Starting Over

Chapter 16

Chapter 16Andy drew his jacket collar around his neck against the biting winter wind and strode across the VA parking lot to his car. Thank God he was done with that accursed MRI scan. Even now, twenty minutes later, he could feel the loud rat-a-tat-tat of the machine reverberating in his ears. The sound brought back unwanted memories of Kate. Along with them was the pungent odor of cordite rising from her long steel barrel. He fished his keys out of his pocket, unlocked the car door and got in. For a moment, he just sat there, closing his eyes in the chilled silence surrounding him until at last he started the car.

Merging into traffic, he turned onto 25th and followed the snowplowed road north through town. What he needed right now was something to snuff out the mind-numbing headache raging between his ears. He pulled in front of McNamara's and saw Jonah come out the front door dragging a snow shovel behind him.

“Hey, Jonah,” he said, getting out of the car.

Jonah pushed a pile of snow across the walk, turned and thumped the blade on the curb. “Morning. How'd it go?”

“Just wonderful,” he replied as a gust of wind slammed his face. “Damn, it's cold out here.”

“Tell me about it.” Jonah reached into his jacket pocket, took out a cigarette and a lighter. After he lit up, he pushed another swathe of snow to the curb and shuffled back. “Supposed to drop to single digits by afternoon, too.” He stabbed the shovel down and propped a hand on its handle. Dashing the ashes off the cigarette, he looked up at the falling snow and blinked. “Don't think there's gonna be a lot of business today, but never can tell, right?”

“Nope, never can,” Andy said, noticing Jonah's bare hands. “Don't you have gloves?”

Jonah puffed away and licked his crooked, cracked lips “Naw, I'm good. By the way, we're out of salt.”

Andy yanked his gloves off and tapped Jonah's arm. “Here, put 'em on.” When Jonah glanced at him sidelong, he added, “I insist.”

Hesitantly, Jonah took them. As he put them on, Andy opened the front door. “Good man,” Andy said. “Okay, I got to get inside. My head feels like a Bouncing Betty ready to explode, right now.”

Andy hung his jacket on the coat tree and joined his sister at the front counter. She raised her brow as she boxed up last month's returns.

“What?”

“Nothing… So, how'd it go?”

He winced. “It went.”

She taped the box shut she was working on and set it on the counter beside her. Fixing her flashing blue eyes on him, she tilted her head. “Headache?”

He grabbed a soda from the refreshment case. “Oh, yeah!” Without looking back, he went in his office and rifled through his desk drawer for the bottle of Relpax. Shutting the door, he flicked the light off, went to his chair and closed his eyes, waiting for the medication to do its voodoo. The next thing he knew, a hand was on his shoulder.

“Andy, Andy?”

He blinked. Looking up into the shadowy darkness, he saw his sister's silhouette blocking the light spraying in through the crack of the door.

“Why don't you go home?”

He licked his lips, slowly took account of his body and oriented himself back to the present. To his relief, the banging in his head was gone. Taking his time, he sat up and patted her hand. “No, I'm fine. How long?”

“It's past three.”

“s**t, I've wasted half the day.” He rubbed his neck. Reached to turn his desktop computer on then thought better of it. “Any mail?”

“Some,” she said, her tone provocative. He saw her shadow pass in front of him and heard her take a seat on the other side of his desk.

“Some? What's that supposed to mean?”

In the filtered light, he saw her lean forward. “I've been keeping a secret,” she said, her voice laced with excitement. “Remember the article in the paper about the city initiative promoting business startups and expansions?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, but as I remember we didn't qualify because we weren't in the selected business corridor.”

“Well, I looked into it further and I found a sister grant for businesses within the Arts district. Long story short, I petitioned for a grant and guess what?”

He leaned forward. “We got one?”

“Yep. The notification came in the mail today. There's still some paperwork to do, but we're in.”

“How much,” he said, daring to believe it. Dollar amounts flashed in his head.

“Don't know right now, but it's in the five figure range,” she said. “Think of what this means. We can do some of the things we talked about, like hire another employee. Or we can renovate or buy fixtures and equipment.”

Suddenly he remembered Nate. He'd forgotten to tell her he'd hired him. Well, no harm, no foul. They had the grant. How could she get mad? “Umm…well, I sort of already hired someone.”

She sat back in her chair and he felt her condemning gaze drilling into him. “Who?”

“Janet's son, Nate.”

She cleared her throat. “And you were going to pay him, how?”

