ozzie’s Coke (I counted) with a, “Ford, Sheriff, let’s have a minute inside with Kia.”

Ozzie sighed, unsurprised.

Dad’s eyebrows shot together and he looked at Sam then me.

“Is everything all right?” Mom asked.

Since it wasn’t, Sam didn’t answer. What he did do was get out of his chair next to mine then gently pull me up.

“All’s well, Essie,” Ozzie muttered, also straightening out of his chair and Dad followed suit, looking slightly bemused and not-so-slightly concerned.

“I’ll come with,” Mom decided and popped up.

Ozzie gave Dad a look, Sam gave Dad a look, Dad took in these looks and looked at Mom.

“Give me a minute with Oz and Sam, hon.”

“I don’t –” Mom started.

“A minute, Ess,” Dad stated firmly, Mom’s mouth got tight, her eyes started shooting daggers and I held my breath because I’d had twenty-eight years of this.

Dad was a man’s man, through and through. He poured cement for a living. He had his own business doing this, he did the best job of anyone in three counties and he didn’t employ slackers and that was known throughout town, maybe even statewide, seeing as your ass was fired on the spot if he found you not working to his exacting standards. Also I knew of two bar brawls he’d gotten into in town though I didn’t know the reasons he had them but, to me, bar brawls for any reason screamed man! He hunted (even though Mom, and then me when I was old enough to have and voice my opinion, hated this). Further, interrupting him during the Super Bowl, the World Series or the NBA playoffs was punishable by death; I didn’t know this for a fact mainly because I, like everyone else in my family, never interrupted him. He drank beer, not wine, not cocktails but if he felt like branching out, he might drink bourbon but only neat. You didn’t even look at the grill with the intention of using it because that was his domain. He mowed the lawn, he serviced the cars. And, on occasion, what he said went.

Mom, on the other hand, although they met and married relatively young, was independent and strong-willed. She’d been a Mom and a housewife and still went to night school when I was a kid so she could get her degree then moved on to get her Master’s. It took eleven years but she did it. Through this she worked part-time, finally getting a full-time job in the field she’d studied, Speech/Language Pathology. Yes, she cooked. Yes, she cleaned. Yes, in our household, Dad never did any of this. And yes, she did all this without complaint. But she had a say in her children’s lives and a definite hand in our upbringing. She might have been busy but she was not absent.

No, strike that, she had a say and an opinion about everything and didn’t mind voicing it.

And, on the occasion my Dad had something to say that he thought went, and Mom disagreed, things could get hairy.

Like they appeared to be doing now.

Until Sam stepped in.

“I appreciate you’ve cottoned on, Essie,” he said with quiet understanding. “But there are things I need to share with the Sheriff and Ford that I need to keep confidential for now. It’s about what I do. What Ford can share with you, he’ll share with you later. But I need to be able to be forthcoming and the fewer people who hear this, the better.”

Although this could only make anyone more curious, and from the looks on everyone’s faces, they were, Sam’s rough-like-velvet voice coupled with the quiet understanding could not be denied, not even by my Mom.

She held his eyes for a scary moment though but she must have liked what she saw because she sat back down.

Without delay, Sam led me into the house then stepped aside and when Ozzie and Dad followed, Sam looked at Dad and muttered, “Private.”

Dad held his eyes this time, nodded then led the way through the kitchen, into the dining room and through to the living room. He closed the glass-paned doors to the dining room and the wood door to the foyer.

When we arrived, staying standing, Sam wrapped an arm around my chest and pulled the side of my back into the side of his front and his eyes leveled on Ozzie.

Before he could speak, Ozzie did.

“Know what you’re gonna say, Cooper, and I get you. The Deputy who took the call from your people heard your name associated with Kia’s, got excited, shared too much. I can assure you he did not do this with the reporters that called and I can also assure you he will not do this again.”

“That wasn’t cool but that is also not why we’re standin’ here,” Sam replied and Ozzie’s eyes shot to Dad before they went back to Sam and he didn’t shake his head “no” but his eyes screamed it.

Sam shook his head “no” and then explained it.

“You know he’s gotta know,” Sam said softly.

“It’s in hand,” Ozzie returned.

“It isn’t,” Sam shot back.

“What’s this about?” Dad asked.

“Cooper –” Ozzie started, leaning into Sam but Sam turned to Dad.

“Sorry, Ford, this is going to come as a shock –” he began but Ozzie interrupted him.

“Cooper, I don’t advise –”

Sam looked to Ozzie. “Due respect and understand, Kia has told me about you, she cares about you, she trusts you and she’s explained you’re a friend of the family so when I say due respect, I mean it. But with this, you are not makin’ the right decisions.”

“I got experience, son,” Ozzie retorted. “I know what I’m doin’.”

“Yeah, you do then look me in the eye and tell me since she got on a plane and until you heard Kia hooked up with me that you slept good at night,” Sam volleyed.