He hesitated, knowing there was no good answer. “Out of my own take-home.”

“Which is barely meeting your expenses. Christ, Andy, you can't keep hiring people without discussing it with me.”

“If you're referring to Jonah, I seem to remember you being pretty damned happy about that,” he said, sitting forward again. “And, how do you know I'm barely making it or not?”

“I'm your accountant, remember?”

“Oh…yeah, there is that. Still, it's my store.”

“Yes it is, but it's my job to make sure it remains that way.” She paused. “As far as Jonah, you, my dear brother, have a selective memory. I was more than unhappy! I was petrified your customer base was going to vanish. The man was living on the streets. Not exactly, how should we say, employee material. But, I'll admit, he fooled me. He's smart and he's cleaned up fine.”

“And you like his company, admit it,” he said, sharper than he intended.

He saw her fidget. “Well, of course I do,” she answered, her tone bordering on the defensive.

He knew his sister pretty well and was damn sure she wasn't judging Jonah on his looks. It didn't hurt to hammer home the point though. “There you have it then. And as far as Nate goes, it's just part time.”

“Doing what?”

“He's gonna get our website ship-shape and operational.”

She was quiet a moment. “What about my Timmy? He could help you.”

He anticipated her suggestion. “I know he could, but he's got a lot going on in his life right now. And besides, Nate could use the distraction. He's gone through a lot and well, I'm worried about him.”

“I don't get it. What's so special about Nate? You've worked with lots of people over the years who've gone through things. I've never seen you get involved like this,” she said. “You sure it has nothing to do with his mother?”

He frowned. Again, his sister had hit near the mark. Was he that damned transparent? He sighed. “No, she has nothing to do with it. Nate had a bad time of it over in Iraq. I have a feeling he went through something horrific. Let's just say, I can sympathize.”

He heard her sigh. Finally, she said, “Okay,” but her tone wasn't convincing.

“By the way, please don't mention Timmy's computer skills to Nate when he comes in tomorrow.”

“Don't worry. I'm not unsympathetic.” He could sense her rolling her eyes at him. “You like taking on the hard cases, don't you,” she said. “Don't answer that. And no more going behind your accountant's back. Understand, mister?”

“I promise. And Panda.”

“Yeah?”

“You're aces.”

“Thanks, but you've already buttered me up enough, don't you think?”

He laughed as she let herself out the door.

The following morning, Andy pulled in front of McNamara's with Jack riding shotgun. Jonah was outside by the door smoking a cigarette, waiting for him to open up. When the old veteran saw him, he stubbed his butt and pocketed it.

“Gonna be a cold one today. But at least the snow's let up,” Jonah said as Andy unlocked the door.

Once inside, Andy turned the lights on and adjusted the thermostat. Jonah bee-lined it for the coffee maker to start the morning Joe. As the coffee brewed, Andy went about his morning business of cashing in the morning drawer and restocking the beverage cooler. Jack did his paw-patrol around the book stacks. Breaking down an empty box, Andy called over to Jonah. “Hey, when you're done straightening up over there, mind looking in on the Johns? I never got to 'em last night.”

Jonah looked up and whistled for Jack. When the dog came running up, he said, “Come on boy, let's go sniff a toilet.”

Andy smiled as he watched his dog and the old veteran toddle on back. You certainly have a way with words my friend. When they were out of site, he went back to filling the cooler. Orange-cranberry juice and chocolate yogurt flips were hot items and he was having a hard time keeping up with demand. He emptied his last box just as the front door opened. Turning around, he was surprised to see Tyler, his ex-semi-regular part-time help. The freckle-faced, lanky young man fidgeted as he stood in his tattered parka.

“No school this morning?” Andy said, eyeing the teen. He wondered why the boy was bleary-eyed like a lost runaway. He hadn't seen Tyler in a while, not since he'd had to let him go. Ditching work without calling in the morning of Garrett's accident had been the last straw. He'd felt bad about it, because he liked the kid, but he needed dependable help. Tyler was neither dependable nor especially helpful. Fact was, he'd heard Tyler was running with a loose crowd, smoking dope and dropping pills. Whether it was true or not, he didn't know, but he wanted to give the kid the benefit of the doubt.

Tyler shook his head and looked down. The kid was working up the nerve to say something. Andy refrained from pressing him further and waited. Finally, Tyler said, “My mom kicked me out.”

Andy drew breath. “What happened this time?”

Tyler's glance darted around as he shrugged.

Andy crossed his arms. “What do you want, son?”

“I need a job,” Tyler said, averting his gaze as Jonah came walking back with Jack. He glanced down at Jack who was sniffing his shoes.

Andy shared a knowing glance with Jonah. “I'm sure you do.”

“I'll do better this time, you'll see,” Tyler said.

“Look, I don't know what to say Ty. I gave you several chances and you tossed 'em back in my face. You need to get your life in order son,” Andy said. “Where you staying?”

Tyler scuffed his feet. “Friends.”

“Right,” Andy said. He had a good idea that his so-called friends were no friends at all. He felt himself starting to acquiesce. Panda's gonna kill me. He shared another knowing glance with Jonah. “Okay, if we try this one last time, there's going to be some conditions attached.”

Tyler looked up. “Like what?”

Jonah c****d his brow. Pursed his lips.

Yeah, I know Jonah. She's gonna kill me, Andy thought. To Tyler, he said, “You will show up on time and you will pay attention to the tasks I assign you.”

“No problem, I promise,” Tyler said.

“Don't promise me, just straighten yourself out,” Andy said. He nodded toward the shovel next to the door. “Okay, you can start by clearing off the sidewalk.”

After Tyler went outside to shovel, Andy strode into his office. Jonah followed him and leaned against the doorway with arms folded across his chest. A wry grin was on his withered face. “You really like pissing off your sister, don't you?”

Andy booted his computer up. “I just know what it feels like to be in Ty's shoes.”

“Yeah, but being an orphan wasn't your choice,” Jonah said, pointedly. “That boy made his own decisions. Not that I'm one to talk.”

“Not arguing with you there, believe me,” Andy said. He opened his email provider page, signed in and read down the laundry list of spam mail. There, he saw a note with Janet's name attached.

Andy,

We still on for tomorrow night?

Janet

His heart leapt. Suddenly he envisioned her sitting across from him at a candle-lit table. The thought of her looking back at him with her smoky brown eyes while they swapped details of their lives almost made him forget the conflicted feelings he was having about her. For the hundredth time he debated whether he should go through with the date. His fingers hovered above the 'N' on the keyboard. f**k it. I deserve it! He typed back his reply. Hit the send button just as Amanda announced herself at the door. She squeezed past Jonah and pulled a chair in front of the desk.

Andy saw a frown looking back and braced himself for the oncoming offensive. “Hey Panda.”

She crossed her arms. “What's Tyler doing outside?”

“Umm…shoveling,” Andy minimized the application window as she drilled into him with a piercing gaze.

Jonah said, “Getting a bit hot in here. Think I'll go reshelf a few books.”

She ignored Jonah's remark. “I can see that. Interesting thing is, Ty tells me, he's working for us again.” She paused. Tapped her nails on the armrest. “So…” She cleared her throat. “I have a question.”

“What's that?”

“Did you not hear one word I said last night?”

“It's just a trial period to see if it works out. You said we have a grant coming and well, the kid's in a bind.”

She rolled her eyes. “Everyone's always in a bind with you, Andy. You can't keep spending money like a drunken sailor.” She leaned forward and appeared ready to say more when a knock came to the open door.

“Hi,” Nate said, standing just outside looking in. “I'm sorry. The kid outside told me to just come in.”

“It's all right, we're finished here,” Andy said, and instantly regretted it when he saw his sister's face darken. Oh, s**t. I've screwed the pooch again, he thought watching her get up. He didn't need to hear the words: 'Really-did-you-just-say-that?' riding on the tip of her tongue. He knew he'd get an earful when they were alone. But that was later. Right now, he was upbeat. They were getting a grant and he had a date with Janet. He grinned. To her retreating back, he added, “I suppose the new oak shelving I saw in Falcon's catalog is out of the question.”

There was no reply and he didn't expect one. He motioned Nate to come in and take a seat and reached into his desk drawer for an application. Pushing it across his desk, he had him fill it out. When Nate finished, he said, “Come, sit next to me.”

He moved his chair aside and positioned the computer screen so they both had a good view of it. When he brought the Internet connection back up from the application dock, he froze. To his horror, Janet's note was staring them both in the face. He switched away from the window. Scrolled to his web page link. Prayed Nate either hadn't read the words or hadn't made the connection it was his mother.

For a moment Andy held his breath until Nate asked him to go into his website preferences. Clicking on the radio button, Andy blew a silent sigh out. Holy crap Old Man, that was close.